Joy of Life: Many Children, Many Blessings; Intercepting Si Lili

Inside the solemn and majestic Taiji Hall of the Daqing Imperial Palace.

Holding a bright yellow scroll, Eunuch Hou stood atop the high steps, his shrill voice echoing in the empty hall.

"By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees..."

"The Third Prince, Li Chengye, has reached the age of eighteen. He is gentle and refined, and dutifully fulfills his duties. He is hereby specially granted the title of Prince of Qi, and permitted to establish his own residence and military headquarters. This is the imperial decree!"

As the last word fell, the eyes of all the officials and civil and military officials converged on the young figure in front of the main hall.

Li Chengye slowly walked out of the queue.

He had just turned eighteen this year, and was dressed in a dark red prince's python robe, his figure as upright as an ancient pine tree.

His face was extremely handsome, with sword-like eyebrows, bright eyes, red lips and white teeth, and he exuded a gentle and refined scholarly air.

Anyone who sees him will praise him as a fine young gentleman in this turbulent world.

Li Chengye's expression was respectful.

"Your subject accepts the imperial decree and expresses his gratitude."

He accepted the heavy imperial edict with both hands.

Not long after, the court session ended, and the officials gradually left the main hall.

Li Chengye was carrying the imperial edict and walking out of the hall when two smiling voices called out to him from behind.

"Third brother, congratulations!"

Crown Prince Li Chengqian strode forward, his face beaming with a warm smile, appearing very approachable.

Beside him was the Second Prince, Li Chengze, who was slowly eating a few peeled grapes.

"My third brother has been granted the title of Prince today and has also been granted permission to establish his own residence and military headquarters. This is a momentous occasion. As his elder brother, I naturally have to come and offer my congratulations."

Seeing his two elder brothers fighting fiercely for the position of crown prince, Li Chengye immediately put on an expression of being flattered.

"Thank you, elder brothers. I am truly grateful for your help. I will have to rely on you two for guidance in the future."

Upon hearing these words, Li Chengqian and Li Chengze smiled kindly on the surface, but they were both secretly pondering in their hearts.

The Crown Prince had a clear understanding of the situation. He knew that the third prince spent his days either dabbling in literature or listening to music and watching dances at the Drunken Immortal Abode. He was a complete good-for-nothing.

The second prince also disregarded the other party, considering him a useless piece of trash with no foundation.

If it weren't for his title as the Third Prince and the newly promoted Prince, which gave him some value in winning people over, this kind of person who only frequents brothels wouldn't even be worthy of their attention.

"Third brother, now that you've opened your own residence, why don't you come to my place tomorrow and we brothers have a good drink?" The Crown Prince extended the olive branch first.

Not to be outdone, Li Chengze immediately invited Li Chengye to his residence to admire his newly acquired antiques and calligraphy.

Faced with the two's explicit and implicit hints, Li Chengye suddenly reached out and covered his stomach, his brows furrowed tightly, and his face turned somewhat pale.

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry, brothers."

"I had a few too many drinks at Zuixianju last night, and my stomach is suddenly acting up really badly. I need to go to the restroom. Let's get together another day, another day!"

After saying this, he ignored their reactions, clutched his stomach, and ran off hurriedly to the square outside the main hall.

Watching that disheveled figure disappear into the distance, the Crown Prince and the Second Prince exchanged a glance, a mocking glint in their eyes.

A good-for-nothing who only knows how to indulge in debauchery can't even handle a few drinks; mud is mud after all.

After passing through the long white marble corridor, the figures of palace servants gradually disappeared from sight.

Li Chengye stopped and slowly lowered his hand from his stomach.

The impatient and frivolous expression on his face vanished instantly, replaced by an extreme depth and composure.

The aura emanating from him underwent a complete transformation, becoming like still waters in a deep abyss.

He looked up at the towering palace walls, his thoughts drifting unconsciously to the distant past.

Eighteen years ago, he was reborn into the seemingly prosperous Great Qing Kingdom, carrying the memories of his previous life.

He became the fetus in Ye Qingmei's womb, and was a twin brother of Fan Xian.

Although he was an infant at the time, he witnessed the horrific bloody night at Taiping Villa.

That night, the towering flames illuminated half of Kyoto's night sky in a fiery red.

All I could hear were the clanging of swords clashing and the agonizing screams of the guards. Corpses littered the ground, and streams of blood flowed through them.

Ye Qingmei suffered a fatal wound in that massacre, and her white clothes were completely soaked in blood.

That stunningly beautiful face was as pale as paper, exuding a breathtakingly tragic beauty.

Even in her last moments, she used all her remaining strength to protect her two newborn children.

Later, Wu Zhu, covered in blood, fought his way out of the encirclement and took Fan Xian away.

Due to a series of coincidences, he was kept in the palace and made the third prince of the current dynasty.

"Emperor Qing..."

Li Chengye knew better than anyone that the real mastermind behind the Taiping Villa massacre was the high and mighty Emperor Qing.

That ruthless man who, for the sake of supreme imperial power, could even eliminate his own wife without mercy.

The hatred for killing one's mother is irreconcilable.

Living right under his enemy's nose, he was constantly thinking about revenge.

For the past eighteen years, he has deliberately acted as if he had no ambition, frequented brothels, and composed poems, pretending to be a good-for-nothing with no ambition.

This was all to lower Emperor Qing's guard and to save his life in the treacherous and unpredictable inner palace.

The greatest source of his confidence that has allowed him to endure until now is a system that has long been awakened, but which indicates that it can only be fully activated when he turns eighteen.

Gathering his turbulent thoughts, Li Chengye composed himself and went straight out of the palace back to the newly bestowed residence of the Third Prince.

Since it was a newly established residence, everything inside was still being organized, and the servants were busy with their own tasks.

Ignoring the commotion in the front yard, he went alone into the secret room of the study.

Just as he closed the door to the secret room, a crisp mechanical notification sound finally rang out deep within his mind.

[Ding! Host detected to be 18 years of age or older.]

[The "Many Children, Many Blessings" system is now officially activated!]

Upon hearing the voice he had longed for for eighteen years, Li Chengye clenched his fists tightly, his eyes gleaming with intense joy.

"It's finally here!"

Even with his composure honed over eighteen years, he couldn't help but feel his heart surging with emotion at this moment.

Immediately afterwards, the system's voice came again.

[System activation successful. A newbie gift pack has been awarded. Would you like to activate it immediately?]

"Activate!" Li Chengye silently chanted decisively.

[Ding! New player gift pack successfully opened.]

[Congratulations, host, you have received a reward: Ninth-Rank Cultivation!]

[Congratulations, host, you have received the reward: Peerless Martial Skill, Sun-Shooting Archery!]

[Congratulations, host, you have received a reward: a Supreme Character Summoning Card, the Bad Guy Commander Yuan Tiangang!]

As a series of notification sounds fell, an extremely powerful surge of true energy appeared out of thin air and rushed wildly into Li Chengye's limbs and bones.

He could clearly feel that his eight extraordinary meridians were being rapidly expanded, and his whole body was filled with overwhelming power.

At the same time, the profound meaning of the Sun-Shooting Archery Technique was deeply imprinted in his mind.

Looking at the last summoning card that emitted a faint glow, Li Chengye's smile deepened.

With a ninth-rank cultivation level and the trump card of being the Bad Commander.

The grand scheme of revenge can finally be put into action.