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

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Hu Yan and realized that Li Shimin did not want to offend Changsun Wuji again, so he found someone to offend him on his behalf.

But such people are hard to find. In officialdom, no one wants to offend others except to protect their own interests, especially the Minister of Personnel, who is a high-ranking official.

The Ministry of Personnel was the head of the Six Ministries, and the Minister of Personnel was in charge of personnel appointments, hence he was called the Heavenly Official.

If you offend the Minister of Personnel, neither you nor your clan will have a smooth career in the future.

But the interesting thing about this matter is that it was the Dali Temple prison, and Hu Yan was the Vice Minister of the Dali Temple. It was only natural for Li Shimin to ask for his opinion.

Hu Yan's expression changed drastically; he was now in a precarious position, and nothing he said seemed right.

If Cheng Jun says that Changsun Wuji shouldn't be wearing prison clothes and shackles, he will definitely impeach him for dereliction of duty.

To suggest that one should dress appropriately would offend Changsun Wuji.

Hu Yan was instantly caught in a dilemma, his throat bobbing as he said:

"Your Majesty, I implore you to make the final decision."

"If I could make decisions on my own, would I need you?" Li Shimin said, displeased that the question had been passed to him. "I'm asking for your opinion!"

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty believes..."

Hu Yan opened his mouth, but under Li Shimin's deathly gaze, his voice trembled as he said, "I think we should..."

In the cell, Changsun Wuji instantly lost his temper, grabbing at the bars and yelling, "What should I do? Hu Yan, you tell me clearly, what should I do!"

Hu Yan looked at him, swallowed hard, and realized that Li Shimin's question was a ploy to make him offend Changsun Wuji. He had no right to say it was wrong; if he spoke up for Changsun Wuji, it would surely enrage Li Shimin, who would reprimand him for dereliction of duty. He spoke earnestly:

"Minister Changsun, I am the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, appointed by His Majesty. As the person in charge of criminal justice, I must be fair and impartial. According to the regulations of the Court of Judicial Review, all criminals must wear prison clothes to show their identities and wear shackles to show their crimes. I am replying according to the rules, not out of personal bias. Please do not misunderstand, Minister Changsun. If I were imprisoned today, I would also wear prison clothes and shackles!"

Upon hearing this, Changsun Wuji's expression softened, and he fell silent, releasing his grip on the fence.

Having said all that, Hu Yan has completely absolved himself of any responsibility.

Everyone watched with admiration, thinking to themselves, "He really is the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review; there's not a single fault in what he said."

Li Shimin was very satisfied. Hu Yan's words not only exonerated him but also secretly praised him for his discerning eye in choosing a fair and upright person to serve as the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review.

Just as Li Shimin was about to back down after achieving his goal, he suddenly heard Cheng Jun clapping his hands.

"As expected of the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review in charge of criminal cases, Hu Shaoqing is so fair and impartial, which is admirable."

“When I was in prison, you came to inspect the prison and ordered people to remove all the beds, desks, cushions, writing brushes and ink from my cell. I thought you were trying to make things difficult for me and embarrass me, which forced me to make up my mind not to leave and to have His Majesty clear my name. It turns out I misunderstood you. I really judged you with the mind of a petty person.”

Cheng Jun said remorsefully, "I shouldn't have done that."

Hu Yan was shocked and furious upon hearing this.

The expressions on everyone's faces also became strange. Cheng Jun wasn't praising anyone; he was clearly stirring up trouble.

According to Cheng Jun, if Hu Yan hadn't come in to inspect the prison and made Cheng Jun mistakenly think that he was making things difficult for him, then when Li Shimin came to ask him to leave, he wouldn't have mentioned anything about exonerating or redressing his grievances, and would have simply come out readily.

There is another layer of meaning here, namely that if it weren't for Hu Yan, Cheng Jun would not have asked His Majesty to exonerate him.

Then, His Majesty would not have come up with the idea of ​​imprisoning the emperor.

Naturally, the incident of Changsun Wuji going to prison on his behalf would not have occurred.

