Chapter 182 Yan Zhaoyi pleads for mercy

Soon, the mountains of evidence of the Yan family's corruption and factionalism were submitted to the Dali Temple.

Doctor Guanglu was arrested on the spot and thrown into prison, where he was immediately subjected to severe interrogation.

When Yan Zhaoyi heard the news, she collapsed on the couch, extremely panicked. What should she do?

Her father is Doctor Guanglu, and the Yan family is a century-old prestigious family, how could this happen? !

Yan Zhaoyi felt extremely heavy-hearted and totally disregarded the dignified image she usually maintained.

In the scorching heat, she hurriedly ran all the way from Yuqing Palace to Kunning Palace. As soon as she reached the palace gate, she knelt down on the hot ground with a thud.

She kowtowed repeatedly, her forehead hitting the ground with a bang, and she shouted at the top of her lungs, "Your Highness, I beg to see your Majesty. Your Highness, I beg to see your Majesty."

Su Jingyao, who had just woken up from a nap, was still sleepy. When she heard the noise outside, her brows wrinkled slightly and she looked unhappy.

"Miaoxia, is there someone making a noise outside?"

"Master, the eldest prince returned to the palace today and brought back a lot of evidence of the Yan family's crimes. His Majesty has already sent Doctor Guanglu to prison, and he is currently being held in the Dali Temple."

Miaoxia deftly tidied her master's clothes and answered quickly at the same time.

"Even if I am the empress, I cannot interfere in state affairs. What's the point of her coming to me for help? What's more, the Yan family assassinated Xingxing in Jinzhou, and I haven't even settled the score with her yet, but she came to me on her own."

As Su Jingyao spoke, a hint of fierceness flashed in her eyes.

The Seventh Prince got along very well with his brothers in the Prince's Residence.

In other words, the mother concubine Yan Zhaoyi is becoming more and more restless day by day.

At this time Miaoyun also hurried in, her brows furrowed.

"Master, Yan Zhaoyi came with the Seventh Prince."

Su Jingyao's brows furrowed even more tightly when she heard this. The Seventh Prince was probably less than nine years old. Because Jun Zechen had a crush on him, he was taken to the Prince's residence when he was five years old. There were also strict time requirements for the contact between the princes and the concubines. The Seventh Prince was not as ambitious as her mother.

Now that the Yan family has fallen, she is still using the Seventh Prince to plead for mercy?

"Let them in." Su Jingyao said after thinking for a moment.

Yan Zhaoyi walked in holding the Seventh Prince. Her forehead was covered with red and swollen marks, and was soaked with traces of blood.

After coming in, Yan Zhaoyi knelt down directly, and the Seventh Prince also knelt down at Yan Zhaoyi's signal.

Yan Zhaoyi's voice trembled.

"Your Highness, I pay my respects to you. May you live in peace and happiness."

"Your Majesty, may your Majesty be blessed with good health and happiness."

"Miao Yun, please give me a seat." Su Jingyao said coldly.

"Your Majesty, that's not necessary. I came here today just to ask you to let the Yan family go. The Yan family will never stand in the way of the eldest prince again."

As Yan Zhaoyi spoke, his eyes became red and his voice trembled. After he finished speaking, he kowtowed heavily again, and his forehead hit the ground again, making a dull sound.

Your Majesty is now imposing such severe punishment on the Yan family because my father secretly assassinated the eldest prince in order to pave the way for the seventh prince.

Originally, the epidemic in Jinzhou was an excellent place to create an accident, but no one expected that the eldest prince would be accompanied by not only the private soldiers of the Wei and Su families, but also His Majesty's secret guards.

Father learned all this from a letter sent by the eldest prince when he was about to return to Beijing. However, father did not know that the eldest prince had quietly collected all the evidence on the Yan family and exposed it on the spot in the court this morning, leaving father powerless to resist.

Before coming to ask the Queen for help, the Yan family had already approached the Chu family, but the Chu family avoided them!

Yan Zhaoyi's face was full of despair and helplessness, tears welled up in her eyes. She knew that the chances of the Queen helping her were slim, but as long as there was a glimmer of hope, she had to do it for her family.

