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

The aroma of tea wafted from the top floor of the restaurant.

Xuan Jian's figure reappeared behind Li Chengze like a ghost. The two black and white swords that terrified the martial arts world were already sheathed, and there wasn't even a trace of blood on his body.

"Your Highness, I have fulfilled my mission." Xuan Jian's voice was deep and flat. "Although Teng Zijing's meridians were severely damaged, his life is not in danger. My sword strike severed the clothes that Cheng Jushu was holding, dissipating most of the force, but did not damage his core."

Li Chengze gently turned the teacup in his hand, watching the tea leaves rise and fall in the cup, a satisfied smile curving his lips.

"well done."

He slowly stood up and took one last look at the chaotic, blood-stained Niulan Street below.

At this moment, the yamen runners from the Kyoto Prefecture and a group of people from the Imperial Censorate arrived late and surrounded the scene. Fan Xian was holding Teng Zijing, who was covered in blood, and was yelling for someone to call a doctor.

"The climax of this play has passed; let's leave the wrap-up work to our 'Poet Immortal'."

Li Chengze stretched, the hem of his purple robe swaying gently with his movement, exuding an indescribable air of elegance and grace.

"Let's go back to the manor. After this move is made today, the waters of Kyoto are likely to boil over completely."

……

The Fan residence, a side courtyard.

The room was filled with the strong smell of medicine. Several imperial physicians had just finished their examinations, shook their heads, and sighed as they left.

Fan Xian sat on the edge of the bed, looking at Teng Zijing, whose face was as pale as paper and whose body was wrapped in bandages. The bloodshot in his eyes had not yet faded, and his expression was extremely complicated.

"Young Master..." Teng Zijing weakly opened his eyes, his voice hoarse as if it had been sanded on sandpaper, "What did the doctor say? Is my martial arts... ruined?"

Fan Xian opened his mouth, wanting to offer comfort, but found that his throat felt like it was blocked by something.

After a long silence, he managed a weak smile and grasped Teng Zijing's intact hand: "Old Teng, it's good that you're alive. You can practice your kung fu again if you lose it. If all else fails, I'll take care of you for the rest of your life."

Upon hearing this, Teng Zijing's eyes dimmed for a moment, then he gave a bitter laugh.

As a martial artist, he was naturally aware of his physical condition.

With his meridians severed and his dantian damaged, it's already a miracle he survived. To think he could return to the pinnacle of martial arts is nothing short of a pipe dream.

Now, let alone being a bodyguard, he struggles to even lift anything slightly heavy.

"Young Master, please don't lie to me." Teng Zijing stared blankly at the ceiling. "My life is over. From now on... I'm afraid I won't be able to protect you anymore."

"What nonsense are you spouting!" Fan Xian suddenly stood up, his emotions running high. "Who said you're finished? You're my brother, Fan Xian! As long as I'm alive, no one in the capital will dare to bully you!"

Teng Zijing turned his head and looked at the young man who was willing to kill someone in the street for his sake, a warm feeling welling up in his heart. But he knew even more clearly that Fan Xian's path was destined to be full of thorns, and what he needed by his side was a master like the Black and White Twin Swordsmen from before, not a cripple.

"Young Master..." Teng Zijing took a deep breath, as if he had made a decision, "I want to go home."

Fan Xian was taken aback: "Go home?"

"Hmm." A tender look appeared in Teng Zijing's eyes. "I want to go back to my hometown, see my wife, and hug my child. I used to always think about making a name for myself in Kyoto and giving my wife and child a good life. But after walking through the gates of hell today, I realize that fame, fortune, and skill are not as important as a family being able to have a peaceful meal together."

Fan Xian fell silent.

After a long while, he took out a thick stack of silver notes from his pocket and stuffed them into Teng Zijing's arms.

"Take this money," Fan Xian said, his eyes red-rimmed. "Go back to your hometown, buy a few hundred acres of land, and become a wealthy man. Raise the child, send him to school, and stop him from practicing martial arts."

Teng Zijing tried to decline, but Fan Xian held him firmly down.

"That's an order!"

……

A few days later, outside Kyoto.

A carriage, not luxurious but comfortable enough, slowly drove away.

Teng Zijing sat on the carriage shaft, his left leg still slightly lame, but his face radiated an unprecedented ease.

Inside the carriage, one could hear his wife's gentle nagging and his son's clear laughter.

The afterglow of the setting sun shone on them, casting long, warm shadows.

On a distant hillside, Li Chengze stood with his hands behind his back, quietly watching this scene.

"Your Highness, you seem quite pleased?" Tian Kui Xing behind him asked, somewhat puzzled. In his view, Teng Zijing was just a minor figure; once he was crippled, so be it, he wasn't worth Your Highness's attention.

