Qi Yun scoffed. “Isn’t Brother Nan your favorite, Empress Dowager? What changed?”

Her face clouded for a brief moment. “So? He’s not part of the Qi family. How can someone like him be considered one of us? How can you trust him? Don’t you know that a subordinate may end up garnering more respect than his master? Haven’t you heard how the others had been flattering him? If one day he comes to his full power and replaces you, you only have yourself to blame.”

Qi Yun sighed, resigned, his anger fading away. The extravagantly dressed woman was nothing but an ungraceful loser.

His question had been rhetorical. Of course he knew why the empress dowager had paid that much attention to Nan Xun in the beginning. She simply wanted insurance. She started treating Nan Xun with kindness when his talent started to show. However, no one realized that Nan Xun’s...