Upright Officials Lit the Fire, Students Fed the Flames, and Public Censure Besieged the Throne

The upright officials lit the fire, and the students became Chai.

The day after news of Kou Yuan's request to resign spread throughout the Capital, the lecture halls of the Imperial College erupted.

No one knew who had brought in that copied memorial.

For all it took was a single line.

[Minister Kou would rather resign than serve alongside corrupt vermin.

We study the Books of the Sages. Are we not even the equal of a minister who resigns?]

That single line tossed a firebrand into a heap of dry tinder, set the scholarly world boiling, and sent public censure surging like a tide.

And the Imperial College was the most combustible Chai in the entire Capital.

Several days later, at Gathered Worthies Gate.

More than three hundred Imperial College students wore blue gowns and square caps.

In their hands, they held a jointly signed petition: "A Memorial Requesting the Execution of National Vermin to Purify the Realm."

The three student representatives at the front raised the petition high above their heads.

"Fellow students, march!"

At that command, more than three hundred Imperial College students marched out through Gathered Worthies Gate in formation.

Commoners along the way stopped and stepped aside to clear a path.

As the procession passed down Chang'an Street, many scholars by the roadside spontaneously joined its ranks.

Gradually, the procession of three hundred became five hundred, and five hundred became eight hundred.

For a time, the long street was filled with blue-gowned scholars, their impassioned fervor soaring into the clouds.

Outside the Directorate of Transmission, the newly appointed Director of Transmission had already received word and stood before the offices.

He frowned as he watched the vast procession of blue gowns surge toward him from afar.

"Damn it. Since Lord Feng's time, we haven't