The two of them had slept for less than two hours when there was a knock on the door. Jinglan stood outside and said respectfully, "Your Highness, Prince Consort, His Majesty is hosting a banquet in the Hall of Supreme Harmony at noon today. You must get up."

Li Rong listened to this, used her willpower to open her eyes, and pushed Pei Wenxuan: "Get up, get up quickly."

Pei Wenxuan raised his hands to cover his eyes, frowning in pain. After a pause, he supported himself to stand up, shook his head and said, "Get up."

The two of them encouraged each other to get up and were about to leave when Li Rong moved, bringing the white silk on the bed down with her. The two of them stared at the white silk together, and Li Rong looked up at Pei Wenxuan: "You handle it."

Pei Wenxuan had no choice but to step forward, pick up the white silk, cut his finger from the side and stained it with blood, then threw it back on the bed and said to the outside: "Come in and serve."

Jinglan pushed the door open and a group of maids came forward to help the two of them wash and dress. After they changed into palace clothes, they got on the carriage and went to the palace.

They were both very sleepy on the way and took a nap leaning against the side of the carriage. After they arrived at the palace, they felt the carriage stop and came back to their senses.

The two of them stayed in the carriage for a while, and finally left one after the other. By this time, the Hall of Supreme Harmony was already full of people.

Li Rong and Pei Wenxuan greeted the officials in the hall all the way while walking to the back of the hall. There was a small room at the back of the hall where the emperor and empress were leading the royal family to have a private banquet. Li Rong and Pei Wenxuan entered the small hall and saluted the emperor and empress first. The emperor and empress gave them gifts and asked them to stand up. The couple sat down next to the emperor.

The palace banquet was lively. All the people from the harem were there. No one spoke, but all looked at Pei Wenxuan secretly. Pei Wenxuan's face remained unchanged, pretending that he was unaware of the gazes of people around him, and chatted with Li Ming in a casual manner.

Li Ming was quite familiar with Pei Wenxuan. They usually talked about official business, and rarely talked about family matters at this moment. He only asked about trivial daily matters, but Li Ming's willingness to take care of Pei Wenxuan in this way had a different meaning in the eyes of others.

Li Ming talked to Pei Wenxuan for a few words and asked Li Rong about the situation in Princess Li Rong's mansion. Li Rong answered him accordingly. After a while, it was time for the banquet.

The dishes were served one by one. After Li Rong had made the princesses behave themselves, they did not dare to make trouble. The meal was quite harmonious. When the meal was almost over, everyone sat and chatted. The concubines asked Pei Wenxuan questions one by one. Pei Wenxuan answered without missing a single word. After he finished answering, Concubine Rou smiled softly and said, "I didn't expect that the child has grown up so fast. Now that His Highness Pingle's marriage is settled, sister," Concubine Rou turned her head and looked at the queen, and said gently, "I wonder if your sister has prepared for His Highness the Crown Prince's marriage?"

Li Chuan is two years younger than Li Rong. Now that Li Rong is married, everyone's eyes are on Li Chuan.

The queen smiled and said calmly, "Chuan'er is still young, so don't consider these for now."

"Your Highness the Crown Prince is not young anymore." Mei Fei answered from the side, "When Your Majesty was this old, he had already arranged a marriage with Your Majesty, right?"

After hearing this, the Queen glanced at Concubine Mei without leaving a trace, and said with a hint of warning: "You really care about the Crown Prince."

"Who wouldn't care about the Crown Prince's affairs?" Concubine Rou laughed. "But what my sister said is true. The Crown Prince still has four years to go before he is crowned. There is really no rush. But he can't be idle in these four years. He should slowly choose and see which family is suitable."

"You said so," the emperor listened to Concubine Rou's eager words, his eyes fell on Concubine Rou, his face was not happy or angry, "Do you have any ideas?"

"As for the Crown Prince's affairs," Concubine Rou was a little embarrassed, "my sister is the one who makes the decisions. What can I have to say about it?"

"Although the prince is the empress's son, you have also watched him grow up," the emperor brought the tea and raised his hand, "but you can speak freely."

"This is what I think," Concubine Rou put her hair behind her ears and looked up at Li Chuan, "Your Highness is of noble status. If we talk about status, no woman in the world can match you. Status does not have to be the first consideration for marriage. The most important thing is character. I have a little niece at home. She is gentle and virtuous. She is about the same age as Your Highness. I am brave enough to recommend her. I think this little niece is very suitable."

