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

"Miss Zi Nu, you think too highly of me." Li Chengze picked up the wine pot and refilled his cup. The wine shimmered with an amber light in the white jade cup. "As I said before, I have no interest in the politics of Korea. Ji Wuye or Han Fei, in my eyes, they are nothing more than actors struggling in the mire. I came here simply to watch the show. Of course, if I happen to meet an interesting beauty like Miss Zi Nu during the show, that would be a wonderful bonus."

"You..." Zi Nu was speechless with anger.

She discovered that her prized eloquence and ability to read people were utterly useless in front of this man. He was like a fog; you thought you had something on him, only to find that it was just a deliberate slip-up; you thought he was joking, but every word he said hit the nail on the head.

This feeling of being completely seen through yet unable to see through the other person made Zi Nu feel extremely frustrated and powerless.

Over the next half hour, Zi Nu tried to subtly inquire about Li Chengze's views on the general situation of the world, the situation of Qin, Zhao, and Chu, and even deliberately threw out some secret information about the night, trying to test Li Chengze's reaction.

However, Li Chengze's response was watertight.

He was like an extremely skilled Tai Chi master. No matter how Zi Nu attacked, he could easily neutralize her attacks and even use her force against her, making Zi Nu feel suffocated.

Gradually, Zi Nu understood.

Tonight, she has no chance of getting any valuable information out of this man.

He deliberately revealed that his subordinates had saved Han Fei, and deliberately exposed the secrets of Zi Lan Xuan and Wei Zhuang, not to show off, but to establish his authority.

He was telling Zilanxuan and Weizhuang that he, Li Chengze, was qualified to sit on this chessboard, and that he was the player who was not bound by any rules.

"It seems that Young Master Li is determined to make Zi Nu leave empty-handed tonight." Zi Nu stopped her pointless probing, picked up the untouched cup of wine in front of her, and gave Li Chengze a complicated look.

"Miss Zi Nu, you flatter me. It is my honor to drink with you." Li Chengze raised his wine cup and offered a toast from afar.

Zi Nu did not speak again. She drank the wine in her cup in one gulp and then stood up gracefully.

"It's late, Young Master Li, you should rest early. Zi Nu still has some trivial matters to attend to, so I won't keep you company any longer."

After saying that, Zi Nu didn't look at Li Chengze again and turned to walk towards the stairs.

Her steps remained graceful and charming, her purple skirt swaying beautifully under the lights. However, upon closer inspection, one could notice a subtle heaviness and urgency in her steps compared to when she arrived.

Li Chengze remained seated, toying with the empty white jade wine cup in his hand, calmly watching Zi Nu's departing figure, a smile playing on his lips.

…………

Meanwhile, on the top floor of Zilan Pavilion, in Wei Zhuang's room.

Zi Nu pushed open the door and entered, closing it behind her. She then skillfully engaged three hidden mechanisms on the back of the door. With a very slight clicking sound of gears, the entire room was instantly enveloped by an invisible soundproof barrier.

After doing all this, Zi Nu let out a long breath, as if she wanted to release all the pent-up frustration and shock she had just felt.

Wei Zhuang remained in the same posture she had left in, arms crossed, eyes closed in repose. Only when he heard Zi Nu enter did he slowly open his eyes, a hint of inquiry flashing in his cold gaze.

"Judging from your expression, you seem to have suffered a considerable setback." Wei Zhuang's voice remained cold, but it carried a rare hint of emotion. He knew Zi Nu too well; for the usually composed Zi Nu to show such a slightly weary and serious expression was a sign that the plot was heating up: update, come and check it out! That Li Chengze was definitely not simple.

Zi Nu walked to the table, poured herself a cup of cold tea, and drank it all in one gulp. The icy tea flowed down her throat, finally calming her still somewhat restless heart.

"It's not just a hidden loss, he practically stripped me bare and humiliated me." Zi Nu gave a bitter laugh, her tone carrying a rare sense of defeat.

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhuang frowned slightly. He lowered his arms from his chest and sat down opposite Zi Nu.

"He admitted it?"

"I admit it." Zi Nu nodded, the shivering sensation of Li Chengze's lips brushing against her cheek involuntarily resurfacing in her mind. Her cheeks flushed slightly, but she quickly concealed it.

"Not only that," Zi Nu took a deep breath, her expression becoming extremely solemn, "he knows you're here. He knows Zi Lan Xuan is an intelligence agency. He even hinted that he knows we value Han Fei."

Wei Zhuang's eyes instantly turned sharp as knives, and a chilling killing intent emanated from him uncontrollably, causing the temperature in the room to plummet.

"Who exactly is he? Is he part of the Luo Wang organization? Or a spy from another country?" Wei Zhuang asked coldly.

"I don't know." Zi Nu shook her head. "He speaks so shrewdly, seemingly saying everything, but upon closer inspection, he says nothing at all. He's extremely arrogant, completely disregarding Ye Mu and Ji Wu Ye. When I asked him about his purpose in coming to Korea, guess what he said?"

"How so?"

"He said..." Zi Nu gritted her teeth, still seemingly annoyed by the answer, "He said South Korea was weak and insignificant. He came here just to watch the show. He also said... his target is me."

Wei Zhuang was slightly taken aback. Then, a strange expression appeared on his perpetually icy face, which was extremely rare.

"You're the target?" Wei Zhuang looked at Zi Nu, seemingly reassessing the meaning of her words.

"What kind of look is that?" Zi Nu rolled her eyes at Wei Zhuang, annoyed. "Do you really think he's a lecherous scoundrel? The way he looks at me is terrifyingly clear! He says I'm his target, but he's actually telling me that he's after Zi Lan Xuan's intelligence network, and the value behind you and me! He's declaring that he has the ability and the ambition to swallow us all up!"

Wei Zhuang remained silent.

He stood up, walked to the window, and looked out at the deep night.

"A mysterious young master of unknown origin, with unfathomable martial arts skills, top-notch assassins under his command, and an intimate knowledge of the situation in Xinzheng..." Wei Zhuang murmured to himself, his fingers lightly tapping on the window frame. "This game of chess in Xinzheng originally had only three players. Now, suddenly there's someone else who's flipping the table. Interesting, truly interesting."

"You still find it amusing?" Zi Nu walked to his side and said with some worry, "This person is hard to tell as friend or foe, and his actions are completely unpredictable. If he really intends to harm Zi Lan Xuan, I'm afraid we'll have a hard time resisting him."

"Since he didn't make a move tonight and instead confessed everything to you, it means he currently harbors no ill will towards us, or rather, he feels that keeping us alive is more valuable than destroying us." A strong fighting spirit burned in Wei Zhuang's eyes. "Moreover, he saved Han Fei, which means he has already stood on the opposite side of Ji Wuye. The enemy of my enemy, even if not a friend, can at least become a temporary ally."

"You mean, we want to cooperate with him?"

"No." Wei Zhuang shook his head and said coldly, "Cooperation is based on equal strength. Right now, we don't even know his true trump card, so how can we talk about cooperation? What we need to do now is to use his mysterious power to break the current stalemate in Xinzheng. Ji Wuye suffered a great loss tonight and will definitely launch a fierce counterattack. Let's see just how much of a splash this Young Master Li can make in this storm!"

Click to begin your wondrous journey in "Joy of Life: I'm the Second Prince? Summoning Yuan Tiangang!"