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

Chapter 301 The Tragedy of Being Forced to Help a Love Rival Rise to Power

He Ruoxi, the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Chu's family, was among them. Her family had previously intended for her to marry the heir of the Marquis of Pingyang's family, a union she was happy to see happen at the time.

Now she is only glad that she did not marry Pei Dongzhou. After all, the Pingyang Marquis's mansion is in decline, which is probably because Pei Dongzhou married a cousin who is nothing.
She believed that among all the noble ladies present, she was second to none in terms of family background, appearance, and talent.

Furthermore, if Li Yi wanted to compete for the position of Crown Prince, a marriage alliance with the Duke of Chu's family would mean having the support of the Empress Dowager and the entire Duke of Chu's family.

Pei Nanzhou is currently enjoying great popularity. Originally, she had her eye on Pei Nanzhou, but the Duke of Chu's mansion had already sent people to test him. Pei Nanzhou currently has no intention of getting married, and she is getting older and has no time to wait any longer, so she has set her sights on Li Yi.

If Li Yi wasn't stupid, he would definitely choose her as his princess consort. After all, marrying her would mean gaining the power of the Duke of Chu's mansion and the Empress Dowager.

When Li Yi walked up to her, she stood tall and gave him a confident smile.

Li Yi didn't know He Ruoxi; he only felt that this woman's smile sent chills down his spine. If he were to marry such a woman as his princess, he felt that his good days would be over.

At this moment, Wang De whispered in Li Yi's ear: "This is Miss He, the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Chu's mansion. Your Highness knows the Duke of Chu's mansion, right? That's the Empress Dowager's family."

His hints were so obvious, any Prince Jin with even a little ambition would know what to do, right?
Upon hearing that it was a woman from the Empress Dowager's maternal family, and recalling how fierce his grandmother was, Li Yi immediately moved away.

He Ruoxi: ...

Wang De: ...

He Ruoxi's expression changed repeatedly; she never expected Li Yi to avoid her like the plague.

Emperor Jinglong, who was not far away, saw this scene and a smile flashed in his eyes.

Li Yi's reaction surprised him. He thought Li Yi would choose a noblewoman with a good family background. He Ruoxi was a good choice, but Li Yi obviously didn't think so.

His son is truly extraordinary.

The "unconventional" Li Yi looked around among the noble ladies, but still felt that none of them suited his taste. However, he was in a dilemma, as he had agreed to choose a princess, and he couldn't go back on his word at the last minute.

Finally, he randomly picked a slightly pretty girl and said, "She's the one!"

He had his own plans. If he truly became the crown prince and then the emperor, he would leave the empress's position vacant. Who says a princess has to be empress? Couldn't he leave the empress's position to his cousin, Shen?

He could then use the position of Empress to tempt Cousin Shen, and she might just abandon Pei Dongzhou and choose to be his Empress.

Of course, no one present knew what Li Yi was planning, and Consort Xian had no objection to Li Yi's choice.

She had previously worried that Li Yi might do something rash and choose a girl from the He family as his princess, but fortunately Li Yi did not make a mistake, which put the virtuous consort at ease.

Consort Xian did not want Li Yi to compete for the position of crown prince, but little did she know that Li Yi's process of choosing a princess made Emperor Jinglong think more highly of her son.

He Ruoxi, who was not far away, almost ground her teeth to powder when she saw this scene. She never expected that she would lose to an unknown woman. This woman was not as good-looking as her, nor was her family background as good. She had never even met her before.

She thought she had the victory in the bag, but now she's become the laughingstock of everyone present.

In fact, Pei Nanzhou was secretly watching Li Yi's selection of a princess. He couldn't observe it closely, but he had people watching the whole process from a distance and telling Pei Nanzhou all the details.

Pei Nanzhou felt he had overthought things. If Li Yi had truly chosen a noblewoman with a good family background, it would have shown that Li Yi was ambitious. However, Li Yi did not choose He Ruoxi, who had the best family background, nor did he choose any other noblewoman with outstanding family background. In the end, he only chose the daughter of a sixth-rank official.

However, the fact that Emperor Jinglong had to personally intervene in Li Yi's selection of a princess shows that Li Yi held some weight in Emperor Jinglong's heart.

I hope I'm just overthinking it. Emperor Jinglong used to like Li Yi, but now that he sees Li Yi getting married, he's paying more attention to him.

Even so, he should still pay close attention to what Li Yi is doing.

What puzzled him most was that since returning from the hunt, Pei Dongzhou had kept a low profile except when he went to the Dali Temple. He would return to the Marquis's residence after work and seemed to have no interest in the succession struggle.

He felt this wasn't like Pei Dongzhou's style.

On the day of Li Yi's wedding, all the well-known dignitaries in the capital were invited.

However, the only people invited by Li Yi personally were Pei Dongzhou and Shen Shuyi.

As the wife of the heir apparent, Shen Shuyi was naturally obliged to attend such a grand occasion. However, before she set off, Pei Dongzhou suddenly said to her, "Why don't you find an excuse not to attend the banquet, cousin?"

Shen Shuyi asked, puzzled, "Why don't you go?"

It couldn't be to avoid suspicion, for fear that Pei Nanzhou would find out that Pei Dongzhou was secretly supporting Li Yi's rise to power.

Pei Dongzhou gave Shen Shuyi a deep look: "I just don't really want Madam to attend the wedding banquet."

After thinking it over, Shen Shuyi finally realized that Prince Pei was jealous.

Li Yi had indeed been somewhat interested in her before, but he was a playboy and had many women he was interested in. Once he found a new love, he had long since let go of that matter. Only Pei Dongzhou was so petty that he still remembered it.

“I am a married woman now, and today is the day of Prince Jin’s wedding. Can you please stop being so childish, Cousin Crown Prince?” Shen Shuyi said irritably.

Seeing that Shen Shuyi didn't care, Pei Dongzhou sighed softly, thinking to himself why he always felt that she was helping another love rival to take his place.

My cousin was unaware of the inherent flaws in men; the more unattainable something is, the more they desire it, and Li Yi was undoubtedly this kind of person.

Moreover, he actually used Li Yi to get his cousin.

He felt that everything was a cycle, and he was afraid that if he really helped Li Yi to the position, Li Yi would follow Pei Nanzhou's example and forcibly take his cousin away.

If that day ever comes, he might very well turn against Li Yi, even if it means overthrowing the Great Qi dynasty.

Shen Shu found Pei Dongzhou's listless appearance amusing: "Cousin, can't you have a little more confidence in yourself?"

This guy is the male lead, how could he be afraid of Li Yi, that supporting male character?
At least in the original novel, Li Yi is indeed a supporting male character with very little screen time.

Pei Dongzhou put his arm around Shen Shuyi's slender waist and murmured silently, "My cousin doesn't understand my feelings of gain and loss, and she doesn't understand the pathetic situation of having to help her rival in love rise to the top."

"Your Highness, there's nothing to be sad about. Don't worry, cousin, I will only ever be your wife in this life, and I will never go with any other man." Shen Shuyi reassured Pei Shizi while suppressing a smile.

(End of this chapter)