201: His Majesty's Test

"Your Majesty has asked you to enter."

Yuan Zhe smiled as he greeted Tu Nan, who was waiting.

Tu Nan nodded and followed Yuan Zhe into The Emperor's territory.

Strangely enough, despite being in the palace for so long, this was the first time she had entered the room after being summoned by Your Majesty.

Previously, she was either hauled into the room by The Emperor, or the door would open just as she reached Your Majesty's door.

***

The Emperor sat upright on the throne in the main hall of the study, flipping through a report without even looking up.

Tu Nan lowered her eyes, paid her respects properly, and inquired softly.

"Your Majesty, I have made progress in the research I've been pushing forward." She held out the report.

The Emperor finally turned his attention to her, gave a hum of acknowledgement, and nodded.

Yuan Zhe, standing to the side, immediately stepped forward to take the documents from her hands and presented them to Your Majesty.

The Emperor finished reading quickly, showing no obvious expression, only tapping the armrest lightly while lost in thought.

After a moment, he instead handed over the document he had been reading.

"Take a look at this," he said.

What kind of government document... would he let her see? Tu Nan was astonished.

The Emperor saw her caution and finally allowed a faint smile to appear.

"If I let you see it, then just look at it," he said. "This is a report sent back by Hain."

His smile gradually took on a different meaning.

"After all, you were the first to discover the matter of the 'doll'. This is the latest development, and I want to hear your thoughts."

"Perhaps... you might find something that Hain missed."

The document was tossed directly into her arms.

"Go over there and read it carefully." The Emperor pointed to a small desk on the side, where the clerk sat during a court council.

The doll Sophia, and Hain?

Tu Nan had only received a few brief text messages from Hain during the initial period; no calls, no video chats.

Later, even the text messages vanished.

She was still pregnant; even if she lived in the palace under the care of the Medical Institute, he wouldn't just wash his hands of her like this.

Thus, Tu Nan deduced that he must be conducting a very dangerous investigation mission.

It had reached the point where he felt communication between them wasn't safe enough; this unsafe factor was either in the palace or with him.

Quickly walking to the desk, Tu Nan couldn't wait to open the file, skimming through it.

After a while, she abruptly closed the file and looked up at The Emperor in disbelief.

The Emperor gazed at her quietly.

Seeing her shocked expression, he let out a soft chuckle instead.

"Surprised?" he asked.

Tu Nan didn't know what to say; if the clues Hain found were true, then the person this matter ultimately pointed to...

...might indeed mean she was no longer safe even within the palace.

At the end of this report secretly sent to Your Majesty, Hain even pleaded with Your Majesty to take extra care of her.

"But that person..." Tu Nan looked around the room; in the silent chamber, four guards and four maids were actually standing there.

"Speak, it doesn't matter."

The Emperor shifted his posture, ready to hear what she had to say.

Since The Emperor deemed it safe, Tu Nan gritted her teeth and asked the most core question.

"What reason would the Empress Dowager have for doing this? She... she doesn't lack power or money."

That's right, all the data Hain collected combined to tell Your Majesty one thing.

Those secret research institutes and the mysterious person behind the scenes—all clues pointed to the Empress Dowager.

He had recently suffered many assassination attempts, each one higher in scale than the last. It started as mere warnings, but as he approached the truth... S-Rank individuals were already involved.

And the Empire's S-Ranks should all be on record; such "wild" high-level Male Beasts were something even great nobles couldn't afford to keep.

This led him, following this dangerous clue, to discover something.

"You are very bold, which is good."

The Emperor praised her first, as if the fact that she dared to question the Empress Dowager was important in itself.

"Reason... she naturally has her reasons." The Emperor turned his power ring.

"If I asked you to guess a reason, what would you guess? Do you dare to?" The Emperor asked her with lowered eyes.

Tu Nan hesitated for a moment.

Should she get involved in the struggle between this mother and son?

Yes, this was a struggle.

Regardless of whether the Empress Dowager was Your Majesty's mother, when she reached out to an Emperor with grand ambitions and tried to interfere with his power, it became a struggle.

This question from The Emperor seemed casual.

In reality... it was forcing her to take a side.

Making her, a Foster Mother, take a side? No... The Emperor was making her take a side on behalf of the Children, and perhaps even weighing the influence of Kong Jiamu and Hain.

"Could the Empress Dowager be planning a rebellion?"

Tu Nan spoke with righteous indignation; although she felt the Empress Dowager had no need for such a thing, it didn't matter.

Since this was just taking a side, a Pure Minister... at a time like this, would only worry about Your Majesty's safety first and be wary of everything.

The Emperor's smile was playful; he observed Tu Nan for a while, then suddenly broke into a laugh.

Pointing at her, he shook his head.

"Slippery," The Emperor commented.

Tu Nan quietly swallowed her saliva, knowing she had managed to bluff her way through this.

"The doll is just a drop in the ocean." Your Majesty added a few more words. "Did you see what's written there? So many black Nurseries, hmm?"

A fire of anger burned in Your Majesty's golden eyes.

"She wants to interfere in the Domain of the gods..."

His words were dangerous, but they cut off there; it seemed he didn't intend to say more.

However, Tu Nan was too sensitive to this topic.

Her past life was that of a clone created just like that.

She was an organ donor for her "older sister"; after her sister died in an accident leaving no remains, she was briefly treated as a person until the "younger brother" with a still-defective heart was born.

Once again, she was seen as a spare part.

This sensitivity made her follow The Emperor's words, blurting out.

"What does she want to create? Who? You?"

The Emperor stood up abruptly, walked to her in a few steps, and leaned over the desk.

He squeezed Tu Nan's chin and demanded.

"Did Hain tell you privately?"

This conclusion was passed to him through even more secret channels and was not in that report; this Female Beast's reaction to it...

...was too fast!

Abnormally fast.

Tu Nan slapped away The Emperor's hand and stood up without showing any weakness.

"Your Majesty, have you forgotten my identity?" Tu Nan sneered.

"I can't really be considered a Female Beast; I am a Foster Mother," her voice gradually grew low, "the existence of a semi-finished product."

"You can't imagine it because you have the preconceived notion that people wouldn't be so arrogant. I don't!"

"I've known for a long time! People are just that arrogant!"

"Otherwise, how was I created?"

She questioned.

The Emperor's Aura became oppressive in an instant, his gaze cold as frost; the surrounding guards and maids silently knelt one after another.

But Tu Nan didn't back down; she held her head high and didn't retreat a single step.

After a standoff, The Emperor stood up straight; he no longer stared at Tu Nan, but looked back at the report she had brought, now lying at the foot of the throne.

"True... your temperament always makes me forget that point."

He withdrew his Aura and laughed inexplicably.

"Fine, sit down."

He walked back to the throne leisurely, bent down, and picked up the report with his own hands.

The Dragon's gaze lingered on her for a few seconds, his voice low and devoid of emotion. "It seems Kong Jiamu can set out on the expedition now. Is that what you were going to say?"

He shifted back to this, the original topic Tu Nan had prepared to discuss today.

Tu Nan's emotions were left hanging by his sudden shifts back and forth.

She gritted her teeth and answered him.

"Yes... this official... was going to say that."