"Let's go." He retracted his gaze and walked towards the imperial study first: It's time to find something for the emperor to do.

"Ah?" Lin Jinghan came back to her senses and was stunned for two seconds before following.

In the imperial study.

The emperor hurled the urgent report to the ground. "A goddess appeared in a dream, warning the earth dragon to rise? Absurd! Bugui Mountain has been destroyed in many places, and there's no trace of iron ore. You're a bunch of good-for-nothings! What's the point of keeping you here?"

The captain of the first squadron of the Beijing Aircraft Defense Battalion, who had delivered the urgent report, lay prostrate on the ground, not daring to breathe. The urgent report hit him, but he didn't even grunt.

The emperor gradually suppressed his anger and asked, "The earthquake occurred more than a day after the Jingji Defense Battalion entered the mountains. How come in a whole day, we haven't found any useful information?"

The Beijing Defense Battalion, consisting of several thousand men, was on the earthquake-stricken Mount No Return. Surprisingly, the emperor's first thought was not to care about their safety, but to question them.

The captain of Team One felt sad and told the story about the competition between the Beijing Machinery Defense Battalion and the Jingnan Army. He also emphasized that Xiao Ce accepted Mu Wenyao's proposal in order to better complete the mission.

Before the captain could finish his words, the emperor grabbed the jade amulet and smashed it at him, breaking his head. Seeing the potion still on the captain's forehead, the emperor was furious.

"You're useless! The Jingnan Army knew you were going up the mountain to look for evidence of their crimes, so how could they not be on guard? This is clearly a strategy to buy time!"

The captain of Team One had already been hit hard and was bleeding a lot. After hearing the emperor's words, he realized that the people of their Jingji Defense Camp had made a big mistake. What's more, he had participated in the competition and lost. He fainted in fear.

"Come here, drag him out and chop him off!" The emperor could not find any evidence that Sikong Zhan had mined iron ore privately, and his wishful thinking fell through. He no longer cared about pretending to be a wise ruler, and his cold-blooded and ruthless nature was exposed.

The guards quickly took the team leader away.

Hearing that Lin Jinghan was investigating a case with Sikong Zhan in the palace, and seeing that the emperor was in a bad mood during the morning court, Prime Minister Lin Jingshan was not worried that Lin Jinghan would cause trouble for their Prime Minister's Mansion, but he still had to ask about it and feel at ease only after knowing the specific situation.

After the morning court session, he exchanged pleasantries with his close ministers for a while. When all the ministers had left, he turned back and walked towards the imperial study, intending to meet the emperor alone. He happened to meet the captain of a team who was being dragged out to be beheaded.

The people of the Beijing Machinery Defense Battalion have always been trusted by the emperor, not to mention that he is the captain, how could he be beheaded so easily?

Minister Lin stopped the leading eunuch, stuffed a purse into his hand, and asked in a low voice what was going on.

Seeing that it was the Prime Minister, the eunuch gave him face and secretly accepted the purse. He then narrated the events in the Imperial Study in a veiled manner, and at the end he added a comment:

"The Emperor is very angry right now. If you have anything to ask him, please come back later."

If anyone else saw this situation, they would definitely listen to the eunuch and come to see the emperor later.

But Prime Minister Lin was a pillar of the country and the emperor's uncle, so he wouldn't be easily scared away. After some thought, he stuffed a heavier purse into his pocket and said, "Prince Jingnan and his wife entered the palace yesterday and haven't left yet. I wonder why?"

It’s not that Prime Minister Lin was uninformed, but the fact that Prince Jingnan entered the palace was kept a secret in the palace, and outsiders had no way of knowing about it. Even the eldest princess was unaware of the situation.

Therefore, outsiders only knew that Prince Jingnan entered the palace and stayed there, but they didn't know why.

The eunuch glanced around and saw that no one else was paying attention. He lowered his voice and told Lin Xiang what had happened yesterday. At the end, he gave an instruction:

"The Emperor has forbidden us from spreading this matter. Please, Prime Minister, keep it a secret!"

After the eunuchs and guards dragged the team leader away, Prime Minister Lin called a young eunuch and asked him to deliver a message to the people from the Prime Minister's Mansion who were waiting at the palace gate, and then he slowly walked towards the imperial study.

When the eunuch reported that the prime minister wanted to see him, the emperor suppressed his anger and said, "Announce him."

Soon, Prime Minister Lin walked into the imperial study.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you." Prime Minister Lin bowed respectfully.

"My dear minister, please stand up." The emperor looked at Lin Jingshan inquiringly, thinking that Prime Minister Lin was already Sikong Zhan's father-in-law. He wondered if he came here to help Sikong Zhan?

He'd better be clear and know which camp he belongs to, otherwise, he doesn't mind finding a new husband for his aunt.

"I want to report King Jingnan Sikong Zhan for suppressing the bandits without an imperial edict and disregarding the will of Heaven. This has angered the dragon that protects our royal family and caused the dragon to rise up in the Bugui Mountain, causing panic among the people of the capital. He deserves death!" Lin Jingshan had never regarded Lin Jinghan as his own daughter, so naturally he would not regard Sikong Zhan as his son-in-law.

Not only that, he also wanted to distance himself from Prince Jingnan, even if it meant adding insult to injury.

"Oh?" The emperor thought for a moment, "Prime Minister, Prince Jingnan, that's your son-in-law, are you willing to give him up?"

"I have never regarded Prince Jingnan as his son-in-law, just as Prince Jingnan has never regarded me as his father-in-law. Moreover, in the face of national justice, I will certainly not show favoritism." In the first sentence, Lin Jingshan told the emperor that he and Prince Jingnan had a bad relationship; in the second sentence, he hinted to the emperor that he could sacrifice his daughter for the sake of national justice.

"The Prime Minister sacrificed his own family for the greater good, a role model for our dynasty!" The emperor's brows relaxed, and he looked at Lin Jingshan, who was showing his loyalty, with satisfaction. "I haven't seen my cousin Wanrou for a long time, and I miss her even more. Please, uncle, help me ask my cousin if she is willing to come to the palace to accompany me."

The emperor said to accompany her, not marry her, which means that Lin Wanrou entered the palace not to become the queen.

"Wanrou is still young. The princess and I originally wanted to let her stay with us for a few more years. However, being able to enter the palace to accompany the emperor is a blessing for Wanrou, and I think Wanrou is very willing to do so. It's easy for me to say, but I don't know if the princess will be willing to let her go..."

In reality, it wasn't that the princess was reluctant to let her go; it was just an excuse he used to silence the emperor. He and the princess had originally planned to have Lin Wanrou enter the palace and become the empress. Unexpectedly, the emperor didn't want to make Lin Wanrou his empress, which made him feel very uncomfortable.

Just ask yourself, who doesn’t want to have a queen in his family so that he can become the father-in-law of the emperor and be second only to the emperor?

"As for my aunt, I'll have to trouble you to persuade her. I really miss my cousin Wanrou, so please don't make me wait too long." Prime Minister Lin wanted to use the eldest princess's words to shirk responsibility, or he wanted to fight for the position of queen for Lin Wanrou. How could the emperor not see it?

However, the Princess's faction was too powerful, and Prime Minister Lin's influence in the court could not be underestimated. He wanted to win them over, but he couldn't let them become too powerful. Marrying Lin Wanrou would not only prevent the Prime Minister from turning against Prince Jingnan, but also allow him to have a beautiful woman, one who loved him wholeheartedly. Why not?