49 chapter 49
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Jia Ni has been very troubled lately. He feels that he has never had as many worries as he has ever had since birth. He feels that Lan Ye is simply there to bring him bad luck. Ever since Lan Ye appeared, he seems to have had nothing but bad luck, whether in his career or love life.
The joy he felt from making Ou Sai publicly break off the engagement and humiliate Lan Ye in front of the entire universe seemed to last only a short time. After Lan Ye disappeared, the feeling of powerlessness, like punching cotton, kept eroding him.
If things had continued like this, it wouldn't have been a big deal. After all, during the time Lan Ye disappeared, he seemed to have become the focus of attention again, still enjoying everyone's love and envy, with both his career and love life seemingly perfect.
But Lan Ye's return made everything he had seemed like a mirage. What he found most unbearable was that the Crown Prince, whom he thought was unattainable, actually had an ambiguous relationship with Lan Ye!
From the live broadcast of the press conference featuring the Crown Prince's signed letter, to witnessing the gates of the Pelles Palace open for Lan Ye's spaceship, and most importantly, the photo Lan Ye posted, which left him with the deepest resentment.
This is blatant boasting!
Capital Star Hoffmann Palace Concert Hall
"Who made our little Gani unhappy?" Marquis Quinn Subec, the young master of the Subec family and Gani's older brother, walked in and said with a smile.
Quinn learned from the steward of Hoffmann Palace that Gani had been alone in the concert hall for half a day, neither coming out nor letting anyone in, and that no one except Quinn dared to disobey Gani's wishes.
"Who else?" Jia Ni snorted. "It's that illegitimate son of the Lan family."
"He stole all my thunder the moment he came out!" Gani said angrily.
“Who does he think he is? How can he compare to you?” Quinn said helplessly, looking at his angry brother.
He couldn't understand why Jia Ni insisted on getting angry with Lan Ye, since Lan Ye couldn't compare to his younger brother in terms of status, position, or power.
What Jia Ni cares about—appearance, popularity, and media attention—is utterly insignificant to powerful aristocratic families like theirs, because these are all superficial. Those glamorous celebrities are nothing more than readily available commodities to them.
“Yes, who is he? What makes him think he can compare to me?” Quinn’s words did not calm Gani down; instead, they made her even angrier.
Quinn: "..."
"Moreover, he actually dared to lay a finger on my Crown Prince! How dare he?!" He himself had failed to do it, yet Lan Ye, his defeated foe, had actually managed to get involved with the Crown Prince! This fact was intolerable to him!
Quinn: "..." Your fiancé is the Third Prince Osei...
"Brother, Lan Ye really makes me feel bad." Jia Ni pouted and said angrily.
"Why bother with him? You've already won over Ossa, and he even abandoned all decorum to call off the wedding on his wedding day for you. From any perspective, you've made a good deal," Quinn said with a soft sigh.
The reason why Gani was allowed to do this was because of betting on the Third Prince, hoping that the Subec family could replace the Sopedu family as the next royal in-law, so that they could go further.
"I just can't stand him!" Gani said through gritted teeth.
"So what do you want to do?" Quinn asked, speechless, looking at his agitated brother.
"I'm going to slash his face!" With no outsiders around, Gani didn't need to pretend to be innocent and generous, and made no attempt to hide her thoughts.
Quinn: "..." He simply couldn't understand why his brother cared so much about such superficial and ephemeral things. Gani's appearance, after optimization, was already unparalleled, but there were always people more beautiful than him. Was he really going to smear all those people's faces?
The main reason the Subec family helped Gani coerce and entice the Third Prince, who originally wanted to marry Lan Ye, was because of family interests. Although it was also because of their affection for Gani, family interests always came first.
The Subec family isn't so bored as to specifically target a minor celebrity with whom they have no connection, especially since this celebrity is currently very popular and attracting attention from across the universe. Their actions against him would be baseless and would make the Subec family appear petty and tasteless, subjecting them to unnecessary criticism and ridicule.
Moreover—
"No matter how lowly Lan Ye may be, he still has the blood of the Lan family. Although the Lan family doesn't care about him, they won't stand idly by if you cause him physical harm."
“Brother, can’t our Subec family even handle Lan Ye?” Jia Ni sneered. “You’re too timid. You’re even hesitant to deal with an illegitimate child.”
Quinn was truly exasperated with his spoiled and brainless younger brother. Their father had pampered Gani too much, which led him to always act solely on his own whims. "That's the Lan family."
Although the Subec family and the Lan family both belong to one of the Four Domains, their strength is simply not on the same level. If they had the strength of the Lan family, would they need to think about a marriage alliance with the royal family? They would probably have already declared themselves kings.
“If the Lan family really cared about him, they wouldn’t have let him lose face in front of the whole universe.” Quinn’s words did nothing to calm Gani down; instead, they made him feel betrayed by his family.
“I did it myself,” Gani said angrily, smashing the teacup beside her.
