Yu Qian said in a deep voice, "Your Highness, throughout the ages, whenever Emperors placed blind faith in Buddhism and Taoism and used religion to govern the state, the country was bound to descend into chaos..."
"Rest assured, Lord Yu. Daoist Priestess Pan told me the same thing. She said that whether it is Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Legalism, military strategy, or any other school of thought, one must not believe in it completely, but neither should one reject it completely."
Yu Qian choked.
Zhu Qiyu said, "Everyone has selfish desires. In governing a state, one cannot judge by people; one must, as far as possible, judge by matters themselves. Imperial Brother... he was simply too kindhearted. He always trusted those around him and forgot to consider whether the matters themselves were right or wrong. That was why this disaster happened."
Yu Qian: ...
Zhu Qiyu wore a grave expression. "Daoist Priestess Pan said that even what she says must not be believed completely. When making decisions, I must judge matters rather than people. I cannot believe her merely because the suggestion came from her."
Yu Qian looked at him quietly.
And yet, with that face full of trust and reverence, what part of her advice had he actually followed?
Clearly, Zhu Qiyu had listened to Pan Yun's words, but those words were useless when applied to Pan Yun herself. He only used them on everyone else.
This was not a good thing. It gave Yu Qian the feeling that he was seeing a second Wang Zhen.
Had the late Emperor not placed extreme trust in Wang Zhen, allowing court affairs to grow ever more chaotic?
Yet it was not an utterly terrible thing either, because Pan Yun was not Wang Zhen.
This was not Yu Qian's first time meeting her.