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

Chapter 315 Settling for Second Best, Marrying Dongzhou as a Second Wife

Princess Pingyuan knew, of course, that Pei Nanzhou harbored ill intentions.

She had previously believed Pei Nanzhou's lies and devised a plan to drug Pei Dongzhou, but instead of outsmarting him, she was outsmarted by him.

"You want to deal with Pei Dongzhou, but you have no ability. You only know how to use me, a woman. Pei Nanzhou, no wonder Li Yi became the crown prince, but you lost to this playboy Li Yi!" Princess Pingyuan turned the tables and walked away without looking back.

Pei Nanzhou watched Princess Pingyuan walk away with a cold eye, thinking to himself that Princess Pingyuan wasn't completely stupid; she even knew how to poke at his sore spots.

He was indeed unwilling to lose to Li Yi, especially since Li Yi was increasingly valued by Emperor Jinglong, who not only neglected Xia Nianchu but also was no longer as affectionate towards him as before.

Ultimately, it was the poisoning of Li Hong that made Emperor Jinglong wary of him. Even though Emperor Jinglong had no concrete evidence to prove that he was the one who did it, the incident still made him suspicious of himself.

Recently, his men have tried to get close to Li Yi more than once to take advantage of the situation, but Li Yi is so well protected that his men have no chance to find an opportunity.

If that's the case, shouldn't he take another gamble?
He's reached a point where he has no way out. From beginning to end, everything he's done has been aimed at his cousin.

After hesitating for a long time, he finally made up his mind.

If he wins, he'll control the world, and getting his cousin will be as simple as a word. If he loses, it's not a big deal; without his cousin by his side, he feels life has little meaning.

After much deliberation, Princess Pingyuan finally decided to visit the Marquis of Pingyang's residence to meet the legendary Lady of the Heir Apparent.

That night, Pei Dongzhou told Shen Shuyi about Princess Pingyuan drugging him. At the end, he hugged Shen Shuyi tightly and said, "Thanks to my wife's foresight, she saved my life. Otherwise, I might be dead."

Shen Shuyi pushed him away irritably: "Without the antidote, Cousin Crown Prince would probably be dying a happy death, wouldn't he?"

Men, they're all lies, you can't trust them.

"Impossible! I would never touch another woman, not even if it meant death, except for you, my wife. I would never be defiled by another woman, so you saved my life, therefore..."

Shen Shuyi immediately became wary: "What do you want to do?"

Pei Dongzhou began to undress: "My lady, I should repay your life-saving grace with my own body."

Shen Shuyi: ...

So all that buildup was for her, waiting for her here.

She just couldn't understand why Prince Pei was so keen on cultivating feelings for her in bed. Were all men creatures driven by their lower bodies?

In the end, she gave up and let Prince Pei do whatever he wanted. But he went even further, saying that he was getting old and needed a young heir, so he had to work twice as hard so that she might be able to conceive.

As a result of her indulgence, Shen Shuyi slept until late morning the next day before getting up.

A-Jian came to her mysteriously and told her that Princess Pingyuan had come to the Marquis's mansion and wanted to see her.

Since Pei Dongzhou forbade anyone from disturbing Shen Shuyi's sleep before leaving, A-Jian told her about it after she got up.

Shen Shuyi was speechless. Why should Pei Dongzhou, who had gotten himself into trouble with his romantic entanglements, come looking for her again?
But she's a princess, how could she refuse to see her?
Having no other choice, she went to the front hall to meet the guests.

When she arrived, she found Zhang was already entertaining guests. Upon seeing her, Zhang gave her a wink.

It was simply a matter of telling her to be careful what she said and not to anger Princess Pingyuan.

Shen Shuyi gave Zhang a reassuring look, then greeted Princess Pingyuan.

Princess Pingyuan quickly helped her up and said kindly, "Sister, don't be so polite. We might become family in the future."

Shen Shuyi: ? ? ?

If Pei Dongzhou hadn't told her the whole story of how Princess Pingyuan drugged him yesterday, she probably would have really thought that Pei Dongzhou had made some kind of promise to Princess Pingyuan.

"It's like this, I like Dongzhou and want to marry him. But since Dongzhou has already married my sister, I can only settle for second best and marry Dongzhou as his concubine," Princess Pingyuan continued to say to herself.

It's alright to lower herself now; once she enters the gates of the Marquis of Pingyang's mansion, she'll have plenty of opportunities to deal with Shen Shuyi. Whether she kills Shen Shuyi or demotes her from wife to concubine, she has many methods at her disposal.

Right now, all we need to do is keep Shen Shuyi calm, using both kindness and pressure to get this woman to persuade Pei Dongzhou to marry her as a secondary wife.

Upon hearing this, Zhang clenched her fists, feeling a pang of worry for Shen Shuyi, fearing that Shen Shuyi might get so angry that she would argue with Princess Pingyuan.

At this moment, Shen Shuyi finally understood what Princess Pingyuan was planning. She blinked her bright eyes and said, "Princess, there's something you might not know. There are many women who like Cousin Yu the Crown Prince; they could probably stretch from the east street to the west street. They all want to marry him. But Cousin Yu the Crown Prince has also said that he hates trouble the most. He said that he will only marry me in this life, and that we will be together for life. It seems that it's impossible for you to marry him, Princess. Furthermore, last night I heard Cousin Yu the Crown Prince say that you seem to like eunuchs, and that His Majesty has decided on your marriage..."

Her voice trailed off as she looked at Princess Pingyuan with a troubled expression, then her eyes lit up: "I know, the princess must be joking with me."

Princess Pingyuan clenched her fists, never expecting that Pei Dongzhou would tell Shen Shuyi what happened yesterday.

Did Shen Shuyi also know that her attempt to drug Pei Dongzhou failed, and that she was caught in the act by her father, the Emperor, with a eunuch?

She actually thought of deceiving Shen Shuyi and getting that woman to persuade Pei Dongzhou.

"I've already shown you face by condescending to be a secondary wife, don't be ungrateful!" Princess Pingyuan's face turned cold, and she stopped pretending.

Shen Shuyi patted her chest fearfully: "Princess, you're so imposing! I'm easily frightened. But in our family, it's always my cousin, the Crown Prince, who makes the decisions. If he wants to take a concubine, I certainly won't stop him. How about this, Princess, you go talk to him about this. But I must remind you, Princess, that your cousin doesn't like women who have affairs with eunuchs. Someone like you, Princess, is probably beneath his notice."

Princess Pingyuan was furious and slammed her hand on the table, shouting, "Shen, how dare you disrespect me?!"

At this, Madam Zhang could no longer sit still and said in a deep voice, "Princess, you are mistaken! How could Yi'er have been disrespectful to the princess? What word did she say wrong? The Pingyang Marquis's mansion has an upright reputation. As the heir of the Marquis's mansion, Dongzhou would never accept a woman of questionable character, not even the princess!"

Princess Pingyuan's expression changed repeatedly, but she dared not be disrespectful to Lady Zhang, the wife of the Marquis.

She was aware of her current situation; if Zhang were to take the matter to the palace in a fit of anger, her father would only punish her.

(End of this chapter)