Chapter 206: The Sages

“You…how dare you say such things, you disgrace to our family!”

Wang Hua continued to roar at Wang Shouren with resentment: “Xunzi became a Sage, the Cheng-Zhu School became Sages, they earned a place in the Confucian Temple…how could you…”

Before Wang Hua could finish speaking, Wang Shouren sharply interrupted him: “Wrong again!”

“…” Wang Hua’s body trembled. He looked at his son, who was too agitated to restrain himself, and then saw Wang Shouren declare loudly: “Since Confucius and Mencius are no longer in this world, who can say the Cheng-Zhu School are Sages?”

“…”

Wang Hua struggled to support himself on the desk with his hands.

The Cheng-Zhu School are not Sages…

“But all the Scholars in the world recognize the Cheng-Zhu School!” Wang Hua’s beard bristled. If this weren’t his own child, he would have beaten him to death long ago.

Wang Shouren laughed, a great big laugh: “Haha, still wrong! Just because Scholars think they are Sages, does that make them Sages? I am also a Scholar; if I believe Fang Jifan is a Sage, can I elevate my teacher into the Confucian Temple? The Sages have passed away. If a Sage does not call himself a Sage, what right does he have to consider himself one?”

Wang Hua pointed a finger at Wang Shouren, his eyes wide: “You…”

Wang Shouren continued: “Yet Confucius believed that Shennong tasted hundreds of herbs, and therefore regarded Shennong as a worthy ancient Sage. May I ask, Shennong did not know the Cheng-Zhu School, didn’t even understand the Analects, didn’t know what ‘zhi hu zhe ye’ meant, so why did Confucius revere Shennong?”

“…”

“Cangjie also did not understand what the Four Books and Five Classics were, didn’t know what the Analects was, so why did Confucius regard him as a Sage?”

“…”

“Yao and Shun left behind achievements, mainly flood control, and they never studied the Cheng-Zhu School. So why did Confucius consider them Sages?”

“…”

“This is because they practiced Benevolent Governance. They held benevolent thoughts in their hearts, were diligent in action, and saved countless common people. The deeds they humbly performed were enough to be remembered for ages; even Confucius admired them and felt inferior. What Confucius admired about them was not that they wrote books or studied profound learning, but that they controlled floods, healed people, created writing, thereby benefiting the ancient people. These are the true Sages. But clinging to one copy of the Analects, chewing on it all day, so-called studying hard for ten years in bitter conditions, ignoring everything outside the window—isn’t that ridiculous? Did the Sage ever worship such people?”

“Did the Sage ever regard those Pedantic Scholars as worthy ancient Sages? The Great Way is Simple. You don’t need to exhaustively study so-called Confucian principles; you only need to know that the Sage advocated benevolence, righteousness, and ritual. That is enough. Unity of Knowledge and Action—the primary part is action. Whether it is major Benevolent Governance or just tiny acts of helping others, these are all virtues. Father, you are wrong, gravely wrong. The Wang Family Residence study holds thirty thousand volumes, but in my view, only one copy of the Analects need remain. Keeping the others is useless; they only mislead people!”

Wang Hua was stunned.

He scolded harshly: “You wretched beast.” After saying this, he actually picked up the Inkstone on the desk, wanting to strike down with it. But his hand, raised halfway, hung in mid-air as tears streamed down his face; he did not have the strength to strike.

This…was his own flesh and blood.

Tears flooded down from Wang Hua’s eyes. He choked silently, and finally, his hand dropped weakly, and the Inkstone fell to the ground with a clatter, splitting in two.

“You…have disappointed your father so much.” Wang Hua choked back sobs, not daring to let out a cry, afraid that if he started crying, he would lose the last bit of dignity as a father.

After saying this, he turned around, distraught, and staggered out of the study.

But as soon as Wang Hua left the study, he suddenly became like a swift leopard, dashing swiftly toward the kitchen, directly pulling out a kitchen knife!

He held the kitchen knife, his eyes bloodshot, the Winged Official Hat on his head crooked after his duty ended, his clothes disheveled.

The estate’s steward saw this and quickly wrapped his arms around Wang Hua’s waist to hold him back, crying out in great alarm: “Master, master, what is wrong with you? What’s wrong…someone come quickly, someone come quickly!”

Wang Hua’s tears poured, his eyes growing even redder. Clearly, he was a Noble Person, who always stayed away from the kitchen, so the knife in his hand waved wildly and unskillfully in the air. Despite his usual excellent composure, his face was now full of ferocity: “Fang Jifan…”

He roared at the sky: “I, Wang Hua, will chop you into a thousand pieces! You mislead people’s disciples, you harm my son, you are worse than pigs and dogs, you are no different from a beast…”

…

At home, Fang Jifan suddenly sneezed and subconsciously rubbed his nose.

It was evening now. He had just finished dinner, and a group of disciples gathered around him, lavishing praise without reservation on how profound his learning was.

Ah, the ancients—aside from unspeakable matters—didn’t have much in the way of entertainment. So after eating and drinking his fill, with a cup of fine tea in hand, being flattered by his disciples in the hall like stars surrounding the moon—life was actually quite pleasant.

But this sneeze made Fang Jifan keep rubbing his sore nose. He felt somewhat strange and sighed: “It seems someone is cursing me? Or is some trouble about to happen somewhere?”

Just then, the doorman rushed in urgently: “It’s bad, it’s bad, Young Lord! Someone from the palace has come, someone has come…”

Fang Jifan sprang to his feet… he knew something had happened.

