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

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin was taken aback, and then realized a problem.

That's right. Cheng Jun can't predict the future, so how could he know that Yuchi Jingde would beat up the person sitting in the seat of honor?

Unless Yuchi Jingde had some prior warning...

The moment Li Shimin had this idea, he rejected it.

This was the first time Yuchi Jingde had ever beaten the person sitting in front of him.

Not only was he caught off guard by Yuchi Jingde's move, but the civil and military officials present were probably also caught off guard.

Therefore, Cheng Jun's arrangement of Zhao Shida before Yuchi Jingde was not inappropriate.

This was just a coincidence.

That's why Cheng Jun felt innocent and cried out that he was wronged.

its not right......

Li Shimin's heart skipped a beat. If Cheng Jun was innocent, then I was not innocent at all!

This blame has fallen on my head!

Li Shimin immediately realized something was wrong, turned to look at the ministers in purple and red robes in the hall, and questioned them:

"With so many of you present, and Yuchi Jingde beating Zhao Shida, not a single person stepped in to stop the fight?"

"Your Majesty, I have the intention to mediate this dispute!"

Li Daozong immediately stepped forward.

Li Shimin glared at him and said, "If you tried to persuade them, you tried; if you didn't, you didn't. What do you mean you had the intention to mediate? Did you try to persuade them or not?"

Li Daozong pointed at Cheng Jun and explained, "I originally wanted to come out and mediate the fight, but Cheng Jun persuaded me to stay put first."

Li Shimin raised an eyebrow and looked at Cheng Jun.

Cheng Jun said, "I do not want Prince Li to be beaten."

Li Shimin glared at him and said, "So you just let Zhao Shida get beaten?"

Cheng Jun said, "This is called choosing the lesser of two evils."

Li Shimin said angrily, "Then why don't you try to persuade Yuchi Jingde? If you had stopped him, both sides would have been fine."

Cheng Jun spread his hands innocently and said, "Even a junior like Prince Li doesn't dare to advise me, how could I, a mere junior, possibly persuade the Duke of Wu?"

Li Shimin twitched the corner of his mouth, looked at Cheng Yaojin, and said sarcastically, "Cheng Yaojin, they are juniors, and we dare not advise them. Why don't you go and persuade them?"

Cheng Yaojin, who was smiling and happy that Cheng Jun had managed to extricate himself from danger, turned serious upon hearing this and said, "Your subject has advised against it."

Li Shimin said, "If you had advised against it, would Yuchi Jingde have dared to hit someone? When did you try to advise him?"

Cheng Yaojin replied, "After Zhao Shida finished being beaten."

"..."

Li Shimin laughed in anger, pointed sharply at Cheng Yaojin, Cheng Jun, and Yuchi Jingde in turn, and said:

"Fine, fine, you're all right."

"Today, I will also tell you my reasoning."

Li Shimin sat upright in the chief seat, gave a cold snort, and said:

"When I read the Book of Han, I found that very few of the meritorious officials under Emperor Gaozu of Han were able to protect themselves, and I often blamed Emperor Gaozu of Han in my heart."

"Therefore, since I ascended the throne, I have always wanted to protect you."

"However, there are some people who, after becoming high-ranking officials, repeatedly violate the law! They won't listen when I tell them to, they don't understand when I do listen, they don't act when they do, they make mistakes when they do, they don't admit their mistakes, they don't change when they admit them, they're not convinced when they change, and they don't speak up when they're not convinced. What else do they want from me?"

Li Shimin said with a stern face, "Only now do I understand that the killing of Han Xin and Peng Yue was not the fault of Emperor Gaozu of Han!"

"Heaven's sins may be forgiven, but self-inflicted sins are unforgivable!"

Li Shimin said sternly.

Upon hearing this, the ministers' expressions changed. These words were far too harsh; His Majesty was clearly enraged. They all bowed and said:

"Your Majesty, calm down."

Yuchi Jingde panicked and knelt down, head bowed, not daring to breathe.

As the assembled officials knelt on the ground, Cheng Yaojin had already dragged Cheng Jun down to kneel as well.

Li Shimin's expression softened slightly upon seeing the kneeling civil and military officials, but his anger remained unabated. He stood up, walked to Yuchi Jingde, and said sternly:

"Yuchi Jingde, I have always been fair in my rewards and punishments. You hit someone, which is wrong of you. I am going to punish you now. What do you have to say?"

