Marrying the Crown Prince

"Your subject/concubine/subject/wife pays respects to Your Majesty the Emperor and Your Majesty the Empress. Long live the Emperor! Long live the Empress!"

Compared to the deep bow performed for Zhou Zhou and Li Ziyan, everyone performed a kneeling bow for Emperor Chenze and Empress Chu.

"No need for formalities, rise." Emperor Chenze, like Li Ziyan, only told everyone to rise after taking their own high seats. "Please take a seat."

"Thank you, Your Majesty. Thank you, Your Majesty." Everyone stood up and sat back down in their original seats.

Unlike when Li Ziyan arrived, everyone was quiet now. There were a few whispers, but they all kept their voices down, afraid of disturbing the two people in high positions above.

Emperor Chenze first raised a cup of wine with a smile, and then called in the dancers and musicians who had been waiting for a long time. Only then did the atmosphere in the hall return to normal.

However, these things had little to do with Zhou Zhou. She spent most of her time with Empress Chu and Emperor Chenze, so she was not like those people.

Having spent many years with them, Zhou Zhou had come to understand the personalities of Emperor Chenze and Empress Chu, and was also aware of some of their little-known quirks. Therefore, when facing the Emperor and Empress, Zhou Zhou felt less awe than others.

Therefore, their tension and fear had nothing to do with Zhou Zhou; she continued doing what she was supposed to do—enjoying good food, drinks, and fun.

Many storybooks describe the food at palace banquets as merely beautifully presented, but not particularly delicious.

This book seems to be suggesting that the emperor should remove the heads of all the chefs in the imperial kitchen.

However, no matter how delicious the food was, Zhou Zhou didn't eat much. Firstly, the thing on her head weighed her down and she didn't have much of an appetite; secondly, she was dressed so beautifully that changing clothes was difficult, so she wanted to minimize the number of times she had to change.

Inside the Yan Nian Hall, the lights were bright, and as the sounds of silk and bamboo instruments filled the air, the dancers, their robes fluttering, appeared like celestial maidens descending to earth.

Their figures, moving slowly and gracefully to the music, resembled a delicate epiphyllum in full bloom.

Their wrists, supple and boneless, danced to the melody, their skirts swaying like gentle waves rippling across a lake in the breeze—soft and beautiful.

Putting aside others, Zhou Zhou was completely mesmerized.

In any industry, if you can achieve excellence, then it's normal to receive praise and admiration from others.

Zhou Zhou was enjoying the music and dance with a smile when she looked up and met a pair of equally smiling eyes.

The owner of the glasses raised the glass in his hand, tilted it slightly, and then drank it all in one gulp.

Zhou Zhou smiled, his eyes flashing, and picked up the wine on the table, downing it in one gulp. Then he turned the glass upside down to show that he had finished drinking as well.

Consort De nodded slightly, but because they were too far apart and there were so many dancers blocking the way, Zhou Zhou couldn't see clearly.

"This is really strange," she thought to herself, feeling as if she had overlooked something.

Consort De was similar to Consort Gui; she would bite anyone she saw, and her tongue was even sharper than Consort Gui's. As for who she was on good terms with, the answer was none.

However, it's unclear whether it was because she came from a poor family that she treated the palace servants so well.

Regardless, Zhou Zhou's relationship with her wasn't particularly good, since they had exchanged verbal sparring; but there wasn't any deep-seated hatred between them, since they had only exchanged verbal sparring.

So why did she greet me?

Zhou Zhou closed his eyes briefly, concealing his emotions, and resumed his previous nonchalant demeanor.

Her thoughts went unnoticed by others, including Li Ziyan.

He turned his head and whispered to the person next to him, "I'm going out to change my clothes, do you want to come with me?"

Zhou Zhou pursed her lips. "No need."

She wasn't interested in agreeing to go to the toilet together.

However, after Li Ziyan got up, she still called out to him, "Your Highness, it's windy. Put on your cloak and take your hand warmer with you before you go out."

Li Ziyan lowered his head and looked at the person beneath him, whose eyes were sparkling as she gazed at him.

His brow relaxed, and a faint smile appeared on his face. "Okay, don't worry."

After saying that, he quietly left his seat.

His Highness the Crown Prince was seated at the head of the table, and every move he made attracted the attention of the entire audience.

However, there's no need to apologize for things like changing clothes or getting some fresh air, so feel free to look. After you've seen it, you'll forget about it in no time.

Zhou Zhou remained seated at the head of the table, enjoying the fine wine and beautiful women. Wang Qingwu, standing beside her, joined her in the enjoyment.

"Why didn't you bring your daughter Wan'er into the palace?" Zhou Zhou asked knowingly, but she had to find something to talk about.

"She's so young, I'm afraid bringing her in will disturb the important people," Wang Qingwu said honestly. There was no point in hiding it, since she was indeed not yet a year old and her emotions were uncontrollable. If she cried loudly, the scene wouldn't be very pleasant.

At this point, Wang Qingwu lowered his voice and continued, "Have you seen the Prince of Chong'an's son? What do you think of him?"

Zhou Zhou's gaze swept over Li Ziqiong, Qin Wei, and their family of three, and he smiled, "We've talked a few times, but I've only seen the little one from afar a few times."

The younger one was too young, so Qin Shi, like Wang Qingwu, avoided taking him out whenever possible.

At this point, Wang Qingwu sighed, "Among us sisters-in-law, she is the happiest."

Zhou Zhou thought about it and felt that Wang Qingwu probably hadn't met Qin's eldest son, Li Xicheng, in private. If he had, he wouldn't have said that.

This eldest grandson of the emperor, well, he's at that age where he's utterly detestable. Today he'll draw on the teacher's face, tomorrow he'll put caterpillars in his classmate's drawer.

Both the mild-tempered Li Ziqiong and the gentle and considerate Qin Wei were so angry that they jumped up and down, and were even so angry that they wanted to whip each other with bamboo rattan.

Of course, the little guy ran fast, and the palace servants dared not stop him, so the family of three staged a chase.

They chased him from inside the classroom to outside, and then ran out of Jingyang Palace, only to run into Zhou Zhou, who was sunbathing and picking his teeth.

Zhou Zhou's eyes lit up. He had only gone out for a walk to digest his food, but he had unexpectedly stumbled upon such a good show!

Her gossip spirit was burning brightly, and she watched for quite a while before trying to smooth things over.

What did Qin say back then?

She cried to Zhou Zhou, "Both the prince and I are gentle people, how could we have given birth to such a wicked child?"

Therefore, every family has its own troubles and difficulties.

After reminiscing, Zhou Zhou talked with Wang Qingwu for a while, then, feeling that the air in the hall was a bit stuffy, he made an excuse to leave.

The heavy snow that had been falling for days stopped three days ago. As far as the eye could see, everything was covered in white. A layer of pure white snow covered the eaves, and crystal-clear frost clung to the bare branches, shimmering silver and creating a unique and beautiful scene.

Such a beautiful view is worth admiring for a while longer.

So, Zhou Zhou, holding the hand warmer in his arms and tightening his cloak, continued walking along the corridor.

Then, she heard a voice—

"Your Highness, I'm afraid I'm pregnant."

Zhou Zhou stopped in his tracks.

Your Highness, there is only one person who can be called Your Highness...