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

When the group arrived, they were puzzled as to why His Majesty had summoned them at this hour. But upon seeing Cheng Jun, they suddenly realized the reason.

At this moment, Li Shimin's voice came: "My dear ministers, have you eaten?"

When everyone came to their senses, Li Gang cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, we rushed over as soon as we received your decree. We arrived in a hurry and haven't eaten yet."

Li Shimin turned his head and said, "Anan, have the Imperial Kitchen send over some hot porridge."

"The slaves obey the order."

After Zhang Anan left, Li Shimin looked at Cheng Jun and snorted, "Look at them, they're all old men, and you've made them suffer."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Jun asked in confusion, "Does Your Majesty mean that I, a mere seventh-rank official, can command a first-rank Junior Guardian of the Crown Prince, a second-rank Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, a third-rank Minister of Personnel and Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, a fourth-rank Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and a fifth-rank Grand Counselor?"

"Doesn't this disrupt the established order? Your Majesty, I request that you issue an edict to thoroughly investigate this matter."

Cheng Jun solemnly cupped his hands in greeting.

"..."

Li Shimin's lips twitched a few times. A thorough investigation? A thorough investigation of what? If the investigation leads back to me, I'll punish myself.

This kid, he's not going to back down an inch...

Just as Li Shimin was cursing under his breath, Kong Yingda suddenly spoke up: "Your Majesty summoned us to inspect the matter of the Prince of Wei?"

Seeing him step in to smooth things over, Li Shimin nodded and said, "Not bad."

"Now that all my beloved ministers have arrived, let us begin."

Before he could send someone to summon the King of Wei and the Crown Prince, Cheng Jun frowned and said:

"Your Majesty, I believe it is inappropriate to summon the two princes now. They are still asleep, and summoning them will inevitably make them lethargic. I think we should wait until dawn."

Since that's the case, why wake me up so early...? Li Shimin suppressed the urge to scold him, thought about it carefully, and felt that what he said made sense. He waved his hand and said:

"My dear ministers, let's wait here until dawn."

"..."

Everyone stared intently at Li Shimin, then at Cheng Jun, feeling somewhat wronged...

"The ministers obey the order."

At this point, they had no choice but to comply and bow in response.

Just then, Zhang Anan entered the hall. Li Shimin pointed at Li Gang and the others, and then gave him a wink.

Zhang Anan immediately understood and went outside the hall to ask the eunuchs to bring soft cushions, which he then presented to everyone.

Li Gang and Kong Yingda were the first to sit down.

Among those present, they were the oldest: Li Gang was 82 years old, and Kong Yingda was 55 years old.

Summoned to the palace at three in the morning, Kong Yingda was drowsy. He forced his eyes open, glanced at Li Gang, and saw that Li Gang was holding a cane, his cheek resting on the back of his hand, his eyes closed, and he was taking a nap.

Wei Zheng, Quan Wanji, Du Ruhui, and Changsun Wuji were also yawning repeatedly.

Li Shimin was also starting to feel sleepy, his eyelids drooping. Looking at the others, he saw that apart from Cheng Jun who was very energetic, everyone else was almost asleep.

Li Shimin, supporting himself on his knees, stood up and said:

"My dear ministers, you may rest here. I will go out for a walk to shake off my drowsiness."

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately understood that Li Shimin wanted them to take a nap there. They were touched and bowed, saying, "Your subjects obey your decree."

Cheng Jun followed their example and bowed to Li Shimin.

Li Shimin glared at him and said, "You don't need to bow. I don't intend to leave you here. Come with me for a walk!"

"According to the order."

Cheng Jun chuckled dryly, stood up, and followed behind him.

Outside the Ganlu Hall, it was still shrouded in twilight.

Zhang Anan summoned four young eunuchs and had them carry lanterns to accompany him.

Li Shimin walked ahead with his hands behind his back, thinking that he was so sleepy now because of Cheng Jun. He would have to take the opportunity to teach Cheng Jun a lesson when he reviewed the Prince of Wei's studies later.

Just then, Cheng Jun's voice rang out from behind:

"Your Majesty, after getting to know him over this period of time and spending time with the Prince of Wei, I have discovered that the Prince of Wei is actually a promising talent."

Li Shimin glanced back at him, but did not stop walking, and said calmly:

"It's too late to say these things now."

Cheng Jun asked in surprise, "What does Your Majesty mean?"

Li Shimin waved his hand, and Cheng Jun immediately stepped forward to walk alongside him.

Li Shimin said calmly, "On your first day as the tutor of the Prince of Wei, I told you to be gentle when teaching him. But what did you do? Not only did you beat the Prince of Wei's companion and his guards, you also had to lay a hand on him."

“I have seen the Prince of Wei before. His hands were swollen like pig's trotters, and his buttocks were as red as a monkey's. How could a father not be angry when his son is beaten?”

Li Shimin stared at Cheng Jun and said, "Although I am angry, for the past twenty days, I have not uttered a single word and have not questioned any of the seven of you. Why is that?"

"Because I believe that you are capable of educating the Prince of Wei and helping him to improve."

"The reason you're saying all this to me now is simply so that when I review Prince Wei's studies later, he might underperform, and I won't blame you."

Li Shimin rebuked, "If you had known this would happen, why did you do it in the first place? When I inspect Prince Wei later, if he behaves no differently than before, I will not care about anyone else, I will hold you accountable first!"

As they spoke, they came to a crossroads.

Straight ahead is the Imperial Garden.

The left side leads to the imperial city.

Cheng Jun stepped forward calmly, blocking Li Shimin's path from going straight or turning left, and said earnestly:

"Even though it's late, I must say that King Wei has many strengths, but he also has quite a few weaknesses."

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin raised an eyebrow, turned to the right, and asked, "What are his shortcomings?"

Cheng Jun said, "If we had no flaws, why would His Majesty need to ask us to be the King of Wei's teachers?"

Li Shimin snorted and said, "That's not the problem with Prince Wei, but the problem with the seven teachers who taught Prince Wei before. That's why I replaced them with you."

Cheng Jun noticed another intersection ahead. This time, they should go straight, but Li Shimin wanted to turn right. So Cheng Jun immediately moved to the side, standing to Li Shimin's left, and said in a serious tone, "In my opinion, the Prince of Wei still has some flaws that cannot be concealed."

Li Shimin was furious upon hearing this. He stopped and stared at him, saying, "I really want to hear what flaws you can come up with about the Prince of Wei. Speak!"

Cheng Jun pondered for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, shall we talk as we walk?"

Li Shimin continued on his way with a displeased expression.

Watching him walk in a straight line, Cheng Jun said without changing his expression, "The Prince of Wei has three shortcomings. First, he is not the eldest son of the legitimate wife. Otherwise, with his talent, he would undoubtedly be the Crown Prince of our Great Tang Dynasty."

Li Shimin frowned and said, "You call this a flaw?"

Cheng Jun nodded and said, "Not being able to be reincarnated is a flaw, which means that the King of Wei did not accumulate as much good karma as the Crown Prince in his previous life."

Li Shimin angrily retorted, "Are you just making conversation for the sake of it?"