bullyxtreme Chapter 200 Backstab
Chapter 200 Backstab
The Third Prince, Jin Zexuan, was only outstanding in appearance; otherwise, he was mediocre.
His maternal grandparents' family had mediocre power, his mother's favor was mediocre, and even his own talent was only mediocre.
The matter of choosing a crown prince can be decided by choosing the legitimate heir, the eldest son, the most virtuous, or the most beloved.
Jin Zexuan can be said to be completely uncompetitive.
However, the old emperor's frequent bizarre actions tormented the crown prince, on whom he had placed high hopes, to the point of being neither human nor ghost, making the prince's suppressed ambitions grow stronger.
Crown Prince Jin Zexi was the first surviving son of the old emperor. As for why none of the previous sons survived, it was naturally because the crown prince had a good mother.
The crown prince is born to the empress, and being both the legitimate son and the eldest son makes his claim to the throne more legitimate.
The old emperor understood this, of course, but for the sake of maintaining the stability of his empire, he could only turn a blind eye.
However, the longer the emperor remained in power and the more secure his authority became, the more impatient he grew.
The arrogant and domineering empress finally paid the price, and the once illustrious Cheng'en Duke's Mansion gradually fell into obscurity.
The old emperor only used the empress and had little affection for her, but he still placed high hopes on his eldest son. At least until the crown prince turned twenty-five, he never thought of changing his heir.
He had no ideas, but others did.
The Second Prince's mother, Consort Xian, was deeply favored by the old emperor and had a powerful maternal family, so it was inevitable that she would have designs on the throne.
The Crown Prince is the eldest son of the legitimate wife and has already been established as the Crown Prince. He has a group of traditional old ministers supporting him, so he is not so easy to shake.
The second prince, Jin Zexu, and his mother were both favored and supported by a military family, making them evenly matched with the crown prince for a time.
The old emperor seemed to have found a balance, not only not stopping his two sons from fighting, but deliberately provoking trouble.
If the Crown Prince's faction becomes too powerful, suppress it; if the Second Prince gains an advantage, demote him.
This gave the third prince, who had always been overshadowed by his two older brothers, hope.
The Third Prince was born to Consort Shu. His mother was gentle and virtuous, even somewhat weak. She had a beautiful appearance but could not compare to the radiant and virtuous Consort.
If it weren't for the Empress's efforts to suppress Consort Xian and promote the lower-ranking concubines during those years, she wouldn't have had the opportunity to give birth to a son.
Jin Zexuan could not help his mother and maternal grandparents at all, so he had to find another way.
Her outstanding appearance won the favor of the eldest daughter of the British duke, which greatly helped her.
But that's not enough. In order to have a fighting chance, he has to work hard to cultivate his public image.
The Third Prince's gentle, refined, generous, and virtuous demeanor, along with his approachable and courteous attitude, indeed garnered praise from some minor officials.
Later, it even caught the attention of the Left Chancellor Zhang Zhongyi. After several rounds of probing between the two, Zhang Zhongyi gave his judgment.
This guy's abilities don't match his ambitions; he's all talk and no action.
The Third Prince's petty cleverness was only good for fooling minor officials from humble backgrounds with low status.
True aristocratic families don't act until they see a clear benefit; someone like him with nothing behind him has no chance of getting others to invest fully.
But Zhang Zhongyi saw this point and ultimately abandoned his son-in-law, the Second Prince, to extend an olive branch to the Third Prince.
The reason given was quite reasonable: that Consort Xian secretly administered sterilization drugs to his daughter in order to elevate her niece to a higher position.
It is understandable that the Second Prince's wife could not produce an heir, and the Left Prime Minister was unwilling to support someone else's child.
But in reality, it was only because the second prince's maternal family was powerful and difficult to control, and the second prince was not obedient enough.
He had served the autocratic old emperor for so many years, and he didn't want to serve the second prince, who was just like the old emperor, anymore.
As for whether he has a son-in-law or not, well, he has plenty of daughters.
As long as the Third Prince is placed on the throne, he can just send any of his daughters into the palace.
With the power and connections of his prime minister's mansion, the next crown prince will inevitably be his grandson.
