This made Li Shimin anxious, and he wanted to trade one for one with me.

Cheng Yaojin, suspended in mid-air, plummeted rapidly towards the ground under the influence of gravity.

boom!

The sound of it landing echoed all around.

Cheng Yaojin grinned. Fortunately, the building was only a little over ten feet high, and he only twisted his ankle after jumping down; he was otherwise unharmed.

Using his lance as a walking stick, he looked at Cheng Jun, who had already run far away, and roared at his back, "You unfilial son, you stop right there!"

Cheng Jun not only failed to stop, but ran even faster.

"Pfft... Hahahaha!"

Suddenly, a loud, booming laugh came from above. Cheng Yaojin looked up and saw Cheng Chumo looking down at him, laughing so hard that snot was bubbling out of his nose.

Cheng Yaojin remained silent for a few seconds, then suddenly clenched his spear tightly, gritted his teeth, and limped back to Leyun Tower.

Soon, a series of loud crashes and clanging sounds rang out from the private room on the second floor of Leyun Tower.

And Cheng Chumo's screams and Cheng Yaojin's angry curses.

"Father, please don't hit me, Father! I was wrong!"

"No, no, no, you're not wrong, I'm the one who's wrong! I should have killed you sooner!"

"There are too many people here, please give your son some face!"

"Now you know you have some shame? Fine, I'll beat you up behind closed doors!!"

…………

On the first floor of Leyun Tower, Liu Ruyan and Xu Niang stood at the top of the stairs, both looking up towards the private rooms upstairs.

"Mother, should we send someone up to try and persuade them?"

Liu Ruyan said with concern.

Xu Niang waved her hand and said, "I can't persuade them, and I shouldn't try to persuade them. This is their family matter. Even an upright official has a hard time settling family disputes, let alone us."

"Let's not meddle in other people's business. Let Duke Su calm down. Once he calms down, everything will be fine. I've seen this kind of thing many times."

Liu Ruyan was still worried, "Won't Cheng's eldest son be beaten to death?"

Xu Niang couldn't help but laugh and said, "If I wanted to beat him to death, I would have done it long ago. How could he still be alive now? It's just that his son did something wrong, and the father wanted to vent his anger. To put it nicely, it's called 'spare the rod and spoil the child.'"

But I called the wrong person... Liu Ruyan thought to herself.

Thinking of Cheng Jun reminded her of that incident, and she turned to look at Xu Niang and said, "By the way, Mother, pay for Cheng Sanlang's meal today."

Xu Niang was stunned for a moment, looking at her in confusion, "That Cheng family's third son came to our Leyun Tower for the first time, and even asked you to be his companion. Why didn't you ask him for money, but instead paid his bill?"

Liu Ruyan explained, "It's simply a matter of accepting the consequences of a bet."

Xu Niang didn't ask any further questions, and simply smiled, "Alright, I'm a simple person, I'll listen to whoever pays."

Just then, the sound of a cane striking the ground grew louder as it approached.

The two turned their heads and saw an old man in a brown robe walking towards the stairs with a cane.

Why is there such a loud commotion upstairs?

The old man was over seventy years old, with white hair, but he was in good spirits and very robust.

He held the head of a walking stick made of Hetian jade in his hand, looking curiously up the stairs while asking Xu Niang and Liu Ruyan a question.

Upon recognizing the old man, Liu Ruyan quickly bowed and said, "This humble servant is Ruyan, greetings to Junior Protector Li."

The white-haired old man waved his hand, indicating that she didn't need to be so polite. At this moment, he heard the sound of fighting coming from upstairs, frowned, and asked, "Who's fighting up there?"

Xu Niang hurriedly said, "It was Duke Su. He was the one who beat someone upstairs. He beat his eldest son."

Upon hearing the name Duke Su, the old man's face showed disgust. "Truly a scoundrel. Only someone like him could do such a thing in a place like this!"

After saying that, he snorted coldly, lost interest, and turned to leave Leyun Tower.

Not long after, the old man's angry curses rang out from outside: "Which damn bastard did this? How dare he steal my carriage!"

Liu Ruyan was stunned. She ran out and saw an old man with white hair standing by the wall, leaning on his cane and cursing loudly.

Looking up, there was a window directly above.

At this moment, Cheng Yaojin was grabbing Cheng Chumo by the collar and beating him wildly, while sticking his neck out of the window to look down.

Upon seeing the old man's appearance, Cheng Yaojin silently closed the window.

"Dad, who's yelling downstairs?"

Cheng Chumo covered his cheek and asked with curiosity.

"Li Gang, Junior Guardian of the Crown Prince".

Cheng Yaojin said.

"Pfft..." Cheng Chumo couldn't help but laugh out loud when he thought about how Cheng Jun had slapped the horse's rump, causing Li Gang, the Junior Guardian of the Crown Prince, to curse loudly from below. "Hahahaha!"

The next second, he saw Cheng Yaojin staring at him with a livid face, and only then did he remember that he was being beaten, and his laughter stopped abruptly.

…………

Cheng Jun stood under the shade of a tree, watching the movements of Leyun Tower from afar.

