My name is Chang An, your name is Gu Li

"As the saying goes, humility makes people progress, while pride makes people fall behind. It's nothing more than that." Chang An said with a smile at this time.

After hearing this, Su Ke smiled and nodded at Chang An, saying, "You are right."

But at this moment, the three of them suddenly heard a cold snort, and then turned their eyes to Zhang Jiazhen on the side, and then heard him say: "Pride makes people fall behind, and there is nothing wrong with those who are self-righteous. On the contrary, those humble people don't seem to have anything worth improving."

When Gu Li heard this, his eyebrows immediately frowned. Then Zhang Jiazhen said, "Perhaps the truly proud people are self-righteous and think they are being humble."

"Wouldn't it make people think that this person is hypocritical?"

Su Ke felt something was wrong when he heard it, so he said, "Prime Minister Zhang, that's over."

"Passed? How could it be passed? I didn't say who it was. But don't think I was making veiled accusations against anyone." Zhang Jiazhen said with a smile.

At this time, Gu Li finally couldn't help it, took a deep breath, and said: "I don't know if my husband and I are hypocritical in the eyes of Prime Minister Zhang. But I don't want to ask about this matter."

Zhang Jiazhen was stunned for a moment, but Chang An saw what Gu Li was doing.

"I just want to know, Prime Minister Zhang, are you considered a hypocritical person?"

Zhang Jiazhen snorted coldly at this time and said, "I am the prime minister, and everything I do is watched by the people. Naturally, I must act uprightly and openly."

"I am proud of myself. This is who I am. I never pretend to be a humble hypocrite."

"I see. That's easy to say." Gu Li nodded and continued, "I just wonder how many times Prime Minister Zhang has stepped onto the stage to become a disciple?"

"It's the first time, so what?"

"Prime Minister Zhang is so old, but this is his first time to be a disciple and worship as Prime Minister. You..." Gu Li narrowed his eyes slightly at this time, deliberately dragging his feet for a long time before continuing:

"Why be proud?"

Zhang Jiazhen's body froze. If he hadn't cared so much about his position as prime minister, he would have almost stood up and cursed.

"Prime Minister Zhang just mentioned those who are proud but pretend to be humble. My husband and I should be counted as one of them, and we are considered hypocritical people in Prime Minister Zhang's words. On the other hand, Prime Minister Zhang is an upright person who admits that he is proud."

"I just don't know why it took such a long time for Prime Minister Zhang, who is so upright, to take the position of Prime Minister?"

Zhang Jiazhen could not fail to understand the meaning of this remark, which was saying that he was incompetent and had waited so long in vain to become the prime minister. At the same time, the other party also compared his own "hypocrisy" with him. Isn't this a naked mockery?

Facing Zhang Jiazhen who was showing her anger, Gu Li poured another bucket of oil on her.

"Besides, didn't Prime Minister Zhang just say that? You didn't insinuate anything about anyone, but we are hypocritical people, which just meets the criteria Prime Minister Zhang just mentioned. How can this not be considered an insinuation?"

"You said you didn't make any innuendos, but you did say something about me and my husband. Can this be considered 'open and aboveboard'?"

Zhang Jiazhen's face turned green immediately. The other party admitted it openly and even said that his honesty was fake.

"You, Prime Minister Zhang, consider yourself proud and upright, but you are so old when you become the prime minister. My husband is not yet an adult, he considers himself humble and pretends to be hypocritical, but now he is a founding county marquis, and he is of the same rank as you, Prime Minister Zhang."

"Putting aside whether it is hypocritical or not, just from the outside, pride makes people fall behind, and humility makes people progress. What's wrong with that?"

"Besides, my husband was conferred the title of marquis because he found a way to prevent smallpox. Prime Minister Zhang can lift up his sleeve to see if there is a scar from the vaccination."

"If so, this is a life-saving grace. You should bow to my husband, greet him, and thank him. Could it be that Prime Minister Zhang has read the books of sages, but he doesn't even understand the principle of repaying a favor?"

Zhang Jiazhen took a few deep breaths, calmed herself down a little, and snorted, "What a girl, so eloquent, didn't your husband teach you the virtues of a woman?"

If the previous words touched Gu Li's displeasure, then this sentence touched Chang An's reverse scale.

"In that case, Prime Minister Zhang, I would like to ask you, what is the virtue of a woman?"

"Respect your parents, honor your parents-in-law, support your husband and educate your children, and follow the three obediences and four virtues." Zhang Jiazhen actually dared to answer.

"Okay, then I will tell Prime Minister Zhang now that my wife is filial and respectful to the Yuan family. She never disobeys her parents-in-law and always obeys their wishes. We have no children yet, but my wife assists me. Half of the credit for my becoming a marquis belongs to my wife."

