The tableware at palace banquets was customized according to the official rank.
In other words, the tableware used by the emperor, empress, concubines, princes, and ministers were all different.
Now that the wine jug appeared here, Gu Yanheng's mind went blank and he didn't know how to defend himself.
Nothing reveals the truth better than a knee-jerk reaction.
Seeing this, the emperor took a deep breath, trying to control his inner anger.
"Father, I am innocent. I was not aware of the situation. I really was not aware of the situation!"
Besides that, Gu Yanheng didn't know what words to use to face the Holy Wrath.
"Not aware?"
The emperor smashed the wine jug in his hand against Gu Yanheng's side. With a "bang", Gu Yanheng was so scared that he knelt on the ground.
"Someone come!"
"Put the Third Prince in jail!"
The emperor shouted angrily, and the guards outside the imperial study pushed the door open and entered.
Gu Yanheng cried and shouted, crawling on his knees to the emperor's feet.
"Father! Your Majesty, I am innocent. I was truly unaware of the situation, Father!"
As he spoke, Gu Yanheng grabbed the corner of the emperor's clothes with both hands.
What followed was a powerful kick from the emperor.
When the guards arrived, they saw Gu Yanheng lying on the ground with his hands covering his chest.
"Didn't you say you didn't know? Then think about it carefully in prison. When you remember what you did, come see me again!"
After saying that, the emperor simply waved his hand and didn't even look at him.
After the guards took Gu Yanheng away, Jiang Li walked out from behind the screen of the imperial study.
"Sit down."
The emperor sighed.
He took the hot tea handed to him by the eunuch, took a sip, and said nothing more.
After a long while, the emperor slowly said, "I have had many sons and daughters in my life, but I can't even count the number of princes who died young on one hand."
Jiang Li didn't say anything.
Listen quietly.
I just thought to myself that the struggle in the harem is indeed cruel and terrifying at any time.
Those princes who were born with a silver spoon in their mouths were also part of the harem struggle and the biggest victims.
"Take the third child, for example. He's been clever since childhood, but he's never put that brain to good use. I remember him being so fluent in the Four Books and Five Classics when he was very young, yet none of the teachers liked him. Do you know why?"
Jiang Li shook her head.
To her, the Third Prince in the original book was nothing more than a puppet of the male protagonist, and he was also someone who was naturally incompatible with her.
The emperor smiled and said, "Because he is always looking for trouble with the teachers, always asking them all kinds of tricky questions to embarrass them."
"Actually, now that I think about it, perhaps I didn't do it right. I'm used to following the doctrine of the mean. In my opinion, the prince must be self-disciplined, respect the teachers, and even if he has doubts, he should ask them honestly instead of making things difficult for them or questioning them."
"So, I repeatedly suppressed him, especially in front of the Crown Prince. I would always praise the Crown Prince and criticize him, hoping to curb his arrogant nature so that he would learn more from the Crown Prince."
"Gradually, he changed. Although he picked up some of the bad habits of a playboy, he seemed to be a decent person overall. But I never expected that he would hate the Crown Prince so much because of this, and even, actually went so far as to murder his eldest brother!"
Unexpectedly, the third prince had such a story.
Jiang Li looked at the emperor in silence, not knowing what to say.
She naturally disliked Gu Yanheng, but after hearing all this, she couldn't help but sigh silently.
The person in front of me is definitely a natural emperor and a benevolent ruler who cares about the people.
But for the third prince Gu Yanheng, he was definitely not a good father.
The young genius had a perverse temperament, and because of the emperor's suppression, the first thing he learned at a young age was to suppress his nature.
If he understood something, he had to say he didn't understand it; if he knew something, he had to say he couldn't do it. Moreover, the teachers' targeting and dislike were fatal to the students, so it's no wonder that he didn't achieve very deep academic accomplishments later on.
In addition, with the example of the Crown Prince in front of her and the ambition of Concubine Chen beside her, she has developed the disjointed attitude she has today, where she is easily bewitched and wants to climb to a high position but has no real ability.
"Tell me, if I hadn't suppressed him back then, and had followed his advice and replaced him with more capable teachers, would the Third Prince now be able to compete with the Crown Prince?"
The emperor looked at Jiang Li, wanting to hear an answer from her.
In fact, the emperor was not unaware of the existence of the Third Prince's Party over the years, but in his opinion, it was just a joke.
The crown prince is the heir apparent he has chosen, and this is a fact that cannot be changed.
As for those open and covert struggles, in the eyes of the emperor, they could help the prince grow as quickly as possible, so he did not interfere.
Fighting is one thing, but to do something like poisoning and murdering one's brothers is not a question of ability, but a lack of morality.
"In reply to Your Majesty, I am a doctor, and I know that in medicine, one must first correct oneself, and then correct things. Correcting oneself means understanding the principles and understanding the universe, and correcting things means being able to use medicine to treat the disease. Only then will things be successful and the results achieved."
Jiang Li said, "Your Majesty, you are the supreme ruler. You are the only one who knows the way to be a king."
After saying this, Jiang Li stood up and saluted, "I am only grateful to the Emperor for his wisdom in agreeing to my proposal to deceive him with the wine jug."
Gu Yanheng remembered correctly that the wine jug he used to poison the body at the palace banquet had long been destroyed by his men.
Therefore, Jiang Li could only tell the emperor his guess, and then proposed to prepare another identical wine pot to trick the third prince to see if he would reveal his true identity.
"First correct yourself, then correct others." The emperor repeated this and then nodded. "You are right. If you cannot correct yourself, how can you correct others? The same should apply to being a ruler."
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