Ye Cairen didn't want to show weakness. Thinking of the importance His Majesty attached to the child in her belly, she said fearlessly, "Even if you are the Empress, you can't treat my maids so casually, right?!"
Ning Yu sneered, "Then we'll have to ask her."
Li Xiang asked coldly, "Let me ask you, what did you do on the day the little prince died?"
Ye Cairen's expression suddenly changed, but after all, she had been invading the harem for many years, so she quickly calmed down and gave Chun'er a cold warning.
Chun'er thought of her old mother and her younger brother who was still studying, and her fear was no longer there. "In reply to the Empress, I will go to the imperial kitchen to get milk for Lady Ye to stew golden silk."
"Really? Then why did it take you two quarters of an hour to get back to Yuluoxuan when the round trip was only a quarter of an hour?"
Li Xiang said with a solemn oath, "If you don't give an explanation, Kunning Palace will hand you over to the Ministry of Punishment. With the methods of the Ministry of Punishment, they will definitely get to the bottom of it."
Chun'er shuddered when she heard about the Ministry of Punishment. People in the palace said that once you enter the Ministry of Punishment, even if you have done nothing wrong, you will have to suffer a lot before you can get out.
Ning Yu saw Chun'er's shock and said softly, "I can guarantee your family's safety."
Chun'er closed her eyes, kowtowed slowly to the queen, and quickly confessed everything.
"I was instructed by Lady Ye to pay Chunhua a large sum of money, saying that I only wanted the little prince to be slightly injured but not killed. Chunhua agreed. Then, while I was fetching milk for Lady Ye to stew golden silk, I went to Taiye Lake..."
Ye Cairen didn't expect to be exposed so quickly. His face turned pale and he slapped Chun'er hard in the face. "How dare you! Who on earth ordered you to frame me?"
Chun'er smiled bitterly silently.
At this moment, a greeting sounded outside the door, and a tall, graceful figure walked in with a dignified voice, "What happened?"
When Ye Cairen saw the emperor coming, she felt like she had found a lifeline. "Your Majesty, please save me and the prince. The queen is jealous that I am pregnant with the dragon fetus and wants to frame me and harm the little prince."
Lixiang didn't expect Ye Cairen to turn the tables, so she immediately asked Chun'er to repeat it again.
The emperor was furious. His eyes swept towards Ye Cairen like cold swords and he sternly said, "Poisonous woman! I hereby decree that Ye Cairen be demoted to the position of a dresser and forbidden to enter or leave Yuluoxuan. Chun'er shall be executed immediately..."
Ning Yu felt a trace of disappointment in his heart and laughed at himself.
Ye Gengyi is now pregnant with the dragon seed, so how could she be executed immediately?
Ye Gengyi's face was filled with disbelief. "Your Majesty, I'm pregnant with your child. How could you be so cruel?"
The emperor glanced at her coldly and said, "Come here, send Ye Gengyi back to Yuluoxuan."
Ye Gengyi was filled with resentment, his expression filled with madness, "Empress, do you really think it was me who did it? I was just a small talent back then, what good would it do to harm your child? Don't you want to know who did it?"
"It's Xu Gui..."
Before he could finish his words, someone around the emperor covered his mouth tightly and took him away.
Xiao Yan stepped forward, held her hand, and comforted her, "Queen, once Ye Gengyi gives birth to the child, I will immediately have her executed, okay?"
The heat wave outside hit Ning Yu's face, and she felt her heart completely chilled. She pulled her hand away and said, "Your Majesty, I heard it. It was Concubine Xu who killed your child and me! Or do you want to protect Concubine Xu?"
Xiao Yan's face suddenly darkened and he shouted, "How dare you!"
Ning Yu took a step back and kowtowed three times and nine times to the emperor, "Your Majesty, please execute Concubine Xu."
At some point, the sky was covered with dark clouds. Half of Xiao Yan's face was hidden in the shadows, and his expression was gloomy and difficult to discern. "Queen, I will give you one more chance."
Ning Yu kept his head bowed to the cold jade brick, not rising. "Your Majesty, please execute Concubine Xu to comfort the Emperor's spirit in heaven."
The emperor lost all patience and left in a huff.
At the same time, an imperial decree was issued: "Empress Ning has violated palace rules and is confined to Kunning Palace for three months. The power of the palace will be temporarily handed over to Concubine Xu. I hope she will abide by the rules and be cautious in her words and actions."
Until the bright yellow figure disappeared from Kunning Palace, Lixiang helped the Queen to her feet and couldn't help complaining, "Ye Gengyi clearly said that it was Concubine Xu who ordered this, why are you still protecting her? And you even gave her the power of the palace. Your Majesty, what should we do? Concubine Xu is definitely going to make trouble for us."
Ning Yu looked outside, his expression showing no sadness, his tone full of sarcasm.
"Because Concubine Xu is backed by the Xu family, and Prime Minister Xu has influence and power throughout the court, how could Your Majesty dare to deal with Concubine Xu? Concubine Xu's inability to conceive is probably also due to Your Majesty's hand."
Lixiang didn't expect that the Queen would even dare to mock His Majesty. It seemed that she was really hurt by His Majesty.
Ning Yu slowly turned around, facing the palace gate, and said, "Unlock the key."
As the sun sets, the queen's figure becomes extremely long, appearing somewhat cold and lonely.
Ever since Concubine Xu took control of the palace, the emperor suddenly angrily rebuked the empress, and everyone below him became extremely cautious and began to curry favor with Concubine Xu.
Lixiang looked at the food that was about to go bad and cursed, "These people are too much! How dare they treat you with such food?"
Ning Yu ate it without changing his expression, but he didn't eat much.
Li Xiang saw that Ning Yu had lost so much weight that her clothes were too loose for her, and she felt a little distressed. "Your Majesty, why don't you just give in? Eunuch Fu just came to bring us some food. I'm sure His Majesty is waiting for you too."
Ning Yu put down her bowl and chopsticks, her voice neither flat nor indifferent, "This palace knows, but I want more than that. If I give in to His Majesty now, His Majesty will still wrong me when things happen with Concubine Xu in the future. If this palace wants to win His Majesty's heart, this alone is not enough. Let's wait a little longer."
She was also testing the emperor's bottom line, to what extent he could tolerate her.
Lixiang seemed to be lost in thought.
Imperial study.
Xiao Yan flipped through the memorial without looking at Eunuch Fu, who was kneeling on the ground. After a while, he put the memorial down and asked casually, "How is the Queen?"
Eunuch Fu took a long time to organize his words before saying, "I haven't seen the Empress yet."
What is this?
This job is really difficult, but I can't offend anyone.
Although everyone in the harem said that the emperor no longer liked the queen, if he didn't like her, why would he send a general steward like him to sneak into Kunning Palace?
Eunuch Fu thought for a moment and added, "When I went there, the food sent by the imperial kitchen was almost rotten. Even cats and dogs wouldn't eat it."
The emperor gave him a cold look and said, "You talk a lot."
Thinking of Ning Yu's refusal to yield to him, Xiao Yan became increasingly anxious. He said coldly, "Since the Queen is willing to endure hardship, then let her do as she pleases!"
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