Joy of Life: Me, the Second Prince? Summon Yuan Tiangang!

The Imperial Palace, the Imperial Study.

The atmosphere here is a hundred times more oppressive than outside the Second Prince's residence.

In the vast imperial study, only a few dim palace lanterns were lit.

Emperor Qing was still wearing that loose white robe, his hair casually draped over his shoulders. He stood in front of the huge landscape painting, his back to the gate, seemingly lost in thought.

Eunuch Hou stood at attention not far away, his hands hanging down, his breathing barely suppressed.

He knew that His Majesty was in a very bad mood today.

From the morning onwards, the atmosphere in the Imperial Study was frighteningly tense. Several ministers who came to report on state affairs were all scolded severely and slunk out.

A series of hurried, light footsteps broke the deathly silence of the imperial study.

Led by a young eunuch, Little Li walked in, trembling.

As soon as he entered the room, he felt the suffocating pressure.

"thump!"

Without hesitation, Little Li knelt down on the ground, his knees sliding a distance on the paving stones until he was still three zhang away from Emperor Qing before stopping.

"Your humble servant... Your humble servant, Xiao Li Zi, pays his respects to Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty!"

Emperor Qing did not turn around, but continued to gaze at the landscape painting.

"You're back." Emperor Qing's voice was calm, revealing no emotion whatsoever.

"What did he say? Repeat it word for word."

Xiao Li swallowed hard, suppressing his fear, and described in as much detail as possible what he had seen and heard in the pavilion, every word Li Chengze had said, and even Li Chengze's expression and tone at the time.

When he mentioned that Li Chengze had admitted to obtaining the black box, he clearly felt the temperature in the imperial study drop several degrees. Eunuch Hou, even more frightened, shrank back, cold sweat pouring down his back.

And when he said Li Chengze's words, "In a fit of anger, I threw it away."

The entire imperial study fell into a deathly silence.

You could hear the sound of a pin dropping on the ground clearly.

Leonardo DiCaprio lay prone on the ground, barely daring to breathe, awaiting the arrival of the wrath of the thunderbolt.

However, the expected outburst of rage did not occur.

Emperor Qing did not smash anything, nor did he shout at the emperor.

He simply stood there quietly, his expression unchanged.

However, Eunuch Hou, who was familiar with Emperor Qing, keenly sensed that His Majesty had changed.

At this moment, Emperor Qing's originally calm gaze underwent a dramatic change.

That was an extremely dangerous light.

Like a sleeping lion, it slowly opened its eyes, which were filled with destructive desire.

There was no anger in that gaze, only a chilling coldness and calculation.

"Throw it away..."

Emperor Qing murmured these two words softly, and a strange smile slowly curved the corners of his lips.

The curve of that smile was exactly the same as the one he wore last night when he heard that Li Chengze had committed murder.

"What a fine way to throw it away."

Emperor Qing slowly walked to his desk and sat down. His fingers tapped lightly on the table, producing a crisp "tap, tap, tap" sound. Each tap was like a heavy hammer blow, striking the hearts of Xiao Li Zi and Eunuch Hou.

Emperor Qing certainly didn't believe that Li Chengze would throw away that black box.

That was something left behind by Ye Qingmei, a divine artifact powerful enough to shake the world. Li Chengze went to such great lengths to obtain it, how could he possibly discard it so easily?

Can't open it without the key? That might be true.

But he didn't believe the words "throw it away"!

but……

"Since the second son says he threw it away, then he must have thrown it away. My sons wouldn't lie to me about such a trivial matter." Emperor Qing's tone suddenly softened. "Issue my decree."

"This old servant obeys the decree." Eunuch Hou quickly held his breath and focused his attention.

"The Second Prince has been overworked with state affairs lately, and is exhausted. It's understandable that he might be a little irritable and occasionally act out of line. What happened last night was just a misunderstanding." Emperor Qing slowly stood up, put his hands behind his back, and turned his gaze back to the huge map of the country. "Issue the order to lift the confinement of the Second Prince's residence. The imperial guards surrounding the residence have been standing all night and are tired. Withdraw them. Don't disturb the Second Prince's peaceful sleep; let him rest well."

Hou Gonggong's heart skipped a beat, but he dared not show it on his face. He simply kowtowed deeply to the ground and replied in a deep voice, "This old servant obeys the decree."

He nodded, though the gesture was extremely subtle, but he knew better than anyone that things were far from over.

"As for you..." Emperor Qing's gaze slowly moved down and landed on Little Li, who was still lying on the ground, his body soaked in cold sweat.

When Little Li heard His Majesty call his name, he trembled with fear and kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "This servant is here! This servant deserves to die ten thousand times!"

"What have you done to deserve death?" Emperor Qing's voice was devoid of emotion. "You made a trip to the Second Prince's residence for me and brought back every word he said. Not only are you blameless, but you've actually done a good deed. The fact that you managed to emerge unscathed from the Second Prince's temper shows that you're clever and lucky."

Little Li was completely dumbfounded. He thought that he had stumbled upon this secret conflict within the imperial family and was doomed to die today, but he never expected that His Majesty would say that he had rendered meritorious service.

"Eunuch Hou, this young eunuch seems pleasing to the eye. Reward him with one hundred taels of silver. From today onwards, he should no longer linger in those servants' quarters. Transfer him to serve in the palace. I need clever people like him by my side who can understand and speak clearly."

Leonardo DiCaprio was struck dumb, frozen in place, his mind blank.

To be transferred from a lowly eunuch who could be killed by his master at any moment to serve in front of the emperor is beyond description; it's like his ancestors' graves were emitting auspicious smoke!

"What? You're unwilling?" Emperor Qing raised an eyebrow slightly.

"This servant...this servant thanks Your Majesty for your great favor! This servant kowtows to thank Your Majesty for your divine grace! Long live the Emperor!" Little Li finally reacted, tears streaming down his face, his forehead banging against the floor tiles with a loud thud, quickly breaking the skin and drawing blood down his forehead, but he seemed not to feel the pain, only desperately kowtowing.

"Alright, all of you may leave. I'm tired." Emperor Qing waved his hand casually, turned around, and stopped looking at them.

"This old servant takes his leave."

With the still dazed Little Li in tow, Eunuch Hou tiptoed out of the Imperial Study and carefully closed the two heavy nanmu wood doors.

As the door closed, the Imperial Study fell into a deathly silence once again.

Emperor Qing stood quietly alone in the center of the room, surrounded by dimly lit palace lanterns. His gaze lingered on the landscape painting, looking at the vast rivers and mountains that represented the capital, the south of the Yangtze River, and the Northern Qi Dynasty, lost in thought.

After a long while, he slowly walked to the imperial desk, picked up a memorial, but did not open it. Instead, he gently ran his fingers along the edge of the memorial.

"Throw it away..."