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

Liu Linfu had intended to mock Cheng Jun, but instead, he was angered by Cheng Jun's words and retorted angrily, "If you don't speak, no one will think you're mute!"

Cheng Jun chuckled and said, "I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint Vice Minister Liu. I am an official in charge of remonstrance, and I can't remain silent. If you think what I said is unreasonable, you can point it out. Don't curse in public. If you want to curse, take off your official robes first. I can understand that you are old and want to lose face. But if you curse in your official robes, you are disgracing the court. I am the eyes and ears of the emperor. Don't force me to impeach you."

Yu Chi Baolin listened with great delight. When it comes to witty comebacks, he's the best. He didn't utter a single swear word, yet every sentence he uttered was an insult.

Liu Linfu stared at him with wide eyes, but the curse words in his throat didn't come out. Instead, he let out a cold snort and turned his head away from him.

Cheng Jun glanced at the six retainers of the Yuchi family standing to the side, noticing that they were being held by twelve judges from the Court of Judicial Review. He asked, "What have they done wrong?"

Liu Linfu sneered, "Obstructing the Ministry of Personnel from handling cases."

Cheng Jun asked, "What cases does your Ministry of Personnel handle?"

Before Liu Linfu could respond, the official surnamed Lin, a clerk from the Ministry of Personnel responsible for seizing money, came over, holding a confession and a contract, and said:

"We found that the shopkeeper Liu, who lent Du Jingjian two hundred cash, converted the fifty thousand cash that the imperial court had lent him into eight taels of gold and gave it to Du Jingjian. This is the shopkeeper Liu's confession, and this is the deed for the eight taels of gold he gave to Du Jingjian. We are going to take Du Jingjian to the government office for questioning!"

Cheng Jun frowned and said, "It's just a question, why do we need to go to the government office?"

After saying that, he looked at Liu Linfu and said, "Minister Liu, I think we can ask Du Jingjian here. What do you think?"

Liu Linfu pondered for a moment, then turned to Lin Lingshi and said, "Go knock on the door, bring Du Jingjian out for questioning, and then take some men to search his house to see if you can find those eight taels of gold!"

"promise!"

After paying his respects, Lin Lingshi walked towards the gate of the Du family's residence.

"slow!"

Cheng Jun reached out to stop him, saying, "To prevent anyone from framing you, from now on, anyone who wants to enter this door must be searched."

Upon hearing this, Lin Lingshi turned to look at Liu Linfu.

Liu Linfu sneered, "Let him search!"

Lin Lingshi immediately opened his arms, waiting to be searched.

The fact that he dared to allow a body search shows that he still has some sense and isn't so heartless as to let his subordinates frame him in public. It's also possible that the other party is just pretending to be calm... Cheng Jun turned to Yuchi Baolin and asked, "Brother Baolin, someone just said that your servants are obstructing the investigation. What do you have to say?"

Yu Chi Baolin immediately understood and decisively said, "This is a frame-up! I was looking for my things, not helping Du Jingjian escape. How does that become obstructing the investigation?"

"Minister Liu, it seems to be a misunderstanding. Please don't take revenge on me."

Ignoring Liu Linfu's darkening expression, Cheng Jun said to the twelve judges from the Dali Temple, "Release the man; I need their help to search him."

The officials from the Dali Temple all looked towards Liu Linfu.

"Let go!"

Liu Linfu waved his hand and said.

Yuchi Baolin breathed a sigh of relief as he watched his six men being untied. He looked at Cheng Jun with a broad smile, thinking how capable Brother Chuxia was, managing to get them to release him with just a few words!

"Brother Baolin, come and help too."

Cheng Jun pointed at Lin Lingshi and said, "Search him to see if he is carrying any weapons, and pay special attention to whether he is carrying any gold."

"okay!"

Yu Chi Baolin immediately understood his unspoken meaning: to prevent him from bringing the gold into the Du family and framing them. He nodded, walked up to Lin Lingshi, and reached out to search Lin's body.

From hair to shoes, he didn't overlook a single detail.

Soon, Yu Chi Baolin shook her head at Cheng Jun, indicating that the other party had nothing hidden on him.

Lin Lingshi put on his shoes and asked, "May I go in now?"

Cheng Jun shook his head and said, "No way!"

Liu Linfu raised an eyebrow and said, "Imperial Censor Cheng, I'm warning you, your words are suspected of obstructing the Ministry of Personnel from handling the case."

Cheng Jun said, "Minister Liu, it's not too late to be anxious after I finish speaking."

"May I ask, Vice Minister Liu, which carries more weight: the Ministry of Personnel's handling of cases or His Majesty's decrees?"

"Of course, His Majesty's decree is the most important!"

"That's it, so you can't go in."

Cheng Jun opened the calligraphy scroll in his hand, facing it directly to Liu Linfu, and solemnly said, "His Majesty's oral decree!"

Upon seeing the four characters "Taste bitterness and appreciate sweetness" on the calligraphy scroll, Liu Linfu's expression changed drastically, and he immediately bowed deeply to the scroll in Cheng Jun's hand.

He was very familiar with the handwriting above; it was His Majesty's Feibai style!

Seeing that the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel was bowing deeply to the calligraphy, the others also bowed and paid their respects.

Yuchi Baolin and his retinue were no exception.

Of all those present, only Cheng Jun stood upright.

"His Majesty has decreed that I come here to deliver this calligraphy to Du Jingjian's mother!"

Cheng Jun turned around and knocked on the door, saying, "Brother Jingjian, open the door and receive the imperial decree with your mother!"

Crunch!

The door opens.

When Du Jingjian and his mother saw Cheng Jun, their faces lit up with joy, and they immediately bowed deeply to the imperial edict.

Cheng Jun said in a gentle voice, "Aunt Du, I took the cakes you made to the palace. His Majesty praised them highly after eating them, saying they were fragrant, sweet, and delicious."

Liu Linfu suddenly said, "You said His Majesty praised the flatbread highly, but why did His Majesty write the four characters 'Taste bitterness and appreciate sweetness' instead?"

Those present looked at Cheng Jun with puzzlement, feeling that what Liu Linfu said made a lot of sense.

After all, the phrase "taste bitterness to appreciate sweetness" should, no matter how you look at it, mean that the cake tastes bitter and you want to eat something sweet.

Cheng Jun solemnly said, "His Majesty wrote these four characters because he heeded my advice."

“I told Your Majesty that without tasting bitterness, how can one know sweetness? Without poverty, how can one know wealth? I asked Your Majesty to recall the hardships of starting a business in the past and to cherish the abundance of the present by looking at the flatbread made by Aunt Du.”

Cheng Jun continued, "After listening to this, His Majesty was moved by the difficulty of establishing an empire, so he issued an imperial edict ordering me to come here and deliver this calligraphy to Aunt Du, and also instructing Aunt Du to make more sesame cakes to send to the officials to taste."

"Your Majesty did this to teach the officials this principle."

After Cheng Jun finished speaking, he turned to ask, "Aunt Du, are the flatbreads ready yet?"

Aunt Du quickly replied, "It's all better now!"

"Brother Jingjian, go and get it."

"promise!"

Soon, Du Jingjian came out carrying a basket.

The baskets were full of flatbreads.

Cheng Jun took out a piece and handed it to Liu Linfu, smiling gently and kindly, saying, "Minister Liu, look, these four characters were written by His Majesty. It's His Majesty's decree, which you just heard. You have to take the lead in appreciating the bitterness and sweetness."