The Second Son of a First-Rank Official

Xiao Xianzhi transmigrates into the second legitimate son of a Duke's household. His mother is a princess, his father is a great general who protects the nation, and his elder brother became a young general at eighteen.

With a life this privileged, anyone else would lie flat, give up, and spend their days eating, drinking, and waiting to die as a wastrel.

But he refuses.

“Mother, I want to take the imperial examinations.”

“My son, do you have a fever?”

His princess mother is so worried that she bursts into tears. “With our family's standing, even if you were a good-for-nothing, no one in the capital would dare say a word against you. Your brother risks his life on the frontier so you can live comfortably as a useless little ornament!”

Xiao Xianzhi is unmoved. He gets up earlier than the rooster and goes to bed later than the dog, tripling the cost of lamp oil in his study.

His mother frets and tries everything. Today, she pretends to be sick: “My son, Mother has a headache. Keep me company.”

Tomorrow, she stirs up trouble: “The temple outside the city is very effective. Go burn incense for me.”

The next day, she goes even further, sending two stunning maids straight to his room. “My son works so hard at his studies. It's only right to have pretty girls keeping him company!”

Xiao Xianzhi looks at the two maids, neither of whom can even recite the Three Character Classic, and falls silent for a moment. “Mother, how about hiring a Hanlin scholar to tutor me instead?”

His princess mother: ???

His elder brother kills enemies on the frontier, while he slays exam questions in the examination hall.

His elder brother guards the nation's borders, while he governs the realm.

One brother pacifies the nation on horseback, the other secures it with his writing.

Only later do the old foxes in court realize

The second son of the Xiao family is even harder to deal with than his brother!

The legitimate second son of a first-rank family: he relies neither on his family's legacy nor his mother, but on his own hard work to rise to the top.