That wretched Emperor and that vile woman Feng Qingyin were conspiring to have her secretly killed?

“How dare they!” Nanmen Rong clenched her palm, no longer paying any mind to the maid still kneeling on the floor. She turned and made to storm out.

“How dare they discuss such filthy business behind this Lady’s back — just watch, this Lady will tear Feng Qingyin to pieces!”

She was going to confront Emperor Qiwen. That spineless wretch of an Emperor — how dare even he raise a blade against her? Had the world gone mad?

“My Lady, please reconsider!” The young maid chased after her in a panic. “My Lady, you have only just come out of prison. You don’t know — right now, this entire inner palace is completely under Noble Consort Qing’s dominion.”

“Noble Consort Qing is in the Emperor’s Yuxiao Palace right now. His Highness the Crown Prince left today to perform ancestral rites at the clan temple. This servant suspects this was also a deliberate arrangement by the Emperor — the Crown Prince has been away at the clan temple for these past two days, and this servant fears the Emperor does not wish him to know that you, My Lady, have been held in prison.”

“Heng’er is not in the palace?” Nanmen Rong startled, and her footsteps stopped.

No wonder that throughout her time in prison, the Crown Prince had not once inquired after her, nor come to see her. Could it truly be that wretched Emperor who deliberately sent her Heng’er away, intending to make use of this moment to have her killed?

Nanmen Rong suddenly felt a chill. She turned and fixed her gaze on the trembling maid. “If they… if they want to act, why didn’t they simply put this Lady to death inside the prison?”

“That… this servant does not know. This servant only heard them say that tonight they intend to have you quietly put to death, My Lady. The people over at Qingxiang Palace are certainly very pleased about it. As for what method they plan to use, this servant truly does not know.”

Nanmen Rong’s frown deepened. They wanted to kill her now — was it because they wanted to act while the Crown Prince was absent?

If they had killed her inside the prison, Heng’er would surely investigate when he returned.

If they killed her here, and then claimed she had been poisoned by someone, and finally found some random consort in the inner palace to serve as a scapegoat — then Emperor Qiwen, that treacherous scoundrel, and Feng Qingyin, that vile woman, could truly push every trace of guilt away until nothing remained.

Their hearts were truly vicious beyond measure!

“My Lady, this servant thinks you should return to the Nanmen Manor first. At least there is the Duke there, and he would certainly be able to keep you safe. If you stay here, this servant is afraid… this servant is afraid they will…”

Though the young maid did not dare finish her words, Nanmen Rong heard and understood perfectly.

To stay here was to be left with nothing but a path to death.

Nanmen Rong gritted her teeth and swept her sleeve. “This grudge, this Lady will never forget! Emperor Qiwen and Feng Qingyin — you two treacherous dogs — there will come a day, and this Lady swears she will tear you both into a thousand pieces!”

Back when she had been Empress Rong, her freedom to enter and leave the Imperial Palace had been absolute. The token Emperor Qiwen had given her allowed her to walk in and out of this palace with full authority — entirely unlike any other consort.

Later, when she became Noble Consort Rong, Emperor Qiwen had never taken that token back. This made it clear that his demotion of her to consort rank had been nothing more than yielding to outside pressure — in truth, he had always been wary of the Nanmen clan.

To this day, that token was still in her bedchamber. When Emperor Qiwen had thrown her into prison, he had forgotten to reclaim it.

That night, Nanmen Rong token in hand, left the Imperial Palace with ease and returned to the Nanmen Manor.

When she arrived, Nanmen Ye’s mind was still relatively clear, though he had been bedridden for the past two days. Tonight he was suffering another episode, and his complexion was visibly far worse than before.

Nanmen Ye now could only sit in a wheelchair — he could not even stand.

Nanmen Rong truly could not have imagined that her father, once a man of such formidable courage and power, could have come to look so sickly and frail.

Seeing Nanmen Ye in this state, Nanmen Rong was immediately furious. “Elder Brother, is this how you have been caring for Father? How could you let him fall so ill?”

General Nanmen Ding had already been in a foul mood when he saw her return. Hearing her place the blame on him, his expression went dark on the spot. “Father’s episode was triggered by hearing the news that you had been thrown into prison — it was out of anger that he collapsed!”

Father had been recovering somewhat these past two days. But then tonight, upon hearing the news, he became so agitated that his old illness flared up violently, and he ended up slumped in the wheelchair, unable to rise.

That he was conscious at all was a stroke of fortune within misfortune — but this troublemaking younger sister had come back and immediately began accusing everyone else, without ever considering her own role in any of it?

“I was thrown into prison — I was harmed by that wretched dog Emperor Qiwen. Is that my fault?”

The ordeal of imprisonment over these past days had reduced Nanmen Rong to a state of complete frenzy. She no longer possessed even a trace of the elegant dignity she had once carried as Empress.

Nanmen Ding looked at his younger sister — how magnificent she had once been? Now she was no better than a shrieking madwoman. He could not even bear to look at her.

Nanmen Ye, however, at the sight of his daughter’s haggard appearance, was overcome with heartache. He wanted to say something, but tonight even speaking seemed to be a struggle for him.

The slightest agitation and his breathing would grow unsteady, and he would begin to wheeze.

It was a pity that neither of his two children seemed able to see their elderly father’s suffering in this moment.

Nanmen Ding thought for a moment, then his expression suddenly darkened. “How did you get back? Were you not being held in prison? Did Heng’er release you?”

“Heng’er was deceived by that old wretch into going to the clan temple to perform ancestral rites — he is not in the palace at all.”

“Then you…” The more Nanmen Ding thought about it, the more something felt wrong.

Nanmen Rong had no reason to be afraid. She had already returned to the Nanmen Manor — what was there to fear? “That wretched Emperor let me out.”

“Then why did you suddenly come back?”

“I…” Nanmen Rong hesitated. The fact that she had nearly been secretly put to death — she did not want to say it aloud. To her, that was a humiliation.

How could she speak of such a thing in front of her elder brother, with whom she had always been locked in open and covert rivalry? She had come back to discuss things with her father — not to be interrogated by him.

“I simply heard that Father was ill and wanted to come see him.” Nanmen Rong glanced back at Nanmen Ye. Though he was slumped in his wheelchair, judging by the clarity in his eyes, he appeared to still be lucid.

She had to seize the time while Father was still lucid and press him to hand over the Nanmen clan’s military authority.

Once that authority was in her hands — the overwhelming majority of the Nanmen clan’s command — she could order all of the Nanmen clan’s soldiers.

With military power in her grasp, how could that wretched Emperor possibly dare do anything to her?

What good was Feng Qingyin’s favor to her? She had no power, no authority — what did she have to compete with her?

That spineless Emperor was still not entirely without a brain. Who was worth more to him, who could truly bring him benefit — he would know full well.

“Elder Brother, I have some private words to say to Father. Would you please step away for a moment?”

“What exactly are you trying to do?” How could Nanmen Ding not see her intentions? Private words — in all these years, when had she ever truly treated their father well?

He narrowed his eyes, his face guarded. “You… surely you’re not planning to go after the military command in Father’s hands?”