Marrying the Crown Prince

Ruosong instructed a palace maid from Fengyi Palace to bring over a chair and place it to the left of Empress Chu. Zhou Zhou calmly sat down.

The placement of this chair is both good and bad.

First of all, the concubines seated at the lower level are all consorts of Emperor Chenze. Strictly speaking, they can be considered Zhou Zhou's elders. There is an order of seniority, and it is indeed not appropriate for a junior to sit at the upper level.

But is it really not good?

In this world, besides the young and the old, there is also the hierarchy of status.

The Crown Princess of the Eastern Palace has no official rank, which makes Zhou Zhou more noble than any of the concubines sitting below her.

Therefore, it was not entirely unreasonable for Zhou Zhou to sit next to Empress Chu; it all depended on Empress Chu's mood and whether she was willing.

“Being a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law really makes a difference. Even the Empress is showing concern for the Crown Princess.” The Consort spoke first when she saw Zhou Zhou sitting at the head of the table.

After all, in recent days, rumors have been circulating throughout the palace, all saying that Empress Chu and the Crown Princess have a bad relationship.

To the Consort and others, Empress Chu's current demeanor was nothing more than an act.

It's quite rare that Empress Chu, who has held the position of Empress for so many years, has actually learned to act.

Zhou Zhou looked at the Imperial Concubine with a smile, "Your Highness has a keen eye, discovering the hairpin that the Empress Dowager bestowed upon me so quickly?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Empress Chu glanced at her head.

To be honest, after Ruosong went to the storeroom to pick out the hairpins, he did show them to her, but she didn't look at them at all and just waved her hand to have them sent over. So Empress Chu didn't know that the hairpin Zhou Zhou was wearing was a gift from her.

However, there are naturally explanations for this.

"I see that the pair of tassel hairpins on the Crown Princess's head seem to have been given to Her Majesty by His Majesty a few years ago on Her Majesty the Empress's birthday." Consort Shu, being an expert in all things in the harem, immediately pointed out the origin of the hairpins on Zhou Zhou's head.

Zhou Zhou's brow twitched; she had never imagined that these hairpins had such a story behind them.

Empress Chu turned her gaze back to Zhou Zhou's head and sincerely affirmed that the Emperor's taste was indeed good; these hairpins were truly beautiful.

Then she finally remembered why she had left the hairpins unused: they were exquisite but lacked elegance, and at her age, they were no longer suitable for her to wear.

"You are young and more beautiful than flowers. Wearing this on your head looks very nice." Empress Chu's gaze shifted to Zhou Zhou's face. She had to admit that her daughter-in-law was beautiful and knew how to dress herself up. She made her seven points of beauty into nine. In the harem where beauties were everywhere, she could win a place with her beauty.

"Speaking of which, I must thank the Empress Dowager for the reward." After Zhou Zhou finished speaking, she looked up at the Imperial Concubine below, her eyes smiling, as if asking a question, yet also as if mocking.

The Imperial Concubine gritted her teeth, feeling that this Zhou woman was truly troublesome; she had already suffered several setbacks at her hands.

Empress Chu, upon hearing Zhou Zhou's words, realized what was going on. Her face was full of anticipation, and her eyes shone brightly as she asked, "Did you two like the fabric I bestowed upon the Noble Consort and the Consort De yesterday?"

If Empress Chu hadn't spoken up, Consort Gui and Consort De could have pretended not to know.

But now that Empress Chu had spoken frankly, they could only stand up and say, "Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty."

Seeing the two women bowing before her, Empress Chu was very pleased. However, she wanted them to keep bowing for a while, so she spoke slowly, "Well, I'm glad you like it. I see that the colors are so vibrant. In this palace, only the two of you would look good in these colors. If you look good, the Emperor will be happy, and I will be happy too."

The fact that Empress Chu could bestow such fine clothing upon her favored concubine, and then utter such tactful words, makes it hard not to speculate.

Consort Mei looked at Zhou Zhou, her intuition telling her that Zhou Zhou was definitely behind today's events.

Therefore, Consort Mei spoke up, saying, "Her Majesty the Empress is just like the Emperor, so biased. She always favors Consort Gui and Consort De when there's something good."

"Look at you, even being jealous." Empress Chu said with a smile, and then said to the two people who were still bowing, "Oh, why haven't you gotten up yet? Get up quickly."

Knowing full well that the other party was being deliberately obstinate, the Imperial Concubine and the Consort De suppressed the urge to roll their eyes and thanked her again, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Seeing how frustrated the two women were, Empress Chu was in an extremely good mood. So, after all the other concubines left, Zhou Zhou remained in the Phoenix Palace.

"What are your orders, Mother?"

"What? Can't I keep you here for a chat if there's nothing wrong?"

"Mother," Zhou Zhou said gently, but not in a way that suggested she was giving in, "what are you saying? It is my greatest honor to stay and keep you company!"

Empress Chu: "..."

She was clearly saying nice things, but it sounded like she was swearing.

However, Empress Chu did not keep Zhou Zhou for long before telling her directly, "The King of Qixi is coming."

It was Su and Cao Du who were engaged to the Seventh Princess, Li Zixi.

Zhou Zhou was somewhat shocked. Such a matter should have been spread to the imperial court first, so... was Li Ziyan intentionally keeping it from him or had he never even considered informing him of it?

The former was afraid of making a mistake, while the latter felt that women in the inner quarters should not be involved in court affairs.

Either way, it's quite unpleasant.

Zhou Zhou lowered his eyes, his calm gaze seemingly concealing an undercurrent that could unleash turbulent waves and capsize boats at any moment.

"This matter has not yet reached the capital, and I'm afraid the court hasn't received the news yet either," Empress Chu added. "For now, don't make a fuss about it; just inform Jin You about it."

Zhou Zhou paused for a moment, so she had just misunderstood Li Ziyan...?

But where did Empress Chu learn of this information?

"Is this news reliable?" Zhou Zhou asked.

"Don't worry," Empress Chu said arrogantly, raising her chin. "This message came from my father and brothers."

It turns out that it was sent by the Marquis of Beiping.

Indeed, the territory guarded by the Marquis of Beiping did not border the Kingdom of Qixi, but it was in the vicinity.

After informing Zhou Zhou of the news, Empress Chu immediately ordered everyone to leave, saying, "Alright, go back now."

"Your subject takes his leave." Zhou Zhou rose and left.

After leaving Fengyi Palace, she walked quickly towards the East Palace. Although Li Ziyan might not have finished court yet, Zhou Zhou wanted to get to the East Palace as soon as possible so she could deal with those messy affairs.

Whether it was because she was walking too fast or not, at a corner, Zhou Zhou bumped into a palace maid carrying a flowerpot.

The flowerpot fell to the ground and shattered instantly, scattering floral foam all over the ground, some of which even got on Zhou Zhou's shoes and skirt.

"This servant deserves to die, Your Highness, please forgive me." When the palace maid saw that it was Zhou Zhou, she hurriedly knelt on the ground, her back bent down, wishing she could bury herself in the ground.

Zhou Zhou's eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of gray, his deep black eyes revealing no emotion whatsoever. His voice, however, sounded quite interested, "Who are you? Why are you so afraid of me?"