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

"This old servant obeys the decree."

……

On the other hand, time slips away like sand through fingers, quietly passing by in a suffocating sense of tension.

The day of the Crown Prince's wedding finally arrived.

On this day in Kyoto, the sky was overcast and there was not a breath of wind. The air was so stuffy that it felt like you could wring water out of it.

On the surface, everything seemed calm and peaceful.

The streets leading from the Zhengyang Gate of the Imperial Palace to the residence of the First Prince were decorated with lanterns and colorful ribbons.

The musicians of the Jiaofangsi (Imperial Music Bureau) played festive tunes with all their might on both sides of the street, but the cheerful music always sounded like a kind of undisguised gloom to the ears of passersby.

The people of Kyoto were forcibly driven by the government to the streets to watch the ceremony. Each person had red paper flowers stuffed into their hands, but there was no joy on their faces, only deep numbness and fear.

The corpses and rivers of blood from a few days ago have completely drained the courage of this city.

Inside the First Prince's residence, the extravagance reached its extreme.

A grand banquet filled the entire front yard and back garden, featuring all sorts of delicacies and fine wines.

All officials of the fifth rank and above in the court, except those who lost their heads in the "Net of Deception" purge, were present.

However, the atmosphere at the wedding banquet was extremely eerie.

Hundreds of officials in red robes sat upright at the table, not daring to touch their chopsticks. Each of them glanced at the other out of the corner of their eye, trying to find a sense of security in their colleagues' faces.

No one made a loud noise, no one toasted each other, and the entire banquet was as quiet as a huge tomb, except for the musicians' playing and the occasional clinking of cups and plates.

"This isn't a wedding banquet, it's practically a death sentence..." A newly appointed Vice Minister of Rites said to his colleague beside him in a low, trembling voice, his forehead covered in a fine layer of cold sweat.

"Shut up! Do you want to die?" His colleague glared at him fiercely, his eyes glancing fearfully at the expressionless imperial guards with swords hanging at their waists.

Everything seemed calm on the surface, but undercurrents were stirring beneath.

In a secluded wing room in the backyard of the mansion.

Fan Xian was standing in front of a huge bronze mirror, sweating profusely as Wang Qinian and Gao Da helped him put on his "ultimate bulletproof vest," which had taken several days to make.

This outfit was extremely bulky. The innermost layer was three layers of soft armor woven from Western Region silkworm silk, sandwiched in between a curved high-carbon steel plate that he had painstakingly ground with a file. The outermost layer was a large red wedding robe.

The entire set of equipment weighed over 40 kilograms. Wearing it, Fan Xian looked like a chubby red barrel, and even his walking appeared somewhat stiff.

"My lord, isn't this... a bit too much?" Wang Qinian said, wiping the sweat from his brow as he helped Fan Xian fasten his belt. "On such a joyous occasion, the Second Prince wouldn't dare to make a move at the wedding banquet, would he? Besides, the Black Riders in the courtyard have surrounded this area for miles around like an iron barrel; not even a fly can get in."

"You know nothing!" Fan Xian cursed irritably, tapping the hard steel plate on his chest, producing a dull metallic sound. "The Barrett's effective range is 1,800 meters! 1,800 meters, you understand? That's from one end of Zhuque Avenue, enough to cut an elephant in two with a single shot! What's the use of the Black Knights surrounding us for ten miles? As long as Second Brother finds a high tower to lie in, and pulls the trigger when he doesn't like me, I won't even know how my master died!"

Wang Qinian and Gao Da looked at each other in bewilderment. Although they did not understand the terms "effective range" and "Barrett," they could not help but feel a chill when they saw Fan Xian's look of being on high alert.

"Sir, since it's so dangerous, why don't you just pretend to be sick and stay home?" Gao Da said in a muffled voice.

"You think I don't want to?" Fan Xian gritted his teeth, a hint of helplessness and frustration flashing in his eyes. "It's the Crown Prince's wedding, and I'm the wedding envoy. If I don't go, it's disobeying the imperial decree, and Father Emperor will be the first to punish me. Besides, if I hide and don't show up, who knows what even crazier things that Second Prince might do. I have to show up today, and I have to smile brighter than anyone else."

He took a deep breath, tried to adjust his breathing, and slowly circulated his domineering true energy throughout his body, forming an invisible protective aura.

"Let's go. What's meant to be will be. I want to see what tricks Li Chengze can pull at this trap!"

Fan Xian pushed open the door and walked with heavy, stiff steps toward the banquet hall in the front yard. His gaze, like that of a hawk, constantly scanned the surrounding rooftops, towers, and even the treetops swaying in the wind. Any possible location where a sniper might be lurking made his heart pound.

……

Front yard hall.

The eldest prince, Li Chengru, dressed in a python robe for his wedding, stood tall and straight like a pine tree, with a perfectly measured smile on his face, greeting guests at the entrance of the hall.

His gaze was calm and deep, as if he were completely unaware of the eerie atmosphere at the wedding banquet.

The Northern Qi princess, wearing a phoenix crown and a red veil covering her face, stood quietly beside the eldest prince, supported by several ladies of high birth. Although her face was not visible, her composed posture and even breathing demonstrated the composure of this foreign princess.

"The auspicious time has arrived! The newlyweds shall pay their respects to Heaven and Earth—"

With a loud and clear announcement from the Minister of Rites, the atmosphere in the hall instantly reached a small climax.

However, just as the Crown Prince and the Northern Qi Princess were about to turn around and face the world outside the door, an extremely abrupt voice, carrying a hint of laziness and mockery, suddenly came from the gate of the courtyard.

"I am late for my elder brother's wedding. Please forgive me."

The sound wasn't loud, but it was like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, instantly creating a huge upheaval in the entire banquet hall.

All the officials froze involuntarily, and countless gazes filled with fear, awe, and even despair were cast toward the gate.

The Second Prince, Li Chengze, has arrived.

He was still not dressed in formal attire, but only wearing a loose, moon-white robe. His hair was casually tied up with a jade hairpin, and he was barefoot, stepping on the bluestone slabs covered with a red carpet.

In his hand, he still held that crystal-clear luminous glass, the scarlet wine inside swirling gently with his movements, emitting a captivating yet chilling fragrance.

Behind him followed eight black-clad swordsmen wearing bronze masks.

These eight individuals were none other than the top-tier assassins of the "Net of Deception," who had stirred up a bloody storm in Kyoto these past few days and struck fear into the hearts of officials.

The most eye-catching figure was Xie Bi'an, who was walking at the very back.

Xie Bi'an was not holding a sword, but a long, rectangular box about five feet long, tightly wrapped in thick, black, unidentified animal hide.