"Happy, of course I'm happy."

A smile played on Li Chengze's lips, a smile that was less sinister than usual and more sincere. "In this cannibalistic world, how difficult it is to have a good ending."

"I suppose this is a good deed I've done." Li Chengze turned around, flicked his sleeve, and said, "Let's go. The show has only just begun. My aunt, the princess, is probably already furious."

"However, given her intelligence, I deliberately sent Hei Bai Xuan Jian to rescue her. She should understand my intentions. Don't disappoint me!"

"Aunt, Father!"

Guangxin Palace, a palace usually known for its elegance, was filled with a suffocatingly low atmosphere at this moment.

"Useless! A bunch of useless trash!"

With a sharp, angry curse, a priceless blue-and-white porcelain vase was smashed to the ground, shattering into pieces.

Li Yunrui's hair was slightly disheveled, her chest heaving violently, and her beautiful face was distorted with anger.

She stared intently at the man in black kneeling on the ground, her eyes seemingly spitting fire.

"Cheng Jushu is an eighth-rank master! Add to that two seventh-rank female assassins, and the powerful crossbows of Northern Qi! With this lineup, killing Fan Xian would be more than enough! And you're telling me you failed?!"

Li Yunrui's voice was shrill and piercing, "Not only did we fail, but Cheng Jushu was also captured alive! That idiot Lin Gong, is he trying to drag me down with him?!"

The man in black kneeling on the ground trembled, his forehead pressed against the ground, and said in a trembling voice, "Your Highness, please calm down... Originally... originally the plan was foolproof. Teng Zijing was seriously injured and on the verge of death, and Fan Xian was also exhausted. But... but at the critical moment, someone suddenly appeared."

"Who?!" Li Yunrui turned around abruptly, his gaze sharp as a knife.

"It was... a mysterious person wielding two swords, one black and one white." The man in black swallowed hard, his eyes still gleaming with fear as he recalled the scene. "The person wore a mask, so his face was obscured. But his two swords, one black and one white, clashed with powerful sword energy. With just one move... a single move, he blocked Cheng Jushu's fatal blow and even forced Cheng Jushu back several steps!"

"The Black and White Twin Swords..."

Li Yunrui's pupils contracted sharply, his anger instantly freezing, replaced by a bottomless sense of astonishment.

She slowly sat back on the couch, her fingers unconsciously gripping the armrests until her knuckles turned white.

"The Net... Black and White Mystic Blades?!"

In recent years, the name of the Luo Wang (Net of Heaven) has risen like a nightmare in the martial arts world and the imperial court.

As the top-tier "Heavenly Class One" assassin in the Luo Wang organization, Hei Bai Xuan Jian's reputation was built upon the lives of countless experts.

Legend has it that this person wields two swords, the black sword for killing and the white sword for protection. His strength is unfathomable, and he is a peak expert of the ninth rank. There are even rumors that he has one foot in the door of the Grandmaster!

Why would the people from the Net of Heaven save Fan Xian?

Li Yunrui muttered to himself, his brows furrowed, a storm raging in his heart.

The Net is an assassin organization that takes money to solve problems for people.

I've never heard of the Net of Heaven actively rescuing people, unless...

Unless Fan Xian is someone the Luo Wang (Net of Heaven) wants to protect!

Or rather, the mastermind behind the Luo Wang organization wants to protect Fan Xian!

A terrifying thought, like a venomous snake, slowly rose in Li Yunrui's mind.

"Fan Xian... Ye Qingmei..."

Li Yunrui's face turned deathly pale instantly.

That woman from back then, the woman who captivated the entire capital and made Emperor Qing wary, though she is dead, left behind so much.

The Internal Treasury, the Forensic Science Institute, and those inexplicable technologies...

Could this mysterious and terrifying "Net" also be a contingency plan left behind by that woman?!

"Yes...that must be it!"

The more Li Yunrui thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed, and he even felt a chill run from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.

"Besides that woman, who else could have the resources to establish such a terrifying organization that even the Forensic Science Institute couldn't trace? Who else could command a peerless master like Hei Bai Xuan Jian?"

"She was protecting her son..."

Li Yunrui felt an unprecedented sense of powerlessness and fear.

She discovered that she was likely facing the ghost of the woman who had died many years ago!

That ghost that once reigned supreme over all living beings!

"If it's the power left behind by that woman..." Li Yunrui's hand trembled slightly, "If we target Fan Xian again, we can't rely on the power of the Luo Net, and we'll have to send out top-tier experts?"

The Imperial Study was dimly lit.

