169 Chapter 169
◎ Kong Yingda. ◎
In the seventh year of Wude, Kong Yingda entered the Qin Palace as a scholar. It was also from that time that the Qin King entrusted him with an important task and served as the teacher of the Qin King's eldest son. To this day, it has not even been two years.
Kong Yingda was quite satisfied with his student, King Zhongshan. Although he was young and not the smartest, he was sensible and studious, making him very easy to teach. Kong Yingda was always very satisfied with his teaching results.
Now that the King of Qin is the Crown Prince, he can advance even further in the future. The King of Zhongshan is naturally extraordinary. Thinking that he may become the emperor's teacher in the future, Kong Yingda feels that the burden on his shoulders is extremely heavy.
Kong Yingda secretly made up his mind that he must do his best to teach the King of Zhongshan so that he could have both talent and virtue, be able to stand on par with the ancient sage kings, and do everything right, so as not to let down his ancestors.
With full of enthusiasm, Kong Yingda walked into the study room with great passion, and then he found that there was no one else in the room except two little boys serving pens and ink.
Although the King of Zhongshan had a high status, he always respected his teachers and never came later than his teachers. Kong Yingda glanced at the clepsydra in the study and found that he was not early today.
Could it be that the Prince of Zhongshan was delayed by something else? Kong Yingda thought, the Crown Prince had just been appointed, so perhaps there was something important going on in the palace...
This excuse is obviously far-fetched. Even if there is something big happening in the Prince Qin's Mansion, what does he need an eight-year-old child for?
Kong Yingda calculated the time and thought about waiting for another half a quarter of an hour. If the King of Zhongshan did not arrive, he would go and report to the prince.
The Hongyi Palace was heavily guarded, and the King of Zhongshan was in the backyard, so it was impossible for anything to go wrong. It was probably because the child was too playful and forgot that he had to go to school in the afternoon.
In fact, Kong Yingda did not need to disturb the prince for this, but the prince and the King of Zhongshan were a pair of unusual father and son, so the request had to be unusual as well. For a major matter like skipping classes, he had to report it to the prince and ask him to discipline the King of Zhongshan strictly!
In Kong Yingda's opinion, if the King of Zhongshan dares to skip classes today, he will destroy the Tang Dynasty tomorrow!
Half a minute passed quickly, and there was still no sign of King Zhongshan in the study. Kong Yingda immediately went to ask for an audience with the Crown Prince.
It was supposed to be the eldest son's class time, but the teacher came to see him, so Li Shimin immediately summoned Kong Yingda into the hall.
The enthronement of the crown prince was supposed to be a happy event, but from that day on, the eldest son became unusual. After questioning the people around him, Li Shimin found no clues, which gave him a headache.
Fortunately, he still listened to his teacher. After hearing Lu Yuanlang's report, Li Shimin finally felt relieved for a while. He thought that he should invite a few more teachers to teach his eldest son. While thinking about who to invite as a teacher for his eldest son, he discussed important matters with important officials of the Qin Palace.
Hearing that his eldest son dared to skip school, Li Shimin's eyes went dark at first, and then he was filled with anger. Cheng Qian could make trouble with him as his father, but he shouldn't act so willful in front of outsiders!
Rumors are scary. These people will not be lenient with him because he is young. They will just hold on to this small mistake and keep pestering him. They will not let it go until the father and son give an explanation and set an example!
Li Shimin ordered: "Go and invite the King of Zhongshan, but don't disturb the Crown Princess."
Zhangsun Wuji was also in the hall. Seeing this, he knew that the Crown Prince would soon teach his son. Wanting to save face for his nephew, he stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, please be busy first. We will take our leave."
Li Shimin said, "Continue."
Changsun Wuji was worried about his nephew. Kong Yingda had reported the case openly. If the prince dealt with it privately, it would seem that he was biased towards the King of Zhongshan. He didn't want to be accused of partiality.
Although they were educating their children in public, the royal family was not like ordinary families after all, so there might be some complications. Changsun Wuji was secretly worried.
The man was gone for a long time. When he and Li Chengqian came over, Li Shimin's brows were so furrowed that he could pinch a fly to death.
Li Shimin did not ask Li Chengqian, but asked the man: "I just want you to go and invite the King of Zhongshan, why are you delaying for so long?"
Changsun Wuji thought, fortunately, the prince is protecting King Zhongshan.
The man hurriedly replied, "Your Highness, I went to the back courtyard first to convey your order, but the King of Zhongshan's nurse told me that he had gone to the study in the front. So I went back to the study and invited the King of Zhongshan back there."
Upon hearing this, Changsun Wuji showed a hint of joy on his face.
Li Shimin calmly asked, "You said the Prince of Zhongshan has already arrived at the front study? Is this the study where he used to attend classes?"
"Exactly."
Li Shimin looked at Kong Yingda and said, "Mr. Kong, I don't understand why this is happening."
Kong Yingda stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, if I had met the King of Zhongshan in the study, why would I have requested an audience with Your Highness? I beg Your Highness to understand!"
"I find this strange too, Mr. Kong. Aren't you my teacher? Why am I nowhere to be found in the study?" Li Chengqian asked. "So you're here with my grandfather. Could it be that Mr. Kong has become my grandfather's teacher?"
"Cheng Qian, you must not be rude to your teacher." Li Shimin scolded him neither lightly nor harshly.
Li Chengqian bowed demurely, "Your Highness, I obey your command. Do you want me to apologize to Mr. Kong, Your Highness?"
Li Shimin: “…”
He was just pretending. Cheng Qian just admitted his mistake casually. What apology was there? The matter hadn't been sorted out yet, Kong Yingda hadn't apologized yet, so what kind of apology was Cheng Qian saying?
