It was already late at night when they returned to the palace. Mingde had eaten the sweet dumplings and sticky rice balls, watched the fireworks, and visited the lantern festival.

He had made up for all the fun he had missed out on in the past few years in just one night. On the way back, he was already drowsy in the carriage. When the carriage stopped, he slightly opened his eyes and asked, "...Are we there?"

The Qianwan Emperor said, "Yes."

Mingde was about to drift off to sleep again when he suddenly heard a voice ask with a sigh, "Mingde."

He let out a faint hum, "Hmm?"

"...If given the choice, would you go to your fragrant Jiangnan in March, or stay in the palace to accompany me?"

Mingde had already fallen into a half-dazed state. He only hummed in his throat before falling into a sweet, dark slumber.

He was too happy tonight, like a little dog that had been cooped up for too long and was finally let out of its cage, excitedly running around wanting this and that. He was already too exhausted.

The Qianwan Emperor gently covered Mingde's eyes with his large hand and said softly, "Sleep."

He carried Mingde out of the carriage and strode into the bedchamber. In the night, Qingzhen Palace was scented with a sweet and light fragrance of jade. The luxurious water lilies in the pond were blooming under the corridor, as if emitting a faint glow in the moonlight.

The Qianwan Emperor placed Mingde on the huge dragon bed, then turned and walked out of the bedchamber door. Rong Shiba knelt on the ground outside the corridor and asked in a low voice, "Your Majesty, what are your orders?"

The Qianwan Emperor walked towards the side hall. "The examination papers for the spring imperial exam are stored in the library of Taixue Hall, right?"

"Yes."

"The secret guards who have been on duty near Taixue Hall recently, are they honest? Can they keep their mouths shut?"

"Your Majesty, they are all veteran secret guards. I can vouch for them."

"Summon them for me."

Rong Shiba nodded slightly, got up and left. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared into the night without even the guards on either side of the bedchamber noticing anyone coming or going. After a short while, he returned with two secret guards in black robes and silver masks. They knelt down and said, "We pay our respects to Your Majesty!"

The Qianwan Emperor stood by the railing of the corridor, gazing into the distance. His voice was calm, "...You two, I have a task for you. If you do it well, you will be immediately promoted. But if you let anyone know even a single word..."

He turned around and slowly smiled, "Then you will lose your heads..."

On the night of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, a fire broke out in Taixue Hall.

The library storing the examination papers, all 3,568 papers for the spring imperial examination, were completely destroyed by the fire.

The entire Taixue Hall was in shock from top to bottom. Everyone scrambled out of bed to fetch water to fight the fire, and the whole place was in chaos. Unfortunately, because the fire was burning in a strange way with doors and windows closed and no path, no one could enter the raging flames.

In the end, those white-bearded officials of Taixue could only watch helplessly as the entire majestic century-old hall collapsed under the rampage of the fire, not even leaving a single intact wall.

On the sixteenth day of the first month, during the imperial court session, the Qianwan Emperor was furious upon hearing the news. He ordered the questioning of the personnel on duty that night and dismissed a group of old and muddled officials from the Ministry of Revenue.

Among them, Lord Xie Hongjie, an official of Taixue who was rigorous in his scholarship, strong in his prime, and had the talent of a pillar, was appointed as the director of the Taixue Department, a second-rank high official. Ding Huang, the Minister of Revenue, had no merits or demerits and was punished with half a year's salary.

An imperial edict from the palace announced to the world: Due to the fire at Taixue Hall and the complete destruction of the examination papers, no one passed the spring imperial examination of the 18th year of the Qianwan Emperor's reign.

_

When Zhang Kuo entered, Mingde was sitting by the window, motionlessly watching the raindrops hitting the plantain leaves outside. The dim light shone down from the high window lattices, casting his face in light and shadow, making it look gentle and cold.

Zhang Kuo bowed deeply, his face full of smiles. "Young Master Mingde, shall I have dinner served?"

Mingde turned his head and stared at him. In an instant, Zhang Kuo felt a chill on the back of his neck, as if a blade of light had suddenly slashed across it.

He looked up at Mingde, and suddenly this young man actually smiled. "Eunuch Zhang, have you eaten?"

Zhang Kuo said in a soft voice, "Thank you for your concern, Young Master. How dare I eat before my master?"

"If I don't eat, won't that inconvenience you all?"

"Young Master is most kind and virtuous. We are immensely grateful."

Mingde elegantly raised his hand, "Then have the meal served."

His hands were very good-looking, with elegant and slender bones, delicate fingers, and nails that had a very faint bluish-white color, like the color of a jade ring. Those hands must be very cold, stained with blood that could not be washed away, even the gaps between the fingers exuding a faint, cold, bloody smell.

Zhang Kuo silently bowed and withdrew, slowly closing the door of the great hall. The Qianwan Emperor had not dared to enter the door of Qingzhen Palace for a day, but there was an edict from Zhengtai Palace to have the palace servants "take good care of" Young Master Mingde.

What did "take good care of" mean? It meant entertaining him with good food and drink, serving him even if beaten or scolded, but keeping a close eye on him and not letting him leave.

Zhang Kuo carefully locked the palace door, then went to have the eighty-one specially prepared exquisite dishes and snacks for Mingde served. When he led a team of palace servants carrying gold-painted lacquer trays into the hall, he found that Mingde was already gone.

Zhang Kuo's legs went weak and he grabbed the palace door for support. The young eunuch crawled over, crying, "Eunuch! Eunuch! The young noble, he... he..."

Zhang Kuo slapped him, "Where is he? Where did he go? Do you all want to be dragged out and beheaded by the Emperor?"

