Bi Ziyan straightened his clothes, then stood tall and followed the Imperial Guards out of the prison.
Zhou Yanru was still there pleading desperately.
"Lord Luo, please tell His Majesty for me that I am truly loyal."
"Lord Luo, where are you? Someone, come here!"
Not long after, Bi Ziyan was brought back to the palace.
Not long ago, he was the Minister of Revenue, but now he is a prisoner.
Bi Ziyan's mood was inevitably somewhat down.
Upon seeing this, Wang Chengen felt a pang of pity.
He had heard from the Embroidered Uniform Guards about Bi Ziyan's performance in the imperial prison.
So he whispered his advice: "Lord Bi, when you see Master Gao later, you might as well just admit your mistake."
“Our Master Gao is a good man. As long as you are sincere, Master Gao will definitely not be angry.”
"If Master Gao isn't angry, then His Majesty will be happy too."
"If His Majesty is pleased, then you might just be reinstated to your original position."
His words were indeed made with Bi Ziyan's best interests at heart.
Bi Ziyan wasn't stupid; he naturally understood what Wang Chengen meant.
He smiled at Wang Chengen and said, "I didn't expect that although Eunuch Wang is a eunuch, he has such a kind heart."
"I appreciate your good intentions, but I will not do as you say!"
"The reason why our Great Ming Dynasty has come to this state is because the late emperor favored Wei Zhongxian."
"Although my younger brother died in the chaos of the army rioting for pay, why doesn't the imperial court have the money to pay the soldiers?"
"They all got embezzled by the eunuch faction!"
"His Majesty has not yet killed Wei Zhongxian, but he has already begun to favor this so-called Master Gao."
"If this continues, where will our Great Ming Dynasty find its future?"
Bi Ziyan's words came from the bottom of his heart.
It seems that his brother's death really hit him hard.
After hearing these words, Wang Chengen stopped trying to persuade him.
"Well, since that's what you think, Lord Bi, I won't say any more."
"But I must tell you something: when you see Master Gao later, you must not say anything inappropriate."
"Whatever you want to ask, you can only tell me in a low voice, and then I will pass it on to you."
"Did you understand?"
Although the request was somewhat strange, Bi Ziyan still nodded.
He sneered a few times: "Is this Master Gao trying to pretend to be some kind of senior expert?"
"I've heard that Emperor Shizong was like that back then; he never spoke properly and preferred to have others relay his words..."
This was somewhat taboo, and Bi Ziyan didn't finish his sentence.
But Wang Chengen understood.
The Emperor Shizong mentioned by Bi Ziyan is naturally our Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houcong.
Emperor Jiajing was a riddle maker by nature. He never issued proper imperial edicts, but instead hid his meaning in poems and lyrics, leaving his ministers to guess.
"It seems that Lord Bi's misunderstanding of Master Gao is quite profound."
Wang Chengen sighed, but since Bi Ziyan had agreed to his request, he said nothing more.
After the two entered the palace, Wang Chengen casually waved his hand, dismissing all the eunuchs.
Only he and Bi Ziyan arrived at the island in the middle of the lake, one after the other.
After being searched by several deaf-mute eunuchs, Bi Ziyan finally arrived at the classroom.
Throughout the journey, Bi Ziyan's mind was constantly racing.
"When I see Master Gao, that old white-bearded Taoist priest, I'll refute him mercilessly with righteous indignation!"
"Hmph, when it comes to seeking immortality, alchemy, and medicine, I definitely can't beat that old man."
"But when it comes to governing the country, or matters of state and military affairs, that old man can probably only spout nonsense!"
With this in mind, Bi Ziyan walked into the classroom with his head held high.
As soon as he went inside, he was completely stunned.
"Where is the old Taoist priest? Where is he?"
"And His Majesty, why is he sitting on a bench like a student, listening to the teacher on the platform?"
In his confusion, Zhu Youjian waved to him and said in a low voice, "Sit down and listen for a while."
"Master Gao was just about to explain classical Chinese to us."
Bi Ziyan was stunned after hearing this.
"Huh? Who's Master Gao? You mean the one on stage?"
He pointed at Gao Qingyun, his eyes full of disbelief.
"Isn't he an old Taoist priest with a white beard?"
Zhu Youjian looked displeased.
"Who told you all this?"
"Forget it, I don't have time to talk to you about this now. Find a place yourself."
After speaking, Zhu Youjian looked intently in Gao Qingyun's direction.
Bi Ziyan was completely dumbfounded, but he still sat on the bench.
He glanced at the young Gao Qingyun, then at Zhu Youjian, and doubts began to surface in his mind.
"Wait, what's going on here?"
"Could it be that the Master Gao who offered the miraculous medicine and interfered in military and political affairs is the young man on the stage?"
“But that doesn’t make sense. I saw that his eyes were covered with a black cloth, so he probably can’t see anything.”
"Then what makes him worthy of His Majesty's trust?"
While Bi Ziyan was struggling with his decision, Gao Qingyun on the stage didn't hear the commotion.
He was busy giving a lecture at the moment.
"Dear students, we talked about the Peach Blossom Spring a few days ago. Today we will talk about being born in hardship and dying in comfort."
Gao Qingyun is blind, so all her original textbooks are now unusable.
So he could only rely on his memory to give lectures.
He also discovered that his students had little interest in modern Chinese literature, but were very familiar with classical Chinese literature.
So he taught according to the students' aptitudes and put all these courses together.
"This saying, 'Born in hardship, die in comfort,' comes from Mencius..."
Gao Qingyun spoke eloquently.
At first, Bi Ziyan didn't take it seriously.
He was also a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) in his time, and he could recite these Confucian classics almost perfectly.
But soon after, he frowned.
"Gao Qingyun's accent is rather strange. I wonder where he's from."
"Moreover, when he talks about Mencius, there are no major problems; it is indeed the view of my Confucian school."
"This shows that he was also a scholar."
"If that's the case, why did he try to seduce the emperor instead of honestly taking the imperial examinations?"
Not long after, Gao Qingyun finished the lesson.
He smiled and said to the students, "Alright, that's all for today."
Zhang Xianzhong leaped up.
"Teacher, are you done talking? I'm so sleepy."
"I don't understand any of this 'Baili Xi' or 'grandson howling' stuff."
Gao Qingyun covered her head in exasperation.
"What are you talking about! Those are Baili Xi and Sun Shu'ao!"
"After class, remember to copy today's lesson five times!"
"Oh, sir, are you serious?" Zhang Xianzhong's face fell instantly.
"Hmm?" Gao Qingyun's expression turned cold. "What? You don't want to copy?"
Zhang Xianzhong was immediately terrified.
"I'll copy it, I'll copy it, okay?"
At that moment, a burst of laughter came from behind him.
He looked back and realized that the rest of the children were all snickering.
Zhang Xianzhong was displeased and brandished his fists, ready to intimidate them.
But none of them were afraid.
"Old Zhang, if you have the guts to vent your anger on us, why don't you go and reason with Mr. Gao instead?"
"You're not afraid of Mr. Gao, are you?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Xianzhong shrank back.
"Hmph, I was just respecting my teacher, not being afraid!"
Seeing his appearance, the others burst into laughter again.
Zhu Youjian saw everything and felt a surge of joy.
"These people will all become my trusted ministers in the future, and they will never rebel again!"
Thinking of this, he turned to Bi Ziyan and said:
"Come with me, let's go and have a word with Master Gao."
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