"Let me tell you! I would never betray His Majesty for you!"
Lu Xiaoyao never expected that one day Julian would come looking for her.
Lu Xiaoyao stared warily at the smiling man in front of her. Her intuition told her that this guy was not as nice as he seemed.
"I didn't ask you to betray your father."
Julian couldn't help but laugh when he saw Lu Xiaoyao acting as if she was guarding against him all the time.
When Lu Xiaoyao wears all her emotions on her face, it means the other person is "easy to get along with." If it weren't for the current situation, Julian might have to suppress his smile and seriously explain his meaning to her.
"Then why did you contact me privately?"
Lu Xiaoyao stiffened her neck, trying her best to appear unapproachable, afraid that the person in front of her would take advantage of her and kill her when she wasn't paying attention.
Although it seems there was no conflict of interest between the two of them in this round.
"I know you are a favorite of Emperor Jing'an, and I also know you are close to that concubine in the Cold Palace. I just want you to say a word to that concubine in the Cold Palace."
"What did you say?"
...
"Julian is truly a talent..."
Late at night, Mingmei told Mu Chen what she had heard from Lu Xiaoyao during the day. Seeing that Mu Chen had no reaction yet, she started complaining herself.
"Is it really a good idea for someone to want to acknowledge me as their mother just for the throne?"
Mingmei truly never imagined that Julian would have such thoughts.
"Wouldn't that be wonderful? Once he ascends the throne, you will be the incomparably noble Empress Dowager."
Mu Chen put down the book in his hand, walked to the bright couch, and made a gesture as if inviting someone to dance.
Mingmei glanced at the other person sideways, and although she didn't say anything, her hand naturally rested on the other person's palm.
Immediately afterward, Mingmei's hand was grasped by the other person, and his other hand worked in perfect harmony to lift Mingmei off the couch, making a small half-turn in the air before landing steadily.
Mingmei, who was still barefoot, stepped on Mu Chen's foot again.
"After the game is released, there won't be many days left until the party you mentioned, so why not practice a little more?"
Mu Chen said in a low voice, but Mingmei seemed to detect something else in his words: "Is this round almost over?"
"Um."
"Just because Julian seized the initiative and recognized me as his mother?"
"More than that, but that's definitely a plus for him."
Mu Chen chuckled softly and replied, "Only the roles he gets consistently employ people from humble backgrounds and strike at aristocratic families. Moreover, the power structure in the court has indeed undergone a major reshuffle."
"Then this is entirely due to the good choice of the character. Everyone else supports the powerful and wealthy families, but he is the one who uses people from humble backgrounds. Regardless of whether you are the emperor in this round, Prince Ying should have been the emperor's most favored successor."
Mingmei felt that with this setup, Prince Ying was the one who won the Emperor's favor the most.
"This makes it significantly more difficult for the other players than for Ying Wang."
"That's not it either."
Mu Chen, however, offered a different perspective: "Let's start with the eldest son, Prince Qing. He has the support of the Su family, and military bigwigs are on his side. Moreover, the Su family is a newly rich family, not a traditional noble family."
Although the Su family has narrowed its path and wants to develop into a prestigious family, they still outwardly represent the newly rich from humble backgrounds.
If Prince Qing were more level-headed, he would know to rely on the Su family on one hand, and secretly win over a group of other people in the army on the other.
The Su family was elevated to power by the emperor himself; if he could elevate the Su family, he could certainly elevate others. However, Yuan Fang didn't do that; he focused his attention on the power structure that followed the death of the Prince of Yong.
"Oh~~ Prince Yong~~"
Mingmei can see the movements of all the players. Speaking of the remaining forces of the Prince of Yong, Mu Chen knew from Mingmei's tone that she was aware of the situation.
"Yes, Prince Yong... Zhen Hu's biggest mistake was underestimating Princess Yong."
Speaking of this person, she has been by Zhen Hu's side since the game, not only as his princess, but also as a strategist in Mingmei's eyes.
As a result, after Zhen Hu's death, not only did the Princess Consort of Yong take over all the power of the Prince of Yong's lineage, but she also secretly formed an alliance with Julian.
That was absolutely terrifying!
When everyone said that Prince Ying went to the Prime Minister's residence and came out with a displeased expression, the next day the Prime Minister took a few days off due to illness. Everyone was saying that Julian's attempt to win over the Prime Minister had backfired and he had lost face.
In reality, Julian and the Prime Minister didn't say anything. Instead, Julian met privately with the Prime Minister's daughter, Princess Yong, that very evening.
Regarding Zhen Hu's death, Julian directly mentioned that Zhen Hu had gone out to dispel the smell of alcohol after drinking at the banquet that night, indicating that he hadn't actually drunk much and had relieved himself during the meal. So why did he die from vomiting and suffocation after returning to rest?
Julian attributed the difficulty in gathering evidence and the silent death of Zhen Hu to the skill of the person who carried out the act, pointing both overtly and covertly to the Empress Dowager in the palace.
Unexpectedly, Princess Yong only said one sentence: "Even if Prince An's men made a move, do you and Prince Qing have no intention of making a move?"
The NPC character of Princess Yong is so beautiful that it's unclear whether she has a real-life counterpart. However, during the confrontation between her and Julian, Mingmei was so tense that she didn't even eat her snacks.
I was so engrossed in watching their conversation.
Finally, Princess Yong even pointed out that Chen Zhihan was Julian's man, and revealed what she had found out about Julian's plan to ambush and kill Zhen Hu outside the palace.
At that moment, all Mingmei could say was that Julian's expression management was becoming increasingly accurate; the pupil dilation was instantaneous.
But the more aggressive Princess Yong was, the more Julian wanted her support. He admitted what he wanted to do and then asked her if they didn't want to kill the other brothers.
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