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

"..."

Wen Yanbo's expression immediately turned strange. This kid really knows how to find people...

Cheng Jun had made up his mind. He clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Uncle Wen, I'll take my leave now."

"Go ahead, go ahead..."

Wen Yanbo waved his hand and said.

…………

Ganlu Temple.

When Cheng Jun arrived at the entrance of Ganlu Hall, he saw Li Shimin leisurely holding a brush and ink, painting a picture of galloping horses on a screen inside.

"Well drawn!"

Li Shimin was engrossed in his painting when he heard the sudden cheers. His hand holding the brush trembled slightly. Seeing the horse in the painting had an extra wavy leg, he smirked, turned, glared at Cheng Jun in his cloud-patterned blue robe, and said angrily:

"How did you get in?"

Cheng Jun calmly took out a gleaming golden tablet from his robes and said earnestly:

"I rely on this."

Looking at the golden tablet, Li Shimin laughed in exasperation:

"You really know how to make the most of things."

"Put this away immediately, don't let me see it!"

Cheng Jun put away the golden tablet and asked hesitantly, "Has Your Majesty been disturbing your enjoyment?"

Li Shimin pointed to the picture of a galloping horse on the screen and said irritably, "The horse's legs are all crooked, what do you think?"

Cheng Jun asked, "Then shall I leave?"

Li Shimin scolded, "If you don't explain what happened, won't my painting be ruined for nothing?"

"What business do you have with me?"

Cheng Jun's expression turned solemn, and he said, "His Majesty appointed me as a special envoy to receive the Silla envoys. There has been new progress, and I have come to report it."

Seeing that he was handling business in a professional manner, Li Shimin's anger subsided. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zhang Anan carrying away the previously painted screen. At that moment, Zhang Anan was leading a group of people carrying a brand new screen towards them. Li Shimin first waved for him to place the screen outside, then looked at Cheng Jun and asked:

"What progress?"

Cheng Jun first nodded politely to Zhang Anan, then said, "The Silla envoy's horses have returned to Chang'an, as have the carriages."

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin gripped the thin-handled writing brush in his hand and stared straight at him. "For such a trivial matter, you need to come to me and make a special trip to tell me. Do you think I'm just bored?"

Cheng Jun immediately said, "There is another matter. I noticed that the Silla envoy was not in high spirits, so I took her out of the palace to relax."

Li Shimin asked, "Which ward did you go to?"

Cheng Jun said, "A gambling den."

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin instantly flew into a rage: "Are there gambling dens in Chang'an?"

Cheng Jun nodded and said, "Yes, we seized quite a few yesterday, but the gambling den we went to today was one that slipped through the net."

Li Shimin was so angry that his nose almost twisted, and he cursed, "Is this the ward I was talking about?"

"Furthermore, does anyone go to the gambling den to relax?"

Li Shimin angrily rebuked, "Cheng Jun, you call yourself an imperial censor, don't you know that gambling dens are explicitly prohibited under the laws of our Great Tang?"

Seeing that Cheng Jun remained silent, Li Shimin continued:

"According to the laws of our Great Tang Dynasty, anyone who participates in gambling and obtains stolen goods that are less than five bolts of silk will be punished with one hundred strokes of the cane, while anyone who obtains stolen goods that are five bolts of silk will be punished with one year of penal servitude. The more stolen goods obtained, the more severe the punishment."

"As for those who open gambling dens and provide gambling equipment, if they do not accept money or goods, they shall be punished with one hundred strokes of the cane; if they accept money or goods, they shall be punished for theft."

Li Shimin glared at Cheng Jun and said, "Isn't this knowingly breaking the law?"

Cheng Jun said solemnly, "Your Majesty, although I went to the gambling den, I did not gamble, so it is not a crime."

Li Shimin's expression softened, and he asked, "Then why did you take the Silla envoy to the gambling den?"

Cheng Jun said, "To relax."

Seeing that Li Shimin was about to lose his temper again, Cheng Jun said directly, "I have heard that this gambling den guarantees a win."

