According to official government hierarchy, the Night Watchers were half a rank lower than the military. After all, they were subordinate to the Inspectorate to begin with. When it came down to it, the provincial inspector general of Silver Moon was their direct supervisor. He was ranked the same as the commander-in-chief of the local military.1

As for Hou Xiaochen, he could be viewed on par with Hu Dingfang. The latter was just one of the commanders of the three armies, which meant that Hao Lianchuan was indeed half a rank lower than him.0

Hu Dingfang’s hectoring put odd expressions on people’s faces. Hao Lianchuan was their superior at the end of the day, so some found the rebuke inappropriate. Not to mention, Hao Lianchuan was a Solar and a decent guy. There are quite a few who were put out with the fact that their supervisor was being publicly reprimanded—even if the person issuing the lecture was here to help them!0

Hou Xiaochen wanted to say a few words, but Hu Dingfang preempted him in a mild tone. “What are all of you looking at? Hao Lianchuan and I have a personal grudge that has nothing...2