Dynasty Call: Low-key Struggle for Hegemony

As the carriage drove slowly towards the palace, people were coming and going on the street. They all gave way to the luxurious carriage when they saw it.

The carriage has been soundproofed, and the contents inside cannot be heard outside.

Li Yao sat upright and asked:

"Fifth brother, how did you feel when you saw the little witch today?"

The carriage was very stable, without any shaking.

Li Yuan pondered for a moment, and finally nodded: "I can only say that she lives up to the name of the little witch."

After hearing this, Li Yao smiled and said:

"Haha, heroes think alike!"

"Will you come again tomorrow?"

Hearing Li Yao ask again, Li Yuan shook his head and said, "Forget it, I won't come. Yujing Academy doesn't have as many books as the imperial family."

Li Yuan searched around in the library. There were some in the Yujing College and the Imperial Family. If the Yujing College didn't have them, the Imperial Family also had them.

If you want to read a book, why not go to the Imperial Library?

There was a look of satisfaction in Li Yao's eyes, whether it was because of today's harvest or Li Yuan's answer.

"Fifth brother, Yujing College has many interesting places, but you may not like it because of your easy-going temperament, so I won't force it. I will continue to go to Yujing College in the next few days. If you want to go, remember to inform me. Let’s go together.”

"Okay, no problem." Li Yuan pretended not to understand his special words and agreed.

"By the way, Fourth Brother, I met the eldest princess in the Library Pavilion. She said that Chu Junyan has arrived in Kyoto and is at Yujing Academy. In three days, he will probably go to court to ask for a marriage, so if he wants to marry Chu Junyan Yan, my father must decide before Chu Junyan goes to court."

Li Yuan thought for a while and finally told Li Yao what happened today.

"What!" Li Yao stood up in shock, his head almost touching the roof of the car. He looked at Li Yuan with piercing eyes. He naturally understood the meaning of this news.

"Fifth brother, are you sure?"

"Well, my aunt told me personally that she wanted me to marry Chu Junyan, but I don't want to marry her."

Li Yuan said sincerely: "In the palace, my fourth brother treats me the best, and my fourth brother likes Chu Junyan. How could I do such a thing!"

Seeing Li Yuan's sincere look, Li Yao came to Li Yuan in one step, hugged Li Yuan's shoulders and said movedly:

"Fifth brother, I saw you right, Brother Huang. If Brother Huang can really marry Chu Junyan, your affairs from now on will be Brother Huang's business."

Li Yao slapped his chest loudly.

"Thank you, brother!" Li Yuan quickly stood up to express his thanks. It seemed that Li Yuan's movements were too large, and his sleeves suddenly tore when he stood up.

"Ahem," Li Yuan said a little embarrassedly: "The emperor's brother is laughing at the joke. Recently, the emperor's brother went out to play in the palace and spent a lot of money, which made him a little tight."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier!" Li Yao took out a stack of banknotes and slapped Li Yuan on the chest;

"Take it!"

Li Yuan covered the banknote on his chest, feeling the thickness of the banknote with his fingertips, and quickly refused:

"No, no, fourth brother, this is too much."

"Take it, just take it if I ask you to, are you looking down on Fourth Brother?"

Li Yao put the silver note directly into Li Yuan's hand.

"No, no, fourth brother, you need this money even more now!"

"Just take it if I tell you to!"

Despite Li Yuan's repeated refusal, Li Yao still stuffed a thick wad of silver notes into Li Yuan's pocket.

…………

In front of the Jingyuan Palace, Li Yuan warmly invited Li Yao to come in and sit down. Li Yao refused without hesitation:

"Fifth brother, it's getting late. I have to visit my mother and concubine, so I won't accompany you."

Watching Li Yao striding away, he couldn't wait to go to the deep palace. When he walked into the door, Li Yuan's smile gradually disappeared. Looking at the increasingly dark night sky, his heart sank again.

With Li Yao's stupidity, it would be difficult to accomplish this.

He padded the banknotes in his pocket and slowly took them out:

Pooh!

His fingertips were stained with saliva.

One hundred taels...

Three hundred taels...

One thousand taels...

Two thousand taels...

…………

Ten thousand......

…………

Twenty-five thousand taels...

…………

While Li Yuan was silently counting the banknotes, Li Yao had already arrived at Concubine Lin's palace.

The dignified and elegant Concubine Lin was sitting, while Li Yao stood aside, reporting on what happened today.

Concubine Lin held a bowl of thick soup in her hand. She wanted to take a sip several times, but she was always frightened by what Li Yao said and put it down. Finally, Li Yao finished talking about today's events and the hot soup became cold.

"Take the soup away." Concubine Lin handed the thick soup without taking a sip to the maid, her eyes twinkling and said:

"What Li Yuan said should be true, but it can't be that simple for the eldest princess to find Li Yuan. This person is good at scheming. She must want to use Li Yuan to achieve some purpose, and even us are included in her calculations."

Li Yao frowned deeply, and he also understood what Concubine Lin meant.

Concubine Lin saw Li Yao's expression and sighed:

"Yao'er, do you really want to marry Chu Junyan?"

"The kid really wants it!" Li Yao said quickly after hearing this.

"But have you ever thought about it, you really can't go back to this marriage." Concubine Lin naturally knew what her prince was thinking, and worriedly advised that this matter was in deep water.

"The kid knows, but the kid just won't accept it."

Li Yao clenched his fists. The disdainful looks the three princes once gave him have always been engraved in his heart.

"Hai'er knows that in the eyes of several royal brothers and even my father, I will always be the ineffective one. I just won't accept it. I must impress them and let them know that I, Li Yao, am no worse than them!"

Seeing Li Yao's unwillingness, Concubine Lin recalled the scenes where other concubines often mocked her, and she felt a surge of embarrassment in her heart.

"Okay, I will help you. I will go to meet His Majesty tomorrow."

Seeing that Concubine Lin agreed, Li Yao turned from anger to joy and said happily:

"Thank you, concubine!"

Concubine Lin taught you: "Yao'er, you still need to practice hard. Although there will be subordinates to do everything, your own strength is the most important. Only in this way can you recruit capable and talented people."

"Yes, I understand, mother-in-law."

"By the way, concubine, please give me some more banknotes."

Hearing this, Concubine Lin frowned and said, "Didn't you take 50,000 taels from me today? How many talents did you recruit at Yujing College today, and you spent all 50,000 taels in one day?"

"No," Li Yao shook his head embarrassedly and said:

"Today I gave fifteen thousand taels to Bai Yingjie and asked her to secretly help me select a few trustworthy people to establish a team at Yujing Academy."

"Then, where did the other thirty-five thousand taels go?"

"Then...then after the fifth brother told me about Chu Junyan, I was so excited that I gave him all the banknotes!"

"What!"

Concubine Lin's eyes widened and she was furious when she saw Li Yao's embarrassed look.

Li Yuan got this news from the eldest princess. He didn't spend a penny to get the news and passed it on to you!

He did nothing and got thirty-five thousand taels for nothing!

And he got rid of this troublesome thing!

Li Yao scratched the back of his head and smiled awkwardly:

"Hey, I just realized it. I'm too embarrassed to ask the fifth brother for it now. The fifth brother refused many times at the time, so I forced the banknote into his pocket."