Marrying the Crown Prince

Empress Chu took a deep breath, paused for a moment, and then suddenly had a flash of inspiration. "Jinyou, where do you usually have lunch?"

That's a good question. If Li Ziyan is relatively free that day, he will return to the Changxin Hall of the East Palace to dine with Zhou Zhou; if he has many official duties that day, he will dine in the Mingde Hall.

Based on the past few days, the probability of Li Ziyan returning to the East Palace for a meal is about 50/50.

"Your subject does not know either," Zhou Zhou chose to tell the truth.

Empress Chu narrowed her eyes, looking at Zhou Zhou with an unfriendly expression. "You are my son's wife. My son is working himself to the bone in Mingde Palace, and you're thinking of enjoying a life of leisure with me?"

A question mark slowly appeared above Zhou Zhou's head.

"When the time comes, you can send the meal to Mingde Palace," Empress Chu continued, her tone firm and leaving no room for refusal.

The Mingde Hall was where the Crown Prince worked, just as the Emperor's study was, and it was not to be entered lightly.

Of course, if the Crown Prince agrees, it's not impossible to enter; for example, Emperor Chenze once summoned his favored concubine to the Imperial Study to grind ink and add fragrance to her life.

"I hope Your Majesty doesn't mind that I'm delaying the Crown Prince's official duties." Zhou Zhou agreed, but made it clear beforehand that there might be some unpleasantness involved.

As the Empress Dowager herself loved her son dearly, she knew he was frail and wanted him to eat well. As for anything else, she had no other requests.

She gave a light hum, which was taken as an agreement, "Hmph, just send it over then."

This topic finally came to an end, and Zhou Zhou began to explain the purpose of her visit to Fengyi Palace that day.

She took something from Jufang's hand: a brand-new headband made of white fox fur and otter skin. It was narrow in the middle and wider at both ends, with a red agate stone in the very center. The agate stone was surrounded by a circle of crystal-clear gemstones, making it even more dazzling.

"This is something I made myself for Mother Empress recently, as a special tribute to her."

The other one was the pair of hairpins she had just gotten from the jewelry store.

"This is something I just got from the Imperial Household Department. It is said that the head of the department spent two whole months replicating the hair ornament of Empress Xiaoyi."

Empress Xiaoyi was Emperor Chenze's grandmother and had taught him for a period of time. She passed away when Emperor Chenze was a child at the age of seventy-four.

The Queen of Chu was quite interested in the fluffy headband, but unfortunately it was the hot summer, not the best time to wear it.

As for the pair of hairpins, if Zhou Zhou hadn't mentioned Empress Xiaoyi, Empress Chu wouldn't have even bothered to glance at them.

"Mother, please keep this forehead ribbon for winter; as for these hairpins, Mother, you must wear them tomorrow, or I will be sad." Zhou Zhou said, opening the box to reveal the exquisite hair ornaments.

Empress Chu never paid much attention to her appearance, so she glanced at it briefly, found nothing wrong with it, and gave a faint "hmm".

Coming to Fengyi Palace to deliver gifts was just an excuse; the main reason was—

"I heard that Father Emperor bestowed many gifts upon Mother Empress today." Zhou Zhou rested his right elbow on the armrest of the chair, propped his chin on his fingers, and leaned his body towards Empress Chu, looking very interested, as if he was genuinely interested in this matter.

Speaking of this, Empress Chu became proud, "Indeed, His Majesty bestowed many gifts upon us today."

"Mother, as the saying goes, one should not be arrogant when rich, nor flaunt one's wealth. If others ask you about it, please do not make a sound." Zhou Zhou finally revealed his purpose for today.

Empress Chu curled her lips dismissively. In her opinion, Consort Gui and Consort De always showed off whenever they received a reward. Now that it was finally her turn, how could she not show off?

Zhou Zhou could tell from her expression that she hadn't listened to a word he said earlier.

She sighed helplessly, but continued to advise, "As the saying goes, the more you say, the more mistakes you make. Your Majesty should spend less time with the likes of Consort Gui and Consort De."

Empress Chu rolled her eyes. "When did I associate with them?"

Zhou Zhou's lips twitched. He felt he still had to do something to scare Empress Chu, to make her afraid of him. That way, she would do whatever he said instead of asking irrelevant questions.

"Your Majesty knows that Your Majesty would disdain to associate with them. Therefore, Your Majesty would never be like them, eager to announce to the world any reward you receive," Zhou Zhou said with a smile.

Empress Chu was flattered and nodded with a smile, then... fell into deep thought.

Damn it, was I just fooled?

However, agreeing is one thing, doing it is another.

Having figured this out, Empress Chu waved her hand, signaling Zhou Zhou to leave quickly, "It's about time, hurry up and send the meal to Mingde Hall."

Zhou Zhou sensed that Empress Chu was unwilling to listen to him anymore and was intentionally trying to get rid of him. However, there was nothing he could do about it, so he could only get up and take his leave.

Originally, he was prepared to obediently listen to Empress Chu and go to Mingde Hall to take a look. However, as soon as he returned to Changxin Hall in the East Palace, he saw a figure half leaning on the couch. Who else could it be but Li Ziyan?

"Your Highness, why didn't you say anything before coming back for dinner today?" Zhou Zhou said with a smile as he stepped forward.

"It's alright, I've already told the kitchen to add more dishes." Li Ziyan said as he sat up straight and beckoned Zhou Zhou over.

Zhou Zhou didn't walk over directly. Instead, she picked up the pajamas she had made and tossed aside before walking over. "I thought you would be busy today, so I was thinking of waiting until you came back tonight to give them to you to try on."

Li Ziyan took the garment and examined it carefully. The stitching was fine, and although the flowers, plants, and trees embroidered on it weren't exactly lifelike or picturesque, they were still quite good. The overall workmanship of the garment could be considered above average.

Such skill level would probably be insufficient to enter the palace as an embroiderer; however, it would be quite rare for a noblewoman to possess such talent.

"This must have taken a lot of your effort, right?" Li Ziyan was deeply moved.

“Hmm…” Zhou Zhou hesitated for a moment, but decided to tell the truth, “It didn’t take very long.”

After hearing her words, Li Ziyan remained silent for a while, but still stubbornly continued her self-conquest.

He gently took Zhou Zhou's hand and patted it lightly. "Learning needlework must be very hard for you, right?"

Zhou Zhou blinked – this, this isn't actually that hard.

Having read Zhou Zhou's thoughts, Li Ziyan raised an eyebrow, somewhat incredulous at his own guess, "You haven't been studying for very long?"