Marrying the Crown Prince

"Sister-in-law is a very cheerful person, so I won't stand on ceremony." Qin Wei found that Zhou Zhou was easier to get along with than she had imagined, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhou Zhou, recalling what Qin Wei had just said, followed up by asking, "Is Your Majesty going to pay your respects to the Imperial Concubine?"

“Sister-in-law, you guessed correctly, but only half right.” Qin Wei felt a headache coming on when Zhou Zhou mentioned the Imperial Concubine and thought of the Imperial Concubine’s instructions. “I have already paid my respects to Mother and just came out of there. I didn’t expect to run into you here, sister-in-law.”

What a coincidence! It was just that the Imperial Concubine heard from a palace maid that the Crown Princess was admiring flowers nearby, so she let Qin Wei leave the palace ahead of time.

So Qin Wei and Zhou Zhou, these two sisters-in-law, met.

"I just came from my grandmother's house. Since it's still early, I thought I'd take a walk around, since I've never done this before," Zhou Zhou said frankly.

"Your Majesty the Empress Dowager," Qin Wei said, closing her eyes slightly and somewhat embarrassed, "I'm not afraid of being laughed at by my sister-in-law, but I can only go in and kowtow to Your Majesty on the first day of the Lunar New Year every year."

Zhou Zhou felt that she should be like Qin Wei.

However, this is not necessarily a bad thing. It is such a fortunate thing to have an elder who doesn't like to give unsolicited advice.

"Sister-in-law, there's a pavilion over there. If you're not busy, why don't we go sit there for a while?" Qin Wei suggested. It was a perfectly normal thing to say, but as she spoke, her face turned red, and she felt incredibly guilty.

Zhou Zhou thought of the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet last year. At that time, Qin Wei gave her the feeling of being innocent and naive, like a child who had never experienced anything. So... was she really innocent?

Regardless of the situation, Zhou Zhou was not afraid in front of so many people, so he readily agreed.

"How could I refuse my sister-in-law's invitation?"

The two walked over, and Qin Wei instructed her personal maid to bring tea and snacks. The place they went to was still the Imperial Concubine's Jade Hall Palace.

The maid curtsied and left. Zhou Zhou looked at Qin Wei with interest. "It seems that the Imperial Concubine dotes on her sister-in-law."

Hearing Zhou Zhou mention the Imperial Concubine, Qin Wei's eyes and brows lit up with a smile. "My mother is a very kind person. She dotes on me just like the Prince."

Being loved by one's father and mother at home, and pampered by one's mother-in-law and husband after marriage—this is perhaps the luckiest person.

“My sister-in-law has a beautiful smile. I often hear my nanny say that a cheerful smile brings good luck.”

"Sister-in-law is right, I have indeed always been very lucky." Qin Wei completely agreed with what Zhou Zhou said.

She was born into a happy and fulfilling family, married a gentle and considerate husband, had a kind mother-in-law, and her first child was a boy.

Qin Wei often thought that such good fortune in this life must be the result of accumulating good karma over several lifetimes.

Soon, the conversation turned to the baby boy she had given birth to, Emperor Chenze's first grandchild—Li Xicheng.

"Sister-in-law hasn't met Cheng'er yet, has she? Another day, I'll take him to the palace and let him meet his aunt."

“Since you’ve said so, sister-in-law, then I have no choice but to give you this gift.” After thinking for a moment, Zhou Zhou took off the jade pendant from her body.

This jade is green jade, with a hollowed-out carving of a Qilin standing on auspicious clouds, looking majestic and awe-inspiring.

"This design is incredibly intricate, showing the craftsman's dedication." Qin Wei took the jade pendant and gently stroked it.

“This is a craftsman named Jin Kang, introduced by my uncle. Although he is young, his skills are quite good. If you have anything you want to have made, you can ask him to give it a try.” Zhou Zhou enthusiastically recommended the craftsman.

The uncle in question was not from the Gao family, but from the Du family.

Jin Kang is a skilled craftsman with a good character, and Zhou Zhou has already gotten quite a few good items from him.

Qin Wei was tasked with getting along well with Zhou Zhou, so she readily agreed to the person Zhou Zhou recommended, saying, "Okay, I happen to have a pair of bracelets that need to be made."

Since we didn't have any bracelets to make before, we do now.

"I'll accept the gifts, and I'll shamelessly thank my sister-in-law on behalf of my Cheng'er."

"You're too kind, sister-in-law."

"Speaking of jade pendants, I heard from my mother that Father Emperor gave you another jade pendant today?" Qin Wei lowered her eyes as she spoke, not daring to look directly at Zhou Zhou. "So, it seems that you are truly favored by Father Emperor, as he has already bestowed two jade pendants upon you."

“Father is kind and benevolent; he treats every junior like this.” Zhou Zhou smiled faintly. “Sister-in-law, don’t you think so?”

After hearing this, Qin Wei could only reply dryly, "Yes, yes."

She was extremely anxious, because the Imperial Concubine had given her more than one task. Another task was to try to find out why Emperor Chenze had bestowed that dragon-patterned jade pendant upon Zhou Zhou.

But Zhou Zhou was like an eel; it was almost impossible to get any secrets out of her.

Finally, after they had chatted for about half an hour, Zhou Zhou had gotten a lot of information out of Qin Wei, and she decided to say goodbye.

Seeing Zhou Zhou about to leave, Qin Wei closed her eyes, steeled her resolve, and stood up abruptly. "Sister-in-law, wait, I..."

Zhou Zhou blinked, and asked with some confusion, "Sister-in-law, is there anything else?"

“Um…” Qin Wei found it difficult to speak, but she had to say it, so each word seemed to be spit out one by one from her throat. “Um, I’m very curious why Father Emperor bestowed that dragon-patterned jade pendant upon my younger brother and sister-in-law before. Because this pattern is exclusive to the imperial family. I, I don’t mean anything else, I just want to ask why Father Emperor likes my younger brother and sister-in-law so much. Um, that’s it.”

Zhou Zhou laughed, "It's just about this. Sister-in-law, just say it directly. There's no need to feel embarrassed."

"It was because I told a joke that day that made my father happy. He was so pleased that he rewarded me with the jade pendant."

A joke?

"What...what kind of joke is that?" Qin Wei stared wide-eyed with curiosity. Her mind told her that Zhou Zhou was lying to her, but her nature made her choose to believe him.

“In the past, there was a dissolute young man in the capital who idled away his days. My father gave him a good beating and sent him to school.”

One day, Confucius asked, "What is the most precious thing a person can have in their life?" Confucius replied, "Four arrows."

"But he is not a martial artist and has no strength to even kill a chicken. How could he think that the four arrows are the most precious things?"

"Yes, why is that?" Qin Wei frowned and began to think seriously.