The low-key prince summons trainees from the Imperial Household Department at the start of the game.

After the morning court session, Wang Anshi did not return to the Censorate, but stood alone on the passageway outside the palace gate for a long time.

The April sun was already quite scorching, shining so brightly on the bluestone slabs that it made people dizzy.

He gazed at the distant, layered palaces and suddenly felt that the glazed tiles were very bright in the sunlight.

It was so bright it was almost blinding, quite different from the palace walls he first saw when he arrived in this world.

At that time, he felt that the palace walls were too high and too thick, making it hard to breathe.

He still feels it is very tall and thick, but he no longer feels breathless.

Because he knew that this wall wasn't meant to oppress him, but to wear him down.

He made a decision in his heart.

After returning to the office of the Censorate, he filed up the copies of the impeachment proceedings, court records, and intelligence reports from various parties.

Then, spread out a blank sheet of Xuan paper, dipped a brush in ink, and began to write a new document.

The document was not signed by the Director of the Bureau of Censors or the Censorate, but by a name that had long since disappeared from the court.

"New law".

When the news reached the Hanlin Academy, Su Shi was at his desk writing a document about the Runzhou official ship case.

Upon hearing Yao Guangxiao say that Wang Anshi hadn't gone anywhere after finishing his shift, but had stayed in his duty room writing, he was struck by a reply.

He wrote page after page, leaving crumpled pieces of paper on the ground. Su Shi put down his pen and raised his eyebrows: "This is not like him. He usually writes memorials without drafts, completing them in one go."

Yao Guangxiao, holding a cup of cool tea, said calmly that he was probably not writing a memorial to the throne, but something else, and to let him be.

Su Shi stared at him for a while, then suddenly asked a seemingly unrelated question: "Brother Daoyan, do you think Jie Fu might be... attaining enlightenment?"

Su Shi himself was someone who went directly from the third rank to the sixth rank, and then, after gaining enlightenment, stepped into the seventh rank.

He knew, of course, that the key to breaking through in literature was never the accumulation of righteous energy, but the breakthrough in one's state of mind.

He broke through at the moment he let go of his obsession with his past life and held Cao Wanning's hand.

And what about Jie Fu?

They all knew what Jie Fu's obsession was, but he never told anyone.

Some things, no one can help you with; you have to figure them out yourself.

At the same time, the Fourth Prince's retaliation became even more intense.

It was only a few days after Imperial Censor Qian's memorial impeaching Wang Anshi for "framing him out of personal interest" was rejected.

Sun Langzhong of the Ministry of Personnel's Performance Evaluation Department then spread rumors that Wang Anshi was "overstepping his authority and seeking fame and fortune" in the Censorate, and suggested suspending his promotion evaluation.

Even worse, some people spread rumors in the streets and alleys of the capital, saying that when Wang Anshi taught in Wangjiazhuang, he "protected troublemakers and humiliated local gentry" and "used his scholar status to break the law."

These rumors were so detailed and convincing that even the tenant farmer from Wangjiazhuang whose land had been seized was brought up.

It is said that he is a distant relative of Wang Anshi, and that Wang Anshi's actions in standing up for him are "abusing the law for personal gain".

Pei Du deflected all these rumors.

He said in public at the Censorate: "Wang, the clerk, is my student, and I trust him."

With just this one sentence, the discussions within the Censorate came to an abrupt halt.

But Pei Du also knew that rumors were like spilled water; they couldn't be taken back and could only be allowed to evaporate on their own.

In the duty room, he said to Wang Anshi, "Some people are starting to act desperately, so don't get distracted."

However, Wang Anshi felt as if he were listening to other people's stories when he heard the rumors and gossip outside the duty room.

He locked himself in the duty room of the Bureau of Experience, with two documents spread out on the table.

One was a memorial sent by the fourth prince to impeach him.

One of them was an impeachment memorial he drafted himself.

The two documents, placed side by side, are like a mirror, reflecting two completely different versions of themselves.

The impeachment petition stated that he "framed someone for personal reasons and overstepped his authority."

His own memorial to the throne was meticulously detailed and supported by irrefutable evidence.

Both were censors in the Censorate, so why did some use their power to form cliques and suppress dissent, while others used it to uphold justice?

Ultimately, it comes down to everyone having a different internal standard.

A memory from his past life suddenly flashed through his mind.

That was the third year of the Xining Reforms, and the Green Sprouts Act had just been implemented.

Sima Guang submitted three memorials impeaching him, saying that he was "stubborn and self-willed, and sowed discord between the emperor and his ministers."

He refuted Sima Guang in front of all the officials in the court, saying that the Green Sprouts Act was a major national policy and should not be obstructed.

Sima Guang asked him, "What is your purpose in implementing these reforms?"

He said, "For the sake of the world."

Sima Guang then asked, "Who is the world?"

He didn't answer because he had never thought about the question.

