Jiaojiao is getting married, and the male leads fall for her and fight over her.

Chapter 294 With Prince Pei around, he will definitely win!
Li Yi felt a mix of emotions as he listened to Pei Xizhou's eloquent explanation.

Pei San really went to great lengths to drag him down with him.

But he also knew that although Pei Xizhou's words were partly meant to scare him, many of them were true.

Pei Nanzhou is really capable of imprisoning him. He's a womanizer; he really can't be a monk. What's the point of living like that?
Seeing that Li Yi was tempted, Pei Xizhou added fuel to the fire: "Your fate should be in your own hands, not in your second brother's. Besides, if you sit in that position, you can find reliable ministers to do the hard work, but you can enjoy endless beauties. Why not give it a try?"

Li Yi snorted coldly upon hearing this: "Do you think I'm a three-year-old child, that easy to fool? Pei Dongzhou is quite clever, hiring you as a persuader."

Even if he becomes emperor, won't many people still want to bring him down in the future? Pei San only talks about the benefits of being emperor, but doesn't mention that being emperor is inherently a very dangerous thing.

Pei Xizhou smiled upon hearing this. Putting everything else aside, the young master Pei had excellent taste. Although Li Yi was a bit casual in his relationships, he was by no means stupid.

He is increasingly agreeing with Pei Dongzhou's view that Li Yi is actually the most suitable candidate for the position of crown prince.

"Anyway, the future is your own, and I'm just expressing my own thoughts. I can understand how you feel. You were living a peaceful life, but suddenly you're caught up in the power struggle for the throne. One wrong move and you could lose your life. If you still have doubts, you can talk to my elder brother for a bit." Pei Xizhou felt that Pei Shizi's words were actually more convincing than his own.

Li Yi had a sudden thought; he really should have a talk with Pei Dongzhou.

Afterwards, Pei Xizhou went hunting in the mountains with Li Yi under the pretext of hunting. Not long after, Pei Dongzhou also went to the mountains with Shen Shuyi.

Of course, the four of them soon had a chance encounter in the forest.

Pei Dongzhou handed Shen Shuyi over to Pei Xizhou for care, while Li Yi's eyes kept glancing at Shen Shuyi.

Pei Dongzhou subtly blocked Li Yi's improper gaze. He wouldn't have approached Li Yi unless absolutely necessary and had no other choice.

Li Yi then remembered the important matter and said directly, "I don't want to get involved in the struggle for imperial power."

He wanted to see what Pei Dongzhou could use to persuade him.

"Then forget it," Pei Dongzhou replied decisively.

Li Yi sneered upon hearing this: "Are you playing me?"

"It would be best if Your Highness were willing, but I cannot force you if you are not. If Your Highness has this wish, I will do my best to assist you. Even though Your Highness and His Highness the Crown Prince are not blood brothers, seeing the Crown Prince's fate, Your Highness should understand the principle of 'the rabbit mourns the fox's death.' I only know that the ruler of Nanzhou will never indulge Your Highness like His Majesty or His Highness the Crown Prince, and Your Highness's ending will not be good," Pei Dongzhou replied calmly.

Li Yi felt that Pei Dongzhou's aura was really strong. When Pei Xizhou came to persuade him, he felt that he was not good enough.

But with just one sentence from Pei Dongzhou, he felt as if he was guaranteed to win as long as Pei Dongzhou was around.

"What do you think my chances of winning are if I were to compete?" Li Yi asked in a low voice.

Pei Dongzhou replied decisively, "As long as Your Highness is determined to compete, you will definitely win!"

Li Yi thought to himself, "Good heavens, Prince Pei actually has such confidence in him."
In the end, Li Yi was persuaded by Pei Dongzhou's few words. Moreover, from this day forward, he could no longer indulge in pleasure and needed to behave properly.

He agreed with this point, and coincidentally, he no longer seemed to have the same interest in women as before.

Emperor Jinglong was thoroughly investigating the case of Li Hong's poisoning. In the end, the assassin was found, but he committed suicide by poisoning himself, and there was no time to interrogate him.

The imperial physician who treated Li Hong also examined the case. At first, he couldn't tell that Li Hong was poisoned. In other words, Li Hong was poisoned by a slow-acting poison, so the imperial physician couldn't be blamed.

The assassin was dead, leaving no trace, and the case became an unsolved mystery. Most importantly, Li Hong had lost feeling in his right leg and couldn't stand up no matter what drastic measures were taken; this was the most helpless situation.

After all, the Great Qi Dynasty had an ancestral rule that the Crown Prince's body could not be disabled.

If Li Hong cannot recover, Emperor Jinglong will have no choice but to appoint another crown prince for the sake of the fate of the Great Qi Dynasty.

As a result, the number of people currying favor with Pei Nanzhou increased without him even realizing it.

Everyone knows that Pei Nanzhou is Emperor Jinglong's favorite prince. Now that Li Hong has been poisoned and is unable to stand, he will be unable to walk in the future. It is only a matter of time before another crown prince is established. At present, Pei Nanzhou is the most popular candidate to become the crown prince.

After this battle, the Pingyang Marquis's mansion became a family that everyone distanced themselves from.

Previously, the Crown Princess came from the Pingyang Marquis's family, and Pei Dongzhou, the heir apparent, was favored by Emperor Jinglong. Now, with unexpected changes, everyone is avoiding the Pei family.

Pei Xizhou felt a little anxious seeing this scene, but seeing that Pei Dongzhou remained calm and even went to the Crown Prince's palace from time to time, he didn't know what Pei Dongzhou was thinking.

Because of Li Hong's incident, this spring hunt ended hastily.

Upon returning to the Marquis's residence, Pei Xizhou eagerly sought out Pei Dongzhou: "Why isn't Big Brother in a hurry at all? Everyone's busy trying to curry favor with Second Brother."

"No need to rush. His Majesty used to value His Highness the Crown Prince highly, and it's impossible for him to depose the Crown Prince so soon. He will definitely give His Highness time to heal his leg injury. Recently, you just need to stop taking Li Yi to Bai Xiang Lou and remind him to show his face in front of the Emperor from time to time, and to act more composed than before," Pei Dongzhou replied calmly.

"Is that all?" Pei Xizhou thought of Pei Nanzhou's recent prominence. "But Second Brother is riding high on his own. How could Li Yi possibly be a match for him?"

“You’re mistaken. I’ve already planted a thorn in His Majesty’s heart. Nan Zhou’s high-profile approach will only deepen that thorn, which will actually benefit Li Yi,” Pei Dongzhou said calmly.

Sometimes doing too much or becoming too popular isn't necessarily a good thing.

Pei Nanzhou is indeed outstanding, but he is too impatient. As the saying goes, haste makes waste.

After Pei Dongzhou's analysis, Pei Xizhou felt that there was indeed some truth to it, no wonder the Crown Prince Pei was not in a hurry.

After leaving the Marquis's residence, he made a special trip to the Prince of Jin's residence.

To his surprise, when he met Li Yi, there were no women around him, which was unprecedented.

He looked around again, but indeed didn't see any women.

"What are you looking for?" Li Yi asked, puzzled.

“Woman!” Pei Xizhou replied casually.

Li Yi laughed in exasperation upon hearing this: "Do I look like the kind of man who would seek out women anytime, anywhere?"

“Isn’t that right?” Pei Xizhou returned his smile with a fake one.

"Oh no, how will Father see me then? But I haven't been with a woman for several days now, and suddenly I feel like not having a woman isn't such a big deal." Li Yi rarely spoke such a frank truth.

(End of this chapter)