The rebellious grandson of Emperor Zhenguan of the Tang Dynasty: Please, Your Majesty, be called Cro

After the pleasantries, the atmosphere grew even more lively. Li Tai stepped aside and invited Kong Yingda, Yu Zhining, and Cen Wenben back to the private room by the water.

The sandalwood incense lingered in the private room, and the tea and snacks on the table had been replaced with new ones, along with several cups of fine wine. Everyone sat around the table, clinking glasses, chatting and laughing, seemingly enjoying themselves, but in reality, each had their own thoughts.

Wei Ting, Liu Ji, and the others standing to the side were secretly surprised and even found it hard to believe what they were seeing. They never expected that the two great Confucian scholars, Yu Zhining and Kong Yingda, would give the King of Wei such face.

Both of them were his former subordinates when His Majesty was still a prince, and they had served in the Tian Ce Mansion in their early years.

Later, when the Eastern Palace was established, he was summoned to enter the Eastern Palace and became an official under the deposed Crown Prince Li Chengqian, serving as the Crown Prince's tutor in all but name.

Normally, although they never openly opposed Prince Wei, Li Tai, and never participated in the struggle for the crown prince position, as core officials of the Eastern Palace, they had always kept a clear separation from Prince Wei's residence, had no interaction with him, and even had a subtle intention to distance themselves from him.

The members of the Wei King's faction have always been quite wary of these tutors to the Crown Prince.

Firstly, both men were renowned Confucian scholars of their time, enjoying great prestige among the literati, with their students and former officials spread throughout the court and the country.

Secondly, they were backed by the entire scholarly community—to rashly provoke them would be tantamount to stirring up a hornet's nest, and would surely be attacked by scholars and Confucianists from all over the world, thus ruining the reputation of King Wei for his respect for scholars.

Wei Ting, Liu Ji, and others did consider trying to win over these two, since bringing the leaders of the literati under their wing would undoubtedly be a great help to the King of Wei's ambition to seize the throne.

However, after much planning, they had to give up. For some reason, after these tutors of the Crown Prince entered the Eastern Palace, they were all known for their outspokenness and courage to remonstrate. They were all of high moral character and unyielding.

Wei Ting and others subconsciously assumed that these people were all morally superior and unyielding.

After weighing the pros and cons, they gave up the idea of ​​winning over these former officials of the Eastern Palace, hoping only that they would not cause trouble.

Today, however, Yu Zhining and Kong Yingda acted out of character. Instead of distancing themselves from each other, they spoke to the King of Wei with great respect and enthusiasm.

During the meal, he frequently echoed others' opinions, showing none of his usual "stubborn" demeanor.

This scene amazed Wei Ting, Liu Ji, and the others, who felt somewhat flattered—they had never imagined that winning over these two great Confucian scholars would be so easy.

This would be a good opportunity to win over these two people and create momentum for driving the deposed crown prince out of Chang'an.

But in reality, Kong Yingda and Yu Zhining are only in this state of panic and helplessness.

The Eastern Palace was implicated in a major treason case, and Crown Prince Li Chengqian was deposed and placed under house arrest.

According to the laws of the imperial court, these officials of the Eastern Palace and tutors of the Crown Prince should have been held accountable and punished as a result, and there was no way they could have escaped unscathed.

Upon hearing the news of the Eastern Palace's rebellion and the Crown Prince's imprisonment, the two were extremely anxious. They immediately joined forces to force their way into the palace, ostensibly out of righteous indignation, to persuade the Crown Prince, in the name of their teacher, to kowtow to His Majesty, beg forgiveness, and repent for his past mistakes.

In reality, he harbored the ulterior motives that Li Xiang suspected. Out of fear, he was eager to distance himself from the Crown Prince in order to avoid being implicated in this major treason case and suffering the fate of losing his family and his life.

They had already figured it out in their hearts: only by maintaining their image of being outspoken and honest in the emperor's eyes, and their reputation for repeatedly speaking out against the crown prince, could they find a glimmer of hope in this crisis that might bring down their entire family. In the original history, the two were indeed spared from the crown prince's rebellion because they had spoken out against Li Chengqian for many years.

