On the morning of his birthday, Ye Jingchen slept exceptionally soundly.

Because he went to bed too late the night before, he could clearly hear Fangfei and the others calling him to get up in the morning, but it took him a long time to finally open his eyes.

He lay stiffly on the bed like a dead fish for half a day before finally waking up completely.

"Fangfei, send someone to the Princess's residence to invite her to the palace early today. I need her help with something," Ye Jingchen said while yawning as he was being helped to get dressed.

Today is Ye Jingchen's birthday, and the emperor, in a moment of great mercy, has exempted him from the morning court session.

Ye Jingshu arrived before breakfast, so the three of them ate breakfast together today.

There are too many spies in the Eastern Palace; he's too lazy to investigate them all and treats them all as the emperor's spies.

So, to make it easier for them to talk, Ye Jingchen dismissed all the palace servants to prevent his plan from failing before it even began.

"Why are you asking me to go to the palace so early? You don't mean you want to ask for a birthday present ahead of time, do you?" Ye Jingshu joked, seeing how cautious Ye Jingchen was.

"And what about my birthday present?" Ye Jingchen asked casually.

Ye Jingshu waved her hand, "It's not time to give gifts yet, don't be in a hurry. Tell me first, is there anything I can help you with?"

"My father has chosen several marriage candidates for me. He will make those girls shine at the palace banquet today, and then force me to choose one or more of them as my crown princess or concubine. But I'm going to the northern frontier soon and don't want to get married now. It wouldn't be good for those girls. Can you help me ruin this?" Ye Jingchen said to Ye Jingshu.

Ye Jingshu's expression turned strange upon hearing this. She looked Ye Jingchen up and down, somewhat puzzled. "You'll be eighteen after today. Most of the noble families in the capital have children your age who can already run around. As the crown prince, having offspring is of utmost importance. Why don't you want to get married?"

"I don't want to get married for the same reason that my elder sister doesn't want to marry. Besides, I'm going to the Northern Frontier soon and won't be back in the capital for at least two years. If I get married now, wouldn't that be delaying those girls?" Ye Jingchen said calmly.

Although Ye Jingchen's words made sense, they were not enough to convince Ye Jingshu.

She knew very well that their marriages were becoming a major worry for the emperor, and if she rashly interfered, the emperor would probably be very angry.

“They should be happy to be held back by you,” she said.

Seeing that appealing to emotions wasn't working, Ye Jingchen immediately changed his strategy: "Since Father has made arrangements for me, he certainly won't let you off the hook. You help me today, and I'll help you in a few days."

"How can you be so sure that Father Emperor won't let me go?" Ye Jingshu hadn't received any information about this yet, so she was skeptical.

"My father only told me about this last night. Before yesterday, he kept it a secret very well, and I didn't hear a word about it," Ye Jingchen said.

“You’re two years older than me. Even if he doesn’t make any arrangements on your birthday, he’ll definitely take action afterward. You help me, and I’ll help you.”

Ye Jingshu thought for a moment and quickly made a decision, "Deal!"

After finishing breakfast, Ye Jingchen handed the information about the girls to Ye Jingshu.

Of course, he concealed some information; he only showed Ye Jingshu the most basic details.

Ye Jingshu glanced at them a few times and exclaimed in surprise, "I only told you last night, and now you already have news about them. Your Highness, you're quick on your feet!"

Ye Jingchen did not deny it, "So it's not a loss for my royal sister to cooperate with me."

"Has Father Emperor lowered the standards for your Crown Princess so much?" Ye Jingshu exclaimed as she looked at the documents.

“But powerful and noble families will not allow this to happen and will definitely try to stop it. No matter who I choose, I will only harm her and her family,” Ye Jingchen said.

This is why he is unwilling to even procrastinate.

The resources in the imperial city are limited, and after so many years of competition, they have long been saturated.

When one family rises to power, it will inevitably seize the resources of other families.

The Eastern Palace currently has no mistress. Even if the woman he chooses at today's palace banquet is not the Crown Princess, her family will inevitably become a new elite in the capital.

However, their foundation was weak, and with his biggest backer soon leaving the capital, they simply did not have the ability to withstand risks and crises.

The emperor only wants to find wives for his sons. Once he achieves his goal, he will most likely not care about the fate of the families behind those girls. For powerful and noble families, crushing them is as easy as crushing an ant!

"What do you want me to do? I won't do anything too risky!" Ye Jingshu said somewhat warily.

"Isn't Your Highness quite familiar with those noble ladies? Pick a few who have a bad reputation, are arrogant and domineering, and like to bully others. You just need to give them a heads-up that I will decide on the Crown Princess based on their performance at this palace banquet. Then you can reveal the names of the girls Father has chosen to them. No matter what the reason, they will take action and not give those girls a chance to shine," Ye Jingchen said with a smile.

"Of course, after doing this, I will need to trouble you, my elder sister, to send someone to keep a close eye on those girls, so that if anything happens to them, innocent people will not be implicated."

Ye Jingshu immediately understood his intention and began to select noble ladies who could be used as pawns in her mind.

“Since none of us really want to face the Emperor’s wrath directly, let’s have some people share some of it for us. Anyway, they and their families can handle it,” Ye Jingchen said with a smile.

While Ye Jingchen and Ye Jingshu were discussing the matter, Ye Jinghe listened silently without saying a word.

However, he had also glanced at the list his brother had in his hand last night, and he had memorized all the names.

Since his brother is so resistant to getting married, he will help his brother in his own way.

The palace banquet was held in the main hall of Yong'an Palace. Yong'an Palace has pavilions, terraces, gardens, and waterside pavilions, with beautiful scenery for guests to visit and enjoy.

After having breakfast at the East Palace, Ye Jingshu rushed to Yong'an Palace.

"Brother, I have to go now." Ye Jinghe then stopped lingering around Ye Jingchen and left with a simple "I have something to do."

The palace banquet would not begin until noon, and since it was still early, Ye Jingchen returned to his bedchamber after finishing his breakfast.

As the protagonist of the palace banquet, he will be the focus of everyone's attention today, and he must be on his best. Therefore, he needs to conserve his energy before the banquet begins.

As soon as he returned to his bedchamber, he saw an ordinary sandalwood box on his desk. His eyes lit up, and he picked up the box and opened it. Inside was a rolled-up black belt with cloud patterns.

He untied the belt and discovered that it should be a set with the clothes he had received.

However, this way of giving gifts is unique to Chenxi.

Since it was given to him by Chenxi, it couldn't have been just an ordinary belt.

Upon closer inspection, he indeed discovered several ingenious mechanisms on the belt that could launch needle-like projectiles.