Chapter 547 In the prison, the emperor and his ministers were in tears!
Punishment Department, Tianlao.
Li Shimin looked east and west, not knowing what he was looking for.
The prisoners on death row were desperate for life at this moment. They didn't care what was going on outside, they all looked up at the dark ceiling with dull eyes.
Snapped!
"time to eat!"
The jailer held the food box and handed it all the way over, saying,
"Hang on and wait! Don't wait for me to serve you one by one!"
"hurry up!"
Crash, crash.
The sound of chains dragging the floor could be heard in the prison.
At this moment, only eating can arouse the interest of the death row prisoners... After all, beheading is a beheading, and this meal still needs to be eaten.
You can't die like a starving ghost, so what's the point?
Li Shimin frowned and looked at Changsun Wuji beside him.
"Then jailer! Come here."
Changsun Wuji naturally understood and ordered,
"Take the food in your hand and ask me something!"
The jailer was stunned... Where was the sound coming from in the prison today?
When he raised his head again, he was almost frightened out of his wits!
The person in front of me was wearing a bright yellow dragon robe... that was clearly, that was clearly...
Emperor!
"See! See your majesty, see your majesty!"
The jailer panicked and knocked over the food box in his hand. He knelt down and said,
"Long live my emperor!"
This movement caused all the death row prisoners to look over. Seeing Li Shimin's shining dragon robe, they felt like they were seeing the savior!
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I was wronged, Your Majesty!"
"Your Majesty, please spare your life! I have an elder and a younger one above me. If I die, what will they... what will they do?"
"Your Majesty, I am really unjust. I have such a huge grievance!"
"..."
For a time, cries of injustice and begging for mercy came and went, making Li Shimin frown.
"You, come with me!"
Li Er ordered,
"Bring the food box! I want to see what this death row prisoner eats!"
After saying that, he turned around and walked away quickly.
"Yes, yes, I obey your order!"
How dare the jailer refuse to respond? Quickly packing the food box and keeping up with the pace.
…
It was finally quiet in the corridor.
"I, I, I... in front of whom are you calling me?"
Changsun Wuji took the lunch box and said displeasedly,
"If it weren't for His Majesty's mercy, your head would be chopped off too!"
jailer:"!!!"
"Yes, yes, you are talking nonsense, you should be slapped, you should be slapped!"
Snapped!
Snapped!
As he said this, he slapped himself hard twice.
There is nothing I can do about the way I looked in front of His Majesty just now. If I don't slap myself, I won't have peace of mind!
"Okay, okay."
Li Shimin waved his hand and said,
"Don't be so vulgar in the future. After all, you are an official of the imperial court! You represent the image of the imperial court!"
"Open the food box."
The jailer nodded repeatedly and helped open the food box with great gratitude.
Inside the food box was steaming corn. It was dark and there were faint hints of gravel.
It was covered with a few vegetable leaves and nothing else.
"That's it? It's gone?"
Li Shimin frowned.
He randomly picked up a handful of corn and put it in his mouth.
Click!
His precious 'dragon tooth' was suddenly knocked by a pebble in the corn.
"Pooh!"
Li Er chewed hard and swallowed part of it with difficulty. The rest was chewed into a ball and spit out.
"Is this the food provided to prisoners? It's too rough!"
He said displeasedly,
"Just a few vegetable leaves and half of the corn rice with grit?"
"Can you eat three meals a day?"
The jailer looked embarrassed when he heard this.
"To answer His Majesty...not three meals, but two meals."
he responded.
Li Shimin: "???"
"You can only eat two meals a day with this kind of thing? Then you won't starve to death?"
Li Er asked.
The jailer was trembling, and he lowered his head and dared not speak.
"Your Majesty, please calm down. This is actually normal."
Fang Xuanling said,
"Death-row prisoners... They are all extremely evil people. What's the point of giving them something so easy to eat? Besides... they are still waiting to die."
"It's not bad to have this food to eat. After all, it's allocated to them by the imperial court."
"In other words, they can be considered as eating royal food."
Li Shimin: "..."
This statement sounds a bit awkward.
"Yep."
The jailer answered,
"Ordinary prisoners will naturally eat better if they have family members to provide for them."
"But most of the prisoners on death row have no family members to support them anymore. The Ministry of Punishment can only provide them with food to ensure that they survive starvation and survive until they are beheaded."