Emperor Taizong of Tang (Li Er) once personally reassured the two men, saying, "If Chengqian had listened to you, we wouldn't be where we are today."

The two managed to escape unscathed. Kong Yingda retired gracefully and became renowned as a great Confucian scholar; Yu Zhining, on the other hand, had a smooth official career, once serving as prime minister and being granted the title of Duke.

But now, everything has completely gone off track because of Li Xiang's crazy ramblings in the palace.

The emperor did not offer the two men a single word of comfort or pardon. Although they were not punished for the time being, they repeatedly entered the palace to request an audience, wanting to plead guilty and explain their true feelings in person, but the emperor refused to let them in. They could not even see the emperor's face!

With their lives hanging by a thread and their integrity potentially ruined, and His Majesty so clearly distancing and neglecting them, how could the two not be terrified and live in constant fear?

Today, everyone believes that the emperor is reasonable, understanding, and willing to accept advice. But Kong Yingda and Yu Zhining know just how ruthless, decisive, and cruel the Prince of Qin was back then!

The river of blood that flowed through Xuanwu Gate that day has never dried up in the hearts of those who know the truth!

Every time I wake up in the middle of the night, the words Li Xiang used to berate them for "selling their integrity for fame" and "being rude and immoral" in the Liangyi Hall always echo clearly in my ears.

The two often sat up in shock in their bed, their clothes soaked with cold sweat and their bodies ice-cold. Even with three or five concubines by their side, gently comforting and reassuring them, they could not calm their fear and panic.

They lived in constant fear, lest those hurtful words truly be etched into His Majesty's heart and become a pretext for punishing them in the future.

They were like frightened birds, unable to eat or sleep, fearing that one morning the Imperial Guards would burst in with an imperial edict, confiscate their property, arrest them, and take them to the execution ground!

In their panic, the two of them simultaneously thought of Prince Li Tai of Wei.

The King of Wei was also insulted by that scoundrel Li Xiang in the Liangyi Hall that day. The two men and he were in the same boat.

Moreover, the Crown Prince has been deposed, and Prince Li Zhi of Jin is young and weak, unfit for important positions. The only one by His Majesty's side is Prince Wei, who is most suitable to succeed to the throne.

Even for the sake of the nation, His Majesty must accept the Prince of Wei's defense. If, during his defense, the Prince of Wei could offer some assistance and speak a few good words for them before His Majesty…

Things will inevitably take a turn for the better, and they will be able to save their lives and property.

In their eyes, the current King of Wei, Li Tai, was now their lifeline. Therefore, they would no longer dare to act superior in front of the King of Wei's faction.

Both sides had their own agendas, so they hit it off immediately.

Wei Ting gave Li Tai a wink, and Li Tai understood. He then stood up and walked up to Kong Yingda, Yu Zhining, and Cen Wenben, saying, "I have always been fond of learning. I have long heard that you three elders are learned and profound. Today, I have benefited greatly from talking with you three elders."

"If you do not despise me, I am willing to take you all as my teachers. I hope that the three great scholars will not think that I am unworthy of guidance and correction!" As he spoke, he made a gesture to bow down.

Kong Yingda and Yu Zhining exchanged a glance, their faces showing joy, and immediately stood up to help Li Tai.

"I've long heard of Your Highness's respect for the virtuous and talented, and today I've witnessed it firsthand... We two have failed in our duty to educate the deposed crown prince, and are still awaiting punishment. How can we possibly be so humbled by Your Highness, the Prince of Wei..."

"Alas, you two are exaggerating. The deposed crown prince acted irrationally, and you both tried to persuade him to stay. What does his fate have to do with you?"

"I personally petitioned my father, the Emperor, and he granted permission for the two of them to enter the Prince's residence to teach me."

Kong and Yu both had this intention, so there was nothing wrong with it.

Li Tai offered a few more words of reassurance before turning to Cen Wenben, who was still seated with a strange expression, and said:

"Since Masters Kong and Yu have already agreed, what is Master Cen's opinion?"