The emperor frowned, he really couldn't understand why Sikong Zhan had to look for the murderer in the palace when he was supposed to capture Prince Jingnan today.
Last time, he was careless and fell into Sikong Zhan's trap, so he agreed to let him investigate Lin Jinghan's poisoning. Now, he was looking for an excuse to keep Sikong Zhan, but Sikong Zhan proposed to investigate the case himself.
In this way, he took advantage of the situation and used this opportunity to keep them in the palace, just waiting for the news from the Jingji Defense Camp. As long as he had evidence of Sikong Zhan's evil deeds in Bugui Mountain, then the 300,000 Jingnan Army would be his!
Even if no evidence is found to prove that Prince Jingnan committed any wrongdoing, the person who poisoned the king can just find a scapegoat and get rid of Prince Jingnan, and the matter will be over, and he can get away with it cleanly.
What's more, the empress dowager had already told the emperor the inside story of Lin Jinghan's poisoning, so he was not worried about what Sikong Zhan could find out.
The emperor made up his mind and his brows relaxed.
"Since I have promised this, I will give you two days. During these two days, you and your wife can stay in the palace and carefully investigate the incident of Princess Jingnan being poisoned that day."
The debate in the Imperial Study ended with the complete victory of Prince Jingnan.
Here, the chief eunuch led Sikong Zhan and Lin Jinghan to the temporary resting place specially prepared for foreign officials in the palace, and ordered the palace servants to clean up before leaving.
Lin Jinghan would not be so stupid as to stay in the room alone and not know that the emperor was plotting against her. She found an excuse and went to find Sikong Zhan.
As soon as the two met, she hurriedly asked the doubts in her heart:
"Your Highness, it is unwise to stay in the palace at this time. Why did you hint at me bringing this up just now?"
Yes, before coming here, they had discussed it. As long as Sikong Zhan touched his nose, Lin Jinghan would take the opportunity to ask about her poisoning. This was also the main reason why Sikong Zhan brought Lin Jinghan into the palace.
"Even if I don't mention this, the Emperor will find a way to get me to stay." The Emperor couldn't do anything to him, so he would probably have to start with Lin Jinghan. Instead of that, he might as well stay and find something for the Emperor to do, letting him know that there was a price to pay for messing with him, the Prince of Jingnan!
"It's okay to stay, but there's no one to give me acupuncture anymore, and my injured right hand is definitely inconvenient." Lin Jinghan gently rubbed her aching right hand. She had just been pushing the wheelchair, and even though she hadn't exerted much force with her right hand, it still hurt.
Soon, the imperial meal was served, filling the table. Sikong Zhan ordered all the palace servants to go out, pick up the bowls and chopsticks, and prepare to have lunch.
These days, because her right hand was injured, she couldn't eat by herself, and the maids fed her. Now, there were only her and Sikong Zhan in the room, and she couldn't let Sikong Zhan feed her.
She tried hard to pick up the chopsticks, but her right hand was weak and the chopsticks fell to the ground. She looked at her right hand and sighed.
She would not give in. She bravely picked up the chopsticks with her left hand and finally picked up a piece of meat. But before it even reached her mouth, it fell, fell...
He looked at the table of imperial food in front of him with resentment and glared at Sikong Zhan angrily, "It's all your fault. You forced me to push you into the palace. Now I can't even take care of myself!" Wouldn't it be the same to let the Jingnan Princess's stand-in enter the palace to act with him? Why did he have to bring her, a sick patient?
"Oh? Can't take care of yourself?" Sikong Zhan suddenly smiled, stood up, pushed the wheelchair to Lin Jinghan's side, sat on the wheelchair, picked up new chopsticks, picked up a piece of meat, and handed the meat to her mouth in front of Lin Jinghan's surprised eyes, "With this king here, I will naturally not let you go hungry."
Seeing that Lin Jinghan didn't respond for a long time, Sikong Zhan frowned and said, "Open your mouth!"
Lin Jinghan subconsciously opened her mouth, and the piece of meat entered her mouth. Perhaps because she was too surprised, Lin Jinghan even forgot to chew the meat in her mouth.
"What? You don't even know how to eat?" Sikong Zhan frowned even more tightly.
Lin Jinghan finally came to her senses, quickly ate the meat, and said hurriedly: "Well, Your Majesty, how dare I trouble you to come? I think I should call a palace maid to feed me."
"I don't like outsiders to be present when I eat." Sikong Zhan ignored what she said and picked up another piece of meat and brought it close to her mouth.
Lin Jinghan understood at this moment that Prince Jingnan was determined to feed her the imperial meal, and she had to eat it even if she didn't want to...
She was not a pretentious person and accepted Sikong Zhan's "service" with ease.
However, Sikong Zhan really didn't know how to feed people, and he got Lin Jinghan's mouth full of oil several times. So, he looked at her with disgust, wiped her mouth clean with a handkerchief, and then continued to feed her.
Gradually, Lin Jinghan boldly began to instruct him:
"I want to eat that, that..."
"You can't always feed me meat. I need vegetables, too. A combination of meat and vegetables..."
Until Lin Jinghan couldn't eat anymore.
"Your Highness, I'm full." After saying that, she kept her mouth shut, as if she was worried that Sikong Zhan would force-feed her.
"Yeah." Sikong Zhan stood up, pushed the wheelchair back, returned to his own seat, and started eating. The corners of his lips rose slightly, and he seemed to be in a good mood.
Lin Jinghan glanced at Sikong Zhan and saw that although he looked slow, his eating speed was not slow at all, at least much faster than hers, and he quickly ate a lot of the imperial meal in front of him.
Previously, Lin Jinghan had told Sikong Zhan about the Queen Mother sending the poisoned jade bracelet, and they were not here to investigate the case.
So, after dinner, Sikong Zhan solemnly called all the palace maids who had contact with Lin Jinghan that day, and took the trouble to question them one by one.
He interrogated for a whole day. Just when Sikong Zhan began to question people close to the emperor and the empress dowager, the emperor realized something was wrong and quickly sent people to take away the palace servants who were summoned by Sikong Zhan.
However, Sikong Zhan had no intention of interrogating anyone close to the emperor. He took this step just for show, just to tell the emperor that he had not yet obtained the information he wanted.
In fact, under his thunderous methods, all the palace servants who were questioned were trembling with fear. Some of them who could not bear it any longer confessed everything they should and should not say under his deliberate guidance, and he actually learned some incredible things, including what he wanted to know.
Having witnessed the entire process of Sikong Zhan's interrogation, Lin Jinghan went from being horrified at first, to being stunned, to admiring him - this man was not only ruthless and brutal, but he also took advantage of people's weaknesses to attack their hearts from time to time. If he were to be an investigator, his performance would definitely be amazing!
Seeing that Sikong Zhan had no one to interrogate, he looked at her. She couldn't help but wonder if she could withstand it if Sikong Zhan suddenly got the urge to interrogate her...
Sikong Zhan looked displeased. This woman, he'd deliberately let her witness the entire trial, just to teach her not to disobey him, or face a disastrous end. Yet, at this moment, she was actually daydreaming? Was she not afraid of him at all?
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