Deposed? I couldn't be happier! I wouldn't even be a dog to the crown prince.

Upon hearing this cheerful shout, Xu Xiao immediately abandoned the group of half-dead family heads at the door and strode into the inner hall of the East Palace.

Before the commander could even bow, he was stunned by the sight before him. The renowned Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty was squatting in front of a huge suitcase made of top-grade carbon fiber. His once-imposing trench coat had been carelessly tossed on the recliner, replaced by a brightly colored thin shirt printed with palm leaves.

"Quick! Old Xu, stop standing there in a daze!"

Li Chengqian didn't even look up, frantically rummaging through the wardrobe with both hands. He was so fast that he tossed several expensive silk linings behind him like rags.

"Your Highness, are you... planning a secret evacuation?"

Xu Xiao asked tentatively, his voice hoarse with shock. He glanced around instinctively and saw that the palace maids of the Eastern Palace had also been mobilized. They were quietly moving all sorts of strange objects.

"What do you mean by evacuation? This is called a dignified vacation!"

Li Chengqian clutched a bottle of shimmering silver spray in his hand. It was a nano-protective coating he had redeemed from the system, known as sunscreen in Hawaii. As he stuffed it into the box, he lowered his voice and gave instructions, his nervousness evident in his eyes, which even carried a hint of wariness.

"Keep your movements quiet! Especially those boxes with metal clasps; don't make a sound when you put them on the carpet. The old man is very sensitive to our noise these days; if he's not watching the stock market, his ears are sharper than a hunting dog."

Li Chengqian pointed in the direction of Taiji Palace, feeling guilty, and shrank his neck.

"He's completely obsessed with those red lines now. Those internet addicts, especially middle-aged and elderly people, are the hardest to deal with. We need to slip away while he's engrossed in profiting from the global market. Understand? If anyone makes a noise and disturbs him, I'll keep them here to watch the market with him."

The palace maids nodded hastily in fright, their hands crumpling the lace swimsuits and beach shorts they were holding.

Xu Xiao sighed helplessly and could only roll up his sleeves to help. As he stuffed the heavy tactical accessories into the box, he couldn't help but complain.

"Your Highness, aren't you taking too much sunscreen? If you spray these bottles on, even sharks in the sea probably won't be able to smell you."

"You don't understand. Hawaii's ultraviolet radiation is nature's malice."

Li Chengqian retorted with a serious expression, then turned his head to look at Wu Meiniang, who was walking towards him with a smile.

Wu Meiniang had changed into a neat casual outfit. She had just returned from managing the Taiji Palace, and the murderous aura of a financial queen in her eyes had not yet dissipated, but when she saw the mess on the ground, it turned into a gentle tenderness.

"Has the management of the project been completely handed over to the Housing Minister?"

Li Chengqian straightened up, let out a long sigh, and a look of longing for impending liberation appeared on his face.

"Everything is done. Lord Fang is staring at those fluctuating numbers more intently than he is at his own accounts."

Wu Meiniang walked to Li Chengqian's side, in a pleasant mood, and gently stroked Li Chengqian's shoulder with her fair fingers.

"Your Highness, once we get to Hawaii, are we really free from those annoying briefings?"

"What kind of briefing is this! I'm putting all communication systems into silent mode."

Li Chengqian pulled Wu Meiniang to sit down amidst a pile of luggage, his tone light and cheerful as if he were about to take flight, as if the wonderful life he had been dreaming of was about to begin.

"Let's set up a barbecue grill behind the biggest rock on the beach first. Xu Xiao, do you know how to grill that tuna with the pattern on its back? You have to brush it with my special sauce, that perfect balance of salty and sweet with a hint of spiciness, paired with a sip of ice-cold sparkling water, that's life."

Wu Meiniang tilted her head, looking longingly, her eyes somewhat unfocused.

"I want to build a huge sandcastle on the beach, in the style of the Tang Dynasty, with light strips that can illuminate."

"No problem! I'll do it myself. I can even make you a miniature mecha sand sculpture with a power system."

Li Chengqian laughed heartily. There were no outsiders around, and his laughter carried a rare touch of youthful spirit.

"Then we'll just lounge on those deck chairs, enjoying the warm breeze that smells of sea salt, listening to the gentle lapping of the waves against the shore. We won't care about the big picture, we won't care about powerful families, and we won't have to listen to the old man roaring 'You unfilial son.' Meiniang, I've been dreaming of that kind of life for almost three lifetimes."

