Marrying the Crown Prince

A gentle breeze carried the sound of a cuckoo from afar. Zhou Zhou opened the window, and the morning sunlight slanted into the room, bringing a gentle warmth and adding endless vitality to the whole world.

Zhou Zhou squinted and stretched, like a lazy cat that had just woken up.

This was the scene that Li Zixi saw when she entered the room.

“That bride,” she snorted, standing in the doorway, “seems to be in a good mood.”

Zhou Zhou turned to the side, looking at the arrogant Golden Branch and Jade Leaf at the door, quite surprised.

"You got up quite early today." She smiled sweetly, her eyebrows curving upwards.

Li Zixi would never tell her that she got up so early on purpose. She couldn't make it in time for other things, but on Zhou Zhou's wedding day, she couldn't compete with the other sisters in the Zhou family. However, compared with Zhou Zhou's close friends and sisterhood, she had to be the first.

Despite saying that, Li Zixi maintained her composure and arrogantly raised her hand, "I rushed over so early, aren't you going to come and greet me?"

Seeing that she wanted to act, Zhou Zhou was happy to cooperate. A fawning expression instantly appeared on his face. He bowed and quickly moved over with small steps, taking the delicate hand of the noble princess. "It is my great honor to serve the princess."

Li Zixi couldn't hold back any longer. Her domineering aura vanished instantly, and she burst into laughter. Then she hugged Zhou Zhou's neck and said affectionately, "How could I dare to let our bride serve me?"

Zhou Zhou also wrapped his arm around Li Zixi's waist, gently stroked her neck with his other hand, and finally lifted the little beauty's chin, bringing his face close to hers.

"My lady is so charming, I'm more than willing to be with you." Zhou Zhou breathed into her ear, making her legs go weak.

Wang Qingwu, Liu Jingyuan, and Zhao Yuehua, standing at the door: ? ? !!

The three exchanged a glance, their expressions a mixture of shock and horror—had they discovered some terrible secret? Would they be silenced?

"Ahem!" Zhou Zhou released his hand and coughed lightly, easing the tense atmosphere in the room.

Li Zixi rubbed her face hard to wake herself up, then glared fiercely at the three people at the door.

Wang Qingwu looked gentle and weak, but she dropped a bombshell when she opened her mouth: "What a coincidence! We haven't seen each other for so long, and you've given us such a big surprise as soon as we meet."

Zhou Zhou had a thick skin and didn't feel anything when they teased him. He simply invited them, "Come on, sit down."

After saying that, she looked at Jufang and said, "Go and brew a pot of tea."

Since there's tea, there should be snacks, so Zhou Zhou instructed Sizhu, "Go and see what snacks the kitchen has."

"Zhouzhou, you've really worked hard," Liu Jingyuan immediately squeezed between Zhou Zhou and Li Zixi, and then hugged them both.

Li Zixi glanced at her sideways, and although she didn't say a word, Liu Jingyuan could still read a curse on her face.

“Zhouzhou, look at her,” Liu Jingyuan immediately complained, “she insulted me.”

Zhou Zhou: "..."

"Alright, alright," Zhao Yuehua and Wang Qingwu each pulled one of them away from Zhou Zhou, "Stop messing with Zhou Zhou, she's been very busy lately."

Zhou Zhou thought about it and decided not to tell them that she had been so bored lately that she could have hatched eggs.

Since leaving home during the Ghost Festival, Zhou Zhou has remained secluded, never venturing outside. Even Qing Rong from Yu Yan Fang didn't dare disturb her, only sending Ju Fang as an intermediary to deliver the account books for Zhou Zhou to review.

Yu Yan Fang's business is booming these days, especially its newly launched nutmeg cream, which sells out as soon as it hits the shelves.

Of course, the reason why the nutmeg balm is so popular is because Qingrong's scarcity marketing strategy is so effective.

Zhou Zhou leaned back against the cushions, scanning them with interest. Her fox-like eyes crinkled into a smile. "You're all wealthy and powerful people, you certainly didn't come empty-handed, right?"

“You’re putting us on such a high pedestal,” Wang Qingwu covered her upturned lips with a handkerchief, “then we’re definitely going to have to bleed today.”

"What? You're reluctant to let me go?" Zhou Zhou propped his chin up with his hand and leaned towards Wang Qingwu. "If you're reluctant, there's nothing I can do. You've already come in, and if you don't leave some money, I won't let you go."

"Ouch!" Wang Qingwu covered her face, amused by the laughter.

After joking around for a while, the group finally took out the dowry items they had brought.

The first person to take out her own item was Li Zixi. She took out a bracelet made of eighteen double-pink tourmaline beads. Each bead was round, full, and shiny, and you could tell how heavy it was without being told.

"Good stuff," Liu Jingyuan exclaimed.

Li Zixi was immediately delighted, proudly raising her chin as if to say, "Quick, praise me!"

Zhou Zhou was not stingy with her praise, "You look beautiful, no wonder you're my best friend."

Although it wasn't the only one, the word "best" still made Li Zixi happy for quite a while.

Afterwards, Zhao Yuehua and Wang Qingwu also presented their respective dowry gifts.

The three of them certainly couldn't compare to Li Zixi's bracelet, but it wasn't an easily found, valuable item either.

Jufang and Sizhu hadn't returned yet, so Zhou Zhou personally opened the trunk and packed the things away.

Just as I finished doing all that, Jufang brought over a pot of tea and set out the tea set.

As for the snacks, guessing that the kitchen hadn't finished preparing them yet, the tea arrived first. Zhou Zhou poured a cup of tea for each of them, saying, "Have a taste."

The group didn't linger, since quite a few people had come to Zhou Zhou's place that day. After exchanging a few more words, they got up and took their leave.

Sure enough, as soon as they left, the palace ladies-in-waiting arrived. Just as planned, five of them came at once.

The five women in question are, of course, the female officials serving Empress Chu and the four first-rank concubines, Gui Shu and Xian De.

If they hadn't met, that would have been fine, but since they did, they naturally wouldn't ask one of them to stay here any longer.

So, after exchanging a few sharp words, the five people handed over the things that the master of the palace wanted to give to Zhou Zhou, and then withdrew.

Social interactions can't be limited to just this much, so Zhou Zhou's house and Old Mrs. Zhou's place have been occupied all day.

Thankfully, tomorrow isn't the wedding; it's the day after tomorrow, otherwise I'd be exhausted.

At night, Zhou Zhou lay quietly soaking in the bathtub, but the water was not ordinary hot water.

A month ago, the nanny began to take care of Zhou Zhou's health; to be precise, she gave Zhou Zhou beauty treatments.

So every night, Zhou Zhou would take a hot bath for half an hour with added seasonings, and then carefully apply a special medicinal oil all over his body.

At first, Zhou Zhou couldn't quite handle it, but the nanny's hands were very gentle and warm, and she would massage her every time she applied the medicated oil.