Marrying the Crown Prince

After talking with her for a while, Madam Du finally nodded and agreed to Zhou Zhou's request, "Don't worry, I will carefully divide your mother's dowry into two roughly equal parts."

"Thank you, Mother." Zhou Zhou relied on her a lot, snuggling close to her and playing with her hair.

Looking at the fragrant and soft girl in her arms, Madam Du's heart softened once again. She thought to herself, "Your mother will provide a dowry, and you've called me 'Mother' since you were little. Of course, I won't let you call me that for nothing. Just wait, my girl. I'll show those country bumpkins what a magnificent dowry looks like and what a grand and glorious occasion looks like."

Zhou Zhou was completely unaware of Du's thoughts and intentions; otherwise, he wouldn't have been so startled when Du handed him 20,000 taels of silver.

Of course, the silver note was not given to her now, but was given to her as New Year's money by Madam Du on New Year's Eve.

A thick stack of papers, which had been placed under her pillow at some point, instantly sobered Zhou Zhou up.

When Zhou Zhou went to find Madam Du, Madam Du looked indifferent and said, "This is your last New Year here, and I'm already complaining that this isn't enough."

Not only Du, but others also gave Zhou Zhou a lot more New Year's money. The old Marquis and the old lady gave him two thousand taels, Zhou the eldest and Zhang gave him one thousand taels, Zhou the third gave him five hundred taels, and his own father, Zhou the fifth, reluctantly gave him one thousand taels.

Seeing his father staring longingly at the thousand taels of silver in his hand, Zhou Zhou couldn't help but wonder—this thousand taels of silver was his father's private savings that he had been saving and hiding for a long time.

Anyway, after the New Year, I don't know how others are doing, but Zhou Zhou has become a completely wealthy woman.

The only downside was that Zhou Zhou couldn't go out to see the parade of gods on New Year's Eve; instead, she stayed with her grandmother.

With nothing to do, Grandma Zhou asked Wang Gui's mother to bring over the small box she kept on her dressing table. There was a gift list on it, which had already been prepared.

"When your aunt went to the palace, she took 40% of my dowry with her." The old lady stroked the paper with some reminiscence, then handed it to Zhou Zhou. "Logically, you should also take 40% to be fair, but after calculating, in the end, only 30% was set aside for you to add to your dowry."

Zhou Zhou quickly stood up. "Grandmother, Mother and Father will take care of the dowry. You can keep these things safe."

According to common sense, only the children are entitled to a share of their mother's dowry; it's not the grandchildren's turn.

"What use is it to me? To go to the coffin with me?" the old lady snorted unhappily.

"Pah, pah, pah!" Zhou Zhou hurriedly bowed, "Jade Emperor, Laozi, please don't listen to my grandmother's nonsense, and bless her to live a long and healthy life."

Grandma Zhou: "..."

When did my dear granddaughter become more superstitious than I am?

Regardless, Zhou Zhou still received the old lady's dowry. She said, "You entered the palace for the sake of our whole family, how can I let you go empty-handed?"

Zhou Zhou hesitated for a moment, then corrected the old lady's statement, "Grandmother, it's not entirely for the sake of the Marquis's mansion."

"Hmm?" The old lady looked at her with loving eyes.

Zhou Zhou felt a little shy for a moment, then hesitated before speaking, "I am also Princess Xinyue."

To everyone's surprise, after hearing her words, the old lady sighed heavily, hugged Zhou Zhou tightly, and held her in her arms.

Zhou Zhou leaned against the old lady's soft embrace, listening to her steady heartbeat, feeling as if she were soaking in the sunshine, feeling warm and cozy.

"Silly boy."

She heard the old woman's low voice, but it wasn't very clear.

"Hmm?" Zhou Zhou raised his head, only able to see the old lady's chin.

The old lady let go of her hand, poked her forehead, and handed her the gift list. "Here, take a look and see if there's anything else you want."

“Grandma, that’s enough, that’s plenty,” Zhou Zhou replied with a grin.

The old lady frowned and looked at the list again, then saw Zhou Zhou standing to the side, completely unconcerned. She gritted her teeth in exasperation, "Men are all fake, only money is real. Why don't you pay any attention?"

Zhou Zhou quickly used her charm and cuteness to smooth things over.

She knew, of course, that money was important, and she also knew that her husband, especially a member of the royal family, was prone to falling in love with every woman he met. She couldn't reveal her true feelings completely, otherwise she would lose everything before she even made a single move.

But she knew that these things were what the old lady had kept all her life, her life savings. How could she dare to take more than her share, let alone ask for them excitedly? She could only pretend not to care, so that the old lady wouldn't take it too seriously.

Soon, as the night watchman struck his gong, firecrackers crackled and popped all over the streets, and the Chen Kingdom finally ushered in the new year.

After staying up all night to welcome the New Year, Zhou Zhou lay down on the bed with a yawn and slept soundly until dawn.

Jufang, dressed festively, came over as soon as she saw her daughter wake up. "Miss, would you like to wash up first or take a look at the things His Highness the Crown Prince sent?"

"Go wash up."

After sleeping all night, my face feels oily.

After washing up, Zhou Zhou sat in front of the dressing table, letting Si Zhu comb her hair, while she opened the small wooden box that Li Ziyan had sent to deliver.

There was a letter in the wooden box. It didn't say much, just wished everyone a Happy New Year and asked Zhou Zhou again, unwilling to give up, whether he would go to the palace to pay his respects to Consort Mei on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year.

Zhou Zhou had already answered this question half a month ago, and the answer was—no.

However, the old lady said that Zhou Zhou could go out and play for a day on the Lantern Festival.

Scrolling down further, there was another thick red envelope. I opened it and counted the taels; it contained a staggering ten thousand taels.

Zhou Zhou was shocked to see so much silver; her fiancé was far richer than she had imagined!

The little miserly girl held the silver and chuckled foolishly, then asked Jufang to bring over the box containing the silver notes, and then locked it inside.

Jufang couldn't help but sigh, "I've saved up fifteen yuan, but I haven't earned as much as I did this year for the Spring Festival."

you do not say!

Zhou Zhou held the ledger and looked at the last line of text—His Highness the Crown Prince gifted 10,000 taels.

Her slender, jade-like fingers gently traced the words: "Half a month left, we'll be able to meet in half a month."

Soon, the half-month period arrived. In the hazy night, Zhou Zhou and Li Ziyan stood on the painted boat, looking at the thousands of lanterns on the lake. They gathered together, like the Milky Way in the sky, carrying everyone's expectations.

The lanterns shimmered with a faint light, reflecting off the bright moonlight and illuminating the night, transforming the darkness into a picturesque and dreamlike scene.

Zhou Zhou couldn't help but raise her hand, spread her fingers, and look at the dreamlike river through the gaps between them. "It's so beautiful."

"Ah."

Li Ziyan nodded slightly, looked at Zhou Zhou, and saw that she was very beautiful.

Zhou Zhou heard no response and looked curiously at the person next to him, only to be met with a pair of eyes that looked like a galaxy.