Citing poor health, Emperor Qiwen had already been hiding away resting in a separate estate for several days.

For days in a row, he had not attended court, nor received anyone at all — not even Nanmeng Ye, head of the Nanmeng clan.

Arriving at Xuanhua Hall, Nanmeng Ye could no longer contain his fury. Turning sharply, he struck out with a palm and hit a young maid who had been carefully trailing behind him.

The young maid didn’t even have time to let out a groan before she collapsed to the ground, eyes wide open, blood pouring from her seven orifices — her heart’s pulse shattered by the blow!

The sharp intakes of breath were forced back down by everyone present. The young maids and eunuchs each lowered their heads and retreated to the side, not daring to even breathe too heavily.

That young maid had done nothing wrong — truly nothing at all. She had simply, like everyone else, been carefully following behind His Lordship the Duke.

She truly had committed no error. Her only mistake was standing too close to the Duke — when he turned around, she happened to be the first thing he saw.

And simply because she was the first one he saw, for no reason at all, she was… beaten to death, just like that.

“Damned wretch!” Nanmeng Ye, still furious, wanted to strike someone else, but the remaining maids and eunuchs were all too far away — there was no satisfaction in it.

He flicked his sleeve again and snarled: “That wretch Emperor Qiwen, daring to hide away and refuse to see me! Damned wretch!”

Under all of heaven, few dared to curse His Majesty so openly — but His Lordship the Duke was certainly one of them.

Nanmeng Rong, still in the inner chamber, heard her father’s words and was so furious she nearly leapt up from her sickbed.

“Father…” she called out, her voice still very weak.

Nanmeng Ye immediately rushed into the inner chamber. Seeing her pale-faced and trying to sit up, he said urgently: “Don’t be reckless, Rong’er! Lie down properly, don’t hurt yourself any further!”

“Father, I’m so consumed with frustration I can hardly bear it!” Nanmeng Rong said through gritted teeth. “Is that wretch still refusing to see you?”

“That cowardly tortoise, hiding away in his separate estate all day long, claiming he’s unwell and refusing to see anyone! Your father here wanted to force my way in, and was actually driven out by your precious imperial son’s Imperial Guards!”

Nanmeng Ye was so enraged he nearly spat blood. If the head of those Imperial Guards hadn’t been his own grandson, who could possibly have stopped him from forcing his way in?

“Heng’er actually helped that wretch block his own grandfather! That boy really means to rebel! Has he forgotten that without his grandfather’s mighty Nanmeng clan as his backing, could he really sit securely in his position as Crown Prince?”

Naturally, Nanmeng Ye was furious at being driven out by his own grandson’s Imperial Guards, but for now he could not afford to fall out with Zhan Yuheng — after all, the boy was his own grandson.

In the future, he still hoped Zhan Yuheng would become emperor!

“Heng’er just hasn’t seen the situation clearly yet, Father. You can’t blame him — he’s simply stubborn like that, unable to tell who truly means well for him.”

Her own son, in the end, siding with an outsider against her own family — how could Nanmeng Rong’s heart not ache over this?

But he was, after all, her own son — no matter how it hurt, she had to bear it.

It was all because she was still so seriously injured that she had to stay bedridden — otherwise, once she was up and about, how could she possibly allow that spineless wretch Emperor Qiwen to treat her this way!

To actually dare issue an imperial decree to depose her as Empress — he truly had no idea what was good for him!

“Cough…”

“All right, don’t get so worked up — recover from your illness first.” Seeing his daughter cough, her complexion growing even paler, Nanmeng Ye felt a sudden pang of heartache.

“This is all that Ninth Prince’s fault! What business is it of his, forcing that wretched emperor to depose the Empress! Does he mean to formally declare war on our Nanmeng clan?”

The moment he thought of the news that had reached him — picturing the Ninth Prince raging in Emperor Qiwen’s hall, forcing him to issue the decree — the fire of fury in Nanmeng Ye’s heart burned even hotter!

“Is he relying on the seven hundred thousand troops now under his command to look down on our Nanmeng clan’s five hundred thousand Qinglong Army?”

That damned Zhan Qingcheng! Bearing the title of Prince Shezheng, yet idling about all day doing nothing proper, treating something as serious as attending court as if it were entirely optional!

What kind of Prince Shezheng could possibly behave with such arrogance?

And yet the common people of the realm actually treated him like a god, calling him the War God of Bei Mu — did he really believe himself to be a god?

Although his Longwu Army numbered, by rough estimate, at least seven hundred thousand men, and was indeed currently the largest army in all of Bei Mu, the Nanmeng clan’s own Qinglong Army numbered over five hundred thousand as well — and if joined with other forces, it might not necessarily fall short of the Longwu Army!

For Zhan Qingcheng to look down on them so utterly was simply unforgivable!

“Father, I think… this surely wasn’t A’Jiu’s intention. Perhaps it’s just a misunderstanding.” Anything else was fine to say — angry as Nanmeng Rong was right now, she would agree with whomever her father chose to curse.

But A’Jiu could not be cursed. A’Jiu… if it really was A’Jiu who had forced His Majesty to issue the decree deposing the Empress, then A’Jiu surely had some hidden reason for it.

“Father, I think it really is just a misunderstanding.”

“A misunderstanding?” Nanmeng Ye, of course, knew exactly what was on his daughter’s mind. There were things he didn’t want to say, afraid of hurting her — but how could she be so foolish?

“Rong’er, this is absolutely not a misunderstanding. The Ninth Prince stormed into Yuxiao Hall in a rage and destroyed the entire hall — there’s hardly anyone in court now who doesn’t know about it.”

To use force right in front of His Majesty — to put it bluntly, even he himself would never dare do such a thing.

Although he had always held Emperor Qiwen in contempt, after all, Emperor Qiwen still commanded several hundred thousand troops, roughly matching the Nanmeng clan’s own strength.

Toward that spineless excuse for an emperor, he at least still held some measure of caution.

But the Ninth Prince was different — he truly was so arrogant that he held no caution whatsoever, smashing whatever he pleased, destroying whatever he pleased, insolent beyond all bounds!

With so many people having witnessed it with their own eyes, how could it possibly be false?

“Go see for yourself — Yuxiao Hall is undergoing emergency repairs right now. They say the load-bearing pillars were knocked badly askew, and the entire hall nearly collapsed!”

His Majesty’s retreat to the separate estate this time was half because he wanted to avoid the Nanmeng clan, fearing they would come pressing him about the matter of deposing the Empress.

And the other half of the reason — wasn’t it simply that with Yuxiao Hall destroyed, he didn’t even have anywhere proper to stay now?

One might well ask — throughout all the dynasties of history, who had ever seen a prince so arrogant and savage?

“Rong’er, stop holding onto your illusions about him. That brat doesn’t think of you at all!”

“No, Father, he must have his reasons. I don’t believe he would really treat me this way.”

Nanmeng Rong’s feelings for Zhan Qingcheng had never once changed, and she likewise refused to believe that A’Jiu’s feelings for her could ever change.

Hadn’t he, when he was little, once held onto her and told her not to leave him?

Back then she hadn’t thought much of it, but now, every time she remembered it, she regretted it to no end.

If only she had kept little A’Jiu by her side back then — perhaps by now, she would already be his wife!

“I understand now!” Nanmeng Rong’s eyes suddenly lit up, and she said urgently: “I finally understand why he’s been acting this way!”