The Emeritus Palace.

The Xuan Emperor and Eunuch Quan were drinking.

Ning Chen had heard that the Xuan Emperor was a prisoner, without enough to eat or enough to keep him warm, and it had nearly broken his heart!

In fact, it was nothing of the sort. When the Xuan Emperor first began thinking about deposing his son, he had already made his preparations.

The Emeritus Palace had an ice cellar, and he had stocked it ahead of time with plenty of food, and wine too.

So the Xuan Emperor wasn't going hungry in the least.

Still, he was a prisoner now, so he couldn't eat too much. If he put on weight, the De Emperor might notice something was off.

"All right, all right, no more... If that wretch suddenly shows up and smells it on us, that'll be trouble!"

The Xuan Emperor stopped Eunuch Quan from pouring another cup.

Eunuch Quan was about to say that the De Emperor hadn't come to the Emeritus Palace in ages when a shrill voice rang out outside. "His Majesty has arrived!"

The two of them panicked!

"Quick, quick, quick... Put it all away!"

The Xuan Emperor hurried him along, and still remembered to grab the tea beside him and rinse out his mouth.

"Quan Sheng, is it showing on this emperor's face?"

Quan Sheng was frantically shoving everything under the bed. "You only had three cups, Emperor Emeritus. Nobody could tell!"

"Good, good..."

The Xuan Emperor muttered to himself as he helped push things under the bed.

Only when everything was hidden did he get up, go over and open the door.

The De Emperor was just coming into the courtyard.

The Xuan Emperor came out leaning on Quan Sheng, his graying hair loose and disheveled. He looked old and down on his luck.

The De Emperor came forward at a slow, square-set pace.

"Your child greets Father Emperor!"

The Xuan Emperor looked at him without expression. "What are you here for? To see if this emperor is dead yet?"

The Great Xuan was in ruins now, and it pained him…