“Looking back over several hundred years of our Great Jin Dynasty’s history, aside from occasional instances when an emperor was seriously ill and court was suspended, no emperor has ever been this late to morning court!”
“I heard that during lessons, His Majesty led the eight study companions in a class boycott. Grand Tutor Xu was nearly angered to illness.”
“This subject also heard that yesterday His Majesty ordered a study companion to jump into the water. This is winter—having such a young child jump into water could cost a life.”
“His Majesty is too willful, completely lacking a ruler’s benevolence…”
Listening to the group of ministers below impeaching him, the young Emperor’s face was full of displeasure. “I’m not even eight years old yet. I’m still growing. What’s wrong with sleeping in a bit in the morning?”
He stood up. “Grand Tutor Xu’s lectures are too boring. I don’t want to listen to him teach. Is that wrong?”
“As for that Lin Dongdong, he said himself that he knew how to swim and insisted on showing me. It wasn’t me commanding him. Besides, didn’t it turn out that no one died?”
The ministers all shook their heads.
“Alas, His Majesty is too unruly.”
“Not listening to lessons is one thing, but treating human life so carelessly.”
“Our Great Jin Dynasty’s realm will likely be ruined…”
Standing at the head position, Chu Rui’s lips curved upward.
The more absurd and outrageous the young Emperor acted, the more reason he would have when the time came to depose the young ruler…
At this moment, Yun Ze stepped forward and looked at the assembled ministers. “When you ministers are criticizing His Majesty, shouldn’t you think about why His Majesty has become like this? You must know that back at the Imperial Academy, His Majesty was the youngest but was deeply favored by Scholar Wang. Scholar Wang even said that in another two or three years, His Majesty’s learning would be no less than Meng Shen’s. Such an excellent child—after ascending the throne, why did he suddenly become unruly?”
With these words, everyone couldn’t help but fall into thought.
That’s right. Their families also had children studying at the Imperial Academy, so naturally they knew that when the young Emperor was previously at the Imperial Academy, his performance wasn’t bad at all. He deserved to be called excellent.
Why, after becoming Emperor, had he become like this? Where did things go wrong?
“That’s because after ascending to a high position, there was no one left who could discipline His Majesty. His Majesty became like a kite without a string, deviating from his original direction,” Yun Ze said. “Grand Tutor Xu, as Imperial Tutor, hasn’t fulfilled the responsibilities an Imperial Tutor should fulfill at all. Does Grand Tutor Xu have anything to say?”
During this period of time, Grand Tutor Xu had rapidly aged.
The lives of everyone in his clan were held in Chu Rui’s grasp. He could only be loyal to Chu Rui.
Chu Rui had him ruin the young Emperor’s education.
So he taught an emperor heretical subjects—things like the Eight Trigrams, the Five Elements of Yin and Yang…
His heart was tormented by his conscience.
On one side was the Great Jin realm.
On the other was his clan’s lives.
Whichever choice he made was wrong. The whole ordeal tortured him endlessly. In just two short months, he had aged ten years.
He wanted to throw down his burden and quit, but he didn’t have the right to escape.
He could only raise his eyes and face Yun Ze. “Then may I ask Minister Yun, what does it mean to fulfill an Imperial Tutor’s responsibilities? For an unruly young Emperor, what should I do to pull this kite back to its original direction?”
“This is ridiculous,” Marquis Pingjin said with a curl of his lips. “Minister Yun isn’t the Imperial Tutor. How would he know this? Shouldn’t Grand Tutor Xu figure it out himself? Otherwise, what’s the point of making you the Imperial Tutor!”
“Well said.” Nie Zhou stepped forward. “If Grand Tutor Xu doesn’t have this ability, he might as well yield his position to someone more worthy.”
Chu Rui spoke lightly at this moment. “Then may I ask Minister Nie, among all the civil and military officials, who is more qualified than Grand Tutor Xu to be Imperial Tutor?”
With this question, everyone in the hall fell silent.
Grand Tutor Xu had been the late Emperor’s teacher. When the late Emperor was Crown Prince, Grand Tutor Xu was Junior Tutor. As the late Emperor ascended the throne and became Grand Tutor, his status rose accordingly.
