Marrying the Crown Prince

After asking around, Consort Mei made a decision: Zhou Cheng'an was courteous and diligent in his studies; Zhou Zhou was intelligent, tactful, and unassuming.

Neither of the children resembled their father.

In other words, how intelligent must Gao have been to give birth to two such outstanding children as Zhou Cheng'an and Zhou Zhou?

She then let go of the children's inhibitions and asked Li Zichen and Li Zixi to take their cousins ​​out to play.

Knowing that Zhou Heng and Zhou Cong, two sturdy girls, were about to leave her sight, Zhang Shi became a little nervous. "This...won't this disturb the ladies of the palace?"

Consort Mei pouted and said with dissatisfaction, "This is the first time the children have come to the palace, and they still have to be at the mercy of the palace staff. What have I done by staying here for so many years?"

Zhang dared not respond to this, and could only give the two monkeys a warning look.

Zhang was indeed overthinking it. Although Zhou Heng and Zhou Cong loved to play, they were still perceptive and intelligent enough to know when it was okay to play and when it was time to be serious.

The children automatically split into two groups: the boys stood under the eaves admiring the plum blossoms and talking about the fun and time-killing items that were popular in the folk recently; the girls ran into the plum garden to play in the snow.

No, Zhou Cong sneaked in while they were playing in the snow.

Li Zixi threw a snowball, which Zhou Cong nimbly dodged, and then, by sheer coincidence, it landed right at the feet of Li Zixiao, who had just appeared around the corner.

"Ouch!" Li Zixiao was startled. She immediately glared at him and scolded, "Which blind bastard dares to smash this princess?"

Upon seeing the person who had arrived, Li Zixi reluctantly greeted her, "Sixth Sister."

"Oh, it's Seventh Sister." Li Zixiao walked over. "I wondered who it was. I knew it. There aren't many people in the palace who don't know their place."

"You!" Li Zixi rolled up her sleeves and got to work. "You're blind when you walk, and you're a coward, how can you blame others?"

"In my opinion, it's better for someone like my sister, who is so easily frightened, to stay home, lest she come crying to Father again."

"Fine, fine, I won't argue with you, but don't forget about them!" With that, Li Zixiao slapped him across the face.

Zhou Zhou quickly pulled Zhou Heng away, saying, "Sixth Princess, although I am not as noble as you, I am not someone you can beat or scold at will."

Li Zixiao narrowed her eyes and recognized Zhou Zhou. "It's you."

Zhou Zhou nodded, responding neither humbly nor arrogantly.

"I haven't even settled the score with you for humiliating me on the street that day, and now you dare to come into the palace?" Li Zixiao had assumed Zhou Zhou was from the Grand Secretary's family because of her pedantic manner, so she didn't dare to act rashly. But now that she saw that Zhou Zhou was from Consort Mei's family, she naturally wanted to take revenge. After all, her mother and Consort Mei were like oil and water in the harem.

After thinking it over, Li Zixiao said, "Guards, pin this slut to the ground and slap her hard in the face."

“Let’s see who dares!” Li Zixi stepped forward.

If she has a grudge against Li Zixiao, then she's good friends with Li Zixi. Besides, Zhou Zhou is her cousin. If she really gets beaten up by Li Zixiao, then the three of them—mother and daughters—won't be able to survive in the harem anymore.

Seeing that the situation was serious and might not end well, Li Zichen rolled up his sleeves, ready to go out and get into a brawl.

Zhou Zhou was much calmer and looked at Li Zixiao calmly, "Today, I accompanied my grandmother to the palace to pay my respects to my aunt. I don't know if His Majesty will come to my aunt's palace for lunch at noon."

"I wonder how the Sixth Princess will defend herself when the Emperor sees my face?"

He assaulted the daughter of a marquis, showed no love for his own sister, and disrespected his stepmother...

If Emperor Chenze finds out that I left the palace on New Year's Eve and abused my power, I'm afraid I'll be in deep trouble.

Li Zixiao, who had been momentarily enraged, quickly calmed down and glared fiercely at Zhou Zhou, "I'll let you go today, but you won't be so lucky next time you fall into my hands."

After uttering those harsh words, Li Zixiao left indignantly.

Zhou Zhou bowed respectfully, "This humble woman respectfully sees Your Highness off."

The thoroughness of his manners and the precision of his movements left Li Zixi speechless. "You actually managed to scare away that crazy woman?"

“Princess, please be careful with your words,” Zhou Zhou said, her eyes clear like a spring, calm yet dangerous. “If you speak properly, the Sixth Princess will listen.”

Otherwise, they wouldn't be scared away.

When Li Zixi was given a half-hearted lecture, she instinctively retorted. She looked up at Zhou Zhou and met her calm and simple eyes. Her bracing deflated instantly. "You... what you said makes a lot of sense."

The reversal came so quickly that Li Ziyan was genuinely impressed, saying, "My sister is usually very domineering and unreasonable, and this is the first time I've seen her afraid of others."

After the group of children played for a while, Consort Mei's head maid came looking for them. It turned out that Emperor Chenze had come to Yaohua Palace.

It was Zhou Zhou's first time meeting the emperor, and she was a little nervous, even though she wasn't mentally strong. She still performed a flawless bow.

Emperor Chenze waved his hand and said in a friendly tone, "No need for formalities, we're all family, just make yourself at home."

Then Zhou Bai was once again the first child to be asked a question, simply because he was the eldest brother.

Hearing his logical and well-reasoned answers to his homework questions, and seeing his elegant demeanor, Emperor Chenze turned to the old lady and praised, "The Yongjing Marquis's mansion has a worthy successor."

The old lady said a few words of modesty, but the smugness in her eyes could not hide her true feelings.

Emperor Chenze also doesn't restrict his children, but he needs to consider their feelings. Just then, Zhou Bai mentioned that he could play chess, so he ordered someone to bring a chessboard.

He said bluntly, "Don't think I'm bullying a child like you. If any of you know how to play chess, you can all help remind me."

"That's great!" Zhou Bai's eyes lit up as he looked at Zhou Zhou.

Zhou Zhou: "..."

Emperor Chenze followed Zhou Bai's gaze and saw the youngest and quietest girl among the children. The girl wasn't afraid of him; she even nodded and smiled at him when she saw him.

Emperor Chenze was taken aback for a moment, then subconsciously nodded in response.

When two armies are playing chess, everyone remains silent, observing the game without speaking, as is proper etiquette.

However, the truth is that Zhou Zhou, who was sitting next to Zhou Bai, secretly used hand gestures to help Zhou Bai avoid several traps set by Emperor Chenze.

"You just said you only learned a little bit, but in my opinion, you're already ahead of your peers," Emperor Chenze sighed after failing to dig another trap.

Zhou Bai didn't dare look at him—he had cheated.

The meticulous Emperor Chenze immediately noticed Zhou Bai's guilty conscience and thought to himself: Could it be that someone else took those few steps just now?

With this in mind, Emperor Chenze became even more observant and finally found Zhou Zhou, whose attention was always on the chessboard.

Why was he able to tell it was Zhou Zhou? Because the other children were all whispering among themselves.

Deep waters do not speak, and a wise person does not talk. This child is young and inexperienced, yet he can understand the meaning. He is truly a promising young man!