This purge of the noble clans inevitably provoked a backlash. Since these clans monopolized all paths to advancement, the great purge in the capital drew vicious condemnation from the city's scholars.
Tan You, Chen Xi, and their allies were completely unfazed. In their eyes, the noble clans were nothing more than chickens waiting for the slaughter. It was a question of when they would strike, not if.
After Yue Shu and his men left the capital, and in the wake of the purge, the noble clans' counterattack began in earnest. Beyond the verbal assaults led by scholars and literati, a new problem arose: whenever Chen Xi issued a decree, there was no one left to carry it out.
Before, court officials would at least show up at the front hall to go through the motions. Now, there wasn't a single person left. Tan You and Chen Xi faced a completely empty hall. The entire internal system of the imperial court was paralyzed.
