Ye Jun took a breath, as if he had suffered a great injustice.
He paused before speaking.
"I came out of the Cining Palace, thinking it was rare to feel cool after the rain, so I walked back with Concubine Zhou. When we passed the rockery next to Yue Lake, I happened to see Sun Xiuyi scolding Concubine Xia, and she slapped me without saying anything. I didn't want to get involved, so I wanted to leave, but Sun Xiuyi saw us, and her anger was directed at me and Concubine Zhou."
"The slap was meant to hit my face, but was blocked by Zhou Cairen. Sun Xiuyi was wearing armor, and it cut a hole in my face. I was so angry that I hit Sun Xiuyi as well."
"But let's put it this way. Concubine Zhou was wrongly punished. I don't know much about Concubine Xia's matter. I was wrong to hit Sun Xiuyi, and I am willing to accept the punishment!"
After saying this, Ye Jun knelt down without hesitation.
When she knelt, Lady Xia and Lady Zhou were stunned for a moment, then knelt as well.
Zhou was quick to react and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. Concubine Ming lost her temper for the sake of me. If you want to punish me, please punish me. Concubine Ming has a chivalrous heart and is kind-hearted."
Lady Xia, with her head down, hesitated for a moment, then spoke again.
"Your Majesty, today's incident was caused by me, and I have implicated Concubine Ming and Concubine Zhou. Your Majesty should punish me."
Ning Chen looked at the concubines kneeling in unison, especially Ye Jun who was leading the group, and felt both angry and amused.
This woman was extremely courageous. She hit Sun, a concubine, right away. But she admitted her mistake quickly, had a good attitude, and only blamed the other two people for their grievances, so no one could punish her severely.
He sighed, stood up and helped Ye Jun up personally.
"I don't know what to say to you with your temper. It is true that Sun Xiuyi hit Zhou Cairen, which was against the rules, but you shouldn't hit her. She is Xiuyi after all. I will punish you to reflect on your mistakes behind closed doors for a month."
"Thank you, Your Majesty. I am willing to accept the punishment." Ye Jun bowed.
Ning Chen looked at Zhou again, "You should ask the imperial physician to take a look at the wound on your face. He can use some good medicine and it won't leave scars."
After he finished speaking, he paused and looked at Xia, "How did you and Sun Xiuyi start arguing?"
"Miss Xia has a very good temper. I guess she got pushed into a corner." Ye Jun said calmly, "Even rabbits bite when they are cornered."
This sentence also reminds Xia that everyone should have a temper.
Ye Jun fought for a high position, but he was not really right. Zhou's position was not high and she was not favored, so she could not do anything to Sun Xiuyi.
Whether or not I can bite Sun hard today depends on Lady Xia.
In fact, if Concubine Xia hadn't been there, Ye Jun wouldn't have made such a fuss. Since he had made such a fuss, he couldn't suffer any loss.
Xia was not stupid either. She quickly understood what she meant. Her eyes turned red and she burst into tears.
"Your Majesty, I have no children, and I will never have any more in the future. I feel the most miserable than anyone else. But Sun Xiuyi said that I was lowly and deserved to die. I shouldn't have been so stupid to fall for someone else's trick and not give birth to an heir. She also said that my child would be short-lived and would not survive even if he was born full-term. She has been left in such a state of neglect and pain."
"Your Majesty, I know my fate is lowly. My greatest blessing is to serve Your Majesty. I failed to give birth to a healthy heir for Your Majesty. I know I have sinned deeply, but my young son is innocent!"
"That child is already pitiful, and yet he is humiliated by Sun Xiuyi like this. As a mother, how can I not feel pain! How can I not argue with her!"
What Xia said was not nonsense, she just exaggerated a little. However, the hatred and grief in her heart were real.
So her crying was particularly genuine, and her sorrow was so great that even Ye Jun felt a little sorry for her.
Even outsiders feel this way, and Ning Chen is the father of the child after all, so naturally he feels even more deeply.
Lady Xia was also really sad. Her body had not fully recovered since she finished her confinement. She was so emotional that she fainted from crying.
There was chaos again for a while, so they sent someone to send him back to Yunqi Pavilion immediately and also sent the imperial physician to check on him.
Ning Chen was already upset because of the Empress Dowager's broken leg, and when he saw Concubine Zhou's injuries, Concubine Xia who fainted from crying, and Ye Jun who looked aggrieved, and thought about all that Sun had done, he was finally angry.
With just one imperial decree, he was demoted and had his appearance improved.
The original words were, Sun has no merit and no children, so I enfeoffed her as Xiuyi out of consideration for our years of friendship. But now her virtue is not worthy of the position, so I order her to be demoted to Xiurong and have her reflect on her mistakes at home for three months.
In fact, if Sun had not done anything stupid and behaved herself, Ning Chen might not have touched her. As time went by, her feelings would have risen again. It would just be that he would not favor her as much as before.
But she refused to be honest. Ning Chen had already investigated everything she had done secretly to Concubine Xia. He did not kill her for the crime of murdering the royal heir because he was taking their feelings into consideration.
Things have come to this point, but there is not even a trace of affection left.
If it weren't for the fact that the Sun family was a third-rank official and still needed it, I'm afraid Sun Xiurong wouldn't even be able to keep her position as the last of the nine concubines.
The matter didn't become a big deal after all, because the Queen Mother was ill and no one dared to get involved at this time.
It was also scary that Sun Xiurong was demoted and Ming Jieyu was put under house arrest all at once.
Concubine Ming has been so favored lately, yet she was punished like this.
Everyone was sighing, but the person involved, Ye Jun, was very carefree.
After returning to Yuxiu Pavilion, he ordered someone to send the best scar removal medicine to Zhou.
This is the knife she used when she was injured in Zasak before. Such a long knife wound, but now there is only a white mark left. It is indeed a good thing.
Not only did she send something, Wang Xiuyuan also sent something over soon after.
Anyway, it is obvious that he is in the same mind as Ye Jun.
Of course, some people don't understand why Wang, who had given birth to a child and was a concubine, needed to be with Ye Jun, but this matter depends on personal opinion.
Wang Xiuyuan was certain that Ye Jun would not stop here, so it was better to make friends with her early than to wait until later.
However, Ye Jun's house arrest postponed Fang Xiuyi's plan.
So we waited for an extra month, and finally something really happened.
Of course, this is a later story, so let’s not talk about it for now.
At the moment, Ye Jun is drinking tea and drawing leisurely.
Huiyue was standing aside grinding ink, and finally couldn't help herself.
"Jieyu, why aren't you anxious? The Double Ninth Festival will be held in a few days, and you can't go even if you are under house arrest. You will be under house arrest for a month. What can we do?"
"Hey, am I not giving myself a holiday? The Queen Mother is ill, and she may have to send someone to take care of her as soon as she wakes up. I am now a concubine, and there are not many high-ranking officials in the harem. They may arrest me, but I won't go. I will be confined for a short time to avoid being tortured."
"Besides, the Queen Mother was injured, so it's hard to hold the Chongyang Ceremony. It doesn't matter whether you go or not."
"Huiyue, we should be more confident. Good wine needs no bush, right? I am under house arrest and cannot go out, but if the emperor really misses me, he will come here on his own."
Huiyue sighed inwardly and thought, what if the emperor doesn’t come
But I dare not say such unlucky words. I can only hope that the emperor will come.