Sun Kui asked again, "Your Majesty, do you really want to attend the lecture?"
"Do you want me to be honest?"
Sun Kui nodded.
The Emperor didn't rush to answer Sun Kui's question. Instead, he first propped his feet up on the imperial desk, crossed his hands under his head, and said in a casual tone, "To be honest, I don't want to go. I'm not a scholar, and what he's talking about is of no use to me." The Emperor could probably guess what Meng Changce would talk about, nothing more than the usual Confucian doctrines he was tired of hearing. No matter how Mr. Meng lectured, it was always the same old stuff. What he wanted were pragmatic strategies for governing, not the lofty principles found in books.
"However, being the Emperor, I have to make an appearance and listen, or else those scholars will say I'm not showing respect to Mr. Meng." The Emperor said this with a self-mocking laugh. "As an Emperor, I still have to put on a show for appearance's sake. It's really hypocritical."
