Chapter 819: Chapter 488: A Touch of Green on Jingtai’s Head
“As long as you can help Ke’er ascend to the position of Crown Prince, this palace…this palace will agree to any condition you set!”
While Chen Yuan was contemplating this matter, the gentle voice of Noble Consort Yang softly reached his ears. She then slowly walked up to Chen Yuan, gazing at him as she spoke.
She could sense that Chen Yuan’s gaze upon her was somewhat special, and combining that with some rumors about him, it wasn’t hard to guess his inclinations towards women.
Though different from ordinary men, wouldn’t this actually be more advantageous for her and her son?
Earlier, her intention to coax Chen Yuan to acknowledge the involvement of palace disturbances was also aimed at leveraging him to assist her and her son.
Currently, Sima Ke is no longer favored by the Emperor, and the factions he had previously built have gradually dissipated during his punishment in the palace.
Facing the competition against Sima Ke, Sima Qian and Sima You have unanimously aligned on the same front, so much so that Sima Ke has nearly lost his qualification to contest for the Crown Prince’s seat.
They must have someone with power and influence to assist them!
Chen Yuan fits perfectly.
He not only possesses outstanding talent and exceptional methods, but also has a strong force backing him, such as Jiang He, the Golden Envoy of Qingzhou, and Zhang Yantong, the Divine Envoy.
These are all people from Chen Yuan’s faction, while not enormous in power, they are definitely not insignificant either.
Most importantly, Chen Yuan’s growth rate is astonishingly fast. According to the information she has, Chen Yuan is now ranked twenty-first on the Fengyun List, likely on the verge of becoming a provincial Golden Envoy!
And how old is he?
Just in his early twenties, with even greater potential for the future. If he becomes one of the Heavenly Patrol Bureau’s Divine Envoys, he would have significant influence in the court.
He could definitely provide substantial support for Sima Ke.
Moreover, even if Chen Yuan makes some excessive demands, she…seems not to suffer any loss.
Although she holds a noble status, ultimately she is just a woman, a woman who hasn’t received the Emperor’s favor for many years, while Chen Yuan is one of the top young talents in the Central Plains. It’s hard to say…whether she could reject such temptation.
Sometimes it’s not just men who fancy women, in reality, women are even more enamored with men.
Chen Yuan narrowed his eyes, scrutinized Noble Consort Yang up and down, and chuckled lightly:
“Any condition?”
“Yes, as long as you can help Ke’er.”
“Come…kneel first.”
Chen Yuan looked down at Noble Consort Yang, half-smilingly said.
“This…this won’t do. After all, I am a Noble Consort, how can I kneel before you?” Noble Consort Yang shook her head hastily, considering it a tremendous humiliation.
Yet she couldn’t help but wonder, besides his peculiar preferences, does Chen Yuan also enjoy playing such games?
“It seems that Her Majesty cannot meet any condition after all.”
Looking at Chen Yuan’s teasing gaze, Noble Consort Yang took a deep breath:
“Once you help Ke’er ascend to the Crown Prince’s position, this palace…this palace will agree to this absurd demand of yours.”
Chen Yuan laughed softly, patted Noble Consort Yang’s cheek, and said lightly:
“This matter, Chen will consider it. Your Majesty should continue to pray for blessings.”
After saying this, he turned around and left immediately.
Watching Chen Yuan disappear from sight, Noble Consort Yang suddenly felt a bit stunned. If not for the occasional tingling pain on her face, she could hardly believe she had spoken such words just now.
Gently rubbing her right cheek, Noble Consort Yang suddenly realized she didn’t hate Chen Yuan at all; instead…she somewhat enjoyed it.
No…how…how could this be.
She could no longer think of it.
Taking a deep breath, she suppressed the strange feelings rising within her, turning back to continue kneeling in prayer, though her slightly trembling hands indicated her unsettled mind at that moment.
In fact, Chen Yuan hadn’t left; like an outsider, he observed Noble Consort Yang’s demeanor. Only when he saw nothing unusual did he finally feel relieved.
Killing, definitely was not an option, or else Jingtai would surely fly into a rage, implicating Li Hongshuang too, which would be the worst strategy.
And naturally, he could not be coerced by Noble Consort Yang and her son, so he could only employ such a method to gradually dissolve her animosity toward him.
Fortunately, everything went according to his plan.
As for Sima Ke, it seemed helping him posed no harm, but first, he must restrain them, making them willingly submit to him.
In this way, a prince could certainly be considered a valuable chess piece.
Although his initial intention was to occupy a territory, before the world falls into chaos, he must prepare for all eventualities. Now it is just a matter of seeing whether or not Sima Ke will obey.
Of course, no matter how obedient he becomes, he is just a discardable piece for Chen Yuan, as old grudges must eventually be repaid.
As for whether to favor Noble Consort Yang or not…
It is known that Chen Yuan has always been indifferent to female charms, at most he will probe her depths to see if she truly falls under his influence.
…
…
After confirming there was nothing unusual with Noble Consort Yang, Chen Yuan finally left slowly. His appearance also relieved the young Daoist who had been unable to find him earlier, querying where he had gone abruptly.
After evasively answering, Chen Yuan headed straight back to Li Hongshuang.
The defense of the Imperial Palace Guards was indeed not weak, but compared to him, they were still far too inferior. Just a bit of stealth was enough to elude everyone.
By the time Chen Yuan returned to the great hall, Li Hongshuang had again resumed her calm demeanor, clearly having looked through the contents of the silk bag, and from her expression, Chen Yuan could also see a faint, unconcealed joy.