Royal Gold Medal County Magistrate

Li Yuanzhao tugged at Fang Zheng's sleeve and whispered, "Old Fang, you must be careful of Master Yan. He's very strict. When he teaches me to recite, he hits my palm if I miss a single word."

"I don't know how many times my hand has swollen!"

Fang Zheng said, "Your Highness, don't worry, I'm just an attending student. He can't hit me..."

Li Yuanzhao immediately bared his teeth and said, "I don't have a brother like you!"

"Then give me back the money, Your Highness!"

"Won't give it back!"

The two of them fooling around arrived at the main hall of the Zhan Shi Bureau.

Yan Guo'an stood in the hall with a serious face. Seeing the Crown Prince and Fang Zheng appear together, grinning and joking, his expression immediately darkened.

"Fang Zheng! His Majesty sent you here to accompany the Crown Prince in his studies. What kind of behavior is this, laughing and joking?"

Fang Zheng was not afraid of him. This man had a sour face and wanted to crush him the first time they met. Fang Zheng had long been impatient.

So he said lightly, "Grand Tutor Yan, isn't it not even started yet? Is it wrong for the Crown Prince to laugh?"

"Or is it that Grand Tutor Yan was born without the ability to laugh, and feels uncomfortable when he sees others laughing?"

Yan Guo'an snorted coldly, "Stop quibbling here! The Crown Prince is the future ruler, he must maintain the dignity of the imperial family at all times! How can you talk nonsense?"

"Oh? Grand Tutor Yan is so amazing? He knows what the Son of Heaven should look like? It's a pity that Grand Tutor Yan was born late. If he had been born a few hundred years earlier and Crown Princes were cultivated according to Grand Tutor Yan's methods, wouldn't there be no such thing as dynastic changes?"

Fang Zheng began to be sarcastic.

Li Yuanzhao watched the two of them start arguing as soon as they met, and couldn't help but get a little excited.

He secretly gave Fang Zheng a thumbs up.

Yan Guo'an immediately rebuked with a cold face, "Fang Zheng! I am your superior! How can you be so presumptuous!?"

"Oh? Could it be that Grand Tutor Yan is starting to resort to authority because he can't win against me in argument? Then the words spoken by His Majesty should be infallible maxims. The Crown Prince is also my superior. I wonder who is greater, the Crown Prince or Grand Tutor Yan?"

Fang Zheng's hand quietly poked Li Yuanzhao's thigh.

Li Yuanzhao's courage also rose, but when he met Yan Guo'an's stern gaze, he was still a little timid, and weakly said, "Yes! What Old Fang said makes sense!"

Yan Guo'an's eyes widened instantly: "Your Highness! He is your subject, and you call him Old Fang!?"

"The ruler is a ruler, the subject is a subject, the father is a father, the son is a son. A ruler must have the appearance of a ruler! How can the address be so frivolous!?"

Looking at Fang Zheng's carefree and complacent appearance, the anger in Yan Guo'an's heart grew even stronger.

Li Yuanzhao panicked after hearing this and immediately looked at Fang Zheng with a pleading look.

Fang Zheng sighed in his heart. This little brother is useless! It seems that Yan Guo'an has bullied him a lot usually. The Crown Prince is so afraid of his subjects.

So he also said to Yan Guo'an in a cold voice, "Grand Tutor Yan! Do you have any respect for the Crown Prince! Just teach the lesson, and be more polite to the Crown Prince!"

Traitorous villain! Traitorous villain!

Yan Guo'an was frantic and hated Fang Zheng to the extreme. Fang Zheng was a complete sycophant, actually trying to please the Crown Prince in every possible way. The Crown Prince is young and has been deceived! Damn it!

"I am teaching the Crown Prince under the Holy Mandate! In the Zhan Shi Bureau, my status is the Crown Prince's teacher! How can it be compared to ordinary times!?"

Fang Zheng did not back down at all, and stared directly at Yan Guo'an: "Although I am nominally an attending student, I am also teaching the Crown Prince under the Holy Mandate, so His Highness can also be considered half my student, and what's more, we are both teacher and friend. Please, Grand Tutor Yan, don't yell at my student!"

"Although I am Grand Tutor Yan's subordinate, His Majesty once said to me that I don't need to teach the things that Grand Tutor Yan has already taught, so you and I will each do our own thing and stay out of each other's way!"

"But while I'm here, please respect His Highness!"

Yan Guo'an's face became even more ugly: "Fang Zheng! Don't think you can do whatever you want just because you rely on Eunuch Guo! You are also a dignified scholar, associating with eunuchs, you have no sense of shame!!"

The group of young eunuchs serving around and Liu Jin, who was beside the Crown Prince, lowered their heads one after another, feeling a little uncomfortable in their hearts when they heard this.

Fang Zheng took in everyone's expressions, and at the same time, he was even more disdainful of Yan Guo'an.

Resorting to authority didn't work, so he started resorting to morality?

Too bad!! I, Fang Zheng, was a good student in my previous life, and a moral gentleman in this life? Want to defeat me morally? You have to find it first!

Then he turned his head to the Crown Prince and whispered in his ear, "Your Highness, this is the first lesson I'm giving you today. Observe carefully."

Li Yuanzhao's eyes flashed with surprise, and he nodded vigorously.

