"Could Yuanzi truly execute Cao Wushang?" After a long while, it still fell to Sima Yu, the prince who governed the realm, to take up the challenge himself.
And it had to be admitted that this prince had, after all, personally participated in debates on metaphysics. With six years of governing behind him as well, he could indeed seize upon the true crux of Liu Acheng's words, which seemed riddled with holes but were actually powerfully intimidating.
That was whether Huan Wen truly dared to kill a bona fide gentleman of an émigré clan over something like this, as a warning to others.
This was a game of threats. If he dared to kill, then Gao Song had trapped himself between two perils: either he had leaked confidential information without authorization, placing the relatives who supplied him with intelligence in mortal danger, or he had framed a great minister and sown discord in the state. If Huan Wen did not dare to kill, then Liu Cheng was naturally just muddying the waters and spouting nonsense.
But the truly subtle part of this rhetoric was that Liu Acheng could drape himself in Huan Wen's tiger hide and shout threats of slaughter at no cost, while the vast majority of the staff of the Grand General Who Pacifies the Army, Gao Song included, dared not, had no standing to, and could not challenge that tiger hide.
Even if they knew perfectly well that Huan Wen was unlikely to execute Cao Wushang on the spot, they still had to pretend that their relatives and friends mattered more to them. Otherwise, once word got out, what would the people involved think of them?
Oh, I kindly passed you news from the Upper Reaches, and you gambled with my father's life and future?
Thus, Sima