The protagonist of the palace banquet was not there, and the person in charge had also left. Everyone thought that Murong Shuo would find an excuse to leave, but unexpectedly, Murong Shuo actually sat in his seat and started eating slowly, not paying any attention to the gazes of others.

The rest of the people originally thought that there was not much point in staying here, but when they saw that Murong Shuo seemed fine, they instantly became interested again.

There are undercurrents in the Imperial Garden, and it depends on who breaks the silence first.

Although Murong Huan had left, the situation here was not over. Those who had caused the trouble had to be punished in order to completely put the matter to rest. The emperor looked at Lin Jinghan, who seemed to be indifferent, with a cold gaze and said in a deep voice:

"Princess Jingnan, do you admit your guilt?!"

Suddenly being called out by name, Lin Jinghan raised her head amidst the gazes of the crowd and looked at the emperor with a bewildered expression, "Admit your guilt? Admit what crime? What did I do wrong?"

"Princess Jingnan, you roared at the palace banquet, insulted envoys from other countries, and disrupted the peace talks. I originally thought that you were protecting your marriage and did not want to punish you severely, but you have no remorse at all! In this case, then you should go to the Dali Temple and reflect on yourself!" The emperor looked at Qiao An, the Dali Temple Minister who was present.

As soon as the emperor finished speaking, guards rushed over and tried to grab Lin Jinghan.

Qiao An and Prince Jingnan already had a hatred for killing their son, so they immediately stood up and accepted the order. They just waited for the guards to catch Lin Jinghan, and then he would take her to the Dali Temple to "reflect"!

Since the emperor didn't even give her a chance to defend herself, no, he didn't even give her a chance to explain, Lin Jinghan didn't know what to do for a moment and subconsciously looked at Sikong Zhan.

"My princess did nothing wrong, and no one can touch her!" Sikong Zhan's aura was terrifying, and the guards all stopped and dared not get any closer.

This was truly disobeying the emperor's order in public. Qiao An took a step forward and approached Sikong Zhan, "Prince Jingnan, the Princess of Jingnan was convicted of a crime by the emperor himself. Are you going to disobey his order?"

Sikong Zhan didn't even look at Qiao An, he just said lightly: "I said, my princess is not wrong."

The Emperor had not expected the Prince of Jingnan to be so tough. Adding to the repeated slaps he had received today, he was about to lose his temper when the virtuous concubine Lin Yiyi suddenly spoke up:

"Your Majesty, Princess Jingnan simply didn't want her position taken away from her, so she acted inappropriately. As a woman, I understand her feelings. Although she did say some things she shouldn't have, the peace talks today were orchestrated by her husband, Prince Jingnan. I dare to ask Your Majesty to give Princess Jingnan a lighter punishment."

The virtuous concubine was worthy of being the woman who had been favored by the emperor for the longest time. Her words not only hinted to the emperor that the peace talks had not yet been successful and that he could not break off relations with Prince Jingnan, but also gave the emperor a way out, giving him an excuse not to confront Prince Jingnan head-on.

The emperor looked at the virtuous concubine with admiration, and then looked at Lin Jinghan.

"Princess Jingnan, since Concubine Xian has pleaded for you, I will grant you a pardon. From today on, Princess Jingnan will be confined to the palace for three months. I hope you can reflect on your actions at home and not let Concubine Xian down. Prince Jingnan defied my order publicly..."

Before the emperor could finish speaking, Sikong Zhan interrupted him.

"I'm going to say this for the last time. My princess has done nothing wrong. No one can punish her!"

Prince Jingnan was so furious for his beloved that he didn't even hesitate to contradict the Emperor! The Imperial Garden fell into an eerie silence. Everyone held their breath, not daring to even breathe. Only Murong Shuo continued to eat with his head down, seemingly completely unaffected by the atmosphere. It was unknown what he was thinking.

"Jing! Nan! King!" The emperor's face turned blue with anger. In front of all the civil and military officials and Crown Prince Nanzhao, Sikong Zhan actually directly confronted him! This made his previous concession become a joke!

Sikong Zhan looked at the emperor with a cold gaze, and every word he said was shocking.

"If we were to say who is at fault for what happened today, the one who should stand up and accept punishment is the Emperor!"

Everyone's eyes darted as soon as these words came out. Murong Shuo finally put down his chopsticks and looked at Prince Jingnan with a deep gaze. The show had officially begun, and it was worth it for him to stay and watch it.

The emperor was so angry that his hands were shaking under the table, and his eyes were filled with murderous intent that he no longer concealed it at all.

Sikong Zhan didn't care about the looks of these people at all and continued:

"Nanzhao is ultimately just a defeated nation, and Murong Huan is nothing more than a princess married to a foreign prince. Looking at the history of the nations of Tianxuan Continent, there is no precedent for a princess from a defeated nation to choose her own husband. Yet, Your Majesty has set this precedent, which undermines the prestige of our Donglin nation. This is a mistake.

"Murong Huan acted violently in public, Murong Shuo confused right and wrong, and the Emperor was present at the scene, yet he turned a deaf ear to the matter and allowed them to use your so-called promise to insult my Princess Donglin. This is truly disheartening, and this is his second mistake.

"My princess stepped forward, disregarding her own safety, to protect the reputation of Donglin, preventing this farce of choosing a husband from ending in chaos. She deserves great credit for this. But the emperor, without any reason, actually wants to punish the sole contributor to this matter—my princess. This is causing pain to those closest to him and joy to his enemies. This is a triple mistake!"

Every word the Prince of Jingnan spoke was so powerful that people couldn't help but have the illusion that he was going to pull the emperor down from his throne the next moment!

The emperor subconsciously wanted to call for someone to arrest Prince Jingnan, but he opened his mouth but couldn't find his voice.

There was dead silence all around. In the imperial garden where so many people were gathered, even the sound of wind blowing through leaves could be heard clearly.

Lin Jinghan looked at Sikong Zhan in shock. She never thought that this man would dare to challenge the emperor in order to protect her. Is this really what they call - to risk one's life for the beauty one loves?

The emperor closed his eyes tightly, then opened them after a moment. His eyes were filled with determination and murderous intent, and he gritted his teeth and said:

"Prince Jingnan, you have received the emperor's grace but you do not think of being loyal to the emperor. You have now committed a crime..." You have committed a crime of treason and will be put to death without mercy!

Just when everyone thought that the Emperor and Prince Jingnan were going to go to war, Concubine Xian suddenly screamed, holding her belly, and said in pain:

"Ah! Your Majesty, my stomach hurts! Please save our child!"

The emperor had to bite the bullet and say those words. He knew that now was not a good time to go to war with Prince Jingnan, so he immediately walked towards Concubine Xian with concern.

"Xianfei, what's wrong with you?"

"I'm in so much pain..." Concubine Xian covered her stomach, her face pale, and she clutched the emperor like a life-saving straw, muttering,

"Your Majesty, please save our child. I cannot lose him..."

As she said this, she fainted in the emperor's arms.

The emperor was horrified and quickly called for the imperial physician. Suddenly, he felt the virtuous concubine scratching his waist. He was stunned for a moment, and then he quickly carried the virtuous concubine to her palace, comforting the person in his arms as he walked.

"Yiyi, just hold on for a while, our child will be fine!"