Donggong Zhangjiao

"Fell asleep?"

Pei Yao walked to the bed and sat down, looking at Fang Yun who was lying on his side with his head propped up, he said softly.

Hearing the sound, Fang Yun half-opened his eyes, his eyes filled with tiredness.

"I'm tired. I'm waiting for the Emperor."

"If you're sleepy, go to sleep first and wait for me to do something." Pei Yao's tone was particularly gentle.

He opened the quilt and lay down, holding the person in his arms.

Fang Yun moved in his arms, found a comfortable position to lie down, and then said in a low voice.

"I feel uneasy."

She no longer called herself a concubine here. When Pei Yao heard that this was against the rules, he hugged her tighter.

To no longer call herself a concubine is to abandon the etiquette of a monarch and a minister, which means that it is only between husband and wife.

At this time, Fang Yun seemed particularly fragile.

Pei Yao lowered his head and could see the ugly bloody scab on her chin, which naturally affected her beauty, but now Pei Yao only felt distressed.

Because he remembered how delicate and beautiful the woman in his arms used to be, but now she was hurt like this.

"As long as I'm here, there's no need to worry. I've already asked Dr. Zeng today, and he said that Ji'er's body is fine now. The child is obedient and willing to take the medicine well. It's not difficult for the doctor to handle it, and there's this little one in your belly. Yes, the imperial doctor also said that your pulse condition is much more stable today, and if you take good care of yourself in the future, nothing will happen to you and your child."

Pei Yao gently stroked the back of the woman in his arms and comforted her softly.

Fang Yun nodded slightly, and then whispered again.

"The emperor stayed at Yuzhang Palace for the night yesterday and is here again tonight. I am afraid that the Queen will be unhappy. I really don't dare to offend anyone anymore."

"It'll be okay. I'm here to come. You are pregnant now and injured. The fetus is unstable and Ji'er is also sick. If I don't come to accompany you mother and son, I will only have trouble sleeping at night. Queen There, I can tell you, don’t think too much about it, it’s not good for your health.”

Pei Yao spoke without hesitation, his tone full of protection.

After hearing this, Fang Yun raised his eyes and looked at him and said, "I'm really scared. The emperor will no longer protect me like this. The wound on my chin is very deep. I'm afraid it will leave scars. It was disfigured in the past." ”

"Nonsense, I will use the best wound medicine for you, and there will be no scars." Pei Yao kissed her forehead, "Besides, I am not a superficial person, so how can I care about your appearance? It’s genuine.”

When he said this, Fang Yun's eyes suddenly filled with tears, his eyes turned red for a moment, and the corners of his lips curled up.

"I believe in your Majesty."

Although she had a smile on her face when she said this, her tearful eyes still concealed vulnerability and uneasiness. It seemed that she said this just to reassure Pei Yao and not be embarrassed.

Feeling these emotions, Pei Yao felt increasingly distressed and guilty.

But he didn't say anything more. He just patted Fang Yun on the back and coaxed her to sleep.

After all, no matter how much you talk, it’s better to actually do it.

The next day, when Pei Yao got up to go to the court, Xu Hanlin took off his official hat and uniform and knelt in the Jinluan Hall.

He cried bitterly and claimed that he had not taught his daughter well and allowed her to do such a rebellious thing in the harem. He said that he was no longer worthy of being an official and asked to resign. However, he had one request. He hoped that Pei Yao could return Xu Lingyi's body to Xu. family, allowing him to be buried.

Xu Lingyi's father was really not that old. It was not easy for him to reach the official position of head of the Hanlin Academy in the court.

Logically speaking, if a concubine commits a capital crime, her family will be implicated, but because this incident has nothing to do with the Xu family, and the Xu family has served the court a lot over the years, Pei Yao has never taken the initiative to have an attack.

But this doesn't mean that he won't take action, it's just that he is waiting for Xu's family to take the initiative, or he wants to find another reason.

In Beijing's officialdom for so many years, no high-ranking official is completely innocent. If we insist on investigating, we will find out something.

Obviously, Xu Hanlin was smarter than his daughter and took the initiative to resign. He is now the backbone of the Xu family. Although his two sons are also in the court, they have not yet held important positions. After he resigned, the Xu family has almost no power in the court. This is a sign of submission and submission to the imperial power. Lower your head.

After all, the person Xu Lingyi wanted to kill was the prince. Xu Lingyi could easily lose his life alone. The prince's life was too worthless.

This damages the prestige of the royal family.

Xu Hanlin took the initiative to stand up in order to show his knowledge and make Pei Yao less angry. At least this way he could save the family and leave a foundation.

As Fang Yun said, in ten or twenty years, or even longer, the descendants of the Xu family will still have the opportunity to revive their family.

Pei Yao naturally agreed.

This is also a way for him to leave himself some leeway so as not to appear too violent.

So on the morning of the second day of the Lunar New Year, Xu Hanlin resigned from office, took his daughter's body, took his wife and old mother, and set off directly back to his hometown, leaving only his two sons who were still serving in the court in Kyoto.

However, it was not easy for the two sons, who even had to find another place to live.

Because the Hanlin Mansion they lived in before was a mansion awarded by the court.

In other words, the Xu family has saved quite a lot over the years and will not be in despair.

But this situation is still completely incomparable to before. The two sons can't help but resent Xu Lingyi, their sister, and regret that they didn't stop their parents from doting on their sister, and followed her sister's wishes and asked her to enter the palace.

But the matter has come to this, no matter how much regret I have, I can only swallow it in my stomach.

This New Year, the Xu family is destined to have an unstable life.

And on the sixth day of the lunar month, when the heavy New Year rituals were finally over and the queen wanted to take a break, it was her turn.

"Your Majesty, the Emperor invites you to go to Jingqian Palace. Please follow this servant."

Hong Zheng personally came to Fengxuan Palace to convey the message.

The queen frowned, "Why did the emperor ask me to come over?"

"I can't say anything more, my Majesty, please leave now." Hong Zheng did not reveal anything.

Although he still behaved respectfully, the Queen had a bad feeling in her heart.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to change clothes, I thought about it carefully, but I didn't realize there was anything wrong, so I had to bite the bullet and go ahead.

When she entered Jingqian Palace and saw Fang Yun sitting next to her, her bad feeling became aggravated again.

Especially Fang Yun only glanced at her and then looked away without saying hello to her.

But at this time, she didn't care to pick a thorn in Fang Yun's etiquette, so she had to bow to Pei Yao with all her heart in mind.

"I, my concubine, see you, Your Majesty."

"Now that the queen is here, I won't have much to say. I'll ask you one last time why Mrs. Xu hates Concubine Zhao so much that she even wants to burn the fourth prince to vent her anger."

Pei Yao sat on the main seat with a gloomy expression.

Suddenly being asked this question, the queen couldn't help but tighten her hand holding the handkerchief, her eyes flickered slightly, and then she said.

"Why is the emperor asking this concubine like this? Although I take good care of the Xu family because of the marriage between the Lu family and the Xu family, I dare to swear to God that I will never know about the Xu family's murder of the fourth prince."

"Since the Queen refuses to say anything and talks about him, I have nothing to say."

Pei Yao interrupted him coldly, "Hong Zheng, bring the people up!"