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

He glanced disdainfully at the "heartless" person stuffing pastries into their mouth and muttered, "Eat, eat, eat! All you ever think about is eating!"

He actually wanted to say something more, but after receiving a sharp look from Lin Wan'er, he wisely shut his mouth.

After a moment of silence, Fan Xian continued to complain, "I really don't want to talk about you, but if it weren't for us, I don't know how badly you would have been bullied..."

Tao Jingyang nodded as he ate, feeling that what he said actually made a lot of sense. "Fan Xian, you're right!"

Seeing that someone had already taken on the role of the good cop, Lin Wan'er decided to take on the bad cop role herself.

Then she would say something nice about her cousin, the emperor, and pursed her lips as usual, "Actually, it wasn't a big deal. The fact that my cousin rushed here on horseback shows that he must have been very worried."

Tao Jingyang took a sip of bitter tea and felt that Wan'er was right. "Wan'er, you're right!"

Upon hearing that someone was siding with Li Chengze, Fan Xian became displeased again. "If he was really anxious, he shouldn't have let Tao Jingyang out in the first place. Wouldn't it have been better to just discuss things openly in the palace?"

"That's right!" She agreed with that, and after finishing her cup, she got another hot one, looking around to see if there was a sugar jar nearby.

Fan Xian felt that her "yes"s were a bit too perfunctory.

Seeing Tao Jingyang holding the rim of the cup and looking around, he asked, "What are you doing?"

“Yes!” Tao Jingyang replied subconsciously.

Before Fan Xian could point at her nose and start spraying, she quickly reacted and tried to cover it up, "Uh... I mean, is there any candy?"

Fan Xian snorted angrily, expressionlessly moved the sugar jar behind the wooden box, and looked at her with a contemptuous gaze that said, "This is hopeless."

He sighed. People in relationships have conflicts, but he ended up getting so angry. What's the point?

So I focused my attention directly on the box. "What did he bring you?"

"Open it and take a look." Tao Jingyang shook the sugar spoon.

"Oh." He didn't stand on ceremony and simply flipped the latch.

With a "click," the lid opened.

Wow~ Our Daqing people are a perfect match from the moment they open their eyes!

“This is…” Fan Xian’s hesitant voice came.

Wan'er also curiously leaned over, obediently peeking out with her arms folded on the table.

Soon, she exclaimed, "Oh!"

She looked at Tao Jingyang in surprise and tugged at Fan Xian's sleeve, but the latter's gaze remained fixed on him.

"I saw it at the Empress Dowager's place. At that time, the late Empress was under house arrest, and the Empress Dowager handled all the promotions of concubines in the palace. This is the Phoenix Seal!"

Fan Xian swallowed hard, squinted, pointed at another one, and asked, "If this is the Phoenix Seal, then what is this thing?"

Lin Wan'er glanced at it twice and then shook her head, indicating that she had never seen it before.

Fan Xian pointed to the seal with the dragon design and turned to ask Tao Jingyang, "I'm asking you, did he say what this is?"

"The Imperial Seal of the State, perhaps," Tao Jingyang said, adding sugar to the bitter tea.

Fan Xian suddenly felt that the world was too sudden.

His expression held a mix of confusion, shock, and unease. "The Imperial Seal of the State? This thing can just be left on this ordinary table?"

His astonishment at this moment was no less than the day Wu Zhu first led him to open the long box. "This...this...this is actually right under my nose?!"

Tao Jingyang added three spoonfuls of sugar, took a small sip, smacked his lips to taste it, and said, "Hey guys, look what's wrong."

Fan Xian shook his head blankly, "You have quite the nerve." After saying that, he reached out and closed the box.

He recalled Li Chengze, who had just left, and the wooden box he had snatched from Li Chengze's hands.

Fan Xian added, "He's also very open-minded... You two are both. So what exactly happened between you two in the palace?"

Tao Jingyang blew on the hot air and lowered his eyes, saying, "The Empress Dowager wanted me to learn some rules for women, to copy the 'Inner Instructions' twice, to teach me how to manage the harem and serve the emperor, and she also showed me a picture book of women selected for the imperial concubine selection."

It's nothing more than this and that, and that's how it ended up like this.

