In the novel "Joy of Life," the protagonist wakes up at Li Chengze's residence.

After Xie Bi'an finished reading, he heated the white paper over a fire, and the "cloud pattern" that appeared on it revealed the owner of the letter.

"It is indeed His Highness's letter."

Having confirmed the authenticity of the letter writer, Xie Bi'an entrusted all his affairs to the person in charge here.

Then he embarked on his journey back to Beijing.

He rode at full speed for a whole day and finally arrived back in Kyoto early the next morning.

The horse ride was so bumpy that my whole body ached.

But Xie Bi'an wouldn't say it.

Because he was concerned about his image, he didn't want anyone to know that he was in pain, including his numb buttocks.

Things don't always go as planned; even if you don't say it, someone else will.

As soon as he returned to the manor, and had barely stepped one foot through the gate, Fan Wujiu casually asked him a question:

"Was the journey bumpy? I have some medicine I can give you."

This infuriated Xie Bi'an, who used the blade of his sword to block Fan Wujiu away, keeping him at a distance.

Fan Wujiu, who had been pushed aside, rubbed his chest and cursed behind him, "What kind of temper is that!"

But his temper didn't last long. In the blink of an eye, Fan Wujiu went back to doing his own thing.

On his way to find His Highness, Xie Bi'an passed by a rose bush that had almost no flowers.

Although not even a moment's pause was given for it, I still silently recited in my heart:

Why did this rose only produce two flowers this year?

Xie Bi'an didn't waste any more time there and quickly continued towards the main hall.

As soon as Xie Bi'an entered, he saw that the entire hall was filled with burning candles.

The sun had been up for a long time, but the candlelight was still burning, clearly indicating that the owner of the room had not slept all night.

Countless secret letters and books were scattered haphazardly on the ground around Li Chengze.

Xie Bi'an asked softly, "Your Highness, what happened?"

Almost the instant he spoke, he met a pair of reddened eyes.

Li Chengze pointed to the messy pile of papers on the ground and said to Xie Bi'an:

“Almost all the secret methods in the world for restraining assassins are here, but none of them are suitable for her.”

Xie Bi'an approached and knelt on one knee opposite Li Chengze, keeping himself at the same level as His Highness.

He casually picked up a card and flipped through it: "Your Highness, could it be from Northern Qi or Dongyi City?"

Li Chengze threw the paper in his hand away and said, "I've looked everywhere, none of them are it."

"..."

"You can go out first. You're in a hurry, go back to your room and rest."

Li Chengze rummaged through the pile of books again. He thought he had just seen a book with similar symptoms and wanted to take it back to study it further.

"Your Highness..."

"Go down."

"Your Highness should also take a rest."

Li Chengze didn't speak, but simply picked up the white porcelain bottle beside his leg: "It's alright, I know what I'm doing."

Seeing that he could no longer persuade him, Xie Bi'an walked out with a heavy heart.

He planned to go and ask Fan Wujiu to find out what had happened.

As he walked through the courtyard and passed a camphor tree, he noticed something unusual.

Quietly bending down, I casually picked up a pebble and threw it at the "gray-feathered bird" that was hiding its body among the leaves.

Its wing was smashed, and it let out a cry of "Ah!" that sounded just like a human's, which startled Xie Bi'an.

"It's a talking parrot." Xie Bi'an picked up the bird that had fallen to the ground and carried it to find Fan Wujiu.

"Help! Help!" the parrot cried out at the top of its lungs.

Annoyed by the sound, Xie Bi'an grabbed its throat to stop it from making a sound.

But even with fate choking it, it still tried its best to make a sound:

Although it was impossible to hear what was being said, anyone would have to admit that the "will to survive was extremely strong."

Fan Wujiu, who was busy with his work, suddenly heard several cries for help coming from afar.

"Who in this mansion is shouting for help?" Fan Wujiu wondered and walked towards the direction of the sound.

What a coincidence, I just happened to be going against Xie Bi'an.

He immediately spotted Tao Xiaowu, who was being held in his hand, her throat being squeezed, and struggling desperately.

When the bird saw that it was Fan Wujiu coming from the other side, it flapped its wings even more fiercely.

He quickly took it from Xie Bi'an's hand and said, "Xie Bi'an, this is something our prince gave to Miss Tao to keep as a pet. Please don't kill it."

Upon hearing this, the "instigator" released its grip on its throat.

The moment the hand released its grip on her throat, Tao Xiaowu screamed, "Wujiu! Help! Wujiu! Help!"

Its wings flapped incessantly, and its voice trembled with fright.

Xie Bi'an tossed it to Fan Wujiu, who carefully caught it.

"This bird recognizes you? When did you get it? I didn't know about it."

"I only kept it for half a day before the girl released it back into the wild. Hey, where did you find it?"

Fan Wujiu examined the wound on its wing; it was bleeding a little, and he didn't know if the bone was broken.

"I found it in the camphor tree in the front yard. I thought it was a bird sent by someone to eavesdrop, so I was a little too rough with it."

Xie Bi'an moved closer to Fan Wujiu, wanting to poke the bird.

Unexpectedly, before the finger could even touch the bird's feather, it almost pecked it.

It was only because Xie Bi'an reacted quickly and stopped in time that his hand was bitten and left a bloody hole.

"Alright, I'll just take this parrot to Miss Tao's place."

Perhaps if it barks a couple of times, Miss Tao will wake up.

Fan Wujiu must have lost his mind from overwork; he can even spout such nonsense now.

Xie Bi'an ignored his "crazy ramblings" and asked instead, "Who is taking care of Miss Tao now?"

“You Ran is taking care of her. No wonder Your Highness is anxious. You Ran said that Miss Tao can’t even swallow right now.”

Fan Wujiu was in low spirits when he said this.

Having spent some time with Tao Jingyang, he felt uneasy seeing her suddenly unconscious.

Speaking of You Ran, Fan Wujiu thought of something else: "Yesterday, You Ran seemed to have been frightened by His Highness."

Xie Bi'an replied, "What?"

"Yesterday, His Highness tested her sincerity towards Miss Tao by giving her a poison. I heard that she ate it without saying a word."

Fan Wujiu recounted what had happened yesterday.

"He is somewhat loyal." (Xie Bi'an's highest praise)

"His Highness said the same thing, adding that she was a bit foolish, waiting for an hour before realizing it wasn't poison."

"..."