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

Nighttime, Huai De Fang, Cheng Mansion.

"Li Er must be really looking forward to tomorrow..."

Inside the room, Cheng Jun sat beside the desk, organizing the things he had written over the past few days while thinking to himself.

Li Er is truly remarkable; he can hold his temper for twenty days. He's incredibly patient...

If it were him, he wouldn't be able to do it.

He can't hold grudges from the previous day.

Just then, Cheng Zhong's voice rang out from outside: "Sanlang, two distinguished guests are looking for you."

Cheng Jun casually asked, "Who's looking for me?"

"Kong Yingda, Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, and Li Gang, Junior Guardian of the Crown Prince."

Li Shaobao... Cheng Jun was somewhat surprised.

It's understandable that Kong Yingda came, but what's Li Gang doing here?

He quickly realized that Li Shaobao was the Crown Prince's tutor, and his visit must be about the Crown Prince's affairs...

What a responsible and good teacher! It's a pity that the princes he taught were all disappointing, otherwise he wouldn't have been jokingly called the "Prince Killer" by later generations... Cheng Jun muttered to himself, and asked, "Did you invite them to the main hall?"

Cheng Zhong replied, "Yes, they are waiting for Sanlang in the main room right now."

"I'll be there right away."

Cheng Jun stood up, straightened his cloud-patterned blue robe, then opened the door and went into the main room with Cheng Zhong.

Inside the main room, Li Gang and Kong Yingda, dressed in purple robes, were drinking tea. Upon seeing Cheng Jun approach, they both put down their teacups.

Cheng Jun smiled and cupped his hands, saying, "Lord Li, Chancellor Kong, if you were looking for me, you could have just sent someone to let me know and I would have come over. There was no need for you to come in person."

Kong Yingda laughed and said, "Tomorrow His Majesty will review the results of our teaching of Prince Wei. Such an important event kept Li Shaobao and me awake at night, so we came out for a walk together. As we walked, we ended up here."

Cheng Jun said "Oh," and then said, "I'm in Chang'an County. Aren't you living in Wannian County? Are you taking a stroll across counties?"

"..."

Kong Yingda was immediately embarrassed. He glanced at Li Gang, whose face had darkened, and quickly tried to smooth things over. He then turned to Cheng Zhong and asked, "Steward Cheng, does your Cheng residence have chess?"

Cheng Zhong quickly replied, "There's chess."

"Bring it here."

"Please wait a moment, Master Kong."

While Cheng Zhong ran off to get the chess set, Cheng Jun sat down, looked at the two of them, and asked, "Chancellor Kong, what do you mean by this?"

Kong Yingda chuckled and said, "Talking all the time is boring, let's play a game."

Cheng Jun glanced at Li Gang and saw that he was silent with a stern face. He immediately understood Kong Yingda's intention. He had noticed that Li Gang had some past grievances with him and wanted to divert attention from the awkward atmosphere. At the same time, he wanted to use the chess game as an opportunity to explain their purpose. He nodded slightly and said nothing more.

Soon, Cheng Zhong brought a chessboard and a box of chess pieces, walked into the main room, and placed them on the table.

Cheng Jun and Kong Yingda sat facing each other, moving the chess pieces.

Cheng Jun, holding a black piece, said to Kong Yingda:

"Chancellor Kong, you go first."

Kong Yingda immediately placed the piece down.

The first shot doesn't look fierce at all... Cheng Jun vaults.

The two men appeared calm, but an atmosphere of tension and impending doom permeated the chessboard.

Li Gang walked to the side and looked down at the chessboard.

Kong Yingda was a civil official, but his approach to chess was extremely ruthless and decisive; he would capture any piece he saw without hesitation.

Cheng Jun is the son of a military general, but when playing chess, he either pulls at the opponent's pieces or avoids them, refusing to exchange pieces with his opponent.

Seeing Cheng Jun's black piece cornered, Li Gang spoke up:

"Hey, you little orphan, you're something else, always looking after the big picture but never the small one."

Cheng Jun looked up at him, signaling him to speak directly.

Li Gang cut to the chase: "Twenty days ago, you dragged the six of us into this in order to get revenge on the Prince of Wei, which is another story. But revenge is revenge, don't forget that you are also the Crown Prince's teacher."

