People in the Qin Dynasty, entertained during the Warring States period

Cao Ze's expression changed slightly. He hadn't expected this old guy to be so shameless as to actually use some kind of spiritual magic.

In his unstable state of mind, Cheng Jiao subconsciously said, "My master Cao Ze..."

Although the echo was faint, it was still heard by Mr. Zheng, who had amazing hearing.

"Cao Ze? Your teacher is Cao Ze?!"

Old Zheng was almost ecstatic. He never expected things to turn out this way. Just as Li Si had predicted, he had tricked him out of his predicament.

Li Si, sitting below the stage, slightly turned his head to look at Cao Ze, who was not far away.

He thought to himself, "Brother Cao, I also want to be the prime minister. Don't blame Li Si for being pragmatic."

If he wanted to surpass Cao Ze, he had to make a significant contribution to bringing down Lü Buwei.

To achieve this, he could only gain Lü Buwei's trust and infiltrate his inner circle, thus having a chance to dismantle Lü Buwei's faction.

Wei Zhuang, standing some distance away, sneered, "Too clever by half, and you've ruined your own life."

Zi Nu asked in surprise, "You also read 'Dream of the Red Chamber'?"

Wei Zhuang's cold smile froze, and he lowered his head in silence.

He just glanced at it casually; he definitely didn't finish reading it!

Ya Fei said slowly, "This is going to be bad."

This was exposed in front of everyone.

It's almost as if Cheng Jiao and Cao Ze conspired to steal Lü Buwei's money.

They were just one step away from becoming utterly infamous.

Gongsun Long, on the other hand, had great confidence in Cao Ze: "Cao Ze is calm and composed, an extraordinary person, perhaps he is not so bad."

Upon hearing Cheng Jiao's words, the Moon Goddess first slightly opened her rosy and alluring lips, and then her expression became increasingly exaggerated.

If it weren't for the need to maintain her image, she would have already burst into laughter.

But that didn't stop her from using her sarcastic skills to attack Cao Ze, "Hehe, Mr. Cao Ze has really taken on a good student."

Cao Ze is too lazy to pay attention to Yue Shen. Sooner or later, he'll team up with Yan Fei for a double whammy and spank her.

On the stage, Cheng Jiao clenched his fists, staring intently at Old Man Zheng, his face extremely grim.

That old scoundrel is utterly shameless; he actually used some kind of mental magic to intoxicate him.

Although he was not weak, he was still worlds apart from the old man whose strength had reached the level of a grandmaster.

After his initial excitement subsided, Old Man Zheng smiled and said, "So it turns out that the teacher behind Lord Chang'an is Mr. Cao Ze. No wonder Lord Chang'an was able to easily point out the errors in Mr. Cao Ze's literary theories."

He did not explicitly state that Cheng Jiao and Cao Ze were colluding.

He knew that Cao Ze and Cheng Jiao were backed by the Little King of Qin.

At their level, some things require evidence; otherwise, it's easy to be falsely accused and have one's reputation tarnished.

However, the lack of evidence did not prevent the people below from making connections, thereby damaging the reputations of Cao Ze and Cheng Jiao, and helping Prime Minister Lü eliminate two scourges in one fell swoop.

Cao Ze was well aware of the implications.

Only then did he truly understand the cruelty of the power struggles in officialdom.

If you're not careful, the situation can reverse, leaving you in a state of extremes.

Chengjiao was at a loss, his mind racing, but he still couldn't find a solution.

Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice.

"You say whatever I say."

Cao Ze transmitted his voice to Cheng Jiao, saying that whether or not they could break the deadlock depended on whether Cheng Jiao could keep up with his pace.

Cheng Jiao quickly composed himself and focused on two things at once. While listening to Cao Ze's telepathic message, he said, "What do you mean, sir? I am indeed a student of Mr. Cao Ze, and therefore I am familiar with his writings. That is why I am able to find and correct errors. Is there anything wrong with that?"

Having been influenced by Lü Buwei from a young age, Old Man Zheng, when confronted by Cheng Jiao's questioning, said, "If you are a student of Master Cao Ze, why are you here criticizing your teacher's writings? Isn't this disrespectful to your teacher?"

After listening to what Old Man Zheng said, Cheng Jiao then heard Cao Ze's telepathic message.

He smiled and said, "Professor Cao Ze once told me a story from faraway Western times. There was a philosopher there named Aristotle, who once said, 'I love my teacher, but I love truth more.'"

Cheng Jiao spoke more and more fluently, “Teacher Cao Ze once told me not to regard the teachings of my teachers as gospel, but to ask questions when there are doubts, so that I can pursue the truth and make progress.”

"To be honest, I came here on my teacher's orders. Professor Cao Ze asked me to find errors in his essays and correct them."

"For this reason, I studied almost day and night for several months before I gained a little confidence. Professor Cao Ze's knowledge is truly as deep as the ocean, beyond the reach of his students. I can only make some revisions in certain places, which is quite shameful."

The more Cheng Jiao spoke, the less it sounded right.

Damn! Brother Cao is really dishonest. How can you praise yourself like that? He's even trying to take advantage of himself.

But when he saw that the situation was under control and even Old Man Zheng on the other side was stunned, he felt relieved.

Brother Cao is truly amazing; he resolved the crisis of infamy in the blink of an eye.

"This……"

Old Zheng hesitated for a few moments, just about to say something, when a sound came from below.

"What Lord Chang'an said is correct. Mr. Cao Ze is as wise as the ancient sages and his learning is extremely profound!"

Old Zheng frowned and said unhappily, "Who are you? Making a scene here."

