Chapter 239: The Crown Prince’s Secret

Later on, many scholars often came and went in the Western Hills.

Fang Jifan spotted a business opportunity and set up a teahouse next to the school. He sold tea and wine there. Since it was the scholars’ money, he thought, why not earn it? Noting that scholars traditionally had some refined hobbies, Fang Jifan even considered opening a brothel so they could spend money there after debates or lectures.

However, this thought only flashed through his mind briefly. Fang Jifan was a moral person, and his values couldn’t tolerate such filthy things. Even just thinking about it made him tremble all over.

A flag was hung in front of the Western Hills tavern, fluttering gracefully in the breeze, which caught many people’s eyes.

What was even more satisfying was that the tavern’s business was quite good.

Although Wang Shouren hurried over by sedan only after dinner, scholars from all the nearby villages who came to audit classes were willing to arrive early. With nothing else to do, they drank tea and wine in the teahouse, exchanging ideas with each other.

Whether they liked Wang Shouren or not, whether they genuinely wanted to learn or came to cause trouble and hear how ridiculous the so-called heretical words were, at least the scholars were civilized. They resolved disputes with words.

During the school break, a group of pupils carrying coarse cloth book bags swarmed into the tavern.

As the first shop in the Western Hills, the Western Hills tavern served many functions. For example, it sold Candied Hawthorn Fruits and also had sweet potato dried strips made from sweet potatoes. Not only that, it also specially prepared dried fruits for the scholars to enjoy with their tea and wine.

A group of half-grown children crowded under the high counter of the tavern, with only the top halves of their foreheads showing above it.

The older children stood in front, while the smaller ones anxiously peeked from behind.

The tavern’s manager was Zhu Gui, a former miner who became lame due to a work injury. He was then assigned this easy job. He knew a few characters and was somewhat skilled at arithmetic. Now he could skillfully use the abacus.

He had to lean forward and bend down to see the children’s faces behind the high counter.

Xu Jie was the tallest. He had already collected copper coins and tried hard to raise his hand high, slapping three coins on the counter with great effort, trying to sound impressive as he spoke boldly, “One hundred sweet potato dried strips!”

“…” Zhu Gui narrowed his eyes and gently shook his head at Xu Jie. “Three coins? You might as well go rob someone. Go away, go away.”

Xu Jie started to bare his teeth, staring at Zhu Gui with great dissatisfaction, looking just like a mountain bandit leader.

Beside him, Zhang Xiaohu also bared his little tiger teeth, appearing fierce and menacing.

The crowd of pupils puffed out their chests, all glaring angrily.

Zhu Gui saw the imposing group of young pupils in front of the counter and couldn’t help but shake his head with a bitter smile.

“Yesterday you brought five coins, but today only three. Ah, ah, ah, I really should talk to the Benefactor about this.” Noticing more and more scholars entering the tavern, he continued shaking his head.

“Alright, alright, just this once, but don’t do it again.”

Then he turned to the assistant behind him and said,

“Old Fifth, go weigh two jin of sweet potato dried strips…”

The group of pupils got the sweet potato dried strips. Xu Jie stuffed them into his book bag and led the children away, cheering and skipping.

One small pupil walked too hurriedly, tripped over the doorstep, and started wailing loudly.

So the swarm of pupils hastily rushed back, lifted him up, and carried him away.

The world… became quiet again.

There were more and more scholars, over thirty of them, all discussing yesterday’s debate and what Wang Shouren had said. Those who liked Wang Shouren called him Master Wang, while those who didn’t referred to him as ‘that one’.

After about half an hour, someone said, “Master Wang is here.”

So the scholars crowded to the counter to pay their bills. The school’s wooden clapper sounded, and the pupils all entered the school. In the Minglun Hall, the pupils knelt at the front, while a group of scholars sat in the corners.

Wang Shouren looked somewhat tired. At the Hanlin Academy’s Historiography Institute, as a Probationary Hanlin Academician, he didn’t dare participate in compiling the actual records. His main job was just organizing the Qi Ju Zhu.

He had just sat down when Fang Jifan unintentionally appeared in a corner as well.

As soon as Wang Shouren saw Fang Jifan, he quickly pulled himself together, stood up, and bowed to Fang Jifan. “This student… pays respects to Mentor.”

When the scholars heard the word “Mentor,” their faces turned pale with fright. When they came in earlier, they hadn’t thought this young man was Fang Jifan; they assumed he was just an ordinary scholar and had even chatted with him for a bit. So those near Fang Jifan couldn’t help but move a bit farther away. All sorts of rumors in the market made them both curious about Fang Jifan and somewhat afraid of him.

However, there were also a few scholars who bowed to Fang Jifan from a distance, saying respectfully, “We pay respects to Grandmaster…”

Fang Jifan didn’t respond. These guys… were probably Wang Shouren’s fans, fervently following his teachings and considering themselves his disciples. In that case… Fang Jifan naturally became their Grandmaster.

That seemed quite reasonable.

Wang Shouren had just sat down again but hadn’t settled when a scholar sneered and said, “The Sage emphasized rituals, so Master Zhu said, ‘Preserve heavenly principles and eliminate human desires.’ This is called ritual. The difference between humans and beasts lies in ritual. Therefore, only by eliminating human desires can one achieve self-restraint, and only through self-restraint can one restore ritual. But Mr. Wang advocates human emotions—isn’t that contradicting the Sage’s words?”

