The Crown Prince's hand that was stroking the crying mother's back stilled . The Empress also stiffened and slowly turned to the Emperor . Everyone else was watching with dread infusing the atmosphere . The Empress took her time to let go of Jing Yiqiu and stand up, all the while looking at the Emperor . The Emperor, in turn, stared back at her with an increasingly unpleasant look .

"You . . . Are you even human?" The Empress asked with a shaky voice as she slowly lifted a trembling hand to point directly at the Emperor .

"What is that supposed to mean?!" The Emperor snapped at her . The physicians went to the Prince behind the Empress's back to escort him away from the soon to be war zone and treat his existing wounds .

"That is your son! Your only son!" The Empress yelled, pointing behind her without looking back, at where the Crown Prince had been kneeling previously . "How can you not be upset that he's been reduced to this state?! Even if you would rather he be that b.i.t.c.h's son, he's still the Crown Prince! How can you not spare a shred of concern for your own flesh and blood?!"

"Who said I didn't care! I'm just telling you to take care of your appearance! How did that get twisted into me not caring for my own son?!" The Emperor shouted back .

"Look at you walking leisurely over here like you're on some walk! Maybe you don't care but he's my son! I carried him for months inside me, how can I not care?! If I don't even care about my own son how am I supposed to mother the kingdom?!"

"I am still the emperor, rus.h.i.+ng over here like you did is unsightly!"

The Empress let out a huff before divulging into a hollow laugh . "It's me, it's always me . I get it . It's another excuse . You want to use this to depose me and replace me with that b.i.t.c.h!Well, I won't let that happen! That d.a.m.n s.l.u.t, who knows what she'll do to my son once she a.s.sumes my seat?! I won't let you! I won't let you!"

"What nonsense are you speaking?! I am merely telling you to compose yourself, why are you spouting all this rubbish?! And don't call Jiu-er like that! Shouting like a madwoman like this, think about your image! Think about your son's image! And our kingdom's! hurry and compose yourself!" The Emperor flicked his sleeves and beckoned to some of the physicians and guards, signaling them to take care of the Empress .

They all had a look on their face as if they were facing death and repeatedly apologized in low voices as they hauled the empress away and poured a bottle of medicine in her flapping mouth . The Empress pa.s.sed out before she even reached the edge of the stage and was carried away, as delicately as one could carry someone away . The Emperor stood there seething, his hands clenched into fists and face red . Jing Yiqiu looked between both his parents, not knowing what he should do .

Shen Tianyu's eyes followed the entourage carrying the Empress out . "That's some heavy knockout drugs, I wonder if it has any side effects? Well, it will never compare to Luo Shue's medicine though . " She whispered so only the two of them could hear .

Rong Jian leaned in and whispered in her ear . "Is Tian'er worried about the empress?"

"As a woman, yes . But nothing aside from that . I'm no saint and helping her in this situation is too much trouble to go through . " Shen Tianyu turned her face away, her face impa.s.sive as she s.h.i.+fted her eyesight to the stage again .

The emperor had composed himself enough to speak . He raised his hands, trying to signal for attention, though there was no need since everyone's attention were already on him . This time, Shen Tianyu had enough of a warning and hurriedly channeled her spiritual power to cover her ears so the inside of it wouldn't be damaged .

"Everyone! I apologize for the unsightly behavior just now . The Empress has been feeling unwell and her temper merely flared up . " The Emperor was saying placating words so the people wouldn't worry about infighting of the royal couple . Though to anyone with a brain, it was obvious things weren't going well with Jing Qie's royal couple, but no one dared to refute his words . Shen Tianyu and Rong Jian were too lazy and didn't want to bring unnecessary attention so they also accepted his words on the surface along with everyone else .

Liu Yizhen and Jing Yiqiu were being escorted off the stage, the latter unable to conceal his emotions, his face twisting with various emotions . After his little speech, the emperor returned to the royal seats alone . seeing this, Shen Tianyu extended her range of hearing to include the royal seats, a desire to listen to juicy gossip written in the smirk of her lips .

Rong Jian could not sit and listen, however . In order to make people forget the fight just now, his fight had been moved up, ahead of schedule . good thing he had brought his weapon with him even if it wasn't his day . His opponent wasn't so lucky, on the other hand . His opponent had to go fetch his weapon before the fight could start, embarra.s.sedly asking for time to do so . since the match was moved ahead of time, the Master of Ceremonies let him go grab his weapon .

The setup for Xi Qi's contestants were more or less the same as what Jing Qie had intended to do . Their Crown Prince was in first place, followed by everyone else in terms of power . Though the Crown Prince of Xi Qi looked timid, he would not have been able to make it this far in the tournament if he had no talents at all .

"This is how you treat Yan-er?" The Empress of Xi Qi asked in an impa.s.sive tone as she looked straight ahead, not sparing the Emperor of Jing Qie even a glance as he sat down .

"Well . . . that was . . . " The Emperor was struggling to explain in the face of an angry Empress from another kingdom .

"Jing Lan . "The Empress of Xi Qi directly called his name . "This was not what you promised when I helped you woo Yan-er . " She shot him an icy side glance before returning her attention in front of her again .