In Changchun Palace.
Yan Cairen was dressed simply, and her once well-maintained face now showed two deep nasolabial folds.
He said to his son, "The situation is urgent. Those brothers who used to be suppressed by you are now vying for the position of crown prince. What do you suggest we do?"
The second prince coldly replied, "What am I afraid of? Those who couldn't compete with me before, do you think they can now? They're just a bunch of defeated opponents."
He spoke with confidence, for the Second Prince was a man of both literary and martial talents, and was an excellent choice in judging people and handling affairs. The other princes were far inferior!
If it weren't for the emperor's stroke of genius, the second prince would have only had two possible outcomes.
First, if, unable to bear the emperor's daily torment and suspicion, one were to take the risk of launching a coup and forcing the emperor to abdicate, the chances of failure would be slim.
Second, he endured all sorts of difficulties, dealt with his brothers one by one, and successfully ascended the throne after the emperor's death.
It will never be abolished for such a trivial reason.
Seeing her son recover from the devastation of being crippled, Yan Cai felt a surge of joy and excitement, thinking that this was indeed her son—a man of great talent and ambition, unwilling to be second to anyone.
Even if Empress Zhangde enjoyed the emperor's favor while she was alive, what good was it if she only gave birth to a little girl who was not of great use?
After calming herself down slightly, Consort Yan patted her son's hand and looked at him intently:
"This alone is not enough; my son needs some more leverage."
The second prince was puzzled: "There are quite a few ministers in the court who are involved with me, but they are cunning and shrewd, and they won't act until they see a benefit. They certainly won't readily join my ranks."
"I'm not referring to the court officials," Consort Yan said with a smile, shaking her head gently.
"Your Majesty is suspicious. How could I possibly allow you to do something as taboo as befriending ministers?"
Even when the Second Prince was the Crown Prince, they did not choose to befriend the court officials too much, but instead used the families of the Second Prince's wives, concubines, teachers, friends, and companions to consolidate their power.
"Who does 'Mother Consort' refer to?"
"Isn't Princess Luoyang, who is currently the most favored princess in the palace, the best bargaining chip?"
The second prince was startled, then gritted his teeth and said, "She's the one who caused us to fall to this state. Does Mother really expect our enemy to help us?"
The Second Prince vaguely knew a little about the past between Empress Zhangde and Consort Yan.
However, as a prince, he always focused on important matters of court politics and believed that he did not need to care about trivial matters of love and romance in the harem.
The moment Princess Luoyang appeared, the Second Prince fell into the mud. He had long ago secretly vowed that one day when he gained power, he would move the tomb of Empress Zhangde and torture Princess Luoyang to death!
Seeing her son's anxiety, Consort Yan smiled and explained, "Man proposes, God disposes. If Luoyang doesn't want to help us, does that mean we have no other way?"
"Should we also give her money?" The second prince's eyes showed disgust. He looked down on the way his other brothers fawned over a mere princess.
"Of course not," Yan Cairen unexpectedly shook her head, saying resentfully.
"Luoyang is greedy and insatiable; giving her money won't work. In fact, to get her to completely side with us, we must use even harsher methods."
"Once a woman gets married, no matter how willful and domineering she was before, she will eventually settle down and consider the future of her husband's family."
Consort Yan's words were so explicit that the Second Prince quickly realized what she meant and asked, "Does Mother intend to marry Luoyang to Cousin Yan?"
"That's right. Xun'er is only a year younger than you, the right age, and of noble status. He also has a good temperament. I originally wanted Jingning to marry him, but now I have no choice but to let Luoyang have him instead."
Yan Cairen was somewhat reluctant to part with him.
However, the only man from the Duke of Yan's mansion who could marry the princess was Yan Xun. What's even more interesting is that Yan Xun had a past connection with Luoyang among the common people.
The second prince had to admit it was a good idea, and then comforted his mother:
"Don't worry, when I'm capable, I will definitely not let my cousin suffer any injustice."
"At worst, I'll just give Luoyang a cup of poisoned wine," the Second Prince thought.
They quickly made up their minds. They were still self-aware enough to know that Ling Xiao wasn't stupid enough to marry her enemy's mother's family. Given the time constraints, they had no choice but to resort to some underhanded methods.
………………
On the fifteenth of August, a Mid-Autumn Festival banquet was held in the palace.
Officials and relatives took their seats. On this auspicious day, everyone wore smiles. Some recited ancient poems about the moon, while others laid out paper, ground ink, and wrote Mid-Autumn Festival poems on the spot.
The emperor, unusually interested in watching this scene, promised a reward to anyone who could compose a fine poem.
The atmosphere immediately became even more enthusiastic.
Imperial concubines, princesses, women of the royal family, and noble ladies of the court held their own banquets, set up incense tables to worship the moon, and prayed for the moon goddess's blessing, a happy marriage, and beautiful appearance.
After the moon worship ceremony, people gathered or dispersed according to their own ideas. Some chatted and gossiped together, while the talented women gathered to write poems, and others admired the scenery. In any case, everyone had their own place to go.
Ling Xiao sat in the first seat, propping his chin up and occasionally picking up a bite of food, watching the beautiful women with their unique charms laugh and play.
"How peaceful!" the system exclaimed, telling Ling Xiao that in the past, when its hosts participated in such palace banquets, something was bound to happen.
Either someone is jealous and plotting against the host, or the host is about to make a name for himself at a palace banquet and attract the attention of the emperor, the crown prince, princes, prime ministers, and so on.
Ling Xiao is too ruthless now; it would be a miracle if she didn't frame and humiliate others.
Ling Xiao stuffed a mouthful of braised eel with hot oil into her mouth, biting her chopsticks as she said:
"A palace banquet is bound to end in disaster. What kind of rule is this? You jinx!"
Before the words were even finished, the system was horrified to see that the host's face was flushed, and his eyes were watery and half-open.
"Host, what's wrong? Are you feeling hot and dizzy all over, and have some kind of urge?"
While asking questions, it rummaged through its system space, preparing to rescue its host from danger.
He was very familiar with this situation; he had definitely been drugged, most likely with an aphrodisiac.
Ling Xiao buried her face in her arms, enjoying the feeling of losing control of her body, and said to the system in her mind, "I'm fine, a mere aphrodisiac can't do anything to me."
The system stopped, its eyes deadpan. Oh, how could it forget that its current host wasn't a delicate beauty; she had plenty of strength.
"Is the host trying to fish for a hook?"
Ling Xiao murmured softly, her tone lingering and gentle, full of springtime warmth:
"They're just trying to take advantage of my intimacy with someone, hoping to pull me, their prized asset, into their camp. How can they not retaliate when they dare to scheme against me like this?"
She could tell that the medicine wasn't very potent; it only aroused the woman's own desires and made her dizzy. It must be a good medicine.
At the women's banquet, under the watchful eyes of everyone, Princess Luoyang seemed to be unable to hold her liquor and was helped out by palace servants to get some fresh air.
Not long after she left, Ling Xiao broke free from the palace maid who was intentionally or unintentionally leading her to a certain place, knocked her unconscious with a single blow while she was still in shock, and kicked her into the lush rose bushes by the roadside.
Princess Luoyang continued to stumble and stagger forward, looking incredibly delicate.
Silently counting the numbers, Ling Xiao sensed the person behind her arrive. With a soft moan, she pressed herself down on the person, "accidentally" slamming her elbow into their soft flesh.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
