Chapter 801: Apology

Prince Ji, who was left behind on purpose, felt uneasy after following Tang Ning out of the Imperial Palace.

He had always known that the woman in front of him was no simple matter. After all, no one knew better than Prince Ji about the "disputes" between her and the women in the mansion.

How his "deceased" wife and daughter wanted to persecute the queen but she discovered the plan in advance, and how the queen used this to implicate the former Queen Lu and her son, not only completely destroying the malicious Fourth Prince's wife and almost causing the queen and her son to lose power, but also turning the aristocratic family upside down in one fell swoop, and taking advantage of the quagmire in the capital to conceal Xiao Yan's departure from the capital from everyone.

Prince Ji knew in his heart that the queen was not an ordinary girl in the harem, nor was she a dodder who could only depend on others in the eyes of those people.

Maybe she had been weak and easily bullied before, but at least she is not anymore.

Tang Ning was wearing a thick velvet cloak and led Prince Ji as he walked slowly along the corridor in the palace.

The cold wind blew in from outside, brushing against the thick fur on her collar, making Prince Ji, who was only wearing the thin royal robes, feel as if he was about to freeze all over.

Prince Ji's face was pale, his lips were blue from the cold, and the back of his neck was already cold under his court robes. After walking around the seemingly endless corridor, his legs and feet were numb from the cold. However, the rosy-faced queen in front of him continued to walk slowly forward, without any intention of speaking.

Prince Ji understood something and suddenly spoke.

"Her Majesty the Queen."

As soon as Tang Ning stood still, he turned around and saw King Ji kneeling on the ground with his knees bent.

Tang Ning raised an eyebrow calmly: "What is your Highness doing?"

Prince Ji said in a deep voice: "I am guilty."

Tang Ning said calmly: "What crime has the prince committed?"

Prince Ji's heart became increasingly tense, and he dropped his head to the ground.

"I, your humble servant, am in charge of the Imperial Clan Temple under Your Majesty's order. It is my duty to discipline the royal family and admonish their words and actions. I should have stopped them as soon as I realized that Uncle Ying and the other court officials were trying to force the Empress to cause a disturbance in the palace, or I should have reported this to the Empress in advance."

"Your Majesty once said that he and the Empress were one and the same, and that his secret trip to Southern Qi was to plot a grand plan. I shouldn't have been deceived and used my concerns about Your Majesty's safety as an excuse to condone the actions of Uncle Ying and his men. This allowed them to nearly destabilize the people and ruin Your Majesty's plans."

After Prince Ji finished speaking, he kowtowed to the ground.

"I am guilty, Your Majesty, I beg you to punish me."

Tang Ning looked at Prince Ji, who was kneeling on the ground with his head down and his face unclear, and laughed when he listened to his evasive apology.

"Did Prince Ji fail to fulfill his duty of admonishment, or did he give too much advice?"

Prince Ji froze. "I don't understand what the Queen is saying."

Tang Ning held the hand warmer and lowered his eyes as he said, "Five days ago, when the Crown Prince of Ying and his wife returned from burning incense at Xiangtai Temple, I overheard some playboys in the restaurant jokingly saying that since His Majesty married the Queen, he has been on hiatus since the New Year. It seems that the King will no longer attend court in the mornings."

"The Empress has exclusive possession of the six harems and is favored by the Emperor. Your Majesty was originally strong and healthy, but he suddenly caught a cold after the wedding."

Her voice paused, and although it was gentle, it was also teasing, as if she was imitating someone's way of speaking.

"Your Majesty was once the head of the Privy Council, leading those black-armored guards on missions for the deposed emperor, working for days without rest and not even showing the slightest sign of fatigue. And now, after marrying the empress for just over a month, you're already sick."

"I heard that the gates of the Imperial Dragon Palace are strictly closed to outsiders. Perhaps His Majesty isn't ill, but is simply too obsessed with the Empress, spending every night with her and neglecting the court battles. Perhaps our Empress is truly as beautiful as that scourge of the nation, enchanting His Majesty to the point of being entangled in bed and never attending court again..."

A light voice came from above his head, and Prince Ji's face suddenly turned pale.

Tang Ning smiled faintly: "Your Majesty, how should I repay someone who praises me so highly?"

The fingers that Prince Ji was holding onto the ground suddenly curled up, his body trembled, and the next moment he kowtowed with a "bang".

This time, Prince Ji didn't dare to say another word. He just kowtowed on the ground with his body tensed.

Tang Ning looked at Prince Ji who was kneeling on the ground and said, "Prince Ying is foolish and has always harbored rebellious intentions towards Your Majesty. Since Your Majesty ascended the throne, he has repeatedly instigated his relatives to secretly obstruct the new policies of the court. Although he was instigated this time, if he didn't have his own ambitions, he would never have dared to incite court officials to attempt to break into the Imperial Dragon Terrace just because he hadn't seen Your Majesty for a few days."

"I punished him with a cane, and he deserved it, but Prince Ji..."

"Your Majesty and I have always thought you were a smart person."

Tang Ning looked at Prince Ji, whose back was tense, and said:

"The deposed emperor has been on the throne for many years, and with the aristocratic families seizing power, those among the clan have long been spoiled and lazy, only knowing how to enjoy themselves. Only you are different from them."

"Back then, you wanted to avoid the deposed emperor's suspicion, yet you didn't want to neglect yourself. You maintained your position as prince and worked diligently in secret, doing many practical things for the court and the people. Because of this, even when the deposed emperor was in trouble, you had ambitions to ascend to the throne, and even secretly contacted Prince Pingshan, but His Majesty did not punish you like Prince Huan."

Prince Ji raised his head suddenly, his face completely devoid of any color.

"I……"

He wanted to say that he didn't understand what the queen was saying, and that he had never contacted Prince Pingshan.

But when he met the queen's dark eyes, his heart sank to the bottom of the valley. All his sophistry words were stuck in his throat and finally turned into one sentence.

"Your Majesty... does he know everything?"

Tang Ning smiled faintly: "If Your Majesty didn't know, how could you have avoided Lu Jiuan's schemes, rushed back to the capital in time to save me, and publicly exposed the deposed emperor's attempt to seize his throne?"

Prince Ji's lips trembled.

Tang Ning said, "Your Majesty has never thought there was anything wrong with your ambition. As a descendant of the Xie family and a prince of the royal family, you were not wrong to aspire to the throne when the deposed emperor was on the verge of losing power. Moreover, you have never done anything you shouldn't have done because of this ambition. When you were dealing with Prince Pingshan, apart from missing your Majesty's traces, you also did not harm the interests of the court."

"You didn't cross the line, nor did you take any risks afterwards. You even advised the King of England and his men after His Majesty ascended the throne."

"Whether you did it for self-preservation or other reasons, at least you calmed them down and helped ease the situation in the court. Furthermore, you also did your best to help the court during the rebellion of the feudal princes."

"When all the other princes were laughing at your majesty, you were the one who went around gathering food and fodder, secretly sent messages to persuade the princes, and even blocked several opportunities for King Huan to take action. Your majesty has remembered all of these things."

She paused for a moment before continuing.

"Your Majesty does not want to be alone, do you understand?"

Prince Ji looked up at Tang Ning, his expression changing constantly on his pale face.

It turned out that everything he did was known to the palace.

Tang Ning's last words made Prince Ji, who had been feeling uneasy ever since Xiao Yan came to power, feel as if his heart, which had been floating in the air and unable to settle, suddenly settled down.