The Emperor’s hand trembled, almost tossing the memorial in his hand.
"Ahem," he coughed dryly twice, masking his embarrassment: "It’s just a cold?"
Lin Yuanzheng affirmed: "It’s indeed just a cold."
It wasn’t that Lin Yuanzheng was boasting, but among the present imperial physicians, although none could claim to bring the dead back to life, they all had their skills; otherwise, they couldn’t have held stable positions in the Imperial Hospital. After all, treating the imperial family was no trifling matter! Therefore, he was confident that none of them could have misdiagnosed; Prince Ling indeed just caught a cold, at most a severe chill, how could that relate to poisoning?
Since when could a cold be considered poisoning?
The Emperor’s face darkened. After all this, he had summoned so many imperial physicians for a diagnosis, only to find that it was merely a cold?
Was this not a joke?
Was he, as the Emperor, so idle, so idle as to call upon an entire Imperial Hospital of physicians just to diagnose a cold for his already twenty-year-old son in his Imperial Study Room?
The Emperor was a bit unsettled at this moment.
"This is impossible!" Su Xingyan declared resolutely: "Father, I dare not make baseless judgments. This morning, I was perfectly fine. It was only after Han Jing used a hidden weapon on me at the Eldest Princess’s Mansion that I felt suddenly cold all over, with stiff limbs..."
"Enough!" The Emperor waved his hand: "Lin Yuanzheng, you may leave!"
"Father, maybe the imperial physicians aren’t skilled in antidotes..." Su Xingyan attempted to explain himself. If it weren’t for feeling abruptly cold after being struck by Han Jing’s hidden weapon, how could he suspect poisoning by Han Jing?
Pray tell, if not poison, what else could suddenly cause such chill?
Yet the Emperor felt that today’s embarrassment was too great. Losing face outside the palace wasn’t enough; now in the palace, he seemed to have lost all dignity. In the future, these imperial physicians would surely gossip, feeling he was an Emperor with too much leisure time!
"Silence!" The Emperor sternly silenced him, and the imperial physicians, being shrewd, withdrew swiftly.
Su Xingyan dropped to his knees with a "thud": "Father, please listen to your son!"
This time, the Emperor was truly beyond anger, unwilling to hear any more from Su Xingyan: "Yan’er, I know, this marriage was a disappointment to you. So, I won’t force you anymore. I withdraw the marriage decree, and you, return to your fief, find some physicians more skilled than the imperial physicians, and thoroughly diagnose what poison you have!"
Su Xingyan’s face turned pale, for he was the Emperor’s own son, and yet he was treated this way?
In the Emperor’s eyes, was Han Jing, that unrelated niece, more important than his own son?
In that instant, Su Xingyan felt a chill in his heart.
But he couldn’t just leave like that, because if he stood up and walked away, his life might be truly ruined, a risk he couldn’t afford.
"Please, Father, calm your anger and give your son another chance. During the autumn hunting in a few days, I will seek another opportunity to properly apologize to cousin and earn her forgiveness." Su Xingyan lowered his head, gritting his teeth, speaking in a deep tone.
The Emperor silently regarded Su Xingyan for a while and suddenly asked: "Do you really detest Jing’er so much, just because of her appearance?"