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

Li Shimin smirked and glared at him, saying, "According to you, you did nothing wrong by going to the sea pond today, and I punished you wrongly?"

Yuchi Jingde hurriedly said, "That's not what I meant. I have made a mistake, and I will accept whatever punishment Your Majesty may give me. However, Cheng Jun's accusation is not wrong!"

"Besides, Cheng Jun is an imperial censor, an official who speaks out. If an imperial censor is punished for speaking out, who will dare to speak frankly before His Majesty in the future?"

Yuchi Jingde clasped his hands in a salute and said, "I am not doing this for myself, but for Your Majesty and for the Tang Dynasty. Please, Your Majesty, understand!"

Li Shimin snorted, "In the end, you're still pleading for Cheng Jun."

Wen Yanbo stepped forward solemnly and said, "Your Majesty, what the Duke of Wu said makes sense. Since Your Majesty values ​​officials who speak out, you should not let them be punished for their words."

Du Ruhui also stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, what Doctor Wen said is very reasonable."

Fang Xuanling said earnestly, "Your Majesty often says that rewards and punishments should be clearly distinguished. Cheng Jun invented gunpowder, which is a great achievement. He dared to speak out against the emperor, which makes him a loyal minister. He is devoted to the public good and to Your Majesty. To imprison him is to fail to distinguish between rewards and punishments."

Cheng Yaojin shouted, "Your Majesty, I second that proposal!"

Li Shimin looked at them. His right-hand men had already spoken up to plead for them. Moreover, he realized at this moment that the role of gunpowder was probably more than just this.

The gunpowder was invented by Cheng Jun, which means Cheng Jun knew how to use it...

Why didn't this kid say so earlier? If he had just mentioned gunpowder, wouldn't that have been enough? Why did he have to bring up this old story again... Li Shimin grumbled inwardly.

Now look what happened. He was in a fit of anger and imprisoned Cheng Jun.

Letting him out now would be a slap in our own face...

Li Shimin frowned in thought, finally taking a deep breath. As an emperor, one must have a broad mind and be able to admit and correct mistakes in order to govern the country well. He then decided:

Release Cheng Jun.

He turned to his personal eunuch and said, "Ananda, go and deliver the imperial decree."

Everyone's faces lit up with joy upon hearing this, and Cheng Yaojin exclaimed excitedly, "Your Majesty is wise!"

"The slaves obey the order."

Zhang Anan smiled and accepted the decree, about to leave, when suddenly Li Shimin's voice rang out behind him:

"etc....."

Zhang Anan stopped in his tracks and turned to look at him.

After much deliberation, Li Shimin said, "I shall go there myself. The one who tied the knot must untie it. I imprisoned Cheng Jun, and I will release him personally."

Everyone bowed and said, "Your Majesty is wise!"

Li Shimin smiled and waved his hand, saying, "You will all come with me."

"I will obey your orders!"

Everyone saluted again.

Once Zhang Anan had prepared the imperial carriage, Li Shimin sat on it and headed to the Dali Temple prison.

Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Li Jing, Wen Yanbo, Cheng Yaojin, Yuchi Jingde, and others followed closely behind.

Meanwhile, inside the Dali Temple prison.

In the clean and tidy cell, Cheng Jun sat on a soft cushion, staring straight ahead.

Outside the prison cell, Hu Yan, wearing an official hat and the robes of a junior official of the Court of Judicial Review, sat on a stool with his hands in his sleeves, looking at Cheng Jun through the bars with great interest.

Neither of them uttered a word, and they just stared at each other.

Cheng Jun remained expressionless.

Hu Yan, however, seemed lost in thought, glancing at Cheng Jun and occasionally letting out a muffled chuckle.

"Pfft..."

As Hu Yan chuckled for the sixth time, Cheng Jun twitched the corner of his mouth and asked:

"Is this interesting?"

Hu Yan couldn't hold back any longer, slapped his knee, and laughed, "You know what, it's quite interesting."

As he spoke, he stood up, walked to the fence with a smile, put his hands behind his back, and said with a sneer, "Cheng Jun, ever since the Du Jingjian incident, I've been thinking, if you can let me stay in the Imperial Medical Bureau, why can't I send you to the Dali Temple prison?"

"I didn't expect that you would come in first before I even had a chance."