"Yan Zhaoyi, I cannot possibly forgive your Yan family for assassinating the Crown Prince. Besides, isn't this the only mistake your Yan family has made?"

"He ignored the safety of the people, embezzled relief grain, and colluded with Jinzhou officials and aristocratic families to drive up grain prices, causing Jinzhou to suffer from an epidemic and the death of many people. This is a matter of the court, and I have no say in it."

Su Jingyao's eyes were stern and her expression was serious, and every word she spoke was loud and clear.

"Your Majesty, what you are talking about was done by the Yan family's branch in Jinzhou. It has nothing to do with my father!"

Yan Zhaoyi raised her head abruptly, her eyes full of anxiety and pleading. She couldn't hold back her tears and finally burst out, sliding down her cheeks.

It was because she had been bullied by Concubine Xian for many years and her resentment was growing, so she thought of asking her father to take advantage of the eldest prince's trip to Jinzhou to get rid of him once and for all.

As long as the eldest prince is gone, all the remaining princes have a chance.

In addition, the Seventh Prince has the help of the Yan and Chu families, so it is not impossible for him to ascend to the throne. She did everything right, but she just lost...

Could it be that she was bullied in the harem for ten years, and will her son also be bullied in the future?

Will Concubine Xian let her Seventh Prince go?

Yan Zhaoyi's eyes were filled with resentment and grief, and her body was shaking slightly.

"I don't care about what you said. I just need to wait for the results of the Dali Temple's investigation."

"Queen, why are you so cruel? You can treat all the concubines in the harem well, but why do you tolerate Concubine Xian bullying me for ten years? It is you who forced me to get rid of the eldest prince!"

Yan Zhaoyi yelled at the top of her lungs, her eyes wide open with rage, her body shaking with excitement.

Su Jingyao sneered when she heard this.

"Yan Zhaoyi, if I hadn't asked Concubine Xian to show mercy, you wouldn't be here arguing with me right now."

Su Jingyao narrowed her eyes slightly and looked at Yan Zhaoyi with cold eyes.

At that time, Yan Zhaoyi and Xu Xiurong joined forces to deal with Concubine Xian. Given Concubine Xian's vengeful nature, if she hadn't stopped her, would Yan Zhaoyi still be alive?

After Concubine Xian's treatment of Yan Zhaoyi, she only had some minor quarrels.

"But I will not deny that what Concubine Xian did was indeed condoned by me. When you first entered the harem, you poisoned my dress. It has been so many years, could it be that you have forgotten it?"

"Or do you think that I am a person who repays evil with kindness? Since you have chosen to enter the harem and, after entering the harem, entered the quagmire of calculation, you must bear the consequences of failure yourself." Su Jingyao looked stern and her tone was cold.

The Seventh Prince looked at the Empress with a look of indifference, and then at his mother who was kneeling on the ground in despair and almost insane. He felt as if his heart was being pressed by a huge rock and was extremely uncomfortable.

He pursed his lips, his eyes full of pain and helplessness.

"Empress, please spare my mother for the sake of my son."

The seventh prince's voice was filled with tears and there was pleading in his eyes.

"Miao Yun, help the Seventh Prince up." Su Jingyao frowned slightly, looking a little helpless.

"Seventh Prince, you are of royal blood. No matter what happens to the Yan family, it will not affect you. Your mother should not have brought you here today."

"You are old enough. You have studied in the prince's academy for a few years. You can naturally distinguish right from wrong and good from evil. Both I and your father will only punish according to the evidence. Once verified, we will deal with you according to the laws of the dynasty."

Su Jingyao slowed down her tone and spoke earnestly.

The Seventh Prince sighed, his face full of fatigue and loss, "Mother, let's go back."

If grandpa really did those things, the Empress Dowager couldn't save him.

"You are your father's child. Go and beg your father to let the Yan family go! If the Yan family is gone, what will you do in the future?"

Yan Zhaoyi had completely lost her composure at this point, and her voice was shrill and piercing.

Although she is the concubine's daughter of the Yan family, she has been taught since childhood to be one with the family's glory. Now that her family is in prison, how can she stay out of it?