Why did it feel like… someone always had a grudge against him? Who did he offend?

If someone came from the palace now, certainly something had occurred. It was already dark. Once night fell, the palace gates would close. If it weren’t a major incident, why couldn’t it wait until tomorrow?

Sure enough, a Eunuch was striding swiftly in. Panting, he walked up to Fang Jifan, glanced at him, and immediately said: “Newly Established Count, Her Highness requests your presence.”

“…”

Her Highness?

In the middle of the night, Her Highness summons me?

Fang Jifan thought the Eunuch was joking with him.

“Which Her Highness?”

The Eunuch kept a stern face: “Two Highnesses.”

Two? That would be the Grand Empress Dowager and Empress Zhang…

Fang Jifan was even more bewildered.

He didn’t dare delay. Something had happened, surely something had happened. Being summoned by two Highnesses in the middle of the night was so unusual; if nothing was wrong, it would be ghostly.

Without hesitation, he hurriedly followed the Eunuch to the Meridian Gate. However, the Meridian Gate was already closed. The Imperial Guards on the City Tower lowered a basket.

Fang Jifan tugged at the long rope attached to the basket, feeling wary. He couldn’t help looking at the Eunuch beside him and said: “You aren’t going to harm me, are you? Is this rope sturdy enough? Forget it, I’m a loyal minister; I’m not afraid of death.”

Steeling himself, he got into the basket and was hoisted into the Imperial Palace.

He was led all the way to the Warm Pavilion.

The Warm Pavilion?

In the middle of the night… hadn’t His Majesty gone back to rest? But wasn’t it the two Highnesses summoning him? Why did they come to the Warm Pavilion?

Outside the Warm Pavilion, it was already brightly lit.

The three Grand Secretaries of the Grand Secretariat were also there, their faces tense, hands behind their backs, sighing.

Eunuch Xiao and several other eunuchs were on the other side, carefully attending to the Grand Empress Dowager.

Empress Zhang stood with Zhu Houzhao, who looked worried and distressed.

Besides them, there were Shouning Hou Zhang Heling and Earl of Jianchang Zhang Yanling.

As for the others, their faces were unfamiliar, but since Shouning Hou and the Earl of Jianchang were here, probably the rest were also relatives of the imperial family.

In the middle of the night, what kind of gathering was this?

As soon as Fang Jifan arrived, people swarmed around him in a rush.

This scene gave Fang Jifan a start.

Xie Qian had an impatient temperament. As soon as he saw Fang Jifan, he said sharply: “Fang Jifan, what exactly happened last time His Majesty went to the Western Hills?”

“What?” Fang Jifan was confused. What was this about?

Xie Qian glared at Fang Jifan, beating his chest and stamping his feet: “Ever since His Majesty returned from the Western Hills last time, he has had no appetite for tea or rice, finds no flavor in anything he eats. It’s been half a month already, and now he’s so worried he’s fallen ill. Eunuch Xiao said it’s been like this since he came back from the Western Hills. You are here today to be asked: what on earth happened?”

Fang Jifan’s heart skipped a beat.

So worried he fell ill?

Such poor psychological resilience?

Couldn’t be, right?

He said subconsciously: “It has nothing to do with me. I didn’t do anything.”

“…”

Suddenly, it was quiet.

Then, Liu Jian gave Fang Jifan a meaningful look and said: “Just now, no one said it was related to you; we were only asking about the matter at the Western Hills. Since no one asked that, why did you flatly deny it?”

“I…” Fang Jifan thought inwardly, I’m done for.

Seeing countless eyes fixed on him like wolves and tigers, Fang Jifan felt a bit scared.

His Majesty had no appetite for food?

Could it be related to Zhang Xin? Thinking of that guy’s Foot-Binding Cloth, it still made him lose his appetite even now. Hmm, that was very likely it.

No, I must protect him; I absolutely cannot give him away. After all, I am a good person.

Taking a deep breath, Fang Jifan said: “This matter, Eunuch Xiao should know about it.”

Everyone turned to look at Eunuch Xiao.

Eunuch Xiao hurriedly said: “Your Servant only knows the general situation.”

This guy was very good at shifting responsibility.

Fang Jifan had no choice but to say: “Perhaps His Majesty caught a Wind-Cold Disorder.”

Eunuch Xiao immediately added: “The Imperial Physician has already examined him and said there are no signs of illness in the royal body.”

“His Majesty has no appetite, doesn’t want to eat?” Fang Jifan couldn’t help asking.

Everyone nodded.

Alright, then it must be Zhang Xin; it must be him. Ah, I must protect Zhang Xin, or he’s done for.

Fang Jifan thought nervously, feeling a chill on his neck. Please don’t let there really be a problem; people could die.

Fang Jifan thought for a moment and had to say: “Maybe the imperial kitchen’s meals are too unpalatable?”

“Hmm?” Empress Zhang stared at Fang Jifan. Over the past few days, everyone had been anxious, but this matter shouldn’t be spread outside, so only the people in the palace were running around in a panic.

The reason they called Fang Jifan here was that since His Majesty returned from the Western Hills, he had been like this. Although Empress Zhang repeatedly asked His Majesty what happened, His Majesty never said.

Now Fang Jifan actually raised the issue of the imperial meals. Although Empress Zhang felt this answer was simplistic, hearing Fang Jifan say it, she thought that even if it seemed unreliable, it might still be a direction to consider.

“How about…” Fang Jifan said: “Your Servant’s family recently acquired a river deer. We could ask a skilled chef to cook it well and send it into the palace to let His Majesty try a different taste?”