After Yan Xu left, the emperor picked up his memorial and began to read it.

He threw the memorial away after reading less than a page.

He suspected that Yan Xu had insulted him in the memorial, and he had evidence!

They say the Ministry of Personnel has too many redundant officials, engages in nepotism, and has unfair performance evaluations...

Although Yan Xu was referring to the Ministry of Personnel, the emperor felt that his words were a veiled criticism of Yan Xu's incompetence and inaction.

Furthermore, Yan Xu's memorials were sharp and incisive, without a single word of praise or embellishment, which the emperor found particularly unsettling.

After being angry for a while, he thought about how the little brats would come to pay their respects today and would definitely ask about Yan Xu, so he picked up the memorial again and continued reading. But after a while, he wanted to throw the memorial away.

Does the Ministry of Personnel have that many problems?

Even if there are problems, it has been operating normally all these years, hasn't it?

This is alarmist!

Suppressing his anger, the emperor finished reading Yan Xu's memorial. He originally wanted to draw a big X to reject it, but after thinking about it, he wrote "Approved" in vermilion.

The new official, having not yet grasped the complexities of the court, dared to implement sweeping reforms. The emperor eagerly anticipated seeing him fail miserably.

In the evening, when Ye Jingchen and his group came to pay their respects to the emperor, they indeed inquired about Mr. Guzhu.

"He has already agreed to the class, and the time is set for three days from now. I only mentioned it briefly, and he agreed without hesitation," the emperor said with considerable pride.

Before he spoke, he thought that if Yan Xu didn't know what was good for him, he would force him to the Wenhua Hall. Fortunately, this did not happen.

Ye Jingchen knew, of course, why Mr. Guzhu had agreed so readily. After all, he hadn't come to the capital by invitation; he had been lured there by a letter from Xie Chang'an.

He came for the same ideals, for a kindred spirit, and since that kindred spirit was in the Wenhua Hall, he would naturally agree without hesitation.

However, Ye Jingchen would not expose the emperor; let him be smug for a while longer!

After all, there will be plenty of times in the future when he'll be so angry he'll jump up and down!

"Really? It is said that Mr. Guzhu is proud and aloof and never bows to power. I had no hope at all, but I did not expect that Father Emperor would actually be able to invite him. Father Emperor, you are really amazing!" Ye Jingchen praised the emperor again with great emotion.

The emperor was pleased, but he was quite dismissive, saying, "Even if he doesn't bow to brute force, he still has to bow to imperial power, unless he doesn't want to live!"

Ye Jingchen shook his head inwardly.

Given his father's personality, it's no wonder that Da Yuan, despite not being finished, was still destroyed by him.

Although his father received a traditional education as a crown prince when he was young, the late emperor probably suppressed him too much, and his methods of seizing the throne were too bloody, yet he still succeeded, which is why he developed his current arrogant and conceited personality.

Three days later, the emperor ended the morning court session early and led Yan Xu to the East Palace for breakfast.

When they arrived at the East Palace, Ye Jingchen and his group had just finished their morning exercise.

"This is Minister Yan Xu, also known as Mr. Guzhu, whom you all admire so much."

The emperor, who was very particular about his demeanor and image when facing his son, introduced him in a gentle tone.

"Wasn't it said that Mr. Guzhu was an old man?" Ye Jinghe asked in confusion when he saw the middle-aged man standing next to the emperor.

Ye Jingchen also looked at Xie Chang'an, after all, it was Xie Chang'an who initially said that Mr. Guzhu was an old man.

Xie Chang'an ignored him.

He met Yan Xu more than ten years later, and Yan Xu was an old man back then.

More than a decade ago, Mr. Guzhu, though he also had a beard, was not yet of marriageable age. His beard was black and straight, his face was resolute, and his posture was upright.

Ye Jinghe's voice was not low, and Yan Xu heard it too. He looked at Ye Jinghe with a sense of pressure in his eyes.

Ye Jinghe wasn't afraid of even the emperor's gaze, so naturally he wasn't afraid of Yan Xu either, and he looked up to meet his eyes.

"Such a young age, but quite impressive," Yan Xu nodded approvingly.

The emperor thought to himself, "That's more than just good. A newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger. This little wolf cub isn't even afraid of him, the emperor. Why would he be afraid of you?"

"Greetings, Mr. Yan." Led by Ye Jingchen, a group of kids greeted Yan Xu together.

"Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince, and all Your Highnesses!" Yan Xu nodded to the group of children.

With so many little brats, which one is the one who wrote the letter to him?

During breakfast, because Yan Xu was an outsider, everyone adhered to the principle of "not talking while eating" and finished their breakfast in silence.

After a short rest, it was time for morning classes.

Because the decision to have Mr. Guzhu come to Wenhua Hall to give a lecture was made three days ago, today, in addition to the students, all the attendants and lecturers of the Eastern Palace were present in Wenhua Hall, and even the Emperor planned to sit in for a while.

Not only Ye Jingchen and his group were looking forward to this class, but the attendants and lecturers were also eagerly anticipating it. Yan Xu himself had been preparing for it for three days.

For the past three days, Ye Jingchen had been trying to guess what Yan Xu would talk about, and he even gave the kids some tips in advance.

Xie Chang'an had told him about Yan Xu's way of governing the world and had also found some of Yan Xu's early manuscripts. Based on Xie Chang'an's narration and the ideas revealed in Yan Xu's manuscripts, Ye Jingchen could roughly confirm that Yan Xu admired certain doctrines of Taoism and Legalism.

Like Han Feizi, Yan Xu was more inclined to agree with the theory of combining Dao, Fa, Shu, and Shi. However, unlike Han Feizi, he did not agree with the divine right of kings, monarchical autocracy, or that the monarch could be above the law.

Based on his philosophy, Ye Jingchen selected several legal works that would be considered very insightful by later generations and had the kids preview them. Most importantly, he had them debate the issues based on their own thoughts.

"Today, I will explain Han Yu's 'Great Body' to Your Highnesses."

"Those who understood the whole picture in ancient times looked to the heavens and the earth, observed the rivers and seas, followed the valleys and mountains, saw the sun and moon shining upon them, observed the movement of the four seasons, and observed the distribution of clouds and the movement of wind..."

The familiar opening moved all the children, and they all turned their gazes to Ye Jingchen.

Ye Jingchen prepared several classic Legalist works for them, one of which was Han Yu's "Da Ti".

Han Yu's "Da Ti" is a work on governance that combines Daoist naturalism with Legalist pragmatism. It reflects Han Yu's profound insights into state governance and individual behavior.

It can be broadly explained as a sense of the big picture.

For a ruler, a broad perspective is an essential political quality, and Ye Jingchen has been cultivating this perspective in them.

Yan Xu was very well prepared for today. Every explanation was concise and easy to understand. At least, it was much simpler than when Ye Jingchen explained it to the kids, yet it was still quite profound.

The emperor was a very busy man, so he only listened in for a quarter of an hour. After confirming that Yan Xu hadn't said anything nonsensical, he left with his entourage.

His departure didn't alarm anyone. Yan Xu's lectures were neither long-winded nor boring. Even Yun Shu, who disliked reading the most, listened attentively.

After Yan Xu finished explaining all the interpretations, he began to ask questions, and the first question was to Ye Jingshu.