Mingde was brought in by two guards. Since he had not been convicted yet, he was not shackled or restrained in any way. Dressed in a plain blue robe, he walked in thinly and humbly knelt down on the ground.

The Qianwan Emperor sat in the first seat, his face gloomy. However, Mingde acted as if he didn't notice anything and said lightly, "Your subject pays respect to Your Majesty."

His tone was as if he had just bumped into the Qianwan Emperor while strolling in the imperial garden and was simply greeting him in a relaxed and pleasant manner.

The Qianwan Emperor pursed his lips tightly, with two deep wrinkles appearing between his brows. Those familiar with him knew this was a sign that he was furious. The last time he showed this expression was when assassins from Xiwan launched a night raid on the palace. The time before that was when he executed the entire family of the prime minister who had embezzled funds.

Zhang Kuo coughed and said in a shrill voice, "Ministry of Revenue official Shangguan Mingde!"

Mingde replied with utmost humility, "Your subject is present."

"Do you know your crime?"

"What crime has your subject committed?"

The Minister of Justice glanced at the Emperor's expression and slapped the table, saying, "Lord Shangguan, you disregarded our dynasty's laws. As an imperial court official, you frequented brothels and prostitutes. What punishment do you think you deserve?"

In the small, dark interrogation hall, the candlelight flickered, casting huge, swaying shadows on the walls. Mingde raised his face, his sharp chin revealing a hint of a smile in the shadows, and said most gracefully, "To die under the peony flowers, even as a ghost I shall be romantic. Food and sex are part of human nature, as taught by the sages. How dare your subject not follow it?"

The Minister of Justice choked for a moment. He glanced at the Emperor's expression again and turned to say sternly, "Sophistry! As an imperial court official, associating with women from brothels and prostitutes, you have completely disgraced the honor of our dynasty's officials!"

"Minister, what you said is incorrect," Mingde smiled faintly. "Beauties are like flowers, pearls and jade, naturally priceless in appearance. How can they be mentioned in the same breath as the boring matters of official documents and cases?"

He coughed lightly along his lips, not concealing the hint of a lush smile at the corner of his mouth. That smile was very faint and fleeting. Wrapped in his blue robe, he looked so thin that for a moment, under the candlelight, he seemed like a floating, enchanting ghost that would disappear with a single touch.

The Minister of Justice had never seen such a ghost. He instantly became muddled, vaguely feeling that he should continue questioning about the case, but also feeling that anything he said would be superfluous.

His eyes were fixed on Mingde's half-hidden profile in the shadows, staring blankly for a long time. He only felt that the snow-like paleness on that cheek could scorch his vision, so he hurriedly averted his gaze.

This really wouldn't do. Zhang Kuo coughed loudly and said, "Lord Shangguan!"

"Your subject is present."

"If you do not confess, then you will be punished according to our dynasty's penal code. Imperial court officials who indulge in brothels shall be caned fifty times and demoted three ranks. My lord, do not willingly throw yourself under the rod!"

Mingde stared at Zhang Kuo for a while, his gaze icy, making Zhang Kuo stand up and sit back down. Just when he almost couldn't bear it anymore, he heard Mingde ask, seemingly very puzzled, "Then what should your subject do?"

Zhang Kuo said loudly, "Lord Shangguan, please explain in detail. Who invited you to the Tianxiang Tower? Do you know those who went with you? Was that woman an old acquaintance of yours? Who paid the bill? If you make it clear, naturally you will be absolved of involvement!"

Zhang Kuo's blatant shielding was actually based on observing the Qianwan Emperor's expression. If they really caned Shangguan Mingde, he probably wouldn't last two strokes before this favored official lost his breath.

The Minister of Justice, the Commander and others present secretly thought in their hearts that he was indeed favored. Even after being caught red-handed at the scene and brought to the interrogation hall for questioning, he still had Eunuch Zhang, the most favoured servant beside the Emperor, to absolve him of the charges.

