The Empress had been stopped by Zhan Yuheng, and she could only watch helplessly as the procession disappeared from her sight, so furious that steam practically rose from the top of her head.

“My son, I am your Imperial Mother. How dare you side with outsiders to humiliate me?”

She glared at Zhan Yuheng, both angry and heartbroken. “How could you treat me this way!”

Zhan Yuheng looked at her, and his expression gradually grew still. As he gazed upon his Imperial Mother now, he suddenly felt an overwhelming weariness in his heart — a deep, bone-deep exhaustion.

“Imperial Mother, by pursuing Ninth Imperial Uncle so relentlessly, are you not afraid of what the court officials will say? Are you not afraid of displeasing Imperial Father?”

The Empress was taken aback, not having anticipated for even a moment that her own son would say such a thing.

After a brief pause, she collected herself and said with impatience, “I seek out A’Jiu because I have important matters to discuss.”

“Imperial Mother, as a consort of the inner palace, it is already improper for you to leave the palace so frequently without permission. If you continue to pursue Ninth Imperial Uncle, your son will have no choice but to—”

“To do what?” The Empress simply did not believe that the son she had given birth to could say anything truly harsh to her.

She was certain that today, he had seen Feng Jiu’er’s true face and was feeling unsettled inside, and was simply taking it out on her.

She could be lenient with him, but she could not allow him to act without restraint.

Zhan Yuheng had truly not expected it — that his Imperial Mother, a woman of the inner palace, could pursue Ninth Imperial Uncle so openly and shamelessly, and still do so with such complete self-righteousness.

He had only been somewhat impatient earlier, but now, seeing the Empress’s utterly unrepentant expression, he was suddenly consumed by fury.

“You are my own mother, and I would naturally never do anything against you — but having an Imperial Mother who constantly harbors thoughts of betraying her husband… your son finds it deeply shameful!”

He genuinely felt humiliated. A woman who had taken a husband ought to rein in her heart and conduct herself with dignity.

He did not consider himself particularly rigid in his thinking. If a woman’s husband were absent, and she truly found someone with whom she shared a deep mutual affection, he could accept the idea of her remarrying.

But his Imperial Father was still alive, and moreover, how his Imperial Father had treated his Imperial Mother over all these years — everyone understood it perfectly well.

Because of the power and influence of the Empress’s Nanmeng clan, his Imperial Father had always treated her with the utmost respect and lavished her with affection — and yet she was openly pursuing another man.

Did his Imperial Father not know? With so many eyes and ears at his Imperial Father’s disposal, how could he not?

There were times when Zhan Yuheng felt utterly wretched on his Imperial Father’s behalf — yet he understood that his Imperial Father bore it all for the sake of the realm’s stability.

Should the various factions within the court fall into open opposition and turmoil erupt, it would be the common people who suffered.

And yet behind his Imperial Father’s forbearance — right in front of his Imperial Father’s forbearance — what was his Imperial Mother doing?

How could a woman be so… so utterly wanton and devoid of self-respect?

Zhan Yuheng’s words left the Empress completely stunned, but the reason for her shock was not that she had realized she had done anything wrong. It was rather that her son — how could he refuse to stand by her?

“I am your Imperial Mother. Surely, whatever I desire, you ought to obtain it for me?”

Since matters had already come this far, there was nothing left to conceal. “I hold command over thirty percent of Bei Mu’s military forces, and your Ninth Imperial Uncle holds another thirty. If I and your Ninth Imperial Uncle were to join together, then the two of us—”

“Insolence!” Zhan Yuheng had never imagined his Imperial Mother could descend to such shamelessness — that she would openly declare her desire to possess Ninth Imperial Uncle.

“If Imperial Mother harbors even half a thought of treason, your son will absolutely not stand by and do nothing. I will exhaust every last measure of my strength and stand alongside Imperial Father to eradicate all traitors!”

There was nothing more worth saying between them — not even half a word. This day, Zhan Yuheng had come to feel a true and complete revulsion toward his own Imperial Mother. If she were not the woman who had given birth to him, if she were merely an ordinary consort, what she had just said would have been more than enough grounds for him to execute her on the spot.