"She committed treason, disrespected me, and refused to repent and obey discipline..."
The look in Shufei's eyes when she called Ye Jun frightened her. There was nothing wrong in the first place, and now she was speechless and stammered.
"So what did Huiyue say? There must be a content, otherwise why would the queen do this?" Ye Jun pressed on step by step, his voice getting colder and colder, "Or maybe, you can find a pretext to accuse someone!"
"Ye, it was your servant who spilled my soup. She was the one who committed the crime first. Shouldn't I punish her?" Concubine Shu's scalp tingled, but she still held on.
One reason was that he couldn't save face, and the other was that he didn't want to be seen through in front of Ning Chen.
"If it's just spilling the soup, you're going to punish me so severely? Didn't Her Majesty say Huiyue was rude? If something could make Her Majesty so angry, would Her Majesty forget it in just a moment?"
Ye Jun stared into Concubine Shu's eyes, not allowing her to avoid his gaze in the slightest.
At this moment, there was a hint of decisiveness and fortitude emanating from her body, which was completely different from the delicate girl in the daytime.
Suddenly, an umbrella appeared above her head, shielding her from the raindrops that kept hitting her.
Ye Jun lowered his head. Beside him was a pair of gold-woven black dragon-patterned boots.
Seeing Ning Chen standing next to Ye Jun, Concubine Shu felt sad and jealous, but at this moment she was more panicked, guilty and afraid.
"Your Majesty, I..."
"Shufei misses the eldest princess, so I specially allow her to return to the palace. Commander Lu will send someone to escort Shufei back to the palace tomorrow." Ning Chen said in a cold voice.
Ye Jun clenched his fists, stared at Concubine Shu, and finally let go.
She knew that Ning Chen, for the sake of the eldest princess, would not treat Shufei in any way because of a beauty's servant. The decision to send Shufei back to the palace today was already the limit.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please don't do that. How can you just... "
"Your Majesty, be careful with what you say!" Yuan Jiu interrupted her, "The Emperor allowed you to return to the palace because he took into consideration that the eldest princess cannot leave her mother and that you miss your child."
When Concubine Shu heard this, she understood what was going on. Her body went limp, and Xiangluo and Liuying quickly supported her.
Ning Chen looked back at her, his eyes full of disappointment and coldness.
In the past, he just thought that Concubine Shu was stupid, but at least she had no bad intentions. But now it seems that Concubine Shu is not only stupid, but also cruel.
When questioned just now, he couldn't explain why Huiyue spoke rudely. It was obvious that he took the opportunity to beat and scold her to vent his anger because Huiyue knocked over the soup pot.
The eldest princess kept a person like this, and there was no telling what kind of person she would become in the future.
It was a farce that ended with Concubine Shu being sent back to the palace. That night, Ye Jun and Ning Chen returned to the front yard.
Huiyue was beaten badly, so after asking the imperial physician to examine her, he applied some medicine and said that if she took good care of herself there would be no scars. This made everyone feel relieved.
Nan Zhi was instructed by Ye Jun to take care of Huiyue. After taking a bath, she went to Ning Chen's room alone.
"I thank the emperor for making the decision for me."
When I pushed the door open, I saw Ning Chen, who had just finished showering and was putting on his pajamas with his back to the door.
Hearing the voice, he paused for a moment, "It's getting late. I've sent word down that we'll continue our journey tomorrow afternoon. Go and have a rest."
Obviously, he didn't want to talk about what happened just now.
After all, Concubine Shu gave birth to the eldest princess. For the sake of the eldest princess's face, Ning Chen also had to make Concubine Shu look good, so he couldn't mention this matter again.
It would be bad to hear that a princess's biological mother abused punishment and used her power for personal gain.
Ye Jun's eyes darkened, and she walked slowly towards Ning Chen, put her arms around his waist, and rested her head on his back.
"Your Majesty, I am afraid today."
"What are you afraid of? I'm here." Ning Chen's voice was calm, and no emotion could be heard.
"Huiyue is my personal maid. We grew up together and are as close as sisters, but I cannot protect her. The closer the emperor gets to me, the more jealous I become. I don't have enough ability to protect myself or the people around me. I am really scared. But if one day the emperor no longer has me in his eyes, I don't know how I will live."
Ye Jun's voice was low, mixed with a bit of hoarseness and struggle. He paused and continued.
"But, I am always stubborn and will never be bullied even if I am afraid. So, Your Majesty, I cannot lie to you. I will pay you back for what the concubine did to my maid today."
"Ye, do you know what you are talking about!" Ning Chen's voice suddenly turned cold.
He turned around, grabbed the thin shoulders of the woman in front of him, and stared at her.
"Your Majesty, I am not a soft-hearted person, but I absolutely do not want to deceive Your Majesty and act hypocritically." Ye Jun was firm.
Ning Chen looked at the girl in front of him. Her fair face was clearly soft, but her eyes were sharp and concealed some unexplainable emotions. Her eye sockets and nose were unnaturally red, obviously she had been crying. Her red lips were tightly pursed, and her stubbornness was heartbreaking.
She was only wearing a thin middle shirt, and the warmth of her body was transmitted to Ning Chen's palm, as if it was going straight into his heart, but her slightly stiff shoulders told Ning Chen that this woman was afraid, but she was still stubborn.
After a long time, Ning Chen loosened his hand and lowered his eyes, "Don't lose your composure, I'm tired, you can go to the side room to rest, you don't have to serve me tonight."
"I understand. I'll take my leave now." Ye Jun bowed and quietly walked out.
The wind and rain are raging outside, just like Ning Chen's heart.
The education he had received throughout his life told him that women should be magnanimous, kind and virtuous, but Ye Jun told him bluntly that she would take revenge.
Ning Chen wanted to accept this reality, but he also felt that it was against the rules and moral principles. After much struggle, he felt complicated.
However, Ning Chen still gave an order not to spread the news that Ye Jun slept alone in the ear room at night.
After all, I still cared about Ye Jun's face.
The next day, everyone got up late because of the long journey, but Concubine Shu, who was "missing her daughter very much", was escorted back to the palace early in the morning.
The Emperor said that Concubine Shu missed her daughter so much that she must be like that. Even though everyone knew that this was not the case, they did not dare to speak carelessly.
After Ye Jun stood up, he went straight back to the backyard. There were still a few hours before departure, so he could be alone for a while.
The first thing was to send someone to thank Zhou Baolin.
It was too late yesterday and I was afraid of disturbing her rest.
The second thing was to go see Huiyue.
Huiyue had medicine applied on her face and wrapped it with gauze. Because the palace maid had been so ruthless, her mouth was full of sores. Now she had trouble eating and could only eat some soft porridge, which was still light.
"My beauty, it's my fault. I have brought trouble upon you." Huiyue blamed herself very much.
Ye Jun held her hand and said, "We share honor and disgrace, don't say such things. We will arrive at the Bianzhou Palace in two or three days. By then, I have asked the emperor to send you to your grandfather to be raised. When we return, we will pick you up. Don't think too much. You must take good care of your injuries so that you can continue to serve me in the future, right?"
Huiyue nodded with tears in her eyes. If she followed him now, she would not be able to serve him and would suffer.
But she was still deeply moved by Ye Jun's careful arrangements.