Their conversation flowed through the warm side hall. The tension brought on by the war and financial battles was completely diluted at this moment by the soft light called "freedom".

Every corner of the Eastern Palace seemed brighter because of this cheerful atmosphere.

Overwhelmed with joy at the impending departure, Li Chengqian even took the initiative to help Xu Xiao lift the heaviest tactical equipment box.

"Old Xu, don't let your hands shake. This whole box is full of our self-defense gear. We won't need it over there, but it'll give us peace of mind."

"Your Highness, I just think that if His Majesty finds out we've sneaked away, he'll probably send the Great Snow Dragon Riders to surround the island."

"He doesn't have that kind of time. Right now, all he can see is that pulsating red line. In his eyes, that curve is the lifeblood of the Tang Dynasty. As long as I leave him that chart-reading program, he can stay in the main hall forever."

Li Chengqian was so pleased with himself that the corners of his mouth even twitched slightly as he turned up.

He made one last round of inspections to make sure all his beloved salted fish equipment was in place.

In that instant, Li Chengqian felt an unprecedented sense of satisfaction. He could almost smell the salty sea breeze and feel the fine, smooth white sand beneath his feet.

Just then, Li Chengqian reached out and forcefully closed the zipper of the last black suitcase.

"Sizzle—smack!"

The zipper pull snapped shut with a soft but crisp click.

Li Chengqian clapped his hands, just about to stand up and announce, "The retreat plan is officially launched."

"Beep—beep—beep—!!!"

A piercing, high-pitched electronic alarm suddenly rang out from the corner of the desk.

In that instant, the emergency holographic communication device on the desk, made entirely of cold-light alloy and representing the highest military and political secrets of the Tang Dynasty, began to vibrate violently as if it had gone mad.

The alarm light, which was originally a soft blue, instantly transformed into a blood red, representing destruction and death.

The blood-red color was so intense, it was as if a viscous liquid was overflowing from inside the machine. The red light was too high-frequency, instantly filling every corner of the room in an almost savage manner.

The walls, carpets, Li Chengqian's face, and the freshly packed suitcases were all stained with an ominous, bewitching crimson.

In that instant, the air seemed to be forcibly sucked dry by that sharp frequency, and the warm and cozy feeling that had just been inside the East Palace plummeted to freezing point in an instant.

The alarm level was too high, and the instrument's internal fan emitted an almost mournful, overloaded roar.

Li Chengqian's body froze completely at that moment.

His right hand, still resting on the suitcase, began to convulse involuntarily in shock. A chill of fear shot up his spine to the back of his head.

He was so stiff that even turning his head to look was a beat slow.

This frequency of alarms means that a certain province of the Tang Dynasty, or rather a core foundation of the empire, is undergoing irreversible collapse due to physical destruction.

The alarm sounded so loudly that the palace maids around them let out soft screams.

The zipper pull of the suitcase reflected an eerie, cold light under the red glow.

A single second was stretched to infinity by the feeling of fear in that instant.

Li Chengqian could even hear his own violent heartbeat, overlapping with the frequency of the alarm, like some kind of death knell.

The suitcase slipped from my hand and hit the marble floor with a dull thud. Due to the uneven force, the suitcase even shifted a few centimeters sideways on the floor.

The communicator's screen flickered violently a few times due to data overload.

From the gap where red light flickered, a semi-transparent holographic projection was forcibly connected and suddenly popped out.

The once rosy, plump face of King Wei, Li Tai, was now displayed in the center of the projection.

His face was contorted with anxiety.

Large beads of cold sweat rolled down his forehead, splashing onto the control panel in front of him due to gravity. His hair was disheveled like a pile of weeds, and his eyes revealed a near-desperate panic, his pupils dilating in shock as he stared intently at Li Chengqian through the screen.

"Your Highness...eldest brother...something terrible has happened!"

Li Tai's voice was terribly hoarse, as if he had a handful of thorny sand stuck in his throat.

He was so tense that his body trembled involuntarily on the other side of the screen.

Li Chengqian's smile froze, and the suitcase slipped from his hand and fell to the ground. The communicator screen flickered a few times, and the large, fat face of Prince Wei, Li Tai, covered in anxiety and cold sweat, suddenly popped up.