Cheng Jun asked curiously, "What do you want?"

Hu Yan laughed and said, "Don't you like to persuade people with reason? What a coincidence, in this place, what I have the least shortage of is reason!"

After saying that, he turned around and shouted, "Guards!"

Two officials from the Court of Judicial Review immediately came over.

Hu Yan pointed to the cell and said, "Since when has the Dali Temple Prison allowed prisoners to have writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones? Prisoners should act like prisoners. Take your things away!"

The two officials from the Dali Temple couldn't help but look at Cheng Jun.

Hu Yan raised an eyebrow and said, "Why are you looking at him? Do you two want to go in and keep him company?"

The two officials from the Court of Judicial Review hurriedly replied, "We dare not!"

Hu Yan shouted, "Then what are we waiting for? Move it!"

The two judges from the Court of Judicial Review gave Cheng Jun an apologetic look, then opened the cell door, went inside, and removed the writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone from the table.

Hu Yan then pointed to the table and said, "Remove it too. If a prisoner commits suicide out of fear of punishment and crashes into the table, neither of us will escape responsibility!"

The two officials from the Dali Temple quickly removed their desks.

Hu Yan looked at the bed in the cell and said, "Move the bed away too, just put some dry grass on the ground. Cheng Jun must be treated the same way as the other prisoners!"

The two officials from the Dali Temple quickly moved the bed away and replaced it with dry straw.

Hu Yan looked at Cheng Jun and said with a smile, "Cheng Jun, move your butt a little and give them the cushions. The ground is cold, so you can sit on the ground."

Cheng Jun said, both amused and exasperated, "Hu Shaoqing, don't you think you're acting like a petty person who's gained power?"

Hu Yan sneered, "Did I do anything wrong? Can you find any reason to argue against it?"

Cheng Jun shook his head. He had to admit that the utensils here were all provided for him by Bu Gandang, the judge of the Dali Temple. In fact, it was unreasonable. Hu Yan was just performing his duties and did not go too far.

Hu Yan said calmly, "It's good that you know. You are an imperial censor, supervising all officials and reporting on matters based on hearsay. This is your duty, and no one can say anything about it. As for me, I am the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, in charge of the Court of Judicial Review prison. I have the power to investigate all matters within the prison, and no one can say anything about me."

Cheng Jun pondered for a moment and said, "Hu Shaoqing, haven't you ever thought about me leaving?"

Hu Yan chuckled and said, “You are talented, and His Majesty appreciates you. I know you won’t be here for many days, but I don’t care how many days you stay. As long as you stay here, I have the right to deal with you.”

After saying that, he looked at the two judges from the Court of Judicial Review and pointed to Cheng Jun's bottom, saying, "What are you standing there for? Take the cushion away!"

The two judges from the Court of Judicial Review looked at Cheng Jun with troubled expressions.

Cheng Jun didn't make things difficult for them. He stood up, picked up the cushion and handed it to them, then pointed to the bedding on the ground and said, "Take this too."

"And everything in here, take it all away, don't leave a single thing behind."

The two judges from the Dali Temple breathed a sigh of relief, gave Cheng Jun a grateful look, and then, as he instructed, moved everything out of the prison.

In an instant, besides Cheng Jun, the cell was filled with only four walls and a pile of dry grass.

Hu Yan saw this and smiled with satisfaction, "Now you look much better to me."

Just then, the clanging of chains and the sound of doors opening echoed from the entrance of the Dali Temple prison.

Upon hearing the sound, Cheng Jun looked over and saw Cheng Yaojin leading the way, walking over with great joy. He asked in surprise, "Father, what brings you here?"

Cheng Yaojin laughed loudly:

"I've come to take you home!"

After he finished speaking, he suddenly noticed a bed, a table, and other furniture on the ground outside the cell, and asked in surprise, "What's going on here?"

Cheng Jun pointed at Hu Yan and said, "Hu Shaoqing thinks I'm too comfortable here, so he removed my things and made me sleep on the floor at night."

Cheng Yaojin turned to look at Hu Yan.

Hu Yan explained, "All the prisoners in the Dali Temple prison are like this, and your son, as a prisoner, is no exception."

Before he could finish speaking, a large foot suddenly kicked out.

boom!