Marrying the Crown Prince

The palace maid spoke cautiously, "Your Majesty, His Majesty says that he is busy with state affairs today and will not be coming to dine."

"What?" the imperial concubine asked in a shrill voice.

The palace maid trembled and lowered her head even further.

Seeing this, Xingyun quickly scolded, "Useless things! What did Her Majesty raise you for?"

"This servant deserves to die! This servant deserves to die!" The palace servant hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly.

The imperial concubine glared at her and said impatiently, "Shut up, you're so noisy!"

The palace maid froze.

"Your Majesty has shown you great kindness by sparing you this time, so why don't you get lost?" Xingyun winked at him.

The palace servants saw this, remembered it, felt silently grateful, and quickly scurried out.

As the sun gradually set in the west, it hung on the mountainside, dyeing half the sky red.

Emperor Chenze sat in his sedan chair, contemplating the events of the day.

Yesterday, Empress Chu's opinion changed; he thought he should stay at Fengyi Palace for a few more days. But today, someone from Yutang Palace came to invite him to lunch...

That’s all.

"Go to Yutang Palace," he suddenly said.

Wei Yi, who was standing beside him, thought to herself: After all, she is the Imperial Concubine who has been favored for many years. Even though the sedan chair was already heading towards the Phoenix Palace, the Emperor himself changed his mind.

"Archive the carriage at Jade Hall Palace—!"

Inside the Jade Hall Palace, after listening to the Imperial Concubine's complaint, Emperor Chenze had a headache. "She's just a junior, it's not unreasonable for her to be a little impatient. You're an elder, how could you have such a sordid relationship with her?"

To be honest, Emperor Chenze was indeed dissatisfied with Zhou Zhou's actions. As a junior, she was beaten by someone close to her elders without any regard for filial piety.

However, he was the emperor, and Zhou was the crown princess. Their fates were intertwined, and she could not easily show her face to reward or punish him, otherwise others might interpret it as her having some dissatisfaction with the crown prince.

Therefore, Emperor Chenze chose to compromise.

"Your Majesty, you yourself said I am your elder. Even if Xingyue has done something wrong, she shouldn't have attacked me like this. Isn't she slapping me in the face?" The Imperial Concubine cried, her eyes brimming with tears, looking utterly pitiful. "How am I supposed to live like this?"

Emperor Chenze: "..."

No, you wouldn't die.

If you really wanted to die, you wouldn't have come to me and started yelling.

The next morning, the Imperial Concubine got up early to help Emperor Chenze wash up. Looking at the beautiful woman bustling around, Emperor Chenze's heart softened. "Alright, stop looking so sad. I'm leaving soon, can't you even smile?"

"Your Majesty, how often do you come to visit me? It's already dawn today, and you're leaving soon. How can I possibly smile?" The Imperial Concubine's eyes reddened as she hugged Emperor Chenze's waist, tilted her head back, looked at him, blinked, and looked as pitiful as a puppy.

Emperor Chenze embraced her and comforted her, "Alright, I will come to see you more often."

The two lingered tenderly for a while longer, and as the appointed time approached, Wei Yi, under pressure, spoke up, "Your Majesty..."

The imperial concubine's sharp gaze swept over him, and he cursed his bad luck inwardly.

"Hmm, let's go." Emperor Chenze left indifferently, showing no mercy.

He had barely sat in the sedan chair when he had an idea. "Weiyi, go to the Imperial Seal Office and retrieve the pair of hairpins that Empress Xiaoyi had, and send them to the Imperial Concubine's palace."

He couldn't punish the Crown Princess, but he could appease the Imperial Concubine—the Crown Princess had brought a fake, so he gave the genuine article to the Imperial Concubine.

Inside the Jade Hall Palace, Xingyue looked ashamed, "It is this servant who has disgraced Your Highness."

The Imperial Concubine gave a light snort. After all, she was someone who had been by her side for many years, so she couldn't bear to say anything harsh: "You too, how could you be so presumptuous? Even if Zhou Shi wasn't here, you still shouldn't speak to the head of the Imperial Archives like that."

"Yes, I was wrong," Xingyue said, filled with regret.

The imperial concubine waved her hand impatiently, "There's no need to mention this matter again."

She was furious. Her own people had been beaten up, and she had thought that Emperor Chenze would stand up for her and even take the blame to the Eastern Palace. Who knew that Emperor Chenze would be so biased and keep trying to smooth things over?

She exudes the aura of an imperial concubine.

Xingyun had a different opinion: "Your Majesty, please don't be angry. Although the Emperor did not punish the Crown Princess because of the Crown Prince, he must be dissatisfied with her. Similarly, he also feels guilty towards Your Majesty."

Consort Gui's mood improved somewhat as she recalled Emperor Chenze's gentleness and patience that morning.

At this moment, Wei Yi came over again with the hairpin.

There wasn't much official business today, and Emperor Chenze ended his work for the day early.

He hesitated for a moment, but still decided to go to Fengyi Palace. The reason was simple: the Consort had intercepted his plans yesterday, and he wanted to make up for it today. Besides, it would be better for Empress Chu to handle the matter between the Consort and the Crown Princess.

Inside the Phoenix Palace, Empress Chu had just gotten up when Emperor Chenze pressed her back down, saying, "Your Majesty need not be so polite."

The other party said there was no need for formalities, so Empress Chu sat down calmly.

"It's a rare treat for His Majesty to have lunch with me here," she said.

Emperor Chenze was speechless. He couldn't very well say that he had come to complain, could he?

He could only mumble, "Yes, I came over on the fifteenth and thought your pastries were pretty good."

Empress Chu: "..."

On the fifteenth, the small kitchen in Fengyi Palace was not lit, so where did the snacks come from?

In the past, she would have retorted directly; now, she would just roll her eyes silently.

Emperor Chenze's forehead twitched. What kind of expression was that?

Then, he noticed the pair of hairpins dangling from Empress Chu's head.

Speaking of this hairpin, Emperor Chenze gets angry.

He said, "The style of your hairpins is quite novel."

"Is that so?" Empress Chu reached out and smoothed the hairpin's ornament. "This was sent by the Crown Princess yesterday."

"Hmm..." Emperor Chenze answered absentmindedly, "Hmm?"

His eyes widened instantly. "This was sent by the Crown Princess?"

Emperor Chenze had been on the throne for many years and rarely got so excited, so Empress Chu looked at him strangely.

"What?" she said sarcastically. "I'm her mother-in-law. What's wrong with her bringing things over?"

At this point, Empress Chu's tone softened considerably. "These hairpins are replicas of Empress Xiaoyi's hairpins. It took the head of the Imperial Seal Office two whole months to make them."

Emperor Chenze opened his mouth, then closed it again—he had just bestowed the genuine article upon the Consort, and now the Empress appeared wearing a replica…

This...this Imperial Concubine! No wonder the Crown Princess was angry!

How could a mere imperial concubine have the audacity to steal what rightfully belonged to the empress, and even dare to file a complaint?

Empress Chu watched as her husband's face turned from green to white, then white to green again, and she thought to herself, "This is quite a sight!"

Finally, Emperor Chenze recovered his senses, looking embarrassed, and tentatively asked, "These hairpins remind me of the days when I was favored by my grandmother. I wonder if the Empress would be willing to give these hairpins to me?"

"What's wrong with this?" Empress Chu wasn't interested in it to begin with, so she plucked it off on the spot and gave it to Emperor Chenze—it's about remembering someone by looking at their face, I understand, I understand.

Emperor Chenze: "..."

You know the shit!