Many officials who were close to Grand Secretary Lin stood up and pleaded, "Your Majesty, Grand Secretary Lin has always been loyal. He even sent his only daughter to the palace to serve you. He would never do such a thing. Please be careful!"
Others didn't know about Grand Secretary Lin selling official positions, but Prime Minister Lin, as his cousin and the head of all officials, knew something or other. However, since they were family, they shared the same fate, so he had no choice but to speak out. "Your Majesty, I also believe that Grand Secretary Lin would not do such a thing as selling official positions. I am willing to guarantee him!"
The imperial envoys had finally caught such a big case. This was a great opportunity for them to show their strength. How could they let these ministers protect each other? Several imperial envoys came together to present the charges and evidence against Grand Secretary Lin. Minister Lin and his party refused to be outdone and confronted the imperial envoys head-on. The Golden Throne Hall was in an uproar...
On the other hand, Prince Jingnan was sitting leisurely in his wheelchair, as if he found it too noisy here and even picked his ears...
"Enough!" The emperor finally couldn't stand it anymore and shouted, "This matter is of great importance and will be handed over to the three courts for trial. From today on, Grand Secretary Lin will be imprisoned in the Dali Temple, and Concubine Xian will be under house arrest until the facts of the case are fully investigated and a decision is made. Court is dismissed!"
There is only one high-ranking concubine in the palace now, Concubine Xian, and the emperor likes her quite a bit. These imperial envoys can report anyone else, but they have to target Concubine Xian and her family. The emperor is very troubled and has no mood to attend court.
"Your Majesty, please stay!" Sikong Zhan sat up straight. The evidence in Li Haonan's hands was secretly sent by him. He had gone to such great lengths to cause the Emperor as much trouble as possible. How could he let the Emperor leave so easily? This was why he had come to the morning court.
Yesterday, he was investigating a case in the palace. The maidservant beside Concubine Xian confessed that Concubine Xian was very generous and never brought any maidservant with her whenever she talked to her mother. Following this clue, he continued to investigate and someone confessed that Concubine Xian often whispered in the emperor's ear and influenced the emperor's appointment of officials.
He had already made up his mind, and after returning, he sent secret guards to dig out everything that Grand Secretary Lin had done in the past year, and finally found evidence that Grand Secretary Lin was selling official positions and titles.
If the virtuous concubine dares to collude with the emperor to harm his princess, then she should be the first target.
The emperor was displeased, but Prince Jingnan had dragged his sick body to court, and it was obvious that he wanted to bring up his own affairs. As the emperor, he couldn't let someone come in vain in front of all the ministers, so he could only ask, "What else does Prince Jingnan want?"
"I wonder if Your Majesty has found the mastermind behind the poisoning of my princess? Thinking that the person who poisoned her is still at large, I can't sleep at night..."
"This matter has already been resolved. Prince Jingnan can just go back to his palace and wait." The emperor thought Prince Jingnan was going to say something important, but he was actually urging him to find the person who poisoned him. He really knew how to pick the right time to make things difficult for him! When he returned, he would find a scapegoat and send him off!
"We haven't found out yet..." Sikong Zhan seemed disappointed and took out a memorial. "But it's not a big deal. After I left the palace yesterday, I sent people to inquire at all the pharmacies in the capital, and finally found the source of the poison planted by the princess."
The emperor was shocked, fearing that Sikong Zhan would find out that it was the empress dowager who poisoned him, so he quickly asked the eunuch to bring the memorial over.
Before the emperor could receive the memorial, Sikong Zhan said with a serious face: "This poison is called Zhuiming, and it comes from Nanzhao Country. It is naturally impossible for the people of Donglin Country to have this kind of poison. In addition, the princess was poisoned in the palace. Therefore, I believe that there must be a spy from Nanzhao Country who has infiltrated the palace. This spy is probably hiding by the side of the emperor, the queen mother, or the virtuous concubine. This time he poisoned my princess, and next time, who knows who he will poison!
I suggest that a thorough investigation of the Imperial Palace be conducted, from the maids and eunuchs to the concubines and imperial consorts. No one should be spared. This spy must be found to ensure the safety of the Imperial Palace!"
"I second the motion!" Yan Deyu was the first to stand up and support Prince Jingnan.
"I second the motion!" Many officials stood up. There was a spy from another country infiltrating the palace, and he was a master of poison. He posed a serious threat to the safety of the people in the palace and those who frequently entered the palace. Most of the court officials, regardless of their faction, supported Prince Jingnan's proposal.
The emperor knew full well that there was no spy; the poison was the Queen Mother's! But even though he knew, he couldn't tell the truth, and he couldn't find a reason to refute Sikong Zhan. In desperation, he had no choice but to agree—just go through the motions and find a scapegoat. This Sikong Zhan was really going to cause trouble for him...
The morning court session had just begun when the palace sent a eunuch to the Jingnan Palace, saying that it was the Queen Mother's decree, summoning Princess Jingnan to the palace immediately. The maid immediately woke up Lin Jinghan and hurriedly took care of her. Lin Jinghan, who was still sleepy, didn't even have time to eat breakfast before she was forced to follow the eunuch into the palace.
The Cining Palace has always been the empress dowager's bedroom. The palace walls are majestic and majestic, symbolizing the power of the empress dowager, the most noble woman in the world.
"Greetings to the Queen Mother." Lin Jinghan had always gone to bed late, and now she was forcing herself to stay awake to deal with the Queen Mother, which was out of tune with the solemn atmosphere in the Cining Palace.
"Get up." This time, the Queen Mother did not make things difficult for her. She looked at the mutton-fat jade bracelet on her wrist and saw that she looked in a bad mood. She thought she was seriously poisoned and was very satisfied with the result.
"Thank you, Queen Mother." Knowing that she was going to see the Queen Mother, Lin Jinghan naturally made full preparations.
Originally, the bracelet she had worn since leaving the palace last time was a specially customized replica that wasn't poisonous. However, this time, as she was about to enter the Cining Palace, she replaced the poisonous bracelet and put it back on her wrist. Furthermore, to avoid looking bad, she left the house with dark circles under her eyes, without any makeup on.
Nanny Li walked over to Lin Jinghan and handed her a piece of paper. "Princess, take a look. Is what's written here true?"
Lin Jinghan took the letter, looked at it left and right, front and back, and finally scratched her head and gave the empress dowager a helpless smile, "Empress Dowager, these words are not familiar to Jinghan. Jinghan, I don't recognize them..."
In fact, ever since she realized that the characters here were different from the ones she recognized, she would ask people around her to learn some of the characters here whenever she had time. She recognized some of the characters that were more important to her, such as "Lin Jinghan", "Prince Jingnan", "Sikong Zhan" and so on. On this letter paper were her name, Lin Jinghan, Wu Yan's name, and some "Madam".
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