Chapter 1663

At Princess Chaoyang's full-month banquet, Cao Song caused a scene and was detested by many.

Emperor Renzong also felt deeply annoyed by him.

Under the instigation of those with ulterior motives, Emperor Renzong went with the flow, charged Cao Song with the crime of disrespect, and threw him into the Heavenly Prison.

Cao Song:...

He had only been out of the Heavenly Prison for a year, and now he was going in for a second time.

The sky had fallen!

He angrily questioned Xie Gechen, cursing the other party for being unable to tolerate others.

Xie Gechen kept a straight face and retorted, "This is your own doing. You made the Emperor disgusted, and the Emperor wants to punish you; I cannot stop it."

Cannot stop it?

What a huge joke.

Ministerial power suppresses imperial power; there is only the difference of whether Xie Gechen wants to stop it or not, there is no such thing as being unable to stop it.

"Minister Xie has good methods, I admire you! I just don't know how long Minister Xie can be proud!"

Cao Song was convinced that this matter must have been instigated by Xie Gechen behind the scenes. Otherwise, Emperor Renzong had no reason to punish him.

It was just a princess's full-month banquet; was it necessary to make such a big deal out of it?

Little did he know, Emperor Renzong was extremely disgusted with him, and if not for Xie Gechen stopping him, the Emperor would have wanted to sentence him to death.

He was in his prime, strong and energetic; why was there a need to designate a Crown Prince? It wouldn't be too late to consider designating a Crown Prince in another twenty years, when the imperial princes were all grown up.

Cao Song jumped out eagerly to urge him to designate a Crown Prince, clearly singing a different tune and having ill intentions. He completely forgot that back then, Cao Song was a firm supporter of his succession to the throne.

So... don't expect an emperor to remember kindness, and don't expect an emperor to repay it. Not returning kindness with enmity is already being exceptionally tolerant.

As an emperor, there is basically no conscience, the sense of morality is extremely low, and there is even no bottom line. Do not have any expectations for this kind of creature; what you get in return will only be disappointment and resentment time and time again.

Cao Song going in for a second time was not surprising to Chen Guanlou at all.

However, this person's official career was not over, and who knows when he might be reinstated.

He received instructions from Empress Chen to take this opportunity to give the other party a hard lesson, so that he wouldn't talk nonsense after being released from prison.

This task seemed simple, but it was actually very difficult.

Cao Song was old and a stubborn old man with his own set of logic for doing things.

He was confident in persuading a young person.

He had no confidence at all in persuading a stubborn old man, especially one like Cao Song.

Even if he had no confidence, he had to try.

Chen Guanlou went down to the Grade A prison, arrived in front of the cell where Cao Song was held, looked at the other party's disheveled appearance, and clicked his tongue.

"Minister Cao, we meet again. Look at you, can't you control your own mouth? Last time you were imprisoned, it was because your mouth was big and you talked nonsense. This time you committed the same mistake again. Why don't you know how to learn a lesson? Books teach that if you know you are wrong, you should change, and there is nothing better than that. You are well-read in poetry and books, so why are you obsessed and unwilling to turn over a new leaf?"

As soon as he opened his mouth, it was the familiar taste of sarcasm and ridicule.

Cao Song was so angry that he blew his beard and stared, "Nonsense! What mistake do I have? Since there is no mistake, why should I change? Stop acting wild in front of me."

Chen Guanlou sneered, his eyes mocking and disdainful, "Ruler and subject, father and son—this is the moral code. The Emperor is the ruler and father; is this statement correct?"

Cao Song frowned, "The Emperor is naturally the ruler and father. What do you want to say, kid?"

Chen Guanlou chuckled, everything under control.

To deal with a stubborn old man, one must use his own spear to attack his own shield, using the other party's theory to attack the other party's words and deeds.

Don't talk about other great principles; it's useless.

There is a kind of person who is full of crooked theories and can be logically self-consistent.

Persuasion is the most useless method.

He said in a deep voice, "The Emperor is the ruler and father; as an official, shouldn't you obey the ruler and father's instructions and do things according to the ruler and father's wishes? However, what have you done? Time and time again, you have defied the ruler and father; the moral code has never taught you that.

May I ask Minister Cao, when your father was alive, would you have publicly and bluntly made your father unable to step down, defying your father? You wouldn't dare! Because that is great unfilial piety. But you dare to publicly defy the ruler and father; may I ask, what does this act count as? Is it not great disrespect! Is there any mistake in charging you with the crime of disrespect?"

"You, you, you..."

Cao Song pointed his finger at Chen Guanlou, his heart filled with anger for a moment.

He never expected that the other party would actually pull the ruler, subject, father, and son together, and he couldn't deny it. It was all moral code. He was well-read in poetry and books; how could he not know the ins and outs of this?

"The ruler and father is wrong; as a court official, how can I sit idly by?" He struggled for a long time and finally squeezed out a sentence.

"What mistake is there? It's just not designating a Crown Prince for the time being; it's not saying it will never be designated. May I ask, what mistake does the Emperor have? The Emperor has been on the throne for over a year, and now is a time of many troubles; the Emperor is busy learning, busy handling government affairs, and busy with the great affairs of the state. As a court official, you don't think about sharing the Emperor's worries, but instead look for trouble everywhere, picking bones in an egg—is this the duty of an official? Minister Cao, has your moral code been learned into a dog's belly? You still dare to say you have no mistake!"

Chen Guanlou let out a roar, like a great bell, deafening.

Cao Song retreated repeatedly, shaking his head frequently, desperately denying it!

"Don't try to destroy my Dao heart! Chen Guanlou, you thief, don't try to destroy my Dao heart."

He was extremely angry and hateful!

Chen Guanlou smiled knowingly; the other party's defense was broken, very good!

He thought Cao had an indestructible body, but it turned out to be just like this. Before, he used the wrong method and didn't find the weak spot, so he returned empty-handed.

This time, the positions were reversed.

"Dao heart? If your Dao heart were firm, your words and deeds consistent, and you had never held selfish motives, how could it be destroyed by a few words from me? The fundamental reason your Dao heart was destroyed is that you are fame-seeking, self-righteous, talking about moral codes with your mouth open and ethics with your mouth closed. Yet, what you do has no moral code or ethics to speak of. I advise you to control your mouth from now on and be an old ox; that is a hundred times better than a chirping bird. What's more, you are so old that you can't even be a bird, yet you chirp incessantly like a bird, which only makes people disgusted."

"You, you, you... you insult me; I will not stand with you."

Cao Song rushed up, stretched out his hands, and made a gesture to strangle Chen Guanlou.

Chen Guanlou retreated slightly, avoiding the other party.

Cao Song waved his hands, unwilling, unconvinced.

If hatred had substance, Chen Guanlou would have been sliced to pieces by the other party's eye-knives a hundred times over.

Chen Guanlou looked at the other party's excited appearance, not thinking of putting out the fire, but instead adding oil to it, "Minister Cao, you are a decent person after all. After being exposed by me for the unbearable truth, there is no need to act like this, just inviting ridicule. And it's not decent at all.

You are at such an age, going in for the first time and the second time—could it be that you want to go in for a third time? I kindly reminded you, and you don't appreciate it, but instead hate me! What reason do you have to hate me?

You should be grateful to me, grateful that I exposed you, awakened you, and prompted you to learn a lesson so that you wouldn't make the same mistake again. I am pouring my heart and soul into you, wholeheartedly, without asking you for money—that is already exceptionally kind. How can you return kindness with enmity?"