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

The night was as dark as ink, so thick it seemed impossible to dissolve.

From the moment Hou Daban trembled as he left the Imperial Study and delivered the secret edict, powerful enough to overturn the world, to the Censorate, the entire capital, and indeed the entire world, quietly veered into an abyss of madness in the silent night.

Chen Pingping sat in his iconic wheelchair, disappearing into the deepest darkness of the Control Yuan.

Listening to the spy's report, a rare and extremely complex expression appeared on that wrinkled, perpetually sunless, pale face. There was mockery, coldness, and a chilling fanaticism hidden deep in his eyes.

"He finally took this step." Chen Pingping's thin fingers tapped lightly on the armrest of his wheelchair, making a dull "tap, tap" sound that echoed in the empty, enclosed room. "He used his own life, and her name, to catch all the fish in the world."

"Dean, once this news gets out, Kyoto will be in chaos, and there might even be a mutiny. Our Oversight Council..." The head of the secret agents knelt on one knee, his voice filled with barely concealed fear.

"Execute His Majesty's will." Chen Pingping interrupted him, her voice returning to its usual cold and calm, as if the emotional fluctuation just moments before was merely an illusion. "Use all the secret agents in the First, Second, and Fourth Bureaus. I want this news to appear in every teahouse, every brothel, and every high-ranking official's bedside in the capital before sunrise tomorrow. Within three days, I want this wind to blow through every street and alley of Dongyi City and into the capital of Northern Qi."

"yes!"

With Chen Pingping's command, countless hidden agents were activated and began operating with unimaginable efficiency.

Countless men in black, like bats in the night, poured out of the secret doors of the Censorate and disappeared into the night of Kyoto.

Like black snowflakes, carrier pigeons took off from every corner of Kyoto and flew in all directions.

The messenger, riding at breakneck speed and carrying a letter tube stamped with the highest-level secret seal, rushed out of the city gates of the capital and disappeared into the vast official road.

The wedding banquet at the Crown Prince's residence continued, with the sounds of string and wind instruments filling the air, red lanterns hanging high, and glasses clinking. However, beneath this facade of prosperity, an invisible net had already been quietly cast.

……

The next day, early in the morning.

When the first rays of sunlight struggled to pierce the thin mist over Kyoto, the ancient capital, with its thousand-year history, did not experience its usual hustle and bustle and vitality, but instead fell into an eerie, suffocating silence.

The speed at which the news spread even exceeded Chen Pingping's expectations.

"A certain eunuch in the palace suffered a qi deviation during his martial arts practice, his meridians have been severed, and he will soon die!"

"Ye Liuyun has been secretly transferred to the Northern Qi border, leaving the capital's defenses vulnerable!"

"Princes vie for the throne; civil war is imminent!"

"The secret left behind by Ye Qingmei is hidden in Taiping Villa!"

These four bombshells, like four thunderclaps, not only shattered the morning in Kyoto, but also shattered the string of "peace" in everyone's hearts.

The imperial court was thrown into turmoil! All the officials were horrified!

Those high-ranking officials who had been toasting each other at the Crown Prince's residence the night before were now all cowering in their own mansions, gates tightly shut, guards fully deployed, on high alert. No one dared to attend court at this time, nor did anyone dare to venture out. Everyone was like frightened birds, staring intently in the direction of the palace, trying to glean any clues from within its high walls.

The Second Prince's Mansion.

Unlike the chaos and turmoil outside, the Second Prince's residence remained so quiet that even the sound of a leaf falling could be heard. The online sensation, "Joy of Life: I, the Second Prince? Summon Yuan Tiangang!", a masterpiece by the author Invincible Demon King F, is available here.

Li Chengze walked barefoot on the cold marble floor. He wore only a loose, moon-white shirt, his long hair casually draped behind his head, and he still held the glass of Western Region wine he hadn't finished the night before.

Xie Bi'an stood straight behind him like a drawn sword, reporting the news from the outside without missing a single word.

After hearing the report, Li Chengze did not panic like the others, nor did he show the slightest surprise. He simply stood quietly by the window, looking at the withered tree swaying in the wind in the yard, a deep contemplation gradually appearing in his eyes.

"Possessed by demonic possession? Meridians severed?" Li Chengze suddenly chuckled, shook his head, and downed the glass of red wine in one gulp. The crimson liquid slid down his lips, dripping onto his pale white robe like blooming blood plum blossoms.

"Your Highness, shouldn't we also make preparations soon?" Xie Bi'an asked coldly, his hand already on the hilt of his sword.

Li Chengze turned around, walked barefoot to the desk, picked up an ancient book, flipped through it casually, and said nonchalantly, "Prepare? Prepare for what? Prepare for a rebellion?"

"Your Highness!" Xie Bi'an frowned.

"Bi'an, you've followed me for so long, how come you still can't see through this game?" Li Chengze sighed, tossed the ancient book back onto the table, his eyes sharpening like knives. "Do you really think you'll suffer a qi deviation? That your meridians will be severed?"

Li Chengze sneered repeatedly, "If they were truly at their last gasp, how could they have allowed the news to leak so thoroughly? This is clearly the work of the Censorate! It was Father Emperor who instructed Chen Pingping to deliberately spread this rumor!"

Why did he do that?

"To fish." Li Chengze walked to the brazier, stretched out his hands to warm them, "to fish for Ku He of Northern Qi, to fish for Si Gu Jian of Dongyi City, and even... to fish for us, his own sons."

"Your Highness, how should we proceed? Since we know it's a trap, perhaps we should remain inactive?"

"Hold back and do nothing?"

"Taiping Villa... Ye Qingmei's secret... Father is ruthless! He even brought up Ye Qingmei! He's trying to unleash the greed of all the Grandmasters in the world! Fan Xian is probably like an ant on a hot pan right now, isn't he?"

Li Chengze suddenly turned his head and looked intently at Xie Bi'an. "Since Father has set up the stage, we should naturally give him face. However, how the play is performed cannot be entirely up to him."

……

Dongyi City, Jianlu.

This is the holy land of swordsmen, and also the most dangerous place in the world.

The area around the Sword Pavilion is perpetually filled with an extremely sharp sword aura. Ordinary people would be cut by the invisible sword intent even if they got within a hundred steps.

In the past few days, the sword energy in the Sword Pavilion has become extremely chaotic, sometimes as violent as a hurricane, and sometimes as cold as a venomous snake.

The disciples of Jianlu all knew that their master's mind was in turmoil.

Yun Zhilan, Si Gu Jian's chief disciple, was kneeling outside the tightly closed gate of the Sword Pavilion.

His knees were deeply embedded in the mud, and his forehead was covered in sweat, but he dared not move an inch.

In his hands he held a carrier pigeon that had just flown in from Kyoto, with a red bamboo tube tied to its leg.

"Master..." Yun Zhilan's voice was a little hoarse. He struggled to speak despite the suffocating pressure of the sword energy, "There has been a change in Kyoto..."