readbooksol Chapter 5517 Like a Teacher and Father
Chapter 5517 Like a Teacher and Father
Chapter 5517 Like a Teacher and Father
Seeing the resolute look on Empress Su's beautiful face, Fang Jun sighed and said, "But no matter what, the Crown Prince must enter the palace to attend to the sick."
If a father in an ordinary family falls ill, his children will attend to him and serve him medicine. How much more so for a prince?
"Governing the country with filial piety" is not just a saying; it is a concept that has long been ingrained in everyone's bones. A person may commit murder and robbery, or be corrupt and wicked, but as long as they know their mistakes and correct them, they can be considered a prodigal son who has returned home. However, if a person is unfilial, then there is no chance for them to repent.
In this era where Confucian values prevail, "filial impiety" is the greatest sin.
His Majesty is seriously ill, but the Crown Prince ignores him in the Eastern Palace, which is tantamount to handing the handle of the "dethronement" to His Majesty. Once the imperial edict is issued, no one dares to object.
Empress Su understood this principle, but she was deeply worried: "What if His Majesty did this on purpose?"
Using the pretext of contracting an illness, they tricked the crown prince into entering the palace, and then plotted to frame him...
It may seem sensational, but it's not impossible.
Fang Jun firmly said, "Don't think about anything else. As long as you still care about the position of Crown Prince, you must enter the palace to attend to the sick prince. Moreover, you and your son must enter the palace together."
Sometimes, no matter what you think in your heart, your attitude is very important.
Empress Su looked displeased, but she knew that Fang Jun's words made sense and that he was just throwing a tantrum. So she nodded gently and said, "Bring the Crown Prince to the palace first thing tomorrow morning."
Fang Jun nodded: "That's more like it!"
I picked up my teacup and took a sip of tea.
Then she whispered, "However, the Empress's concerns should not be ignored. It is best not to let the Crown Prince out of sight. His food, drink, and daily life should all be handled by trusted confidants, just in case."
Empress Su glanced at Fang Jun, her expression indifferent: "You only care about the safety of the Crown Prince, but you don't care even a little about my safety?"
Fang Jun clicked his tongue, speechless: "Stop messing around!"
Empress Su glared angrily.
Fang Jun had no choice but to explain: "The Crown Prince is the foundation of the nation and is responsible for the stability of the country. As long as the Crown Prince is safe and sound, the Eastern Palace will be as solid as a rock, and the Empress will naturally be as secure as a rock. Only if something happens to the Crown Prince will the Empress be affected."
Empress Su said with dissatisfaction: "In short, as long as the Crown Prince is safe, I don't care if I die?"
Fang Jun helplessly spread his hands: "Why bother seeing through things but not saying them outright?"
That is indeed the case. Although the Crown Prince is young, he is no longer an ignorant child. Even if Empress Su were to have an accident or even if His Majesty were to make Consort Shen Empress, as long as the Eastern Palace faction is there, the Crown Prince will be as stable as a mountain and no one can bully him.
Whether Empress Su is alive or dead is really not that important...
Empress Su's eyebrows furrowed, her phoenix eyes widened, and she gritted her teeth, saying, "Others may not care whether I live or die, but you don't care either?"
Fang Jun was at a loss. He coughed and said, "What can I do even if I care? I can't possibly believe that if something happens to Your Majesty, I should commit suicide for love, can I?"
"Pooh!"
Empress Su blushed and spat. Although she had started with words, she still couldn't handle Fang Jun's direct offensive.
After all, she came from a scholarly family and was well-educated and virtuous from a young age. She had little contact with men and although she and her husband were harmonious and loving for a time after marriage, the various etiquettes and constraints of the royal family were too many. She had never experienced childhood innocence or romantic love, and was really inexperienced in flirting and ambiguous words between men and women.
Seeing her expression, Fang Jun couldn't help but find it amusing.
He's really bad at the game but loves to play...
Empress Su glared at him and demanded, "Tomorrow morning, you shall escort me and the Crown Prince to the palace."
Fang Jun hesitated: "Your Majesty must request an audience before I enter the palace. What if His Majesty refuses to see me? And it wouldn't be appropriate for me to enter the palace with Your Majesty, the Empress."
Although his relationship with Empress Su was completely innocent, there had been many rumors circulating in the market, which clearly showed that Li Chengqian was somewhat concerned about them.
If they were to enter the palace together at this time, how could Li Chengqian not feel a sense of estrangement?
Empress Su understood his meaning but didn't care: "You are the Junior Guardian of the Crown Prince, and the Crown Prince respects you as his teacher. What's wrong with accompanying the Crown Prince into the palace? If His Majesty doesn't allow you to enter the palace, then the Crown Prince and I wouldn't dare to enter the palace at all."
Fang Jun thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.
If the Crown Prince does not enter the palace to attend to the ailing prince, it is considered that the Crown Prince is "unfilial," has abandoned the principle of father-son relationship, and will be attacked by others. Conversely, if His Majesty does not allow his tutor, the Crown Prince's tutor, to accompany the Crown Prince into the palace, it means that there is indeed another scheme, or even that the Crown Prince is being excluded from the palace gates in a disguised way. At that time, public opinion will inevitably reverse, which will be detrimental to His Majesty.
Your Majesty has always presented yourself to the world as "generous and benevolent," how can you bear the reputation of being "unkind to your own children"?
He then looked up and glanced at Empress Su.
This woman sometimes seems innocent and naive, but at other times she is confident and shrewd; the contrast is quite striking...
Empress Su glared at him, displeased, and said, "Why are you looking at me like that? You must be thinking something unpleasant!"
"what!"