There were troublemakers like this every day.

Wang Shouren was already used to it.

He slightly raised his eyes to look at the challenging scholar. His whole demeanor showed little emotion; he was expressionless and spoke lightly.

“The Sage established rituals based on human emotions. Rituals did not descend from heaven nor emerge from earth—they came from human emotions. Without human emotions, how could there be rituals? During the time of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, there was no concept of eliminating human desires. Were they beasts too?”

“Nonsense! During the time of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors…”

It started again.

What Fang Jifan admired most about these scholars was that during debates, they could talk from Confucius to the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, and from the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors to the Penglai Immortal Island, seemingly able to argue endlessly for a lifetime.

After that, the debate grew increasingly intense. Wang Shouren, speaking lightly, always managed to win surprisingly. The troublemakers were already struggling to keep up.

But each exchange of arguments became sharper, like unsheathed swords. Hearing this, Fang Jifan felt inwardly ashamed. He couldn’t help but mutter quietly to himself, “If one day I, Fang Jifan, get beheaded by the Emperor, nine times out of ten, it will be because of you, Wang Shouren.”

Behind him, someone patted Fang Jifan on the shoulder. Before he could turn to see who it was, a familiar voice sounded in his ear.

“Fang Jifan, if This Palace becomes the Son of Heaven, This Palace will never chop off your head. We are brothers…”

Fang Jifan turned around in surprise and saw Zhu Houzhao, wearing an odd-looking scholar’s scarf and a Confucian robe, standing behind him. He had no idea when Zhu Houzhao had come in.

Fang Jifan hurried out of the Minglun Hall, and Zhu Houzhao chased after him.

Seeing no one around, Fang Jifan frowned and said, “Your Highness, why did you leave the palace at night? Something bad could happen.”

Zhu Houzhao grinned.

“I climbed out. I also got an Imperial Guard waist token. The city gate guards didn’t dare stop me. This Palace has something to tell you. First, let me share some bad news: rumors are spreading in the palace that your father deserted from the battlefield.”

“What?” Fang Jifan’s eyes widened. Desertion… just like the rumors about his grandfather, who slipped back to the Capital from Tumu Fortress. Although his Grandfather was saving people or possibly being saved, that wasn’t the point. At that time, Tumu Fortress had completely collapsed. If you didn’t desert, you’d only become a prisoner, so it wasn’t shameful.

But if he deserted in Guizhou, things would be troublesome.

“How is that possible? My father isn’t that kind of person.” Fang Jifan bared his teeth, looking furious.

“Why would I lie to you? The news came from the palace—how could it be fake? The Ministry of War also has memorials about it.”

Zhu Houzhao seemed very excited instead. Then he spoke seriously to Fang Jifan, “But after This Palace read the recent military reports in the Capital Gazette, This Palace noticed something new. Come, This Palace even brought the Military Map.”

As he said this, he pulled Fang Jifan to a secluded classroom where no one was around. Liu Jin caught up with them and lit a lamp for the two.

Zhu Houzhao spread the Military Map on the desk, full of enthusiasm.

“A few days ago, the Rebel Army captured a county town. The Ming Army suffered heavy losses. But have you noticed? In the Capital Gazette, Provincial Governor Wang Shi didn’t send the Mountain Brigade into battle. That’s strange. With such a big event, he should have dispatched the elite forces to recapture the lost territory. But what he sent was the Left River Guard, which made little progress.”

“And after that, the Rebel Army attacked Anshun. The Provincial Governor personally led troops to reinforce…” Zhu Houzhao appeared very agitated, his fingers skillfully pointing to each location on the Military Map. Clearly, he had already studied this map countless times before.

His eyes shone, especially noticeable under the candlelight.

Fang Jifan also frowned, analyzing the map.

“But the Mountain Brigade… still didn’t join the battle. The Mountain Brigade is best at fighting the Rebel Army in the field. So why wasn’t the Mountain Brigade sent to reinforce Anshun, such an important city? There’s only one possibility: either the Mountain Brigade needed rest, or Wang Shi and your father didn’t get along.”

“Of course, that’s not important.”

Hearing this, Fang Jifan’s heart shook. He suddenly remembered why his father might have ‘deserted.’

Could it be because of his letter?

Thinking this, he finally let out a long sigh of relief. Desertion was a serious crime. No matter how strained the relationship with the Provincial Governor, this wasn’t allowed. If it caused the entire Ming Army in Guizhou to collapse, how many frontline officers and soldiers would die because of it?

Fang Jifan calmed himself and stared at Zhu Houzhao. “Your Highness, what happened next?”

“But, Old Fang, have you ever wondered one thing? Why do the bandits keep growing the more we suppress them? The imperial court repeatedly sends more troops, and we win quite a few battles, yet the bandits’ forces expand instead. What’s the reason?”

Sure enough… the Crown Prince had discovered the crucial problem.

Fang Jifan felt a hint of admiration for the legendary ‘Emperor Wuzong of Ming’ in his heart. “Mi Lu!”