Lv Liang led two maidservants to a tightly sealed room and knocked on the door before reporting inside, "Master, the maidservants have come to deliver a meal to sir."

After a while, the door opened from the inside, and a clean-shaven man with a fair complexion appeared, wearing a blue eunuch uniform and a black gauze hat, and tilted his chin inside towards the two maidservants.

Qin Yao raised an eyebrow, wondering how there could be a eunuch here.

Could the master that Lv Liang mentioned be the one from the Eastern Palace!

The heavy guards within the National Master Mansion suddenly made sense, as did the three inner strength experts hidden in Pu Courtyard, now understood to be protecting this esteemed person.

The maidservants kept their heads low, stayed well-mannered as they brought in the food box. Not once did their eyes stray. They opened the food box, and the eunuch used a toxin testing device to inspect each item thoroughly. Once confirmed that everything was alright, the maidservants secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

They couldn’t figure out why, with so many guards in the National Master Mansion, there was still concern about someone poisoning Mr. Gongliang.

However, having delivered food to an esteemed guest today, it was prudent to retreat quickly after completing the task.

Once the food was delivered, the two maidservants lowered their brows and, facing the direction of the screen, curtsied, then retreated all the way to the door before turning and quickly leaving the Pu Courtyard.

The eunuch carried the food behind the screen, where there was a bedroom, different from an ordinary room. The furnishings inside were all very simple, even somewhat old and oddly shaped. The height of the sleeping and sitting furniture was unified, with ramps made of handrails and wood planks everywhere.

Next to the screen was a wooden wheelchair, its wheels appeared severely worn, like some kind of junk.

These pieces in the room seemed so out of place within the grand mansion of the National Master.

The eunuch glanced at the young man sitting by the bed, approximately thirty years old, dressed in a pale yellow silk robe with a round collar, a jade belt cinched at the waist, and a crown of the same color atop his head. He looked down at the person on the bed with slightly drooped phoenix eyes, full of compassion and mercy.

Such a lad, exuding nobility, filled with kindness and calm, showed no trace of how time had touched him.

This nearly innocent quality appearing in a Crown Prince was indeed rare.

His serene expression revealed that he was undoubtedly someone who received much favoritism and felt entirely secure.

"Sir, please rise to dine." Baili Qingyang gently called to the elderly man on the bed, who lay with eyes closed, unwilling to open them.

With a smile, the eunuch added, "His Highness personally brought a chef who excels in home-style dishes, who cooked green beans with tofu, sautéed bacon with bamboo shoots, and sir’s favorite fish fragrant with rice aroma."

His intention was to curry favor, but the person lying on the bed remained silent for a long time, as if he had died in his sleep.

Yet, the movement of his eyeballs under his eyelids revealed the truth: he was quite awake.

However, the old man’s breathing was labored, his whole being listless, and the bitter scent of medicine lingered around him, a sight of sheer desolation, shaking one’s heart.

Baili Qingyang sighed, both helpless and somewhat frustrated, "Sir refuses to eat or seek medical attention; do you want to starve yourself to death and make me feel guilty for life?"

Such words held weight, and with the dignified Crown Prince speaking in this tone, Gongliang Liao, who lay on the bed, struggling for breath, had no choice but to open his eyes and hoarsely say, "Your Highness is exaggerating."

Baili Qingyang was delighted, quickly gesturing for the eunuch to bring the dishes over, looking expectantly at Gongliang Liao, "Why don’t you try? The chef’s skills are still impressive."

Gongliang Liao managed a bitter smile at the corner of his mouth, glancing with effort at the tray’s contents; through all this fuss, they had long lost their fresh-from-the-stove warmth, making them look unappetizing at a glance!

However, with the wretched National Master having brought the Crown Prince here, he couldn’t possibly act too out of line.

Gongliang Liao let out a despairing sigh, forcing himself to muster what little strength remained in his frail body.

The two servants in the room hurried forward to support him to sit.

Even the simple act of sitting up on the bed took Gongliang Liao to exhaustion, with beads of cold sweat forming densely on his forehead, his bloodless lips slightly parted, gasping deeply, his throat making a "guh-guh" sound, resembling a worn-out drum skin mourning in the wind.

Gongliang Liao’s eyes, which should have shone with wisdom and humor, lost their final dim sparkle.

He truly thought, it might be better to just die.

Yet he couldn’t, for if he died at this moment, the court would surely face calamity.

Nonetheless, living another day meant being exploited one more day by that wretched National Master.

Whether to live or die, he felt so miserable that he wanted to die!

Not eating or seeking treatment was merely his only form of rebellion right now.

Thinking of this, Gongliang Liao couldn’t help but laugh at his predicament; what was all this painstaking endurance for?

Baili Qingyang signaled the servants to feed Gongliang Liao, then rose up, standing with his hands behind his back, observing the room filled with objects brought from the remote countryside by the National Master.

This furniture, this timber; he had used such things in his childhood too, and now recalling the days when the family crowded in a small mud house to hide from pursuers felt like a dream.

At that time, Father had only Mother, and the eldest sister was still the one who claimed she’d conquer the entire Jiangdong Four States, a brash girl unaware of the immensity of Heaven and Earth.

As for him... Mother always said that boys didn’t need to think too much, simply grow up well, if afraid of hardship, then become a leisurely nobleman in the future, if afraid of pain, let the elder sister send more subordinates to serve him.

Anyway, he had nothing to worry about, as long as he managed himself well.

Training in martial arts was unnecessary persistence; for boys, they don’t have to strive too hard.

If studying became tiring, it was fine; being able to write and calculate was sufficient. He didn’t need to be like his elder sister, who had to prove herself diligently just to earn respect as a woman among her subordinates.

Thus, Mother had always been exceedingly harsh on his elder sister, demanding she achieve first in everything, punishing her if she did not.

But towards him, Mother always smiled gently, and he only needed to make an effort at one point to receive the maximum praise.

Since he could remember, the elder sister disliked him, claiming he received all the parental favoritism.

However, sibling quarrels were commonplace in ordinary households; despite their fights and arguments, when trouble arose, the elder sister never abandoned him.

When Mother conquered the old capital from the previous dynasty, he and the elder sister were left behind, pursued by retreating enemy troops.

Father was with them at that time too; the coachman, fearing Father would be captured, threw him off the carriage to make it run faster.

In those moments of panic and tears, it was the elder sister who led her followers and returned to rescue him.

At that moment, he slowly realized that the elder sister, whom Mother tormented by demanding excellence in everything, had reached such a remarkable degree!

While he, faced with crisis, was bewildered, knowing only lamentation.

Mother’s favoritism was always his pride, but at that moment, he realized he might have been spoiled by Mother.

Just like Father, good for nothing but consuming pleasures.

When did he suddenly resolve to diligently study and practice martial arts?

Perhaps it was during the year when Father, instigated by his ministers, declared himself king before Mother.

Mr. Gongliang mournfully reprimanded, "As the eldest legitimate son of the king, the young lord must inherit the rule; how can he be so lacking in ambition, understanding of progress, indulging in pleasures!"

Back then, seeing the elder sister controlling an army of fifty thousand, he felt a strong sense of crisis for the first time.

However, ever since being entrusted with the task of ’inheriting the rule,’ he hadn’t felt joy ever again.

As the elder sister claimed, someone like him might be incapable of bearing an entire dynasty.