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

"Your Highness, this is a court robe hastily made for you by the Imperial Household Department. Please try it on, and if it doesn't fit, have them take it to be altered."

"Okay." Nangong Wu stood up and asked Li An to help her try on the python robe.

In the afternoon, no news came from the palace, but Zhou Zheng came to visit, and Nangong Wu naturally refused to see him.

Li Shuang reported, "Your Highness, Zhou Zheng refuses to leave. He is kneeling outside the palace gate, saying he must see you."

"What are you doing here? Kneeling like this to atone for your sins? Too late!" Hearing this person's name, Nangong Wu thought of the dowry. "Has the Zhou family returned everything yet?"

"It might not be enough. The managers the old steward invited are still appraising the price; it will take a few more days." Li Shuang explained the reason Zhou Zheng had come to see her: "Zhou Zheng said that Zhou Shaorong has fainted again and he has come to beg you to save him."

"Throw him out. Don't bother reporting this kind of thing again." Nangong Wu sneered. She wished they were all dead, so why would she save him?

After Li Shuang left, Granny Feng came in and tried to take Nangong Xi down to breastfeed.

"Granny, I'll take care of Xi'er from now on. You can just have the wet nurse express some milk."

Food won't spoil if stored in this space, and the child will always have something to eat when hungry.

"This old servant understands." Granny Feng felt guilty, thinking that she had not taken good care of the child.

A short while later, Li Shuang returned. "Your Highness, Zhou Zheng refuses to leave. He is complaining to passersby outside the gate, saying that Zhou Shaorong has fallen ill from excessive grief over the divorce and only wants to see you. His words have attracted a lot of onlookers. I think he is deliberately trying to cause trouble."

If they beat someone or forcibly drag someone away, it will have a negative impact on His Highness.

Nangong Wu's face turned cold. "Go find the Prefect of Jingzhao and tell him that Zhou Zheng intends to ruin my reputation. Have him arrested."

Trying to force her to comply in this way is ridiculous.

Half an hour later, Li Shuang returned and said that the Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture had come in person and forcibly taken Zhou Zheng away on charges of defamation, but on the way back, he was kidnapped by Prince Rui.

Nangong Wu sneered after hearing this. Nangong Xun appeared so timely, what else was there to misunderstand? But she wasn't the original owner of this body, so no amount of scheming or plotting would work.

After a few quiet days, Emperor Mingde did not come to find her about cutting off the legs of Nangong Qi's three sons.

The news that she had inherited the title of Prince Zhenyuan caused quite a stir in the Western Yan Kingdom.

This was the first time in the Western Yan Kingdom that a woman had been granted the title of queen.

Using this as a pretext, Nangong Xun had his supporters submit a memorial impeaching her.

Nearly half of the ministers opposed Nangong Wu's hereditary title, arguing that the Zhenyuan Prince's Mansion was not without men and the throne should not be passed on to a woman with a bad reputation.

An imperial censor advised: "Your Majesty, Nangong Wu is a woman who is neither talented nor virtuous. The father of her three children is unknown, and their bloodline is impure. She is not worthy to be the Prince of Zhenyuan."

"There is no precedent for a woman to inherit a royal title. The former Prince Zhenyuan had two sons. According to ancestral rules, the title of Prince Zhenyuan should be inherited by Nangong Qi."

"The Prince of Zhenyuan commands 300,000 Zhenyuan troops, a matter of great importance concerning the overall situation of the realm and the security of the borders. However, Nangong Wu is willful, capricious, and bloodthirsty, having killed many people in just half a month. How can such a person be worthy of being the Prince of Zhenyuan? I urge Your Majesty to rescind your decree and bestow the title upon someone more capable."

Several censors simultaneously advised Emperor Mingde to revoke Nangong Wu's title of prince.

Emperor Mingde looked at the people kneeling below, his eyes flashing with an unfathomable light.

He recalled the words that Uncle Wang had told him before he died.

"You say Nangong Wu is incompetent and immoral? Ha!" Emperor Mingde suddenly sneered.

The hall fell silent.

The ministers all knew Emperor Mingde's temperament well; once he let out that laugh, it meant he was unhappy.

After a long silence, Emperor Mingde spoke again: "But the person you call incompetent and immoral defeated Nangong Qi's three sons."

If three men can't even defeat one woman, then aren't they utterly useless? Do you really think such people can lead the Zhenyuan Army into battle and guard the border?

He didn't want an unruly person to inherit the title of Zhenyuan King, but Nangong Qi and Nangong Chen were both too incompetent, and the hundreds of thousands of Zhenyuan soldiers wouldn't trust them.

There were also his uncle's dying words, which he didn't know why, but he felt there must be a reason for them.

Upon hearing this, Nangong Xun felt a surge of anxiety and stepped forward, saying, "Father, Nangong Wu was able to defeat the three Nangong brothers by trickery, and her methods were ruthless."

The duel was to be stopped when it was over. The three brothers, Nangong Huai and his brother, were mindful that she was a woman and always gave way to her, afraid of hurting her.

Unexpectedly, Nangong Wu took advantage of this to poison the three of them. They were her own cousins; even broken bones are still connected. This woman's heart is truly wicked.

"Second brother, it sounds like you were there when you said that." The third prince, Nangong Yi, and Prince Li also stepped forward, their words full of sarcasm.

"Nangong Yi, what do you mean by that?" Nangong Xun glared at him fiercely.

Nangong Yi's lips curled into a mocking smile. "According to the information I received, it was Nangong Huai and his two companions who first provoked the Princess of Runing, shouting that they would cut off her legs and throw her out of the palace."

The result was that they ended up having their legs chopped off, yet you and these adults are making those three villains sound so innocent. What are you up to?" He said, bowing slightly to Emperor Mingde.

"Father, everything I have said is true. The incident happened at the entrance of the courtyard where the Prince of Runing's sister lives. There were many people present at the time."

"Alright!" Emperor Mingde waved his hand. "Since Nangong Wu won the competition, she shall be the Prince of Zhenyuan from now on, and no one shall have any objection."

He finished speaking and then got up and left.

Behind him, Eunuch Hu hurriedly shouted, "Dismiss the court!"

"Nangong Yi, you're really something!" Nangong Xun glared at him fiercely, then turned and left.

Nangong Yi, however, grinned and called out to his back, "Oh! Second Brother, are you getting angry out of embarrassment?"

The Prince of Zhenyuan's Mansion.

Nangong Wu looked at the children. Half a month had passed. The two older brothers were eating and drinking well, their little faces were chubby, and they were growing every day. They had never been sick.

The younger daughter wasn't doing so well; she didn't eat much, often spit up milk, cried all night, and slept during the day.

No matter how hard it was, Nangong Wu insisted on taking care of her herself at night.

That evening, two unexpected people arrived at the Prince's residence: Prince Li and Marquis Wu Zhong of Chengping, who entered through the side gate.

Nangong Wu met them in the study.

"Prince Li, Marquis Chengping, what rare guests you are!"

Marquis Chengping cupped his hands in greeting to her, saying, "Your Highness, please forgive my intrusion in visiting."

"You're too kind, my lord. Please have a seat!" Nangong Wu saw that he had come with Nangong Yi, and assumed that he had already abandoned Nangong Xun.

"Sister Ru Ning, you used to always call me Brother Yi, but now you call me Your Highness. Does that mean you've become distant from me?" Nangong Yi smiled brightly.

"Not at all, we're all grown up now, and our statuses are different from before! If you don't mind, I'll call you Brother Li!" Nangong Wu looked at his smiling face and secretly cursed him as a smiling tiger.