The young eunuch cried, "We followed your orders and guarded the door, but when we opened it to let the imperial kitchen staff in, the young noble, he, he, he was already gone..."

Zhang Kuo's hands trembled for a moment before he shouted sharply, "Hurry and report to the Emperor!"

Liuyu Hall, located next to Zhengtai Palace, was originally a temporary guard post for the imperial bodyguards to rest while changing shifts. Later, it gradually became abandoned, and the Qianwan Emperor did not order anyone to clean it up, so it was left desolate.

In fact, that side hall had been converted into a place for secret guards to drink tea, take a nap, and rest when changing shifts. It was covered with dense willow shade and flower bushes on the outside, completely invisible to outsiders.

One of the secret guards who had been monitoring Taixue Hall all night was extremely fatigued. Even the best of the best would reach a state of mental and physical exhaustion. He ate a good meal and slept, waking up at dusk the next day.

"Why is it still raining?" He muttered a complaint, put on his silver mask, and was about to walk out of the hall when suddenly something sharp whistled through the air from behind him.

The secret guard's incomparably sensitive nerves, trained to perfection, instantly tensed up. He fiercely turned around and kicked the dagger away, followed by a secret guard in black short attire and a silver mask swooping down from above with a kick.

The secret guard shouted, "Ally!"

However, the attacker didn't hesitate at all and kicked him in the abdomen in mid-air. It was a kick that could shatter gold and stone, without any buffer. The secret guard was heavily slammed against the wall.

"What happened with the fire at Taixue Hall last night?!"

The secret guard was stunned, and then his throat was grabbed. The attacker's mask was only inches away from his own. At such a distance, a single finger movement could instantly break his throat.

"Why did Taixue Hall catch fire last night? Who started the fire? Speak!"

The secret guard struggled to take a breath and suddenly pulled out a dagger from his waist, stabbing it at the attacker's vital point. Secret guards were not supposed to kill each other, but special circumstances called for special treatment. The attacker's behavior had completely gone against the code of conduct for secret guards.

Mingde bent down and covered the wound, blood gushing out from between his fingers. The secret guard was about to retreat when Mingde grabbed him with a bloody hand and snapped his wrist with a crunch. Mingde's speed was so fast that the man only had time to put the whistle in his mouth before the sharp alarm sounded throughout Liuyu Hall.

Unexpectedly, Mingde didn't retreat at all. Instead, he reached out with both hands and grabbed the man's neck. "Speak! What happened with the fire? How could Taixue Hall catch fire for no reason? If you don't talk, I'll kill you right now!"

The secret guard coughed a couple of times and said coldly, "You... just kill me then."

The veins on the back of Mingde's hands bulged. At this critical moment, Rong Shiba flew in from outside Liuyu Hall. His first palm grabbed the secret guard from Mingde's hands and threw him far away; the second palm pushed Mingde's body back from three zhang away from the wall, and then directly pushed him against the cold wall, suspending him in the air with his elbow pressed against Mingde's chest.

Mingde cursed, "Rong Shiba, you bastard, how can you be so unethical!"

Rong Shiba leaned close to his ear and said in a low voice, "This time, consider it a favor from your brother, but the emperor's orders cannot be disobeyed... This debt, I will definitely repay it next time when there's a chance."

Mingde grabbed his hand with such force that it seemed he wanted to break Rong Shiba's hand. "You'll repay me? How will you repay me? You're all just saying nice things!"

Rong Shiba staggered back a step, and then a dagger flashed towards him. Rong Shiba's skills were more than a level higher than Mingde's, but Mingde was desperate with every punch. The two of them fought back and forth until they reached outside the main hall. Mingde took the lead and forced Rong Shiba to the edge of the steps, then chopped down with one hand.

Rong Shiba knew it was bad. Although Mingde's internal energy was not cultivated by himself but infused by others, he used it very well. With such a palm strike, even if it didn't split his head open, it would knock him unconscious or even make him an idiot.

He was about to risk his life and leap down when suddenly a hand grabbed Mingde from behind and lifted him several zhang away. Rong Shiba only had time to look back, and he was shocked. "Your Majesty?"

The Qianwan Emperor grabbed Mingde and quickly retreated. Mingde only felt the wind whistling in his ears. By the time he came back to his senses, he had already retreated outside the courtyard.

He clawed back with his hand, and the Qianwan Emperor couldn't dodge in time. Mingde's eagle claw struck from his lower jaw to his chest. Then they both stumbled and fell to the ground. Mingde knelt on the Qianwan Emperor's chest, his fingers gripping the dagger handle trembling spasmodically. "Li Ji, you... you bastard!"

The Qianwan Emperor lay on the ground, quietly looking at the dagger tip. "Mingde."

The veins on the back of Mingde's hands bulged, and his knuckles turned pale.

"You don't want to see the crown prince's wedding?"

The fine rain at dusk fell on Mingde's face. The young man's fine hair was wet, dripping with water droplets, all the way down to the Qianwan Emperor's face, then slowly flowing down along his temples.

Like tears.

Mingde slowly let go of his hand and then stood up. The Qianwan Emperor sat up and stayed where he was, watching Mingde take half a step back and then turn around.

The Qianwan Emperor wanted to say something, but nothing came out.

He just sat on the damp ground, watching Mingde walk away unsteadily step by step in the gray rain curtain that filled the world. The wind and rain were gloomy, and the chilly wind of early spring quickly swept over, taking away the last bit of faint warmth left on him by the young man.

"This little thing..."

The Qianwan Emperor wiped the raindrops from his face. It was cold to the touch, just like the feeling that person in his arms once gave him.