Inside the East Palace bedroom, the candlelight flickered slightly.

After a long time, Zhao Yun let go of Ye Wanhe, took her hand, pulled her onto the bed, and threw her onto the quilt.

Ye Wanhe raised her eyes and looked at Zhao Yun, her eyes full of confusion.

Ye Wanhe had thought many times whether Zhao Yun would want to kill her or punish her severely when he came back, but she never thought that he would want to do this right after he came back.

Zhao Yun untied the gauze curtain to cover the bed, leaned over and kissed Ye Wanhe again, and untied the knot of Ye Wanhe's clothes with his fingers.

Ye Wanhe looked at her own reflection in Zhao Yun's eyes through the faint light coming in through the gap in the gauze curtain.

The bed curtains swayed slightly, and clothes kept falling out from inside the curtains.

"No, please don't, Yu'er will wake up at night, and Yu'er will need to eat later..."

All of Ye Wanhe's unfinished words were swallowed by Zhao Yun.

Even Yu'er's food supply was not saved.

After an unknown amount of time, Ye Wanhe felt exhausted all over, but Zhao Yun was still unwilling to let her go. She was so exhausted that she fell asleep.

Seeing Ye Wanhe in his arms, Zhao Yun reached out and hooked the sweat-soaked hair on her forehead, then carried her to the bathing pool behind the East Palace.

When Ye Wanhe slowly woke up, she found herself in the bathtub. She quickly reached out and grabbed Zhao Yun's neck.

Zhao Yun put his arm around Ye Wanhe's waist, frowning coldly: "How could I not have known that you were so bold? If you want to take revenge on me, why don't you do it directly? Kill me directly? You can't bear to kill me."

Ye Wanhe whispered, "It's not that I can't bear to kill you, but I can't even bring myself to kill a chicken or a duck, let alone a living person. I'm not as cruel and cold-hearted as you."

Zhao Yun pinched Ye Wanhe's chin with his other hand and said, "You're not cruel yet? You can feed me fake death drugs and sell me as a slave, aren't you cruel?

"We've shared a bed together for seven years, Ye Wanhe. I promised you the most noble status for a woman in this world. How dare you feed me a fake death drug?"

Ye Wanhe said, "So Your Highness knows that I am Ye Wanhe. May I ask what is the name of the current Crown Princess? I told you from the beginning that I don't want to be a Crown Princess in any other capacity. But not only did you force me to do that, you also forced me to humiliate my parents and made me sever ties with them! Why can't I take revenge on you?"

I don't want the position of Crown Princess. I'd rather be a slave. At least I don't have to sever ties with my parents. As a palace maid, I still have the chance to see them once a year..."

Zhao Yun frowned coldly and said, "Your Ye family's background is really humble."

"Lowly?" Ye Wanhe sneered, "Your Highness, the person you're hugging right now is the most lowly and humble person in your eyes. You have noble blood, so why would you stoop so lowly to get close to a lowly merchant girl like me?"

Zhao Yun frowned unhappily: "Even so, you shouldn't have drugged me and faked my death. Do you really think you can rely on you to protect Yu'er and help him grow up to become emperor?"

Ye Wanhe narrowed her eyes and looked at Zhao Yun and said, "What about the life of my first child? Zhao Yun! Do you know how much I hate you?

After the loss of my first child, every time I slept in the same bed with you, I felt sick to my stomach that I could be so close to the man who killed my children.

From that moment on, I looked forward to leaving the palace when I turned twenty-five, so I could leave you behind forever! And what did you think of me?

I waited so long until I was twenty-five, but you forced me to stay in the palace for the rest of my life just for your own selfish desires. Do you know how much I hate and despise you?

Zhao Yun held Ye Wanhe's chin tightly, "Then you will continue to hate me and disgust me. You have committed such a heinous crime, and I must pay you back for all the suffering I have endured in the past six months."

As Zhao Yun spoke, he kissed Ye Wanhe's lips again.

He pushed her to the edge of the bathtub without any mercy.

Ripples appeared in the pool.

Ye Wanhe fell asleep again and heard Yu'er crying in a trance. She wanted to open her eyes, but she was too weak to do so.

Ye Wanhe was drowsy and had many dreams, one after another, and she couldn't wake up no matter what. She seemed to know that she was dreaming and wanted to wake up, but she seemed to be possessed by a ghost and couldn't wake up for a long time.

--

The next morning, in Qingfeng Courtyard.

Yun Xiangye almost didn't sleep all night, waiting for news from the East Palace, but no bad news came all night.

Gu Yan also didn't sleep much. He just comforted Yun Xiangye: "Dad said yesterday that the Crown Prince didn't intend to execute my sister by slow slicing. He wanted to make my sister the Crown Princess for life as revenge."

Yun Xiangye said, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is indeed insidious..."

Gu Yan covered Yun Xiangye's lips, "Shh."

Yun Xiangye said, "I only said this in front of you. As expected of a crown prince, you know what my sister cares about most."

Gu Yan smiled and said, "I just feel that His Highness's feelings for Sister He are much deeper than we thought."

Yun Xiangye said, "What kind of feelings do you mean? If I really had feelings, I would only love the Ye family and everyone in it. How could I bear to treat my uncle and aunt like this? Now that it's daybreak, can I go to the palace?"

Gu Yan nodded and said, "Well, let's go into the palace."

In Fengyi Palace.

Zhao Yun came to pay his respects early in the morning.

Queen Wei in the room saw Zhao Yun, who had become thinner, and tears flowed from the corners of her eyes. Regardless of her status as the mother of the country and the mistress of the six palaces, she went over and hugged Zhao Yun tightly in her arms, just like she hugged him when he was a child.

"Yun'er, you're finally back, and you're finally safe and sound... Mother has thought countless times about exchanging her own life for yours. Now that you're back, Mother is willing to leave at any time."

His Majesty on the side said coldly: "Stop talking nonsense."

Zhao Yun patted Queen Wei on the back and said, "Mother, I'm fine."

Zhao Yun looked at His Majesty again, knelt down and said, "Father, Mother, I am unfilial and have caused you two grief for me."

His Majesty helped Zhao Yun up and said, "It's a relief that you're still alive. Have you thought about how to deal with the Crown Princess?"

Zhao Yun said, "I've thought it through. If she doesn't want to be the Crown Princess, then I'm going to make her the Crown Princess and take my revenge on her."

His Majesty said with a sullen face, "How can this be considered revenge? You've survived and been reborn, so you need a reason to tell the outside world. Ye Wanhe actually dared to drug you. How can we let her off so lightly? She must be deposed as the Crown Princess and executed by slow slicing to serve as a warning to others!"

Zhao Yun said, "Father, the fact that I'm not dead can be explained to the public by saying that I fainted from a serious illness. The imperial physician didn't find out what was wrong and thought I was dead. Then I woke up. You don't have to tell the public that Ye Wanhe drugged me."

Queen Wei frowned and said, "Yun'er, are you really going to protect that vicious woman like this?"

Zhao Yun said, "Mother, I'm not protecting her. I just think the death penalty is too easy for her. Only by making her suffer a fate worse than death for the rest of her life can I relieve the hatred in my heart."

Queen Wei asked, "Let her continue to be the mistress of the Eastern Palace? Becoming the most noble woman in the world, is a life worse than death?"

Zhao Yun hummed, "For her, this is a life worse than death."

His Majesty said angrily, "Yun'er, your father cannot agree to your decision. Ye Wanhe has committed such a serious crime and must be executed."