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

Li Chengze was still tilting his head, and in the short time it took to turn around, he was left behind by Tao Jingyang.

He shook his sleeves and hurriedly followed.

A gust of wind swept through the area, causing the roadside flowers to bend over.

Li Chengze whispered in her ear:

“I’m telling the truth. Look at my household. Before you came, apart from the few servants of all ages in the back courtyard, there were no other women.”

He explained these things in a low voice, trying to break the world's conventional perception of the royal family to Tao Jingyang.

Tao Jingyang covered his ears with both hands, held his head, and shook his head from side to side.

His steps were still long and brisk, and he was moving around rapidly at the moment.

She's acting like she won't listen, not just throwing a tantrum.

As she walked, she said, "It doesn't matter what you were like before, because those were things you couldn't choose."

These words silenced Li Chengze.

Seeing this, Tao Jingyang also temporarily stopped and continued:

"Li Chengze, I don't care about your past."

From the first day I met you, I made up my mind not to ask about your past, I only look at the future.

So you don't need to worry about anything, and you don't need to explain so much to me. You just need to know that I believe what I see with my own eyes.

Similarly, I believe in you, and that's enough.

There are many unsavory things happening in the palace, but I will not doubt you, much less despise you.

Tao Jingyang's words left Li Chengze stunned for a moment.

That makes it sound like Li Chengze had some kind of past...

After patting his hair, Tao Jingyang went back to his room.

Li Chengze stopped behind her, staring at her back, and finally realized what she had just said.

"The past? What past? Is there some misunderstanding?"

Li Chengze gritted his teeth and chased after him again.

And he told her a little secret that had been on his mind:

“Jing Yang, you could actually take a look at my past.”

He organized his thoughts: "There's a rule in the palace that all princes, once they turn 14, must have a palace maid...introduce them to 'sexual relations'."

It was a little embarrassing for him to say these words, but he couldn't care less at the moment.

"But I left the palace when I was 13, and later the palace did send a maid over."

But I bribed them all to get rid of them, so I..."

Before he could finish speaking, Tao Jingyang in front of him widened his eyes in surprise.

She froze on the spot, suddenly realizing what he was trying to say.

[Is there any tutorial on "high emotional intelligence responses"? How should I respond to this?]

She couldn't figure it out, so she simply ran, darted back into the house in an instant, and slammed the door shut.

So... Li Chengze means that, up to this point, he hasn't even participated in the established "rules" for princes? Then isn't he still... still a...!?

"Ah!" Tao Jingyang leaned against the door and gasped.

He murmured under his breath, "Oh my god, what... what 'indecent words'!"

Li Chengze was blocked outside the door, and at this moment he had one hand on his hip and the other hand awkwardly touching his forehead.

[Oh my god, what did I just say? Jing Yang, she wouldn't already think of me as a lecher..., would she...?]

So he knocked cautiously on the door, and through the crack, whispered:

"Jingyang, um, what I just said, what I meant to express, is..."

Tao Jingyang ignored Li Chengze, who was peering through the door, and instead ranted meaninglessly in his mind:

Oh my god, I feel inexplicably ashamed.

Seeing that the people inside the room remained silent, Li Chengze subconsciously felt embarrassed and wanted to "escape."

But after taking only a few steps, he resigned himself to his fate, turned around, and returned to the door.

He softly called her name: "Jingyang? I really don't..."

"Oh, I know, I know, you...you...you should leave now!" Her tone sounded somewhat exasperated.

At least that's how Li Chengze heard it.

"Okay, okay, I'm leaving." Li Chengze turned around, patted his forehead, and fled as if he were escaping.

Tao Jingyang listened intently to the sounds outside, and only when he found that there was no one at the door did he dare to relax.

"Huff...huff..." She patted herself back to calm down, touching her burning cheeks, which were finally no longer as hot as before.

Don't listen to insincere words; a blushing face is the real answer.

Li Chengze, who lived next door, returned to his place with a gloomy face.

"By chance," they ran into Fan Wujiu, who was standing to the side, disguised as a "tree stump."

At this moment and in this place, Fan Wujiu was trying his best to minimize his presence.

He didn't hear clearly what happened over there, only vaguely hearing that Miss Tao slammed the door shut.

Meanwhile, His Highness was outside, cautiously knocking on the door.

Fan Wujiu finally showed some intelligence at this point:

[His Highness has had a fight with Miss Tao; I absolutely mustn't go and cause trouble.]

However, Li Chengze ignored him and went back to his desk.

Adhering to the principle of "if you don't think about it, you won't get annoyed," he immediately began reviewing the memorials.

The more he reviewed the documents, the more annoyed he became, until he received a letter from a retainer in Zhaozhou: "Your Highness, the eagle has been found. It is fierce and is being trained."

The parrot has been found; it was purchased by my subordinates from a traveling merchant. However, this parrot is different from ordinary parrots; it is entirely gray with a patch of red feathers on its tail.

Yuan thought this bird was extremely rare and specially presented it to His Highness.

Li Chengze snapped the folded book shut and tossed it aside.

He shouted to the people outside, "Fan Wujiu!"

The latter rushed in and asked, "Your Highness, what is it?"

"Zhaozhou said they sent a parrot, has it arrived yet?"

Li Chengze sat cross-legged on the couch, lazily asking Fan Wujiu.