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

Du Jingjian was both surprised and delighted, "Brother Chuxia!"

The person who arrived was Cheng Jun.

Cheng Jun smiled at him, glanced at Zhu Fangzheng, then looked at the other two young men, noticing they were still carrying baskets, and asked, "What's going on here?"

When Du Jingjian saw him, it was like a stabilizing force appearing in a turbulent sea, making him feel much more at ease. He moved closer to him and said, "This person's surname is Zhu, given name Yuan, and he is the head of our Da'an Ward."

Cheng Jun asked, "I remember you said that you and your mother were bullied by him?"

Du Jingjian nodded and whispered, "I almost missed out on a spot in this imperial censor selection because of him."

“He has made things difficult for me and my mother many times before. This time, he found out that I borrowed two hundred coins from Liu, the shopkeeper in our neighborhood, and he set me up again, demanding that I pay him back right now!”

Worried that he hadn't explained clearly enough, Du Jingjian added, "Brother Chuxia, as you know, I went to the Cheng residence yesterday to invite you to my home. Since you're here, I couldn't be impolite, so I borrowed two hundred coins to buy these meat and vegetables..."

“I now receive a salary from the imperial court, so two hundred coins are nothing to me, but I never expected this to happen.”

Du Jingjian gritted his teeth and said.

Cheng Jun patted him on the shoulder and laughed, "I see, I understand now. This isn't your fault."

He then looked at Zhu Fangzheng and asked with a gentle and kind smile, "Zhu Fangzheng, if I'm not mistaken, you're actually here for me, aren't you?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Fangzheng's pupils contracted sharply, and he stared intently at him without uttering a sound.

Du Jingjian was stunned, somewhat confused as to why he would say such a thing. He believed that Cheng Jun was probably visiting Da'anfang for the first time and had never met Zhu Fangzheng before.

Seeing Zhu Fang's silence, Cheng Jun's thoughts were confirmed. He stroked his chin and said, "Look, you don't even ask who I am when I say this. Obviously, you already know who I am when you hear my brother Jingjian call me by my courtesy name."

“If you’re here for me, then this is interesting… Brother Jingjian invited me to his home, and for this he borrowed two hundred coins to buy so many ingredients, hoping I would be satisfied with my meal.”

"When the ingredients were being cooked, Zhu Fangzheng suddenly appeared, demanding that he return the money, threatening to take things away if he didn't."

Cheng Jun glanced at the basket of flatbreads lying on the ground and shook his head, saying, "Why move this stuff? It tastes good, but is it worth anything?"

“If you really came here for money, Zhu Fangzheng, then you should let him go out and borrow money, and he can pay it back later, right? But you would rather empty his house than let him go out and borrow money to pay you back.”

Cheng Jun looked at Zhu Fangzheng again and asked, "Did you know I was coming today?"

Zhu Fang pursed his lips, remaining silent.

Du Jingjian's expression changed and he said, "Brother Chuxia, I remember now. Yesterday, Shopkeeper Liu asked me what I needed the money for, and I told him I wanted to invite you to my house!"

"That's right."

Cheng Jun smiled. Since Zhu Fangzheng knew Shopkeeper Liu, it was not surprising that he knew he was coming today. He then walked up to Zhu Fangzheng, narrowed his eyes and said, "I have no grudge against you, do I?"

Zhu Fangzheng was not afraid at all. He met his gaze and said coldly, "You're just guessing. I'm just following orders!"

Cheng Jun asked, "On whose orders?"

"I am acting on orders from the Ministry of Personnel's money-collecting clerk!"

"Ministry of Personnel..."

Cheng Jun retorted, "I've offended both Changsun Wuji, the Minister of Personnel, and Liu Linfu, the Vice Minister. And you still say they're not targeting me?"

Zhu Fangzheng's expression changed, realizing that he had been tricked into revealing information, and he thought to himself that he was in trouble.

Du Jingjian then realized what was going on; it turned out that it was the person behind Zhu Fangzheng who wanted to deal with Cheng Jun.

Zhu Fangzheng learned of this matter, so he conspired with the people in the Ministry of Personnel to set a trap!

But something's not right... Du Jingjian frowned. He was certain that Zhu Fangzheng really wanted to settle a personal score. He could understand dealing with him, but how could he use him to deal with Cheng Jun?

No matter how you look at it, this matter has absolutely nothing to do with Cheng Jun!

Cheng Jun suddenly said, "Zhu Fangzheng, don't you think that you and the people behind you are using some underhanded methods?"

Zhu Fangzheng snorted coldly, "Cheng Sanlang, don't misunderstand. No one is trying to make trouble for you. The money that Du Jingjian borrowed was the imperial court's money! I was ordered to collect it, which is only right and proper!"

"If he doesn't pay back the money today, I will definitely take everything from his house to pay off the debt! That's only fair!"

"Paying back debts is a matter of course. Even if you go to the authorities to sue me, I'm still in the right!"

Zhu Fang raised his chin and said.

Du Jingjian said angrily, "Then let's go to the yamen. I want to see where your logic lies!"

After saying that, he was about to drag Zhu Fangzheng to see the official.

Cheng Jun reached out to stop him, shaking his head and saying, "Brother Jingjian, you must not act recklessly. I think what Zhu Fangzheng said makes a lot of sense. Everything must be based on reason, and we must learn to persuade others with reason!"

"Do you have any writing brushes and ink at home? Bring me some."

Yes, I'll go get it now!

Du Jingjian thought he was going to write a petition, so he immediately turned around and went into the house. He quickly came out with a pen, ink, paper and inkstone and handed them to Cheng Jun.

Cheng Jun took the rabbit-hair brush, dipped it in ink, but didn't reach for paper. He looked up at Zhu Fangzheng and asked with a smile, "Zhu Fangzheng, do you think my argument of persuading people with reason makes sense?"

Zhu Fang was puzzled as to why he asked that question, but after thinking for a moment, he said, "I suppose so."

"If you think it exists, that's fine."

Cheng Jun nodded in satisfaction, and then, under everyone's gaze, wrote the character "理" (li, meaning reason/reason) on his hand with a rabbit-hair brush.

Immediately, he raised his hand and swung it sharply at Zhu Fangzheng's face.

Snapped!

A crisp slap suddenly echoed throughout the courtyard.