Seeing Cheng Yaojin return to Leyun Tower carrying his spear, he quietly ran over, took back the black steed from the servant of Leyun Tower, and rode it away from Pingkang Ward.

The horses' hooves clattered on the compacted road surface, a mixture of mud and sand.

Cheng Jun sat on the horse, holding the reins and directing the horse's direction. Soon they returned to Huaide Lane, where they saw Cheng Chuliang and the steward Cheng Zhong standing outside the mansion.

"Third brother is back!"

When Cheng Jun returned on horseback, Cheng Chuliang quickly went to greet him, helped him hold the reins, and looked behind him to find no one. Curious, he asked:

"Third brother, did you see our father at Leyun Tower?"

"seen."

Cheng Jun dismounted.

Cheng Chuliang and Cheng Zhong were both quite surprised that they could have seen him and returned safely.

"Where's Big Brother?"

Cheng Chuliang asked again.

Cheng Jun said, "He's getting a beating from our father at Leyun Tower."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Chuliang was bewildered.

Cheng Zhong was also stunned.

"No, Dad came looking for you with his spear, so why was it our eldest brother who got beaten up?"

Cheng Chuliang asked, puzzled.

"It's a long story, I'll tell you when I get back."

After saying that, Cheng Jun entered the mansion and headed towards his room.

Not long after, when he came out again, he was already wearing the imperial censor's robes and the xiezhi crown.

Cheng Chuliang and Cheng Zhong were stunned again. Cheng Chuliang asked curiously, "Third brother, why are you wearing this official uniform?"

Cheng Jun said in a deep voice, "I plan to enter the palace."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Zhong's expression changed. Seeing that he had already mounted his horse, he quickly grabbed the reins and asked, "Sanlang, what's the matter that makes you so eager to go to the palace?"

He felt it necessary to stop it, and even if he couldn't, he wanted to get to the bottom of it.

Cheng Jun looked down at him, not directly stating the answer, but instead asked, "Uncle Zhong, let me ask you, Princess Chang Le hit my second brother, and I went to His Majesty to argue with him. Was that wrong?"

"That's right..."

Cheng Zhong thought for a moment and then said.

In his mind, this was not only correct, but he also wanted to applaud it.

After all, you only know the pain when you get slapped in the face. As the steward of the Cheng family, it would be a lie to say he wasn't angry when he saw Cheng Chuliang get punched in the face by the princess.

Cheng Jun then asked, "The last time I entered the palace, I saw His Majesty punish Yuchi Baolin's father for leading the attack on the son of a civil official. He said that this was the father's fault for not teaching his adopted son properly."

“Princess Chang Le hit my second brother. I accuse the Empress of failing to properly educate her adopted daughter. Is she wrong?”

"..."

Cheng Zhong stared at Cheng Jun in shock. No wonder the young master was so angry after returning home that he ordered him to fetch the spear. It turned out that the young master hadn't impeached Princess Chang Le, but rather the Empress herself...

"That's true..."

After careful consideration, Cheng Zhong said.

Cheng Jun asked again, "After Her Majesty punished the Empress, instead of reflecting on her own actions, she sent my father to the palace to apologize to her. Was that wrong?"

"this......"

Cheng Zhong hesitated; this was a difficult question to answer. At that moment, Cheng Chuliang, who was standing next to him, shouted, "He's wrong! Why should I be the one who gets beaten, and our father has to apologize?"

Cheng Jun nodded and said:

"That's exactly right. Second Brother was beaten by the Princess, and not only did the Empress not apologize to us, but she also made our father apologize. What kind of logic is that?"

"Not only that, the Empress also threatened our father and urged him to come back and punish me. Second brother, tell me, who is really in the wrong?"

Cheng Chuliang decisively said, "Your Majesty is wrong!"

Cheng Jun smiled gently and kindly. "Do you think I should go to the palace to submit a memorial?"

"Of course you should! You're an imperial censor, that's what you do!"

Cheng Chuliang said excitedly, "Alright, stop talking. Go now. When Dad comes back, I'll cover for you!"

"Second brother, wait for my news!"

Cheng Jun smiled, turned his horse around, gripped the whip tightly, and lashed it against the horse's rump, galloping towards the palace.

Cheng Zhong was stunned. These two brothers were really fearless. Watching Cheng Jun's departing figure, he gritted his teeth and said to Cheng Chuliang:

"Second Master, this old servant must go out for a moment!"

"go Go!"

Cheng Chuliang waved his hand, not thinking much of it, and let him leave.

…………

Outside the palace.

Cheng Jun rode his horse to the Vermilion Bird Gate, tied the reins to a tree trunk, and then walked towards the palace gate.

At this moment, Yuchi Jingde was not seen outside the palace gate; perhaps he had gone to rest and had been replaced by another guard.

Because he was wearing the censor's robes, the guards only verified his identity and registered him before letting him into the palace.

After entering the palace, Cheng Jun did not go to the Taiji Hall, but instead headed towards the Lizheng Hall.

He felt that it was useless to talk to Li Er about this matter, as Li Er would definitely protect the Empress. If he wanted an explanation, he had to face Empress Zhangsun directly!

…………

I'm receiving free gifts... If there are gifts, I'll update the chapter even more!