Chapter 1535: Rudeness VS Unreasonableness

The buildings of Xilin Temple were tall and majestic, mostly constructed from incredibly heavy Panjin Stone. The ground beneath the temple was inherently soft, and with such weighty structures above, the land naturally began to subside more rapidly.

In fact, the Lower Forest District was the area most severely affected by waterlogging. It wasn't just Xilin Temple; in recent years, ordinary citizens' homes had suffered the most damage. Low-lying areas in some neighborhoods had turned into small lakes, while some places had been completely swallowed by the water.

"So what if they were moved? Why did you move them to build a Stele of Huan without authorization?" The moment Steward Xiao spoke, Envoy Liang turned to glare at him.

Was this fellow out of his mind? What did "so what if they were moved" even mean? As the chief steward of Xilin Temple, he had, with one statement, immediately characterized the situation, implying that moving the stones without authorization was acceptable.

Under his glare, Steward Xiao snapped back to reality. He thought to himself, "This is bad, I let anger cloud my judgment." Just as he was about to speak up to rectify the situation, He Lingchuan spoke first: "Excuse me, Steward Xiao, but by using idle building materials to construct the Stele of Huan, which law have I violated?"

Upon hearing this, You Rongzhi, who was standing nearby, wanted to applaud him.

Well asked!

"This..." Even the furious Steward Xiao was momentarily stunned. But he immediately followed up, "What you appropriated was not ordinary building material! Those were the stone pillars of my temple! They gathered the power of thousands of faiths!"

He Lingchuan's expression was exceptionally sincere. "I have checked the regulations of the Yao Kingdom, and there is only one relevant rule: building materials and objects dismantled from temples and the royal palace cannot be used to construct private residences!"

He immediately turned to King Yao: "Your Majesty, what we are building is not a private residence, but the most magnificent wonder of architecture! Is there any current law that states building materials dismantled from public buildings cannot be used to construct public wonder buildings?"

He emphasized the word "public."

Could Xilin Temple belong to Steward Xiao? It belonged to the Goddess, and on Earth, it was indeed a public building, as worshippers frequently entered and exited, and thousands of people would gather in public squares.

If these were private gatherings, that would be outrageous! Who in Tianshui City, apart from King Yao, possessed such authority?

With just one sentence, He Lingchuan elevated the temple and the Stele of Huan to the same level of prestige, as if neither was more noble than the other.

Why couldn't stones used to build a temple be used to construct a Stele of Huan?

If the temple represented the Goddess, then the Stele of Huan represented national fortune and royal authority.

Of course, everyone present clearly understood that the status of Miaozhantian was undoubtedly higher than the royal authority of the Yao Kingdom.

But knowing was one thing; being able to articulate it was another.

Could Steward Xiao stand there, point at King Yao's nose, and yell, "You are not worthy?"

He Lingchuan showed no fear in front of the Goddess's earthly representative.

Seriously, before undertaking such a bold act, he had nearly worn out his copies of the Yao Kingdom's laws, especially those related to temples.

If there had been even a slight violation, his scheme would have had no chance of success.

The Yao laws contained only this one tangential regulation. It was because in the past, temples in the Yao Kingdom had fallen into disrepair, and ordinary citizens had picked up bricks, stones, and tiles to build houses or repair animal pens. The deities were displeased, which led to the addition of this decree: that temple bricks and stones could not be used to construct private residences.

Normally, building materials and objects dismantled from temples and the royal palace were either destroyed or reused for repairing other temples and the royal palace. Officials were obedient and would never use them to repair their own government offices, so no additional regulations were needed.

Unexpectedly, today He Xiao had exploited this loophole.

If the law didn't prohibit it, how could he be blamed?

You Rongzhi cleared his throat: "Island Lord He is not from this country; he is unaware of these temple 'requirements'."

He said "requirements," not explicit written regulations.

Requirements, after all, were implicit.

How could an outsider know the locally established customs? You didn't write them down.

The only thing he could check was the law, and he knew what he did was not illegal.

Moreover, it was currently the rush period for New City construction, and King Yao and Envoy Liang both knew how severely the construction sites lacked materials. He Xiao, as the actual helmsman of this massive project, naturally tried every means to solve problems when difficulties arose. There happened to be idle building materials, which happened to be suitable for the Stele of Huan, and it just happened to...

If everything was so convenient, why wouldn't he use them?

If the person managing this project didn't know how to adapt, the eastern expansion of the capital would not have reached this point today.

The moment You Rongzhi spoke, Steward Xiao promptly switched his target to him. "He doesn't know, but how could you, Master You, also be so confused as to let him commit such a grave error? Isn't this a failure of oversight?"

He had been very irritable lately and wanted to pick a fight with everyone. Master You was leading the New City project, making him one of the key people responsible.

You Rongzhi: "Well..."

For such a massive engineering project, calling it "complicated with countless threads" was no exaggeration. How could he possibly oversee every single detail? Furthermore, the aftermath of Xilin Temple had been clearly authorized in writing by both Envoy Liang and King Yao to be managed by this project. Was there any need for him to question it?

Besides, the dismantling and transport of Xilin Temple didn't involve money and didn't pass through his approval process.

You Rongzhi had no way to explain any of this.

Before he could speak, He Lingchuan sneered again. "Grave error? No rules, no order. I acted according to the law and regulations; what error have I committed? If I haven't made a mistake, how can you talk about Master You's failure of oversight?"

Could he have come up with a very smooth excuse for appropriating Xilin Temple's building materials? Yes, he could.

But he stubbornly refused to do so, absolutely not!

It was a rare opportunity, with the Envoy of the Goddess Temple present, and a chance for a direct confrontation was extremely rare. He wouldn't be finished until he made his opponent so infuriated they were fuming.

He Lingchuan spoke quickly, giving no one a chance to interrupt: "Steward Xiao says the stones from Xilin Temple cannot be used for the Stele of Huan in the New City? On the day Xilin Temple collapsed, the accumulated dust of centuries from the temple — representing over a hundred years of faith and incense — scattered into the homes of surrounding residents. Are you going to go door-to-door to demand it back?"

"New City construction has a tight schedule and heavy tasks. Naturally, I must focus on overall planning and resource coordination; otherwise, how can such a large undertaking operate? When it's time to build the Stele of Huan, we build the Stele of Huan; when it's time to repair the temple, the temple will naturally be repaired!"

"The temple promised to you will be delivered on time, without a single day's delay! On the other hand, Steward Xiao, you are making a mountain out of a molehill, being unreasonable, and daring to gesticulate wildly in front of the monarch. What are your intentions?"

After this barrage of words, the imperial study suddenly fell silent.

Steward Xiao simply couldn't believe his ears.

Who did he say was being unreasonable? Who?! Someone actually dared to speak so presumptuously in front of Envoy Liang, in front of King Yao, and even in front of himself?

Steward Xiao's face turned beet red. Pointing at He Lingchuan, he sternly said, "You are rude, you dare to defy..."

Are you out of your mind?

King Yao coughed loudly, forced to intervene and stop him: "He Xiao, do not be disrespectful to Steward Xiao!"

No official had ever dared to speak so freely in front of him and the Envoy. Nor had anyone dared to target a divine steward in such a way.