Fang Jun chuckled and said, "Your Majesty misunderstands. I was simply admiring your inner and outer beauty, your exceptional talent and intelligence, and your combination of beauty and wisdom..."
"Pooh!"
Empress Su spat, not believing a single word of it.
……
There is a small gate on the north side of the Wude Hall, where the armory is located and the wall of the East Palace. It is used for people to pass through. However, since the Empress and the Crown Prince are here to attend to the sick, they should naturally leave the palace gate and enter Chengtian Gate to show that their actions are legitimate and dignified.
The carriage exited Jiafu Gate, turned right, and headed towards Chengtian Gate along Heng Street. Fang Jun, fully armored and riding alongside, served as a guard. Crown Prince Li Xiang lifted the carriage curtain, looked up, and asked, "I have a question that I do not understand. I would appreciate it if the Grand Commandant could enlighten me."
Fang Jun looked around, waved for the nearby guards to keep their distance, then approached the carriage and asked with a smile, "Your Highness, if there is anything you don't understand, please tell me, so that we, as ruler and subject, can discuss it together."
Empress Su, inside the carriage, also looked at the Crown Prince.
Li Xiang whispered, "Yesterday in class, the Duke of Yan said, 'If you don't get along with your parents, you can't be considered a person; if you don't obey your parents, you can't be considered a son'... But my mother often tells me that I can't be weak, that I should fight for what I should fight for, and that I shouldn't let others bully me... So who is right and who is wrong?"
Empress Su was immediately enraged: "Yu Zhining is a scoundrel!"
He glared at Fang Jun again, and said with dissatisfaction, "I told you we can't let these people instill those ideas of blind loyalty in the Crown Prince!"
The meaning of this sentence is very simple: a person who does not get along well with his or her parents cannot be a good person; a son who cannot always obey his or her parents' wishes cannot be a good son.
This is Mencius's view, which places fulfilling parents' spiritual needs at the core of filial piety, transcending the level of simply providing material support.
In the case of Li Xiang, it would mean, "Your position as crown prince was ordained by His Majesty through a golden decree, and now His Majesty intends to change the heir. How can you, as his son, disagree?"
Fang Jun ignored Empress Su and explained to Li Xiang with a smile: "First of all, 'filial piety' is not about blind obedience. When parents make mistakes, children should advise them and help them correct them. This is also 'filial piety'. If you don't distinguish right from wrong and let your parents make mistakes again and again, that is 'unfilial piety'."
Seeing that Li Xiang seemed to be deep in thought, he continued, "Secondly, the position of heir apparent is the foundation of the state and the basis of the nation. If the heir apparent has not made any major mistakes, rashly changing the heir apparent would be to disrupt the state and shake the foundation of the nation, which is wrong."
Then he winked at Li Xiang: "Again, what does it have to do with Your Highness the insightful people in the court and among the people who disagree with the change of heir apparent and who care about the country?"
As a son, you certainly cannot contradict your father's will, but it is not you, the crown prince, who oppose the change of heir, but us ministers!
Li Xiang was dumbfounded: "This...this...is this okay?"
Even though he was young and naive, he understood that this was nothing but sophistry and nonsense.
Fang Jun smiled meaningfully: "Your Highness must understand the principle of 'doing things before being a person,' and when doing things, the most important thing is not to work tirelessly day and night, but to learn how to 'pass the buck.'"
"Shifting the blame?"
Li Xiang didn't quite understand the word. After pondering it for a moment, he asked uncertainly, "Does the Grand Commandant mean to shirk responsibility?"
Fang Jun nodded and praised, "This young man is teachable!"
"This one……"
Li Xiang was somewhat bewildered.
The classic texts he studied always taught him how to take responsibility and how to correct his mistakes, but never how to "pass the buck"...
Fang Jun instructed, "Your Highness must understand a principle: the world is not simply black and white, nor is it simply right and wrong. Everything has a 'degree' to it. Once it goes 'excessively,' good things turn into bad things, and white turns into black. We spend our whole lives learning, in fact, so that we can accurately grasp the 'degree' when we act."
A sword has two edges, and its energy is divided into yin and yang.
Misfortune may be a blessing in disguise, and a blessing may be a misfortune in disguise; there is always good within bad and black within white.
For example, although the power of the monarch may seem supreme, with the power of life and death and the power of words to enforce the law, it can also backfire and cause great disaster.
Distributing some power among different entities may not necessarily be a bad thing.
Empress Su pursed her lips, gazing at Fang Jun with a deep, enigmatic look in her eyes.
Li Xiang seemed to understand but not quite, scratching his head and saying with difficulty, "I still don't quite understand, but I will think about it carefully."
Fang Jun nodded from his horse and said, “While classic texts are indeed the condensation of the wisdom of sages and philosophers, those who compile them often do not possess the same abilities as the sages. Therefore, there are errors in the classic texts. As Mencius himself said, ‘It is better to have no books than to believe everything in them.’ Reading classic texts is not about rote memorization, but about understanding the principles summarized by the sages and then applying them to solve the problems we encounter in life.”
He paused, then asked, "Has Your Highness ever read the story of Zichan killing Deng Xi?"
Li Xiang nodded.
Fang Jun continued, "The benevolent man Zichan, whom Confucius admired, executed the eloquent minister Deng Xi precisely because Deng Xi and Zichan had completely diverged in their views on right and wrong. What Zichan considered 'right,' Deng Xi considered 'wrong.' The two debated, and Zichan, unable to win the argument and having lost the support of the people, had Deng Xi executed… I leave Your Highness with an assignment: go back and ponder whether Zichan or the lantern show was right or wrong?"
Li Xiang respectfully agreed.
Inside the carriage, Empress Su sat upright to one side, her eyes gleaming.