"If starving to death is also a punishment, let's just starve them to death and save money..."
Li Shimin frowned.
"Nonsense!"
Li Er scolded,
"The imperial court has its laws! If a prisoner on death row wants to die, he must follow the laws!"
"Before beheading them, they must be allowed to live well! This is also in line with the saint's benevolent rule!"
The jailer looked shocked and knew that he had said the wrong thing. He quickly bowed down and did not dare to say more.
"This kind of food only lasts for two meals... if it goes on for many years, people will definitely starve to death."
Li Shimin looked deeply and sighed softly,
"Does a condemned prisoner allow his family to provide him with food and rice?"
"Then...Hou Junji, this is what he eats?"
Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling looked at each other and winked at each other!
really.
His Majesty's thoughts are not on the death row prisoners. He feels sorry for the death row prisoners. In fact, he feels sorry for Hou Junji!
"Back to the emperor, Hou Junji has someone to provide him with, so his food should be better."
The jailer responded honestly,
"It's similar to the food of ordinary people. The minister said that anyone who comes to Tianlao comes to suffer, not to enjoy happiness."
"So... no matter how much the supply is, Hou Junji will not be able to eat it. At most, it is better than ordinary prisoners. This is already the best food in the prison."
Li Shimin frowned.
"You Li Shangshu are quite fair and strict."
He snorted coldly,
"But let me tell you, if there is a family member who is willing to provide better food, you can let him eat better. What's the harm?"
"Restricting personal freedom in this small and dark prison is already a huge and extremely painful punishment!"
"It's okay to satisfy your appetite appropriately!"
"Xuanling, auxiliary engine, do you think so?"
Changsun Wuji: "..."
Fang Xuanling: "..."
"I'm asking you a question!" Li Shimin looked unhappy.
These two people usually like to talk to each other, so why didn't they talk to me today?
"Uh... His Majesty said it should be done, so it should be done."
Fang Xuanling answered with cupped hands.
Changsun Wuji laughed and joked:
"I think it would be good for me and others to improve the treatment of Tianlao."
"Huh?" Li Shimin was surprised, "How do you say this?"
Changsun Wuji smiled and said:
"It's a good thing that the conditions in the Heavenly Prison are better. If one day, I commit a crime and end up in the Heavenly Prison, it won't be so difficult."
Li Shimin: "..."
"I was just joking, Your Majesty, don't blame me."
Changsun Wuji saw Li Shimin's unkind look, so he quickly stopped his smile and repeatedly held his hands.
"Hmph! Is it funny?"
Li Shimin snorted coldly,
"My ministers, I don't want anyone to come to this kind of place!"
"This is not the place where a good general should stay!"
"What your Majesty said is absolutely true." Both of them nodded in agreement.
Li Shimin looked at the two of them, and for some reason, he felt inexplicably unhappy.
"that whoever……"
He turned to look at the jailer and said,
"Which cell is Hou Junji in? I want to see him, take me there to see him."
"According to the order." The jailer did not dare to neglect, took the key to the cell, and led the way for the emperor.
Under his guidance, Li Shimin made many twists and turns, and finally stopped at the end of a passage.
In the cell on the upper left, there was a person lying on his side, motionless like a corpse.
"Hou...uh..."
The jailer shouted. He wanted to call him by his first name, but he felt that calling the emperor behind him would be unhappy. For a moment, he didn't know what to call him.
But this time, the people inside had already heard it.
"Put it there, I'll get some food later."
The hoarse voice came, which made Li Shimin's heart tighten, and his eyes had completely fallen on Hou Junji!
"I'm not here to deliver food."
The jailer responded,
"Yes... His Majesty is here to see you!"
Tsk!
Hou Junji in the cell froze, and then turned his head sharply!
When he saw Li Shimin's face, his eyes instantly turned red!
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"
"The guilty ministers and princes gather together... to pay homage to Your Majesty!!"
Bang bang!
Hou Junji climbed down from the wooden board, dragged his shackles on his knees and knelt down on the ground, kowtowing to Li Shimin!
When I raised my head, tears were streaming down my face!
Li Shimin: "!!!"
As an emotional person, he couldn't stand this, and he felt sad in his heart.
"Open, open, open the cell door for me!"
