The Minister of Justice was not yet 40 years old. He had a square face and extremely thin lips, and he looked unapproachable. Perhaps because he had been dealing with criminals for many years, even with a smile on his face, he gave people an oppressive feeling, as if he would torture them any moment.
"Thank you, Minister Li, for the reminder. I will carefully distinguish between good and bad people." Qi Guang, who has always disliked the Minister of Justice, said lightly.
"Urgent!" Qu Fengmao, the director of the Imperial Observatory, was disheveled, with one of his shoes missing, and he ran into the Golden Palace quickly with a jade slip in his hand.
"Your Majesty! Floods plague Hexi, causing dike breaches year after year. The Imperial Astronomical Observatory has been investigating and discovered a demonic presence! After the concerted efforts of everyone at the Imperial Astronomical Observatory, they've finally identified the demon! Here are the demon's birthdates, Your Majesty, for your review!"
"What! There really is an evil spirit causing trouble? Bring it to me quickly!" The emperor was shocked.
Qu Fengmao continued:
"The hexagram indicates that this evil spirit has been dormant for years, causing trouble abroad. This year, it unexpectedly came to the capital, and with the help of powerful forces, it has become even more rampant. If it is not contained, the consequences will be unpredictable!
"What worries me most is that the Imperial Astronomical Observatory predicted last time that a treacherous minister would deceive the emperor. That treacherous minister has colluded with this evil spirit, intending to disrupt the imperial government and endanger Donglin!"
"Minister Wang, check according to this birth date and time. I want to see which monster dares to cause trouble under the emperor's feet!" The emperor was furious and handed the jade slip to the eunuch chief.
The chief eunuch immediately handed it over to the Minister of Revenue Wang Xinghai.
"Yiwei, Renwu, Renxu, Gengzi." Minister Wang recited the birth date in a low voice, then closed the jade slip and left quickly.
"Lord Wang, wait a moment!" Prime Minister Lin Jingshan seemed to have suddenly thought of something, and stood up with the court board in his hand. He looked heartbroken and determined to sacrifice his relatives for the sake of justice, and kowtowed heavily to the emperor.
"These eight characters are exactly the ones of my family's unfilial eldest daughter, the current Princess Jingnan."
What? The Princess of Jingnan? Couldn't that sycophant be the Prince of Jingnan? The court officials were already grumbling in their hearts, but no one dared to utter a single sound. The Golden Throne Hall was utterly silent.
Bang! The emperor slapped the dragon throne.
"King Xuan Jingnan and his wife!"
The emperor suffered such a great loss at the hands of Sikong Zhan, so he would naturally not be unprepared when calling him into the palace this time. Moreover, the Imperial Observatory had reported these things to him yesterday, and the entire palace had been fully prepared, just waiting for Prince Jingnan and his wife to fall into the trap.
Everyone in the Golden Palace was waiting anxiously. Although Prime Minister Lin wanted to deal with King Jingnan, he could not sacrifice himself, so he winked at the person beside him.
At this moment, someone suddenly seemed to recall something and exclaimed:
"I was saying, at the Imperial Concubine's palace banquet, Princess Jingnan was clearly poisoned by a snake, yet her wound healed without any medication. This is clearly a monster!"
"Yes, this Princess Jingnan is very strange. She is obviously the eldest daughter of the Prime Minister, but she is unfilial to her parents and does not love her sisters. Prime Minister, are you sure she is really your daughter?"
Prime Minister Lin Jingshan blinked, thought for a moment, and said seriously:
"Everyone knows that I only recognized this eldest daughter this year. I was able to find her because she was wearing the jade pendant I gave to my ex-wife. Now that I think about it, this woman is a heretic. Aside from her face, she doesn't resemble me or my ex-wife at all."
"I think the Prime Minister might have been deceived. They say that demons are good at changing their appearance. Perhaps that face of hers was conjured up by her to deceive the world?"
"I just don't know how we can make her reveal her true form?" asked Minister Wang.
The emperor then asked the director of the Imperial Observatory, "Lord Qu, do you have any good ideas?"
"I have a demon-repelling pill passed down from my ancestors. Any demon that takes it will reveal its true form." Qu Fengmao took out a jade box and presented it to the emperor.
"Evil spirits are always cunning. Although this demon-exorcising pill is good, how can the evil spirits be willing to take it?" Another person raised the question.
At this time, the eunuchs sang loudly outside the door, "Prince Jingnan has arrived, Princess Jingnan has arrived!"
The emperor summoned them, and Sikong Zhan and Lin Jinghan entered the palace with confidence.
"Your Highness." This time, the two men didn't even bother to bow, and their attitude was even more rude than before.
Without any warning, a cage suddenly appeared on the spot, trapping the two of them inside.
"Ouyang Qi, what do you want to do?" Sikong Zhan subconsciously protected Lin Jinghan in his arms. Seeing that the emperor smiled without saying anything, he said no more, drew out the Canglong Sword and slashed it on the cage.
However, not only did the cage remain motionless, but it also emitted a golden light, bouncing his attack back.
Sikong Zhan suffered a backlash, and his already injured internal injuries worsened.
"Your Highness!" Seeing this, Lin Jinghan quickly took out the Adamant dagger and slashed at the cage.
But her dagger couldn't touch the cage at all and was bounced back by the golden light. Fortunately, she didn't use much internal force, so she didn't suffer much backlash.
"I'll do it!" Sikong Zhan took the Adamant dagger from Lin Jinghan's hand, concentrated all his internal strength in his right hand, and swept it across.
This time, the dagger collided with the golden light on the cage, emitting dazzling sparks.
The ministers were horrified, thinking they would break out of the cage. Fortunately, although the cage and the golden light were damaged, they did not succeed in breaking the cage.
"You two, one is a monster and the other is a flatterer, both deserve to die!" Seeing that they were helpless against the cage, the emperor felt relieved and signaled the Imperial Observatory to continue the action.
Qu Fengmao brought all the people from the Imperial Observatory and sat around the cage on all sides. They gestured with their hands, chanted to themselves, and began to cast spells in a very formal manner.
As they continued to cast spells, the golden light on the cage grew brighter and brighter.
"Ah!" A pain as if the soul was being torn apart swept through her body, and Lin Jinghan held her head and screamed in pain.
Although Sikong Zhan also felt uncomfortable, it was not as serious as Lin Jinghan. He quickly held her in his arms.
"Jinghan, what's wrong with you?"
"Headache!" Lin Jinghan was sweating profusely, her face pale, and she hugged Sikong Zhan tightly regardless of everything.
Compared to the unbearable pain, what she feared most was that her soul would be torn away from this body. She didn't want to leave and didn't want to lose him!
Sikong Zhan looked at the emperor with red eyes, "Ouyang Qi, stop! If anything happens to Jinghan, I will kill everyone here!"
"I said, you all deserve to die!" The emperor laughed and took out the demon-repelling pill that Qu Fengmao gave him to play with it.
"However, if you beg me and hand over all my antidotes, I will show mercy and give you the medicine, sparing your life!"
"Don't believe him!" Lin Jinghan grabbed Sikong Zhan tightly, "No, I don't want to leave you!"
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