I know that I have made a mistake and must be punished, but I am a mother…

She paused, then looked at Ye Zhen, "Zhao Ning, when you become a mother in the future, you will understand how I feel today. He is, after all, my son."

"Does Your Majesty hope that your grandson will commit evil deeds like Prince Yun in the future?"

Ye Zhen didn't beat around the bush with her, "This humble woman truly cannot understand Your Majesty's feelings right now, but this humble woman knows that if it weren't for my skills that allowed me to escape in time, the Crown Prince would have his wife taken away by his younger brother once again."

Even if Ye Zhen knew the truth, he wouldn't admit it, only saying that he had run away.

"Even if the Prince of Yun succeeds, I will not marry him, nor will I be able to marry the Crown Prince."

While Your Majesty feels sorry for Prince Yun, have you considered what the Crown Prince would face if things really turned out that way, and what his life would be like for the rest of his days?

Based on Ye Zhen's understanding of Xie Tingzhou.

He will surely kill the Cloud King, and live a lonely and miserable life for the rest of his days.

The Empress, being the Crown Prince's mother, could not possibly have been unaware of this.

The empress was taken aback, then anger flashed in her eyes.

“But King Yun did not truly harm you.”

But you burned him to death.

Ye Zhen sneered.

How could the King of Clouds not have harmed her? He cut off her limbs and tortured her to death.

Although this was a grudge from a past life, Ye Zhen has avenged it in this life.

But the Empress's words still chilled her to the bone.

I feel sorry for the Crown Prince.

Since that's the case, Ye Zhen saw no need to stay. She rose and said, "If Your Majesty wishes to rest quietly, I will not disturb you any longer."

Although Xie Tingzhou's feelings for the Empress are not as strong as before, she is still his mother.

Before she was even married, she had a falling out with her future mother-in-law, which ultimately put Xie Tingzhou in a difficult position.

Ye Zhen chose to avoid it. Anyway, she was going to the Great Wei for a while. It would be best if the Empress could understand, but it wouldn't be too late to break off relations if she couldn't.

However, her actions angered the Empress, who blurted out, "Ye Zhen, the Crown Prince doesn't need you."

Even if, as Ye Zhen said, the Prince of Yun succeeded and Ye Zhen married him,

The crown prince might not necessarily be immune to reality and choose another woman.

Ye Zhen, however, was convinced that if the Crown Prince couldn't marry him, he would threaten to die, which greatly displeased the Empress.

But as soon as she said those words, she regretted it.

But Ye Zhen killed her son and showed no respect for her, the empress, so she refused to take it back and glared at Ye Zhen with an angry face.

Ye Zhen's face also turned cold.

"Does Your Majesty truly love the Crown Prince? During the autumn hunt that year, if that person had impersonated Prince Yun, would Your Majesty have still shot that arrow?"

After you shot that arrow, did Your Majesty even consider checking on the Crown Prince's injuries?

If the Empress hadn't shot that arrow.

Alternatively, after checking on Xie Tingzhou's injuries, Kang Le, the Grand Princess, Prince Yun, and others would be unable to find an opening.

Xie Tingzhou wouldn't have had to suffer those later hardships.

Ye Zhen had long felt indignant on Xie Tingzhou's behalf, but since they were mother and son, Ye Zhen could only feel sorry for Xie Tingzhou.

But the Empress has truly angered Ye Zhen today.

"Does Your Majesty know what he looked like when I saved him back then?"

Having come this far, Ye Zhen was not afraid of turning hostile and told the Empress in detail about Xie Tingzhou's near-death state.

"Most of the suffering the Crown Prince endured was caused by Prince Yun, yet Prince Yun's fate was not caused by the Crown Prince. Isn't Your Majesty being too biased?"

If Your Majesty is dissatisfied with Ye Zhen, you may find a more suitable woman for the Crown Prince.

After saying that, he left without looking back.

She wanted to maintain a semblance of peace, but the Empress was dissatisfied and insisted on tearing down the facade. What did she have to worry about?

