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

Hu Yan was kicked several meters away like a ball, and sat on the ground in a daze, his official hat falling to the side.

After a long while, he came to his senses, picked up the official hat that had fallen to the side, put it on his head, and stood up excitedly, saying, "Cheng Yaojin, how dare you beat up an official of the imperial court! Do you have no respect for the law?!"

"Hit you? Hitting you would be too lenient!"

Cheng Yaojin flew into a rage, pointing at him and cursing, "Hu Yan, you son of a maid, what right do you have to act so arrogantly here? You dare to mess with my son? Let me tell you, even in front of His Majesty, I dare to beat you up!"

Just then, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Wen Yanbo, Li Jing, and Yuchi Jingde walked in with smiles on their faces.

Hearing Cheng Yaojin's angry curses, everyone was stunned. They looked at the furious Cheng Yaojin and then at Hu Yan, who had a furious expression. Clearly, the two had argued.

Fang Xuanling noticed a large footprint on Hu Yan's crimson official robe, looked at Cheng Yaojin, and asked in confusion:

"Zhijie, what happened?"

Cheng Yaojin pointed indignantly at the bed, table, and other furnishings on the ground, and said angrily, "Brothers, look at this! My son is in jail, so what if there are a few more tables and beds in the cell? What does that have to do with his nonsense? He actually had his things removed so that my son has to sleep on the floor!"

"Don't stop me, I'm going to beat him so badly he'll be bedridden today!"

After saying that, Cheng Yaojin angrily rolled up his sleeves.

However, he did not take a single step forward.

Is this a warning not to stop him...? In the cell behind the fence, Cheng Jun almost burst out laughing when he saw this scene. As expected of Old Cheng, he's rough but shrewd... reckless yet clever.

Upon hearing this, everyone frowned and looked at Hu Yan, realizing that he was deliberately picking a fight with Cheng Jun.

Upon hearing this, Yuchi Jingde's eyebrows shot up. He turned to Fang Xuanling and the others and said, "You lot, don't go. I'll go get the urn. There's still some gunpowder that Cheng Jun gave us. Help me put it in Hu Yan's urn. I'm going to plant a mushroom cloud on his head!"

After saying that, he turned and left angrily.

Everyone's expression changed drastically upon seeing this. Yuchi Jingde was known for daring to cause trouble and not being afraid of trouble. Since he dared to make such a statement, he was sure he could do it!

"Calm down, everyone!"

Wen Yanbo quickly grabbed his arm, but found that he couldn't move him. He quickly gave Li Jing a look, signaling him to come up and help.

Li Jing immediately stepped forward and blocked Yuchi Jingde's path.

No, is no one stopping Cheng Yaojin...? Cheng Jun looked at Old Cheng standing there all alone, looking like he was about to lose his composure, and clenched his back teeth to prevent himself from laughing out loud.

Du Ruhui realized this at this moment, quickly stepped forward and grabbed Cheng Yaojin's arm, solemnly saying: "Zhijie, do not act recklessly!"

Cheng Yaojin looked at him and suddenly became excited, saying, "Don't stop me, I'm going to beat him to death today!"

Du Ruhui was both amused and exasperated. While holding onto his arm tightly and playing along with his act, he advised Hu Yan, "Hu Shaoqing, don't let this place become a place of trouble. You should leave quickly!"

Hu Yan angrily said, "Go? Go where! I was the one who got kicked by Cheng Yaojin, how can it be that I'm the one in the wrong?"

"Master Du, don't stop him! Everyone, don't stop him! Let him do it!"

As he spoke, he glared at Cheng Yaojin and angrily shouted, "Cheng Yaojin, let me tell you, if you hit me today, I'll go to the Imperial Medical Bureau, and you'll go to the Dali Temple prison!"

Fang Xuanling suddenly scolded, "Say less! His Majesty is about to arrive. What kind of behavior is this!"

Upon hearing this, everyone calmed down.

The Dali Temple prison fell silent instantly.

Upon hearing this, Cheng Jun remained calm, observing everyone and pondering silently. Combining what Cheng Yaojin had just said, it was clear that Li Shimin had calmed down.

As for how he calmed down, Cheng Jun immediately made a judgment: Yuchi Jingde had just mentioned gunpowder, so Li Shimin should already know the power of gunpowder.

What puzzled him was that Yuchi Jingde mentioned the words "mushroom cloud".

Cheng Jun walked to the gate of the fence, looked at Yuchi Jingde, and asked, "Uncle Yuchi, you just mentioned mushroom cloud, what mushroom cloud?"

Yuchi Jingde walked up to him and chuckled, "It's the gunpowder you gave me. I didn't expect that adding just a little bit more would make it so powerful!"

Cheng Jun asked in surprise, "How much did you add, just a little bit?"

Yuchi Jingde said, "I filled an entire urn."

"..."

An urn... then isn't that a large water vat...? Cheng Jun gasped. Is this just a tiny bit, or a tiny fraction?

What did you use to seal it?

Cheng Jun quickly asked.

Yuchi Jingde said, "It's a wooden lid."

Thank goodness, it wasn't made of iron... Cheng Jun secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The wooden lid wasn't very airtight. If it had been made of iron, Taiji Palace would have at least razed one of its buildings to the ground today.

Cheng Jun asked curiously, "Where did you blow it up?"

Yuchi Jingde said, "Ganlu Hall."

"..."

Cheng Jun's eyes narrowed. "Inside the hall or outside the hall?"

Fang Xuanling, standing to the side, retorted irritably upon hearing this: "Nonsense! Could it be inside the palace? His Majesty was sitting inside the palace at the time!"

That makes sense. If it had been detonated in front of His Majesty, there would be a suona horn playing right now... Cheng Jun was completely relieved.

At this moment, he finally understood why Yuchi Jingde had mentioned the mushroom cloud.

Because it wasn't sealed tightly enough, the urn was essentially a large firecracker...

Because of the large amount of gunpowder used, a mushroom cloud phenomenon occurs.

But in reality, its power was far less than he had imagined.

However, it must have been quite shocking for them... Cheng Jun looked at everyone, after all, gunpowder had not yet appeared in the world during the Zhenguan era of the Tang Dynasty.

Just then, footsteps sounded at the entrance of the Dali Temple prison.

Everyone looked back.

Zhang Anan led the way, while Li Shimin walked in the middle with a conflicted expression.

Behind him were two palace guards.

"Your Majesty, you must do justice for me!"

Li Shimin looked ahead and saw Cheng Jun. When Cheng Jun looked at him, the struggle on his face intensified as he pondered how to release him.

Suddenly, a wail rang out from the side.

Li Shimin was taken aback. He looked at Hu Yan, whose eyes were red and whose voice was choked with emotion, and noticed that his official hat was askew and there was a large footprint on his crimson robe. He exclaimed in astonishment:

"Minister Hu, what has happened?"

Hu Yan pointed at Cheng Yaojin and said with grief and indignation, "Your Majesty, the Dali Temple prison has a system that all prisoners must wear prison clothes and shackles during their imprisonment to verify their identity. Cheng Jun has an official position and can be exempted from shackles. I also consider Cheng Jun's merits and do not allow him to wear prison clothes. However, it is not right for him to have writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstones on his sleeping mat and cushion."

"With a bed and writing materials provided, this isn't a prison sentence, it's an inn stay!"

"So, I have examined this error; have I done anything wrong?"

Hu Yan said excitedly.