After ten years of accompanying me in my studies, the entire court begged me to shut up.

The next day, the sky was overcast and a light drizzle was falling.

The lecturer at the Crown Prince's banquet was the great Confucian scholar Wang Ao, who was lecturing on the Ji Shi chapter of the Analects.

"When the world is governed by the Way, rites, music, and military expeditions originate from the Son of Heaven; when the world is not governed by the Way, rites, music, and military expeditions originate from the feudal lords. Your Highness, do you understand the meaning of these words?"

Zhu Houzhao thought for a moment and said, "If the emperor has the Way in his hands, he can make the decisions; if he doesn't, no one will listen to him!"

Wang Ao was delighted to hear this. Zhu Houzhao was a clever boy since childhood, but he was also very mischievous and would often skip classes, which was a real headache for everyone.

Looking at it now, as long as he studies hard, he makes great progress!

Although holding this Dao in my hand sounds strange, it's not a big problem.

Then he asked, "So, if distant people do not submit, then cultivate virtue and culture to attract them. What does this mean?"

Zhu Houzhao tilted his head, pondered for a long time, and said, "If anyone is dissatisfied, use virtue! When they see virtue, they will obediently come!"

Wang Ao still felt something was off, but considering he was still just a child, it was already quite good that he could understand it this way.

"Your Highness's understanding is spot on. Those who rule the world must possess morality; as the saying goes, 'Cultivate oneself and regulate one's family'..."

Zhu Houzhao patiently listened to the ensuing long speech for a long time, but finally couldn't hold back any longer.

"Master Wang, I've understood. Can I now grasp morality?"

Wang Ao smiled and said, "Your Highness, please don't be impatient. Tomorrow we will discuss the chapter on Duke Ling of Wei. Confucius said, 'Those who understand virtue are few.'"

After saying that, he touched his stomach, seemingly feeling a little uncomfortable, then turned around and left in a hurry.

Zhu Houzhao turned to Yang Shen and asked, "Yang Shen, when will I be able to grasp the essence of morality?"

Yang Shen casually remarked, "In fact, morality is all around us, but many people are not good at observing it and have not noticed it."

Zhu Houzhao became even more interested: "Really?"

Yang Shen glanced out the window; the rain had stopped. He then said, "For example, there's a gas in this world that's invisible and intangible, but it ignites when exposed to fire, and its power is comparable to gunpowder!"

Zhu Houzhao asked impatiently, "So powerful? Where is it?"

Yang Shen smiled mysteriously and said, "It's in the Land of Five Grains Reincarnation!"

Zhu Houzhao scratched his head, not quite understanding at first.

At this moment, Liu Jin, who had been serving him, came forward.

"Is Yang talking about the outhouse?"

Zhu Houzhao asked doubtfully, "Weapons of mass destruction are hidden in the latrine?"

"As the saying goes, the greatest truths are the simplest, and the truth is all around us. Your Highness will understand soon enough. I didn't rest well last night and need to go home for a nap. I'll take my leave now!"

After Yang Shen finished speaking, he packed his things, turned around, and left.

Zhu Houzhao, however, grew increasingly excited and said, "Liu Jin, grab your tinderbox and come with me!"

Liu Jin said with a worried expression, "Your Highness, this is a forbidden area of ​​the imperial city. We dare not do anything reckless. If you still want to try, let's go outside the palace and find a latrine..."

Zhu Houzhao, unable to wait any longer, urged, "If you don't dare, I'll go myself!"

"Your Highness, please wait, I'm coming!"

Liu Jin had no choice but to follow.

Soon, Zhu Houzhao crossed the courtyard wall and arrived at the outhouse in the next courtyard.

Just as he was about to step forward, Liu Jin stopped him: "Your Highness, please wait!"

Zhu Houzhao was very displeased and said, "What, are you scared again?"

Liu Jin hurriedly explained, "This servant believes that if what Yang said is true, there is a gas in the latrine with a power comparable to gunpowder. Destroying the latrine is a minor matter, but if you are injured, that would be a serious matter!"

Zhu Houzhao thought about it and realized that this made sense, so he asked, "Then what should we do?"

Liu Jin said, "Let's go to the back to test it. You stand further back while I light the fire."

