Who understands? The aloof female ruler always flirts without even realizing it.

Shen Yan made this special trip not simply to have a good argument, or to spew those two mouthfuls of humiliating pastries and tea.

His purpose was clear and ruthless.

Knocking on the mountain to frighten the tiger, forcing the snake out of its hole.

The father and son, harboring ulterior motives, need to understand clearly that their supposedly secret dealings have been exposed. A tremendous sense of crisis will gnaw at their reason like a leech.

Only by getting the opponent to make the first move and expose more weaknesses can he find the most suitable opportunity to deliver a fatal blow.

After all, even with evidence in hand, to thoroughly punish a prince and his concubine, one still needs to consider the face of the royal family and the little remaining father-son affection the emperor has left.

Sure enough, no sooner had Shen Yan and his partner, who had just woken up from their afternoon nap, left the palace than Dei and Anvishi hurriedly requested an audience with the old emperor.

They deliberately maintained the appearance of being in a sorry state after being bullied by Shen Yan.

Especially Dei, whose eyes were slightly red and whose hair was a little messy. Although her clothes had been cleaned, there were still unnatural wrinkles and wet marks.

After all, he was the male insect he had followed for decades, and he still harbored some secret expectations.

They knelt before the emperor, weeping and wailing as they recounted Shen Yan's vulgarity, rudeness, arrogance, and how he had trespassed into their bedchamber and humiliated them with filth.

The words were full of embellishment, portraying Shen Yan as a male prodigy who was arrogant and disregarded even basic royal etiquette.

Of course, one cannot expect the emperor to severely punish a noble male insect for this.

He simply wanted to plant a thorn in the other party's heart, to make His Majesty's impression of Shen Yan and Kalandall worse.

It would be good if it could diminish some of the favoritism stemming from the imperial heir.

However, the two insects misjudged the situation and overestimated their importance in the emperor's heart.

Sario sat high on his throne, listening to the tearful accusations below. Instead of the expected sympathy or anger, his face showed obvious impatience.

He had just comforted the "terrified" and "pitiful" young couple that morning, and his mood was in a subtle period of pleasure because of his anticipation for the future male offspring.

In the afternoon, this concubine, who had long fallen out of favor and was also a troublesome character, came with the prince, crying and sobbing. In his eyes, this was nothing short of an inconsiderate disturbance.

That's enough.

Sario interrupted Dei's tearful statement with a detached, authoritative voice, carrying the weight of someone long accustomed to a superior position.

"Shen Yan is a bit straightforward, but he would never cause trouble."

His gaze slowly swept over Dei's still beautiful face, as if it could penetrate his carefully maintained disguise and reach the deepest darkness in his heart.

Or perhaps...

The voice suddenly turned cold, carrying a chilling reminder.

"Have you forgotten what happened a while ago that led to your confinement in your bedchamber, forbidding you from leaving?"

These words were like a thunderclap, exploding in the female insect's ears.

How could he possibly forget?!

Not long ago, when His Majesty learned of the existence of Kalandall and confirmed that she was carrying the imperial heir, his obvious ecstasy and importance almost burned his eyes.

What followed was an in-depth investigation into Karandal's past.

Stripped of his rank, beaten, abused, had his wings cut off...

The tragic experiences of the female soldiers, which had been deliberately forgotten, were uncovered and revealed to be entirely the work of De Yi, enraging the old emperor.

Although he did not publicly punish Dei to save face for the royal family, Salio did not hesitate to order Dei to be placed under house arrest.

Furthermore, he was stripped of all rights to participate in court affairs, and the female insect vividly remembers the torment and humiliation of that period.

When the emperor brought it up to him in person, De Yi felt as if his blood had frozen instantly, his face turned deathly pale, and even his lips lost their color.

He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. All the prepared accusations and complaints seemed so pale and ridiculous in the face of this piercing question.

Seeing his expression, the last shred of patience in the emperor's eyes vanished, and his tone became firm and unquestionable:

"If you don't provoke Shen Yan, why would he cause you trouble for no reason?"

"Kalandall is now pregnant with the royal heir and cannot withstand the slightest stimulation. It's normal for the male to be a little nervous."

"You guys just need to behave yourselves."

Those few words, spoken lightly, were like a bucket of water mixed with ice shards, poured over Dei and Anvis's heads, chilling them to the bone.

Especially the phrase "behave yourself and keep to your own business," every word of which felt like a heavy shackle, filled with an undeniable warning and disdain.

The female insect froze instantly, a chill shooting from the soles of her feet to the top of her head. It felt as if an invisible hand was gripping her heart tightly, the pain making it almost impossible for her to breathe.

She stared incredulously at the insect on the throne, at the emperor who had once doted on her, now whose eyes held only indifference and disgust.

He finally realized with absolute clarity that he had completely lost the emperor's favor.

In His Majesty's heart, he and the child he bore for him are not as important as the unborn insect in Kalandar's belly!

A tremendous sense of disappointment and icy despair overwhelmed my heart.

But then, from the depths of that despair, a twisted, ruthless light suddenly shot up.

He lowered his head, concealing the turbulent emotions in his eyes, and grabbed Anvis's sleeve, who was still trying to argue, with such force that it almost tore the fabric apart.

"...Your Majesty is right; we were rash."

Dei's voice was unusually calm, carrying a kind of indifference born of a dead heart:

"We'll take our leave now."

On his way back to his palace, Anvishi's face was ashen, his lips trembled, and he wanted to complain about his father's favoritism.

"Father! How could Father...?"

"Shut up!"

Dei interrupted him sharply, his voice low but carrying a chilling, poisonous edge.

He stopped and turned to look at his son, on whom he had placed high hopes but who had repeatedly failed, his eyes cold and sharp:

"Haven't you seen it clearly yet?"

"We can't rely on anyone else; we can only rely on ourselves! His Majesty's heart is now only set on that unborn bastard!"

The last trace of hesitation and dependence in his eyes vanished completely, replaced by an almost insane resolve.

"Since he doesn't care about us, father and son, then we'll take matters into our own hands and take back what rightfully belongs to you!"

……

On the other side, the hovercar that Shen Yan and Karandal were riding smoothly returned to the villa and slowly landed in the courtyard.

As soon as they opened the door, 001 flew over with its blue indicator light flashing, enthusiastically circling around them and cheerfully saying:

"Master insect! Master insect! You're back~"

"Lieutenant General Locke came by this afternoon, but seeing you weren't home, he left after a short while!"

As Shen Yan bent down to help Karandel put on comfortable slippers, he casually asked:

"Oh? Locke's here? Did he say anything?"

"Yes, yes! Lieutenant General Locke instructed me to make sure to convey this to the Master Insect."

"He followed the trail of the out-of-control cargo hovercraft and found that the vehicle belonged to a subsidiary controlled by the Dey Queen family and was a registered freight vehicle."

"But strangely, according to the company's internal dispatch records, on the day of the incident, it should have been parked in the spare garage in the west of the city for routine maintenance, and there were no transportation tasks assigned to it!"

The electronic voice of 001 paused, then spoke in a serious tone:

"The lieutenant general stated that he could not investigate any further at this point because it involved the royal family, and without His Majesty's order or authorization from a higher authority, he had no right to continue."

"At present, we can only roughly confirm this outline."

Upon hearing this, Shen Yan showed no surprise, as he already knew who the mastermind was.

He straightened up and casually flicked the smooth fuselage of 001, which was swaying slightly in the air, producing a crisp sound.

"Alright, I got it, go play somewhere else."