"Heh." The High Priest shook his head with a chuckle and asked, "Where did you learn that?"
Fudeng replied, "My deputy, Linmeier, the chief inquisitor of my Whip of Order, gave me a report at noon. When she finished, I said I had two points to add, and she suddenly picked up her glass and started washing her ears.
"I laughed right then. I thought it was amusing."
"Yes, very amusing. So you couldn't wait to try it on me?"
"That's right."
The High Priest said rather helplessly, "What a shame. Such an amusing thing, yet I can't find a suitable person to let me try washing my ears, too."
Fudeng smiled without speaking and reached out to make a slight adjustment to the bead displaying the tribunal chamber.
The High Priests of the past would have had someone to try it on: the Order Temple.
For instance, when the previous High Priest, Rasma, had been in office, the Temple Elder Council had stood behind him in public. In private, however, Rasma could only stand to one side when the Temple Elders spoke.
But this High Priest was different. After taking office, he had departed from his predecessors' attitude toward the Order Temple. Not only was he uncompromising, but he had also made it exceedingly clear that he intended to treat the Order Temple as one administrative department under the Church Headquarters. In other words, he acknowledged the Temple Elders' distinguished status, but not the Order Temple's position above everyone else.
Fudeng knew that the Order Temple was very dissatisfied with this, but it was also deeply wary of this High Priest. In short, it was unwilling to clash with him directly.
Furthermore, the Whip of Order was not the only organization or department that had been purged and reorganized