Who knew that after being silent for a while, Mingde actually said softly, "Your subject went on his own, no one invited me."

Zhang Kuo cried out, "My lord, have you thought this through?!"

Mingde's expression was extremely solemn, "Your subject is just honestly confessing, what is there to think through or not?"

The Qianwan Emperor suddenly stood up. Everyone looked at him, but there was no expression on his face. After a long time, he said, "Mingde."

"Your subject is present."

"Are you asking for a beating?"

"That depends on whether Your Majesty wants to beat me or not."

The Qianwan Emperor asked in a low voice, "Then tell me, will I beat you?"

The dangerous undertone in his voice was so obvious that the cold wind blowing in the interrogation hall made one feel like being cut by a thin dagger bit by bit.

Mingde actually nodded and said, "You will beat me."

Zhang Kuo immediately retreated half a step to avoid being affected by the supreme wrath of the Emperor. His decision was obviously correct, because the Qianwan Emperor suddenly grabbed the paperweight on the table and smashed it over.

The Minister of Justice, the Commander and others immediately knelt down, "Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty! Quell your anger!"

"Your Majesty!..."

With a bang, the paperweight fell to the ground. Mingde covered his temple, with thin lines of blood flowing from between his fingers. The scarlet color reflected on the pale, almost transparent back of his hand, so vivid that it made one's heart tremble.

The Qianwan Emperor only felt a buzzing in his ears, with only one thought in his mind: I hit him. I really hit him.

"Your Majesty!" The Minister of Justice rushed up to block the Qianwan Emperor with his body. He was a very experienced official and knew when certain things absolutely could not happen, even if a more suitable solution could not be found at times. "Your Majesty, quell your anger! The subject deserves punishment, but the Imperial Guards are assisting. Any harm to the Dragon Body concerns the fate of the country!"

The Qianwan Emperor stood there blankly, then was pressed to sit down on the first seat by a group of officials. Through the layers of people, he could see Shangguan Mingde stand up, one hand covering his wound, smiling at him amidst the blood covering his face.

No one could describe that smile, no one could portray the hatred it contained, the spine-chilling and heart-stopping feeling.

...So... he had always been full of hatred.

Such a person, even if you offended him with the tiniest of matters, he would silently remember it in his heart, and one day he would retaliate against you.

Even if it was just a small thing or detail that normal people would never notice, he could quietly remember it, devoting tremendous persistence and energy to remember it for several years, and he wouldn't rest in his coffin until he had settled the score.

—Let alone Li Ji, the Qianwan Emperor, whom he had been thinking about and hating to the bone, wishing he could devour his flesh and drink his blood?

Li Ji stared at Shangguan Mingde, clearly hearing his barely audible voice amidst the clamor of the surrounding officials: "...Widely selecting maidens to fill the embrace, this minister is merely imitating Your Majesty's romantic ways, why must Your Majesty... deal such a heavy blow to this minister?"

The Qianwan Emperor clearly felt his blood vessels constrict in an instant, then violently expand, the blood flow rushing to his head all at once, making his vision go black in waves.

He abruptly stood up, breaking free from the group of officials who were in tears, strode over and grabbed Mingde with one hand, dragging him by the neck like grabbing a kitten, all the way to the door across the blood-stained, filthy and hardened floor of the prison.

The Minister of Justice was stunned, about to rush over, but Zhang Kuo tightly held him back: "My lord, you mustn't!"

The Minister of Justice was at a loss: "Eunuch Zhang, His Majesty is..."

Zhang Kuo quickly interrupted him: "My lord, you saw nothing."

The Minister of Justice was taken aback.

Zhang Kuo's voice was almost shrill: "My lord! You saw nothing today! Nothing happened!"

The Minister of Justice regained his senses from the panic, was stunned for a moment, then knelt down: "This minister... this minister receives the decree!"

