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

Li Shimin first glared at Cheng Jun, then looked at Liu Xiang and said, somewhat speechless, that he hadn't expected him to want to torture Yuchi Baolin. He put on a stern face and said:

"Minister Liu, you just said you wanted to torture Yuchi Baolin? Then let me ask you, what kind of torture do you intend to use on him? Whipping, caning, imprisonment, exile, or death?"

"A group of teenagers fighting each other, it's such a trivial matter, is it really necessary to use torture?"

Cheng Jun, standing to the side, bowed and said, "Your Majesty is wise; Minister Liu is trying to extract a confession through torture!"

How dare you say such a thing... Li Shimin was furious when he saw him like this. If Liu Xiangdao hadn't made a mistake and miscalculated him, he wouldn't be in such an embarrassing situation now.

"This matter ends here!"

Li Shimin decided to put the matter to rest, and looked at the two men, asking, "Does either of you have any objections?"

"..."

Liu Xiangdao's lips trembled, but he couldn't utter a single word.

They were initially confident of victory, but a moment of carelessness led to a complete defeat.

He felt frustrated and remorseful, but mostly powerless.

"Your Majesty, I have objections!"

At that moment, Cheng Jun's voice suddenly rang out.

Li Shimin opened his eyes wide and said, "What objection do you have? Haven't I already cleared your name?"

Cheng Jun said solemnly, "I have indeed been exonerated, but the person who falsely accused me of instigating the son of a military officer to beat someone has not yet been brought to justice!"

"Your Majesty, I have a plan to tell you!"

Cheng Jun took a step back, bowed deeply to Li Shimin, and said in a loud voice, "Your subject accuses Liu Xiangdao, the Vice Minister of the Censorate, of deceiving the Emperor!"

Liu Xiangdao had already guessed that Cheng Jun would impeach him, but he didn't expect that the charge against him would be this. He was startled and asked anxiously and angrily, "When did I deceive the emperor?"

Cheng Jun straightened up, turned to meet his shocked and angry gaze, and said, "Lord Liu, you now know that I am innocent."

"You're innocent my ass!" Liu Xiangdao almost couldn't help but curse out loud.

Cheng Jun said, "But I know, and you also know, that I was innocent back in the Censorate!"

"But you still went to the palace to falsely accuse me before His Majesty. What is that if not deceiving the emperor?"

"Wait a minute..." Li Shimin raised his hand to stop him, and asked in confusion, "Your accusation against him is wrong. Shouldn't you accuse him of framing his colleague?"

Cheng Jun turned to look at Li Shimin, pondered for two seconds, and asked, "Does Your Majesty know how the crime of false accusation is dealt with under the laws of our Great Tang Dynasty?"

“Sit backwards.”

"If I were to impeach Vice Minister Liu for falsely accusing a colleague, what punishment would he receive?"

Without hesitation, Li Shimin said, “If he succeeds in framing you, I will revoke the position of Censor that I have bestowed upon you. If the accusation is proven true, he will punish you instead. However, you are a Censor of the eighth rank, while he is a Vice Censor of the fifth rank. The ranks are not equal, so at most, Minister Liu will be demoted.”

Cheng Jun spread his hands and said, "That's right. If he succeeds in falsely accusing me, I will lose my position. If he fails, he will only be demoted. Why would I impeach him?"

“Deceiving the emperor is a different matter.”

Cheng Jun solemnly said, "Deceiving the emperor is punishable by exile at best, and execution at worst! Therefore, I impeach Vice Minister Liu for deceiving the emperor!"

"..."

Li Shimin laughed in exasperation, "You're really honest."

"Because I am an Imperial Censor!" Cheng Jun said solemnly, "I would not deceive the Emperor, nor can I! I am the Emperor's eyes and ears. If I were to deceive the Emperor, I would be destroying the Emperor's eyes and ears. I am not Liu Zhongcheng, and I would never do such a despicable thing!"

"That's some serious sarcasm..." Li Shimin thought to himself, glancing at Liu Xiang.

