The Empress threw herself into Xie Tingzhou's arms, crying hysterically, "I'm sorry, Mother is so sorry, so sorry..."
She gave birth to him, but failed to give him a normal family. When he was framed, she failed to protect him. Now, she has not given him any explanation.
"My mother was truly a failed mother..."
Xie Tingzhou also had mixed feelings.
Having experienced the autumn hunt and years of fleeing, his mindset has changed. He is no longer the boy who longed for his mother's love.
Therefore, after returning to the palace, he and the empress maintained a polite but distant relationship, as if something was always missing.
But seeing the Empress crying like a helpless child, he realized that he still cared about his mother just as much.
Now that he's grown up, he no longer needs his mother's love, but he can instead protect and care for her.
"Mother, please stop crying. Your eyes will become swollen and you won't look good. I would like to ask you to go to the Marquis of Zhongyong's residence to propose marriage on my behalf."
After all, the son only has his mother, and only his mother can arrange these things for him.
The emperor quickly agreed, "Yes, yes, don't cry. It's a good thing that the child is willing to get married. If you go there with tears in your eyes, the Marquis's family will think that we don't agree to the marriage."
Our son has never caused us any worry growing up, so we can't let him down with his marriage.
Xie Bang is a troublemaker; if we don't do our best, he might just refuse to marry us.
“Father, I will not marry anyone but the Marquis of Zhongyong. I want to marry Ye Zhen.”
The Empress gradually calmed down after hearing the conversation between the father and son.
Xie Tingzhou offered a few more words of comfort, then let the emperor take the empress away while he continued stitching up the Prince of Yun.
The Empress glanced at Prince Yun again with a sorrowful look in her eyes, and said before leaving, "Demote him to a county prince and imprison him for life."
Since the second prince has developed ambitions, he must have been secretly plotting for years. Without the title of prince, those who followed him will likely waver.
The emperor agreed, but in his heart he also thought that the Zheng family should be punished.
After the two left, Xie Tingzhou used his internal energy to shatter Yun Wang's kneecaps.
The Cloud King was jolted awake by the pain, but before he could even cry out, he was knocked unconscious again by the blow.
After the wound was stitched up, Chen Banjun personally escorted it back to the Prince Yun's Mansion.
Xie Tingzhou then accompanied Ye Zhen back to the Marquis's residence.
This time, there was no attempt to avoid suspicion; it was all done openly and honestly.
When Marquis Zhongyong learned that Ye Zhen had been assassinated, he rushed back from the military camp. Seeing that she was unharmed, he hurriedly asked, "Who tried to harm you?"
Xie Tingzhou replied on Ye Zhen's behalf, "King Yun."
"Why did Second Brother want to harm the Princess?"
The Prince of Ning, who had just arrived, was puzzled.
He went out for a stroll today, and when he returned, he heard that his second brother had been injured and carried into the palace. Just as he was about to rush to the palace, he heard that the man had already been carried back to the Prince Yun's residence.
When they arrived at the Prince Yun's residence, they found it surrounded by the Imperial Guards. Prince Yun was not allowed to leave, and outsiders were not allowed to enter.
It was the Crown Prince who gave the order. Hearing that the Crown Prince had come to the Marquis's residence, he rushed over there as well.
"Is there some misunderstanding? Second brother has never harmed anyone."
Xie Tingzhou looked at him and said, "There's no misunderstanding. He wanted to assassinate Ye Zhen and then pretend to save her so that the Marquis's mansion would owe him a favor."
"What does Second Brother need the Marquis's favor for?"
Xie Tingzhou had no intention of hiding the truth for Prince Yun: "He's vying for the throne, and all these years he's been bribing palace guards and the former commander of the Martial Virtue Division to assassinate me."
"This...how is this possible?"
Prince Ning found it hard to believe. Xie Tingzhou knew that he and Prince Yun had a deep relationship. "Go ask your mother about the details. Also, spend some time with her."
"What's wrong with Mother again?"
Prince Ning felt as if the sky had fallen. How could so many things have happened in his family when he had only been gone for a day?
Xie Tingzhou didn't say anything more and followed Ye Zhen back to Menghuaxuan.
Prince Ning was even more confused. Didn't the Crown Prince like Su Yanwan? Why was he accompanying Ye Zhen into the inner courtyard?
But he couldn't think about that right now; worried about his mother and second brother, he turned and ran towards the palace.
If what the Crown Prince said is true, then what his second brother did was probably more than just assassinating Ye Zhen. He didn't want his second brother to continue down the wrong path, and he had to save him.
Xie Tingzhou was determined to kill the Prince of Yun. He told Ye Zhen, "My father and mother are protecting him, so we can't kill him for now, but I will deal with him as soon as possible."
Yun Wang will not give up. He will definitely take further action. His parents protected him once, but there will be no second time, and he will not allow it to happen again.
Ye Zhen nodded. "I understand."
While outside the city, she had considered killing the Prince of Yun, but that would inevitably incur the wrath of the Emperor and Empress.
It's not worth sacrificing yourself for revenge; it would only bring trouble to the Marquis's family.
Xie Tingzhou hugged her, "Don't be afraid, I'm here."
Ye Zhen gave a soft "hmm" and wrapped her arms around his waist.
She was truly terrified today. The pain of being dismembered alive in her past life had seeped into her very bones. After her rebirth, she tried her best not to recall it, but seeing the masked man today, the pain and fear were unbearable.
Fortunately, Xie Tingzhou helped her find the masked man, broke his leg, and restricted his freedom, so she no longer had to be afraid.
The two embraced for a long time, and when Ye Zhen's heart was finally at peace, Yin Yue returned.
"Miss, are you alright?"
When Yin Yue returned from keeping watch on the Su family, she was terrified to learn that Ye Zhen had been assassinated.
Ye Zhen smiled. "I'm fine. Did you discover anything?"
Yin Yue nodded, but before she could speak, another voice rang out from outside the courtyard. Wang Jingshuo stood outside Menghua Pavilion and shouted, "It's bad! Su Yanwan has come to the Marquis's residence to see the Crown Prince!"
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