After saying this, Li Chuan glanced at them coldly, and the Queen also looked very unhappy. The Emperor looked up at Li Chuan, and seeing that he looked unhappy, he frowned, and turned to look at Li Rong, who was blowing the tea leaves in the teacup with her head down, looking very contented. He couldn't help but feel a little strange, and asked, "Pingle, don't you ask about your brother's marriage?"

Li Rong was called, raised her head, and asked in bewilderment, "What's so interesting about this?"

"Such a big deal," Li Ming was amused by Li Rong, "and you don't care about it?"

"Father," Li Rong put down the teacup, her face full of seriousness, "The palace has its own rules. Even if Concubine Rou doesn't know, don't I know? Although Chuan'er is my younger brother, he is also the heir apparent of a country. Apart from father and mother, who dares to say anything about his marriage? And father is so wise that he will definitely find a good match for Chuan'er. I won't worry about it anymore."

As she spoke, she looked up at Concubine Rou and said with a smile, "Empress Rou, why do you care so much?"

Concubine Rou didn't change her expression after hearing this. Hua Le interrupted her, "Sister, what you said is wrong. We are all family. My mother is also doing this for the good of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Your words are really chilling."

"Alas, sister, do you really have to make me say it so clearly?" Li Rong sighed. She turned her head and looked at Li Mingdao, "Father, I don't want to hurt Concubine Rou's feelings. After all, in my heart, Concubine Rou has watched me grow up. In an ordinary family, she is just like a wet nurse or a concubine mother. But there are some things that I feel it's not good to say. I wonder if you think I should say it or not?"

When Hua Le used the words "wet nurse" and "stepmother", his expression changed immediately. Li Ming looked at both sides and then said, "You tell me."

"Chuan'er is the crown prince, and the matter of choosing a wife is very important to him. Family background, appearance, and character are all indispensable. There are many women in the noble family, why should he choose a girl from a small family? If he really marries the niece of Concubine Rou as the crown princess, what will the court officials think? What will the people think? If Chuan'er wants to marry a girl, she must at least be like me," Li Rong smiled and took Pei Wenxuan's hand, "at least she should be a legitimate daughter of a noble family, right?"

Li Rong's words were spoken in a very naive manner. Li Ming's face was not very good at first, but when Li Rong took Pei Wenxuan's hand, Li Ming was relieved immediately. He felt that his daughter just looked down on Concubine Rou's background.

Although he didn't like this, he could understand it. After all, Concubine Rou's family background was not good enough for Li Rong. It was normal for her to be uncomfortable with this. Concubine Rou also wanted to send her niece to be the Crown Princess, which Li Ming also thought was inappropriate.

Li Ming nodded and changed the subject: "Chuan'er is still young, we can talk about this later. If there is a suitable girl, just keep an eye out and tell the queen."

After these words were spoken, the Empress looked better, and the group chatted for a while. The eunuch came back from outside and whispered a few words to Li Ming. Li Ming responded, then raised his head and said to the others, "It's almost time. I have something else to do. Let's go first."

After Li Ming finished speaking, everyone knelt to see him out. Li Ming went to the outer hall, spoke a few words to the ministers, and then left.

After Li Ming left, the Queen announced the end of the banquet. Li Rong went forward to say goodbye to the Queen and Li Chuan, and then left with Pei Wenxuan.

The two of them said goodbye and left the table, and got on the carriage. As soon as they got in the carriage, Li Rong breathed a sigh of relief, sat down at the table, and collapsed. Pei Wenxuan sat opposite her, also quite tired. While pouring himself tea, he said, "It's too tiring to have dinner with your family. After a meal, it's like attending a morning court, and it's all about you women. I feel so uncomfortable."

"You think I'm not uncomfortable?"

Li Rong took the tea he poured and became a little angry: "What kind of person is Concubine Rou! She wants to get close to Chuan'er just because she is her niece? She doesn't even look at herself. She is just a toad wanting to eat swan meat. Today she is lucky!"

"Then what else do you want?" Pei Wenxuan took a sip of tea and said seriously, "Poison her to death?"

"I do want to," Li Rong turned to look at him, "Can you do it? If you can, I'll pay you a fortune for your head."

"Is the head of the Imperial Concubine worth a thousand gold coins?" Pei Wenxuan laughed. Li Rong sneered and turned away: "A thousand gold coins is an overestimation of her."

"However," Pei Wenxuan thought and said seriously, "Your Highness's marriage should indeed be considered."

In the previous life, Li Chuan's marriage was scheduled for the beginning of next spring, which was when the candidate was decided. The queen already had a candidate for the crown princess in mind, and she was only looking for a concubine.

