If you traveled back to ancient times, while others ate Guanyin clay, you would actually have giant

"What's going on inside?"

Outside the Emperor Emeritus's courtyard, the guards on duty were puzzled. Zhou Wu and the Fourth Prince Li Zheng had gone in that morning and it was almost noon now, but they still hadn't come out. This unusual behavior made them take it seriously.

"I don't know. Should we tell His Majesty?"

“That makes sense. You stay here and keep watch. I’ll go tell His Majesty.”

After giving his instructions, the guard hurriedly went to report to the emperor.

At this moment, the emperor had just retired from the morning court session. Although the Great Dragon had eliminated Gao Li and Da Zi and was temporarily free from powerful external enemies, the territory had expanded dramatically, making domestic affairs even more numerous.

The morning court sessions are now even longer than before, and Li Tiancheng is starting to dread them every day.

I just got off work today and I'm going to get some rest.

"Your Highness, there is an urgent matter."

The eunuch beside her was an old man, and he wouldn't bother her unless it was something extremely urgent. If he couldn't help but wake her up, it must be something important.

"What's up?"

"Your Majesty, the Emperor Emeritus summoned Zhou Wu for an audience this morning, and soon after, the Fourth Prince Li Zheng also went to pay his respects to the Emperor Emeritus, but it is now noon and neither of them has come out yet."

"what!"

Although Li Tiancheng never issued a decree forbidding outsiders from seeing the retired emperor, everyone, from the ministers to the royal family, was well aware of the situation.

Zhou Wu was summoned by the retired emperor, so why didn't Li Zheng understand that? Besides, the group had been inside for a long time, and no one knew what they were doing. Li Tiancheng immediately stood up.

"Walk."

The eunuchs, of course, knew where the emperor was going, and immediately set up a table in the retired emperor's courtyard.

Li Tiancheng rushed to the Emperor Emeritus's palace. The eunuch outside was about to report to the Emperor Emeritus, but the Emperor stopped him with a single glance, which made his legs go weak.

The emperor just wanted to see what those people were doing inside.

All the eunuchs and palace maids were forbidden to make a sound along the way, and the atmosphere instantly became extremely tense.

"This time I'm going to slaughter them all."

"Hmph, you don't know my trump card yet."

"Watch out, I might pull the rug out from under you."

"Wait, I need to think about this more carefully."

The conversation inside the room startled Li Tiancheng. Was it really as he had guessed? One was his father, one was his son, and the other was his most trusted minister.

The betrayal by his closest person enraged Li Tiancheng, who shoved open the hidden door and roared in fury.

"You have disappointed me greatly."

The four people stared at each other, creating a slightly awkward atmosphere.

The three people inside were sitting together playing mahjong. When Li Tiancheng saw the scene, his expression immediately brightened.

"To Your Majesty (Father)."

Zhou Wu and Li Zheng stood up to greet him, while the retired emperor was Li Tiancheng, who looked unhappy.

"Your Majesty, I finally managed to get a perfect hand, and you're here to ruin it?"

“Your Majesty, we are just one short for the three of us. Look, isn’t this a perfect partner?”

Zhou Wu looked at Li Tiancheng with a wicked grin. They had been playing mahjong all morning, but the Emperor Emeritus kept cheating, and Li Zheng was a coward. Zhou Wu was thinking of dragging Li Tiancheng into it.

"What do you mean, 'one short'?"

Li Tiancheng realized he had misunderstood and quickly put on a smiling face.

“Zhou Wu is right, Your Majesty. Please sit down and let’s play a few rounds together.”

. . . . .

"Hehe, I won! Pay up, pay up!"

After an entire afternoon, the emperor finally won a hand, achieving a Grand Slam, which immediately piqued his interest.

Throughout the day, Li Zheng was basically the only one who kept losing. It wasn't that he was unlucky; it was just that the other three were too tough to mess with.

"Your Majesty, it's getting dark."

After the eunuch reminded him, Li Tiancheng looked at the sky outside and saw that the sun was indeed about to set.

"Time flies when you're playing mahjong."

Li Tiancheng stretched.

"It is indeed getting late, Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I should take my leave."

Zhou Wu rose, bowed, and took his leave.

Li Zheng then got up to take his leave.

"You two remember to come early tomorrow."

The Emperor Emeritus's parting words left Zhou Wu's mind reeling. He knew he definitely wouldn't be coming tomorrow. This was really too frequent; it would be difficult to explain to Li Tiancheng.

After returning to his palace, Li Tiancheng planned to take some time to review some memorials, but he couldn't concentrate and his mind was filled with thoughts of mahjong.

"It's over, I'm terminally ill."

. . . . .

The next morning, during the morning court session, the officials below were making a racket like a marketplace, but the emperor didn't even flinch. Attentive ministers could clearly see that His Majesty seemed to be daydreaming.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your Majesty~"

"Ah, what? The court has adjourned!"

Under the watchful eyes of the entire court, the emperor actually stood up and left his seat.

"Your Majesty, what's going on?"

"I don't know, Your Majesty. Is something on your mind? You've never been like this before."

"Is His Majesty unwell?"

Li Tiancheng's absent-mindedness and sudden departure from the morning court session sparked much discussion among the ministers, with various versions of the story circulating.

From now on, people will say that the emperor is unwell.

From now on, if the emperor wants a woman, prepare to hold a nationwide search.

Some people say that the emperor is thinking about attacking another neighboring country.

Even more absurd is that there's another version that says the harem was involved in that messy affair.

Fortunately, the news didn't reach Li Tiancheng's ears, otherwise it would have infuriated him, and many people might have lost their lives because of this baseless rumor.

The news spread not only to the imperial court but also to the inner palace, where the empress and her entourage took turns visiting the emperor.

"Your Majesty, are you really not feeling unwell anywhere?"

"Your Majesty, please rest assured, I am truly fine."

"Then why are they all saying that His Majesty was distracted during the morning court session and even left his seat early?"

"Don't listen to their nonsense, I'm in good health."

Li Tiancheng was incredibly embarrassed; he couldn't very well say that all he could think about was mahjong.

"Oh, by the way, I'll go see the Emperor Emeritus."

After Li Tiancheng finished speaking, he left in a hurry before the Empress could reply.

"His Majesty seems to be visiting the Emperor Emeritus rather frequently."

The Empress muttered to herself, but in her opinion, this was all a good thing. After all, she still hoped that the Emperor and the Emperor Emeritus, who were father and son, could put aside their past grievances and not let relatives become enemies.

Little did she know that the family ties she had placed so much hope in, which had shown no signs of weakening over the years, were now being rekindled by the emperor and the retired emperor, who were now in increasingly frequent contact because of mahjong. Perhaps there was really hope that they could reconcile.

The Emperor Emeritus's Courtyard.

"Damn it, those two bastards actually lied to me, neither of them showed up."

The retired emperor got up very early in the morning, partly because he was old and naturally woke up early, and partly because his mahjong addiction had kicked in again.