Ye Jingchen discovered that his father's harem was completely different from the harems in the palace dramas and novels he had watched before.

His father's harem was deathly still, devoid of palace intrigue or troublemaking concubines; it was even more peaceful than the harem of an ordinary official's family.

Years ago, before he transmigrated, there were palace maids who would drug his father in order to climb into his bed; when he transmigrated, there were always many concubines dressed up in the imperial garden every day, vying for his father's attention!

Now things are really messed up. Not to mention the palace maids, even the concubines are behaving themselves. There are no more beautiful women in the Imperial Garden who want to bump into her father. As a result, all the flowers in the Imperial Garden can only admire their own beauty in solitude.

It was about five years since no other children were born in the palace. His father was not interested in women and never held a selection of concubines to expand the harem. Without fresh blood, the palace would naturally become lifeless.

The most bustling place in the entire palace had become the Wenhua Hall, and all eyes were fixed on it.

Ye Jingchen disliked the feeling of being the center of attention, and he also disliked putting himself in the public eye, so he dropped a bombshell on the quiet harem.

In the past, his father wasn't very interested in or enthusiastic about anyone. Everyone had equal opportunities and competed fairly, so things were peaceful.

Now things are really complicated. His father has suddenly started to pay attention to the Imperial Concubine and her son, and those who are interested will naturally be unable to restrain themselves.

After all, given the Consort's family background, if she becomes Empress, then Ye Jingyu will become the legitimate son of the Empress and the most powerful contender for the throne, leaving no room for anyone else!

In this way, the harem will soon become lively, and his father will be even busier than before.

In doing so, one inevitably loses out on something else. Ye Jingchen is determined to fight for the position of Minister of Personnel.

His father wasn't good at judging people; the people he raised were either lackeys of powerful families or incompetent. He couldn't even find a suitable candidate in the court. So he set his sights on the renowned reclusive scholars of Kyushu.

He had long ago asked Xie Chang'an to collect information on those reclusive scholars, and after careful selection, he actually found a suitable one.

Yan Xu, who called himself Mr. Guzhu, lived in seclusion on Jiuding Lotus Mountain, the most famous mountain in Yongzhou.

He was not only a master of Confucianism, but also very familiar with the laws of Dayuan. He advocated ruling the country according to law and that princes should be punished the same as commoners if they broke the law.

His ideas were naturally considered rebellious and unacceptable in this era, so he simply resigned from his official post and went into seclusion.

Xie Chang'an was very familiar with this person. How familiar was he?

In his previous life, after he became emperor, he invited Yan Xu to serve as prime minister, which can be described as a harmonious relationship between the emperor and his minister.

Before his death, the minister he selected to entrust the care of the crown prince was Yan Xu.

However, Xie Chang'an felt that Ye Jingchen's ideas might be more in line with Yan Xu's, and Yan Xu would probably like Ye Jingchen very much.

However, with Yan Xu's ability and prestige, he was more than qualified to be prime minister. If he were only to be the Minister of Personnel, then Wang Xianruo's position as prime minister would likely be very difficult.

However, no matter how much Wang Xianruo suffers, it won't be as bad as Ye Jingchen's suffering.

Yan Xu's personality, just like his self-chosen name "Mr. Guzhu," is very straightforward, and he can't stand anything roundabout.

"Is there any way to persuade this Mr. Guzhu to come out of seclusion?" Ye Jingchen asked Xie Chang'an.

If Xie Chang'an doesn't have connections—

Since Mr. Guzhu is living in seclusion in Yongzhou, he must have a good relationship with the Ji family. Perhaps he can even use the Ji family to help him.

As for how to borrow it? Well, we'll have to rely on Ye Jingyu.

No elderly person would dislike a pure and enthusiastic child like Ye Jingyu. They could then have him persuade Ji Wushuang to take him back to Yongzhou to see his maternal grandfather, and then find another opportunity to meet that Mr. Guzhu.

Ye Jingchen had made two plans, but Xie Chang'an was very confident in getting this Mr. Guzhu to come out of seclusion.

In his previous life, before he understood Yan Xu, he was able to persuade Yan Xu to come down the mountain. In this life, he doesn't even need to go in person; a letter is enough to lure that stubborn old man down the mountain.

He wrote a letter and had it sent by fast horse to Jiuding Lotus Mountain in Yongzhou.

Yongzhou was thousands of miles away from the capital, and it would take several months to send a letter back and forth.

In early March, Xie Chang'an received a letter from Yan Xu, who indeed agreed to come out of seclusion. However, he requested that the emperor appoint him with a formal letter of appointment.

It was because he received Ye Jingchen's confirmation that Ye Jingchen quickly made the current Minister of Personnel vacate his position.

Mr. Guzhu was a renowned reclusive scholar. Xie Chang'an had someone reveal to the Imperial Academy Chancellor, who was also Gu Beichen's father, that Mr. Guzhu wanted to take up an official post.

After confirming the truth of the matter, Gu Jijiu quickly submitted a memorial to the emperor, requesting that the emperor invite Mr. Guzhu to serve as the Minister of Personnel.

As soon as he submitted his memorial, many court officials immediately echoed his sentiments.

Because Mr. Guzhu's prestige was so great that even aristocratic families and nobles yielded to him.

They had no choice but to back down, since the person they wanted to recommend was no match for Mr. Guzhu. Moreover, Mr. Guzhu was living in seclusion in Yongzhou and was under the protection of the Ji family. Neither the powerful families nor the nobles dared to offend him too much.

The emperor didn't want to use this so-called great Confucian scholar who had appeared out of nowhere. No matter how famous the other party was, could he be more famous than the emperor?

However, the court's opinion was too strong, and he had been hesitant about which of the two candidates he preferred to choose. Suddenly, the Imperial Guard discovered that one of them was colluding with aristocratic families and the other was corrupt and lawless in private, so neither of them could be used.

The slap in the face came so quickly that even though it wasn't the first time the emperor had been so blatantly humiliated, he was still nearly driven mad with anger.

Unfortunately, the women in the harem were also causing trouble, putting on a show of jealousy and rivalry in front of him, which angered the emperor so much that he punished many people.

However, the position of Minister of Personnel was very important, and with no one else available in the court, the emperor had no choice but to reluctantly issue an imperial edict appointing Jiuding Lotus Mountain.

Ye Jingchen was in a particularly good mood after playing another excellent game of chess.

Xie Chang'an originally didn't want to remind him, but out of consideration for their alliance, and of course, because he couldn't stand Ye Jingchen's smugness in private, he kindly reminded him: "You are the Crown Prince, deeply favored by the Emperor, and all your brothers are obedient to you. Your position is secure. Why do you always act so secretly, as if you are ashamed to be seen?"

Sometimes Ye Jingchen didn't feel like the crown prince to him; he seemed more like a treacherous traitor plotting something sinister.

He really couldn't understand why Ye Jingchen, who clearly already held a lot of leverage, wouldn't even show his face in front of the court officials.

In the minds of many court officials, His Highness the Crown Prince is probably still that uneducated, selfish, violent, and unruly little tyrant. The only thing people can talk about is his strange filial piety, which the emperor praises to the skies.