Surprise! The villain is my brother, stay calm!

Xiao Lanjue knew everything and told it to everyone.

Afterwards, Lu Zhanyan did begin to test him. At first he was a little careless, but the more they talked, the more they got along. Most of their ideas coincided, and it seemed like they had met too late.

In his heart, he had already approved of Xiao Lanjue, whom his younger brother had recommended, so he thought of testing him one last time. He first told him about the situation in the court, and then frankly confessed the conflicts between himself and the Fourth Prince.

"I wonder what Mr. Xiao thinks? How can we break the impasse?"

Seeing that Lu Zhanyan had changed his address, Xiao Lanjue was excited. He knew that the critical moment had come. He pondered for a moment before speaking solemnly, "After what you just said, I have determined that the Fourth Prince hates the Duke of Anguo's Mansion. Since he snatched the Second Miss Su, his goal is not only to seize Prime Minister Su's power, but also to force the old Duke to death. He even wants to destroy your reputation at all costs."

"If you want to break the deadlock, there are three strategies."

"The best strategy is to achieve mutual benefit and form an alliance with the enemy of the Fourth Prince without taking any risks."

"Middle strategy: Rely on other princes and use their power to defeat them, but there are risks and opportunities."

“The next best option: Strive to be the best, but it takes time and planning.”

He slowly told the three strategies he had thought of, and it was up to Lu Zhanyan to choose which one.

Lu Zhanyan was shocked. He had already thought of three strategies for him in such a short time. He was indeed quite intelligent.

"Sir, why don't you recommend me a marriage? Wouldn't that help strengthen the Anguo Mansion?"

"Xiao guessed that you have tried it, but to no avail."

Without waiting for Lu Zhanyan to ask, he said directly: "Your Excellency is from the Anguo Mansion. If you want to form an alliance, other court officials will naturally want to win you over, including the other two princes. However, Your Excellency must choose a first-rank official or above or a helpful relative. As for not choosing the relatives of other princes, I think Your Excellency has not yet decided to take sides.

But the once-in-three-years draft is coming up, and these officials are hesitant or want to wait until after the draft to choose someone else, so your marriage can only be delayed. This is Xiao's little opinion, if it is wrong, please forgive me!"

He guessed it right. Lu Zhanyan had just roughly described the distribution of power in the court, but he was able to guess so much. He is indeed a man of great talent.

"Sir, it's a little late today. Please stay in the mansion first. I will give you a reply tomorrow."

"Thank you, sir!"

He showed his understanding and was excited in his heart, but he didn't show it on his face.

Being able to stay here proves that I have passed the test, but there is still a matter of identity that needs to be clarified, so I have to wait until tomorrow.

Lu Zhanyan asked Huai Mo to arrange a room for Xiao Lanjue to live in and prepare a sumptuous meal to entertain him.

Afterwards, he issued an order to An Yi to investigate Xiao Lanjue's identity and the people and things he had recently come into contact with.

When Lu Zhanxing heard that Xiao Lanjue was kept by his eldest brother, he knew that this talent was kept by his eldest brother and he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Looking lazily at the chessboard on the table, she raised her hand and placed another black piece on the board.

The eldest brother holds four white chess pieces, namely "Duke Anguo's Mansion", "Molong Order", "Lu Zhanxing" and "Xiao Lanjue".

The fourth prince holds four black chess pieces: "Duke Qing's Mansion", "Prime Minister's Mansion", "Mu Qingli" and "Tan Ling".

Looking at the whole game, the two sides are still evenly matched.

She thought about it and added another chess piece to Heizi, which was "marriage". If he wanted to ruin his eldest brother's marriage, he would never succeed as long as she, Lu Zhanxing, was around.

What's more, the Fourth Prince has to guard against the power of the other two princes.

Her eldest brother, as the main villain, would still have fought back and forth with the Fourth Prince even without her presence. Moreover, with her presence this time, there was no reason for her eldest brother to lose.

She knocked her head and realized that she couldn't slack off.

Although he had not yet come into contact with the other two princes, they were mentioned in the book after the fourth prince was reborn.

The Second Prince is steady and honest, with outstanding literary talent. He is generally recognized by court officials as the future Crown Prince, and is also the one who fights the most fiercely with the Fourth Prince.

Lu Zhanyan also supported the Second Prince, but was later dealt with by the reborn Fourth Prince, resulting in the defeat of both of them.

On the contrary, the lively and cheerful Fifth Prince, who did not compete or fight, liked to wield spears and sticks. He went to war many times and was later named War King, becoming the Fourth Prince's right-hand man.

In fact, Lu Zhanxing had no objection no matter which prince his elder brother supported. As long as the Anguo Mansion could gain the merit of following the dragon and make the Anguo Mansion stable, it would be fine whoever became the emperor.

Now that big brother has Xiao Lanjue's help, I think he will be more adept in the future.

The next day, Xiao Lanjue's information was delivered to Lu Zhanyan. Looking at the detailed information, Lu Zhanyan once again marveled at the power of Molongling.

After knowing that Xiao Lanjue was indeed clean and had no bad deeds, Lu Zhanyan formally invited Xiao Lanjue to be his aide and arranged for him to live in Qingfengju near Lingyayuan.

He dispatched his servants to carry books for him to use.

Xiao Lanjue breathed a sigh of relief and was also happy that he had found his lord.

That day, he went to Liuliyuan to thank Lu Zhanxing for his recommendation.

"You're welcome, Mr. Xiao. I hope you can assist my brother in the future. My brother will not treat you unfairly." Lu Zhanxing fanned himself and leaned lazily on the back of the chair. He didn't care much about his thanks.

As long as she could be a playboy with peace of mind, she would be grateful.

Xiao Lanjue looked at the lazy noblewoman who seemed to have no bones, and couldn't help feeling a little curious about her.

I also guessed that Lu Zhanxing was not a real playboy, otherwise how could he recruit me after knowing my talent? This must be her disguise.

"Thank you, Second Young Master." He did not delve into it further and just wanted to assist his lord in the future.

From the fact that Lu Zhanxing recommended himself to his lord, we can know that Lu Zhanxing is on the same front with his lord.

It also changed his attitude towards aristocratic families a lot. He believed that not all brothers and sisters in aristocratic families would fight for power and profit, and the Duke of Anguo's Mansion was an exception.

Xiao Lanjue was relieved that his lord's relatives were not holding him back.

"Mr. Xiao, my eldest brother is such a handsome man, there are always women with bad intentions thinking about him. Please persuade my brother to find a sister-in-law as soon as possible. I think the "Princess Yaoguang" is not bad. Please help me persuade my brother to stop thinking about the second lady of the Su family."

Lu Zhanxing originally wanted to go and persuade him in person, but he felt a little lazy and didn't want to explain Princess Yaoguang's special circumstances. He decided to let his brother investigate it himself!

That's why I planned to let Xiao Lanjue run errands.

Xiao Lanjue was startled, but did not refuse: "I will definitely convey Second Young Master's words."

After waving his hand to send Xiao Lanjue away, Lu Zhanxing went out happily again. Yu Feng and Lin Yun had already moved all the profits to the attic of Jinbangtiming Bookstore, and she was going to count the money.