Yuchi Jingde bowed his head and said, "Your subject is willing to accept punishment!"

Li Shimin turned to look outside the hall and shouted:

"Somebody come!"

In an instant, four palace guards entered with solemn expressions and their hands on their swords.

In the impenetrable Linde Hall, Li Shimin's icy voice rang out:

"Take Yuchi Jing out and give him fifty strokes of the cane!"

After saying that, Li Shimin said in a deep voice:

"Where is Cheng Jun?!"

"Li Er is trying to take me down with him..." Cheng Jun's heart skipped a beat. He understood what Li Er meant and saw Cheng Yaojin trying to get up to defend him. He immediately grabbed Cheng Yaojin's arm and gave him a wink.

Cheng Yaojin exclaimed urgently, "Are you crazy? His Majesty is furious right now. If you run into him, you're courting death!"

"fine."

Cheng Jun whispered two words, then stood up, cupped his hands in a salute, and said:

"The minister is here."

Li Shimin looked at him and said sternly, "Cheng Jun, Zhao Shida being beaten is also related to you!"

"Take Cheng Jun away and give him twenty strokes of the cane!"

Upon hearing this, the four guards stood in pairs beside Yuchi Jingde and Cheng Jun.

Yuchi Jingde was very fortunate at this moment. His Majesty only punished him with fifty strokes of the cane, which was already an act of leniency.

Just as he was about to follow the guards out to receive his punishment, he found Cheng Jun standing still, motionless.

Yuchi Jingde quickly gave him a look, saying that twenty strokes of the cane would only cause minor injuries, and the most important thing right now was to calm His Majesty down and not to stir up trouble.

Cheng Jun noticed the look Yuchi Jingde gave him, but shook his head. Then, he looked up at Li Shimin and asked:

"Your Majesty, as I just said, I do not have the ability to foresee the future, and I did not know that the Duke of Wu would beat the person sitting in the seat of honor."

"Your Majesty's punishment is like a servant in a restaurant serving food. He has just finished serving the food, and two people are fighting. One of them hits the other with the bowl of food he served. Because the bowl was brought by the servant, he is also guilty."

"Serving food is the duty of servants, yet they are punished for it. How innocent they are!"

Cheng Jun declared firmly, "I arranged Zhao Shida's seating arrangement by imperial decree, yet I am now being punished for doing so. How utterly innocent!"

Upon hearing this, Yuchi Jingde pricked up his ears and abandoned his idea of ​​going out to receive punishment.

Cheng Yaojin, listening from the sidelines, felt a surge of satisfaction. "My son is so eloquent! His explanations are so simple and easy to understand; he makes it all clear in a flash..."

The civil and military officials standing nearby also looked at Cheng Jun with astonishment.

Li Shimin glared at Cheng Jun and scolded, "Li Daozong came out to mediate the fight, and you wouldn't let him. Was that the right thing to do?"

Cheng Jun countered with a question:

"The Duke of Wu beat Zhao Shida because Zhao Shida was sitting in the seat of honor in his place."

"Your Majesty punishes me because you feel that all of this is because of me."

"How is Your Majesty's desire to punish me any different from the Duke of Wu's attempt to beat Zhao Shida?"

Li Shimin said angrily, "You brought this upon yourself. Li Daozong came out to mediate, and if you hadn't stopped him, how could I have punished you?"

Cheng Jun retorted:

"Why did I try to dissuade Prince Li? It's because I know that if I don't, and Prince Li tries to break up the fight, he will definitely be beaten by the Duke of Wu!"

"I know I cannot persuade the Duke of Wu, so I came out to dissuade the Prince of Li!"

“If the Duke of Wu were to strike Prince Li, it would be considered assaulting a member of the royal family, a crime so grave that even His Majesty would find it difficult to protect him!”

"Furthermore, the Duke of Wu is a military man. If a fight breaks out, it's hard to say whether Prince Li might suffer any harm. Your Majesty certainly doesn't want such a situation to occur. I understand Your Majesty's thoughts and concerns, so I advised Prince Li to stop him and protect them for Your Majesty!"

"Because of me, Prince Li was not beaten by the Duke of Wu. I have also preserved the dignity of the royal family for Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty's right-hand men were protected, the dignity of the royal family was preserved, the situation was stabilized, and the situation was prevented from worsening!"

"But in the end, I will be punished by Your Majesty!"

Cheng Jun looked at Li Shimin and said sadly:

Why is it that the person who does the most work always suffers the most injustice?