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

"So, how does the grandson of the emperor want to test him? Who will set the questions?" Kong Yingda asked in a deep voice, his brows furrowed.

"I will set the questions myself." Li Xiang said in a light tone, his nonchalant manner as if he were only talking about a trivial matter.

Upon hearing this, the young men from aristocratic families inside the Imperial Academy immediately erupted in uproar, their voices rising and falling, filled with disdain and mockery.

"It is common knowledge throughout the land that the deposed crown prince neglected his studies and associated with the customs of the barbarians." Zheng Jingzhi, a member of the Zheng family of Xingyang, had previously been publicly humiliated by Li Xiang and harbored deep resentment towards him. He seized the opportunity to launch a tirade of ridicule.

"You've been exposed to this world since childhood; what profound meanings of the sages could you possibly understand? How many classic texts could you possibly know? Dare you pose a question to us?"

"How dare you!" Song Shenzhi, Dong Jiming, and the others beside Li Xiang immediately changed their expressions and stepped forward to block Li Xiang.

"Zheng Jingzhi! As a grandson of the emperor, His Highness is ordered to investigate the case; how can he not question you?"

"What imperial grandson, what prince?" Zheng Jingzhi scoffed, his expression growing increasingly arrogant, his tone filled with disdain.

"The deposed crown prince has long been demoted to a commoner, and this brat has also been stripped of his imperial lineage by His Majesty. Now he is nothing more than an arrogant and unruly nobody!"

"We addressed him as the Emperor's grandson just now only because we didn't want to use harsh words to hurt him, and we wanted to save him some face." He paused, raising his chin even higher.

"Since he disrespected us first, what can we do if we refuse to give him face?"

He glanced at Li Xiang with disdain, his words dripping with sarcasm: "An ignorant child sets the questions, and then an illiterate commoner judges them—it's utterly ridiculous!"

Zheng Jingzhi was born into the direct line of the Zheng family of Xingyang. He was pampered and spoiled since childhood, and he carried the arrogance of the five surnames and seven noble families in his bones.

In his view, although the imperial Li family ruled the country, they were nothing more than "newly rich local tyrants" who rose to prominence in a chaotic world. In terms of clan heritage and reputation among scholars, they were far less deeply rooted than the Zheng family of Xingyang.

Moreover, the deposed Crown Prince Li Chengqian had already lost power and become a helpless victim, while Zheng had secretly placed her bets on Prince Wei, Li Tai, whose future prospects were promising. What did the son of a deposed Crown Prince, stripped of his imperial lineage, have to fear, with neither power nor backing?

"You..." Song Shenzhi and the others trembled with anger. Li Xiang wrote "Ode to Righteousness" and stood up for them resolutely in front of the imperial city gate. They had long regarded Li Xiang as their benefactor.

Moreover, in their view, Li Xiang's status as a member of the imperial clan was lost for the sake of scholars from humble backgrounds like themselves. How could they possibly allow Zheng Jingzhi to humiliate Li Xiang in this way?

Just as they were about to step forward and argue with Zheng Jingzhi again, the common people couldn't hold back any longer.

"Hey, you always have your nose in the air, but when it comes to showing your skills, you shrink back. You probably don't know anything at all!"

"Exactly, exactly. They're looking down on us now. If you're feeling guilty, just say so! What's with all the airs..."

The people of Guanzhong have always been proud and arrogant, and the common people in the capital city of Chang'an are even more difficult to deal with. Zheng Jingzhi looked down on them, so how could the people hold back their insults?

"Ahem, this Brother Zheng who's always spouting rhymes." Seeing that he had stirred up trouble among the people, Li Xiang said with a mocking expression, "Since you think I'm ignorant and incompetent, then you should accept the test even more."

"Since I lack talent and learning, wouldn't it be easier for you to pass the exam?"

"Could it be that they want the whole world to think that the Imperial Academy and the Zheng family of Xingyang are all talk and no action, unable to withstand public scrutiny, and therefore they are making all sorts of excuses?"

"If you're so capable, why are you so timid and hesitant to show your abilities?" the people grumbled.

"Are we still going to take the exam or not? I'm in a hurry to get home and sleep with my wife!"

