A group of ministers led by Marquis Wuping sat in silence at the entrance of the Imperial Study for an entire day, leaving only when the palace gates were to be locked in the evening.
Although they didn't spend the day kneeling, sitting silently at the entrance of the Imperial Study all day without having lunch left them exhausted and famished by the evening.
Back home, the ministers were keen to have their meal, devouring it ravenously.
Their families could see their hardship and urged them not to resist. However, the ministers argued that if they yielded to the emperor's wishes this time, the emperor would act even more excessively in the future. To protect their interests, they could not give up easily.
As long as they could make the emperor withdraw his decree, they were willing to sit silently at the entrance of the Imperial Study for a year if needed.
Their families, however, dared not question if sitting silently there was indeed effective.
