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

Nangong Wu and Beichen Yan arrived at the Emerald Courtyard and saw Huo Jing sitting in a wheelchair, playing chess alone with his left and right hands.

Playing chess alone must mean you're having a really boring time.

Upon seeing them enter, Huo Jing beckoned to Bei Chenyan, "Xiao Lin, come and play a game with me."

"Okay." Bei Chenyan sat down opposite him in the chair, holding the child.

But as soon as he sat down, Nangong Xi in his arms started to huff and puff.

"Let me hold her." Nangong Wu took the child from her.

Huo Jing smelled the Seven-Colored Lotus and its fragrance, and asked in confusion, "Wuwu, you all came in smelling of Seven-Colored Lotus. Did you make sachets from the remaining Seven-Colored Lotus?"

"No." Nangong Wu shook her head, looking at her daughter in her arms. She was also puzzled by the matter. "Ever since Xi'er took the medicine made from the Seven-Colored Lotus, she has had this fragrance on her body. I don't know why."

At first, she and Granny Feng both thought that the medicine had accidentally dripped onto the child's clothes while they were feeding him the medicine.

But the medicine has been finished for several days, and the child is bathed and dressed every day, yet the child still smells nice.

"Is that so!" Huo Jing was very surprised. "This Seven-Colored Lotus is truly magical. Eating it can actually make one's body emit a fragrance."

"It's not appropriate to talk about Xi'er eating the Seven-Colored Lotus." Bei Chenyan felt this was not a good thing:

"Even Feng Wushang said that the Seven-Colored Lotus has the effect of bringing the dead back to life. Although that's a bit of an exaggeration, it does have miraculous effects and is a rare and precious medicinal material."

After Xi'er took the medicine made from the Seven-Colored Lotus, although nothing has been observed yet, she no longer cries in the middle of the night. Based on this alone, ordinary rare medicinal materials cannot compare.

If outsiders find out that we obtained the Seven-Colored Lotus, and that Xi'er not only recovered from her illness after consuming it but also emitted a pleasant fragrance, it will surely bring unnecessary trouble to her.

Upon hearing his words, both Huo Jing and Nangong Wu's expressions turned sour.

"When you were picking the Seven-Colored Lotus, the people from Changyang Temple came to rob you. It's probably impossible to keep it a secret now," Huo Jing said in a cold voice.

"Father, rest assured, only a few of us know about Xi'er eating the Seven-Colored Lotus. No outsiders will know." Nangong Wu thought of outsiders. She remembered that she had mentioned the Seven-Colored Lotus to Emperor Mingde. As an emperor, he should not reveal this matter.

Just then, Li Zhan walked in from outside, cupped his hands in greeting to the three of them, and said, "Your Highness, Princess..."

"Just say what's on your mind!" Huo Jing waved his hand at him.

Li Zhan reported: "Our people in the palace have spread the word that the Eighth Prince, Nangong Xuan, died last night!"

"Did the Eighth Prince, Nangong Xuan, die last night?"

Nangong Wu and Huo Jing were both surprised to hear this, and the father and daughter exchanged a glance.

"He was perfectly fine, how could he just die?"

Li Zhan replied, "After Consort Ji died, the Eighth Prince was sent to the Yeting Palace. He only had a loyal wet nurse by his side. The palace is always full of people who fawn over the powerful and bully the weak. No one takes a prince who has been abandoned by the emperor seriously. In a place like the Yeting Palace, he lives worse than a servant."

Nangong Wu looked at the secret report in her hand, which read the following:

The Eighth Prince, Nangong Xuan, passed away last night. The steward of the Imperial Palace delivered the news of the Eighth Prince's death to the Imperial Study. At that time, the Crown Prince was also in the Imperial Study. Seeing that His Majesty wanted to summon the imperial physician to find out the situation, the Crown Prince said that he was willing to share His Majesty's worries and took on the matter.

The Crown Prince returned about an hour later and reported to His Majesty that the Eighth Prince, while playing, had accidentally fallen into a large water vat and drowned.

After listening, His Majesty remained silent for a long while before finally saying, "Give him a proper burial!"

"He accidentally fell into a large water vat and drowned?" After reading the secret report, Nangong Wu felt there were many suspicious points and asked, "Have our people examined the Eighth Prince's body?"

"It's been investigated; the Eighth Prince did indeed drown. His body was found in a large water vat," Li Zhan continued to report.

"We also have people in the Yeting Palace. They said that when the Crown Prince arrived there, he only glanced at the Eighth Prince's corpse, covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief, said 'bad luck,' and rewarded the steward with a gold ingot, praising him for doing a good job."

"So the Crown Prince ordered the Eighth Prince's death?" Huo Jing tossed aside his chess piece, his gaze darkening. "How can such a treacherous, vicious person, who harmed his own brothers, be worthy of being the Crown Prince?"

"It seems the situation in the Western Yan Kingdom is about to change again," Nangong Wu said in a cold voice.

Li Zhan continued, "And this morning's court assembly, His Majesty issued two decrees, granting fiefdoms to the Prince of Li and the Prince of Mu, ordering them to leave the capital within ten days and not to return without an imperial edict."

"Needless to say, this must be something the Crown Prince did again," Bei Chenyan said.

"That's right." Li Zhan nodded. "The Crown Prince is a very shrewd and calculating person."

Not long after he was made crown prince, he deliberately plotted to have several conflicts with King Li and King Mu. The crown prince even complained to His Majesty that King Li and King Mu were deliberately bullying him.

Most of the officials in the court have now been bought off by the Crown Prince, and the factions of King Le and King Mu are no match for the Crown Prince's faction.

During this period, those censors impeached Nangong Yi and Nangong Heng every day, and with the Crown Prince playing the victim, His Majesty believed their slander, flew into a rage, and issued an edict banishing them to their fiefdoms.

"At such a young age, he is such a narrow-minded person. We must not let him ascend the throne, otherwise, the Western Yan Kingdom will be destroyed by him sooner or later."

Huo Jing was furious. "I will make His Majesty see Nangong Chengkun's true colors!"

If such a person were to become emperor, he would absolutely not tolerate their Zhenyuan Prince's Mansion.

"Father, please don't be angry," Nangong Wu comforted him. "His Majesty currently dotes on the Crown Prince the most, which is why he's so audacious."

"Then what do you suggest we do? Let His Majesty continue to be deceived by him?" Huo Jing was so angry that he wanted to slam his fist on the table, but he was afraid of scaring the child.

"The Crown Prince is the legitimate son and someone on whom the Emperor's uncle places high hopes. Without solid evidence, His Majesty will not believe us."

Nangong Wu thought to herself that even if Emperor Mingde knew what the Crown Prince had done, he would never easily depose the Crown Prince.

Because that was the crown prince he chose, and Nangong Chengkun was good at pretending and had many followers, what he did was not enough to depose the crown prince.

"Father, let's just wait and see. As long as the Crown Prince doesn't target us, we won't interfere in court affairs. Let them do what they want." Nangong Wu sneered inwardly.

With so many things happening in the court, she couldn't believe that Emperor Mingde had no suspicions at all, or perhaps he knew but still indulged the Crown Prince.

Since he favors Nangong Chengkun so much, he will eventually reap what he sows.

Huo Jing was in a bad mood because of this news, but there was nothing he could do about it.

"Father, perhaps we should think of a way out."