Ye Yunyi stood by the couch without taking off her clothes and refused to eat dinner.
Finally, Lumei asked someone to bring the meal to the Fourth Prince's room, and she ate some.
In the evening, Ye Jun was reluctant to leave, and it was Ning Chen who persuaded her.
"I know you love Jing'er, but the Sixth Prince and the Fourth Princess are still relying on you. You must not let your body get too exhausted. You are now the mother of three children."
Thinking of the two little ones, Ye Jun softened his heart.
Accompanied by Ning Chen, he went next door to visit his youngest son and daughter.
The two little ones slept soundly.
Ye Jun kissed everyone on the forehead before going back to rest.
Lying on the couch, although Ye Jun and Ning Chen had their eyes closed, they were not asleep, and both were thinking about something.
Ye Jun was thinking about the children, but Ning Chen was thinking about more.
The battle for the crown prince has already begun, but he is not ready yet.
Thinking back to when I was a prince, my eldest brother Ning Ze was the eldest son, talented in both civil and military affairs. Even though our father had not appointed a crown prince yet, all my brothers felt that he was the right person to take the throne.
So Ning Chen didn't want to fight for it from the beginning.
However, the second prince made a few troubles when he was young because of his biological mother, Concubine Yao. But when he grew up, he made up his own mind and stopped fighting.
As for the fourth prince Ning Rui, now the King of Kang, he is weak and has no protection from his biological mother, so he dare not even think about it.
Despite this, the brothers were all well-behaved, but because their father was slow to express his stance and appoint a crown prince, the tragedy of the eldest prince Ning Ze killing the emperor and his father occurred.
It is true that if Ning Ze had not failed back then, Ning Chen would not have been able to sit on the throne, but now that he has sat on it, he has to take on the responsibilities.
Ning Chen is not the previous emperor who would be interested in watching his sons fight for power. He wants to do his best to make his children live in harmony.
So he thought that if he had appointed a crown prince earlier and taught the children the difference between ruler and subject while they were still young, perhaps things would be much better in the future.
The previous emperor had few children, only four sons and two daughters, but he already had seven sons and four daughters, so there was no need to continue the selection of concubines in the future.
Now in the harem, he almost only came to Zhaochun Palace, and occasionally went somewhere else because of things in the previous dynasty, so choosing so many women to come in was a waste of their time.
Although Ning Chen was in the palace, he never thought that the palace was a good place.
Once you get in, your entire life will be lost.
Thinking of this, I slept very lightly.
At four o'clock in the morning, there was a gentle knock on the door.
Yuan Jiu lowered his voice, with joy in his voice.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, the Fourth Prince has woken up!"
Ye Jun stayed up for the first half of the night and just fell asleep, but Ning Chen heard it.
He quickly covered the ears of the person next to him and whispered to the outside, "Don't shout, the imperial concubine just fell asleep, I'll be there soon, let's go get the imperial physician first."
Yuan Jiu outside responded and went to make arrangements immediately.
Ning Chen casually put on his coat and went to the side hall.
When the Fourth Prince arrived, he was sitting on the couch, leaning against a pillow, holding in his hand the warm milk that the servants had just brought him.
"Jing'er, are you feeling unwell anywhere? Is your head still hurting?" Ning Chen walked over quickly and sat down beside the couch.
The Fourth Prince shook his head slightly, his face still looking a little pale.
Even though the platform was not high, the back of his head hit the flowerpot, which was still quite serious.
"Dad, where is Mom?" the Fourth Prince whispered.
When he grew older, he seldom called him dad, and this call made Ning Chen feel even more distressed.
He reached out and touched the Fourth Prince's face. "Your mother has been watching over you for a long time. She is really tired. She just fell asleep now. She will come to see you early tomorrow morning."
"Mother, you have worked hard. I'm fine. Let me sleep a little longer." The fourth prince was very sensible.
Ning Chen nodded, and just at that moment the imperial physician arrived, so he made way for him and asked him to come forward and take a look.
After checking, he said that there was nothing serious, but he reminded me not to do any strenuous exercise and to rest during this period.
External injuries elsewhere on the body are not serious.
After the imperial physician said so, Ning Chen simply passed the message on, telling the Fourth Prince not to go to school for the next half month.
The child was running out of energy, so after talking for a while, Ning Chen told him to lie down. He tucked the quilt in for him before leaving.
Coming out of the side hall, the moonlight is very bright tonight.
The bright white spread across the yard, filling it with tranquility.
But beneath such silence there are countless undercurrents that make people feel cold when they think about them.
"The princes have grown up, it's time." Ning Chen sighed lightly.
Yuanjiu knew what it meant, but he just pretended not to understand.
"Your Majesty, it's late at night and the dew is heavy. Please go in and rest. You will have to attend court soon."
"Well, you go and see the Seventh Prince in person early in the morning, and keep an eye on the Fourth Prince as well." Ning Chen gave the instructions in a light tone and turned into the inner room.
Although the person on the couch had fallen asleep, his brows were still tightly furrowed, and it was obvious that he was not sleeping well.
Ning Chen felt complicated and troubled as he held the person in his arms.
The next day, Ye Jun sat up suddenly as soon as he woke up.
The person next to me was gone. I came to my senses and threw back the quilt and got out of bed.
The ones who came in to serve were Huiyue and Nanzhi.
"Why are you two back?" Ye Jun asked in surprise.
Huiyue said worriedly as she took a coat from the shelf and put it on her.
"Nanzhi and I heard that the Fourth Prince had fallen and was unable to sit still, so we came to the palace early in the morning. Your Majesty, please don't blame us for being disobedient. We are really worried. Anyway, he will be resting in three or two days. One day earlier or later is better. Your Majesty, please don't be so calculating with us."
"That's good. I feel more at ease with you guys here. There have been a lot of things going on these days, and Luzhi and the others are too busy to handle it." Ye Jun nodded slightly.
Finally, he walked out, obviously going to see the Fourth Prince.
Lu He was guarding the door. When she saw her rushing out, she told her that the Fourth Prince had woken up last night.
Ye Jun frowned, "Why didn't you call me yesterday?"
"Your Highness, the Emperor did not allow it. He sympathized with your hard work and did not want to disturb you when you just fell asleep, so he got up and checked on you by himself. He checked again when he left in the morning, and the three young masters all checked on you."
Lu He bowed slightly and said seriously.
After hearing this, Ye Jun felt a little warm in his heart. He nodded and went to the side hall.
The Fourth Prince was still asleep, but his complexion had recovered slightly.
After calling Bai Zhu over and asking him in detail about what happened last night, Ye Jun felt relieved.
"Ask the kitchen to make more nourishing soups in the next two days. You need to take good care of yourself during this period."
"Yes, the imperial physician has also instructed me to do so. I have already told the kitchen staff." Bai Zhu bowed and knelt down again. "This time, I failed to take good care of the Fourth Prince. I have failed the Empress' trust. Please punish me."
Ye Jun glanced at him with a serious expression.
"This incident happened suddenly, so it's not your fault. But you are sensible, but others may not understand. If I don't punish them, they will think I am just being nice, and they will be slack in the future. So I will fine everyone who followed the Fourth Prince that day one month's salary, plus ten strokes of the cane."
Bai Zhu immediately bowed his head, "Your Majesty is so kind, I will be extra careful in the future, even at the cost of my life, I will protect the Fourth Prince!"
"Okay, go ahead." Ye Jun waved his hand.
At this time, the Fourth Prince on the couch woke up slowly and called out "Mom".