The Qianwan Emperor walked to the entrance of the Imperial Guard's prison, the guards hurriedly knelt down to pay respects, only to be kicked down the steps by the emperor. The young eunuch didn't dare to approach, trembling, only seeing the emperor dragging a person wrapped in a blue robe who was almost coughing his lungs out, walking down the steps in a few strides, untying the horse's reins in a few motions and mounting the horse.

The young eunuch cowered and approached: "This slave... this slave boldly asks Your Majesty to issue a decree, where... where is the imperial carriage heading, is it returning to the palace?"

The answer he got was the Qianwan Emperor fiercely pulling on the reins, the leaping horse nearly trampling the young eunuch's head. The young eunuch tumbled and crawled away clutching his head, only hearing the thunderous sound of hoofbeats running away as if rolling thunder, the Qianwan Emperor had already disappeared into the dust rising noisily on the official road.

Mingde was almost curled into a ball from coughing, the horse's back kept jolting, each jolt heavily deepening his suffering, as if wanting to jolt his internal organs out of his throat.

The Qianwan Emperor leaned close to his ear and asked: "Do you know why I widely selected maidens?"

Mingde twisted his face into a smile: "—Of course Your Majesty is considering the ancestral bloodline and the country."

"No," said the Qianwan Emperor, "I just wanted to remind you, I don't want the Empress and the Eastern Palace to live too comfortably."

Mingde wanted to say something, but he couldn't anymore. The Qianwan Emperor didn't want to hear him say anything that could instantly make him lose his mind, he held the reins with one hand, and tightly covered Mingde's mouth with the other.

The horse galloped like the wind on the vast official road, passersby screamed and dodged, Mingde silently coughed in the Qianwan Emperor's large robe, his entire body curled into a tiny ball.

The palace gate soon appeared before them, the guards quickly opened the gate from afar, a group of people swiftly prostrated on the ground, chanting in unison: "—Welcome back, Your Majesty!"

"Welcome back to the palace, Your Majesty!"

"We ministers welcome back Your Majesty..."

The horse leaped over their heads, heavily landing on the bluestone floor, then galloped towards Qingzhen Palace without stopping. The Qianwan Emperor fiercely pulled the reins when they were only thirty feet away from the jade steps, the horse neighed, rearing up half its body, then landed on the ground with a thud.

The Qianwan Emperor grabbed Mingde and dismounted. This jolt nearly cost Mingde his life, the Qianwan Emperor only felt warmth in his palm, raising his hand to see large mouthfuls of bright red blood had been coughed out.

"Shangguan Mingde," the Qianwan Emperor pulled Mingde's hair on the back of his head, forcing him to raise his head and look at the blood in his palm, "—You see, I can very easily take your life, easier than strangling a kitten, do you want to try it?"

Mingde only glanced at it, a muffled laughter seeming to come from his chest.

The Qianwan Emperor fiercely pulled his hair, forcing him to expose his slender white neck: "What are you laughing at?"

"...Why bother strangling, Your Majesty," Mingde said softly, "You see, I'm so fragile, a terminally ill patient, I could die from eating a bit less medicine... or even entertaining you a little in bed, I could die at any time..."

Li Ji only felt a fire burning in his heart.

At that moment he believed, he really wanted to kill the person in front of him, to make that mouth never able to utter any infuriating words again.

Never able to defy his will, never able to brandish claws in front of him, forever only able to lie softly in his arms, obedient, well-behaved, delicate and docile.

The Qianwan Emperor leaned close to his face, in a posture just like a real lover's intimacy, if the women in the harem saw it, they would certainly be jealous to the point of madness.

"Mingde," the Qianwan Emperor said word by word, "this Emperor really likes your idea."

He abruptly lifted Shangguan Mingde, strode through the long winding corridor. The exquisite decorations in the inner hall seemed blurred under the unusually rich incense. With a loud thud, the Qianwan Emperor heavily threw him onto the bed, then grabbed his chin, forcing his jaws open to kiss him.

