Although Yang Shu always appeared careless and nonchalant, inwardly he was clear-minded and well-informed about the various grandees of the Temple Hall. Take, for example, the Minister of Revenue Bai Changqing—Yang Shu had never heard anyone accuse him of "failing his duties through lust."
Would someone who could rise to be Minister of Revenue and remain unscathed after so many years in the treacherous waters of officialdom truly be a man who let lust cloud his judgment? Yang Shu didn't believe it for a moment.
But at the same time, Yang Shu was keenly aware that his Guest Elder would only say such things if he had solid evidence; at the very least, Bai Changqing had indeed used his newlywed twin concubines as an excuse to deflect and tactfully reject Ye Lansheng's private invitation.