Li Shimin was taken aback upon hearing this. "There are gambling dens that guarantee a win?"

Cheng Jun nodded and said, "As the Emperor's eyes and ears, I found this matter quite interesting, so I came here to report to Your Majesty and ask for Your Majesty's decision."

After listening for a while, Zhang Anan finally understood Cheng Jun's purpose in entering the palace and interjected:

“Imperial Censor Cheng, regardless of whether it’s a guaranteed win or not, now that it’s been determined to be a gambling den, it should be shut down.”

"Don't interrupt."

Li Shimin waved his hand, interrupting him, and looked at Cheng Jun, asking, "Minister Cheng, do you want me to go and see this gambling den that guarantees a win?"

"Your Majesty is holy."

Cheng Jun nodded and said, "Isn't Your Majesty curious about how a gambling den that guarantees a win makes money?"

Li Shimin stroked his beard, somewhat intrigued, "That does seem rather interesting..."

As he spoke, he turned to Ananda and said, "Ananda, prepare your casual clothes. I am going out of the palace for a while, and you will come with me."

"The slaves obey the order."

Zhang Anan immediately accepted the order.

Because Li Shimin would occasionally leave the palace incognito for private visits, the palace would prepare casual clothes for him every day.

Soon, Zhang Anan brought out a plain-colored robe that wouldn't attract attention and helped Li Shimin change his clothes.

Li Shimin changed into a plain-colored robe, and even took out a folding fan, looking extremely dashing and imposing. He then said to Cheng Jun:

"lets go."

"Your Majesty, please."

Cheng Jun opened his palm, and led Li Shimin and Zhang Anan, who was also dressed in a plain robe, out of the palace, walked out of the Zhuque Gate, pointed to the waiting carriage, and said:

"Your Majesty, I have prepared the carriage."

Li Shimin immediately sat down inside.

Cheng Jun also got into the carriage.

Zhang Anan sat in the driver's seat with the middle-aged and elderly coachman.

The middle-aged or elderly rickshaw driver hesitated for a few seconds, then sat down in the driver's seat, turned around, and said to the passenger compartment:

"Young master, there are two more people, so you'll have to pay extra!"

Cheng Jun replied, "Okay, I'll ask the person next to you for it later."

The middle-aged and elderly driver looked at Zhang Anan.

Zhang Anan took out about twenty coins from his pocket and handed them to him.

The middle-aged and elderly driver immediately beamed and said:

"Where does the young master wish to go?"

Cheng Jun smiled and said, "Let's go back to Chang Le Fang."

"okay!"

The middle-aged and elderly coachman immediately started the carriage.

Upon returning to Chang Le Fang, Li Shimin followed Cheng Jun down from the carriage and immediately spotted the gambling den. He walked over with great interest.

However, he was stopped by Cheng Jun after taking only two steps.

"Your Majesty, we're not going through the main gate. Follow me!"

Without much thought, Li Shimin and Zhang Anan went to the high wall behind the gambling den.

Looking at the high wall, Li Shimin paused for a moment, then turned to Cheng Jun and asked, "Don't tell me we need to climb over the wall to get in."

Cheng Jun said admiringly, "Your Majesty is wise; you guessed it before I could even speak."

It's just a wall; it would be a miracle if you couldn't figure out how to get in... Li Shimin sized up Cheng Jun, but didn't think much of it, and gave Zhang Anan a look.

Zhang Anan immediately walked to the wall and bent down.

Li Shimin nimbly stepped on his shoulder and scaled the wall to enter.

As expected of Li Shimin, his skills are truly agile... Cheng Jun secretly gave him a thumbs up, and then worked together with Zhang Anan to climb inside.

He had just climbed over the wall and taken two steps when a voice suddenly rang out: "Imperial Censor Cheng, I've been looking for you. Where have you been?"

Cheng Jun turned his head and saw Qian Jieyi walking over anxiously. He smiled and said, "I just ran into two people who were having a very pleasant conversation, and we chatted here for a while, forgetting about the past."

"Let me introduce you."

Cheng Jun pointed to Li Shimin and said, "This is Young Master Li."