Emperor Qing was still wearing a loose white robe, his hair was casually draped over his shoulders, and he was holding an arrow in his hand, carefully polishing the arrowhead.

"His Majesty."

Eunuch Hou strode in, holding a secret report in his hands, his expression solemn. "Urgent report from the Censorate, detailing the assassination case on Niulan Street."

Emperor Qing did not look up, remaining focused on the arrow in his hand, and said calmly, "Recite."

"Yes." Eunuch Hou opened the secret report and read it word by word, "...Cheng Jushu suddenly attacked and injured people. Teng Zijing was no match for him and his life hung by a thread. At the critical moment, a man in black descended from the sky, wielding a black and white sword. He forced Cheng Jushu back with one move and saved Teng Zijing. Then he drifted away, his movements strange and unpredictable. He is suspected to be... Hei Bai Xuan Jian, a top-ranking assassin of the Luo Wang."

"Sizzle—"

Emperor Qing's hand suddenly stopped moving as the sharp arrow cut his finger, and a drop of bright red blood seeped out.

But he seemed oblivious, slowly raising his head, his deep, abyss-like eyes gleaming with a chilling light.

"Black and White Mystic Cutter... Net..."

Emperor Qing put his finger in his mouth and sucked on it, the taste of blood spreading in his mouth.

He stood up, walked to the window, and gazed at the gloomy sky, remaining silent for a long time.

As a grandmaster and the supreme ruler of the country, his sensitivity to power far surpasses that of ordinary people.

The appearance of the Net has always been a thorn in his side.

This organization is too mysterious, too powerful, and too uncontrollable.

After so many years of investigation, the Investigation Bureau still doesn't know where the headquarters of the Luo Wang is. All they know is that they have many experts and act ruthlessly.

Today, the Luo Wang organization actually stepped in to save Fan Xian.

"Chen Pingping doesn't know, and neither do I..."

Emperor Qing murmured softly, his voice trembling with barely perceptible excitement, "In this world, there is only one person who could build such a vast power without my and Chen Pingping's knowledge..."

He didn't say the name aloud, but it resonated deeply in his heart—Ye Qingmei!

"Is that you, Qingmei..."

Emperor Qing's eyes became somewhat glazed, and also somewhat ferocious.

"Back then, I suspected that besides Wu Zhu, you might have other trump cards up your sleeve. After all, the box you brought with you, and those strange ideas, were all too shocking."

"Now it seems that my suspicions were correct."

Emperor Qing turned around abruptly, his gaze fixed intently on the secret report.

"The Net... is this the life-saving talisman you left for Fan Xian?"

His thoughts raced, connecting the "Fifth Grandmaster" who appeared back then with Ye Qingmei.

A cold smile curled at the corner of Emperor Qing's mouth.

"I see... I see!"

"The so-called fifth grandmaster did not appear out of thin air, but was a seed you planted years ago! After so many years of hidden cultivation, it has finally grown into a towering tree!"

"Good! Very good!"

Emperor Qing burst into laughter, the sound echoing in the empty imperial study, carrying an indescribable madness and domineering aura.

"I've always worried that Fan Xian wasn't a hard enough whetstone, fearing he wouldn't be able to defeat the Crown Prince, the Second Prince, or even Yun Rui. Now, with the Luo Net backing him up, this stone... is hard enough!"

In Emperor Qing's view, all of this made sense.

Why did Luo Wang save Fan Xian?

Because that is the young master!

Why couldn't the Luo Wang (a secret police organization) trace its origins? Because it was Ye Qingmei's doing, something beyond the comprehension of this era!

"Reveal my imperial edict."

Emperor Qing's laughter subsided, and he resumed his enigmatic imperial demeanor. "Have Chen Pingping cease his in-depth investigation of the Luo Wang organization; merely maintain a superficial facade. Furthermore… let Fan Xian investigate the Niulan Street case himself. I want to see just how big a hole he can create in the capital with this assistance!"

At this moment, neither the terrified Princess nor the self-proclaimed all-knowing Emperor Qing could have imagined that the terrifying organization they regarded as "a miracle left behind by Ye Qingmei" was actually in the hands of the seemingly harmless Second Prince Li Chengze, who was barefoot all day, eating grapes.

It can be said that Li Chengze successfully disguised the identity of Luo Wang by taking advantage of the battle of Niulan Street.

This disguise was far more convincing to them than offering evidence, since both Emperor Qing and the Eldest Princess were extremely confident in themselves.

The Second Prince's Mansion.

In the garden, in front of the pond.

"The Net can be moved now."

Li Chengze reached out and grabbed a handful of bait, scattering it into the lake. He watched the fish frantically scrambling for it and smiled.