Li Er ordered,
"quick!"
Wow!
Under his urging, without any hesitation, the jailer quickly opened the cell door with the key and invited Li Shimin in.
"Your Majesty, be careful. He is a death row prisoner after all..."
The jailer reminded him in a low voice and looked at Hou Junji with some caution.
After being imprisoned for two years, Hou Junji will inevitably be resentful. What if he does something to hurt His Majesty?
"Bullshit! Be careful!"
Li Shimin scolded,
"Jun Ji will not hurt me!"
As he spoke, he walked quickly to Hou Junji, gently lifted him up, and saw his face.
"Junji...you, you have suffered!"
Li Er's eyes became moist when he looked at Hou Junji's disheveled appearance and haggard face.
He really couldn't bear to see this!
When you can't see it, you can be more cruel.
Now that he has seen it, thinking about all the past events, he has an urge to release Hou Junji!
"This is what the guilty subject deserves..."
Hou Junji wiped his tears and said with shame,
"It is the guilty minister who has failed His Majesty... The guilty minister knows that it is His Majesty who has been trying to protect the guilty minister, otherwise the guilty minister would have died two years ago."
"Sinful minister, thank you for your grace!"
Plop!
As soon as he was lifted up, he knelt down to Li Shimin again.
Even Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling were a little moved when they saw this love between monarch and minister.
Is it possible that Hou Junji has really been reformed in the past two years in prison?
He didn't complain at all and took all the blame on himself... Is this really him?
It's almost like a different person!
Fang Xuanling stared at Hou Junji, trying to spot some pretense with her experienced eyes, but after watching for a long time, she couldn't see anything wrong.
It seems that the true feelings are really revealed...
"Oh, what are you doing? Get up."
Li Shimin said with some distress,
"With these heavy shackles, why are you kneeling? It's hard for you!"
"Junji, you...what's wrong with your thigh? Why is there such a big scar?"
Hou Junji stood up slowly, gently touched his thigh, lowered his head and said:
"It's prison sores, very common."
"When you stay in prison for a long time, you will get sores like this... not only the guilty subjects, but also other people."
"It will be very itchy in autumn and winter, and it will be ulcerated and rotten in summer and long summer..."
Li Shimin frowned.
"Why do you have this prison sore?"
He turned to look at the jailer and ordered,
"Tell me clearly!"
The jailer looked a little embarrassed and said hesitantly:
"It's dark and humid in the sky prison, and if you don't see the sun for a long time, it will naturally breed illness..."
"This prison sore mainly occurs when it's hot and humid. I don't know exactly what it is, but most prisoners have it, and only a small number don't..."
Li Shimin's face suddenly turned dark.
"That small part should be next to the aisle, in a cool and ventilated area!"
He said angrily,
"But here, I have only been here for a while, and I feel extremely stuffy and hot. It has been going on for months and months. How can I get it?"
"This is bound to make you sick!"
"Since they are suffering from this kind of disease, why don't they find a doctor? Are we just going to watch them suffer?"
jailer:"……"
this……
How can one find a doctor for prisoners?
If you really have good food and drinks to serve you, and a doctor to look after you, will you still be in jail?
It’s almost like a vacation!
"Reply to Your Majesty, the Criminal Department does not have a doctor, so, so..."
The jailer looked embarrassed, hesitating and speechless.
He felt that he was unlucky today.
Why was it my turn to deliver meals to the prisoners today? I met the emperor who was obviously unhappy...
"You don't have to say anything!"
Li Shimin waved his hand and said,
"Auxiliary machine, hurry up and make arrangements to find an imperial physician who is most dedicated to treating sores!"
"Tell him to come and show Junji, go quickly!"
"According to the order." Changsun Wuji quickly responded and walked out of the cell.
"Your Majesty... How could I be so virtuous and talented as a guilty minister to earn such great favor from Your Majesty!"
Hou Junji shed tears and sobbed,
"The sinner's injuries are not a problem at all... I'm lucky to be able to survive!"
Li Shimin could not bear this, and said quickly:
"No, no, it's me who treated you wrong, it's me who was negligent!"
"Don't think too much. Let's cure the sores on your body first. I have a lot of things... I want to tell you!"
"Come, come, sit down..."
He turned to look at the jailer and ordered:
"Get the wine!"
(End of chapter)
