Chapter 50 Choice

Inside the Ganquan Palace, Ye Zhen’s face was pale, her lips were chapped while she was lying on the bed. If it wasn’t for the slight heaving of her chest, she looked like a corpse. The two palace maids knelt beside the bed to guard at all time, for fear that if they made a mistake, Jieyu niangniang would die.

After a while, Yong He came in with a bowl of soup medicine, and whispered, “Niangniang, wake up, it’s time to drink the medicine.”

Ye Zhen slowly woke up, her dispirited eyes unconsciously stared at the bed curtain, and it took a while to figure out when and where it was. With the help of the palace maid, she managed to sit up halfway, coughing, “Has the emperor visited This Palace today?” She was asleep for sixteen hours a day, afraid she missed that person’s arrival.

Yong He’s face darkened slightly, and she said cautiously, “Reporting to Niangniang, the emperor is busy with government affairs, and he doesn’t have any spare time. However, this servant have already sent the news that your condition is a little better. Presumably after this busy period over, the emperor should be here.”

“Really?” Ye Zhen smiled bitterly, “He won’t come when This Palace is terminally ill, and he won’t come if I gets better. Yong He, you don’t have to coax This Palace.” At this point, she waved her hand to dismiss other people, then continued, “Now finally understand the weight of This Palace in his heart. For seven years, even if you cover a stone, even if it’s not melting, you can still get a little bit of warmth. But he is good, saying that he will turn his face, he really turns his face. Indeed the monarch are ruthless. This Palace sacrificed her life to stay with him, but really don’t know if it’s right or wrong.”

“Niangniang, don’t let your imagination runs wild, it’s important to quickly raise your body !” Seeing that there was no one around, Yong He immediately took out a pale red pill from her cuff and stuffed it into her master’s palm. Ye Zhen shook it slightly, swallowed it while coughing with her head down, and then took a small sip of the soup medicine.

When the master took the antidote, Yong He whispered, “Niangniang, you are far from the point of hopelessness. The emperor has no children. If you give birth to the eldest son first, the Ye family will be able to recover. Therefore, your top priority right now is to prepare for pregnancy, when the remaining poison in your body is exhausted, this servant will prepare a few more decoctions for nourishing the womb, let you drink it every day, and in less than two months then you can conceive a child.”

After Ye Zhen drank the last sip of the soup, and said helplessly, “The emperor never touches This Palace, how can This Palace get pregnant?”

“Niangniang, you have never sleep together?” Yong He was so shocked that she almost shattered the medicine bowl. She only knew that the emperor never stayed in Ganquan Palace, but he also never stayed in other palaces. During the day, he often came, and occasionally let her retreat to talk to niangniang in the inner hall alone. As short as two to three quarters of an hour, as long as most of the day, it was impossible to do nothing, right?

Under the suspicious eyes of her confidant, Ye Zhen finally poured out the most embarrassing secret hidden in the deepest part of her heart, “This Palace and the emperor has never had a skin-to-skin relationship. Remember the day when he conferred Lord Marquis the marriage, when he patted This Palace’s arm? In seven years, it was the first time he touched This Palace.”

Yong He didn’t dare to ask any more, worried that she would not be able to hold such a huge secret. She thought that since Niangniang could successfully enter the harem and got such a high position, she should have held the emperor in the palm of her hand. But it turned out that the person had never even touched her, and the meticulous care for so many years was really because of that little life-saving grace.

The Emperor is as affectionate as rumors said, but in some respects, he is extremely cold. If you can’t get into his heart, even if you risk your life for him, all he can give is gratitude and care, not deep love. Saying that he is a benevolent and righteous man is true, saying that he has an iron heart is also true, how can you please such a person?

The more Yong He thought about it, the more she felt that the road ahead was bleak, and her face could not help but become blight. A stunning woman that made the moon hide and the flowers ashamed like niangniang, actually spent seven years and still couldn’t gain the upper hand. Who in this world can crack the emperor’s hard heart? Do they really have reflect behind closed doors forever?

In the end, it was Ye Zhen who spoke, “Help This Palace to recuperate the body first, and get rid the remaining poison as soon as possible. When This Palace is ready, there will naturally be a way to make the emperor submit. In the past, in order to give him a good impression of chastity and virtuousness, it’s inevitable that This Palace was a little more conservative and cautious, but it cannot be like that in the future. If we don’t take extreme measures, our Ganquan Palace will become a cold palace from now on. The emperor order This Palace to reflect behind closed doors, but did not say when the ban will be lifted, even the palace affairs were slowly moved to those newly promoted concubines, this is just to step on This Palace. In the end, he is different from the past, his heart is so hard.”

Glancing at Yong He, who noncommittally promised, she lowered her voice as much as possible, “Take out the treasure at the bottom of the box under the bed, and use everything that should be used in the future.”

“Yes, this servant took the time to check and inspect, and some of them haven’t been used for a long time, afraid the effectiveness will be greatly reduced. Last time, the eldest miss took a box when she entered the palace, and this servant recorded in the account.” Yong He said as she went to the bottom of the bed, and suddenly heard the sound of messy footsteps outside.

“Breaking into the inner hall without permission, do you want your life?” Yong He hurriedly out to block, but saw that the person who came was an inner attendant, who was already sweating profusely, and his face flushed red.

“Jieyu niangniang, something bad happened!” The servant knelt down and said hurriedly, “The emperor has set up a new official office today, called the Inspectorate, which is dedicated to giving criticisms and supervising hundreds of officials, with great authority, even the emperor’s words and deeds are also within the scope of impeachment, and he cannot be convicted by words. And the Emperor Teacher, who also serve as the Chief Censor of the Inspectorate, barely put on his official robe and immediately impeached Master Ye, directly recited Master Ye’s thirty-two charges, including rebellion plan, deception, bullying, great disrespect, and so on…”

“Who said the Emperor Teacher is dedicated to the public, who said the Guan family has a clean and honest style! He is blatantly declaring his personal vendetta! Did the emperor really listen to his false accusation?” Ye Zhen flew into a rage and stood up in anger, but because she was still weak, she fell back instantly.

