"Third Son, your father hasn't left the house for a whole month now."
Madam Shen's face was etched with anxiety. She rarely disturbed Shen Qingping while he was handling court affairs; only genuine worry would drive her to do so.
Seeing her like this, Shen Qingping stood up. "Don't worry, Mother. I'll go check on him."
In the study, Shen Mingwen was unshaven, looking no different from a disheveled old man by the roadside. The sight made Shen Qingping's eyes ache.
Shen Mingwen was clutching an ancient book, but his gaze was vacant, clearly not absorbing a single word from the pages.
"Father, are you cultivating immortality or something?"
Shen Mingwen shot a glare at Shen Qingping upon hearing this, then went back to staring blankly at the ancient book.
"A whole month without going out, not receiving any visitors. I've never seen you like this before." Shen Qingping propped his chin on his hand, looking utterly provoking. "Hmm, let me guess... Could it be you're afraid to meet the court officials because of the Emperor?"
Shen Mingwen stiffened, seen right through.
Sometimes, having a child that's too clever isn't entirely a good thing.
"I remember how you and Lord Ye fought tooth and nail, almost coming to blows, for the position of Imperial Tutor. It seems once you get what you want, you don't cherish it properly."
"You impudent brat!"
Furious, Shen Mingwen sprang to his feet, his unkempt hair standing on end. Shen Qingping desperately suppressed the urge to burst out laughing. Laughing now would surely spark a full-blown family feud.
"In every dynasty, emperors held daily morning courts without fail. Yet our Emperor is doing well if he holds court even once every three days. The court officials can't get hold of him, so they come to question me, his Imperial Tutor, on how I'm instructing His Majesty."
Shen Mingwen was on the verge of tears. "But I can't get hold of him either!"
His lifelong reputation for wisdom and integrity, built over a lifetime, was on the brink of collapse since becoming Imperial Tutor.
Shen Mingwen could already imagine the history books. The Emperor was certainly going to be famous, and wouldn't he, the Imperial Tutor, be infamous right alongside him?
Just thinking about it made Shen Mingwen feel there was nothing left in this world worth clinging to.
"Haven't you considered a different approach?"
"What approach?" Shen Mingwen wiped a tear, feeling deeply wronged. "Switch to teaching a princess instead? Would you agree to that?"
Shen Qingping's expression changed abruptly, and he took several steps back to put distance between them. "I am the princess's tutor. Don't you dare set your sights on the princess."
"Then what other approach is there?!"
Shen Mingwen grew even more sorrowful. The princess was clearly promising material, and obedient at that. Yet he was stuck with a slightly wayward sapling.
Where could he go to reason this out?
......
Ye Residence.
"Come, let us brothers share a toast. Let bygones be bygones."
The two old men, who once fought like roosters, now both wore equally wretched expressions.
"Recently, my residence was surrounded daily by court officials, urging me to persuade the Emperor." Ye Shijie downed his wine in one gulp, but he couldn't even catch a glimpse of the Emperor's shadow.
"Who isn't in the same boat?" Shen Mingwen also drained his cup.
They exchanged a look, understanding passing wordlessly between them.
With an Emperor like this, being an Imperial Tutor was truly bitter.
The court officials looked at them with nothing but accusation in their eyes, practically pointing fingers and asking, "How did you teach the Emperor to turn out like this?"
Half a jar of wine later, Shen Mingwen's eyes grew bleary, and his speech began to slur. "Old Ye, tell me... although the Emperor leaves the palace frequently, each time it's to observe the people's condition firsthand. He never makes a grand, wasteful spectacle of it, right?"
Ye Shijie nodded. There were indeed commendable aspects.
"And although the Emperor doesn't hold court daily, all essential matters... the Emperor still handles them." Even someone as upright as Ye Shijie was feeling rebellious under the pressure from those officials. "In my opinion, as long as the work gets done properly, isn't that enough? Those court officials insist the Emperor must act according to their whims."
"It's completely turning order upside down!"
The two began pouring out their grievances to each other, making excuses for Song Yu.
It was their way of proving that their positions as Imperial Tutors still held value.
Mid-conversation, Shen Mingwen paused. "Old Ye, what if we publicized all the Emperor's merits achieved in private? Wouldn't that salvage our reputations?"
"Brilliant idea!"
They were in immediate agreement.
......
From that day on, Song Yu was pleasantly surprised to find that his two Imperial Tutors were even more silver-tongued than Cheng Guang.
For instance...
"His Majesty has been away from the capital for another month, leaving a backlog of court affairs on his desk. This action... does not conform to propriety."
Facing the court's doubts, Shen Mingwen slowly stepped forward.
"Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles. In that month away, His Majesty resolved canal issues in three regions, exposed five negligent officials, and protected countless common people. You dare not mention these merits at all? How audacious!"
Ye Shijie also stepped forward.
"To my knowledge, there was no backlog of court affairs this month. His Majesty provided directives on all urgent matters, and other affairs were managed by the Prime Minister. You turn a blind eye to these arrangements by His Majesty? What is your crime?"
On the dragon throne, Song Yu looked left and right. All the arguments he had prepared in his belly were now useless.
Had the sun risen from the west?
From then on, no matter how unconventional Song Yu's actions were, Shen Mingwen and Ye Shijie could accurately perceive the sincere, paternal love for his people in Song Yu's heart. Gradually, the public's respect for Song Yu grew, and court officials began tacitly accepting his unique style of governance.
They even began reminding Song Yu of minor details he might overlook, truly becoming teachers to the Son of Heaven.
Imperial Garden.
"That scoundrel is truly blessed with good fortune."
Emperor Yuanyou couldn't help but sigh with emotion. "He has a fine father like me, a wonderful daughter like Ah Huan, and a pillar of the state like Shen the Third. And that's still not enough? He lives so comfortably as emperor, and even has you two Imperial Tutors following behind him, cleaning up his mess!"
Why didn't he have such good luck?
By then, Shen Mingwen was at peace, his complexion rosy. "Grand Emperor, in the past, I did not understand and misunderstood His Majesty."
"Every time His Majesty leaves the capital, his purpose is not mere pleasure. His nature is unconstrained; he is better suited to observing the conditions of the people in the vast world. We merely help His Majesty show the world that their every hardship will be seen by their Emperor."
No emperor in history had ever achieved this.
"I agree with Lord Shen. Confining His Majesty to the palace would stifle his true nature, which would be a shame." Ye Shijie's back was straight once more. "Our Emperor is, after all, the same Emperor who personally waded into the floodwaters to rescue people during the disaster in Laijin Prefecture."
He and Old Shen should be proud.
An Emperor like this was destined to leave a fragrant name in history.