Sure enough, upon hearing this, Changsun Wuji in the prison cell abruptly raised his head, his gaze sharp as lightning, staring intently at Hu Yan, his eyes blazing with fury, and he roared with profanity:

"What kind of disciplinary and prison officials are you? Hu Yan is here just to make things difficult for you!"

Cheng Jun denied it, saying, "Impossible! Hu Shaoqing is such a fair and just person. Look at him, how reasonable he is. If he had made even one mistake, you wouldn't be wearing prison clothes and shackles."

Changsun Wuji flew into a rage and said, "You're right, without him, I wouldn't be here today!"

Cheng Jun explained, "Minister Changsun, you've misunderstood."

Changsun Wuji gritted his teeth and said, "Misunderstanding? There's no misunderstanding!"

Cheng Jun has already explained the whole story clearly. If Hu Yan hadn't made things difficult for him, none of this would have happened.

So he's in this mess thanks to Hu Yan!

"Hu Yan, I'll fight you to the death!"

Changsun Wuji grew angrier the more he thought about it. Unable to contain his grievances and anger any longer, he opened the cell door, his eyes blazing with fury, and rushed out, kicking the flustered Hu Yan hard.

boom!

How pleasing to the eye... Cheng Jun felt very pleased as he watched Hu Yan being kicked to the ground and writhing in pain.

Just then, he felt a thorn in his side. He turned around and saw Li Shimin staring at him.

Cheng Jun immediately greeted him with a kind smile.

Li Shimin, with a stern face, shifted his gaze to Changsun Wuji and Hu Yan.

At this moment, Changsun Wuji was already straddling Hu Yan, his hands gripping Hu Yan's neck tightly, cursing as he said, "You want to send me to jail? Today I'll go to jail, and you'll go to hell!"

Seeing Hu Yan roll his eyes, Li Shimin was startled and quickly turned to the accompanying guards, saying:

"Hurry up and separate them."

"promise!"

Two guards rushed forward and pulled Changsun Wuji away from Hu Yan.

As Changsun Wuji stood up, he didn't forget to kick Hu Yan again and curse:

"You, surnamed Hu, you better not let me see you in the imperial court, or I'll beat you every time I see you!"

"You beast, just you wait until I get out of here, I'll make you pay!"

Seeing that he was becoming increasingly outrageous, Li Shimin scolded him, "Fuji, shut your mouth!"

Changsun Wuji, panting heavily, swallowed back all the curse words he was about to utter.

Li Shimin walked over to Hu Yan, helped him up from the ground, and saw that apart from looking a little pale from lack of oxygen, he was otherwise unharmed. He kindly brushed the dust off Hu Yan's clothes and comforted him:

"Minister Hu, I am here. I will uphold justice for you. You may go back now."

Hu Yan knew he was in the wrong and dared not complain. Seeing Li Shimin trying to smooth things over, he quickly said, "Your subject obeys the decree!"

After saying that, he ran out of the Dali Temple prison in a disheveled state.

After he left, Li Shimin turned and glared at Cheng Jun, saying, "Why are you stirring up trouble here?"

Cheng Jun was taken aback and asked in confusion, "Is what I said true? Is it wrong? Hu Shaoqing did a good job, shouldn't he be praised? How is it considered stirring up trouble if I praise him?"

Li Shimin was annoyed, but he couldn't refute it. After all, Hu Yan had brought it on himself. If he hadn't come to the Dali Temple prison to make things difficult for Cheng Jun, none of this would have happened, and he wouldn't have been beaten by Changsun Wuji.

This kid really doesn't hold grudges overnight... Li Shimin muttered to himself.

Li Shimin knew very well that Cheng Jun had never intended to imprison Changsun Wuji. In Cheng Jun's mind, there was only one candidate to be imprisoned on behalf of the emperor, and that was Hu Yan!

Cheng Jun had no idea that Li Shimin, not wanting to disappoint his ministers, had summoned Changsun Wuji.

Cheng Jun seized the opportunity to provoke Changsun Wuji, which led to the scene where Changsun Wuji chased and beat Hu Yan.

Even though they knew it was Cheng Jun who did it, they couldn't bring themselves to say anything against him.

When it comes to the ability to avoid taking the blame, Li Shimin found that no one in the entire court could compare to Cheng Jun.