Li Rong pondered as she listened to Pei Wenxuan: "I wonder what the princess's plan is for the Crown Prince's marriage? Will she follow the same plan as in her previous life, using marriage to connect with the noble family to consolidate the Crown Prince's position, or do she have other plans?"

"What do you think?" Li Rong picked up the teacup and took a sip.

In fact, both of them understood that what they were discussing was not Li Chuan's marriage, but how to fight for Li Chuan's position as crown prince.

"In the previous life, the Empress found a principal wife and four concubines for the Crown Prince, which indeed consolidated the relationship between the Crown Prince and the aristocratic families. If Your Highness feels that the Crown Prince should continue the old path of his previous life in this life, relying on the power of the aristocratic families and the military power in the northwest to fight against Your Majesty head-on, this is indeed a way."

Li Rong said nothing. She tapped her palm lightly with her golden folding fan. "What about the other one?"

"Your Highness, do you remember how the Crown Prince was deposed in the previous life?"

Pei Wenxuan suddenly asked this question. Li Rong knew that he would not ask questions casually, so she thought about it seriously and answered: "Chuan'er has no military power and relies entirely on the aristocratic family. Father used Prince Su as a puppet and secretly supported ordinary nobles. All the nobles who surrendered to Prince Su were promoted to counter Chuan'er."

Li Ming was an extremely patient emperor.

His campaign against Li Chuan was almost all-round. He supported ordinary clans, secretly backed the fights between these second-rate clans and the first-rate clans, and suppressed Li Chuan's supporters in the court.

He plotted to seize the military power of the Yang family and give it to his uncle Prince Su, giving Prince Su the military power to counter Li Chuan.

At the same time, he sowed discord among several concubines in Li Chuan's harem, and the death of one of the concubines aggravated the rift between Li Chuan and his in-laws' family.

From the inner courtyard to the imperial court, there was hardly any peaceful place.

"His Royal Highness was tied to these noble families, but His Royal Highness's heart was on the world, not on any one family. In the later period, the Prince and these families were at odds with each other, and the two sides had disputes. Then Prime Minister Shangguan died of illness, and the Shangguan family declined. The Prince was forced to have closer ties with other families, but those families did not absolutely obey His Royal Highness. So after Qin Lin won a victory on the border, His Majesty was extremely suspicious of the Prince, and the Taizhou case occurred."

Pei Wenxuan spoke in a calm voice, reminding Li Rong of her past life.

The Taizhou case was the nominal reason why Li Chuan was deposed. It was caused by Nie, one of the prince's concubines. Her family, in the name of the prince, occupied nearly a thousand acres of other people's fertile land in Taizhou's hometown, killing nearly a hundred people. One of the victims luckily escaped and went to Huajing to seek justice.

This case shocked Daxia and people all over the world were outraged. Before this, there had been more than one case of nobles committing injustices related to Li Chuan. With this case, people from all over Daxia were filled with resentment. Scholars from all over the country wrote articles to attack Li Chuan, and hundreds of officials knelt at the door of the study to plead for the dethronement of the prince. Li Chuan had no military power and had lost the support of the people, so it was natural for him to be deposed.

After Li Chuan was imprisoned, Li Ming, in order to show justice, announced a thorough investigation of the Shangguan family. As a result, Li Rong was imprisoned, Qin Zhenzhen went to the northwest, and Pei Wenxuan lobbied everywhere.

Finally, Pei Wenxuan persuaded the nobles to favor an ordinary prince to ascend the throne, and promised them huge benefits. Finally, they united the major wealthy families and, together with Qin Lin, attacked Huajing and supported Li Chuan to ascend the throne.

The failure is due to the aristocratic family, and the success is also due to the aristocratic family. Li Chuan clearly understands what the aristocratic family is like. It is like a blood-sucking monster lurking in this country. The emperor is a puppet in their hands. They can establish him or depose him.

So for the rest of his life, Li Chuan followed Li Ming's old path and spent his whole life fighting against the aristocratic families.

"So, in this life, why doesn't the prince stay away from the aristocratic family?"

"Stay away from the aristocratic family?" Li Rong frowned. "Who will help Chuan'er in the future?"

"Don't we have you and me?" Pei Wenxuan turned to look at Li Rong, "Now we have sent Qin Lin to the northwest. He and Cui Qingyuan have joined forces, and we will help them secretly to control the military power in the northwest."

"And then?"

"I surrendered to His Majesty and cooperated with His Majesty to become an ordinary family that he wanted to cultivate to fight against the Shangguan family. As for His Royal Highness, he doesn't have to do anything. He just needs to be a good prince, not form a clique, not have any stains, and win the hearts of the people. That's enough."

"If the emperor wanted to harm him, wouldn't he be isolated and helpless?"

