As Yao Zhen's words fell, silence settled over the hall.
The Left Censor-in-Chief had presided over the Censorate for years, never requesting an office out of private interest, never suppressing a voice in the name of public duty.
Yet now, for a secretary of such humble rank, he had spoken before the imperial court!
This was no request, but a declaration of allegiance.
The Analects said, "A gentleman does not promote a man for his words, nor dismiss words because of the man."
What Yao Zhen did today was not to elevate a man through words, but to raise a power through his own standing!
The fifteenth day of the fourth month could truly be called a day of wave upon surging wave.
For a moment, expressions changed and minds stirred throughout the ranks of ministers.
The Yao and Kou factions among the Upright Officials exchanged looks, each searching the other's expression, trying to discern the cause and implications of Yao Zhen stepping forward.
Was this premeditated? Or spontaneous?
If it was premeditated, then the Censorate's wall had suffered more than the collapse of a single corner.
Yao Zhen had always stood within the Censorate without attachments or factional ties, his words and his silence alike serving as boundary stones.
Now that the stone had shifted, the factions would inevitably fracture with it.
Emperor Jing of Zhou sat upright on the Imperial Throne and did not speak at once upon hearing this.
His gaze, however, passed over Yao Zhen first and settled upon the head of the Ministry of Revenue's ranks.
There, Kou Yuan was staring fixedly at Yao Zhen, his expression more strained than ever before.
The emperor betrayed nothing, but several thoughts turned through his mind.
His promotion of Wei Nisheng to Selection Bureau Vice Director just