Travel to the early Tang Dynasty and become a salted fish

When Cheng Yaojin's prison car arrived at the Zhuque Gate, Li Shimin was already waiting there with a group of civil and military ministers.

Seeing Cheng Yaojin who was so thin that he lost his appearance, everyone in the group sighed.

After Li Shimin ordered Qianniu Guard to release Cheng Yaojin from the prison car.

Cheng Yaojin immediately fell to his knees with a plop:

"Your Majesty, I was wronged. You have to make the decision for me."

Before Li Shimin could speak, Changsun Wuji's expression changed and he immediately stood in front of Cheng Yaojin, blocking everyone's sight, looking down at him and saying:

"Cheng Yaojin, the evidence for all the crimes you committed in Zhengzhou City is conclusive. Now that you are calling for injustice, do you want to add another crime of deceiving the emperor?"

"Now that we have reached this point, you should stop being so stubborn. If you can truthfully tell the truth about the crimes you have committed in front of the officials, we will definitely make a decision before you. For the sake of a lot of merit, I intercede for you in front of His Majesty."

As he spoke, Changsun Wuji stepped forward, stepped on Cheng Yaojin's hand without leaving a trace, and then used the hem of his clothes to cover it, crushing it hard. Cheng Yaojin grimaced in pain, but he did not dare to scream. Speak up.

Afterwards, Changsun Wuji knelt down again, patted Cheng Yaojin on the shoulder and said:

"Old Cheng, this journey has been really hard on you. I wonder if the officers and soldiers escorting you mistreated you?"

Although this last sentence is somewhat inconsistent with the previous one, and it seems that Changsun Wuji is caring about himself.

But Cheng Yaojin knew full well that the other party was warning him.

As early as when he was about to enter the realm of Chang'an, Changsun Wuji had sent someone to warn him that after returning to Chang'an, he should think clearly about what he should say and what should not be said.

But what Cheng Yaojin never expected was that just the day before he entered Chang'an, His Majesty the Emperor also sent someone to inform him.

As long as the prince's conspiracy with Chu Xin is made public today in front of the civil and military officials of the court, no matter whether he is really guilty or not, His Majesty the Emperor will fight against all opinions and protect himself.

According to common sense, Cheng Yaojin would naturally stand on the side of His Majesty the Emperor.

But he had been hanging out in public in the court for so long, and he was well aware of Changsun Wuji's methods and ruthlessness. Since the other party had sent someone to warn him, if he didn't do what he said, the consequences could be imagined.

What chilled Cheng Yaojin the most was that His Majesty clearly had the evidence of the prince's rebellion with Chu Xin, but he still didn't want to show it, but demanded that he tell it in person in front of the civil and military officials of the court.

More importantly, Changsun Wuji now dared to publicly humiliate himself in front of so many people, but no one stood up to speak for him. How could Cheng Yaojin not be afraid?

Once again, we analyzed the strength gap between His Majesty the Emperor and Changsun Wuji, and how the court would respond after reporting Li Chengqian and Chu Xin's rebellion.

Cheng Yaojin sadly discovered that no matter which of the two sides won, he would not get any benefits.

Li Chengqian's rebellion was successful and he forced his father to step down from the throne. With his temperament and dislike of himself, the day he ascended the throne was the day he died.

But if His Majesty's side wins, successfully suppresses the rebellion, and captures Li Chengqian back to Chang'an, and if the father and son reconcile in the end, then he, the outsider, will become the "murderer" who caused the father and son to kill each other, and they will definitely end up in a bad situation by then. .

Thinking about it all, Cheng Yaojin felt that his whole body had lost all energy and energy, and he lay on the ground unable to move for a long time.

Li Shimin was not very happy when he saw Chang Sun Wuji rushing forward to ask questions. Now he saw Cheng Yaojin lying on the ground pretending to be dead, and he was so angry that he could not care about his status as emperor.

He stepped forward directly and kicked Cheng Yaojin's raised butt:

"Cheng Yaojin, so many people are waiting for your reply, don't pretend to be dead for me here."

Cheng Yaojin didn't know what to do. Li Shimin kicked him so hard that he fell to the ground and fainted.

The guard on the side saw this and hurriedly stepped forward to check:

"Your Majesty, Duke Lu has fainted."

Hearing that Cheng Yaojin had fainted, Li Shimin was stunned at first, and then became furious. He was about to ask someone to come forward to wake him up, but was stopped by Du Ruhui on the side.

"Your Majesty, Cheng Yaojin must have suffered a lot on the road. Now that I see you, Your Majesty, I feel relaxed. It must be because of this that I fainted from excitement."

"Your Majesty, you might as well have someone take him down to raise him for a few days. When he gets better, you can make further inquiries."

After hearing Du Ruhui's words, Li Shimin also wanted to understand the clues, so he borrowed the donkey from Poxia and nodded directly:

"Since Ke Ming has said so, if I continue to force him, I will have to be accused of mistreating the hero."

So he waved his hand and ordered Qian Niuwei to take the person down to rest for a long time. Without his will, no one was allowed to approach.

The ministers did not expect that after waiting here for a long time, they did not even ask a useful word. They immediately spoke and asked Li Shimin to take back his orders, not to use troops against Henan Road for the time being, and to send a team of troops to investigate first.

Seeing that the ministers tried to dissuade him again, Li Shimin snorted angrily, and then returned to the palace directly with Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui and other ministers.

As soon as he returned to the imperial study, Li Shimin got angry:

"What's going on with that guy Cheng Yaojin? I clearly sent someone to warn him last night, but today he dared to pretend to be unconscious for me."

Seeing His Majesty the Emperor reveal Cheng Yaojin's secret, no one was surprised at all. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that Cheng Yaojin was faking what happened just now.

"Your Majesty, Zhijie must have some difficulty in doing this. Why don't you wait until evening and I go there in person to give you some comfort?"

Fang Xuanling stood up at the right time.

He would stand up now not only to calm Li Shimin's anger, but also to protect Cheng Yaojin.

If Cheng Yaojin acted stupidly and stood in the wrong team this time, what awaited him might not only be cutting off his official position but seizing the title, he might also lose his life because of it and affect the whole family.

Hearing Fang Xuanling's words, Li Shimin sighed, and he also figured out that the person escorting him along the way must be someone carefully selected by Li Chengqian and Chu Xin.

He had someone contact him last night, and he might have leaked the news. Cheng Yaojin must have been threatened in some way, which made him afraid to say something and speechless.

In today's Chang'an City, only the threat of Changsun Wuji can compete with himself as the emperor.

Changsun Wuji, on the surface, supported him in sending troops, but Li Shimin knew that he was basically in control of those officials who opposed it.