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

The number of small gold beads in the purse was enough to pay for today's banquet... Cheng Jun thought to himself.

Just then, footsteps sounded in the distance, followed by a familiar, loud voice:

"Brother Chuxia!"

Upon hearing the sound, Cheng Jun looked over and saw Yuchi Baolin leading a group of military officers' sons, each with a wooden plaque bearing the word "Gentleman" hanging from their waists, walking towards them. He immediately went up to them and said, "Brother Baolin, please come in quickly."

Yuchi Baolin chuckled and led everyone to him. After exchanging greetings, he grinned and said, "Hearing you mention a banquet, all of us have run away from the Imperial Academy."

Cheng Jun asked, "Have you spoken to Chancellor Kong yet?"

Yuchi Baolin said, "We must let them know, otherwise how can we get out of the Imperial Academy?"

Cheng Jun asked again, "He didn't say anything?"

Yuchi Baolin held up one finger and said, "Chancellor Kong only said one sentence: 'Eat and drink well.'"

Cheng Jun chuckled, "Chancellor Kong is quite approachable."

He led everyone into the house and arranged for them to sit down. Then, a waiter from Qingfenlou came to him and said that the talented young men of the neighborhood had arrived.

"Big brother, second brother, please help me greet them."

Cheng Jun immediately got up, first told Cheng Chumo and Cheng Chuliang, and then headed towards the entrance of Qingfenlou.

Upon arriving at the entrance of Qingfenlou, Cheng Jun saw a group of teenagers walking towards him.

Upon careful counting, there were exactly one hundred and seven people.

Upon seeing Cheng Jun, everyone's eyes lit up, and Du Jingjian and Zhang Wenguan raised their hands and waved:

"Brother Chuxia!"

Seeing Du Jingjian and Zhang Wenguan walking ahead, Cheng Jun smiled, went up to them, and said, "Brothers, please come in."

The group immediately followed behind Cheng Jun, with Du Jingjian and Zhang Wenguan walking side by side on either side of him.

At this moment, Cheng Jun noticed a bulge on their waists. Curious, he pointed at it and asked, "What happened to your waists?"

Du Jingjian immediately lifted it up and showed it to him.

Cheng Jun discovered that the bulging thing was actually a waist tag with the words "gentleman" written on it.

It was the very piece he had given to everyone during the selection of imperial censors.

Zhang Wenguan also lifted his robe, showed Cheng Jun the "Gentleman" plaque, then put his robe down and said:

"We are now court officials, and it is no longer appropriate for us to casually wear this badge on our bodies."

Du Jingjian nodded and said, "Yes, we are worried that if someone with ulterior motives sees this, it will cause trouble for Brother Chuxia. It would be bad if you were impeached by the court officials for 'forming a clique for personal gain' because of us."

"However, everyone brought some."

After Du Jingjian finished speaking, he turned around and pointed to the crowd.

Cheng Jun looked back and, sure enough, everyone had a bulge at their waist.

Cheng Jun's expression turned solemn, and he clasped his hands in a fist salute to the crowd, saying:

"I won't keep this honor to myself."

The 107 talented men in the neighborhood stopped in their tracks and bowed to him.

Although they didn't speak, Cheng Jun felt two words drift into his ears.

Cheng Jun smiled and took Du Jingjian and Zhang Wenguan's wrists, walking forward while turning back to signal to the others to follow.

Looking around, Du Jingjian sighed, "To be honest, we've been keeping in mind Brother Chuxia's promise to host a banquet, but we never expected that he would actually hold one at Qingfenlou."

Zhang Wenguan chimed in, "I never imagined I'd be able to eat at Qingfenlou in my entire life. I've heard the food here is incredibly expensive."

Cheng Jun laughed and said, "Then you guys eat less later, save some for me."

Du Jingjian smiled and said, "We would like to save money, but we're afraid that even if we eat and drink our fill, we won't be able to finish it all."

Cheng Jun couldn't help but chuckle, and the people behind him burst out laughing when they heard this.

Upon arriving at the door, everyone was amazed by the spacious interior and the neatly arranged tables and cushions.

