Beast, I Regret Not Strangling You at Birth

After all, he was just a child. The moment the poison was forced down Jason Lan's son's throat, his face visibly darkened to a greenish-black, his lips turned purple, and even in unconsciousness, his small body convulsed non-stop, painful moans leaking from his mouth...

"No, no—!" Lady Min screamed in anguish, furiously accusing Prince Nolan: "Monster, you beast! He's just a child—how could you do this, how could you possibly go through with it?"

Lady Min was utterly hopeless, collapsing against a eunuch, her eyes poisoned with hatred, as if she wished she could tear Prince Nolan to pieces.

Prince Nolan remained unmoved. After the poison was administered, his expression did not change as he ordered, "Hand him over to the Valley Master—I don't want him dead."

"Yes, Your Majesty." The Commander of the Imperial Guards immediately carried Jason Lan's son away. In Lady Min's despairing eyes, a flicker of hope appeared; she looked at Prince Nolan expectantly: "You're going to save him?"

"Isn't it more interesting if he stays alive?" Prince Nolan's lips curled into a wicked smile. Lady Min shivered, her voice trembling: "You—you're terrifying. Even if you don't care about accumulating merit for yourself, shouldn't you think of your son? Aren't you afraid that all this evil will come back on him?"

"Retribution? If there's retribution, it should come for you first." If he feared retribution, how could he have come this far?

"I truly wish I'd strangled you at birth." Lady Min gnashed her teeth, her nails digging into her flesh, though she felt no pain...

"What a pity—you never had the chance to strangle me." Prince Nolan showed no sign of being wounded; to him, Lady Min was nothing but an enemy.

"As for retribution? Don't worry yourself. Whether my son will face retribution, I can't say—but I do know Jason Lan's son certainly will. If my child ever falls ill or is hurt, I'll make Jason Lan's son suffer double; and if anything happens to my son, I'll slice Jason Lan's son into pieces and force-feed them to you."

"Ugh..." Lady Min's face turned pale. The image in her mind was so horrifying that she was both shocked and terrified. Unable to hold back, she retched.

"You're a demon," Lady Min said, her face bloodless, her whole body seeming drained, no fight left in her at all.

She was afraid, truly afraid. Her weakness had been seized by another, and she no longer dared to provoke Ninth Royal Uncle.

"A demon? Back then you pushed me into a pit of corpses, watched me drink human blood and gnaw on dirt—do you think you're more noble and kind than I am?" Selfish people only see how others hurt them, never how cruel they themselves are.

"You didn't die, did you? Do you really need to hate me this much? Without me, do you think you'd have what you have today?" Lady Min screamed hysterically, not knowing how terrifying Nolan could be when he lost control. Falling into his hands was truly worse than death.

"Just kill me." Lady Min closed her eyes and stretched out her neck...

Rather than endless suffering in the future, she'd rather die right now.

"Kill you? Don't worry, I won't commit matricide. Enjoy the rest of your life." Nolan stood up and walked to Lady Min: "Live well, keep your eyes wide open. If you try to kill yourself, I'll settle the score with that child. I don't think you want to see that child missing arms or legs."

"You're so cruel!" Lady Min collapsed to the ground, her eyes empty and lifeless...

She knew she was finished. Even death couldn't let her escape.

"Hmph..." Nolan sneered, "Like mother, like son. He learned from you." Without even looking at Lady Min, he pointed at the wet nurse and ordered the eunuch, "Rip out her tongue. Gouge out her eyes."

"Yes, Your Highness." The eunuch replied without blinking. At this point, Lady Min was too weak to resist, only able to watch helplessly as Nolan left...

This was imperial power—what she had dreamed of all her life was now in her son's hands, and she herself was just a prisoner...

Nolan never told Serena how he dealt with Lady Min, and Serena never asked. She just knew that all the people around Little Dumpling had been replaced.

Because of the poisoning, the originally scheduled three-day celebration was cancelled. Serena and Nolan naturally had no time to enjoy newlywed sweetness; both were busy dealing with the aftermath.

Once bitten, twice shy. After the wet nurse tried to harm Little Dumpling, Serena was unwilling to let anyone else care for him. She personally handled every detail, not daring to make the slightest mistake.

Although the poison in Little Dumpling had been cleared, his body was still damaged. At just one month old, he couldn't take supplements, so Serena could only nourish herself and feed him her milk, hoping to help him recover.

Even if Little Dumpling never accomplished much in the future, Serena just hoped her son would be healthy. Having seen so many sick patients, she knew how hard life would be for a frail child.

As a result, most of Serena's time and energy were spent on Little Dumpling. Nolan, who used to be able to act spoiled, get jealous, and half-jokingly compete with Little Dumpling for Serena's attention, now didn't dare and couldn't anymore.

For Serena and Nolan, nothing was more important than Little Dumpling. This incident not only frightened them both, but also filled them with guilt.

To be parents and unable to protect their own child—this was proof of their own powerlessness.