Since Yong Yaxuan had obtained the evidence of the two concubines' confessions, he handled this case very efficiently.
Before long, the two concubines were bestowed death for the crime of deceiving the emperor. The poisoned wine was personally brewed by Ji Feiyu, colorless, odorless, and painless, a special display of her kind - heartedness in front of Yong Yaxuan.
Suddenly, among the three concubines in the palace, only Concubine Ru remained. Meanwhile, the rumor that "the empress' soul had returned and demanded the emperor to appoint a new empress" spread throughout the palace, and the storm in the palace rose again. When Yong Yaxuan announced that he would appoint Shuang Hua as the empress five days later, Concubine Ru voluntarily requested to go to the Taiqing Palace to burn incense and pray with the empress dowager for the fortune of the Great Yong. Finally, the affairs in the harem came to a temporary end.
Later, Ji Feiyu asked Yong Yaxuan why he had suddenly rushed into her palace that day. Yong Yaxuan claimed it was just a coincidence.
Ji Feiyu didn't believe his words. She firmly believed that he must have been curious about how she pretended to be a ghost, so he sent someone to follow her and then secretly watched the whole process of her scaring the three concubines.
Yong Yaxuan just smiled at her speculation and only said that he didn't care about the process but only the result.
Ji Feiyu sneered at him and then punished him by not allowing him to touch her before the coronation of the empress. Her reason was that for the matters between husband and wife in the bedroom, only the result of "I am already yours" was needed. Who cared about the process?
Because of this, Yong Yaxuan cried for three days and three nights.
It was not until a long time later that Ji Feiyu found a letter in his room, which finally revealed the truth. It was written by Shuang Hua to them, but he had hidden it.
In the letter, Shuang Hua said that it had taken her a long time to gather the courage to write this letter. She wanted to apologize for inserting herself between them. She said that if she had known earlier that Xia Ling was actually Ji Feiyu, she would never have been so foolish as to be deceived into confessing her love to the emperor of Yong in the Great Yong. She said that she had only discovered that Aunt Xia Ling had married in her place without knowing the truth. After learning the truth, she actually wanted to exchange with her and explain everything to Emperor Yong herself. But unfortunately, when she went, she happened to encounter Bai Xiaofeng's attempt to rob the bride, so she was so scared that she ran away. She apologized to her aunt again. She said that she hoped her aunt wouldn't blame Emperor Yong for agreeing to marry her, and also hoped that Emperor Yong would seize the opportunity and never let go of her aunt's hand again.
At that time, Ji Feiyu specifically checked the date at the end of the letter. Then she recalled the date of her second coronation as the empress and calculated the time it took for the letter to be delivered from the Northern Cold to the Great Yong. She was sure that this letter had been received before she pretended to be a ghost.
Later, she took the letter to see Yong Yaxuan. Yong Yaxuan looked extremely helpless. He stared at her for a long time and then said with a bitter smile, "My dear consort, you really never give up."
Ji Feiyu pretended to be nonchalant and spread her hands. "I really found it by accident."
Only then did Yong Yaxuan tell her that he had received the letter not long after he learned that she was going to pretend to be a ghost. At that time, he couldn't believe it, so he decided to find out the truth when she was pretending to be a ghost...
In fact, after receiving the reply from Liu Yun, Yong Yaxuan had struggled for a long time. Finally, he didn't open the letter from Liu Yun but directly asked someone to give it to Ji Feiyu. That letter was written by the grand tutor to Ji Feiyu. The general meaning was that since she had decided to stay, she should just be herself. Everything in Liu Yun was fine, and he would choose a suitable heir from the royal family. She could rest assured.
Not long after the letter from Liu Yun arrived, Shuang Hua's letter came. Since it was marked "For Emperor Yong's eyes only", Yong Yaxuan opened it himself. As a result, what did he see? A shocking secret! He was so excited that he wanted to go to Ji Feiyu immediately to confirm the truth, but just then he happened to see Ji Feiyu pretending to be a ghost.
Ji Feiyu looked deeply into his eyes, sighed helplessly, and lamented that in this life, she had married a heart - less wolf and had no one to blame.
At that time, he put his arm around Ji Feiyu with a big smile and said that she was the best. But at night, he was once again rejected by her and cried bitterly in front of the gate of Qiwu Palace.
Of course, all these were things to come...
Three days before the coronation of the empress. Ji Feiyu paced back and forth in Shuang Hua's palace for a long time. Finally, she decided to apologize to the empress dowager.
The empress dowager was old and couldn't stand the shock. So Ji Feiyu met the empress dowager in Shuang Hua's identity and accompanied her to burn incense and kneel in front of the Buddha for a long time before clarifying the truth.
After using a few things as a buffer, when she took off her veil, she was afraid that the empress dowager would faint when she saw the culprit who had hurt her son. Who would have thought that when the old lady saw an old acquaintance, she hugged her and cried with snot and tears.
Ji Feiyu was instantly shocked. After taking a deep breath to calm her rapidly beating heart, she accompanied the old lady in wiping away her tears.
The empress dowager told Ji Feiyu what had happened in the palace in the four years when she was away. Ji Feiyu also told the empress dowager about her longing for the old lady and her guilt towards her son in these four years.
Later, the empress dowager told Ji Feiyu about her first impression of her.
She said, "Feiyu, do you know? When I first saw you, I really didn't like you! Your appearance was too dazzling, and your status was too ordinary. I thought you were a seductress who deliberately seduced my son for the sake of your family's status. So when my son said he wanted to appoint you as the empress, I strongly opposed it and tried my best to stop a group of people from attending your coronation ceremony. At that time, people in the palace all spread the rumor that you were bewitching the emperor. Almost every day, concubines would come to me to cry. At that time, I thought that one day I must teach you a good lesson, but I never thought..."
"Never thought you would be 'taught' by your daughter - in - law, right..." Ji Feiyu replied with a suppressed smile. Thinking of those years, it was really a turbulent time.
"Yes, at that time, my rheumatism that I had suffered from for many years flared up. I was in so much pain that I couldn't sleep every day. It was you who said that the place where I originally lived was too damp and suggested that I move. It was also you who said that you would prepare a certain prescription to make me feel less painful on rainy days. Later, after getting along with you more, I found that you were actually a pretty good girl."
Ji Feiyu joked, "Mother, you taught me a lot at that time. Most of the grievances I suffered in the palace came from you. At that time, I was so worried. Why was it so difficult to be a daughter - in - law?"
The empress dowager couldn't help laughing. She took a string of Buddhist beads from her hand and put them on Ji Feiyu's hand. "Later, when you led the traitors into the palace, I really hated you to death. But after hearing the whole story, I couldn't help but sigh for you. Sometimes, you are really too much like my son. You are both too proud to let go of your pride, which finally led to the separation. At that time, I advised my son for a long time to bring you back, but he always said that freedom was the best destination for you and that as long as he knew you were living well, it was enough. At that time, I felt so heart - broken looking at his haggard back. But he just refused to treat his eyes properly. Later, it was the eighteenth prince who came to comfort me every day that helped me get through that most difficult time."
Looking back on the past, Ji Feiyu also had many feelings. But she didn't want to dwell on it too much, so she turned the topic to the eighteenth prince. "The eighteenth prince has grown up and can handle things independently. In the future, mother won't have to worry about such things anymore."
The empress dowager nodded and sighed. "Speaking of the eighteenth prince, you'd better go and see him..."
"What's wrong with him?"