After Jia Chong returned to his residence, his expression changed from frightened unease to cold severity.
He waited until evening, confirmed that the emperor had retired, and only then sent someone to summon Li Sheng and the others before him.
The four Palace Eunuchs and two Yellow Gate officials now stood before Jia Chong, each wearing a different expression.
Jia Chong remained unmoved, as though nothing had happened.
He calmly looked at the people before him. "I am no treacherous minister or rebel. I sent people to watch the emperor's every word and deed only because he is young, and I feared he might do something wrong, so that it could be corrected in time."
"Nor was this something I wished to do myself. I did it under the Grand General's orders."
"Do not worry yourselves."
"His Majesty summoned me today and asked about you. Since His Majesty had spoken, I could not deceive him, lest I commit the crime of deceiving the sovereign."
"But His Majesty is young, after all, and still needs the Grand General's assistance in all affairs."
"Back when he was in Yuan City, His Majesty was deceived by petty villains. Today, that is even more the case..."
Jia Chong chiefly directed his gaze at the two Yellow Gate officials.
As for the eunuchs, he did not spare them so much as a glance.
As a traditional scholar-official, he had a deep aversion to eunuchs. This was no isolated case; scholar-officials as a whole detested these castrated men.
They believed that the entire turmoil of the Late Han had been caused by these eunuchs.
The emperor was sagacious and could not possibly be at fault, while they were all virtuous men who held the realm in their hearts and could not possibly be wrong either. Thus,