The First National Preceptor of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 249

Xu Tian then gave a wink, and the steward immediately came forward and said, "Your Highness, our young master has a gift to give you."

Then he led the prince to the school cafeteria. The little prince blinked and said, "Didn't you say that Master Xu had prepared a mysterious gift for me?"

The steward immediately nodded: "How could we dare to lie to you? Yesterday, Master Xu personally went to the kitchen and had someone develop a snack called spicy strips. We guarantee that the Crown Prince has never eaten it."

Li Chengqian's eyes lit up immediately. The food he ate in the palace was arranged by his mother, and it was really bland and tasteless. Now, seeing this spicy strip, which was bright red, he immediately took one, put it in his mouth and took a bite. Instantly, a burst of oil appeared, and the fragrance lingered on his lips and teeth!

The young prince couldn't control himself once he started eating, one stick after another.

The steward stepped forward and asked, "Is Your Highness satisfied?"

Li Chengqian immediately nodded vigorously and said, "These spicy strips are so delicious! I knew that Master Xu was different from the other tutors. They only know how to make me recite the eight-legged essay. How can they be as interesting as Master Xu?"

The old man was still in the main hall of the Grand Tutor's mansion, thinking to himself: If I can't speak for the Crown Prince, surely my grandson can! Parents raise their children, and children should share their parents' burdens. How can one abandon their parents for the sake of their own fame and fortune? That would be utterly unfilial.

Upon hearing the old man's words, the fellow villager was taken aback at first, then said, "Indeed, although the words are crude, the principle is sound. Parents raise children so that they can support them in their old age. Now, the eldest son of the Wang family is bedridden and relies on his grandson. Hongwen Academy is actually refusing to let him leave; it's really going too far."

Xu Tian simply said, "Teacher Dongfang, go and call Wang Jiatai out."

Dongfang Tingyun immediately went into the inner room and called Wang Jiatai out.

Wang Jiatai: "Teacher, how did you do on the exam this time?" Dongfang Tingyun patted his head with satisfaction and said, "You got first place in Class B this time, you got an A grade."

But as soon as Dongfang Tingyun stepped into the main hall, she heard the old man scolding his child for being unfilial, and her expression immediately turned cold.

"Do you know what impact these words will have on Wang Jiatai in the future? If he is convicted of being unfilial in this dynasty, he will not even be qualified to be an official! Why did you send him to study at a private school?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Jiatai's grandfather immediately sneered, "How come he can't become an official just because I scolded him a few times? Isn't it all because of his own actions?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Jiatai, with tears welling in his eyes, asked, "Why is it that Master Dongfang is deemed unfilial and therefore ineligible for office?"

Just as Dongfang Tingyun was about to explain, Xu Tian suddenly smashed the teacup on the ground.

"How can a person with corrupt character serve the people and the country? Wang Jiatai is my student. If he says this, then he is implying that I am corrupt from the start, and that I am corrupt from the bottom up?"

The steward hurriedly saw the Crown Prince off, and watched Li Chengqian ride away in the imperial carriage. He then wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and returned to the living room, where he saw his young master and eldest daughter, Xuan San, smashing teacups.

That was his favorite set of blue and white porcelain. The steward then said, "Do you know what the consequences are for slandering an official of the imperial court?"

Xu Tian remembered that this was ancient times, where emperors were supreme! The monarchical system was too centralized. There was a saying that went, "If the emperor commands the subject to die, the subject has no choice but to die." This shows how effective the rule was. He immediately sneered and said, "I used to be a commoner, but ever since the emperor conferred the title of Grand Tutor to First-Rank Military Marquis..."

The imperial edict once praised me, Grand Tutor, for my noble character; now you claim I am morally corrupt. Are you dissatisfied with the Emperor?