Chapter 534

After receiving this analysis from Mei Juncang, Shentu Yuan sat in the carriage, pondering the details until the implications began to dawn on him. This perspective clarified why Gao Wencan had committed the murder. That very act of violence had forced Shentu Yuan to seal off the Imperial Academy, thereby exposing the fact that the God-Slaughtering Department had become an unwieldy, unmanageable entity. With the Great Xia Emperor unable to involve himself directly, he had ceded more authority to the Empress’s Pingzhang Palace. This allowed the Pingzhang Palace to intervene in the management and inspection of Tianjing under the guise of legitimacy. Furthermore, Shentu Yuan could already imagine the end game: the God-Slaughtering Department would inevitably be accused of "ineffectiveness in handling the case." Since the investigation was essentially being orchestrated by the very thieves playing the role of officials, the Empress’s faction, represented by Gao Wencan, would naturally seize the opportunity to infiltrate the internal ranks of the God-Slaughtering Department. "The drunkard’s heart is not in the cup," Shentu Yuan remarked with a sigh. The Upper Three Ranks had their schemes, and naturally, the Middle Three Ranks had theirs. He was no exception, and neither were the others.