Marrying the Crown Prince

At this moment, Wei Yi appeared in the hall carrying tea.

He glanced at the Crown Princess kneeling on the ground, then at Emperor Chenze with his deep, dark eyes, and his heart trembled—no, why am I so unlucky?

Why didn't she come? The moment she arrived, she found the Emperor reprimanding the Crown Princess.

Should he sneak out, or should he sneak out?

Before Wei Yi could figure out how to leave this place of trouble, Emperor Chenze spoke up—

"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and help the Crown Princess up!"

Emperor Chenze did not name anyone, but Wei Yi knew that these words were meant for her.

After all, there were only four people present, three of whom were masters. Who else could help the person besides him?

Wei Yi put down her teacup and came to Zhou Zhou's side, "Your Highness, the Crown Princess."

After greeting him, he didn't hesitate any longer and helped Zhou Zhou up.

Fortunately, Zhou Zhou didn't intend to keep crying, after all, acting in crying scenes is quite tiring.

So she stood up as if it were the right thing to do.

Seeing Zhou Zhou's expression return to normal, Emperor Chenze gritted his teeth—who gave her this idea? It was such a shameless and unscrupulous thing to do!

But this trick works!

For example, now that Emperor Chenze knows that the other party is deliberately putting on an act for him, he can no longer say anything harsh to criticize her.

After all, the person came up to apologize right away, crying and kneeling, and went through all the proper procedures.

That sly one!

Emperor Chenze almost laughed, but he held it in, keeping it hidden on his face, and still spoke seriously, "The Crown Princess just said that she was wrong, so where was she wrong?"

"Your Majesty, I failed to restrain the elders in my family, causing them to make a grave mistake. It is my incompetence that led to this," Zhou Zhou said, his expression somber.

Emperor Chenze snorted lightly, but still went along with her words, "You said it yourself, they are elders, so what these people do and what mistakes they make is not something a young lady like you can decide?"

“Father,” Zhou Zhou replied quickly, tears glistening in his eyes, “I was born and raised in the Marquis’s mansion. In my youth, everything I needed for food, clothing and daily necessities came from the Marquis’s mansion. I enjoyed all the blessings I was entitled to. Now that my elders have made mistakes, how can I remain indifferent?”

Finally, Emperor Chenze's expression changed slightly, and he began to look at his daughter-in-law more closely.

He had always believed that it was normal for women to enter the palace and seek power for their families.

However, Zhou Zhou is the first person to bring this matter up in the open and to do so with such reason and evidence.

Emperor Chenze's tone softened, "Fine, for the sake of raising such a good daughter, I will forgive them this time."

“Father, you mustn’t!” Zhou Zhou looked up at him, his face full of pleading. “Your subject knows that Your Majesty loves your subject, but since ancient times, even princes who break the law are punished the same as commoners.”

"If Father Emperor were to spare them out of consideration for the fact that the Marquis of Yongjing's family is my maternal family, then firstly, such injustice would cause the people of the world to be dissatisfied."

"Furthermore, greed knows no bounds. If we take a heavy step this time and then let it go easily, they will become even more emboldened and one day they will make a terrible mistake."

That makes a lot of sense, but why doesn't Emperor Chenze want to reply to her?

He closed his eyes briefly, concealing his satisfaction, and when he opened them again, he had returned to his previous indifference.

"The Crown Princess's words are reasonable, and I am very pleased."

"In that case, the matter will be entirely entrusted to the Crown Prince."

"You two, do not disappoint me."

At this point, Zhou Zhou and Li Ziyan knew that they had finally gotten through this ordeal.

They both turned their heads to look at each other, their eyes meeting in mid-air, and they both saw joy in each other's eyes.

Li Ziyan stood up, walked to Zhou Zhou's side, and the two bowed together, saying in unison, "Your subject obeys."

Having said the most important thing, Emperor Chenze began to chat about everyday matters, such as whether he had a good time, and of course, he didn't forget to add a comment—

"It is thanks to your incognito investigation that we were able to catch such a corrupt official." A murderous glint flashed in Emperor Chenze's eyes, but it disappeared in an instant. "Recently, the case of a county magistrate harming the people, presented by the Prefect of Jingzhao, has shocked the court officials... and even me."

Emperor Chenze had always been diligent in serving the country and its people, so he believed that while there were corrupt officials, they were few and far between, and even if they were corrupt, they wouldn't go so far as to murder for money.

The result is that there is such a big corrupt official right under the nose of the people, like an invisible slap in the face.

Therefore, someone reminded Emperor Chenze that His Highness the Crown Prince was caught in a factional struggle.

But they didn't understand that for Emperor Chenze, factional strife was not important; what mattered was that the county magistrate was a corrupt official, so what was wrong with punishing him?

He was a strong and healthy emperor who had held power for many years.

Factional strife?

What a joke, why can't we argue?

How can his importance as emperor be demonstrated if he doesn't fight or contend?

Therefore, as long as it's within a controllable range, Emperor Chenze will accept whatever infighting his subordinates do.

The struggle for power and profit not only improved oneself and trained others, but also subtly consolidated imperial power.

why not?

However, once that line is crossed, he will not hesitate to take action.

As for what this boundary is, it could be the supreme imperial power, or the people who can both support and capsize the boat, or the territory left by our ancestors over thousands of years.

"Even I could not have foreseen that such injustices would occur under the very noses of the people," Li Ziyan sighed heavily.

"Hmm," Emperor Chenze said, his hawk-like eyes half-closed, "You've reminded me."

If they're this rampant in the capital, what about those remote areas...?

Emperor Chenze closed his eyes briefly, concealing his emotions, and looked at Li Ziyan, his tone gentle, "After you returned, did you stay with the Empress?"

"Let's come to Father Emperor first, and then we'll go to Mother Empress's place later," Li Ziyan replied.

"Yes, the Empress has missed you very much these past few days while you were away on business," Emperor Chenze nodded. "You may take your leave now and go to the Empress's place quickly, so as not to keep her waiting."

"Yes, I will retire."

The second stop was Fengyi Palace.

After a few days apart, Empress Chu's complexion looked much rosier, indicating that she was in a good mood recently.

Before the two could even bow, Empress Chu waved her hand and said, "Get up, get up. There's no need for formalities. We're all family; there's no need for such things."

"Thank you, mother."

After the three of them sat down, Empress Chu complained for a while.

The reason is simple: when Zhou Zhou was away from the palace, the concubines who came to Fengyi Palace to pay their respects were all shrewd and tried to get information out of Empress Chu.

With Zhou Zhou absent and Empress Chu in high spirits lately, she became so smug that she happily spilled the beans.

In the end, the Imperial Concubine and the Consort De found something to say about him and made a few sarcastic remarks.

Empress Chu was furious, gritting her teeth in anger. But as she gritted her teeth, news spread that a distant relative of the Imperial Concubine had committed a crime…

The thought of this made Empress Chu very happy. She pulled Li Ziyan and looked him over from left to right, her mouth agape with a smile. "Great, great! It's good to go out. You've gotten so tanned."

Li Ziyan: "..."

You said I've gotten stronger, which I can barely accept, but you said I've gotten darker, isn't that a bit much?