Mingde let out an "ah" moan, as the Qianwan Emperor heavily bit the corner of his lip, then greedily sucked the slightly sweet, warm blood.

"Even the blood of someone like you can be hot," The Qianwan Emperor said through gritted teeth, "I thought you had already cultivated to the point of having no desires!"

Mingde raised his head, desperately reaching out to cover his constantly bleeding temple. Even in a daze, he still showed no expression of pain, his voice and face very solemn: "Your Majesty's birthday is approaching."

The unrelated topic made the Qianwan Emperor pause for a moment.

"This subject has prepared a gift for Your Majesty."

If not for his very serious expression and tone while speaking, the Qianwan Emperor would have almost thought he was joking: "A gift? From you?"

Mingde said: "When this subject was recuperating in Qingzhen Palace the other day, with nothing to do, I made it to pass the time. I forgot to take it when leaving the palace, it should still be in the hidden compartment under Your Majesty's desk."

He spoke with a very solemn manner and tone. The Qianwan Emperor looked at him doubtfully, but still slowly got up and walked to the desk.

...Maybe...maybe he really did prepare a gift...

After all, with two years of feelings, it's not like...at such a young age, he wouldn't have a heart of stone...

The lofty Son of Heaven's fingers were trembling slightly as he pulled open the hidden compartment under the desk.

Inside the compartment quietly lay a scroll case about a foot long, perfumed with incense, emitting a faint, solemn fragrance.

It was a hand-copied Lotus Sutra.

Mingde's handwriting was all personally taught by the Qianwan Emperor. Every man has all sorts of fantasies in his heart, including personally training the person he adores, making every little detail completely match the image in his dreams, including clothing, incense, gaze, smile, every tiny detail, as well as handwriting.

Mingde could write the slender regular script only because the Qianwan Emperor liked seeing it, so he personally guided him to master it. Copying scriptures page by page, as beautiful and graceful as a painted lady.

The Qianwan Emperor's voice trembled slightly: "You...you copied this for me?"

Mingde coughed heavily a few times and nodded: "Yes."

"...With your own hands?"

"Yes."

The Qianwan Emperor flipped through it page by page. In fact, he couldn't really understand it, but he still went through it from beginning to end without skipping a single page.

Mingde asked: "Your Majesty, do you like it?"

The Qianwan Emperor had already fallen into an immense, light-headed feeling. Like a young lad being smiled at by his secret crush for the first time, he had no idea what to say, his mind a complete blank, only an indescribable joy and nervousness tightly gripping his heart. He didn't know what expression or words to use to express this joy. At this moment, even if told to kneel, he would kneel without hesitation to worship.

At a loss, he nodded and said: "I like it."

Mingde took the sutra from his hands, smiled and said: "What a pity though."

He opened up the sutra, then reached for the half cup of cold tea by the bed. Right in front of the Qianwan Emperor, he slowly poured the water onto the pages.

The beautiful slender regular script immediately blurred, the water stains seeping into the paper, like a face wet with tears.

"...'Matters of gods and ghosts are originally only believed by the superstitious and inflexible. As an official of the court, how could I believe in such things along with them'..."

Mingde calmly repeated this sentence. Every word was like a sharp blade, carrying immense hatred and ferocity pouncing forward.

Suddenly the Qianwan Emperor flung the teacup from his hand far away, then snatched back the sutra. Mingde looked up at him, then was heavily slapped, tumbling onto the bed.

His face hurt so much it felt numb, only a burning sensation spreading along the nerves.

"Shangguan Mingde," The Qianwan Emperor pulled his hair, almost tearing out a fistful. Mingde's eyes reflected this man's face, distorted from its original appearance due to anger and pain.

"--You want to die? I'll...I'll never let you die!"

Mingde wanted to turn his head, but was slapped again, leaving his ears ringing blankly, unable to hear anything.

But miraculously, he could immediately make out what the Qianwan Emperor said from reading his lips. He enunciated word by word: "--I will make you live, I will make you watch with open eyes!"