Li Rong was a little worried, but Pei Wenxuan couldn't help laughing when he heard this.

"Your Highness, do you still not understand why His Majesty wants to depose the Crown Prince?"

Pei Wenxuan asked this question, but Li Rong did not reply immediately. She looked at Pei Wenxuan, pondered for a moment, and asked, "Why do you think that is?"

"Your Majesty is not going to depose the crown prince, but the crown prince in the hands of the nobles."

Li Rong listened to Pei Wenxuan's words, fiddled with the fan in her hand, and lowered her eyes.

There are many things that we cannot see clearly when we are young, but when we are old, we can understand them more clearly.

Back then, Li Ming was so determined to depose the crown prince, not only because he didn't want the Shangguan family to become powerful, but also perhaps he was clearly aware of the pressure these wealthy and noble families would bring to his regime.

Li Ming was a more bellicosity emperor than Li Chuan. Unifying the northern border was his lifelong wish. If he tried to go to war, these peace-loving nobles and the powerful families would become the most difficult problem to solve on the battlefield.

When he was young, Li Chuan advocated benevolence and virtue in governing the country. He was born into the Shangguan family. What he meant by benevolence was the monarch that the wealthy families loved most. The closer Li Chuan was to the wealthy families, the more Li Ming would think that he was a puppet cultivated by the wealthy families, a royal prince who was abandoned by the wealthy families.

She probably understood Pei Wenxuan's thoughts and raised her eyes and said, "So, you hope that Chuan'er can get out of the battle between the noble family and the emperor, and not become the target of their battle."

"Yes," Pei Wenxuan affirmed, "Then I will be your majesty's knife. I will help your majesty dig out the abscesses of those aristocratic families, so that your majesty can focus on the aristocratic families instead of the prince. Then the prince will be safe for the time being."

"But Chuan'er can't be without anyone at all." Li Rong was still worried, "He needs people to help him do things."

"Isn't there a scientific system?"

Pei Wenxuan looked at Li Rong, and Li Rong was slightly stunned.

If it wasn't for the rebirth of her life, Li Rong would probably have laughed when Pei Wenxuan said these three words.

Since the implementation of the imperial examination system, not to mention that the vast majority of those selected are children of noble families, even if there are occasional people from truly poor families who enter, they are all small officials in the corners and cannot enter the field of power struggle at all.

However, Li Rong had seen how Pei Wenxuan used this system, and had also seen the effect of the new power generated by this system when used by the king, so after pondering for a moment, she concluded: "Chuan'er keeps himself out of trouble, temporarily avoids the limelight, secretly promotes people from humble backgrounds to do things, and wins the hearts of the people. You become the leader of ordinary nobles, fight against the first-class families, and weaken the power of your father and the existing wealthy families. I will contact the Shangguan family and other big families to balance the relationship between the two sides. If one day, your father comes back to settle accounts with the crown prince..."

"From the first-class noble families to the humble families who passed the imperial examinations, most of the people in the Manchu Dynasty are your Highness's people."

Pei Wenxuan interrupted Li Rong and said seriously, "Not only that, the Crown Prince will not have too fierce a fight with the noble families in the future. The scene of the Crown Prince's early iron-blooded cleansing of the noble families in the previous life will not happen again."

Li Rong remained silent. Pei Wenxuan saw that she was silent and guessed what she was hesitating about.

"You still don't like people from poor families."

"People who come from humble backgrounds," Li Rong looked up at him with a sharp gaze, "are mostly bloodthirsty and greedy for power. Once they are given power, they cannot control their desire for money. Even the wealthy families are like this, let alone them?"

"Everyone is like this," Pei Wenxuan said calmly, "Why distinguish between the noble and the humble?"

"How many years have you been telling me this?" Li Rong laughed sarcastically, "How many of your people have been investigated for corruption and bribery? Do I need to tell you more?"

"Then how many of your people deceived their superiors and subordinates and caused the failure? Do you want me to tell you?"

Pei Wenxuan responded subconsciously. Li Rong looked at him coldly. Pei Wenxuan felt the gaze coming at him, and after a pause, he didn't know why, he suddenly felt a little short of breath.

He coughed lightly, turned his head, and said slowly: "I am just giving a suggestion. Anyway, the result is up to Your Highness. If you choose the first path, we will follow the old path. Afterwards, Your Highness will do the same as in the previous life. It is also a common thing."

