Da Ming: The system granted me immortality; I clock in every day.

"Your Majesty, we have been working on this book under imperial decree, through countless seasons. Now, the 'Complete Collection of Literature' is complete, comprising over 22,000 volumes. We humbly request Your Majesty's perusal!"

Yao Guangxiao's voice was loud and clear, echoing across the square.

Zhu Di strode down the city wall and personally lifted the bright yellow silk on one of the trays.

I picked up a scroll at random and flipped through it.

The handwriting on it was as neat as if it were printed, the ink smelled wonderful, and the content was all-encompassing.

"Good! Good! Good!"

Zhu Di said "good" three times and laughed heartily.

"With this extraordinary book, my literary achievements will shine brightly for millennia! Issue an imperial decree to name it the 'Yongle Encyclopedia'! All officials who have contributed to its compilation will be richly rewarded!"

All the officials knelt down in unison to express their gratitude and shouted "Long live the Emperor!"

Gu Yannian mingled at the back of the crowd and kowtowed along with the rest of the group.

He slightly raised his eyelids and glanced at the spirited Yongle Emperor in the distance.

This great work was indeed magnificent, but unfortunately, it suffered many misfortunes in later generations and was mostly lost due to wars.

But that's hundreds of years from now.

The current happy ending is indeed being performed very well.

Current time: 5:00 AM (Mao Shi)

Should a roll call be conducted?

The system's cold notification tone rang out in my mind right on time.

"Checking in," Gu Yannian silently recited in his mind.

[Ding! Today's attendance complete. Attribute point gained +1.]

"Add to the spirit."

A cool sensation seeped into my mind.

Gu Yannian felt the slight eye fatigue left from proofreading ancient books a few days ago instantly disappear.

The view became increasingly clear, and one could even see the details of the cloud patterns embroidered with gold thread on Zhu Di's dragon robe a hundred paces away.

After the grand ceremony was completed, the officials dispersed.

Gu Yannian walked back slowly with his colleagues, pondering what to have for lunch.

I heard that a new Suzhou-style noodle shop has opened on the banks of the Qinhuai River, and their crab roe noodles are extremely authentic.

Now that the emperor has rewarded each of the officials who compiled the book with five taels of silver, they can go and have a treat.

The taste of this peaceful and prosperous era must be savored slowly.

The summer of the sixth year of the Yongle reign was so hot that it felt like being roasted in a steamer.

The bluestone pavement of Nanjing was scorching hot under the blazing sun.

Street vendors selling plum juice and small iced drinks are doing exceptionally well.

Gu Yannian specially asked Shangguan for half a day off and changed into a breathable moon-white Hangzhou silk robe.

Sitting in a shed on a street corner, a bowl of chilled mung bean and lily soup sits in front of me.

With a physique of over 600 points, he was already immune to both heat and cold.

Such sweltering weather was nothing more than a gentle breeze to him; he wouldn't even break a sweat.

But to avoid appearing too eccentric, he would still take out a folding fan and fan himself from time to time, pretending to be suffering from the summer heat.

"This mung bean soup wasn't cooked properly; the sand wasn't completely removed."

Gu Yannian gently stirred the ice water in the bowl with a spoon, silently commenting to himself.

Just as he picked up his bowl to drink, a deafening sound of horses' hooves suddenly came from the other end of the long street.

The scene was accompanied by terrified screams from the crowd and the cracking sound of vendors' carts overturning.

"Get out of my way! All of you, get out of my way!"

An extremely arrogant roar resounded like a thunderclap in mid-air.

Gu Yannian looked up and saw a wild horse from the Western Regions, completely black with not a single stray hair, rampaging wildly through the street.

On horseback, a robust young man dressed in a python robe was gripping the reins tightly.

His face was flushed, and he reeked of alcohol.

He laughed wildly as he brandished his riding whip, lashing out at pedestrians blocking his path.

The Prince of Han, Zhu Gaoxu.

This prince, who made outstanding contributions in the Jingnan Campaign, was once promised by Zhu Di, "Strive for it, for the heir apparent is often ill."

Nowadays, he can be said to be running rampant in Jinling City.

Relying on his military achievements and the emperor's favor, he completely disregarded the crown prince, Zhu Gaochi.

His behavior was eccentric and tyrannical, and all the officials in the court dared not speak out against him.

The spirited horse was startled and moved with incredible speed, reaching the vicinity of the pavilion in the blink of an eye.

A girl, about four or five years old, with her hair tied in a topknot, was standing blankly in the middle of the road.

She was still holding a string of candied hawthorns that had fallen to the ground, and she was so frightened that she forgot to cry.

The black horse raised its iron hooves high, about to trample the girl into a pulp.

The surrounding people erupted in desperate screams, and several women even closed their eyes in fear.

Although Zhu Gaoxu was drunk, he sensed that something was wrong.

He tried desperately to pull on the reins, but the wild horse was beyond his control.

At this critical moment.

Gu Yannian, sitting in the shade of the pergola, remained calm.

He put down his folding fan and gently picked up a peanut in its shell from the dish on the table with his index finger and thumb.

Gu Yannian flicked his thumb slightly.

"Whoosh."

The peanut transformed into a blur too thin for the naked eye to see, silently passing through the noisy crowd.

It struck a pressure point on the black horse's foreleg knee joint with perfect accuracy.

The peanuts turned to dust the moment they touched the horse's leg.

The wild horse that had been galloping suddenly let out a mournful neigh, and its forelegs buckled.

With a "thump," he knelt heavily on the bluestone slab less than three feet away from the girl.

The immense inertia threw Zhu Gaoxu off his horse like a tattered sack.

It rolled on the ground more than a dozen times before finally stopping when it crashed into a watermelon stall.

He fell and was completely disoriented, his face and head covered in red watermelon juice, looking utterly pathetic.

Everything happened too fast.

The onlookers only saw the horse suddenly lose its front hoof and fall, saving the little girl's life.

They all silently prayed to the Bodhisattva for protection.

Several guards from the Prince of Han's residence then ran over, panting.

They hurriedly helped Zhu Gaoxu, who was dizzy from the fall, up from a pile of rotten watermelons.

"Your Highness! Your Highness, are you alright?"

Zhu Gaoxu shook his head, spat out a mouthful of saliva mixed with mud and sand, and flew into a rage.

"That damned beast! Kill it for me! Kill it!"

The guards dared not delay, and drew their swords to hack the still-twitching black horse to death.

Chaos erupted in the street. The little girl's mother rushed up, hugged her daughter tightly, and knelt on the ground, wailing loudly.

Zhu Gaoxu left amidst his guards, cursing and swearing, leaving behind a scene of chaos and a populace who dared not speak out against their anger.

Inside the shaded pavilion.

Gu Yannian used a clean silk handkerchief to wipe the dust off his fingers.

He picked up the bowl of chilled mung bean soup and took a slow, deliberate sip.

"The weather is getting hotter and hotter. And the tempers between the princes are getting hotter and hotter."

Like an ordinary spectator, he shook his head and sighed along with several other tea drinkers, condemning the arrogance of the King of Han.

He then left two copper coins on the table.

Waving a folding fan, he leisurely walked into the intricate and complex alleys of Jinling City.

The power struggle for the throne in the imperial court has begun.

The open and covert struggle between the fat prince and the mad king will inevitably intensify.

Gu Yannian, on the other hand, only needed to clock in every day and coldly observe the power struggle.

Occasionally, a peanut pops up, serving as a tiny footnote to this grand spectacle.