In the entire court, there truly couldn’t be found anyone more suitable than Grand Tutor Xu.
“There is one person who could do it,” Minister Ji of the Ministry of Justice said. “That would be Grand Tutor Xu’s teacher.”
“Whoa! Grand Tutor Xu is already sixty years old. His teacher would have to be at least seventy or eighty. He might not even still be alive.”
“So you see, in this world, only Grand Tutor Xu is suitable to be Imperial Tutor.”
“Is Grand Tutor Xu’s teacher Old Master Ouyang?”
Grand Tutor Xu’s fingers paused, and a light appeared on his gloomy face.
He finally knew how to extricate himself.
He said, “My teacher is indeed Old Master Ouyang—Ouyang Ye. The old gentleman is still alive. He’s eighty-nine years old this year and lives in a village twenty li outside Ningcheng… At such an advanced age, I’m afraid he wouldn’t be suitable to be Imperial Tutor.”
Chu Rui laughed. The only suitable person was nearly ninety years old, probably bedridden and near death. Even Heaven was helping him.
He said, “No matter what, we must try. If Old Master Ouyang is willing to enter the palace to teach His Majesty, that would be a blessing for our Great Jin.”
“Yes, yes, yes. Indeed, it should be so.”
“I wonder who will go to request him?”
“Let me go,” Yun Ze said. “Old Master Ouyang is so advanced in years that he’ll probably be very difficult to persuade. I have another idea that everyone can hear.”
Nie Zhou very supportively said, “Please speak, Minister Yun.”
“Why not have the Empress Dowager rule from behind the curtain?” As soon as Yun Ze spoke these words, everyone present was shaken. He immediately raised his hand to calm them and continued, “His Majesty is young. Grand Tutor Xu cannot control him, and Old Master Ouyang may not be able to be persuaded to come. In this world, the only person who can control His Majesty is the Empress Dowager. Moreover, the Empress Dowager ruling from behind the curtain is nothing unusual. There is such a precedent in the history of the Great Jin Dynasty. Once His Majesty is able to rule personally, the regency from behind the curtain will end. How about it?”
Chu Rui said, “The late Emperor appointed five Regent Ministers for His Majesty. There’s no need to trouble the Empress Dowager.”
“However, the five Regent Ministers, plus an Imperial Tutor, have all failed to control His Majesty,” Yun Ze looked toward all the civil and military officials. “His Majesty is not yet eight years old, precisely at the age of being unruly. If he’s not disciplined and continues to be raised so freely, he may become a tyrant in the future. Are all of you willing to watch our Great Jin realm step by step go downhill?”
“I support ruling from behind the curtain!” An old minister stepped forward. “Let me tell you a story. In my youth, I favored concubines and abandoned my wife, divorcing her. My eldest son had no one to discipline him in his childhood and grew up unruly and troublesome, causing trouble everywhere… So I found the wife I had divorced back then and had her discipline our son. Under my wife’s earnest teachings, my son finally became sensible. Although he only passed the imperial examination in his thirties, I was still satisfied… His Majesty is young, precisely when he needs his mother’s education. Ruling from behind the curtain is currently the best choice.”
Marquis Pingjin said loudly, “This subject seconds the motion!”
“This subject also seconds it!”
“Please have the Empress Dowager rule from behind the curtain!”
The civil and military officials could more or less understand that currently the Prince Regent was in power, controlling the entire court.
At this time, they truly needed the Empress Dowager to attend court to form a counterbalancing force against the Prince Regent. Otherwise, the young Emperor would only be ruined and eventually deposed, causing internal chaos…
The vast majority of people in court agreed to request the Empress Dowager to rule from behind the curtain.
The voices of Chu Rui’s subordinates were drowned out. He could privately bribe, threaten, or kill those ministers, but under the eyes of everyone, he had no second choice. He could only be forced to agree and allow the Empress Dowager to attend court.
On top of that, the young Emperor directly finalized it with one stroke: “Announce that the Empress Dowager shall rule from behind the curtain!”