"As for the Three Obediences and Four Virtues, my wife has done very well in the first two. You can go to Anrenfang and ask if this is true. My wife is loyal to me, which is a woman's virtue. My wife never says anything that is not elegant, which is a woman's speech. Prime Minister Zhang, please see if my wife is dressed decently, which is a woman's appearance. She is proficient in needlework and weaving clothes, isn't that considered a woman's work?"

"If you say my wife is immoral just because she said something that Prime Minister Zhang didn't like, then you are narrow-minded. How can you, Prime Minister Zhang, judge my wife?"

"You said your wife was unfaithful to her husband, and I said you were reading the Holy Word in vain. To put it bluntly, I can teach my wife myself, so why would it be your turn? Isn't what you did, Prime Minister Zhang, against common sense?"

Zhang Jiazhen listened to Chang An's words, and his face was like a palette, so colorful. The other party was not an ordinary marquis, but a real marquis with a real title and power. In terms of rank and status, the other party was really on an equal footing with himself. Even if he reported it to the emperor, it would not even be a crime of insubordination, and he would suffer in silence.

"You..." Zhang Jiazhen's chest heaved

"What do you mean by 'I'?" Chang An pressed the issue, "A wife defending her husband, does that count as a violation of women's virtues? Even if it does count, I'll tell you, Prime Minister Zhang, that I'll never let my wife learn those so-called women's virtues."

"In my place, my wife can do whatever she wants and learn whatever she wants. I only ask her to abide by morals. As for women's virtues, they are optional for me. If she wants to abide by them, she can abide by them. If she doesn't want to abide by them, she doesn't have to abide by them. What does it have to do with you, Prime Minister Zhang?"

"As the saying goes: The power of governing a country and pacifying the world is mostly held by women, and it is based on the mother's education. I dare to assert that Prime Minister Zhang must have a virtuous wife at home to help you take care of the family affairs. Otherwise, Prime Minister Zhang will be worried, how can he serve the country?"

Zhang Jiazhen knew he couldn't win the argument, so he said, "Heaven is high and earth is low."

"If that's the case, doesn't that mean that Prime Minister Zhang is the lowest of the low?" Chang An wanted to shut up, but Zhang Jiazhen said this again, making him even angrier.

"Men are the sky and women are the earth. The sky is superior and the earth is inferior. And both men and women are born by women. If, as Prime Minister Zhang said, the sky is superior and the earth is inferior, and the sky is nurtured by the earth, then why are you superior?" Chang An said.

Zhang Jiazhen and Su Qiang were both stunned. They had never thought about this matter before, but now that Chang An had pointed it out, they found it hard to accept.

"Don't say anything like heaven is superior to earth and men are superior to women. If you want to say such things again in the future, think about your mother first! If you continue to follow your idea of ​​men being superior to women, it will be considered unfilial to say the worst!"

If it were in modern times, Chang An's words might not be of much use, but now it is the Tang Dynasty, the ancient times, and these so-called talents all value morality more than life. Zhang Jiazhen is naturally no exception, but even so, he was still very angry with Chang An.

He wanted to say that the other party was sharp-tongued, but he couldn't find any fault with him. Even if he was so angry that he was shaking all over, he couldn't complain to the emperor. He snorted, stood up, and walked away.

Su Ke looked at the young couple, who were arguing with each other, and even Zhang Jiazhen was speechless. He smiled and said, "You have been standing for so long, you must be tired, right? Sit down and take a rest."

Chang An nodded, and sat directly on the couch where Zhang Jiazhen had just sat, and Gu Li also sat beside him. Then Su Ke put the teacup that Zhang Jiazhen had used aside, turned it upside down, and took out two new teacups and placed them in front of Chang An and Gu Li.

Then he made tea and said with a smile, "You two are both protective of your own shortcomings. You scolded Zhang Jiazhen for so long, drink some tea."

"Thank you, Mr. Su." This time, Chang An did not call Su Kang by his official title, but called him "Lao" instead.

"But Zhang Jiazhen is not a broad-minded person. You two scolded him today, and I'm afraid he will target you in the future." Su Qiang kindly reminded at this time.

Chang An smiled and said, "But Mr. Su, isn't Zhang Jiazhen targeting you now?"

"But aren't my mother Gu and I afraid too?"

As he spoke, Chang An stretched out his finger and gently scratched the tip of Gu Li's nose twice, which made her feel a little confused. The pair of puzzled big eyes blinked and just looked at Chang An.

Su Ke didn't say much. After seeing that the tea was ready, he said, "Drink some tea and take a rest."

Halfway through drinking the tea, I suddenly heard Gao Shi's voice: "Brother Chang, Madam Gu, it's time to go back."

The two looked back and saw that Gao Shi and the other two had already come back. Chang An responded, "Brother Gao, wait for me."

Afterwards, he and Gu Niang finished their tea, then stood up, bowed to Su Qie, and said, "Old Su, my wife and I will take our leave now."

Su Qian nodded and said, "Okay, take your time."