"Don't be impulsive. Everyone's watching you these days." Quinn knew his younger brother's personality well. If he continued to persuade him, it would only provoke his temper and make him act recklessly. So he changed the subject. "Your wedding with Osei is coming soon. Focus on preparing for the wedding and don't cause any trouble."
“I don’t want to marry Osei anymore!” Gani stood up and shouted.
Quinn, who had been patiently coaxing his younger brother, stopped smiling and asked, "What did you say?"
Gani, caught up in her emotions, didn't notice the change in Quinn's expression and remained immersed in her own thoughts: "I told you, I don't want to marry Osei anymore!"
Quinn's gaze turned cold. "So what do you want? We've been too lenient with you before, which has led to your current lawlessness. You dare to disrupt the royal wedding again and again? No matter how powerful the Subec family is, they can't stop you from causing trouble like this."
Quinn was telling the truth; his previous support for Gani was merely based on the potential for profit in a power vacuum. However, no matter how powerful the Subec family was, they couldn't afford to disrespect the royal family like that.
It is true that the royal family gradually declined after Leo VI ascended the throne. Leo VI, who could not even control the army, was also unable to suppress the restless forces both domestically and abroad. However, that only meant that Leo VI could not control the Gamondon family. Only the royal family on the surface weakened; the Gamondon family's actual strength did not decline.
His Highness the Crown Prince's return signifies the renewed convergence and intertwining of power between the royal family and the Gamondon family. Consequently, the four regions have been relatively quiet recently, completely devoid of the restlessness that characterized the period before.
However, a powerful royal family was not in the interest of the four regions. They preferred an emperor like Leo VI.
"Isn't your goal to force me into a royal marriage? You said you were helping me, but it was just a convenient arrangement. You only chose Ose." Gani, always spoiled and willful, didn't care about tacit understandings. He said what he wanted to say, "Now that Regas is back, Ose has no chance of succeeding to the throne! If I marry His Highness the Crown Prince, it will satisfy my desires and achieve my family's goals. Isn't that great?"
Quinn laughed at his stupidity and selfishness: "Do you think His Highness the Crown Prince is the same as the Third Prince? Not to mention that he originally had the support of the Sopedu family, even if he didn't have any power in the Four Domains behind him, he could have secured that position with just himself and the Gamondon family."
A powerful monarch will only weaken the Subec family. The Third Prince is actually the best choice to succeed to the throne, rather than His Highness the Crown Prince. The Third Prince's maternal family has virtually no power and cannot control the Gamondon family; he would simply be another Leo VI. A weak central government leads to a strong central government.
Therefore, at the last minute, the Subec family boarded that ship. Although the consequences of failure were terrible, the potential gains from success were too great to resist.
Whether Gani likes it or not, she has no choice but to marry the Third Prince now.
Gani clearly believed that his family only wanted a marriage alliance with the royal family. In his view, a marriage alliance with His Highness the Crown Prince was far more reliable than one with Osei, since His Highness the Crown Prince's succession to the throne was a foregone conclusion, while Osei was already out of the running for the throne.
Therefore, he didn't understand why this time, no one, including his brother, supported his pursuit of the Crown Prince. This was no different from before, so why had their attitude changed?
“I don’t need your help to win over His Highness the Crown Prince.” Jia Ni sneered. “Since he could accept Lan Ye, it means he’s not indifferent to beauty. Besides beauty, I have other advantages that Lan Ye doesn’t have, so His Highness the Crown Prince will definitely see me!”
He picked up the mirror on the table, looked at his face, adjusted the collar of his robe, and looked with satisfaction at his face and long, slender, white neck. If Lan Ye could attract the Crown Prince's attention, so could he.
"Don't waste your time, just focus on preparing for the wedding." Quinn didn't want to waste any more words explaining to Gani. Even if the Crown Prince truly liked him, he would have done so long ago; why had he been ignored all this time? But even if he spoke, Gani wouldn't listen.
As for why His Highness the Crown Prince would take a liking to Lan Ye, Quinn felt he could understand. After all, barring any other factors, Lan Ye's appearance was indeed captivating, and keeping her as a pet would certainly satisfy a man's desires. Unlike the Third Prince, who needed to rely on marriage alliances to gain support, His Highness the Crown Prince could naturally choose his own path.
He had thought that His Highness the Crown Prince was without desires, but it turned out that in the face of beauty, he was just a normal man.
The two brothers parted on bad terms after their conversation.
*
The gossip-loving public, having had their fill of gossip lately, is now preparing to digest what they've already eaten before waiting for the next wave: the wedding of Gani and the Third Prince, and the movie invested in by Lan Ye.
However, unexpectedly, the previously stagnant entertainment industry seemed to be sprinting towards its KPIs after Lan Ye announced his return. Before the audience could even process it, another wave of excitement hit—
The hashtag “Jiani announces she is single” immediately became a trending topic.
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