At the Suzhou Prefecture Office, the clerks dispersed without a sound.
The rain had ceased before the Hall Front, but Eaves Water still dripped.
Xie Lin lowered his eyes to his cup and said nothing.
He Yanming held his cup with a forced smile, silent.
Only a small table stood between them, yet it seemed to divide two human hearts.
"Dao'an." He Yanming spoke first, his tone calm.
"I understand everything you said, but..." He Yanming sighed.
"Do you think His Majesty will approve Wei Zi's memorial?"
Xie Lin did not answer. He slowly set his teacup on the table and raised his eyes to He Yanming.
"What do you think, my lord?"
He Yanming could not help smiling. He lifted his cup, took a Xu sip, and said slowly,
"Bringing the Hangzhou Guard into Suzhou to investigate the Various Temples...
This is neither a great matter nor a small one, but something that could go either way.
It is not that Suzhou Prefecture knows nothing of the Various Temples' abuses, nor that we have no wish to intervene. It is only..."
He paused briefly, set his cup on the table, and folded his hands over his knees, looking all the more composed.
"When the water is too clear, no fish can live in it.
In this world, keeping one eye open and the other closed lets things pass.
Why stir up a storm throughout the city?"
Xie Lin still said nothing.
Seeing that he offered no response, He Yanming continued with a smile:
"Besides, Dao'an, you just explained to me the crucial points of Wei Zi's memorial...
I thought your reasoning sound, but...
Heh, if he truly invokes Emperor Taizong's Northern Expedition,
Who would dare oppose the late emperor's unfulfilled wishes?
Unfortunately, moving troops into Suzhou is merely