Book 2 Chapter 82-Conviction
Added 2024-05-11 21:49:10 +0000 UTCComments
The Sima clan had the most military power in the country - even after Sima Yi gave up his command, the Chang'an army was still loyal to him. Sima Yi was also a respected official, who had served for decades, with allies and friends in all the provinces and the administration. These people are beaten dogs, yet run circles around the imperial administration and all its subsidiary departments. Also, historically speaking: When in doubt, kill! Drawing attention in some clever ploy, only to come up with some patsy doesn't help. It only reminds the powers that be that you are still alive and that should probably be changed, just to be sure. I also have doubts about these lacking surveillance measures. From what I can gather, all these talismans and magical tools can do quite a lot and it's up to you, the author, to make sure that the readers have a good idea what one can and cannot achieve through magical means.
Insomnia
2024-05-16 23:38:32 +0000 UTCGreat point about that, but surveillance capacities in that era (and in-story) really aren't that omnipotent. It's not like how we have planted cameras, bugs, wiretaps, heat signatures, and all that fancy stuff in the modern day, so it's impossible to keep an eye on them to that extent. And if you look back a few chapters, Xie Rengui suggested to Lin Jie that the conspirators were making use of their statuses as prime suspects by purposefully implicating their co-conspirators (ex: Knowing he would be suspected otherwise, Archduke commits the crime but plants evidence that points to a conspirator elsewhere, Investigators harass the conspirator but ultimately hit a dead-end and are forced to give it up, then next time the Archduke is the one implicated for a crime that has nothing to do with him). This suggestion was confirmed by Lin Jie as well, but he died before presenting solid evidence. Historically speaking, there have been multiple occurrences where someone who was under careful watch and often in danger of being killed themselves ends up succeeding in their conspiracies (best example: the Sima clan of the Jin dynasty), and that's part of what went into this decision as well.
umedrop24
2024-05-16 22:07:20 +0000 UTCConsidering how utterly incompetent the investigation bureau has been again and again, I wouldn't trust them to keep an eye on anybody important. I also think that this chapter really hurts the credibility of the intelligence capabilities of the empire: Two people, who should be under close scrutiny at all times and should be prime suspects whenever something big happens, are the masterminds of this long-running plot. Not sure your writing is convincing in this regard.
Insomnia
2024-05-11 22:38:02 +0000 UTC
