[BL] [Non-1v1] [A Little Political Intrigue] [No Love-Brained Characters]
[A Vicious, Stunning, Vanity-Obsessed Bottom]
Yuan Jing passed the imperial examinations at seventeen and served as the flower envoy at the Qujiang Banquet. Just days later, the emperor summoned him. Yuan Jing knew exactly what the emperor wanted and eagerly attached himself to the Son of Heaven. He was appointed Left Reminder, and within months had entered the Hanlin Academy.
After getting a taste of the rewards, Yuan Jing cultivated connections on all sides, calling powerful nobles and generals his "closest friends" and spending nights chatting with them in bed. From then on, under Emperor Wuzong, he rose steadily through the ranks.
After Wuzong's death, he joined forces with the commander of the Imperial Guards and the eunuchs. In just one year, they killed the new emperor and installed Yuan Jing's own patron, the Prince of Jin, on the throne. Yuan Jing's power reached its peak, earning him a marquisate and the position of chancellor. He even influenced the emperor's decisions on who would reign, and later generations sometimes compared him to Yi Yin and Huo Guang.
The History of Liang records: "At the time, the Tubo first sent envoys to pay court. The emperor, mindful of the worthy ministers who had aided the founding of the dynasty and the valiant generals who had defended it, ordered portraits of twelve meritorious officials painted in Lingyan Pavilion, with each one's title and rank inscribed. Yuan Jing alone was not named. The inscription read: Current Secretariat Director, Grand Councilor, Prince of Boling, of the Yuan clan."
Content warnings are at the end of Chapter One.