Wearing a Confucian robe, Zihan took a few steps forward. "I am Zihan from the Confucian Little Sage Village. I traveled to Xianyang for my studies and heard about the saying 'a word is worth a thousand pieces of gold,' so I came to see it for myself."

After listening to Cao Ze's lectures in Handan, he returned to Xiaoshengxianzhuang and devoted himself to learning.

Like a child learning to write for the first time, they studied what Cao Ze taught and learned.

It was only then that he truly understood how profound and extensive Mr. Cao Ze's scholarship was.

Only then did I understand why Yan Hui praised Confucius, saying, "The higher I look up to him, the more profound he seems; the deeper I delve into his teachings, the more unfathomable he becomes; he is before me, yet suddenly he is behind me."

Seeing is believing. Let him be ridiculed by those with more knowledgeable minds.

Cao Ze glanced at Zi Han, recalling his interactions with him, and couldn't help but smile.

At least during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, most Confucian scholars were quite righteous, especially the Gongyang School, which advocated the principle of "If you dare to hit me, I will kill you."

Confucianism? Old Zheng frowned, then an idea came to him. "Then what do you think of the Western philosopher's saying, 'I love my teacher, but I love truth more'?"

Zihan was not intimidated at all. He spent a year rereading the Confucian classics with the help of the learning methods taught by Mr. Cao Ze, and he remembered them very well.

"In the Analects, Wei Ling Gong chapter, Confucius said: 'When it comes to benevolence, one should not yield even to one's teacher.' This means that one should take benevolence as one's own responsibility and not back down even when facing one's teacher or elders."

"Borrowing from the syllogism taught by Mr. Cao Ze, the major premise is 'I respect my teacher,' and the minor premise is 'I value the Way more.' Therefore, I value the Way more than my teacher. This is similar to what the Western philosopher Aristotle said: 'I love my teacher, but I love truth more.'"

"Therefore, I believe that Lord Chang'an did nothing wrong."

Cao Ze, unusually shy, was flattered by Zihan's praise.

However, he was even more surprised that Zihan, who had no logical reasoning ability at the time, was now able to use syllogisms skillfully.

It seems his lectures have a significant impact.

After Cheng Jiao and Zi Han finished their explanation, the crowd below had not yet reached a consensus that Cao Ze and Cheng Jiao were colluding to swindle money, so they focused their attention on the way Cao Ze and Cheng Jiao interacted as teacher and student.

Ying Zheng smiled with satisfaction: "Cheng Jiao has not failed to experience so much in the world; he finally has the potential to stand on his own."

He sent Chengjiao to lead troops for training so that Chengjiao could eventually command an army and protect the royal family.

Gai Nie hesitated, then thought for a moment and said nothing.

Judging from his keen eyesight, someone must have been sending a telepathic message to Cheng Jiao, and this person was very likely Cao Ze...

Zi Nu and Ya Fei, who were watching from a distance, both breathed a sigh of relief. They had come to capture Cao Ze and take him back, not to witness Cao Ze's embarrassing situation that had ruined his reputation throughout the seven kingdoms.

Wei Zhuang whispered, "Lucky kid."

Gongsun Long stroked his beard and said to Lord Longyang, "No wonder Cao Ze came to Qin to lecture; it turns out he accepted Lord Chang'an as his disciple."

Lord Longyang's face was gentle, but his tone was slightly cold. "Before I came here, Lord Xinling told me that Cao Ze had the ability to change the balance of power among the seven kingdoms. If he is an enemy, kill him as soon as possible; if he is a friend, Wei can offer him the position of prime minister."

Gongsun Long, who rarely participated in court affairs, said with some surprise, "He's just a person."

Lord Longyang smiled, and in Gongsun Long's eyes, his smile was like looking at a blooming flower, so beautiful.

This made Gongsun Long quickly turn his eyes away. If he had known that Lord Longyang was such a gentle and beautiful man, he would never have wanted to come. It was too much of a hardship.

“I once asked Lord Xinling the same question, and he only replied with one sentence.”

"What?"

"When he is angry, the feudal lords are terrified; when he is at peace, the world is at ease."

"Guigu?"

"Superior to Guiguzi."

Gongsun Long had not expected Lord Xinling to have such a high opinion of Cao Ze. He had only regarded Cao Ze as an exceptionally intelligent, wise, and learned genius...

In the crowd, the Moon Goddess kept her eyes fixed on Cao Ze. How could Cao Ze's slight movement of his lips escape her notice?

"Hmph! You're quite the talker!"

Cao Ze withdrew his voice from Cheng Jiao, defusing an invisible crisis.

This incident also made him somewhat aware that if even a servant of Lü Buwei was so capable, who knew what kind of talents were among his retainers?

At least he knew that Gan Luo, a famous figure in history, was once a retainer in Lü Buwei's household.

Facing the Moon Goddess's use of the forbidden Yin-Yang School technique, he remained composed and said, "Likewise, I've disappointed you, Moon Goddess."

Yue Shen was so angry she wanted to stomp her feet. With a quick glance, she secretly transmitted her voice to Old Man Zheng on the stage.

Mr. Zheng, who was initially at his wits' end and unsure how to break the deadlock, suddenly had a bright idea.

He looked toward the source of the sound transmission and recognized the Moon Goddess of the Yin-Yang School.

As expected, Cao Ze was right next to the Moon Goddess.

God helps me too!

Old Master Zheng called out loudly, "Mr. Cao Ze has arrived, why don't you come out and greet him?"

Cao Ze shook his head helplessly; his sister-in-law really knew how to cause him trouble.

Tian Guang, who had been eating melons with Sheng Qi and Wu Kuang under the low shed, saw someone calling Cao Ze and couldn't help but put down his thirst-quenching fruit and look over.