Even if she doesn't say these things now, the Empress will still find fault with her after she gets married.

Inside the room, the Empress clutched her chest in anger and wept, saying to the palace servants, "How could she... how could she do this? I am the Crown Prince's mother, and her future mother-in-law."

She never actually intended to ruin their marriage. It was just that the death of the Prince of Yun had left her with resentment. She only wanted to give Ye Zhen a warning. If she could hold back, she would gradually be able to let go of the Prince of Yun's death.

But Ye Zhen has made things so tense. If she really breaks off the engagement with the Crown Prince, wouldn't that make the Crown Prince hate her?

Or is it that Ye Zhen, now relying on the Great Wei, is acting with impunity and deliberately sabotaging her relationship with the Crown Prince and his mother?

It has to be said that once a person gets stuck on a particular point, they become increasingly obsessive.

Fortunately, the palace servant was alert and quickly winked at the little eunuch next to him, signaling him to inform the Empress.

Da Yuan has just received so many benefits from Da Wei, so he can't afford to offend Ye Zhen.

Upon hearing this, the emperor's face darkened.

He hadn't expected the Empress to say those things to Ye Zhen, so he quickly asked Chen Banjun to chase after Ye Zhen and appease her.

He then went to the Phoenix Palace.

Chen Banjun almost wore her legs out before catching up with Ye Zhen. "Princess, His Majesty didn't mean it that way, and His Highness the Crown Prince certainly didn't."

The implication was that what the Empress said didn't count.

Ye Zhen smiled, not wanting to talk about it anymore, and asked, "Are Ping Niangzi and the others alright?"

Ping Niangzi was the pregnant woman rescued from the dark house that day. She gave birth to a boy in Chen Banjun's house.

Because of what she went through those months, the boy was born very thin and weak, like a kitten, and needed to be well cared for with good medicine.

Seeing her son like that, Ping Niangzi had long since given up the idea of ​​suicide and only thought about how to make her child grow up healthy and safe.

But she was all alone, homeless and jobless, which made things difficult. So, just two days after giving birth, she wanted to work at a charity to earn money for her son's medical treatment.

Upon learning of this, Ye Zhen sent her one hundred taels of silver so that she could rest and recover after childbirth. After that, she went to southern Jiangsu and has not yet visited the mother and child.

Chen Banjun said, "He is a strong-willed person. At first, he felt that he was eating and drinking for free in our house and taking advantage of us, so he always liked to rush to do the work."

Later, my family said that she wasn't taking good care of herself, the baby didn't have enough milk, and hiring a wet nurse would cost even more money, so things have calmed down for now.

Our family is thinking of adopting that child as our godson, so he can take care of us in our old age. Is that feasible?

He actually hoped that the child would take his surname, Chen, to continue the Chen family line, but Ping Niangzi's husband's family also had only one son, and Ping Niangzi cared a lot about her husband's family.

Chen Banjun didn't dare to mention it.

Ye Zhen thought Chen Banjun was a really good person, and it would be a blessing for the child to recognize Chen Banjun as his godfather.

But this still required Ping Niangzi's consent, so she asked Chen Banjun to discuss it with her again after Ping Niangzi's full moon celebration.

Lady Ping has grievances against the Emperor and is wary of Chen Banjun, so it might be better to get to know him first.

Chen Banjun already had a plan in mind; he was just using this opportunity to talk to Ye Zhen, so he agreed.

Upon reaching the palace gate, he said again, "Princess, I have watched the Crown Prince grow up. Knowing that His Highness is with you is truly a joy. I hope that His Highness will live a happy and fulfilling life for the rest of his days. Please cherish His Highness."

Look!

This is what it means to truly care about Tse Ting-chou.

Ye Zhen smiled, "Don't worry, Father-in-law. As long as he doesn't betray me, I won't abandon him either."

Upon hearing this, Chen Banjun smiled broadly, said nothing more, personally escorted Ye Zhen to the carriage, and then returned to the palace to report back.

On his way back to the manor, Ye Zhen's carriage was stopped by a woman...