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

The court assembly inside the Taiji Hall was still ongoing.

But this was destined to be the most bizarre, longest, and most agonizing morning court session since the founding of the Qing Kingdom.

After the Second Prince Li Chengze politely said "Greetings, Father Emperor" and returned to his own rank, the aloof Emperor Qing did not give him another glance. He merely flipped through the memorials in his hand very casually, occasionally throwing out a few political questions about spring plowing in various places, the Yellow River floods, or the border troops' provisions.

His tone was calm, but to the civil and military officials below, this calm voice was more terrifying than thunder from the heavens.

Every official whose name was called upon to step forward and speak was trembling with fear, as if walking on thin ice.

They knelt on the cold gold bricks, their voices trembling and their words incoherent. Some of the older ministers, after answering their questions and returning to the ranks, almost collapsed to the ground, their legs giving way. They were only able to stand up by being secretly supported by their colleagues.

Repressed.

A deep-seated sense of oppression, as if it were squeezing blood from the lungs.

Outside the hall, it was a bright and sunny spring day, but inside the Taiji Hall, it seemed as if an impenetrable gloom was shrouding it.

No one dared to breathe loudly, no one dared to look directly at the Emperor's face, and no one dared to cast their gaze at the Second Prince, who stood beside the First Prince and maintained that gentle smile.

Li Chengze stood there quietly.

Crown Prince Li Chengqian stood at the very front of the procession, feeling the cold sweat on his back repeatedly dry and then soak again. His close-fitting bright yellow python robe clung to his back like a cold, venomous snake.

He didn't dare turn his head to look at Li Chengze, but he could feel a faint chill lingering around his neck.

"What is my second brother thinking? What is Father waiting for?" The Crown Prince screamed inwardly, but dared not reveal a word.

This kind of unresolved fear, this torment of knowing the executioner's blade is hanging over your head but not knowing when it will fall, is even more devastating than being dragged out and beheaded.

I don't know how much time passed; it felt like an hour, or perhaps a whole lifetime.

Emperor Qing, seated on the dragon throne, finally closed the last memorial and casually tossed it onto his desk.

A soft "snap" sound.

In the deathly silent hall, the shock struck everyone's hearts like a heavy hammer. All the officials shuddered, bowing their heads even lower.

Emperor Qing slowly swept his gaze across the trembling officials below, his eyes lingering on Li Chengze for a fleeting moment before he lazily waved his hand.

"Dismiss the court."

The chief eunuch, Hou, who was standing nearby, immediately raised his shrill, slightly trembling voice and loudly announced, "Dismiss—the court!"

"Your Majesty, we respectfully bid you farewell! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"

The officials, as if granted a pardon, knelt down in unison, shouting "Long live the Emperor!" Their voices even carried a hint of barely concealed sobs, a sound of relief at surviving a catastrophe.

When Emperor Qing's figure disappeared behind the screen behind the jade steps, the suffocating pressure in the Taiji Hall finally receded like a tide.

The officials helped each other to their feet, many of them their court robes soaked with sweat. They looked at each other, and could see the deep fear and schadenfreude in each other's eyes.

There was no arguing, no small talk.

The high-ranking officials, who used to gather in groups of three or five after court to discuss and exchange political views, now walked hurriedly out of the hall as if avoiding a plague, their heads bowed.

The eldest prince, Li Chengru, gave Li Chengze a deep look, his lips moved, but he only uttered a low voice: "Second brother, take care of yourself." After saying that, he strode away.

Crown Prince Li Chengqian's face was ashen. He didn't even glance at Li Chengze. Surrounded by a group of officials from the Eastern Palace, he practically fled from the Taiji Hall.

Li Chengze stood there, watching the hurried figures of the crowd depart, a smile gradually widening on his lips. He reached out and lightly flicked non-existent dust from his sleeve, then walked out of the palace with incredibly relaxed and carefree steps.

The sunlight was blinding.

Minister of Personnel Yan Xingshu sat in the spacious official sedan chair, his hands gripping the armrests tightly, his knuckles turning white from the excessive force.

He was a key figure in the Crown Prince's faction. Although he wasn't directly involved in the attack on the Second Prince last night, he secretly fueled the flames. This morning at court, he even wrote his will and placed it in a hidden compartment in his study, fearing that the Second Prince might go berserk in court and draw his sword to kill someone.

"Thank goodness... His Majesty is still His Majesty, and the Second Prince has finally yielded." Yan Xingshu murmured to himself in the sedan chair, letting out a long breath as his tense nerves finally relaxed.

As long as things don't fall out in court, everything remains within the rules. Although last night's purge was brutal, as long as His Majesty maintains composure, the Second Prince, no matter how wronged he may be, can only swallow his grievances.

"Back to the manor, hurry back to the manor!" Yan Xingshu urged the sedan chair bearers. All he wanted now was to get back to his heavily guarded manor as quickly as possible, have a sip of hot tea, and calm his nerves.

The palanquin moved quickly and smoothly along the flat cobblestone streets of Kyoto.

However, as the sedan chair turned a street corner and was about to arrive at Xuanwu Ward, where the Minister of Personnel's residence was located, a sudden, extremely noisy and frightening commotion arose outside.

"What's going on? Stop the sedan chair!" Yan Xingshu's heart tightened suddenly, and the unease that he had just suppressed grew wildly again like poisonous weeds.

The sedan curtain was suddenly flung open, and the Yan family steward, his face ashen, stumbled and fell to his knees in front of the sedan, his voice shrill and mournful as if he had seen a ghost.

"Master! Master, you're finally back! Something terrible has happened! Something terribly terrible has happened!"

Yan Xingshu's heart skipped a beat. He grabbed the butler by the collar and roared, "What's the panic! The sky isn't falling! What happened?"

"Dead...dead! They're all dead!" The butler trembled violently, pointing to the street not far ahead, tears and snot streaming down his face. "Just now, while you were attending court, sir...another group of people died!"

"What?!" Yan Xingshu was struck dumb, his mind went completely blank.

He shoved the butler aside, stumbled out of the sedan chair, and looked ahead.

On the streets of Xuanwu Ward, all the once bustling shops were now tightly shut. Striking dark red bloodstains flowed across the bluestone streets, stretching all the way to the front of several tall mansions at the end of the street.

"Who...who died?" Yan Xingshu heard his own voice trembling violently, like a leaf falling in the wind.

"The Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate... the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue... and..." With each name the steward uttered, Yan Xingshu's body swayed violently.

Without exception, all of these names belong to high-ranking officials who hold significant influence in the court, and... all of them were officials who secretly handed a knife to the Second Prince's faction last night, or officials who usually disagree with the Second Prince's political views and are affiliated with the Crown Prince and His Majesty!