Li Shimin was at a loss for words to say, and the situation became awkward for a moment. At this time, an understanding minister was needed.
Changsun Wuji hurriedly asked, "Mr. Kong, I'd like to ask, when did you leave the study and come here to meet the Crown Prince?"
Kong Yingda naturally knew why Changsun Wuji asked this question, and he also understood the problem. It must be that he and the King of Zhongshan just missed each other.
Kong Yingda was always strict with himself and ashamed to lie. He answered truthfully for a moment and then took the initiative to say to Li Chengqian: "I think the King of Zhongshan arrived later, and I just happened to miss you."
"I almost arrived at the study before 3:00 PM, but then I realized..." Li Chengqian laughed, "So it was because of this, Mr. Kong. You thought I was late, so you came to complain to the Crown Prince."
Kong Yingda said seriously, "King of Zhongshan, it is not me who is complaining, but you..." He paused for a moment, "King of Zhongshan..."
Li Chengqian tilted his head and asked with a smile, "What's wrong with me? Mr. Kong, am I late?"
Kong Yingda blushed and said, "If the King of Zhongshan arrived before 3:00 PM, he would not be late."
Hearing this, Li Shimin laughed and said, "It turned out to be a misunderstanding! Cheng Qian was not late, it was you, Kong Qing, who misunderstood."
Kong Yingda bowed his head and said, "I misunderstood the King of Zhongshan. But I have one more thing to say, and I beg the Crown Prince and the King of Zhongshan to bear with me. While the King of Zhongshan was certainly not late, you arrived at the study at noon. I'm afraid your mind is restless and you can't concentrate on your studies. I beg the King of Zhongshan to refrain from this behavior in the future."
Li Shimin nodded and said, "Teacher, you are right. You must not slack off in your studies. Cheng Qian, from now on, you must arrive at the study room two quarters of an hour earlier."
Li Chengqian said coldly, "I can't do that."
Li Shimin's smile froze: "Cheng Qian, don't be willful."
"The lectures start at 3 p.m., and I arrived at 3 p.m., so I'm not late," Li Chengqian said. "If Your Highness had moved the lectures up by two quarters of an hour, I certainly wouldn't have dared to disobey."
"Also, Mr. Kong wronged me, but he hasn't apologized to me." Li Chengqian continued, "Your Highness's scholars don't even know what a mistake is and can correct it. Isn't that the greatest kindness?"
Only then did Li Shimin realize that he really wanted Kong Yingda to apologize just now, but that was only because he saw Kong Yingda was too aggressive before. Now that Kong Yingda has softened his attitude and is the teacher of his eldest son, and they, father and son, have the upper hand, if they continue to hold on to this matter, it would seem that they are bullying others, which is not good.
Kong Yingda blushed again and bowed to Li Chengqian: "I misunderstood the King of Zhongshan. Please forgive me, King of Zhongshan."
Li Shimin wanted to smooth things over and brush off the previous incident, so he said, "Cheng Qian, Mr. Kong has admitted his mistake, so let's let this matter go."
Li Chengqian said sternly, "Since Your Highness has spoken of the past, I will obey your order."
Li Shimin: “…”
No, is this ever going to end? This brat keeps calling me "Crown Prince," "Your Highness," and "Minister." What's going on? Are they only the monarch and his subject in name only?
He had to keep harping on such a small matter! It was such a small matter, yet this guy made it into a huge deal.
Li Shimin simply pretended not to understand this sentence, thinking that he would settle the score with his eldest son in the evening!
Li Shimin said, "In that case, Chengqian, you will go back with Mr. Kong to study."
Li Chengqian saluted again: "I obey your order."
Li Shimin rubbed his forehead and waved his hand, saying, "Go..."
Kong Yingda also bowed and took his leave.
After the two of them left, Li Shimin gave a wry smile and said to his confidants in the hall: "Alas, this child is so naughty. I am sorry to have made you laugh."
These people were Li Shimin's most trusted confidants. They understood the elegant meaning of the music and immediately said that what had just happened was just children being naughty and not a big deal.
Li Shimin smiled slightly, thinking that he had gotten away with it. However, he still had to teach Cheng Qian, this disobedient and ignorant boy, a lesson!
But he didn't know that as soon as Li Chengqian left the palace, he couldn't close his mouth: "Mr. Kong, I heard that your ancestor is Confucius?"
The matter of class hours had been muddled through, and Kong Yingda was still wondering how to bring it up again. Upon hearing this, he nodded and said, "That's right. When our ancestors taught at the Xingtan Temple, they didn't care about family background and taught everyone."
"Confucius didn't ask about family background, but we in the Tang Dynasty do!" Li Chengqian laughed. "Mr. Kong, look at the officials in the court today. Who doesn't come from an aristocratic family? This is wrong, absolutely wrong! It goes against Confucius' teachings. Mr. Kong, as a descendant of Confucius, don't you want to do something about this distorted world?"
Kong Yingda: “…”
What could he do? He himself was from an aristocratic family. Although the Kong family was not as powerful as those other big families, it was still considered a prominent family because it had the name of Confucius.
Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, aristocratic families have risen, and the imperial power naturally does not like this, but can this situation be reversed by the efforts of one person alone?
Kong Yingda thought that no matter how wise and powerful the Crown Prince in the palace was, he would not be able to easily reverse the situation.
Li Chengqian pressed on, "Mr. Kong, why are you silent? Am I asking the wrong question? Could it be that your ancestors were wrong? They shouldn't have taught everyone, like the Tang Dynasty is doing now, where only the aristocratic families can study and hold official positions?"
Kong Yingda: “…”
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