Lin Wan'er did know what "Internal Training" was; it was the first book she read when she was a child.

Remembering that Tao'er had returned to Chaoyang Palace in a fit of rage, she added, "And then?"

She seemed to be looking forward to how things would unfold.

But Tao Jingyang seemed a little awkward. "Then, I said, mainly because I don't want to copy books, you all understand, right?"

Fan Xian went along with her, not exposing her, and said, "I understand, I understand, continue, continue."

The former was still not happy when he recalled that time. He tilted his head as he spoke, "I said I would not get married and that I wanted to be an official in the court. The Empress Dowager said that neither the emperor nor the people of the world would agree to it."

At this moment, Fan Xian gently tapped the side of the box, making a crisp thud. "I've already given you the Imperial Seal of the State, what's there to agree to or disagree about? We're not going to be colleagues from now on, are we?"

"That's roughly the idea, but when is the next court session?"

Fan Xian stroked his chin, pondered for a long time, and after pouting for a while, he finally came to an unknown conclusion.

Lin Wan'er couldn't help but suppress a laugh, "Let me say it."

"The regular court sessions are held every three days, the new moon and full moon court sessions are held twice a month on the first and fifteenth of each month, and the grand court sessions are held only on New Year's Day, the winter solstice and the emperor's birthday. The grand court sessions are not for discussing state affairs but for celebrations."

"Fan Xian almost always pretends to be sick and asks for leave, so naturally he doesn't know anything."

Lin Wan'er's expression was playful, and her lively appearance was like a small yellow flower that was among the first to bloom in early spring.

"Who said I take leave every day? Didn't I take leave once before?" Fan Xian retorted.

Looking at this man's carefree attitude, Lin Wan'er couldn't help but laugh and continued to expose his past to Tao Jingyang, "There was indeed one time, but he didn't even wear his court robes to court that time. When he came back, he was scolded by the people from the Censorate."

Upon hearing this, Fan Xian quickly put a finger to his lips and said, "Shh!"

No, I don't want to say anything more! You've revealed all of my secrets, Wan'er.

【Ding ding ding】

The gates of the mansion were knocked on again.

Lin Wan'er and Fan Xian exchanged a glance. The latter, speechless, propped his neck up, knowing without a doubt what was coming.

Fan Xian opened the door himself, and sure enough, a cargo cart was parked at the entrance.

The palace eunuch bowed to Fan Xian, then had several other people unload the two large boxes from the carriage. The four men carried the memorials into the princess's residence, one box at a time.

"Eunuch Su, are you sure there are that many?" Fan Xian felt his throat tighten as he looked at the two large boxes.

The eunuch raised his hand and smiled, "Prime Minister Fan, there are still three boxes left, and another carriage has been dispatched to deliver them to your residence."

No, there are three more boxes.

whee.

Tao Jingyang was still drinking tea when he suddenly realized there were a total of five boxes.

She immediately put down the cup, picked up the wooden box, and pulled Lin Wan'er into the house.

Lin Wan'er was being pulled along, but she kept turning back to ask, "Hey, what are we doing here?"

"Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up!" She ran as fast as she could.

Just before entering, Fan Xian shouted from afar, "Tao! Jing! Yang! You must approve it with me!"

......

The atmosphere in Cining Palace was so somber it was unsettling.

Li Chengze dismissed all the attendants and waited alone for the Empress Dowager in the main hall.

The hall was as silent as still water, with wisps of white smoke rising from the incense burner in the center, filling the entire room with the fragrance of sandalwood.

The Empress Dowager disliked extravagance, and the Cining Palace was decorated in a very simple style. Many of the screens and potted plants that had been placed there before were taken out, and the bookshelves that had been used in the former Consort Shu's palace were added.

He casually walked to a row of bookshelves and picked up one of the books.

If you randomly flip to any page, you can see the Empress Dowager's annotations.

The pages were yellowed and worn, and there was some dust on the cover.

The Empress Dowager circled the phrase "Attain utmost emptiness, maintain steadfast stillness," and wrote a note beside it:

"When you let go of all this and your heart reaches a state of emptiness, you may be able to touch the boundary of the Great Dao."