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

Guangxin Palace.

Li Yunrui sat in front of the dressing table, looking at her stunningly beautiful face in the bronze mirror.

Her personal maid had just finished reporting the intelligence about Falling Eagle Gorge and was now standing nervously to the side.

Li Yunrui held a jade comb in her hand, gently combing her long, flowing hair.

"Yan Bingyun is dead, Fan Xian is seriously injured..."

She parted her red lips slightly, repeated the words to herself, and then a complex smile appeared on her lips.

"What a pity."

Li Yunrui put down the jade comb and sighed softly.

Fan Xian didn't die; instead, Yan Bingyun became the scapegoat.

"Fan Xian's life is really tough."

"Your Highness, should we continue to increase the bounty and have the Net continue to hunt down Fan Xian?" the maid asked cautiously.

Li Yunrui's gaze sharpened, and he gave the maid a cold look.

"madness."

She stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the gloomy sky outside. "Do you think His Majesty and Chen Pingping are dead? Now that things have escalated so much, the eyes of the entire capital are on the Luo Wang organization. Anyone who dares to make a move at this time will become the outlet for His Majesty's rage."

Li Yunrui took a deep breath, suppressing the resentment in his heart.

"Pass down the order to sever all ties with 'Fengyajian.' Eliminate all the undercover agents involved in this matter, leaving no evidence whatsoever."

"Yes."

……

The Second Prince's Mansion.

Unlike the chaos and panic outside, Li Chengze's residence remained peaceful and serene.

Inside the study, Li Chengze remained as languid as ever, sitting barefoot and cross-legged on a grand chair, flipping through a collection of supernatural tales he had somehow acquired.

In the dark corner, Zhao Gao's ghostly voice slowly rose.

"Your Highness, Yan Bingyun is dead. Fan Xian has been poisoned by the 'Black Widow' and his meridians are severed. Although he has been kept alive for the time being, he will not live for more than three days without the help of a peerless physician. The four assassins have all escaped safely without any casualties."

Li Chengze paused slightly as he turned the pages, then looked up, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his eyes.

"Yan Bingyun is dead?"

He chuckled softly. "This is quite an unexpected surprise. My aunt spent money to kill Fan Xian, but instead of dying, he tore Chen Pingping's heart apart. Now, the Censorate is probably going to go crazy."

"Father and Chen Pingping will definitely be searching for you like madmen," Li Chengze said calmly, putting down his book. "Tell everyone below to behave themselves and lie low for now, without giving anything away. No one is allowed to act without my orders."

"Understood, Your subordinate," Zhao Gao replied respectfully, before his figure gradually disappeared into the darkness.

Li Chengze stretched, jumped off the chair, walked to the window, opened it, and took a deep breath of the slightly damp air after the rain.

Whether you live or die depends on your fate.

He was about to call the servants to prepare dinner when he suddenly heard the butler's hurried footsteps outside the door.

"Your Highness! Your Highness!"

The butler stood outside the study door, his tone revealing a hint of undisguised surprise. "A guest has arrived outside the manor. He says... he insists on seeing His Highness."

"Guests?" Li Chengze raised an eyebrow. "Who would come to my place at this hour? My aunt?"

The butler swallowed hard. "It's...it's Miss Fan Ruoruo, the daughter of Master Fan Jianfan."

"Fan Ruoruo?"

Li Chengze was stunned for a moment, a rare look of astonishment flashing in his eyes.

He had imagined countless possibilities, but he never expected that Fan Ruoruo would come to his residence at this critical juncture.

Fan Xian has just been assassinated and is seriously injured; his fate is unknown.

As Fan Xian's most beloved younger sister, Fan Ruoruo should be anxiously pacing around the Fan residence or waiting for the delegation to return at the city gate. What is she doing here at the residence of the Second Prince?

Moreover, he had no connection with Fan Ruoruo. In the noble ladies' circle of Kyoto, Fan Ruoruo was known as a talented woman and was always aloof. Apart from the occasional interaction with the Crown Prince through poetry gatherings, she had absolutely no dealings with him.

"What is she doing here?" Li Chengze asked curiously.

"This old servant does not know." The steward bowed his head. "Miss Fan came alone, without even a maid. She was soaked to the bone and looked... very haggard. She only said that she had an extremely urgent matter to discuss with His Highness, and if His Highness did not see her, she would kneel outside the mansion gate and refuse to leave."

Li Chengze narrowed his eyes slightly, and a playful smile appeared on his lips.

interesting.

That's so interesting.

"Let her in." Li Chengze turned and walked back to the study, sitting back down in his armchair. "Bring her to the study."

"Yes."

A moment later, a series of slightly disordered footsteps sounded outside the study.

The door was gently pushed open.

The moment Fan Ruoruo appeared in Li Chengze's sight, even though Li Chengze was used to seeing all sorts of things, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows slightly.

Is this still the same talented woman from the Fan family, renowned throughout the capital and as aloof as frost?

At this moment, Fan Ruoruo had lost all trace of the poise and elegance befitting a lady from a prominent family.

Her hair, soaked by the rain, clung messily to her pale cheeks; her once elegant light blue dress was now covered in mud and stains; her eyes, which always radiated wisdom and composure, were now bloodshot, swollen, and filled with anxiety, fear, and despair.

She was like a little deer that had lost its way in a storm and had nowhere to go.

Fan Ruoruo entered the study and her gaze instantly locked onto Li Chengze, who was sitting in the armchair.

Without the slightest hesitation, her knees buckled, and she knelt directly on the cold floor tiles.

"Your subject, Fan Ruoruo, greets Your Highness the Second Prince."

Her voice was terribly hoarse, thick with the sound of sobbing.

Li Chengze did not speak, nor did he tell her to rise.

He simply sat there quietly, toying with a crystal-clear grape in his hand, his gaze looking down at Fan Ruoruo kneeling on the ground.

The atmosphere in the study suddenly became somewhat oppressive.

After a long pause, Li Chengze finally spoke slowly, his voice tinged with a hint of languor and confusion:

"Miss Fan, what are you up to? My manor is too small to accept such a grand gesture from you, Miss Fan. If your father finds out, he'll think I've bullied you."

Fan Ruoruo suddenly raised her head, her bloodshot eyes fixed on Li Chengze, as if she had grasped at the last straw.

She bit her pale lips hard until they bled, then forced herself to calm down and said in a trembling voice:

"Your Highness, I have come today to... to beg Your Highness for my life!"

"Help?" Li Chengze chuckled, tossed the grapes in his hand into his mouth, and mumbled, "Miss Fan, you jest. I'm neither a royal physician nor a celestial being. Who in this capital would dare take your life? Besides, even if someone did want you dead, you should be begging the Prefect of the Capital or the Censorate, not coming to me for help."

"It's not me, it's...it's my brother!"

Urgent! Major plot twist! Watch now!