Li Rong didn't say anything, tapping his palms. Pei Wenxuan glanced at him and continued, "Or, let's try the second path. There's no risk, and once it succeeds, there won't be any obstacles for His Royal Highness to ascend the throne in the future. He won't have to fight with the noble families, and you won't have to work hard to maintain the relationship between the Shangguan family and His Majesty. If His Majesty is happier, your relationship with His Majesty will also be better..."

Li Rong listened to Pei Wenxuan desperately talking about the advantages of the latter, and couldn't help but lower her head and laugh out loud. Pei Wenxuan saw her laughing and leaned over to ask: "Your Highness, what do you think?"

"Pei Wenxuan," Li Rong turned to look at him, "It would be a pity for you to have such a clever tongue if I didn't send you to serve in the palace."

"It's not a pity," Pei Wenxuan smiled at Li Rong, "It's the same to serve His Highness."

"Let's do as you say first." Li Rong said calmly, "But if so, Chuan'er can't get married now. Even if he gets married, he can't marry someone from a noble family. The other concubines are fine, but Shangguan..."

Pei Wenxuan knew that Li Rong and Shangguan Ya had a special relationship. He raised his eyebrows and asked, "How are you going to deal with this?"

"I have to go see Shangguan Ya." Li Rong raised her eyes, closed her fan in her palm, and said calmly, "This matter must be brought up by Shangguan Ya."

Otherwise, the Shangguan family spent so much effort to help, but Li Chuan went back on his word. I'm afraid no one would dare to help Li Chuan in the future.

Pei Wenxuan raised his hands and clapped when he heard this: "What a good plan."

Li Rong glanced at him calmly: "You are exaggerating."

"Then it's settled," Pei Wenxuan regained his usual demeanor, picked up the tea, and said calmly, "I will be responsible for helping His Majesty here, and you will be responsible for contacting the Shangguan and Su families and other noble families, so that they don't think that the prince is completely separated from them."

Pei Wenxuan suddenly remembered something and looked up at Li Rong, hiding the vague bitterness in his heart and said, "Your Highness, take this opportunity to cultivate some feelings with Lord Su."

"Then I have to ask you for help," Li Rong said calmly, "Please get in touch with Miss Qin Er and cultivate their relationship. She and Chuan'er are doomed to fail, so they should not meet again."

Pei Wenxuan got a headache when he heard this. He hated himself for being so rude and quickly changed the subject, saying, "When we get to Pei's house later, you'll see my family members. If you have any complaints, just let them go."

When Li Rong heard Pei Wenxuan mention his family, she was already prepared and nodded.

The two of them didn't speak for a while and sat quietly in the carriage. After sitting for a while, Li Rong suddenly remembered what Pei Wenxuan said last night.

She didn't dare to discuss the topic in depth with Pei Wenxuan. When Pei Wenxuan suddenly brought it up, she could only pretend to be indifferent and change the subject in a joking manner.

It’s just that Pei Wenxuan was too persistent and forced her to think and see.

She lifted the curtain with her golden fan and saw the birds flying outside.

"Pei Wenxuan."

She suddenly called Pei Wenxuan's name. Pei Wenxuan looked up blankly, and saw Li Rong turned around and looked at him quietly: "I trust you once in my life. If you lead me astray, I will chop you up and drag you out to feed the dogs."

Pei Wenxuan was a little confused for a moment, and he didn't know what Li Rong believed in him.

He thought for a moment, guessing that he was the one who planned this plan for Li Rong to compete for the throne, so he smiled confidently, put his hand forward in a casual manner, nodded slightly and said: "Don't worry, Your Highness, I have thought about everything, there will be absolutely no problem."

Li Rong saw Pei Wenxuan's confident smile and wondered for a moment whether he had really thought it through or had misunderstood...

But Li Rong didn't want to argue with him.

Pei Wenxuan was a person who would surprise her with certain details, and she was used to it.

The author has something to say: [Small Theater]

Li Rong (in her heart): "You said I should work hard to get love, and I've believed you all my life. I'll see what stupid moves you make, and I'll give it a try. But if you lead me astray, I'll drag you out and chop you up and feed you to the dogs."

Li Rong (on the surface): "Pei Wenxuan, I trust you for once in my life.

Pei Wenxuan (in his heart): Trust me? Trust what? Trust my plan for the presidency? That will be absolutely foolproof!

Pei Wenxuan (on the face): "Your Highness, I have thought about everything. There will be absolutely no problem."

Later...

Li Rong: "Didn't you say that there is absolutely no problem with the decision to let me love bravely?"

Pei Wenxuan, who was about to be dragged out to be fed to the dogs, said: "Your Highness, there is nothing wrong with the plan, but there is something wrong with the target! However, it was corrected in time!"

Li Rong: "No need to say more, just give him a proper burial."