From the moment Li Zhirui arranged groups of Rangers to place letters and Memory Stones everywhere, nearly two hours have passed, yet only now does the Confucian faction awaken as if from a dream, dispatching disciples to confiscate those items.
But before the Confucian faction could even breathe a sigh of relief, the Legalist, Military Family, and merchant factions swiftly launched their own actions.
To avoid tearing off their masks and making enemies with the Confucians—risking retaliation and suppression in the future, since the Confucians remain a formidable force—
they didn't intervene personally; instead, just as Li Zhirui had done, they bribed a group of commoners to spread all sorts of nauseating news about the Confucians throughout the counties surrounding the Capital City.
The Confucians hadn't resolved the situation in the Imperial City and Capital City yet, before bad news began pouring in relentlessly from other counties.