After receiving Zhang Zhongyi's assistance, the Third Prince underwent a complete transformation, becoming a completely different person.
His carefully cultivated image of being courteous to scholars and approachable was transformed and elevated, and within a few years he became known as a wise king.
However, these benefits weren't free. Even if the Third Prince wasn't that clever, he could still sense that he was being held back by Zhang Zhongyi at every turn.
But since he lacked the ability himself, he had no choice but to obey the Left Chancellor in order to retain his greatest support.
For example, when the school framed Xiao Yuan, the Left Prime Minister ordered him to personally intervene, and he had no choice but to do so, even though he hated it to the core.
Zhang Zhongyi knew that the testimonies of the maids and servants alone were not enough to bring Xiao Yuan to justice, so his attention naturally turned to the three special people living in the governor's mansion.
Ye Xiao is Xiao Yuan's godson, adopted by Xiao Yuan since childhood. It is almost impossible to make him turn against him.
He Zhang was Xiao Yuan's confidant, and not only was the possibility of him turning against him unlikely, but he also dared not imprison him easily.
Since He Zhang had lost both his parents, he had a kind maternal grandmother, so it was best not to offend her if possible.
In the end, only Xu Qinglan remained.
After reviewing her information, Zhang Zhongyi's eyes lit up. Within half an hour, a professional script tailored to Xu Qinglan was created.
To ensure everything went smoothly, Zhang Zhongyi even delegated the task to Jin Zexuan.
Although Xu Qinglan was originally a palace maid, she had high standards and insight, and ordinary people might not be able to impress her.
The main reason is that they have limited time and no time to coax her. If they want to win her over in a day or two, they have to use drastic measures.
Since being dealt a blow by He Zhang, Xu Qinglan has become somewhat dejected and has even lost the will to repair her relationship with Ye Xiao and pursue other plans.
She harbored equal resentment towards everyone in the family.
But she knew she had nothing but her friendship with Xiao Yuan and Ye Xiao, and for the sake of a comfortable life in the future, she dared not cause trouble.
After Xiao Yuan left the mansion, she became even more withdrawn, and even spent a few days on tenterhooks, fearing that Jiang Xinyu would cause her trouble.
After several days of silence, she gave up and spent her time reading and embroidering to pass the time.
Unexpectedly, after a while, Xiao Yuan still hadn't returned to the manor when something happened. Seeing her maids and servants being taken away and the officials surrounding the entire governor's manor, she panicked.
She told the Imperial Guards that she was just staying there temporarily and asked them to let her go, but no one paid any attention.
She also said that she was Xiao Ling's sworn sister and asked them to pass on a message, but no one paid any attention to her.
From childhood to adulthood, Xu Qinglan had never experienced any setbacks thanks to the power of the old eunuch Xiao.
Even after the old eunuch Xiao and her aunt passed away, the Xiao brothers, Xiao Ling and Xiao Yuan, protected her very well.
Now that Xu Qinglan heard that Xiao Yuan had fallen, Xiao Ling might also be implicated, and even Ye Xiao had been arrested and imprisoned, she immediately panicked, feeling lost, fearful, and anxious, like a frightened bird.
Just then, she met her hero, the Third Prince, who was noble and handsome like a god descended from heaven and saved her restless heart.
He said she was beautiful and gentle and shouldn't waste her youth.
He said that Xiao Yuan was blind and couldn't see her good qualities, and didn't know what was good for him.
He said how lucky he would be to have her by his side.
The Third Prince's affectionate gaze and touching words instantly captured Xu Qinglan's heart.
She's like the female protagonist in "The Domineering CEO Falls in Love with the Cleaning Lady," completely disregarding logic and rationality.
She plunged headlong into the beautiful dream that Jin Zexuan had woven for her, refusing to wake up.
Xu Qinglan is a typical feudal native, with deeply ingrained concepts of hierarchy and social status.
Even if Jin Zexuan wasn't good-looking, his royal bloodline alone would be enough to make Xu Qinglan fall for him.
She wanted to be the concubine of the Third Prince, and in the future, when the Third Prince ascended the throne, she could also become his queen.
No one can stand in her way to success; she will clear all obstacles for the Third Prince.