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

"I know, I'll be careful, you be careful too," Fan Xian reminded her, then turned around, his hand gripping the windowsill.

"It's a bloodbath here. If I can't stay here, I might as well go to Danzhou. I have some connections there."

The lantern in the room, printed with "Kusama Asuka," flickered, its candlelight dancing and casting dim, yellowish light on the faces of the two people.

The latter gave a wry smile: "Under the whole heaven, all land belongs to the king."

A window was pried open a crack, letting in fresh air and a ray of light, adding some brightness to the slightly dark room.

The two remained silent, understanding dawning on them. Fan Xian climbed out the window and left, the room returning to quiet.

Tao Jingyang looked out the window, his gaze penetrating everything to the main hall, which was not far away.

The candles had gone out, but she had a strange feeling that the people in the room were not asleep.

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Inside the bedchamber, Li Chengze sat alone by the window.

The windows were tightly closed, so the moon couldn't be seen outside, and the room was pitch black.

In the pitch-black night, it was impossible to see the man's expression clearly; all that could be known was that he had been sitting there for a long time.

Li Chengze did not arrange for anyone to eavesdrop on Tao Jingyang and Fan Xian's conversation.

It wasn't because of any code of honor; it was simply that she could detect anyone who tried to eavesdrop.

"It's Fan Xian again. Their relationship has gotten this close..."

Li Chengze lay by the window, muttering to himself, until Xie Bi'an came to report that the candle in the other person's room had been extinguished. Only then did Li Chengze return to his bed.

[To have secrets hidden in one's own home... that feeling is truly unpleasant.]

Li Chengze lay on his side on the couch, his hands resting on the empty space in front of him. Moonlight shone through the window onto the body of the person on the couch.

A light veil was laid out for him.

The next day.

early morning.

The two men in the Prince's mansion both woke up with dark circles under their eyes. Tao Jingyang had stayed up late because of "nighttime conversations," while Li Chengze had stayed up even later because of "pondering the nighttime conversations."

Even so, Li Chengze still had to rush to court.

Fortunately, the porcelain bottle kept Li Chengze afloat, preventing him from becoming too exhausted.

It's unclear which awful doctor instructed You Ran not to open the window, but Tao Jingyang was woken up early in the morning by the stuffy heat inside the room.

After a fierce verbal battle with You Ran, lasting over 300 rounds, You Ran finally agreed to stop repeatedly closing the window.

Tao Jingyang continued to stay in the room, pretending to be seriously injured.

The only drawback was that the food was too bland. So, he gave You Ran two taels of silver and told her to go out and buy some snacks. He told her to keep the rest of the money for herself.

You Ran looked at Tao Jingyang, and in the short time it took her to turn around, she suddenly pulled out a large piece of silver from somewhere.

Listening to her instructions on what to do, You Ran couldn't help but ask:

"Young lady, two taels of silver can buy four bushels of rice. Are you going to buy all the snacks on the street?"

Upon hearing this, Tao Jingyang sat up and asked excitedly:

"Can you carry it? If you can't, just buy a few things..."

But Yaoji Roast Chicken from the east side of the city is a must! Thank you so much!

You Ran held the silver in her hand, looking at her upper body propped up on the bed, her black hair cascading down like a waterfall.

Her pale white nightgown contrasted beautifully with her dark hair, and her bright eyes prompted her to ask me to go out and buy her some food...

【Oh my god, buy it all, buy it all!】 Before long, You Ran returned home with her "prey".

After court, the first thing Li Chengze did upon returning home was to visit Tao Jingyang.

Seeing that she looked even more tired than yesterday afternoon, I was so angry that I forgot what I wanted to say and wanted to get up and leave as soon as I finished reading.

Seeing that he was about to leave, Tao Jingyang quickly stopped him and asked him what he meant by coming here, walking around the room without saying a word.

[Who offended him in court?] Tao Jingyang pondered.

The latter then remembered, and without paying any attention to etiquette, he didn't even move a stool, but just sat down directly on the edge of the tatami.

Turning around to face Tao Jingyang, he said:

"Cheng Jushu is being sent back to Northern Qi, and Fan Xian went to the North Gate to wait for him. Judging by the time, they should have met by now."

What do you think Fan Xian should do?

It's awkward to talk to someone who's lying down while they're sitting, so Tao Jingyang propped himself up and sat up: "It's probably about getting revenge, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."

Seeing her like this, Li Chengze awkwardly looked away and went downstairs to get a stool to sit on.

Soon, a messenger came to report that Fan Xian had seriously injured Cheng Jushu at the North Gate, crippling his martial arts skills.

The onlookers cheered, praising Fan Xian for his upright and kind character. However, Fan Xian has now been taken away by the Overwatch Council.

After the messenger left, Tao Jingyang asked in confusion:

"Isn't Cheng Jushu still alive? Why is the Censorate still arresting him?" "An eighth-rank master, his martial arts have been crippled, he's no different from a dead man, he can't explain it to the people in the north."

After saying this, Li Chengze fell silent. After a moment of silence in the room, he spoke again:

"Should I plead for Fan Xian?" He said this with a very frank expression.

"No need, why bother with him?" [There are plenty of people pleading for Fan Xian, why should we get involved?]

But hearing her say that made Li Chengze feel much more at ease.

"I thought you two had a good relationship."

Actually, Li Chengze wanted to ask what they had talked about last night, but after thinking about it, he didn't ask.

"We've only met a few times by chance."

"Did the Fan family send some gifts over? I didn't see them. Did you keep them for yourself?" Tao Jingyang changed the subject.

"I sent someone to check to make sure there was no poison. Okay, I'll bring it over to you in a bit."

Li Chengze stood up speechlessly: "I'm leaving, no need to see me off."

"Okay." After saying that, Tao Jingyang lay back down.