This night is destined to be a sleepless night.
With the fall of Concubine Jingxian, the first person to panic was Ying Wanrong.
The whole night, she was so worried that the imperial concubine would punish her next, that she actually frightened herself to the point of falling ill.
At the same time, Tan Xiang and Nian Zhu in the Ministry of Punishment were tortured and finally could not bear it anymore and confessed everything that Concubine Jingxian had done over the years.
After all, he knew that within two days, the cook Zhou He would be escorted into the palace, and his master would not be able to save his life. Now he was being tortured and just wanted to die quickly. It would be better to die than to have another life.
And Concubine Jingxian has done a lot of work over the years.
The charges written down were twice as many as those committed by the deposed Empress Xie.
It makes one's heart tingle.
It was she who killed the second prince's mother, Yang.
At that time, Lin hated the deposed Queen Xie so much that she bribed the maidservant around Lin and instigated her to instigate Zhao, who was around the Queen, to murder Yang. Then Lin exposed Zhao's crime.
With the help of Lin, two concubines were killed.
But Lin died of illness, it really had nothing to do with her.
There is no need to talk about Xie's miscarriage. What surprised Ye Jun was that she was the one who caused Wan to be infertile and replaced safflower pollen with bone-dissolving powder.
He even personally gave the deposed Queen Xie a pot of poisoned wine to drink, acting as the executioner.
And everything that happened to Ye Yun, including the accident when she gave birth to her second child and the incident on the Double Ninth Festival later, were all caused by her.
In order to kill Ye Yun, Song went to great lengths and went to Prince Kang's Mansion outside the palace to find the Xie family to do it. She also threatened the life of the fifth prince and forced Qin to be her scapegoat.
The servants confessed everything about how she later murdered Qi Shunrong's child and her ambition to push the second prince to the position of crown prince.
Ye Jun originally thought that Song gradually developed evil intentions only because the queen was deposed, but she didn't expect that she hid it so deeply.
If the witness had not been caught this time, who knows how many more people this vicious woman would have harmed.
It is also disgusting that Song murdered the second prince's biological mother, Yang, but was able to raise the second prince so calmly for so many years.
Such a mentality is really rare.
Now that the charges have been made public, the Song family is doomed and it would not be a pity if they died a thousand times.
Ning Chen was indeed furious. This time, Song had no choice in how she died and was directly sentenced to hanging.
Her family members were also implicated and punished.
On the day of execution, Chu Yunhong had already taken Zhou He back to Kyoto, and they were just about to be executed together.
This was a rare massacre in the harem after Ning Chen came to power. Those who had participated in the Song family's plan were punished or killed.
Ning Chen was so strict because he was determined to clean up the palace and suppress the evil tendencies in the harem.
It’s just a pity for the Second Prince. Before he had time to grieve over the death of his adoptive mother, he fell ill due to the shocking news that his biological mother was killed by his adoptive mother.
For a moment, he didn't know how to deal with himself. Should he be sad about the death of his adoptive mother, or happy that his mother's murder was avenged, or angry that he had treated a thief as his mother for many years? His true feelings were really laughable.
Suddenly finding himself in such a situation, the Second Prince didn't know how to face the people outside.
Such depression and fear made his illness worse rapidly, and he was unable to get out of bed within three or four days.
When Ye Jun heard about this, he couldn't just sit back and do nothing, so he went to Ruyi Pavilion in person.
When the second prince saw her coming, fear showed in his eyes, and he hurriedly got up and knelt on the bed to salute her.
"My son pays his respects to the noble mother."
Such cautiousness also fully demonstrates the difficulties a child faces in the palace.
Ye Jun knew that if she didn't come, the child would probably not survive.
"Get up quickly. Don't be so polite when you are sick. Your father has been very worried about your illness these past two days. You are a grown-up child now. You can't always indulge in grief. You should always think about your father. You are the noble prince of Nanqi. How can you belittle yourself?"
"Really? Father is not angry with me, and doesn't abandon me?" the second prince asked timidly.
There was grievance and fear in those eyes, and tears were already welling up in them.
It turned out that these days, he was not only struggling with the issues of his biological mother and adoptive mother, but he was also more afraid that if he lost his mother in the future and his father no longer wanted him, how would he survive
Ye Jun sighed, raised his hand to hold the Second Prince's thin and tender shoulders, stared into his eyes, and spoke seriously.
"You and your father are blood relatives, how could he not want you? If he really didn't want you, who among the servants and doctors would have taken such good care of you these days? Even if Song made a mistake, your father is not a foolish man, and he will definitely not be angry at you for no reason. You can rest assured and take good care of yourself. Only by getting well, you will not let your father down."
When the second prince heard this, he finally let go of the worry that had been hanging in his stomach for many days and nodded heavily.
Seeing that he had thought it through, Ye Jun gave the servants a few more instructions before getting up and leaving.
I had not walked far when I heard crying coming from the back yard.
"Your Majesty..." Nan Zhi looked back at the Second Prince's courtyard, feeling a little worried.
Ye Jun lowered her eyes, "Don't worry about it. Once you figure it out, you have to cry to relieve your depression. Instruct everyone in the palace not to neglect the Second Prince, otherwise I will not show mercy."
Nan Zhi responded, helped her into the sedan chair, and left Ruyi Pavilion.
When Ning Chen heard that the imperial concubine had visited the second prince, he also sent someone to find out the news.
After hearing Ye Jun's words of comfort, I felt even more affectionate towards Ye Jun.
As a father, even if he loved his son, he always didn't know how to express it in words. Ye Jun's move undoubtedly helped him relieve his worries.
In the evening, Ning Chen came to Zhaochun Palace as usual, but this time he had something very important to say.
He had thought about this matter for a long time, but he decided to ask Ye Jun's opinion first.
After dinner, when the two of them lay down, Ning Chen spoke solemnly and slowly.
"I want to make you my queen, my wife, and protect this country with me. Are you willing?"
Ye Jun didn't expect him to say this and was slightly stunned.
Looking into those sincere eyes, Ye Jun could see that every word Ning Chen said at this moment was serious.
But in the end, Ye Jun still didn't nod.
Gently holding Ning Chen's hand, Ye Jun adjusted his mood, took a long breath, and looked into Ning Chen's eyes seriously.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me for being selfish and ridiculous, but I only want to be your only concubine, not the empress. That position has been held by others before, and I want to be unique."
"Even if I don't become the queen, in my heart the emperor will always be my husband. To be honest, I no longer consider myself as the emperor's concubine. I think that as long as the feelings between us are true, the status is secondary. If there is no friendship and only status, we are not considered husband and wife."
Ning Chen didn't expect Ye Jun to refuse, but such a statement was in line with her proud character. Such a sincere tone and eyes also showed that she was not false.
After a long time, Ning Chen sighed, pulled the person into his arms and hugged him gently.
"Forget it. If that's the case, I won't force you. When this period is over, let's go out of the palace. I haven't toured the north for a long time, so it's a good opportunity to take you out to relax and get some fresh air."
"Okay, I'll listen to the emperor." Ye Jun smiled and put her arms around Ning Chen's waist.
At this moment, both of them are sincere.