Marrying the Crown Prince

After spending a day at the inn, the next morning, fearing the sun, they got up early again, mounted their horses, and rode off.

At dawn, a thin mist hangs over the rolling mountains, making the scenery of Xizhou hazy and dreamlike.

A gentle breeze caressed my face, and glistening dewdrops rolled off the large leaves.

Finally, before the sun rose high in the sky, the group arrived at the mountain villa.

This villa was Li Ziyan's private property, so the villa manager did not know any of them.

He pushed open the door and asked curiously, "Excuse me?"

Li Ziyan took off his waist token, handed it to the head of the estate, and waved it.

The head steward squinted and carefully examined the documents for a while before beaming with delight. He bowed deeply and said, "Master, Madam, you've finally arrived."

Yes, once it was decided that they would go out to play, Li Ziyan had someone inform the head of the village.

Knowing that the owner was coming for a vacation, the head of the estate did a thorough cleaning, tidying up the rooms, and buying supplies. He was busy for quite a while and managed to clean the estate from top to bottom.

Who knew that after they finished their work, they still hadn't seen the boss. They could only wait and wait. After two days, the boss finally arrived.

Li Ziyan and Zhou Zhou went inside, and as they walked, Li Ziyan instructed, "Go and prepare some breakfast. It doesn't need to be lavish, just the things you usually eat will do."

Li Ziyan and Zhou Zhou certainly couldn't stomach the food that poor families usually ate; but the head of the manor was a well-off family, so what they ate was definitely not something like coarse rice and steamed buns.

Furthermore, even if Li Ziyan said it that way, how could they dare to actually feed their master those coarse things?

However, since the host wanted things to be simple, naturally they wouldn't serve ten or eight dishes.

Zhuangzi's aunt took out fine flour and kneaded it skillfully. Her daughter-in-law cut pickled radish (commonly known as preserved radish) into small cubes, chopped it into minced meat, added chopped green onions and egg liquid, and fried it until it turned slightly yellow. The preserved radish was wrapped in egg, tender on the outside and crisp on the inside, with a delicious taste.

Once the noodles are cooked, drain them and add lard that has been sautéed with scallions, ginger, and garlic. Then, make a soy sauce with various seasonings and mix it all together with the noodles. Finally, top it with a layer of savory braised meat, and a bowl of fragrant mixed noodles is ready.

Two dishes were still too meager, so they stir-fried some greens and made a whole pig soup with wolfberry leaves.

The food prepared by the farmers wasn't very well presented, but it tasted really good. Moreover, they didn't serve much food; it was all in small portions, and Zhou Zhou and Li Ziyan finished it all.

After eating and drinking their fill, the mountain breeze was refreshing. Zhou Zhou and Li Ziyan no longer stayed indoors and went to the fishpond in front of the door to fish.

The two sat under the shade of a tree, enjoying the breeze, and leaned back lazily in their chairs.

"What should we do if we can't catch any fish?" Zhou Zhou asked.

Li Ziyan squinted, looking quite content. "It's alright, we don't necessarily have to eat fish."

As they were talking, several of the village head's grandsons and granddaughters ran out.

Several children ran to the fishpond in one go. When they saw the distinguished guests, they were a little stunned. The one in the front line stopped in his tracks, but the children behind did not notice and almost bumped into them.

The leader glared back, and the children pushed and shoved each other until they reached Zhou Zhou and Li Ziyan, looking at them helplessly.

Zhou Zhou raised an eyebrow, watching them with great interest.

The oldest one tried hard to recall, then stiffened and bowed; the younger ones followed suit, bowing awkwardly as well.

"Greetings to the master and his wife."

Seeing their reaction, Zhou Zhou and Li Ziyan chuckled, softening their voices and gentle expressions, "Yes, go have some fun."

With a shout, they ran off again, circling the fishpond until they reached the opposite side of Zhou Zhou. They quickly rolled up their sleeves and trouser legs, jumped into the pond, and began retrieving the fish and shrimp traps placed there.

“If there is an afterlife,” Li Ziyan said with emotion, “being a country bumpkin wouldn’t be bad either.”

Zhou Zhou tilted his head and thought for a moment, then laughed, "If I were to be reborn into a wealthy family in the next life, that would be good. But I'm afraid I won't accumulate enough merit in this life, and I'll be born into poverty in the next."

Upon hearing this, Li Ziyan frowned, pondered for a moment, and then said in a low voice, "Then I will definitely be a wise and virtuous ruler in this life."

Only in this way can we accumulate countless merits, so that we can be reborn into a good family in our next life.

As for whether or not to rekindle their relationship, Li Ziyan believes that they should cherish each other in this life and not let down their encounter. The path in the next life will be determined by its own destiny.

Although he put it simply, Zhou Zhou understood, and a smile appeared in the corner of her eye. "Okay."

As night fell, the moonlight outside was as silvery as snow, shining through the window and spilling onto the ground as if a layer of white frost had formed.

The cicadas chirped and the frogs croaked, creating a noisy scene, yet Zhou Zhou felt an unprecedented tranquility and peace.

The candlelight was burning in the room. Zhou Zhou was playing with a feathered arrow, turning it around, and then casually tossing it. The arrow landed straight in the ear-piercing pot, which was ten feet away from her.

Li Ziyan: "..."

Is this how you teach?

Zhou Zhou chuckled and explained somewhat embarrassedly, "I suddenly felt like doing this; it wasn't intentional."

In a good mood, I got carried away and showed off a skill.

After finishing his explanation, Zhou Zhou prepared to tell him the techniques for generating force in pitch-pot, but Li Ziyan lost interest in that and asked about something else, "How did you manage to spin the arrow like that?"

"This."

Zhou Zhou reached out and grabbed Li Ziyan's hand, explaining to him how the arrow passed around those fingers and how to hold it properly.

Li Ziyan tried it but failed, which is normal.

He picked up the feathered arrow that had fallen onto the soft couch and asked, "Is this thing like twirling a calligraphy brush?"

“This… should be the same,” Zhou Zhou hesitated for a moment, then advised, “However, it’s better not to turn it, after all… the nib is full of ink.”

It's better if you don't share it, because once you do, you'll get ink all over your face.

Li Ziyan fell silent.

"However, you can still play the flute or the xiao (a type of vertical flute) or something similar."

Just then, a deafening banging came from the front door. Zhou Zhou and Li Ziyan stopped smiling and exchanged a glance.

"Coming, coming! Who is it?" The head of the village rushed to open the door. "Stop knocking."

If you keep hitting it, the door will break.

The door creaked open a crack, and the head of the village saw a disheveled woman in red through the gap. "You... young lady, what brings you here?"

"Uncle, may I stay here for the night?" the woman said, reaching out to push the door, but naturally, she couldn't move it.

"Tsk," the woman frowned, looking impatient, "I will pay."

The village headman, blocking the door, thought to himself: "That was close! This girl looks so thin, how come she's so strong? I almost got pushed away."

“Young lady, this estate doesn’t belong to me, otherwise I would have let you stay here,” the estate manager replied honestly.

In his view, this place was in the middle of nowhere, and the sun had already set. It was too dangerous for a little girl to wander around outside like this.