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

Read the full text of Chapter 152, "Not a Blind Revenge Assassination," for free. Link:

"How did he die? When did it happen?" Yan Xingshu grabbed the butler's shoulder, his nails almost digging into the butler's flesh.

"Just... just half an hour ago," the steward said, his face contorted with grief, "a group of men in black wearing ghost masks stormed into your residences like a gust of wind. They killed without blinking an eye! The Left Censor-in-Chief and his family of over forty people were wiped out, not even a dog was left behind... When the city patrol troops arrived, all they found were corpses strewn across the ground and a single character for 'net' written in blood on the wall..."

"Net..." Yan Xingshu staggered back two steps and fell down on the cold street.

He got it.

He understood completely.

The gentle and refined "Greetings, Father Emperor" in the Taiji Hall was not a sign of submission or weakness!

That was mockery! That was an extremely malicious provocation and demonstration!

The more respectful and harmless Li Chengze appeared in court, the more it served to highlight the bloody storm he was currently unleashing in the capital!

He was telling everyone: Do you think His Majesty can protect you? Do you think I can't do anything to you just because you follow the rules in court?

Wrong! Utterly wrong!

I, Li Chengze, am going to make a hole in the sky above the capital today, right in front of His Majesty and all the officials!

"He's gone mad... His Highness has completely gone mad!" Yan Xingshu screamed in terror, clutching his head with both hands.

The same scene is playing out in every corner of Kyoto right now.

The officials, who had just escaped death at the Taiji Hall and thought they had survived a calamity, received this devastating news one after another as they returned home or on their way home.

Fear, like an invisible plague, spread through the Kyoto bureaucracy at an alarming rate.

If last night's massacre was carried out under the cover of darkness, it could be somewhat understood as a covert political maneuver.

So this morning, in broad daylight, right after His Majesty the Emperor had finished his morning court session, a horrific massacre of entire families of court officials was carried out… This is blatant rebellion! This is the ultimate trampling of imperial power!

Upon hearing that his deputy had been publicly beheaded in the street, the Minister of Justice fainted from shock.

The residences of several Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet were immediately locked, and all their servants and guards were mobilized to surround the residences, making it impossible to let even a fly in.

The entire officialdom of Kyoto was plunged into an unprecedented atmosphere of horror and deathly silence.

They all know who did it.

But what good is knowing?

No one dared to speak.

No one dared to step forward at this time and write a righteous and stern memorial to denounce the Second Prince's tyranny.

Because they discovered an even more chilling fact—

Your Majesty, there is no response.

The Nine Gates Admiral is dead, the patrol battalion has been burned down, and dozens of imperial officials have been wiped out. The defenses of the capital are in complete disarray, and the evil spirits who call themselves "The Net" are still roaming the streets and alleys of the capital, searching for their next prey.

However, the lofty palace was as quiet as a giant tomb.

No imperial guards were dispatched, no red-armored knights took to the streets to quell the rebellion, and even the yamen runners of the capital city did not receive any orders to apprehend the murderer.

This eerie silence is even more despairing than the assassins of "The Net".

Gods are fighting.

The Emperor and the Second Prince, the most noble and ruthless father and son in the world, are playing a terrifying game that is beyond the comprehension of ordinary people, using the entire bureaucratic system of the capital as a chessboard and the lives of hundreds of officials as chess pieces.

Faced with this level of meat grinder, these usually imposing ministers and vice ministers are less than ants.

Whoever dares to step forward will become the next pawn to be eliminated.

The Eastern Palace.

"Bang!"

A priceless Ru ware vase was smashed to pieces on the ground.

Crown Prince Li Chengqian's eyes were bloodshot, like a wild beast driven to the brink of despair, as he paced frantically back and forth in the luxurious palace.

"How dare he? How dare he!"

The crown prince roared hysterically, veins bulging on his forehead, "Father is still in the palace! The Black Riders are outside the city! What right does Li Chengze have to kill someone in broad daylight! Is he really not afraid of death?!"

Inside the main hall, several trusted advisors of the Crown Prince knelt on the ground, trembling, not daring to utter a sound.

"The Net... the Net!" The prince gritted his teeth as he uttered the two words, a deep fear flashing in his eyes.

He had always thought that the Second Prince's trump card was those civil officials and upright scholars, with at most a few recruited martial arts masters of the ninth rank.

He never dreamed that Li Chengze would have such a terrifying assassin team that could overturn the defenses of Kyoto!

Three thousand elite assassins, appearing and disappearing like ghosts, killing without hesitation.

"Where is Father? Why isn't Father doing anything!" The Crown Prince turned his head sharply, staring intently in the direction of the palace. "Is Father just going to stand by and watch him kill all the officials of the court? If Li Chengze dares to kill a minister today, will he dare to lead his men into the Eastern Palace tomorrow and cut off my head too?!"

No one could answer the prince's question.

Because everyone was plunged into deep confusion and fear. They couldn't understand the game, let alone the unfathomable Emperor Qing.

Meanwhile, at the Crown Prince's residence.

The eldest prince, Li Chengru, who had been leading troops in the field for many years and had seen countless corpses and bloodshed, was now standing in front of a huge map of the capital's defenses, his brows furrowed and his expression extremely solemn.

"Your Highness." A guard rushed in, knelt on one knee, and said in a voice filled with barely concealed shock, "We just received news that the military garrison in the south of the city has also been attacked. The attackers numbered only ten, but the garrison's three hundred defenders... were all wiped out. The commander leading the attack was stabbed through the heart and his body is hanging above the gate."

The eldest prince took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"Ten men, killing three hundred regular soldiers... What terrifying individual combat ability, what excellent teamwork." The eldest prince muttered to himself, "Second brother, you've been hiding your true strength."

He opened his eyes and his gaze fell on the locations marked with red crosses on the defense map.

Those were the official residences and military outposts that were purged by the "Net" this morning.

If you connect these red crosses, you'll find that this wasn't some blind, venting massacre at all, but rather an extremely precise "surgical" strike targeting Kyoto's command system and key hubs!

"He crippled Kyoto's defense system and severed the connections between various departments... He's clearing the area." The eldest prince clenched his fist tightly, his knuckles cracking.

"Your Highness, what should we do?" the guard asked. "Should we mobilize the private troops in the manor to strengthen security?"

"No need." The eldest prince gave a wry smile and shook his head. "A few hundred private soldiers are meaningless in the face of that power. If the second prince really goes crazy and tries to attack me, my mansion won't be able to stop him."

He turned to look in the direction of the palace, his eyes filled with awe and bewilderment.

"Now, it all depends on how Father Emperor makes his move. So much blood has been shed in the capital; Father Emperor's patience must be nearing its limit..."

……

Deep within the palace, in the imperial study.