"Alright, let's go and have the emperor bleed." Sikong Zhan looked at his little princess lovingly. She was indeed the princess he had chosen. Her personality was exactly what he wanted!
In the imperial study, the emperor was already getting impatient, and Prince Jingnan and his wife finally walked slowly to the emperor.
"Greetings, Your Majesty." Sikong Zhan bowed perfunctorily, and Lin Jinghan naturally followed suit.
"No need to be polite." The emperor seemed to be accustomed to the behavior of Prince Jingnan. He didn't say much. He stared at Lin Jinghan's face carefully for a long time. He didn't see any wounds and asked:
"I heard that the eldest princess of Nanzhao injured the face of Princess Jingnan. Is this true?"
Lin Jinghan touched her face, looking terrified.
"Your Majesty, be aware that Princess Nanzhao was extremely vicious. Not only did she want to disfigure my face, she even poisoned the nails that injured me. If it weren't for my medical skills, I would have been poisoned to death on the spot. What's even more abominable is that when Princess Nanzhao failed to strike me, she even tried to kill me in public. Fortunately, Your Majesty arrived in time and saved my life.
The people of Nanzhao are so arrogant! They are so aggressive in my Donglin territory that they want to kill anyone. They simply don't take Donglin seriously! I have nothing to fear from death, but for the sake of Donglin's reputation, Your Majesty, please punish the arrogant Princess Nanzhao severely!
"Yesterday, Prince Nanzhao sent someone to report that Princess Nanzhao was injured by Prince Jingnan and is dying. Let's wait until she wakes up before discussing this matter." The Emperor
"Prince Jingnan, yesterday the Marquis of Pingnan submitted a memorial stating that at the flower viewing banquet, Crown Prince Nanzhao accused you of poisoning the Third Prince Nanzhao. Princess Jingnan then accused the Third Prince Nanzhao of poisoning the Jingnan Army. This is a matter of grave importance. Do you have any evidence?"
Sikong Zhan did not answer the emperor, but instead asked, "Does Prince Nanzhao have any evidence?"
The emperor was most annoyed by people passing the buck, so he rubbed his brows.
"The imperial physician reports that Princess Nanzhao has not yet regained consciousness, and Crown Prince Nanzhao is closely guarding her. I'm afraid he won't be able to present evidence for a while. Prince Jingnan, please submit the evidence first. I will certainly seek justice for the Jingnan Army!"
The emperor's words were really nice, saying that he was seeking justice for the Jingnan Army. His real purpose was probably to get more benefits for himself! How could the emperor get something for nothing? Sikong Zhan pulled Lin Jinghan to sit aside.
"Since Murong Shuo hasn't presented any evidence, if I act prematurely, Murong Shuo might turn against me once he knows the evidence I hold. Therefore, Your Majesty, I cannot present any evidence in advance."
Sikong Zhan said he was on guard against Murong Shuo, but in fact he was on guard against him! The emperor was displeased.
"Now, in this imperial study, there are only you and I, the emperor and his subject. Jingnan, just hand over the evidence to me without worry. The people of Nanzhao will not know about it."
"I'm sorry, I can't do that." Sikong Zhan didn't intend to explain further.
The emperor's face darkened. "Could it be that Prince Jingnan is questioning my resolve to seek justice for the Jingnan Army?"
The emperor simply didn't want to lose face, and Sikong Zhan was too lazy to deal with him. "The justice of the Jingnan Army will be upheld by me, the King of Jingnan. Your Majesty is busy with many things, so you don't need to worry about this matter."
Knowing that Prince Jingnan was unwilling to give him any face, the emperor felt a lump in his throat and turned to look at Lin Jinghan.
"Princess Jingnan publicly stated that she has the Nanzhao herb obtained from Crown Prince Nanzhao. If you can't produce it, it would be slandering Crown Prince Nanzhao. Slandering a crown prince is a capital offense punishable by death. Does the King of Jingnan really want to disregard Princess Jingnan's life?"
Sikong Zhan's eyes were icy, glaring directly at the emperor. "My princess will be protected by me. No matter who dares to frame me, I will make him regret being alive!"
At this time, the eunuch came to report that Prime Minister Lin wanted to see him.
"Announce." The emperor picked up the teacup and took a sip, suppressing the anger in his heart.
Minister Lin came in, bowed, and looked at Sikong Zhan and Lin Jinghan. "Prince Jingnan is here too. I wonder what he's doing here? Did I disturb you?"
Without waiting for Sikong Zhan to speak, the emperor said:
"I am currently discussing the poisoning of the Jingnan Army with the Prince of Jingnan. Since the Prime Minister is here, why not join us in the discussion?"
Lin Jingshan was filled with righteous indignation.
"The Nanzhao barbarians dared to poison the Jingnan Army in our Donglin territory. This matter will not be allowed to go on! Jinghan, quickly produce your evidence. This time, we must force the Nanzhao Crown Prince to apologize to the Jingnan Army in public and compensate them for all their losses!"
Sikong Zhan glanced at Lin Xiang lightly,
"Thank you, Prime Minister, for your consideration for the Jingnan Army. I feel the same way as you. If Murong Qi dares to poison the Jingnan Army, the people of Nanzhao must apologize to our Jingnan Army!
However, speaking of the losses of the Jingnan Army, I haven't really calculated them carefully. Once I have a clear account, it won't be too late to settle the accounts with them."
Why settle accounts? Just ask for a few cities from him. What losses can't be compensated? Young people are really too narrow-minded! For the first time, Lin Jingshan expressed his disdain for the Jingnan King who was feared by everyone.
"Why settle scores? Nanzhao was defeated and took the initiative to seek peace, but when they did so, they sent people to poison the Jingnan Army that was defending their country. Their hearts should be killed! As long as you can provide evidence to prove that Nanzhao really sent people to poison the Jingnan Army, we can directly detain the Nanzhao delegation, and then write a letter to the emperor of Nanzhao to redeem them! Nanzhao was the first to break their promise, so why should we give them face? Even if we use thundering means, no country can say that we are wrong in Donglin!"
Minister Lin spoke with confidence, but he hadn't considered who had defeated Nanzhao and given Donglin such confidence. It was the Jingnan Army! It was the Jingnan Army who fought bloody battles, risking their lives, before finally defeating Nanzhao's army, forcing Nanzhao to sue for peace!
But now, they are using the confidence earned by the Jingnan Army with their lives to force the King of Jingnan to hand over evidence! How abhorrent! If they really produce evidence, will the emperor really give the full compensation to the Jingnan Army?
It's no wonder Sikong Zhan and Lin Jinghan didn't trust the emperor. If he truly could handle matters impartially, why had the Jingnan Army been in Beijing for two months without the emperor rewarding them? Over the years, the military funds the Jingnan Army had received were pitifully small, less than one-tenth of what they were entitled to!
Not only that, the emperor has not given any money to the Jingnan Army since they entered Beijing. Their current military expenses are all supported by the income of the Jingnan Palace!
It was precisely because the Jingnan Army was short of funds that they would often go to the mountains to train, hunting while training, in order to reduce the pressure on the Jingnan Army's military expenses. It was precisely to ensure that the Jingnan Army's military funds were paid on time that Sikong Zhan developed so much private property for the Jingnan Palace in the few short years since taking over the Jingnan Army. It was precisely because of these private properties that the Jingnan Army's life in recent years has been slightly better.
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