Beautiful Peasant Girl: The Young Marquis's Beloved

The bells of the capital city seemed to still echo in my ears, and the entire palace was shrouded in a solemn and tense atmosphere.

The third prince, Xiao Yu, looked sad, but he was ecstatic in his heart. As the son of the queen, he had always believed that he was the legitimate heir to the throne. In his opinion, he had the support of the queen's maternal family and many ministers in the court, so the throne belonged to him.

"Hmph, now that my father has passed away, the throne must be mine." Xiao Yu thought to himself, his eyes revealing ambition and ruthlessness.

Mu Jingfeng was also kneeling on the ground with a sad look on his face. Emperor Jing was five years older than him, so he and the emperor had known each other since childhood. Apart from being a monarch and his subject, they were also brothers. How could he not be heartbroken when Emperor Jing passed away?

Thinking of the will in his arms, he secretly vowed to fulfill Emperor Jing's last wish.

Time goes back to last night.

At the Third Prince's Mansion, Xiao Yu summoned his staff and trusted ministers.

"Now that my father is on his deathbed, he has not yet made it clear to whom he will pass the throne. But as the queen's son, I should inherit the throne. Everyone, please lend me a hand." Xiao Jin said in a firm tone.

Everyone nodded in agreement: "Your Highness is right. Your Highness is the Queen's son, and you have a noble status. You should inherit the throne."

At the same time, Concubine De was also planning for her eldest son. She had two sons, the eldest son Xiao Ling and the fourth son Xiao Teng. In terms of the eldest son succeeding the throne, her son Xiao Ling was the best choice.

But they have always been suppressed by the Queen and the Third Prince Xiao Yu. Now that the Emperor is dying, she must plan for the future for her son and herself.

"Someone, go and invite the eldest prince." Defei ordered.

Xiao Ling hurried over, looking anxious: "Mother, now that father is unconscious, what should we do about this situation?"

Concubine De looked at her eldest son, with a trace of determination in her eyes: "Son, you are the eldest son, and the throne should be yours. Now the Queen and Xiao Yu will definitely take action, we can't just sit there and wait for death."

Xiao Ling hesitated and said, "But the Third Prince is so powerful, how can we contend with him? And Old Nine..."

Concubine De sneered, "Humph, Xiao Yu will never be able to ascend to the throne in this lifetime! Do you think what he and the queen did is really unknown to the world?"

"As for Concubine Shu and Old Nine, that woman has always been well protected by your royal father. Now, I'm afraid she is still mourning in Yaohua Palace. Not to mention Xiao Yan, he is too young, and even if he wants to, he is powerless." As Concubine De spoke, she seemed to have thought of something, and her eyes became less fierce.

"Forget it. When you succeed to the throne, as long as they don't rebel, treat them and their son well!"

Concubine Yang Jing and Emperor Jing were childhood sweethearts, but the current empress used tricks to snatch away the position of the second prince's consort. Although Yang Jing was a concubine, she was different from them.

After she entered the palace, the Second Prince, now Emperor Jing, doted on her almost exclusively. If it weren't for Yang Jing's virtuous character and her repeated persuasion, she would probably have no chance of giving birth to a firstborn son.

At that time, in the Second Prince's Mansion, besides the two concubines, there were also many concubines sent by ministers.

It happened that the current queen was found to be pregnant at that time, and the power of housekeeper fell into the hands of Yang Jing.

The empress dowager at the time was worried that her son's favoritism towards Yang Jing would bring disaster upon them, so she called people into the palace and did some ideological work on Yang Jing.

After Yang Jing came back, she began to try to persuade Emperor Jing to be fair. According to her status, she was the third person in the palace to sleep with him.

It was also during that time that she became pregnant with Xiao Ling. However, Xiao Ling and the second prince Xiao Jin were born only two months apart.

But it was also luck that the queen gave birth to a daughter in the end, so Xiao Ling became the eldest son.

