When the prince returned to Chunhe Palace, it was already time to light the lanterns.
Mrs. Chang came up to meet the prince, took the prince's cloak, and asked as politely as possible: "Has your highness not eaten yet?"
Jiangmen Tiger Girl's physique is good. She has just given birth and she has already recovered as before. Moreover, her whole person is much calmer and more considerate than before. It's just the culture that can't be improved by just trying to make up for it.
"No." The corners of the prince's mouth twitched slightly, he shook his head calmly, took the warm cotton towel given by the palace maid, and applied it on his face for a while.
"Hurry up and prepare a meal for the prince." Mrs. Chang ordered, and the palace maid brought the steaming meals, which were obviously carefully prepared.
"I'm really impressed by you." The prince smiled and sat down, taking the silver spoon from Chang.
In the past, Mrs. Chang would not have worried about these things. These were all matters that Mrs. Lu was responsible for. Now that Mrs. Lu is on long-term sick leave, Mrs. Chang has also begun to worry about the prince's daily life and diet.
"I used to be too ignorant." Mrs. Chang smiled, poured a bowl of soup for the prince and said, "Drinking soup before meals is better than good medicine. This is what my fifth uncle taught me."
"Yes." The prince nodded happily, took the soup bowl, blew the hot air gently, and drank the soup gracefully.
Before I had eaten a few mouthfuls, Eunuch Cui came in and reported: "Your Majesty, Mr. Song wants to see you."
"Can't we wait for the prince to finish this meal?" Mrs. Chang said displeased.
"Hey, he did the right thing. Mr. Song is not someone else and cannot be neglected." The prince swallowed the food in his mouth and ordered:
"Please come quickly."
~~
Soon, Eunuch Cui led the gray-haired Song Lian in.
"Hahaha, what brought the teacher here? Why didn't you say hello in advance?" The prince greeted him warmly at the door.
"Alas, Your Highness. This happened suddenly. The old man came to Beijing day and night." Song Lian saluted and said with a wry smile: "My old bones are about to fall apart."
"Come on, please come inside." The prince stretched out his hand to help Song Lian cross the threshold, and asked with concern: "Teacher, you haven't had dinner yet, and I have just sat down, so let's make do with the two of us."
"Okay, it's better to be respectful than to obey." Song Lian was not polite to him. He had watched the prince grow up. When he was not the prince, he often sat on his knee to read.
Besides, today is not the time to be polite.
The palace maid presented a new set of tableware, and the prince ordered Mr. Song to be served his favorite "seven heads and one brain".
The so-called "seven heads and one brain" include horsetail heads, shepherd's purse heads, Chinese toon heads, wolfberry heads, pea heads, alfalfa heads, small garlic heads and chrysanthemum heads.
In early spring, when it is warm but then cold, it is the season when Jinling wild vegetables are on the market, and Song Lian likes this.
"Haha, I'm always thinking about this wild vegetable from Jinling." Song Lian happily picked up a pair of chopsticks and put the fragrant dried malan head into his mouth, chewing and enjoying it:
"At first, Liu Bowen joked that 'Song Qianxi is ignorant and eats rice and grass'. But later he became a vegetarian."
"You can see that this man has to keep his reputation." The prince smiled and said, "Mr. Bowen really doesn't want to be touched by meat or fish."
"Yes." Song Lian nodded, and while tasting the fried chrysanthemum brains, he sighed: "It's a pity that I can't bear to eat today, and His Highness's hard work was wasted."
"Why, what's on your mind, teacher?" The prince looked at Song Lian picking up chopsticks of wild vegetables one after another, and he really couldn't relate it to the "unpleasant taste".
"Your Highness knows me." Song Lian then put down his chopsticks, picked up the tablecloth and wiped the corners of his mouth, and said seriously: "The two sages Confucius and Mencius have not yet been settled. There are so many Confucian disciples kneeling in and outside the palace. I am really old.
I’m not in the mood to taste delicious food.”
"Understood." The prince nodded understandingly and said, "I am also busy for their business, so I am only eating now."
"Your Highness, what is your attitude?" Song Lian knew that the prince did not like to beat around the bush, so he asked straight to the point.
"Naturally, I cannot fully agree with my father's decision," the prince said, "This is both unfair and inappropriate to the two saints and to the disciples of Confucius and Mencius."
"Your Highness can see it this way, I feel relieved." Song Lian breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at the prince expectantly and said: "When a country is first established, rather than formulating various rules and regulations, it is more important to establish ethics.
Educate people's hearts, this is the foundation of eternity."
"Yes." The prince nodded.
"This work can only be done by Confucian scholars. Now is the time when the emperor is relying on my Confucianism. How can he go against the grain and hurt the hearts of all the Confucian scholars in the world?" Song Lian said sadly: "If this continues, the country will not be a country, Your Highness."
"My father also knew that we still need to rely on Confucianism, and some things were provoked step by step, which was not his original intention." The prince said slowly: "For example, Mencius's tablet was moved out of the Confucius Temple, and the civil servants carried his tablet to the court.
No emperor could bear to force my father to admit his mistake."
"They have no other choice. They would normally leave all the memorials to the emperor. They want to present them in the court, but the emperor doesn't give them a chance to speak." Song Lian sighed and said: "Of course, they shouldn't push the emperor too hard.
, let alone move the ancestor’s tablet easily, isn’t this something you asked for?”
"Teacher is indeed to the point." The prince smiled and nodded.
"But Prince, those idiots have good intentions. They also proved with their own sacrifices that they are not doing it for their own selfish interests, but out of public motives to protect the Holy Sect!" Song Lian said, standing up with his hands on the round table, and slowly
Kowtow to the prince and say:
"Your Highness, you must speak out for the Holy Religion."
"Teacher, get up quickly." The prince hurriedly put down the bowls and chopsticks, stood up and helped Song Lian up. "I also grew up reading books about sages, so I will naturally speak up for the sages. I have been working hard for my father for a whole day. Tomorrow
I will continue to persuade him to change his mind."
As he spoke, he sighed and said: "But Xun knows my father's temper better than anyone else. The civil servants have too many requests, and it is absolutely impossible for him to agree to them all."
"Yes, I know, that's too much." Song Lian nodded and agreed. This means that the prince can still bargain with Boss Zhu. If someone else had said a few words that he didn't like to hear, his life would have been lost. Still bargaining.
Woolen cloth?
"It would be great if the emperor could agree to part of it first and calm the public's anger."
"Okay, I will give it a try tomorrow." The prince nodded and said, "If... I mean if, my father can really agree to part of it, what do you think we should choose and what should we give up?"
"Alas..." The problem was thrown back to Song Lian. Song Taishi struggled for a long time, and then Fang Changchang sighed and said, "Of course we have to help the two saints first."
"That is to say, the Confucius Temple should be built in Guozi University, and the Mencius tablet should be returned to the Ancestral Temple?" the prince asked:
“Can the rest be put aside temporarily?”
"This..." Song Lian held it in for a while as if he was constipated, then nodded helplessly and said, "You can say that."
