This was not Liu Cheng's first visit to the Department of State Affairs, but it was his first time entering the Tai Pavilion's main hall.
At noon, guided by his clansman Liu Shuang, Liu Cheng strode in with the gold tortoise seal of a founding county marquis on its purple ribbon and a golden saber at his waist. He showed not the slightest stage fright, and almost immediately set officials throughout the offices outside the hall whispering. Whatever the circumstances, surely the Langya Interior Minister had no business coming to the Department of State Affairs?
All one could say was that this affair really had put pressure on the grandees at the very top.
"Your Highness, gentlemen." Entering the main hall, Liu Cheng first saluted Sima Yu, then cupped his hands around to the others, including Wang Shu, Fan Wang, and Wang Biaozhi. He found a seat and sat down without ceremony, then immediately fired off a string of questions. "What specific information do we have at present? Who are these people? What are their demands? How many troops do they have? Why have they done this?"
"Let me explain." An unfamiliar middle-aged man spoke. "Marquis Liu, I am Xun Rui, Left Assistant Director of the Department of State Affairs and concurrently Minister of the Five Military Departments."
"I have long admired your reputation, Minister Xun!" Liu Cheng cupped his hands in response.
That was no empty talk. The man was Xun Xian's elder brother, a representative figure of the Xun clan of Yingchuan, and a pillar of Sima Yu's political faction. Both the Left Assistant Director, whose duties included supervising the Department of State Affairs, and the Minister of the Five Military Departments, commonly called the minister of war, were positions of the utmost importance.
It was worth mentioning