As Grand Princess Zande finished laughing, she didn't feel embarrassed.
She stared blankly at Sima Han and said disdainfully, "It's not that I'm trying to discourage you, but look at the person you're talking about. How old is he? Do you think he can enter the imperial capital, deliver messages to the Grand Emperor, and bring back the Grand Emperor's message?"
After speaking, Grand Princess Zande couldn't help but want to laugh again.
It wasn't that she didn't care about her status and burst into laughter in full view of everyone.
It was just that what Sima Han had just said was truly too amusing.
It was just that, before she could laugh, the smile had already frozen on her face.
"I remember the Princess just said that as the Grand Emperor's own sister and the Emperor's own aunt, you know them best. Yet, you don't even recognize the Grand Tutor. This..."
Sima Han paused, then looked up and down at Grand Princess Zande hesitantly before continuing, "This makes me very doubtful about the truthfulness of the Princess's words."
Grand Princess Zande didn't take Sima Han's words seriously.
"Grand Tutor? Where is there a Grand Tutor in the Great Chu kingdom now? Since the founding of the Great Chu, there has only been one Grand Tutor, and that was Grand Tutor Yi Zhi Xie. He already retired when the Grand Emperor abdicated. Now, it's..."
Grand Princess Zande's words suddenly caught in her throat, and she looked at Yi Zhi Xie in disbelief.
After staring at Yi Zhi Xie for a long time, she turned to Sima Han and asked, "Are you saying this is Grand Tutor Yi Zhi Xie?"
Sima Han gave her a slight smile and raised an eyebrow, "Otherwise, who else do you think the Grand Tutor would be?"
Upon receiving Sima Han's affirmative answer, Grand Princess Zande felt that she was completely unwell.
Anyone even slightly older would know that during the Grand Emperor's reign, he trusted Grand Tutor Yi Zhi Xie's words the most.
As long as Yi Zhi Xie approved of something and had spoken, the Grand Emperor never objected.
If this person was indeed Yi Zhi Xie, then what Sima Han had said earlier could be considered true.
"How can you prove that he is Yi Zhi Xie?"
After all, Grand Princess Zande wasn't a fool. How could she so easily admit that this was the real Yi Zhi Xie, the former Grand Tutor?
As long as Sima Han couldn't produce evidence, she could directly take Yi Zhi Xie away.
As for the reason for taking him away, it was even simpler.
This man was impersonating Yi Zhi Xie's identity, swaggering around and committing fraud. Arresting him would be entirely justified.
"This Grand Tutor needs no one to prove his identity, nor does he need to prove it to a Princess who is already married."
Before Sima Han could answer, Yi Zhi Xie had already responded coolly.
Grand Princess Zande sneered, "If you can't prove it, then you'll have to come with me."
"Do you know the penalty for impersonating a Grand Tutor? At best, it's a beating; at worst, it's exile and conscription. The most severe outcome is death."
Upon hearing this, Yi Zhi Xie's eyes turned cold.
Truly worthy of the saying that a woman's heart is the most venomous.
They had barely exchanged a few words, and she was already trying to take his life.
Sima Han also clenched his fists and said word by word, "What does the Princess intend to do? Does the Princess think we are truly afraid of you?"
"It's freezing cold, the ditches are frozen solid. I was just thinking about how to find some people to salvage ice from the ditches and store it for use next summer. Before I could even find anyone, the Princess arrived. Did she know we had something for you to do and came here specifically?"
As soon as Grand Princess Zande heard Sima Han mention ditches, her face turned extremely grim.
Now, hearing the implication in Sima Han's words that she was to do the heavy labor, she gritted her teeth in anger.
"I am doing this for your own good. After all, one cannot simply believe anyone who claims to be Grand Tutor Yi Zhi Xie, can they?"
Perhaps she was so flustered that she forgot to use "this Princess" and directly said "I."
Yi Zhi Xie let out a cold laugh, "Then how does the Princess want this Grand Tutor to prove himself?"
Grand Princess Zande was stumped by Yi Zhi Xie's question.
Because she had never met Grand Tutor Yi Zhi Xie before.
Although Yi Zhi Xie was a Grand Tutor of a kingdom and was favored by the Grand Emperor, his power was not much less than that of the Emperor.
He could truly be said to be above all others.
Not only that, but Yi Zhi Xie never attended morning court.
Grand Princess Zande still remembered that a courtier had once petitioned, stating that Yi Zhi Xie held so much power yet never attended court, suggesting he was arrogant and should be taught a lesson by the Grand Emperor.
As a result, Yi Zhi Xie not only received no punishment.
The Grand Emperor even declared that he had been wronged and bestowed upon him countless gold and silver treasures, fine fabrics, maids, and servants.
As for the courtier who had petitioned, although he didn't die, he was banished by the Grand Emperor to a remote region to become a county magistrate.
From then on, no matter what Yi Zhi Xie did, no one dared to impeach him again.
Indeed, Yi Zhi Xie performed his duties as Grand Tutor very competently, and he never used his great power to bully others.
More importantly, many people had never even seen him.
It wasn't until later, when the Grand Emperor abdicated and the new Emperor ascended the throne, that Yi Zhi Xie resigned as Grand Tutor and disappeared. His household servants were dispersed to different places. Curious individuals went to inquire, but from those servants, they couldn't get any private information about Yi Zhi Xie.
Although there were many servants, their most uniform answer was that they had never seen Yi Zhi Xie.
Yes, many of them had never met Yi Zhi Xie even once.
Therefore, Grand Princess Zande was in a terrible predicament at that moment.
Even those who had served in Yi Zhi Xie's mansion had not seen Yi Zhi Xie and knew nothing about him.
How could she, who hadn't returned to the imperial capital for many years, have met Yi Zhi Xie?
And how was she supposed to distinguish between the Yi Zhi Xie standing before her and the real one?
Yi Zhi Xie saw the hesitant look on Grand Princess Zande's face and knew she was likely recalling everything she had heard about him in the past.
However, he didn't believe that with just that, she could distinguish whether he was the real Yi Zhi Xie.
"This Princess has not returned to the imperial capital for many years and has had no chance to meet Grand Tutor Yi Zhi Xie. As for his deeds, I have only heard them from others. You are deliberately making things difficult for me by asking me to distinguish the truth from falsehood, aren't you?"
Grand Princess Zande, unable to think of a solution, could only eloquently state the reason why she couldn't distinguish the truth from falsehood.
Even though Grand Princess Zande's reason was elegant, in plain terms, it meant she couldn't tell, so she asked Yi Zhi Xie to prove himself.
Yi Zhi Xie saw through her thoughts clearly but couldn't be bothered to expose her.
He simply glanced at her and said lazily, "Since you have heard of this Grand Tutor, then you must have heard of one of this Grand Tutor's abilities, right?"
Grand Princess Zande was convinced that this Yi Zhi Xie was a fake.
Because he was too young. In her imagination, the real Grand Tutor should have been at least around her age.
And this Yi Zhi Xie in front of her looked younger than her daughter. How could he be real?
Her previous words were intended to make them admit that they were fake.
But who would have thought that Yi Zhi Xie would say something like this?