Chapter 24: Going with the Trend (Part 1)

  In the ninth day of the first month of Linde 2, Taishi Li Chunfeng pleaded to return his bones to his hometown in court. Emperor Gaozong refused and tried his best to persuade him to stay, but Li Chunfeng had made up his mind to leave. The emperor was helpless and gave him gold as a gift before he left. Li Chunfeng accepted the gift and stayed at home for a few days before quietly leaving with only one young servant accompanying him. It wasn't until several days later that the officials realized he was gone, and many of them sighed in admiration for him.

  A legendary figure has left, leaving behind a reputation of over 40 years of meritorious service. The court and the people are all praising him, and many have petitioned to grant him a posthumous title. Although Li Xian did not join in the commotion, he was also deeply moved by Li Chunfeng's departure. He couldn't quite put into words his feelings about it - after all, their relationship wasn't particularly deep, just a casual acquaintance. Yet Li Xian could sense the old man's genuine concern for him, and he felt some reluctance to see him go. On the other hand, considering Li Xian's personality, he didn't want anyone to be able to see through him, as secrecy was essential for survival in the imperial family. In this sense, Li Chunfeng's departure might actually be a good thing.

  Those who have left are gone, and those who remain must continue to live their lives. The people of the capital city may be filled with emotions and sighs, but in the end, it's just a passing wind that will fade away. Li Xian is no exception, spending most of his days lounging around the mansion, occasionally visiting the palace to pay his respects, living a carefree life, but trouble soon follows this carefreeness.

  "Your Highness, Yuan Wanzhang and Yuan Daren from the Imperial Academy have arrived."

  As the Lantern Festival is approaching, political affairs are not busy but miscellaneous things are busy. Although Li Xian doesn't pay much attention to those tedious formalities, he still needs to have a festive atmosphere. The large Wangfu must be decorated properly, and gifts need to be sent to various places in the palace, which makes him feel quite busy. Just as he had finally arranged everything and sat down to catch his breath, Gao Mo hastily entered from outside, approached Li Xian's side, and whispered a report.

  "Yuan Wanheng? He came to...” Li Xian's words trailed off as he suddenly remembered Yuan Wanheng's intention, and his expression changed. A wave of nausea rose up in his heart - at the end of last year, Wu Zetian had ordered Yuan Wanheng to give lectures to Li Xian at the Imperial Academy to make up for his deficiencies. Later, due to the approaching New Year, Yuan Wanheng had taken leave to return home and visit his relatives, and the matter had been put off. Li Xian himself had already forgotten about it, but Yuan Wanheng obviously hadn't, and now he was knocking on his door.

  According to the Tang system, the instructors of the Crown Prince were nominally high-ranking officials from the imperial court, but in reality, they were professors from the Imperial Academy and the National University. The princes, on the other hand, did not receive such treatment and could only have doctors from the Imperial College as their instructors, who were not fixed appointments and often changed. However, one thing was clear: those who taught the princes had to be doctors or heads of departments, not just anyone. From this point of view, Wei Wanqing was not qualified to teach Li Xian, but he got the appointment only because Empress Wu supported him.

  Li Xian is not a person who judges people by their wealth and status, so his dislike for Yuan Wanqing is not because of the latter's humble position as a lecturer with a rank below Grade 7. Nor is it because he looks down on Yuan Wanqing's academic abilities. In fact, although Yuan Wanqing's character may not be great, his academic achievements are quite good. His writing skills are comparable to those of renowned doctors, and he is more than qualified to serve as the emperor's teacher. What really annoys Li Xian is that Yuan Wanqing is a sycophant who fawns on Empress Wu, like a mad dog that bites people at its master's slightest signal. How can someone like him be allowed to become his teacher?

  "Your Highness, shall I go back to Yuan Gong and tell him that you have a slight itch, so he can come another day?" Gao Miao saw Li Xian's face changing with uncertainty, hesitating for half a moment without making a move. Knowing that Li Xian didn't want to see Yuan Wanqu, he carefully suggested this.

  Another day? Don't be ridiculous, it's better to settle this matter once and for all! Li Xian waved his hand impatiently, signaling Gao Mai not to speak nonsense. He stood up himself, pacing back and forth in the room, frowning slightly as he thought, trying to come up with a solution that would satisfy both sides - Yuan Wanqing couldn't be kept, but neither could he be forced out, otherwise Wu Zetian's hurdle wouldn't be passed first, and if things weren't handled properly, the old case of the imperial prison would likely be brought up again. If old and new accounts were added together, the consequences wouldn't be trivial.

  Yes, got it! Li Xian paced back and forth several times, his eyes lit up, and he already had a plan in mind. He smiled to himself, beckoned with one hand, and summoned Gao Miao to come closer. He whispered instructions into Gao's ear, causing Gao's face to change color constantly, yet he didn't dare disobey, so he nodded his head in agreement and went to the door to welcome Yuan Wanjun without mentioning it.

  At the foot of the steps in front of the Zhou Wangfu gate, a middle-aged civil official wearing a green official robe stood proudly, blocking the main entrance of the palace. This man was Yuan Wancan, who had rushed to take office as the National Preceptor of the Imperial Academy. Yuan Wancan, from Luoyang, came from a humble background and rose through his exceptional talent, being recommended for an imperial position. He initially served as a minor official in the imperial court but soon gained favor with Empress Wu after supporting her ascension to power. He was then appointed as a lecturer at the Imperial Academy, but due to his lowly birth and unconventional nature, he was not favored by his superiors, resulting in him remaining a seventh-rank official until now.

