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

Cheng Jun, who was standing nearby, almost burst out laughing when he heard Li Jing's words. Clearly, Li Jing was a seasoned river-walker, and today he had gotten his shoes wet, thus getting his son into trouble.

Seeing Li Jing cast a deep gaze, Cheng Jun immediately pinched his thigh to suppress his laughter.

Li Jing withdrew his warning gaze, looked at Kong Yingda expressionlessly, and said:

"Chancellor Kong, I will go back and bring my son with me."

Liu Xiang asked curiously, "Isn't your son sick? Why did you bring him along?"

Li Jing looked at him and said, "You don't understand. My Li family values ​​education."

After saying that, he left the Justice Hall directly.

Kong Yingda then waved his hand and said to Liu Xiangdao and Cheng Jun:

"Let's all sit down first."

Cheng Jun did not sit down, but smiled and bowed to Liu Xiang, saying, "Lord Liu."

Liu Xiangdao nodded slightly, gesturing for him to sit down, then turned to Kong Yingda and asked:

"Chancellor Kong, aren't many of the students who have come to listen to this lecture the sons of civil officials?"

Kong Yingda nodded. "Yes."

Seeing Liu Xiangdao hesitate, Kong Yingda spoke first: "I know what you want to say, but you must understand that personal grudges are not worth mentioning compared to academic pursuits."

"As the saying goes, 'Among three people walking together, there must be one who can teach me.' If someone loses their desire to learn because of past grudges, then their future is predictable."

Liu Xiangdao swallowed his words, but wholeheartedly agreed, saying, "Chancellor Kong is right."

Cheng Jun, sitting beside them and listening to their conversation, suddenly realized why so many cushions had been prepared; it turned out there was also the son of a civil official...

"Old Kong really cares about his students..." Cheng Jun thought to himself.

After a long while, a familiar voice rang out outside the Hall of Justice:

"Brother Chuxia!"

It was Yuchi Baolin's voice... Cheng Jun looked up at the sound and saw the boy with a face as black as charcoal walking in excitedly.

Behind him followed a Duke of Wu, whose skin was even darker.

Kong Yingda glanced at Yuchi Jingde and asked with his eyes, "Is this the son you said you beat so badly he couldn't get out of bed? He's alive and kicking."

Knowing he was in the wrong, Yuchi Jingde turned his head away and refused to look at him.

At this time, more and more students arrived.

To Kong Yingda's surprise, it wasn't just students from the Imperial Academy who came, but also their fathers.

What made him most uneasy was that Li Jing's son was lying on a stretcher, carried by two of Li Jing's retainers, following behind Li Jing as they walked over.

Cheng Jun was also stunned for a moment, looking at the familiar faces: Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Wen Yanbo, Wei Zheng...

Why are all the parents here?!

He immediately went outside, first greeting Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and Wen Yanbo, then returned to Kong Yingda's side and said in a low voice:

"Chancellor Kong, did you arrange this?"

Kong Yingda waved his hand to indicate no, then walked solemnly to the door, looked at the hundred or so people outside, and asked:

"Are you all here to escort the students to the lecture?"

Fang Xuanling laughed and said, "No, we've come to listen to Cheng Jun's lecture."

Kong Yingda retorted, "Master Fang, who gave you permission to come and listen to the lecture?"

Fang Xuanling was taken aback. "Wasn't it you?"

Seeing the confused looks on everyone's faces, Kong Yingda was even more confused than they were. He put on a stern face and said, "When did I say that?"

Fang Xuanling couldn't help but look at Yuchi Jingde and asked, "Duke of Wu, what's going on?"

Then he explained to Kong Yingda, "The Duke of Wu told us that fathers could come and listen in, so we came."

Kong Yingda and the others all looked at Yuchi Jingde at the same time.

Yuchi Jingde pointed to Fang Xuanling and the others and said, "I ran into them on the way, and they asked me why I was going to the Imperial Academy with my son. I told them, 'You agree to let your father come and sit in on the class.'"

"I didn't expect so many people to come!"

Yuchi Jingde said innocently, "If you think there are too many people, you can just send them all away."

The moment the words left his mouth, the atmosphere outside the Hall of Justice froze.

All the civil and military officials stared intently at Kong Yingda.

"..."

Kong Yingda's eyes twitched, and he felt a headache coming on. Get rid of them? They'd have to be willing to leave first...

It should be noted that among those who came were not only civil officials such as Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and Wei Zheng, but also military officials such as Yuchi Jingde.

If we forcibly drive them away, who knows what kind of trouble they'll cause.

Kong Yingda felt increasingly troubled and could only look at Cheng Jun.

Cheng Jun immediately understood the meaning in his eyes, and after a moment's thought, said, "It's the same whether there are one hundred people or two hundred people."

Upon hearing this, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and the others all smiled.

Kong Yingda frowned and said, "The Imperial Academy doesn't have that many seats."

Yuchi Jingde chuckled and said, "That's easy. We'll sit inside, and they'll stand outside."

As he spoke, he pointed to the students of the Imperial Academy who had come to listen to the lectures today.

Kong Yingda glared at him and said, "So, is Cheng Jun lecturing to you or to the students of our Imperial Academy?"

Yuchi Jingde countered, "Can't they hear it too?"

Kong Yingda said, "Wouldn't they just become eavesdroppers then?"

Yuchi Jingde curled his lip, turned to look at the group of students standing beside him, and shouted, "Do you have any objections to me standing outside the hall to listen to the lecture?"

The students all replied, "No!"

Yuchi Jingde was very satisfied and grinned at Kong Yingda, saying, "Look, they did it voluntarily."

"..."

Kong Yingda rubbed his forehead, unsure what to say, and looked at Cheng Jun again, "Do you have a problem with that?"

"Is that even a question?" Cheng Jun muttered to himself, feeling the gazes directed at him, and replied without hesitation, "No."

Kong Yingda sighed and said, "It's fine as long as you have no objections."

"Everyone, please go inside and sit down."

Fang Xuanling and the others immediately entered the Hall of Justice and sat down from front to back according to their official ranks.

Meanwhile, outside the Imperial Academy.

Li Shimin rode his horse, leading Zhang Anan and ten palace guards, and rushed over as fast as he could.

The head of the Imperial Academy guarding the gate was startled to see Li Shimin dismounting. He quickly stepped forward and respectfully bowed.

"Greetings to Your Majesty."

Li Shimin smiled and said, "No need for formalities."

Has Cheng Jun arrived?

The head of the Imperial Academy responded, "Imperial Censor Cheng has arrived."

Li Shimin then asked, "Has the lesson started inside?"

The head of the Imperial Academy replied, "Not yet."

Li Shimin smiled with relief and said, "It seems that I have arrived at just the right time."

Where does Cheng Jun give lectures?

The headmaster of the Imperial Academy said, "It's in the Hall of Justice."

Li Shimin nodded slightly, signaling him to lead the way.

Then he and Zhang Anan followed behind the other party and walked into the Imperial Academy.

Arriving outside the Hall of Justice, Li Shimin looked at the hundreds of students standing at the entrance, craning his neck to peer into the hall, and exclaimed in amazement:

"I never imagined that Cheng Jun would be so popular among the students at the Imperial Academy."