To make cleaning easier, the latrine pits were all outside, covered with two bluestone slabs.

Zhu Houzhao thought it was feasible, so he went around to the back but did not go forward himself; instead, he watched from a distance.

Liu Jin took out a tinderbox, blew on it to ignite a flame, then squatted down and slowly moved closer, but dared not move.

Zhu Houzhao, growing impatient, urged, "Are you even capable of this, dawdling like this?"

Liu Jin had no choice but to hold up the tinder and carefully extend it into the crack of the bluestone slab.

Although the palace latrines were cleaned regularly, over the years, a large amount of methane gas inevitably accumulated.

When marsh gas comes into contact with an open flame, it produces a slight popping sound in the air, and then...

boom!

A huge flame rose from the entire cesspool, blowing away the bluestone slabs.

Liu Jin was the first to be hit, feeling an invisible wave of energy surge towards him, and he was sent flying backward.

Zhu Houzhao stared wide-eyed; it turned out that there really were weapons of mass destruction hidden in the cesspool!

"Your Highness, run...run!"

Ignoring the pain all over his body, Liu Jin struggled to get up and dragged Zhu Houzhao outside.

The two had only taken a few steps when they heard groans coming from behind them.

"Ouch, ouch..."

Zhu Houzhao felt the voice was somewhat familiar, and when he turned around, he was surprised to see it was Wang Ao!

It turned out that Wang Ao felt unwell in his stomach, so he hurriedly ended the lecture and rushed to the toilet.

Who knew that shortly after I squatted down and was enjoying my bowel movement, the latrine suddenly exploded!

Zhu Houzhao hurriedly shouted, "Liu Jin, quickly save them!"

Liu Jin looked at his blood-covered body and had no choice but to limp forward.

At this moment, the Imperial Guards of the Eastern Palace also arrived.

Leading the group was Li Chun, the heir of the Marquis of Xiangcheng and a commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

He was patrolling nearby when he suddenly heard an explosion, and he was terrified!

It wasn't that he was cowardly, but rather that an explosion suddenly occurred in the Eastern Palace he was guarding.

The Hongzhi Emperor only had one son. If anything happened to him, even ten heads wouldn't be enough to behead him!

Li Chun, seeing Zhu Houzhao in the distance, breathed a sigh of relief and shouted, "Protect His Highness the Crown Prince! Don't let the assassins harm him!"

The crowd rushed forward and, without saying a word, escorted Zhu Houzhao outside.

Then a group of men, brandishing knives, surrounded Liu Jin and Wang Ao in the cesspool.

Liu Jin's clothes were torn to shreds and his hair was singed, making it impossible to recognize his face.

Wang Ao's situation was even worse; half of his body was buried in bricks and tiles, and his head had been smashed open, bleeding profusely.

Before the two could react, the embroidered spring knife was already at their necks.

Liu Jin shouted anxiously, "What are you doing? Take the knife away!"

Li Chun, his face grim, said coldly, "Audacious assassin! How dare you attempt to assassinate the Crown Prince!"

Liu Jin roared, "Commander Li, open your dog eyes and see clearly! We're not assassins!"

Only then did Li Chun realize something was wrong. After looking closely, he quickly said, "Eunuch Liu, is that you?"

Liu Jin, without bothering to explain, shouted, "Quickly, save him! Minister Wang is still in the cesspool!"

"Vice Minister Wang? Which Vice Minister Wang?"

"And who else is Vice Minister Wang! Of course, it's Vice Minister Wang Ao, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and the daily lecturer to the Crown Prince!"

"Oh my, it really is Minister Wang!"

Li Chun finally recognized him and quickly called for help to dig Wang Ao out of the cesspool.

Then he asked, "Eunuch Liu, where is the assassin?"

"What assassins are there?"

"Then...where did the explosion come from?"

Liu Jin looked around and said, "Listen carefully, everyone! What happened today was a case of a latrine spontaneously combusting. Anyone who dares to go out and talk about it will lose their head!"

Li Chun was filled with doubt. Could it be that the Crown Prince blew up the latrine?

Given the Crown Prince's unruly nature, he really is capable of doing such a thing!

Liu Jin urged, "Don't just stand there, quickly send Vice Minister Wang to the Imperial Hospital!"