Prince of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 39

From ancient times to the present, there have been many literati who do not love money, but very few literati who do not love fame.

For many literati, reputation is their life, Yu Zhining and Kong Yingda are such people, so they came to Li Shimin to sue because of the rumors, the purpose is to preserve their reputation.

At first they even thought that if Gao Ming refused to admit it to death, even if they knelt and passed out outside the hall, they must seek justice for themselves, otherwise they would have accumulated the reputation for most of their lives, and they might be given away by those fanciful rumors. destroyed.

They have made up their minds, for their own reputation, this time they will never back down!

But the two of them never expected that Gao Ming would make an apology for them, which immediately confused them both.

In this era, literati pay more attention to magnanimity besides integrity. It can even be said that as long as it is not such a big enmity as killing one's father and taking one's wife, others should be forgiven for their guilt, otherwise they are not magnanimous enough.

Both Kong Yingda and Yu Zhining were outstanding civil servants in the Tang Dynasty, and they naturally knew the allusion of pleading guilty, so they also knew that pleading guilty was a sincere apology.

The most important thing is that both the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States period and the Tang Dynasty were a society that paid attention to status.

In the story of pleading guilty, one of Lian Po and Lin Xiangru is a general and the other is a prime minister. It can be said that they have equal status, but do Yu Zhining and Kong Yingda dare to say that their status is equal to that of the prince?
Obviously not.

Moreover, Lian Po is just a general of a vassal state, while Gao Ming is the prince of the Tang Dynasty. He is higher than Lian Po in terms of status. Lin Xiangru can forgive Lian Po, so why don't they forgive Gao Ming?

Obviously not.

So, seeing Gao Ming who was holding the branch with both hands and kneeling on the ground with one knee, Yu Zhining quickly stepped forward to help him up.

"His Royal Highness, as the saying goes, those who are clear will clear themselves. We don't care about these rumors at all."

Kong Yingda also nodded.

"Xunzi said: Rumors stop at the Ou Yu, and rumors stop at the wise. Your Royal Highness doesn't need to do this. You'd better get up quickly!"

But Gao Ming didn't stand up, but shook his head vigorously.

"No, although the rumor this time was just unintentional, it is indeed my fault. If the master does not punish me, I really have no way to forgive myself, so I ask the master to punish me and beat me hard with these branches. Thin skin and tender meat!"

Yu Zhining: "..."

Kong Yingda: "..."

Listening to Gao Ming's "Declaration of Mistakes", not only Yu Zhining and Kong Yingda, but even Li Shimin who was sitting above couldn't help but twitched the corners of their eyes several times.

This kid is cheap and good-looking!

Looking at Yu Zhining and Kong Yingda who were at a loss below, Li Shimin immediately slapped the table and stood up.

"You two lovers, since this Zhu Zi committed such a big mistake, I will order you to slap him now, slap him hard!"

"Uh……"

As soon as Li Shimin said this, Gao Ming was dumbfounded.

"Damn, is this still my father? Can you still have fun?"

Gao Ming didn't know that Yu Zhining and Kong Yingda were still struggling with each other at this time.

In "General Xianghe", Lian Po made a mistake and apologized to Jing, and then Lin Xiangru forgave him. It was rumored that both of them had a good reputation. What would you say?
You don't need to think about it, others will definitely say that it is good for the prince to emulate Lian Po and dare to admit his mistakes, but the two old immortals are narrow-minded and have no tolerance, ruining a good good thing.

It is not an exaggeration to say that if this really happens like this, let alone being an official in the future, even on the way home, you have to beware of other people spitting.

Shame!
Thinking of this, Yu Zhining immediately took the branch in Gao Ming's hand, broke it with a "click" and threw it on the ground, then bowed deeply to Li Shimin.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me for not being able to obey orders. Your Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, is virtuous and virtuous. I am honored to be the Prince Zhan. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me!"

As soon as Yu Zhining finished speaking, Kong Yingda also nodded, and then reached out to help Gao Ming up.

"His Royal Highness knows his mistakes and can correct them. It is not easy to have a pure heart. If His Majesty wants to punish him, it is better to punish the old man as well!"

Hearing what the two said, the corners of Li Shimin's mouth twitched a few more times, cursing inwardly.

"These two old men just kept begging me to make decisions for them, but now it's good, and they want me to take the blame as soon as they turn around. If I deal with him today, maybe the judge will scold me tomorrow, so I won't do it." Mile!"

Thinking of this, Li Shimin coughed dryly twice, then waved his hands towards Gao Ming.

"Ahem... Since the two masters have pleaded for you, I will forgive you. If there is a next time, I will deal with it strictly. Do you hear me?"

When Gao Ming heard this, he quickly put on a low-browed and pleasing look.

"Yes, Erchen knows!"

After saluting to Li Shimin, Gao Ming bowed his hands to Yu Zhining and Kong Yingda.

"Thank you two masters for your understanding, the students specially prepared a small gift, please accept it!"

"His Royal Highness, this is inappropriate..."

When Yu Zhining and Kong Yingda heard this, they immediately refused, but before they finished speaking, Gao Ming turned around and opened the door of the imperial study room, and asked Shi Jian to bring in two buckets containing bean sprouts.

Looking at the two wooden barrels on the ground, Yu Zhining and Kong Yingda frowned in confusion, and Gao Ming didn't pretend to be a fool, he just lifted the lid of the barrel, and immediately, white and tender bean sprouts appeared In the eyes of Yu Zhining and Kong Yingda.

Seeing this scene, Yu Zhining and Kong Yingda were shocked.

"Hey...this is..."

For them, it is unbelievable to see vegetables in the cold winter months. The two buckets of juicy bean sprouts in front of them can be said to subvert their cognition.

Seeing how surprised the two were, Li Shimin couldn't help but walked down, but when he saw the bean sprouts in the bucket, he was also shocked.

"This……"

Seeing the surprised looks of the three, Gao Ming suddenly smiled, and then reached out and grabbed a handful of bean sprouts from the bucket.

"This is sprouts, which are made from washed beans, and only water is poured during the production process, without any soil or fertilizer. It can be said to be the cleanest vegetable in the world. Now, the two masters are of noble character, and these two barrels of sprouts should be regarded as students' filial piety to the two masters, and I hope the two masters will not refuse!"

The two of them were already interested in the juicy and tender sprouts, and now they were even happier when they heard Gao Ming praise them for their noble character, so they would still refuse?

Yu Zhining nodded immediately.

"Since His Highness has expressed his intentions, the two of us will not refuse!"

Kong Yingda also laughed so that his beard trembled, but when he saw Li Shimin looking longingly at the bean sprouts in the bucket, he hurriedly bowed his hands to Li Shimin.

"Your Majesty, if there is no other important matter, the two of us will leave first!"

After finishing speaking, the two bowed to Li Shimin, and then walked away happily with two barrels of bean sprouts, leaving Li Shimin and Gao Ming staring at each other in the imperial study.

After a while, Gao Ming blinked at Li Shimin.

"Uh... the emperor asked me to come to the imperial study, what's the matter?"

Li Shimin: "..."

(End of this chapter)