Afterwards, with Yang Jing's arrangement, or perhaps someone's deliberate act, the children of the Second Prince's Mansion grew like mushrooms after rain in the following years. But the one who gave birth to the most was still Concubine Shu, with two sons and two daughters. It was a pity that the Second Prince...

The child who loves to smile whenever he sees someone, and is smart and kind.

Recalling the past, Concubine De still felt a little sad. But she would not think about it for the time being.

Soon after, Concubine De called over the fourth prince Xiao Teng, and the three of them began to contact their close associates and some ministers who were dissatisfied with the third prince.

The Fourth Prince and the First Prince were born of the same mother, so he naturally supported his brother with all his strength. They decided to deal a fatal blow to the Third Prince at the critical moment.

On the other side, Mu Jingfeng was also talking to Xiao Yan. Xiao Yan was a little hesitant at this time. In fact, he did not have much ambition for the throne. After all, he had several older brothers, and except for his seventh and eighth brothers who were about the same age as him, the others were already married.

Although his father doted on him, he had never thought of inheriting the throne before the incident. When his father and mother arranged for someone to send him back to Beijing as the Marquis of Zhenguo, he thought it was just to save the emperor. Until he knew about the existence of the will.

"Your Highness, although we have the emperor's will in our hands, the situation is critical now and the princes have all made unusual moves. Especially the one who wants to take advantage of the conflict between the two. Please make arrangements as soon as possible." Mu Jingfeng said seriously.

Xiao Yan pursed his lips, his eyes filled with hidden anger and pain: "My Lord, they really did this for that position..."

Xiao Yan found it somewhat unacceptable. That position was so important, so important that they almost lost their humanity.

Mu Jingfeng clasped his fists and looked at Xiao Yan firmly: "Your Highness, you may not trust me, but those were found by Chief Yan himself. If Dongsheng falls into the hands of such a person, I'm afraid it will be in danger."

Xiao Yan turned and looked out the window, thinking of his second brother who died young, his mother in the palace, and his two sisters. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, his face was determined.

Seeing this, Mu Jingfeng showed a trace of relief in his eyes, and then continued to analyze for Xiao Yan:

"The eldest prince and the fourth prince will certainly clash with the third prince. I will let Ling Xuan pretend to be a guard and protect you. Since that person wants to take advantage of the situation, let's wait and see!"

Xiao Yan was silent for a moment, and finally nodded: "Okay, I'll do as the general says."

With the death of Emperor Jing, the situation in the capital became increasingly tense, and various forces were secretly gathering strength.

The third prince Xiao Yu kept sending out spies to closely monitor the movements of the first and fourth princes. He knew that these two were the biggest obstacles to his ascension to the throne. Various instructions were issued from the third prince's mansion, and everything was waiting for Emperor Jing to be sent to the imperial mausoleum.

The eldest prince Xiao Ling and the fourth prince Xiao Teng were also busy. On the one hand, they stepped up their efforts to contact supporters, and on the other hand, they closely monitored the third prince's every move.

The Queen and Concubine De were very active in the harem, trying to win over some powerful concubines to help their sons in their quest for the throne.

The only two people in the harem who were truly sad for Emperor Jing were the Empress Dowager's Ci'an Palace and Concubine Shu's Yaohua Palace.

The Queen Mother was the biological mother of Emperor Jing, and now she was nearly seventy years old. She was truly a woman of old age sending off her young son. From crying loudly to being silent now, the palace servants who served her were heartbroken.

The situation in Yaohua Palace was similar to that in Ci'an Palace, except that Concubine Shu was accompanied by her two daughters.

At the same time, Xiao Yan was also making arrangements with Mu Jingfeng and others, quietly waiting for the opportunity.

Mu Lingxuan disguised himself as a guard and stayed by Xiao Yan's side every step of the way to prevent any accidents.

Although Xiao Yan did not have much ambition for the throne, he also understood that the current situation did not allow him to retreat. In order not to disappoint his father and for the survival of the four of them, he had to face this battle bravely.