Marrying the Crown Prince

Zhou Zhou's timing was perfect; Dong and the others had already returned with the meals.

"Your Highness, Your Majesty, is it time for your meal?" Donghe curtsied and asked.

“Alright, let’s change the meal arrangement.” Zhou Zhou nodded.

After the meal was set out, Zhou Zhou waved for the palace servants to leave. She and Li Ziyan both preferred to serve themselves, and since they were on their own turf, they naturally did whatever made them comfortable.

They ate and slept in silence, and the two of them finished their lunch quietly.

After finishing their meal, Li Ziyan and Zhou Zhou did not immediately take a nap, but instead drank tea.

Looking at the tea set laid out on the table, Li Ziyan's eyes suddenly lit up. "You've always been the one pouring the tea, now it's your turn to taste my cooking."

"I witnessed Your Highness's skill at Yongxing Temple long ago."

Yongxing Temple was the place where Zhou Zhou and Su Ye, the young master of the Duke of Dingguo's mansion, met.

Speaking of the past, Li Ziyan's expression softened a bit. "Yes, I still remember. Back then, you were quite afraid of me."

It was quite a coincidence that I happened to be at Yongxing Temple when I ran into Zhou Zhou and other random men there.

Afterwards, she was very indifferent to him, as if she wanted to avoid him at the mere mention of his name. He couldn't say he was in a good mood at the time.

"His Highness was incredibly noble at the time, and he exuded an aura that seemed to travel from a thousand miles away. I wasn't afraid of His Highness; I was simply captivated by his demeanor." Zhou Zhou's phoenix eyes flickered slightly, sparkling with starlight, carrying a hint of lightness and playfulness.

"Hmm, you have a lot of fallacies," Li Ziyan commented calmly, her hands moving without stopping as she quickly brewed the tea.

With a gentle flick of his wrist, the tea flowed in a beautiful arc, falling into the cup with a melodious "gurgling" sound.

Li Ziyan placed the teacup in front of Zhou Zhou, saying, "Your Highness, please have some tea."

"Thank you for your trouble," Zhou Zhou replied calmly, picking up his teacup and savoring the tea.

Setting down his teacup, Li Ziyan asked a question, not about the aroma of the tea, but about something else entirely—

"Did you go out to play today?"

“Yes,” Zhou Zhou did not hide anything, “I went to the Treasure Bureau, met an interesting person, and even found a nice item.”

"Oh?" Li Ziyan raised an eyebrow with interest.

"The item is a pair of blue phoenix hairpins. I thought the Empress Dowager would like them, so I took them to her while I was at it," Zhou Zhou said leisurely.

Seeing that she didn't bring it up, Li Ziyan stopped dwelling on the matter. He tapped the table lightly with his finger, his expression calm. "Hmm, you're thoughtful."

"Where is His Highness?" Zhou Zhou asked as well. "Why did he come back so early today?"

It's not that they came back so early, it's that they were in such a hurry to get back.

In the past, Li Ziyan would sometimes return early, but no matter what, he would always send someone to tell Zhou Zhou an hour before lunch to clarify whether he would be back for lunch that day.

But today, Li Ziyan suddenly appeared in Changxin Palace. Zhou Zhou didn't believe that nothing had happened.

Her casual question stumped Li Ziyan.

I had just decided not to ask anymore, but then the other party contacted me again, which caught me completely off guard.

“I heard about the matter concerning the Imperial Archives,” Li Ziyan hesitated for a moment, then decided to just say it directly, since there was nothing to hide. “I rushed back immediately, but then I heard from a palace servant that you had gone to the Phoenix Palace, so I returned to the Changxin Palace to wait for you.”

Zhou Zhou frowned slightly. "It's just a small matter. Why is Your Highness so distraught?"

Li Ziyan sighed, "I...I got flustered because I was worried."

He worried that the Imperial Concubine would also attack directly like Zhou Zhou, and that Zhou Zhou would suffer if he wasn't there; he was also worried that Zhou Zhou wouldn't be able to handle the aftermath, so he wanted to come and help her think of a solution.

When he actually met Zhou Zhou, he realized how absurd his idea had been.

"Your Highness, rest assured, I will not be bullied by others," Zhou Zhou said.

Inside the Jade Hall Palace, the Imperial Concubine looked at the slap mark on Xingyue's face with shock and anger, and cursed loudly, "She really gave her too much face!"

With a roar, the imperial concubine, still not satisfied, smashed the vase on the table to the ground, making a crisp, loud sound.

The palace servants inside the hall all bowed their heads, not daring to breathe loudly.

Upon hearing the sound, Xingyun quickened her pace and hurriedly entered the hall, where she was met with a scene of utter chaos.

She didn't know what had happened, but she reacted in an instant. She calmly stepped forward and said softly, "Your Majesty, please don't upset yourself."

Upon seeing that the speaker was Xingyun, the Imperial Concubine remained silent despite her cold expression.

"Look, how could you be so careless as to break the bottle?" Xingyun said, directing the palace servants in the hall. "Come on, quickly sweep it up."

The palace servant breathed a sigh of relief, quickly cleaned up the floor, took the broken pieces, and left gracefully.

The main gate was tightly shut, not even a fly could get in, and only the master and his servant remained inside the hall.

Xingyun glared at Xingyue, "What happened? You went out and came back with a slap mark on your face?"

If something happens, you don't even bother to deal with it, you just let it pass by like this. How can the master not be angry when he sees this?

Besides, she was already a senior palace maid serving the Imperial Concubine. How could she be bullied by others when she was out and about, and then dare to come and complain after being bullied?

Aren't you ashamed?

Xingyue didn't notice Xingyun's displeasure. When she heard Xingyun's question, her expression became even more aggrieved. "It's all because of the Crown Princess. She's the one who ordered people to beat me."

"That vile woman is truly hateful!" the Imperial Concubine chimed in, adding her own humorous comment.

Xingyun, with her clear mind, wasn't fooled. "Why did the Crown Princess punish you? What wrong did you do?"

"I...I didn't." Xingyue's expression changed slightly, and her eyes darted away.

Xingyun fell silent: In other words, if you're going to pretend, at least make it look convincing.

The Imperial Concubine showed no displeasure. "Even if Xingyue has something to do, it's not her place to punish her."

"She did it on purpose."

"A gentleman would not leave this grudge unavenged."

"I will make her pay the price and teach her a lesson about who is easy to mess with and who is not."

Hearing the Consort's words over and over, Xingyun knew that this matter was not going to end well.

However, there's nothing wrong with it. After all, the person the Crown Princess hit was a well-known palace maid in Yutang Palace. Who would believe that this wasn't just looking for trouble?

"Go," the Imperial Concubine thought it through and decided to make a big deal out of it, shifting the focus from Zhou Zhou to Li Ziyan, "send someone to the Imperial Study to invite the Emperor over for lunch."

"Yes."

The palace servant who had gone to the Imperial Study returned quickly.

"What did His Majesty say?" The Imperial Concubine asked arrogantly, quite pleased with herself.