Assistant Magistrate Ding's guess was not wrong, Magistrate Liang indeed had not received any new commands because he was encountering resistance.
This obstacle came from the Magistrates of Linhe Prefecture and Jinling Prefecture.
Magistrate Gong of Linhe Prefecture and Magistrate Tan of Jinling Prefecture, for some unknown reason, completely ignored Magistrate Liang's proposal for a joint encirclement of the Huai River pirates by the three prefectures.
Magistrate Liang became anxious, personally going to Linhe Prefecture to confront Magistrate Gong and question why he was not cooperating? The result was that Magistrate Gong scolded him in return.
