Marrying the Crown Prince

The patterns on the clothes that His Highness the Crown Prince prepared for the Crown Princess were not commonly used; they were drawn by Li Ziyan himself.

As luck would have it, a palace maid from the Clothing Department encountered Consort De on her way to deliver clothes to the East Palace.

Because of the novel design of the dress, Consort De immediately became interested and stopped the palace maids, saying, "Stop."

"Your Majesty, may you be well?" the palace maid curtsied. "What are your orders, Your Majesty?"

Consort De smiled and raised her fox-like eyes, which were both alluring and concealed endless greed. "This road, and in this direction, could this thing be sent to my Chonghua Palace?"

Her hand gently stroked the clothes; they were soft to the touch and clearly made of high-quality material.

Consort De was very satisfied.

"Your Majesty," the maid hesitated, but still chose to tell the truth, "this garment is to be sent to the Eastern Palace."

Consort De's face suddenly turned cold, and her usually gentle hand gripped the fabric, leaving wrinkles on the smooth clothes. "The Eastern Palace? I remember His Highness the Crown Prince has not married a concubine."

Indeed, there has never been any news of the Crown Prince taking a concubine. His Highness the Crown Prince has always been chaste and abstaining from women. It is also said that he is in poor health, so many people secretly gossip that His Highness the Crown Prince is impotent.

But I dare not say that out loud.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me, this servant was unaware." The palace maid lowered her head even further, wishing she could bury her head in her feathers like a quail.

Consort De scoffed dismissively, "Fine, since it's His Highness the Crown Prince's thing, then send it over quickly."

The young palace maid secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the matter was over. But who knew that less than half a month later, Consort De received a new dress with a novel pattern, which even the Emperor praised.

Consort De was so pleased that she rewarded the embroiderer who made the clothes.

Who would have thought that just a few days later, Consort De was confined to her quarters for a month by Emperor Chenze for violating palace rules.

Only then did everyone realize that the Empress Dowager's dress was made by the embroiderer herself, imitating the pattern drawn by His Highness the Crown Prince.

Subsequently, the embroiderer who made clothes for Consort De was ordered by His Highness the Crown Prince to be flogged twenty times. The head of the Clothing Department was also flogged ten times on the palms for failing to properly control the embroiderers in the department.

The crowd was in an uproar, speculating about who this person was who could anger the usually good-tempered Crown Prince.

It should be noted that His Highness the Crown Prince rarely gets involved in the power struggles of the harem, but now he has taken action and lost a favored concubine, and also punished the Director of Clothing.

Who wouldn't be curious?

But the Crown Prince's Palace did not take in any new concubines. Before anyone could figure out why, Consort De was released from confinement.

After being released from confinement, Consort De went straight to Li Ziyan in the Imperial Garden and immediately questioned him, "Was it you who caused my confinement by the Emperor?"

She stood with her hands on her hips, looking somewhat domineering, but her words lacked conviction. After all, she was young, and her inner strength and authority were insufficient. Simply put, she lacked the willpower to back it up.

"It seems that after a month of confinement, Consort De has not learned her lesson." Li Ziyan was suddenly blocked in his way, and his face darkened. He looked at Consort De with great hostility.

Consort De was stunned for a moment, then gritted her teeth and said, "It really was you!"

Li Ziyan raised an eyebrow.

"I should have known it was meant for you!"

"Your Highness, Consort De," Li Ziyan's impatience grew even more apparent, "watch your words!"

"Shut up!" Consort De gritted her teeth in anger. "If it weren't for your instigation, would the Emperor have treated me like this?"

Her voice was hoarse as she questioned him, making people involuntarily prick up their ears to eavesdrop.

Seeing her emotional breakdown, Li Ziyan was no longer angry. His smile returned to its usual warmth, and his tone was very gentle. "Consort De, instead of spending your time questioning me here, why don't you think about how to win back Father Emperor's favor?"

"you!"

“Your Majesty, do not covet what is not yours,” Li Ziyan said as he walked forward, his imposing aura causing Consort De to instinctively want to back away. “How could you be worthy of being my Crown Princess?”

Seeing her trembling like a frightened bird, Li Ziyan chuckled again and left, leaving Consort De standing there, lost and dejected.

Any gossip in the harem always spreads the fastest, so it didn't take long for the palace maids and eunuchs to know that the Crown Prince's beloved was the Crown Princess who had not yet entered the palace.

Upon hearing about the events in the Imperial Garden, the Imperial Concubine was overjoyed, laughing so hard she almost fell over. "I never expected Lin Shuang to be so foolish. But this Crown Prince is truly a surprise to me; he actually managed to get the Emperor to intervene. It's just a pity about that person from the Clothing Department."

“Your Highness need not feel sorry for her. We have given her all the money and benefits we were supposed to give her. She has also received benefits, so naturally she should do her job well.” The concubine’s personal maid advised, “Your Highness is just too kind-hearted.”

The imperial concubine touched the bracelet on her wrist. The bracelet jingled as soon as it was shaken, the sound was crisp and melodious, and it was very pleasant to hear.

"Hmm, I remember she's not young?" the Imperial Concubine pondered before asking.

"Yes, I'm twenty-four."

"Hiss, could I be mistaken? I remember she's twenty-five."

Upon hearing this, the palace maid was stunned for a moment, then quickly realized, "Yes, this servant was mistaken. She has indeed reached the age where she can leave the palace to get married."

"Yes, make the arrangements well." The Imperial Concubine smiled with satisfaction, took the jingling bracelet off her arm, and handed it to the palace maid.

"Your Majesty, rest assured." The palace maid accepted the jingling bracelet with both hands, her eyes lowered.

On the other side, Chang Yi hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but stopped himself. Li Ziyan glanced at him sideways and asked, "What is it?"

“This…” Chang Yi began cautiously, “There is something this servant is unsure whether to say.”

"If you know you shouldn't say it, then don't say it," Li Ziyan said coolly.

Chang Yi lowered his head, not daring to say anything more.

He just couldn't understand why His Highness would go along with it and point the finger at Consort De, when it was clearly found out that the matter was caused by Consort Gui.

Because Li Ziyan didn't care about the truth or who the mastermind was; what he wanted was to tell everyone that Zhou Zhou was his Achilles' heel, and anyone who wasn't afraid of death could come at him.

After reminiscing, Zhibei glanced at Zhou Zhou and thought to herself: The Crown Princess gives off a feeling that is quite similar to that of His Highness the Crown Prince. When they talk, they both smile warmly, but they still make people feel fear and dare not be presumptuous.

As for Zhou Zhou, after hearing Zhi Bei's words, a different emotion rose in her heart once again, and as a result, her eyebrows and eyes softened a lot.

At this moment, Donghe returned from fetching something from the kitchen.

"Your Highness, these were all prepared in advance by the small kitchen, timed precisely. Some were just coming out of the pot when I arrived." Donghe entered with several palace maids, bowing respectfully to Zhou Zhou. "Would Your Highness like to dine now?"

Because she couldn't change her clothes all day, Zhou Zhou had only drunk a few sips of water since she got up. If she hadn't been in good health, she would have definitely fainted after all this.

"Let's set the table."

"Yes."

There were a total of twenty-four dishes, but the portions were small, and they could be finished in just two or three bites. Half of them were also easy to digest.