Oh, these scholars all taught philosophies—there were Daoists, Legalists, and Confucians... After George Carter became emperor, he still retained the rogue habits from his days at the bottom of society. Later generations said he didn’t like Confucianism, but in reality, he didn’t like any school of thought.

He only liked the schools he could use for his own purposes.

But for Charles Carter, this was pure torture. He couldn’t understand these profound philosophies at all, nor was he interested in learning them. Among all the Hundred Schools of Thought, the only one he was interested in was Mohism... But by this time, Mohism had already declined, falling from a prominent school to the very bottom, heading toward extinction.

The scientific spirit of Mohism was long gone, replaced by a chivalrous spirit—the way of the wandering knight. The noble lords no longer considered Mohism a scholarly pursuit; only those wandering knights still believed in it.

As a result, during these days, Charles Carter was always thinking of ways to skip class—not only was it hard, it was also completely useless!

Charles Carter began to confront the eunuchs. When he realized they were determined to drag him back to class, Charles Carter grabbed the sash at his waist and, in a fierce but childish tone, shouted, “If you try to catch me again, I’ll pee right here in the Changxin Palace! If anyone asks, I’ll say you made me do it!”

The eunuchs were stunned, not even knowing how to respond to the young lord’s threat.

The standoff continued. Charles Carter reluctantly let go of his sash and said, “I won’t make things hard for you, but don’t think you can catch me either. Just go back and tell Mother you didn’t see me, okay?”

The eunuchs looked at each other in dismay. Of all the princes, this young one was the most troublesome. He was nothing like his older brothers, who were all gentle and righteous gentlemen. But when it came to him, he was a lawless little troublemaker.

He was clever from a young age—he could speak before he was even a year old, which amazed everyone in the palace. By the time he was one or two, he could already read and write. The emperor was overjoyed and hurried to give this clever prince special attention.

But what happened? After studying the classics with the great scholars for just two months, this prince couldn’t take it anymore and started coming up with all sorts of ways to skip class, refusing to study no matter what.

He had already thought of countless ways to avoid studying, including pretending to be sick, acting dumb, faking sleep, and even playing dead. When those tricks stopped working, he just came clean—pulling the scholars’ beards, spitting on their faces, and nearly peeing in their hats.

Charles Carter felt wronged, too. If he’d known it would turn out like this, he would have played dumb from the start and not shown off so early. Now he’d overdone it. Just thinking of those scholars chanting like monks made his head buzz.

He thought studying the classics was nothing short of torture—analyzing the same sentence over and over, a single word having dozens of interpretations, each one different. Sometimes the scholars would even start fighting among themselves while teaching.

Just as Charles Carter was lost in thought, the eunuchs began to approach without him noticing. Charles Carter quickly realized what was happening, spun around, and tried to escape. “Bang~~” With a dull thud, he didn’t even know what he’d run into—he fell straight to the ground.

Grimacing in pain, he looked up and saw a tall, dark-faced man. This man looked fierce, with a square face, messy beard, and tightly furrowed brows. He seemed extremely stern and intimidating. The eunuchs didn’t even dare look up, bowing their heads and lining up to pay their respects.

But Charles Carter wasn’t afraid of him at all. My father is Emperor Gaozu of Han—who would I be afraid of??

“Ow, I’m hurt! It hurts so much! I can’t study anymore! Someone, take me back to the Jiaofang Hall!”

Charles Carter sat on the ground with his legs spread like a dustpan, clutching his leg and shouting loudly.

The man carefully looked Charles Carter over, said nothing, and simply walked past him.

The eunuchs sighed helplessly, picked up Charles Carter, and headed toward the Jiaofang Hall.

……

The man walked all the way to the Xuanshi Hall. There were no eunuchs at the door to announce him. He hesitated for a moment, but then resolutely entered the hall.

Inside, a slightly older man was holding a woman in his arms, laughing and chatting.

This man had a high nose bridge and prominent brow bones, with a thick beard that quivered as he spoke. He wore a crooked long crown and his clothes were disheveled—he was the very picture of the phrase. The two were getting more and more carried away, and just as the man was about to make a move, someone barged into the Xuanshi Hall.

The bearded man looked a bit flustered. He hurriedly pulled up his robe and tied his sash, while the woman quickly hid behind him.

The stern man, seeing this eye-burning scene, was instantly furious. He let out a heavy snort and stormed out of the hall in a rage.

“Hey! Hey!”