  It is a rare honor for the officials of Guozijian to be appointed as lecturers in the Zhou Wangfu, although it may not be as prestigious as being a lecturer in the East Palace. However, it is still an extremely difficult position to obtain, and those who are able to lecture to the princes are rarely not promoted. Therefore, whoever gets this job is overjoyed, and Yuan Wancan is no exception. In order to secure this position, Yuan Wancan couldn't even wait for the Lantern Festival to pass before rushing to the Zhou Wangfu to take office. He thought that since he was appointed by the empress's edict, he would be warmly welcomed, but unexpectedly, he stood at the gate for half a day without seeing any movement inside, and not even the doorman came out to greet him. Feeling disrespected, Yuan Wancan angrily blocked the main gate of the Zhou Wangfu alone, intending to have a good argument with King Zhou about the necessity of respecting teachers and establishing his own dignity as a teacher.

  "Alas, slow, slow, Lord Yuan, slow! His Highness invites you to enter the mansion for a chat." Just as Yuan Wanju's face turned green from waiting, Gao Miao finally emerged from the main gate, and with this appearance, he was apologetic.

  "Hmm, where is Your Highness?"

  Yu Wanhe's heart was filled with anger, he didn't care about Gao Miao's smiling face at all, he turned his sleeve and hummed coldly.

  "Hehe, Lord Yuan, please calm down. His Highness is busy with important matters and cannot come out to greet you in person. I will represent him instead. Please forgive us, let's go into the mansion first and discuss further, shall we?"

  "Hmph!"

  Upon hearing Gao Miao's obviously fake excuse, Yuan Wanjing's anger grew even more intense. He shook his sleeves in annoyance and was about to storm off, but ultimately couldn't bear to give up his position as a lecturer at the Zhou Wang Fu. With a cold snort, he stepped onto the steps of the palace gate and entered with a scowl on his face. As they walked through two courtyards, they suddenly heard a loud "Hah" sound coming from ahead, which made Yuan Wanjing pause in surprise and look at Gao Miao suspiciously.

  "Master Yuan, please, Your Highness is already in the courtyard." Gao Miao didn't say another word, but smiled and made a welcoming gesture with his hand.

  Having arrived at the end of the road, even if there were still doubts, Yuan Wanjun himself had no reason to turn back. Seeing Gao Miao not willing to speak clearly, Yuan Wanjun was too lazy to ask again. He snorted and swung his sleeve, slowly turning around the screen wall in front of the courtyard gate and entering the yard. Before he could even steady his feet, a flash of knife light came flying towards him, instantly scaring him into a loud shriek. His legs went soft and he fell onto the ground with a thud, his whole body trembling uncontrollably.

  "Alas, I've made a mistake! Fortunately, this gentleman is unharmed?"

  Yu Wanqing's screams had not yet subsided, and Li Xian was already sweating profusely as he held up his horizontal knife and approached him. With a sincere expression, he looked at Yu Wanqing, who was still in shock, and comforted him with a hypocritical tone.

  "You, you, you..."

  Yu Wanhe was a scholar, and his courage was not particularly strong. He was frightened by this sudden scare, and his soul was shaken. When he saw himself sitting on the ground, he felt ashamed of his lack of dignity, and he was also somewhat flustered. Stammering, he pointed at Li Xian, unable to utter a complete sentence.

  "Gao Miao, you're dead! Can't you see that His Excellency is injured? Hurry up and summon the imperial physician!"

  As soon as he saw Yuan Wanjing's disheveled state, Li Xian felt secretly pleased in his heart, but on his face was an expression of extreme anxiety. He turned his head and glared at Gao Mei, who couldn't help but laugh, and shouted.

  "Ah, yes, yes, Your Highness, please calm down. " Gao Miao suppressed his smile and repeatedly responded, hastily running forward to pretend to help Yuan Wanjing, asking anxiously: "Lord Yuan, Lord Yuan, are you alright?"

  Nothing's wrong? Of course, nothing's wrong with the person. That one knife from Li Xian was more than a foot away from Yuan Wanjing, how could it have really hurt him? The reason Yuan Wanjing ended up in such a sorry state is just because of his conditioned reflex when he wasn't prepared. The problem is that even though the person is fine, his face has been lost. Now that things have come to this, no matter whether Li Xian's move was intentional or not, Yuan Wanjing will no longer have the face to continue serving as a lecturer in the Zhou Wang Fu.

  "Alright, alright, Your Highness is teasing me like this, I really can't take it anymore. Farewell, farewell!" Yuan Wanqing jumped up in a fluster, without even adjusting his crooked official hat, and puffed out his chest as he bowed to Li Xian. He dropped the formalities and turned around, sweeping his sleeves behind him, and stormed out of the palace in a huff, ignoring Gao Yan's fake courtesy calls from behind.

  "Your Highness, that man has left, and it's hard to let him go. If the Empress Dowager finds out, then..." Gao Yan pretended to chase after Yuan Wanqing as he sent him off, but his heart was uneasy, so he hastily ran back to the central courtyard, leaned in close to Li Xian, and carefully reminded him.

  What's wrong? Ha, this is exactly what I wanted! Li Xian had already made up his mind and didn't care about Gao Mo's worries. He just smiled and took the white handkerchief from Yan Hong's hand, wiped his face comfortably, and calmly instructed: "There is a letter on the desk in my study, you can take it to Wang Fu now." As soon as he finished speaking, he didn't even look at Gao Mo's expression, laughed and walked towards the backyard...