After saying that, Zhao Zhongquan retreated to Yun Beiye's side.
"I'm tired, Your Majesty. You can handle this matter as you see fit."
The Empress Dowager spoke expressionlessly, and Zhang Mama helped her leave the Imperial Garden.
"Your Majesty, we respectfully see you off."
The ministers rose and bowed.
"My lords, pastries from the Imperial Kitchen have been prepared for you at the palace gate."
Zhao Zhongquan said tactfully, and then gestured for them to proceed.
He understood that it was inappropriate for ministers to be present when the matter involved princes and princesses.
After all, royal scandals should not be made public.
"We take our leave."
The ministers who came to the banquet were eager to leave before the emperor became angry.
Everyone put on their hats, took their oil-paper umbrellas, and left the Imperial Garden quickly with their heads down.
Yun Duoduo looked at the Fifth Prince, whose face remained expressionless and composed.
She suddenly remembered that five years ago, one of the concubines who had harmed her seemed to be the birth mother of the Fifth Prince.
But why would the Fifth Prince want to harm his eldest brother?
Is it all for the position of crown prince?
Even if the eldest prince is murdered, the fifth prince still has the second, third, and fourth princes ahead of him, so it's not his turn.
Yun Duoduo shook her head, somewhat puzzled.
Seeing Yun Duoduo's dazed expression, Ah Xiang draped the outer robe she had just taken from Fu Shuang Palace over Yun Duoduo's shoulders.
Five years ago, Yun Duoduo's first birthday banquet was organized by Consort De, the birth mother of the Third Prince Yun Yishu.
At that time, Consort Rong, the birth mother of the Fifth Prince Yun Yichun, used a secret formula for conceiving a child as bait to instigate Consort Yu to poison Yun Duoduo's food in order to frame Consort De.
For Consort Rong, her status was neither high nor low, and neither was her son's.
If one wants to gain a foothold in the harem, one should eliminate as many princes and princesses as possible. As for concubines like Consort De, they should naturally be eliminated through the hands of others, one by one.
Yu Meiren, easily swayed, added yellow fruit powder to Yun Duoduo's sweet soup, causing Yun Duoduo to suffer from persistent diarrhea and damage to her stomach and intestines.
After the affair was exposed, Yu Meiren, who was originally going to be stabbed to death, was banished to the Cold Palace because it was inappropriate to see blood at the princess's first birthday banquet.
Later, Consort Rong colluded with court officials to slander Yun Duoduo as a witch, and was demoted by Yun Beiye to a low-ranking official woman, from a second-rank concubine to a tenth-rank official woman.
...
The past is like smoke, and Yun Duoduo feels somewhat dazed and unreal.
After the ministers and their families had all left, Yun Beiye asked in a cold voice, "Yun Yichun, tell me what happened!"
Yun Yichun walked out from the banquet and knelt in the center of the dance floor in the Imperial Garden.
"Father, Father, please let your son explain."
Yun Yichun's eyes were cold and resentful. He glanced at Yun Yibo and Shangguan Qin'er out of the corner of his eye, then suddenly drew a dagger from his waist and swiftly stabbed at Empress Zhaoyuan.
"Protect the Queen!"
With lightning speed, Yun Beiye grabbed a wine glass from the table and threw it, knocking the glass out of Yun Yichun's hand. The glass shattered on the white jade floor.
"Yun Yichun, what are you doing?!" Yun Beiye roared.
Empress Zhaoyuan's expression changed drastically; she never imagined that a teenager would point a dagger at her.
That's your mother!
Yun Duoduo was a little confused. [So, the person Yun Yichun truly wanted to kill was Empress Zhaoyuan?]
[This child is quite murderous; when one plan failed, he was so reckless as to commit murder in the middle of the scene?]
Yun Yichun was pulled away by the eunuchs. His hair ornament was knocked off during the tug-of-war, and his hair was scattered messily behind his ears.
"Hmph, Mother?"
The eunuchs snatched the dagger from Yun Yichun's hand and only released their grip on him after he stopped struggling.
Yun Yichun slumped to the ground and snorted coldly.
"Father has never wanted to see his son."
Yun Yichun's voice seemed to drift away.
“When I was a child, I practiced calligraphy and wanted to show it to Father Emperor, but every time I came to the Zichen Palace, I was blocked outside.”
"I didn't have my father's love and protection, but at least I had my mother."
"However, my mother has long been demoted to a palace maid, and now she is depressed every day, and her health is deteriorating day by day."
Yun Beiye looked at his son kneeling on the ground, a hint of helplessness in his eyes.
He was busy with government affairs every day and neglected the feelings of his sons.
"It's all the Empress's fault. It's because of Empress Gao Yuzhuang that my mother has ended up in such a state!"
"When the wall falls, everyone pushes it down; the concubine was ridiculed by the palace servants."
"Even I was pointed at and talked about."
After the Empress Dowager's incident, many in the palace sought to laugh at her and steal her belongings. Like a fallen wall, everyone pushed her down; the former prosperity vanished like smoke.
"It's all the Empress's fault. If it weren't for the Empress, Mother wouldn't be in so much pain..."
"So, you're going to harm your eldest brother?"
"You want to kill your mother?"
Yun Beiye looked at Yun Yichun with deep sorrow.
"Chun'er, your mother was demoted because she violated palace rules and almost harmed the princess."
Empress Zhaoyuan walked up to Yun Yichun and said.
Yun Beiye said coldly, "The matter from back then was investigated by someone I appointed."
"Your mother was demoted because she did something wrong. If the Empress hadn't discovered your mother's plot to harm the princess, your younger sister would probably be dead long ago!"
"But isn't my royal sister sitting here unharmed?!"
Yun Yichun pointed to Yun Duoduo, who had come out of Yun Beiye's arms and was sitting on a stool.
[Hiss! Fifth Brother, this is a bit underhanded. Do you want me dead?]
"It was all instigated by the Empress!"
"Everyone else is living a life of glory and honor, but my mother is bedridden with illness..."
The room suddenly fell silent.
"Today, the Fifth Prince took his anger out on the Empress because of Consort Rong—no, because of the palace maid. What if he takes his anger out on His Majesty in the future?"
Zhou Jieyu fanned the flames from the sidelines.
She was the birth mother of the sixth prince, Yun Yixia. For her, the fewer princes she had, the better.
"Your Majesty, in my opinion, the Fifth Prince must not be allowed to live."
Upon hearing this, Yun Beiye gave him a cold look.
Zhou Jieyu took a small sip of tea, seemingly terrified.
Upon hearing this, Consort Li hugged the Seventh Prince tightly, while Consort Wan took the bowl from the Eighth Prince's hand, signaling him not to eat anything from the table.
Yun Yichun coldly observed everyone's reactions, then sneered and said, "My mother has suffered so much; how can I, as her son, not avenge her?!"
"Unrepentant!"
Yun Beiye's face turned ashen with rage. "Zhao Zhongquan, drag the Fifth Prince away!"
"He is imprisoned in Yong'an Palace and cannot leave without being summoned!"
"Empress Zhaoyuan, you will surely get your retribution!"
Yun Yichun was dragged out by the eunuchs.
...
Inside the Cold Palace, Consort Yu and Consort Zheng sat on the steps outside their sleeping quarters, gazing at the moon.
"How does it feel to have your revenge fulfilled?"
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