This was the first time in their lives they had ever seen such a grand banquet.

Just then, Du Jingjian, with his sharp eyes, spotted Yuchi Baolin chatting with the Cheng brothers and called out, "Brother Baolin!"

Upon hearing this, Yuchi Baolin turned around and looked up with a delighted expression. He chuckled and said, "Brother Jingjian! Oh, everyone's here. You've all arrived quite early."

Because they had all participated in the selection of imperial censors, they all knew each other.

Especially Du Jingjian and Yuchi Baolin.

Du Jingjian will never forget two people in his life.

One of them was Cheng Jun, who impeached Li Shimin on his behalf.

One was Yuchi Baolin, who stood guard at the door of his house and prevented anyone from getting close when the Ministry of Personnel sent people to surround it.

After they sat down, Du Jingjian said, "Brother Baolin, I'll take this opportunity to offer you a toast later, I'll have to offer you at least a jar of wine."

Yu Chi Baolin chuckled, "You can drink directly from the jar if you want, I'll gladly oblige!"

Du Jingjian said, "However, I must first offer the first jar of wine to Brother Chuxia. Brother Baolin, you don't mind, do you?"

Yu Chi Baolin grinned and said, "Of course, I'll offer him another jar after you finish your toast."

Cheng Jun laughed and cursed, "You want to drink yourselves to death? Just say so!"

Just then, a woman's crisp voice rang out from outside the door.

"Cheng Sanlang!"

Cheng Jun turned around and saw Qu Yue, Zhao Banyan, Cen Ling, Chen Mengqin, Tang Qiuyan and others leading ten beautiful women who were the core members of Cheng Sanlang's support group, following behind the waiters of Qingfenlou, walking towards this side.

Cheng Jun immediately went to greet them, smiling and saying, "Ladies, please come in."

At this moment, everyone inside the room fell silent upon hearing the woman's voice and turned to look.

When they saw their figures and appearances, everyone was astonished. Few women in the entire city of Chang'an could match their beauty.

Li Jing's youngest son, Li Dejiang, was also taken aback. "Zhao Banyan? Cen Ling? And Chen Mengqin, Tang Qiuyan? Brother Chuxia invited you all here too?"

Tang Qiuyan looked at him upon hearing this and said sweetly, "If you can come, why can't we?"

Li Dejiang quickly waved his hand and said, "That's not what I meant. I didn't expect you two to know each other."

Yuchi Baolin chuckled and said, "With me here, there's no one Brother Chuxia doesn't know!"

The others glanced at him and realized that Cheng Jun knew them because of Yuchi Baolin.

Yuchi Baolin spoke triumphantly about how he obtained Chu Suiliang's handwriting.

The sons of military generals suddenly realized what was happening, and one of them exclaimed, "I remember now, I've heard my father mention this before."

"Me too!"

“What a coincidence, I’ve heard my dad mention it too.”

The fact that Yuchi Jingde had obtained Chu Suiliang's courtesy name was spread far and wide by him, and it was hard for any military officer in the court not to know about it. Naturally, it was also difficult for them not to scold Yuchi Jingde for showing off in front of their sons.

That's why the sons of military officers remembered what Yuchi Baolin said.

The talented young men in the neighborhood looked on with curiosity.

Yu Chi Baolin immediately recounted the events to them with pride.

The women listened with great interest, occasionally covering their mouths and letting out melodious laughter.

Inside the house, everyone was enjoying themselves.

Just then, a voice rang out from outside:

"Cheng Jun, I've come to the banquet!"

Cheng Jun looked over upon hearing the sound and smiled.

Li Chengqian led a guard and walked towards this side.

The guard named Fifth Ren immediately clasped his hands in a salute when he saw Cheng Jun walk out of the house.

Cheng Jun nodded in acknowledgment, then bowed to the Crown Prince and said with a smile:

"Your Highness has arrived at just the right time."

After saying that, he turned to look at everyone in the room, pointed at Li Chengqian, and said, "Let me introduce you all."

"This is His Highness the Crown Prince."