How can concubines and princes achieve anything in the future without the support of their families? Perhaps the seventh prince won’t even be granted the title of prince!

Su Jingyao shook her head helplessly.

Fortunately, Jun Zechen had foresight and these princes left their mother early to be taught uniformly in the prince's house, so that these princes were not contaminated by the conspiracies and secrets of the concubines.

"Miaoyun, take Yan Zhaoyi away, confine her to Yuqing Palace, and send the Seventh Prince to the Prince's residence."

Su Jingyao waved her hand.

"Yes, Master."

Miaoyun responded, then walked forward, forcefully helped Yan Zhaoyi up, and took her away.

In Yu's study, Jun Zechen summoned the eldest prince, his eyes full of admiration, and affirmed his outstanding performance during this trip to Jinzhou.

The father and son also communicated a lot.

As time passed, night fell quietly, and darkness gradually enveloped the entire palace.

When Jun Zechen arrived at Kunning Palace, Su Jingyao had already finished her dinner and was lazily curled up in the rocking chair in the bedroom, holding a book in her hands. Her loose tube top dress completely concealed her bulging belly like a soft cloud.

Jun Zechen walked over quietly, with an indulgent smile on his face, and picked her up.

He whispered, "Don't read at night. It hurts your eyes."

As he spoke, he gently carried her to the bed.

Jun Zechen washed up with Anshun's attentive service, and then lay down in his loose underwear.

He skillfully placed his head gently on her belly, his eyes full of tenderness and expectation.

He accompanied the child throughout the entire process, watching him grow up little by little, and every night Jun Zechen would talk to the baby in his belly.

When Jun Zechen was pregnant with the stars, his state of mind was completely different from what it is now. When he was pregnant with the dragon and phoenix fetus, he had just ascended the throne and was extremely busy with government affairs.

Only the one in the belly now, Jun Zechen sees it with his own eyes and touches it with his own hands every day. He also talks to it from time to time and can truly feel the fetal movement.

Su Jingyao saw him lying at the root of her legs as usual, with a smile on her face and her small hands gently stroking his hair.

Suddenly, Jun Zechen looked up at her with surprise in his eyes.

"Yaoyao, the baby seems to be moving."

It was Su Jingyao who first called the baby "baby". At first, she didn't know whether it was a boy or a girl, so she just called him "baby, baby".

Jun Zechen thought it was corny at first, but after hearing it so many times, he started to address her like that naturally.

Su Jingyao looked at Jun Zechen like this, her heart full of emotion. Sometimes she even found it unbelievable. He really changed a lot in the past ten years.

"Well, he's been very naughty lately. I'm afraid it's a boy."

Su Jingyao's voice was as gentle as the wind, with a hint of speculation.

"By June, Doctor Li should be able to fully diagnose the patient's pulse."

"Doctor Li examined my pulse these days and said that it is most likely a prince."

Jun Zechen got up from her, stretched out his arms, and held her in his arms.

"Does Yaoyao want a princess or a prince?"

"I like them all, both the princess and the prince are good."

Su Jingyao's voice became lower and lower, with a hint of weariness.

The two chatted warmly, and as the night grew deeper, Su Jingyao began to feel sleepy. After becoming pregnant, she became much sleepier.

Jun Zechen felt her breathing gradually become steady, and gradually fell asleep.

Inside the bedroom, candles flickered, light and shadows danced on the walls, and the emperor and empress slept in each other's arms. The scene was peaceful and beautiful.

It felt like just a moment before Jun Zechen slowly woke up. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around in confusion, full of doubts.

Why am I not in Kunning Palace?

Here is......

He looked carefully and found that it was Xiyan Palace?

A look of surprise instantly appeared on Jun Zechen's face, and he became more and more confused. How did he suddenly come here?

He was full of suspicion, and his feet involuntarily walked towards Yaoyao's bedroom.

When he entered the bedroom, he saw a woman lying on the bed with her back to him.

Is it Yaoyao?

Jun Zechen's pupils suddenly shrank, and a bad premonition surged in his heart.

How come you are so thin?

The thin figure looked like a dead person, lifeless.

A deep ravine formed between Jun Zechen's eyebrows, and he didn't even dare to move forward.