It was the first time he had seen Grand Tutor Yan so embarrassed, and standing behind Fang Zheng, he felt a sense of security for the first time... a feeling of being protected.

Old Fang, reliable!

Fang Zheng raised his sleeve and rubbed his eyes hard a few times.

Then he put down his sleeve, his eyes were red, teary-eyed, and he said with a look of indignation, "Grand Tutor Yan, Eunuch Guo and I are kindred spirits at first sight. I feel a sense of closeness when I see him..."

Li Yuanzhao wondered in his heart... Why does this sound a little familiar...?

"Eunuch Guo is also very good to me, and he is older than me, so it is only natural that I call him brother!"

"Why has it become associating with eunuchs in Grand Tutor Yan's mouth? Fine! I will associate with eunuchs!"

"But what about eunuchs!? Every big and small thing in the palace requires the help of you gentlemen!"

"Doing the dirtiest and most tiring work, but suffering everyone's contempt, and listening to the disdain of you high and mighty masters!"

"If this is the so-called scholar, the so-called way of the gentleman! I, Fang Zheng, would rather associate with eunuchs!"

The eunuchs in the hall looked at Fang Zheng in surprise, and a strange feeling surged in their hearts. It seemed that since entering the palace... no one had ever said such words for these lowest-ranking eunuchs.....

Yan Guo'an said disdainfully, "Heh, you really have no sense of shame. Your body and hair are received from your parents. Eunuchs have even given up the dignity of being human. You are even proud to associate with eunuchs. I am really ashamed to be an official with you in the same court!"

"Shut up!!"

Fang Zheng "flew into a rage":

"Grand Tutor Yan! An official should plead for the people! Have you ever seen people who can't afford to eat? Have you ever seen orphans without parents? What is the crime of the people! Where is justice!"

"Not everyone is born with brocade clothes and jade food like Grand Tutor Yan, and not everyone is born with ink and brushes to serve them!"

"These people, he! He! And him! Which one of them is not from a poor background! If they were not desperate, who would be willing to mutilate their bodies and be despised in the palace!?"

"If there is a bite of food to eat, a mouthful of water to drink, I'm afraid no one would be willing to violate the laws of nature and have their bodies harmed!"

"But facing such a group of pitiful people, does Grand Tutor Yan have a trace of sympathy! You scold and beat them at every turn. Have you ever thought about them!?"

Fang Zheng looked up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, and tears slowly slid down his cheeks.

This scene made the eunuchs' eyes fill with tears, and they were fascinated... Especially Liu Jin, who was touched in his heart, even couldn't help covering his face and making a slight sob.

Li Yuanzhao was also ashamed, and quickly patted Liu Jin and whispered, "I was wrong... I won't hit you again in the future...."

"Wuwuwuwu~...."

Fang Zheng wiped away his tears, pointed a finger at Yan Guo'an, and sternly said, "Grand Tutor Yan! Do you know your mistake!?"

Everyone's eyes followed Fang Zheng's finger and looked at Yan Guo'an.

Being watched by a group of people, Yan Guo'an felt very uneasy, but he still calmly said: "Mistake? What mistake have I made!? No matter how eloquent you are, you can't change the facts I said! A person like you, even if you go to the court, is just a dirty thing!"

Li Yuanzhao stared blankly at this scene. He could clearly feel that something had changed... The aura had changed!

Fang Zheng sighed and shook his head.

Too trash, is that all it takes to break your defense? You're starting to curse? Scum!

"Then... is Grand Tutor Yan teaching the morning lesson today, or am I?"

Fang Zheng didn't pay attention to him and directly threw out the question to give him a way out.

Yan Guo'an snorted coldly: "You teach it! This morning wasted too much of my time. I will come to teach after noon. Since His Majesty said that you and I should teach separately, then I think you and I don't need to see each other again in the future! Humph! Farewell!"

After saying that, he flicked his sleeves and walked away angrily.

Won..... Won? Did he just win? Li Yuanzhao was dumbfounded.

For the first time ever! Master Yan was embarrassed and ran away!

Seeing Yan Guo'an leave, Fang Zheng did not stop performing and bowed to the many eunuchs.

He said softly, "Please, gentlemen, go out for a while. I have something to talk about with the Crown Prince."

The eunuchs looked grateful, returned the salute, and left the hall in a line, saying one by one as they passed by: "Thank you, Master Fang..."

Fang Zheng turned around and smiled at Li Yuanzhao: "What did Your Highness see?"

Li Yuanzhao still couldn't believe reality and said stupidly, "I understand, you incited the eunuchs to unanimously target Master Yan. Master Yan was afraid."

Fang Zheng shook his head: "Wrong! What I want to say is that a nine-story platform starts from a pile of earth. Don't look down on the so-called lower people around you, including the common people."

"No matter how prosperous the empire is, it is the people who support it from below. Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it."

Li Yuanzhao also smiled: "I understand! But I don't have your ability. I can't cry and I can't deceive people."

Fang Zheng suddenly felt a little sad. You understand my ass!

Then he smiled bitterly: "Wrong again!"

"Those are just minor skills, techniques, not worth mentioning. Learning them can certainly add icing on the cake, but not learning them won't hurt."

"What I really want to tell Your Highness is that if you want people to truly be sincerely convinced, you must have a sincere heart to treat people..."