The core of the world is people, every living, breathing human being.

His goal in reforming the laws was to make the world a better place, so he formulated laws and implemented new ones.

This is the "law".

However, he overlooked the fact that those who implement the new law may become corrupt, misinterpret it, or exploit it to exploit the people.

They overlooked the fact that those who opposed the new laws were not against the reforms themselves, but against Wang Anshi as a person.

He believed that as long as the new law was perfect enough, he would be able to succeed in everything.

But he was wrong.

His mistake was that he only saw the "law" and not the "human being".

The law can restrain behavior, but it cannot change people's hearts.

If the ideas of the Legalists were the sharpest knife in his previous life's reforms...

In this life, what he learned and saw allowed him to see another side of this knife.

The law can cut through thorns and remove rotten flesh, but it can also hurt people.

If a knife has no handle, the person wielding it will injure themselves first.

In his past life, he wielded a knife without a handle, cutting through the resistance of the opposition, but also cutting his own hand in the process.

So, what is the hilt of a knife?

This is what Taoism refers to as going with the flow.

It is not just "law", but also "the Way".

It is what Confucianism refers to as benevolence and love for others.

It's not just about "techniques," but also about "Confucianism."

This is what the Mohists meant by universal love and respect for the worthy.

It's not just about "momentum," it's also about "ink."

Law is the bone, Taoism is the spirit, Confucianism is the heart, and Mohism is the application.

If all four are combined, then everything can be accomplished.

He suddenly remembered the tenant farmer whose land had been taken from him years ago.

He wrote the complaint for the tenant farmer in court and helped him win the case.

But what happens after you win the lawsuit?

The tenant farmer returned to the village but was still ostracized by the landlord and continued to live a hard life.

He wrote an article trying to make the tenant farmer aware of his rights, but the tenant farmer was illiterate, so he read it to him sentence by sentence.

That is not within the scope of "law".

That falls under the category of "Confucianism," which is "education."

In his previous life, he never valued education, believing that as long as the laws were strict, the people would naturally abide by them.

In this life, he taught at a private school in Wangjiazhuang for several years before he truly understood the weight of education.

A person can become famous throughout the world because of their talent, but the world will not change because of one person's talent.

To change the world, we need millions of people.

Where did these millions of people come from?

It comes from education.

The Legalists gave him backbone, enabling him to stand tall in the court.

Taoism gave him breath, enabling him to survive in adversity.

Confucianism gave him flesh and blood, making him remember why he wanted to reform.

The Mohists gave him footsteps, letting him know that reform was not about sitting in the temple issuing orders, but about going into every field and every alley.

Only when all four are combined can we see a complete, flesh-and-blood Wang Anshi.

Thinking of this, he suddenly felt the righteous energy that had been blocking his chest for so long dissipate.

It didn't explode or burst open, but rather melted away slowly and silently, like a glacier in spring.

After the ice melts, it doesn't leave an empty void, but rather a pool of warm, clear, and vibrant spring water.

In his previous life, he spent his hair turning white during the Xining Reforms, devoting his entire life to reform and strengthening the nation.

The path of reform was difficult and lonely, but he never gave up because he firmly believed that what he was doing was right.

He has walked this path his whole life, and he is still walking it in this life.

But the route is different now.

In his past life, he was stubborn and reckless, never turning back even after hitting a wall.

In this life, he is no longer fixated on "one path"; he is searching for the pathways between different paths.

Because the person who could connect the thoughts of the various schools of thought and integrate them was himself.

A very faint hum resounded from his dantian, the sound of his righteous energy breaking through a bottleneck.

Fourth rank!

The watershed moment in the path of literary cultivation. In his previous life, he was stuck at this hurdle for many years because he had no method and had not comprehended it.

In this life, he found the key in the teachings passed down to him by Pei Du, but what truly helped him cross this threshold was not the teachings, but his state of mind.

He slowly opened his eyes, which were brighter than before, with a faint golden luster flowing in their depths.

That gold was not like the unrestrained, flamboyant golden light of Su Shi's poetry.

Instead, it is restrained and introverted, like a piece of fine steel that has been repeatedly forged, quenched, and sharpened, possessing its own sharpness without making a sound.

He lowered his head and laid out the impeachment memorial on the table again.

He didn't change a single word, he just added a line at the end.

"I have heard that the Fourth Prince's residence has recently had financial dealings with the Jiangning Textile Bureau, involving a very large sum of money."

"Although there is no direct evidence to convict him, since there is suspicion, a thorough investigation should be conducted to set the record straight."

His pen did not tremble at all as he wrote these words.

He is no longer the stubborn prime minister of his previous life who only knew how to go down one path to the bitter end.

Rather, it is the experience of an imperial censor in this life who knows how to go with the flow, and knows when to draw his sword and when to sheathe it.

Fourth Prince, didn't you want to retaliate?

This is my way of repaying you with a knife.