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

"Stop right there!" Empress Wan stood up, walked up to Bei Chenyan, her eyes filled with disappointment and frustration.

"Qiong'er is such a good girl. She only has you in her heart and eyes. You left for five years, and she waited for you for five years. She became an old maid because of you."

"But you, on the other hand, have never given Qiong'er a kind look, and even hit her last night. You, the Crown Prince, the heir apparent of the nation, actually hit a woman? You have disappointed me greatly."

"Did I make her wait? Are all the men in the world dead? Why are they clinging to me, the Crown Prince?" Bei Chenyan used to disdain such things.

But Nangong Wu is right beside him now, so he has to make things clear and put an end to Shi Peiqiong's delusional fantasies.

"Mother, are you letting me marry a woman with a heart of stone just for your own selfish reasons?"

Empress Wan was furious at being reprimanded by her son for the first time. Pointing at him, she cried out, "Crown Prince... how dare you speak to me like that? You are utterly unfilial!"

Shi Peiqiong rushed over and supported Empress Wan, her eyes red. "Cousin Crown Prince, your aunt, the Empress, is only doing this for your own good. How could you say such a thing about her?"

"Shut up! Who do you think you are? How dare you speak to me?" Bei Chenyan glared at her with disgust.

Shi Peiqiong's face turned pale, and she suddenly knelt down before him with a thud. "Cousin Crown Prince, why do you hate me so much? What did I do wrong?"

"What have you done? Don't you know the truth? Why are you still pretending to be crazy?" Bei Chenyan felt disgusted by her hypocritical appearance.

"Crown Prince, I didn't..." Shi Peiqiong shook her head, her fairly pretty face full of grievance, tears welling up in her eyes:

"We were engaged when we were young, and everything I've done is for you..."

"Shut up!" Bei Chenyan was absolutely furious. He suddenly grabbed Shi Peiqiong by the neck, his bloodshot eyes flashing with intense killing intent.

"You wretch, you deserved to die the day you drugged me! You dare to show your face in front of me? Do you think I wouldn't dare kill you?"

Shi Peiqiong's neck was being choked painfully, her face was deathly pale, and the suffocating feeling of being on the verge of death made her feel that Bei Chenyan really would kill her.

She finally panicked, her eyes filled with terror, and she opened her mouth to plead, "Auntie...save me..."

"Your Highness, stop!" Empress Wan was startled when she saw Bei Chenyan's bloodshot eyes and hurriedly tried to pull his hand away.

But Bei Chenyan's arm was like an iron clamp, and her little strength was like an ant trying to shake a tree.

"Bei Chenyan, don't delay our business," Nangong Wu called out to him.

She felt that killing someone like this would bring unnecessary trouble to Bei Chenyan.

Shi Shengqing was, after all, a second-rank minister and an important official in the court. He killed someone's daughter, and in the Empress's palace no less. The Shi family would not let this go, and might even join forces with his political enemies to impeach him.

She's just a woman; there are plenty of opportunities to kill her.

Her words brought Bei Chenyan back to his senses. He suddenly flung his hand, and Shi Peiqiong was thrown more than ten feet away.

"Bang!"

Shi Peiqiong's injuries from being beaten by him last night hadn't healed yet, and now she was thrown again, causing her to spit out a mouthful of blood.

"Pfft~~"

"what……"

The woman in the main hall screamed in fright.

"Qiong'er." Empress Wan ran over and helped Shi Peiqiong up, looking at Bei Chenyan's ashen face.

"Your Highness, how dare you?"

"Why wouldn't I dare?" Bei Chenyan walked slowly to her, his voice icy.

"Mother, this woman should have died when you plotted against me with 'Spring Breeze Ferry'! If you weren't my mother, do you think you'd still be alive?"

"You..." Empress Wan looked at her son and suddenly realized that he was a complete stranger.

Years have passed, and the son has really changed; he no longer shows her the respect he used to.

"I am your mother, how dare you..."

"You should be grateful that she is my birth mother, otherwise I would have chosen to leave..." Bei Chenyan looked at his mother with a very cold gaze.

If he doesn't leave, he will be forced to become her and the Wan family's puppet.

Empress Wan pointed at him, her chest heaving with anger: "Everything I've done is for your own good."

You've been gone for five or six years. If it weren't for me, the Wan family, and the Shi family stabilizing your power in court, do you think you could have kept your position as crown prince?

"For me? Haha..." Bei Chenyan sneered twice, "What a high-sounding reason."

"I never cared about being the crown prince. It was you who, for your own selfish desires, plotted against Prince Jing, causing him to lose his position as heir apparent, and only then did you put me on the throne."

The moment he said that, everyone present changed their expressions.

"Bei Chenyan! Do you know what you're saying?" Empress Wan's face twisted slightly.

If these words reach the imperial court and the Emperor of Nanqi hears them, he will surely reopen the investigation into what happened back then. If those things she did back then are found out, she can forget about being the empress; she will probably be thrown into the cold palace.

She suddenly turned her head to look at the concubines, her eyes filled with ruthlessness.

The concubines turned pale and were so frightened that they waved their hands repeatedly at her.

"Your Majesty, we... we didn't hear anything..."

"Your Majesty, I have other matters to attend to, so I will return to pay my respects another day."

After the concubines finished speaking, without waiting for Empress Wan to reply, they grabbed the two princesses and hurriedly ran out.

They heard things they shouldn't have, and given Empress Wan's methods, she might silence them.

Nangong Wu's eyes widened in surprise. She hadn't expected him to so bluntly reveal the despicable things her mother had done.

It seems he was really pushed to the limit by Empress Wan!

"Crown Prince, you unfilial son!" Empress Wan stood up, pointed her finger at Bei Chenyan's nose, her eyes glaring with extreme anger.

"Do you know that everything you have is intertwined with the prosperity and decline of the Wan and Shi families? Do you know how much effort they put in to protect your position as crown prince? And this is how you repay them, repay your mother? You are utterly ungrateful!"

She spent her whole life planning for this son, but he undermined her plans, practically putting the Wan and Shi families in a very difficult position.

"For me? It's to preserve your wealth and status, isn't it!" Bei Chenyan sneered again, pointing at Shi Peiqiong:

"In order to control me, you didn't hesitate to poison me with that evil 'Spring Breeze Crossing' poison, and then send this wicked, vile woman to my bedchamber? Did you think that by making it a fait accompli, I would have no choice but to marry her?"

Tell your beloved mother, even if I die from poison, I will never touch this vile woman, nor will I ever be controlled or manipulated by you, the Wan family, or the Shi family!