The inner attendant swallowed a mouthful of saliva and said in a trembling voice, “Niangniang, this servant has not finished speaking yet. After he finished impeaching Master Ye, he then impeached the emperor for nepotism and not cultivating the inner palace, causing foreign relatives to make chaos in the court, colluding with his ministers and close attendants, and endangering the Holy’s life and face. Now the emperor has made a confession of guilt, he will copy the ancestral instructions a hundred times in the imperial study as a punishment…”

Before he could finish speaking, Ye Zhen had already paralyzed as soft as mud, full of despair. The Emperor Teacher first impeached the Ye family, making people think that he had selfish desires, and then he impeached the emperor, which immediately brought a big reversal, giving people the impression that he was not afraid of power and was actually selfless. If the emperor did not want to abolish the so-called Inspectorate on the first day, he would strictly investigate the Ye family and strictly punish her father.

What  benevolent family, their heart is more poisonous than snakes and scorpions! This Palace just pressed Guan Suyi’s face a little, but they make a killing move as soon as they strike, and they wouldn’t leave anyone behind! Ye Zhen almost crushed a mouthful of silver teethextreme anger, only to feel her throat was blocked, and immediately spurted out a mouthful of black and red blood.

Yong He and the others had already lost their soul, and they were stunned for a long time before they rushed up and shouted niangniang.

After taking a few breaths, Ye Zhen said reluctantly, “Since the emperor has already confessed his guilt, then my Ye family will not be able to escape this disaster? What are the punishments for the thirty-two charges?”

The inner attendant choked and said, “A single conspiracy to rebel is a capital crime of confiscating possessions and extermination of the entire clan, not to mention multiple crimes being punished at the same time. Now Master Ye and all the people involved in the case have been taken into custody and awaiting trial. The Ye Mansion is in chaos, the servants are running and scattered, in a while it will collapse and fall apart. When this servant came, Madam Ye was still kneeling at the gate of the palace, also don’t know if anyone would take care of her.”

“Confiscating possessions and extermination of the entire clan…” Ye Zhen repeatedly chewed these few words, and another mouthful of blood spurted out, desperately shouting, “Go find the emperor! Go find the emperor now! Just say it’s for the life-saving grace, let him spare the Ye family one last time! The Ye family will no longer dare, and This Palace will no longer dare, this will definitely be the last time!”

The inner attendant did not dare to delay, and hurried out. After receiving the news, Emperor Sheng Yuan hesitated for a moment, but he still entered the Ganquan Palace. The two of them, one was lying breathlessly inside the bed canopy, and the other was sitting outside with a cold face and solemn look, no one speak for a while.

“I heard that this is the last time?” Emperor Sheng Yuan first asked the imperial doctor to diagnose Ye Zhen’s pulse and prescribed a decoction to strengthen the heart and calm the mind. After she finished drinking, and the effect of the medicine came up, he then slowly said, “Time and time again, Zhen no longer remember how many times.”

“Your Majesty, this is really the last time. I will exchange the life-saving grace for your forgiveness of the Ye family. From now on, can we consider the debt between us as clear?” Ye Zhen’s eyes were hazy with tears, and her tone was full of grieve. She never expected that sending a tree of coral would lead herself to such a miserable situation. Guan family really has some terrifying methods!

“Back then, he funded Second Prince’s rebellion, hoping to win the dragon’s merits. This rebellion can be worth 7 to 8 point out 10 of the grace. In recent years, he didn’t know how to restrain himself, but instead spent a lot of money to buy close attendant around Zhen, bribing key civil and military officials, and up to no good. This crime of forming a party for personal interest can be worth one or two point of the grace, and the remaining point of the grace is not enough to balance for your spying on the emperor’s trail, so how can you save the entire Ye family?”

Spying on the Emperor’s trail? Hearing this, Ye Zhen’s liver and gallbladder were about to be broken, completely terrified. It turned out that the emperor knew everything, but he didn’t want to break the facade. If it wasn’t for Ye Fan, she would not have suppressed Guan Suyi. If she had not suppressed Guan Suyi, the Ye family would not have provoked the Guan family. And they could maintain the illusion of a deep relationship between husband and wife.

Even if she was just pretending for a lifetime, even if the truth was cruel and unbearable, it would be thousands of times better than the current situation! If the Ye family was slaughtered, how could she, Ye Zhen, have any chance of surviving? Not to mention the empress dowager, the grand princess, and the eldest princess who hated her to the bone, even those low-ranking concubines would united to kill her.

If she hadn’t squandered those grace, she might have lived to old age in peace, buried with the imperial consort’s ceremony when she died, and enjoyed the whole nation’s mourning. How noble and beautiful? But now, her life and death, the life and death of the entire Ye’s clan, were all between the Emperor Teacher’s mouth, and even more between the Emperor’s thoughts.

Ye Zhen had never feel so regretful, and had never been so desperate. Only then did she finally understand that not everyone could be at her mercy, not everyone let her trample on them. Her power was far from being able to cover the sky with one hand.

Now, she couldn’t do anything except stare at the emperor with mournful and hopeful eyes, and she couldn’t even spit out a single word of defense.

Emperor Sheng Yuan considered for a moment, then said word by word, “I will give you one last chance. Save Ye Quanyong, everything you have will be lost. Save yourself, Ye Quanyong will surely die. What will you choose?” He wanted to see, what the real Ye Zhen really looked like?

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