"His Majesty entrusted the Crown Prince to you in the hope that the Crown Prince will make progress."

"Tomorrow His Majesty will review the results of Prince Wei's training under our guidance. If Prince Wei is no better than the Crown Prince, we will all suffer. If Prince Wei is better than the Crown Prince, the court and the country will be shaken. Your move will make Prince Wei have designs on the throne."

Cheng Jun pondered for a moment and said, "Lord Li, I don't agree with that statement. Whether I do it or not, the Prince of Wei will still have designs on the throne."

“You should know that it is precisely because I am the Crown Prince’s teacher that he thinks I am of great help to the Crown Prince, so he is targeting me.”

Kong Yingda picked up the red horse and placed it on the chessboard, interjecting, "But the problem is, with this move you've essentially put the King of Wei in a double rook trap, which means the Crown Prince will definitely lose."

Cheng Jun chuckled and said, "Would I allow the King of Wei to form a double-chariot formation?"

As he spoke, ignoring the surrounded pieces, he picked up another piece and said:

“Sacrificing a pawn is good for everyone.”

Li Gang and Kong Yingda were surprised to see Cheng Jun abandon a piece that had been cornered and turn the game around, and they knew that he meant something.

Li Gang asked, "What do you mean by 'sacrifice a pawn'?"

Cheng Jun looked at him and asked, "Wouldn't asking His Majesty to abandon the Prince of Wei be considered sacrificing a pawn?"

"..."

Kong Yingda was stunned. To abandon one's own son—wasn't that tantamount to abandoning a child?

Li Gang, however, understood his meaning. Cheng Jun wanted to suggest that His Majesty should stop doting on the Prince of Wei. He frowned and said:

"Rome wasn't built in a day. The Prince of Wei's ability to win favor is beyond your imagination. It's difficult to get His Majesty to give up his doting affection for him!"

Cheng Jun picked up a piece and said, "The art of war says, 'Place them in a desperate situation, and they will survive.'"

"How can we let the Crown Prince win against the King of Wei if we don't drive him to his death?"

Kong Yingda asked curiously, "How do you do it?"

Cheng Jun picked up another piece and placed it on the chessboard, saying, "I'll take care of the rest. Tomorrow, all you need to do is praise the Prince of Wei to His Majesty, making him feel that the Crown Prince is far inferior to the Prince of Wei."

Li Gang seemed to realize something, "You want to flatter the King of Wei to his death?"

Cheng Jun put the grape down and smiled, "You could say that."

Kong Yingda stroked his chin and said, "Praising someone to death is far from enough."

Cheng Jun laughed and said, "So, when I made this move, it wasn't aimed at the King of Wei, but at His Majesty."

As he spoke, he picked up a piece, placed it down, and said:

"Draw a car."

Kong Yingda was taken aback by what he heard. He looked down and realized that his once favorable situation had suddenly turned into a dead end. He looked up at Cheng Jun and asked, "How many steps did you take just now?"

Cheng Jun asked in confusion, "Why are you asking this?"

Kong Yingda glared at him and said, "Can you not ask? I didn't take a single step just now!"

Cheng Jun asked, puzzled, "Why aren't you making a move?"

Kong Yingda laughed angrily, "You keep moving even when I don't want to? Is that how you play chess?"

Cheng Jun said seriously, "This is my house. When playing chess in my house, we have to follow my rules. My rules are that if you don't move, I will move in sequence."

Kong Yingda angrily retorted, "You're talking nonsense!"

Cheng Jun said solemnly, "If you don't believe me, I'll have my eldest and second eldest brothers come over and play chess with you. You'll see once you play against them."

He wasn't lying; these past few days at home, Cheng Jun had played chess with Cheng Chumo and Cheng Chuliang quite a bit.

When Cheng Jun played chess with them for the first time, he was puzzled to find that two of his rooks were gone while he was thinking.

That's how Cheng Chumo and Cheng Chuliang answered him.

From then on, Cheng Jun never lost a game of chess at home.

"I'm not logging off anymore!"

Kong Yingda pushed the chess pieces into a pile, scrambling the pieces on the board, and said rather unwillingly, "Come to the Imperial Academy another day, and we'll play another game according to the rules of the Imperial Academy!"