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

In the palace, some things are understood even without being explicitly stated.

【I'm harsh on people!?】 Li Chengze looked at Tao Jingyang in disbelief, who smoothly turned his head in another direction.

He let out two snorts from his chest, forcefully suppressing his unknown anger, and boarded the carriage with "anger" in his mouth.

The wind chimes tinkled, and before they were even halfway there, Li Chengze found a secluded spot and switched to Tao Jingyang's carriage.

Li Chengze hunched over as he entered and sat opposite Tao Jingyang, leaning his upper body towards her as if carefully observing her expression.

"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell? Why did His Majesty keep you in the palace for so long to question you?"

Li Chengze remained calm and asked three questions with concern.

Tao Jingyang had "falsely accused" him in the palace, and he already felt guilty.

Earlier, I saw him looking very angry before getting into the carriage, and I was thinking of going back to explain things to Li Chengze.

But now this person has changed carriages halfway through the journey, and his first words are not "to interrogate and punish," but rather concern.

Seeing him like this, Tao Jingyang forgot to respond for a moment, staring blankly at the newcomer. Li Chengze thought she was frightened, so he moved closer to her.

He placed the washed peaches from the table into Tao Jingyang's palm and whispered to her, "You don't need to be afraid."

The cool pink peach against his palm brought Tao Jingyang back to his senses.

Instead of answering the questions immediately, she asked him, "Weren't you... angry just now?"

The events in the main hall were entirely her own doing; Li Chengze knew nothing about them. Logically speaking... he should be angry, right?

After a moment, a barely perceptible smile flashed across Li Chengze's face as he teased:

“Angry? You mean I’m ‘critical’?” He said, looking at the person opposite him with interest.

"Hmm... Li Chengze, I think it's necessary to explain something to you. Just now, I said something about you in front of Emperor Qing..."

At this moment, Tao Jingyang didn't want anything else; he just wanted to explain the matter clearly.

But Li Chengze seemed to know everything, and even spoke for her:

"Alright, don't I know you? You want the emperor to think that we don't get along, right?"

Li Chengze knew very well that Tao Jingyang pushing the poisoning incident onto him wouldn't affect him at all.

This would neither cause him to lose the emperor's favor nor lead to his punishment. Moreover, he himself understood that Tao Jingyang's words to Emperor Qing were certainly not intended to harm him.

Therefore, the "angry" reaction at the palace gate was merely a performance to cooperate with Tao Jingyang.

Tao Jingyang breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he wasn't angry, and said in a soft voice, "That's good, as long as you're not angry."

The latter's smile faded, his gaze turning deep: "Who said I wasn't angry?"

This person was acting strangely today, and the look in his eyes made it seem like he was up to something, leaving Tao Jingyang at a loss for what to do.

Perhaps it was the deep darkness of the night that made her confused, but for some reason, she really couldn't figure out what Li Chengze was thinking.

The peach in Tao Jingyang's palm was already hot from being squeezed so much. He tilted his head, his eyes full of doubt.

"Jingyang, you took poison this morning. Did you plan this all along to put on an act in front of the emperor?"

A shadowy glint flashed across his eyes, but he quickly returned to normal, as if it were just a figment of his imagination.

Tao Jingyang didn't miss that fleeting glance, wondering whether he should hide it from him.

But under Li Chengze's deep gaze, she still deflated: "It was something I had planned a long time ago. Anyway, there's an antidote, so it doesn't matter."

"How can it not be related!?" Suddenly, Tao Jingyang felt his wrist being gripped tightly.

Li Chengze's eyes were cold, yet he showed no intention of harming her. There was a pervasive sense of contradiction here, like a venomous snake coiled around you, yet never intending to bite.

He stared at Tao Jingyang for a long time, then suddenly let go of his hand, took out a porcelain bottle from his sleeve, poured out a pill, and put it into his mouth.

By the time Tao Jingyang realized what Li Chengze had eaten, the latter had already sat up straight and was gazing at her with quiet eyes.