Marrying the Crown Prince

"This servant is not afraid of Your Highness, it's just that I did something wrong and I'm afraid of being scolded by the head maid." After saying this, the little maid looked up at Zhou Zhou eagerly, and it was clear that she hoped Zhou Zhou would say a few good words for her in front of the head maid.

This young palace maid looked quite young, probably around fifteen or sixteen years old, with a chubby face and teary eyes like a deer's; anyone who looked at her would have their heart melt.

Zhou Zhou sighed, "Poor thing."

The young palace maid's eyes lit up when she heard there was hope.

“However, the head maid’s strictness is for your own good,” Zhou Zhou changed the subject, “You should know that you offended me today. If you had offended other important people, would you still want this head on your neck?”

The little palace maid still had tears on her face as she stared blankly at Zhou Zhou, seemingly unable to believe that she would say such a thing.

Zhou Zhou lifted his foot, preparing to leave.

The young palace maid reacted quickly, grabbing Zhou Zhou's leg. "Your Highness, Your Highness, please save me, Your Highness!"

Zhou Zhou almost fell, but luckily Dong He was there and caught her.

Zhou Zhou smiled but not into her eyes, looking gently at the little palace maid, "You dirtied my skirt, and I'm not going to hold it against you; but if you continue to wail like this, I'll have to punish you."

Donghe, as the head palace maid, immediately turned fierce and menacing. "Let go of me now! Who do you think you are, daring to pull on the Crown Princess's clothes?"

The young palace maid cautiously released her grip.

At this moment, the Imperial Concubine, who had been watching the scene unfold, stepped forward and said, "Crown Princess, why are you so arrogant? Why be so unforgiving?"

"Your Highness, do you know why cats and dogs don't get along?" Zhou Zhou sighed, her tone calm, as if she were saying that the weather was nice today.

Her topic came up so suddenly that the Imperial Concubine was puzzled and pondered, quietly watching Zhou Zhou.

Zhou Zhou smiled, her smile as radiant as a flower, "As the saying goes, 'A dog catching a mouse—meddling in other people's business!'"

"You!" The imperial concubine gritted her teeth, feeling as if Zhou Zhou would be pierced by a thousand arrows by now if looks could kill.

“If Your Highness truly has a kind heart, why not apologize on behalf of this little palace maid?” Zhou Zhou’s voice was steady and powerful.

She was completely unmoved by reason, and the Imperial Concubine was at a loss for words.

Zhou Zhou continued, "So, the Imperial Concubine's kindness is nothing more than this."

After saying that, she turned and left.

After Zhou Zhou left, the Imperial Concubine's anger instantly turned to the young palace maid, "What a useless thing!"

Indeed, it was no accident that the little palace maid bumped into Zhou Zhou. She was ordered by the Imperial Concubine to wait here for Zhou Zhou and deliberately dirtied her clothes.

The Imperial Concubine has seen it. Zhou Zhou's outfit today is a new style, a new dress, which she must like. Now that her favorite clothes have been dirtied, she will definitely make trouble for the palace maid. In this way, she can't escape the image of being a vicious and ruthless person.

If Zhou Zhou were to take pity on the maid and send someone to the flower room to ask the head maid to spare the palace maid who had broken the flowers that were originally destined for the Jade Hall Palace, then Zhou Zhou could seize the opportunity to make trouble.

Who knew that this Zhou woman wouldn't play by the rules? She neither punished nor forgave anyone; she simply followed the rules and did whatever was expected.

The Imperial Concubine had amassed considerable power in the palace over the years, so the young palace maid was genuinely afraid. She kept kowtowing and admitting her mistakes, saying, "It was all my fault, Your Highness, please forgive me."

The palace maid beside the imperial concubine spat and kicked her, knocking her to the ground. "Get out of here! What are you doing here, making a fool of yourself!"

The palace maid scrambled away.

The Imperial Concubine said bitterly, "The Empress is clumsy with words, but she ended up marrying a sharp-tongued daughter-in-law whose words are like knives. She is truly hateful!"

"Your Majesty, rest assured, with a Crown Princess like this, the Empress will have plenty of headaches to deal with in the future," the palace maid comforted her.

The thought of Empress Chu and Zhou Zhou fighting like dogs made the Consort feel that she had finally gotten her revenge.

She gave a cold laugh. "At her age, she's already so hard-hearted. Your Majesty, you'd better step up your game."

Back at the East Palace, Zhou Zhou hadn't even changed out of her dirty clothes when Li Ziyan returned.

Although it wasn't exactly a mess, it inevitably made people wonder if Zhou Zhou had been bullied by someone while she was out.

"What happened?" he asked.

"It was the Imperial Concubine's doing." Zhou Zhou glanced at the hem of her skirt and sighed silently.

This morning at Fengyi Palace, I had just confronted the Imperial Concubine, and then I ran into this incident. The Imperial Concubine even showed up at the scene of the crime. If you say she's innocent? Not even a dog would believe it!

Thinking of this, Zhou Zhou raised her eyes, took a sip, and looked at Li Ziyan with a sad expression, "Your Highness, I have suffered a great injustice today."

She acted so casually that it was obvious at a glance, which made Li Ziyan somewhat amused and exasperated. However, he still played along and put on an act, putting his arm around her and leading her into the inner room. "Your Highness, you've had a hard time. Would you like me to help you get revenge?"

"Let's talk about it later. I want to try it myself," Zhou Zhou replied, opening the wardrobe and taking out a simple dress. "Now, I'll trouble Your Highness to help me change."

"Yes," Li Ziyan replied respectfully.

After changing his clothes, Zhou Zhou finally got down to business, "Why are you back so early today?"

"The King of Qixi has arrived." Li Ziyan rubbed his temples, clearly not pleased with the news.

The arrival of Su and Cao Du means that Li Zixi's wedding date with them needs to be set.

Upon hearing him mention this, Zhou Zhou couldn't help but wonder: Was this also being discussed in court today?

However, her expression remained calm and unchanged. "So this is what they were talking about at the morning court session."

"No, some officials in the court may have already received the news, but they haven't said it openly yet," Li Ziyan answered very honestly. "I heard this news from elsewhere."

At this point, he frowned and looked at Zhou Zhou with a puzzled expression, "But you seem to have known about this all along."

"She told me this morning when I went to pay my respects to the Empress Dowager, and asked me to pass it on to you so that you can be prepared," Zhou Zhou said.

“My maternal grandfather and uncle are indeed very knowledgeable about the news.” Li Ziyan nodded, not dwelling on the matter.

Meanwhile, inside the Phoenix Palace, Empress Chu couldn't help but burst into laughter after hearing Ruosong's report.

The affair between Zhou Zhou and the Imperial Concubine occurred in public, so it couldn't be kept secret. Before lunchtime, the news reached Empress Chu's ears.

"I didn't like this daughter-in-law very much before, but now it seems that she's not entirely useless."