The crowd grew larger and larger, and the shouts and clamor grew louder, until they had spontaneously surrounded the Imperial Academy. Zheng Jingzhi, Kong Yingda, and others also looked increasingly grim.

Whether it was the powerful Zheng family or Kong Yingda himself, they ultimately still cared about their reputation. This was precisely what Li Xiang was exploiting.

"Father." Seeing this situation, Kong Zhixuan's face also turned pale. He whispered to Kong Yingda:

"This young man is adept at inciting the people, but how can they understand his knowledge and literary skills?"

"Let him test us. He's still young, so he won't cause any major problems."

"Wouldn't it be perfect if Father refuted him in front of the people, making him shoot himself in the foot?"

"If he fails to act recklessly even once, the people will no longer believe him. When he is exiled to Qianzhou, we will not only get rid of this scoundrel, but also restore the reputation of the Confucius family..."

"Hmm..." Kong Yingda stroked his long beard, pondered for a moment, and nodded.

In this situation, he was caught in a dilemma. He might as well go with the flow.

"You are all my prized students. I have complete faith in your knowledge."

"The innocent will remain innocent. Although he is being unreasonable, our Imperial Academy is not afraid." He looked at Zheng Jingzhi: "Jingzhi, you go first."

"...Yes, Chief Priest." Zheng Jingzhi remained respectful towards Kong Yingda.

Reluctantly, but also wanting to humiliate Li Xiang, he raised his chin and stood before Li Xiang: "In that case, you may set the question!"

"Alright." Li Xiang grinned, appearing harmless. "Then, Brother Zheng, listen carefully."

"Zhang San was passing by a house when he saw a woman taking a nap. He was overcome with lust and entered the room to commit adultery. Halfway through, he was shocked to discover that the woman was actually a man."

"Zhang San tried to escape, but the man subdued him and penetrated him."

Q: How was this case decided?

Zheng Jingzhi: ? ? ?

Everyone: ? ? ?

Li Xiang: (^▽^)

"You..." Zheng Jingzhi's expression changed drastically, and he said, his neck bulging, "You're just being unreasonable!"

Yes, that's definitely just sophistry. How else can they provoke Li Er?

However, Li Xiang would never admit it verbally.

He suppressed a laugh, coughed twice, and said in an extremely serious tone, "How could it be considered unreasonable?"

"Brother Zheng, now that you have passed the imperial examination, you will become a public official for the people of our Great Tang Dynasty, won't you?"

"Since we're going to be the parents of this place, sitting in court to hear cases, mediate disputes, and manage the lives of the people in this area is simply our duty!"

As he spoke, his expression became increasingly solemn, and his tone became firm and resolute.

"Why did our Great Tang Dynasty establish the Imperial Academy, spending countless sums of money and grain, allocating large amounts of treasury funds, and entrusting such a heavy responsibility to Lord Kong?"

"It is to select talents for the country and cultivate talents for the people, to select the most talented people in the country, so that they can enter the court to govern, govern the prefectures and counties, stand up for the people, and share the burdens of Your Majesty."

"The imperial court allocates salaries and grains every year to build and maintain this vast Imperial Academy, spending enormous resources to support you, the Chancellor, the Instructors, and the students. Every penny spent is the blood and sweat of the people of the land, truly public funds!"

"But if the talents carefully cultivated by the Imperial Academy for several years and selected through layers of simple examinations are only good at reading the classics and talking about benevolence, righteousness and propriety, they will be at a loss and speechless when faced with real difficult lawsuits and disputes in the streets. They cannot even distinguish the most basic right and wrong, reason and law."

"Such a wasteful squandering of the national treasury and the people's hard-earned money, yet selecting a bunch of incompetent fools—what is this if not corruption and favoritism, not selling official positions?"

Li Xiang raised his hand and pointed at Kong Yingda, then swept his gaze sharply over Zheng Jingzhi and the other scholars who had entered the literati through the preliminary examinations. His voice was stern and his words were deafening:

"You will all one day enter officialdom and govern a region. Don't you know that your salaries and emoluments are all made from the blood and sweat of the people!"

"You think the common people are easy to oppress, but Heaven is not to be trifled with!"