Liu Xiangdao was about to retort when he saw Li Shimin looking at him. His expression changed, and he forgot about Cheng Jun's scolding and hurriedly said:

"Your Majesty, I have not deceived you. Please investigate thoroughly!"

Li Shimin turned to look at Cheng Jun. Seeing his face, he thought of how the Empress and the Princess had been forced to apologize by him. He snorted inwardly and decided to favor Liu Xiangdao, saying, "Minister Cheng, I don't think Minister Liu has deceived the Emperor."

Cheng Jun narrowed his eyes and asked, "Does Your Majesty intend to protect Liu Zhongcheng?"

Li Shimin glared at him and said, "Are you determined to sentence him to death today?"

Cheng Jun shook his head and said, "I did not mean that. I only wish that Your Majesty would handle this according to the laws of our Great Tang Dynasty!"

Li Shimin pondered his words for a moment, then angrily retorted, "Isn't this the same thing?"

"This is different!"

Cheng Jun explained, "If we directly sentence him to death, then he'll die. But according to the laws of our Great Tang Dynasty, he might get a lighter sentence like exile."

Li Shimin said irritably, "But I don't want to kill Minister Liu, much less exile him!"

Cheng Jun countered, "Does His Majesty not wish to punish Liu Zhongcheng according to the law?"

"Stop trying to fool me!"

Li Shimin could easily discern the subtle difference in his words. He raised his hand to interrupt him and said, "I'm telling you, I will punish Liu Zhongcheng, but I will absolutely not punish him for deceiving the emperor!"

Upon hearing this, Cheng Jun suddenly revealed a gentle and kind smile: "Your Majesty is wise!"

Li Shimin was stunned for a moment before he realized what was going on, and his expression changed.

Oh no, he's got me hooked again!

Anyone with eyes can see that the so-called crime of deceiving the emperor is just Cheng Jun making things up.

Cheng Jun said this on purpose, but there was only one goal.

That is to punish Liu Xiangdao!

But just now, Li Shimin decided to show favoritism to Liu Xiangdao today and did not intend to punish him.

Now things have gotten really bad, because of Cheng Jun's words, we have no choice but to punish Liu Xiangdao!

Are you born in the Year of the Bird?

Li Shimin grew increasingly angry as he thought about it, and said, "Are you just going on and on about this?"

Cheng Jun said solemnly, "Your Majesty, let's get down to business first!"

He couldn't wait to see Liu Xiangdao punished... Li Shimin instantly understood his thoughts, took a deep breath, and decided to reason with him. He walked up to Cheng Jun, placed his hands on his shoulders, and said seriously:

"Minister Cheng, let me speak from the bottom of my heart."

"From the very beginning, I felt that the matter of the son of a military officer beating the son of a civil official was not a big deal at all. It was just that the sons of officials were ignorant and started fighting. I have already sent people to check, and they only suffered minor injuries."

"So there's no need to make a mountain out of a molehill."

Li Shimin said seriously, "Let me tell you, even if it was you who instigated the son of a military officer to beat the son of a civil official, I will not punish you. At most, I will just give you a scolding."

"So, don't make things difficult for Liu Zhongcheng. I'll just reprimand him, and that'll be the end of it. What do you think?"

"Your Majesty, please forgive me for being unable to comply!"

Cheng Jun met Li Shimin's gaze, shook his head, and said.

"Why is it so hard to obey? It's just a matter of nodding!" Li Shimin said impatiently, pressing Cheng Jun's shoulders tightly with both hands and shaking him repeatedly.

Cheng Jun remained unmoved as he was shaken, and said in a deep voice:

"Your Majesty, breaking the law is breaking the law. How can we turn a blind eye to someone just because their crime is minor?"

"If Your Majesty refrains from punishing someone today because of a minor offense, how will you deal with such a person tomorrow? Will you punish them in the same way?"

Cheng Jun solemnly said, "Many a little makes a mickle, and small things add up to something great. If this continues, where will the people's hearts be? Doesn't Your Majesty want to be a wise ruler? Why are you doing things that only a foolish ruler would do?"