With a warehouse full of supplies, I stood alone as king in this chaotic world, gun in hand.

"Aaaaah..." The Empress Dowager screamed like a pig being slaughtered as she was beaten. "You vile woman... Stop! How dare you hit me..."

"I'm going to beat you up, you troublemaking old hag!" Nangong Wu gritted her teeth. If she could still kill her, she would have chopped her up and fed her to the dogs.

Those standing around felt extremely relieved.

Only when the Empress Dowager was beaten until her mouth and nose were bleeding and her screams grew weaker and weaker did the Prime Minister come forward to persuade her to stop.

"Your Highness, the Empress Dowager cannot be harmed."

"Hmph! Then let her live a couple more days." Nangong Wu left the Empress Dowager behind, still not satisfied with her actions, and kicked her again.

She got up and saw the imperial physician bandaging her father's wounds, with Li Shuang also taking care of him.

"Li Shuang, take your father back to the palace first and let Feng Wushang take care of him."

She gave Feng Wushang some medicine for his injuries, which was much better than the imperial physician's medicine, and told him to go back to the palace to treat his injuries.

Li Shuang replied, "Understood."

Nangong Wu went to see Emperor Mingde again. He was in very bad condition and had lost a lot of weight.

"Ru Ning." Emperor Mingde took her hand. "Investigate the Eighth Prince's mother, Consort Ji."

"I understand." Nangong Wu nodded to him. "Someone, go and invite Consort Ji over."

Nangong Xun's faction has been eliminated, and the Empress Dowager is imprisoned in Shouning Palace, but she is still able to contact people outside and even seek help from these foreigners, which shows that she still has people in the palace.

The fact that the Empress Dowager specifically requested that the Eighth Prince be made emperor inevitably raises suspicions.

"Your Majesty, why don't we go to the Imperial Study to talk?" the Prime Minister said to Emperor Mingde.

There are still corpses in the Zichen Hall, so let's go to the Imperial Study to discuss matters.

"No." Emperor Mingde shook his head weakly. "Right here, Eunuch Hu, help me inside."

Eunuch Hu's eyes had already turned red. Upon hearing his words, he and a eunuch helped him up and escorted him into the main hall.

Seeing the chaotic scene, the Prime Minister ordered several senior officials and Nangong Yi to stay behind, while the rest of the palace went out to recuperate.

The Imperial Guards carried the bodies out, and several eunuchs wiped the blood off the floor with cloth, but the hall was still filled with a strong smell of blood.

"Let's stop wiping for now." Nangong Wu dismissed the eunuchs.

The commander personally dragged the Empress Dowager in and threw her to the ground.

The Empress Dowager was beaten black and blue, but she remained arrogant, her curses mumbled indistinctly, "You dog slaves, how dare you treat me like this?"

Emperor Mingde leaned back on the dragon throne and beckoned to Nangong Wu, "Runing, come here."

Nangong Wu had no choice but to step forward, kneel before him, take his hand, and check his pulse. "Uncle, how are you feeling?"

"You saved my life again," Emperor Mingde sighed.

Standing below the imperial steps, Nangong Yi saw how much Emperor Mingde valued Nangong Wu, and how the two seemed more like father and daughter than he, his own son. His fists clenched tightly again.

Soon, Consort Ji was brought by the Imperial Guards, holding the Eighth Prince's hand.

Nangong Wu looked at this Consort Ji. She was gentle and frail, with a graceful appearance and above-average looks.

When Consort Ji saw the Empress Dowager slumped on the ground, a hint of panic flashed in her eyes. She then lowered her head, led the Eighth Prince to the imperial steps, knelt down, and spoke softly.

"Your Majesty, I have come to pay my respects."

"Your subject pays respects to Your Majesty." The Eighth Prince also performed a proper bow.

With the help of Eunuch Hu, Emperor Mingde sat up straight and looked at the mother and son kneeling below the imperial steps.

His health had been poor for the past few months, but his gaze remained sharp, exuding an aura of imperial dominance and majesty.

After a while without hearing Emperor Mingde speak, Consort Ji unconsciously clenched her handkerchief and looked at her son kneeling beside her.

"Eighth Prince, haven't you always been worried about your father's health? Now that your father is here, go and see him!"

"Yes." Nangong Xuan stood up and wanted to walk towards the steps, but when he saw Emperor Mingde's sharp gaze, he couldn't help but tremble and dared not take another step forward.

Consort Ji's expression changed slightly. "Eighth Prince, what's wrong?"

The Eighth Prince is His Majesty's youngest son. In the past, whenever Emperor Mingde saw him, he would call him to his side and reward him with gifts. People thought that His Majesty's son was special to him. What happened this time?

"Consort Ji, are you aware that the Empress Dowager intends to depose me and allow your son to inherit the throne?" Emperor Mingde's majestic voice rang out.

Consort Ji's expression changed drastically, and she hurriedly kowtowed deeply, "Your Majesty, I knew nothing about this matter."

"You don't know? You're completely unaware?" Emperor Mingde's voice carried a hint of suppressed anger.

"Today, in front of the entire court, the Empress Dowager declared her intention to depose me and install your son as the new emperor. Do you dare claim you were unaware of this?"

"Your Majesty, I am innocent!" Consort Ji pressed her forehead against the gold brick on the ground.

(Gold bricks are not made of real gold, but of a rare clay containing colloidal substances, which is fired through dozens of processes and is as expensive as gold.)

"If the Empress Dowager really said that, then it must have been her own idea, and it has nothing to do with me."

Since I entered the palace, I have always been obedient and dutiful, teaching the Eighth Prince and never coveting anything that does not belong to me.

"Uncle Emperor." Nangong Wu shook her head slightly at Emperor Mingde. "Since Consort Ji says there is no such thing, we will investigate this matter later. First, let's remove the Gu worm from your body."

"Remove the Gu worms?" Emperor Mingde looked at her in surprise. "You mean you've already prepared the antidote?"

"You'll find out soon enough." Nangong Wu called out to the entrance of the main hall, "Xiao Lin, bring the person up."

Bei Chenyan led the leader into the main hall.

The Empress Dowager and Consort Ji were both shocked when they saw this person enter.

Consort Ji lowered her head again, concealing the panic in her eyes.

The leader walked up to the imperial platform and knelt down devoutly before Emperor Mingde.

"Ru Ning, this..." Emperor Mingde looked at Nangong Wu again.

"It was he who gave the Empress Dowager the Gu worms," ​​Nangong Wu said to him. "The medicine I found hasn't arrived yet. Have him lure out the Gu worms for you first, or kill him!"

The leader hurriedly said, "Don't kill me, I'm sure I can lure out the Gu worms."

Then he took out a small porcelain bottle from his bosom, untied the cap, and placed the bottle mouth under Emperor Mingde's nose.

Nangong Wu sniffed and smelled the scent of bewitching grass.

I thought he knew some kind of evil magic, but it turns out he just uses bewitching grass to lure Gu worms.

A while later, Emperor Mingde felt something crawling inside his body, starting from his heart and slowly climbing upwards, making him feel itchy.

"Achoo! Achoo..." Emperor Mingde sneezed several times in a row.

The leader quickly removed the bottle.

Then Emperor Mingde sneezed a few more times, finally expelling a small black insect.

The black insect was sprayed onto the ground. It was entirely black and slender. As soon as it landed, it struggled violently and looked extremely fierce.

Nangong Wu quickly took out a small glass bottle and put the Gu worms away.