Marrying the Crown Prince

"They are soldiers of our Great Chen."

"They're one of our own."

The people in the cellar were both happy and weeping. They were happy because they were saved, but sad because they were the only ones who were saved.

When the news reached Kyoto, it was already the end of the year, and Zhou Zhou's due date had arrived.

It is worth mentioning that during this period, the late Emperor's Consort De, now Consort Lin, gave birth to a son, and both mother and child are safe and sound.

Although it was wartime, Li Ziyan still issued an edict to promote Consort Lin from the rank of Second Rank Imperial Consort to the rank of Second Rank Imperial Noble Consort.

As a result, the number of Imperial Noble Consorts in Kangning Palace increased from one to two.

Consort Chen, who had always been at odds with Consort Lin, said she didn't care. The reason was simple—she didn't like Consort Lin, but she liked the newborn baby very much.

To be precise, all the concubines in Kangning Palace were also filled with curiosity about the birth of this child.

They are now living in Kangning Palace, where they have no pressure in life or work, but their lives are really boring.

The birth of this new life has naturally attracted everyone's attention, adding a little something extra to their otherwise dull and monotonous lives.

Holding the baby, coaxing the baby, making new clothes and toys for the baby, and dressing it up.

This young prince wasn't afraid of people at all; he would smile foolishly at everyone, which made him incredibly endearing.

As for the young prince's name, when the young prince was one month old, Li Ziyan selected a few auspicious characters based on his seniority and ordered Changyi to present them to Consort Lin.

Consort Lin didn't know the origin of these characters and was just about to pick one that looked pleasing to the eye.

Just then, Consort Chen came to visit the young prince, and she helped her choose a good character.

“Xu means gentle and noble, with a bright future.” Consort Chen handed the name to Consort Lin.

Consort Lin glanced at it and thought the name had quite a few strokes, but the meaning was good, so that was fine.

"Then let's go with this one," she said casually.

Ultimately, the young prince was named Li Zixu.

Back in Fengyi Palace, Zhou Zhou frowned as she looked at the letter Du Shi had written, which made Dong He tremble with fear.

Indeed, Li Ziyan has kept the news under wraps.

To be precise, at this point in time, with the baby about to be born, the people of the Yongjing Marquis's residence dared not tell Zhou Zhou these things, for fear that something might go wrong if they were not careful.

Donghe cautiously began, "After Madam Du returned to the capital, she immediately sent a letter to Your Highness, showing that she misses you very much."

Zhou Zhou smiled faintly and said calmly and naturally, "Before I got married, I spent many years with my mother, so our relationship was naturally very close."

Seeing that Zhou Zhou's expression remained normal, Dong He secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

At this moment, the imperial physician came over to take his pulse again.

Why say "again"?

As her belly grew larger, the imperial physicians, though no longer residing in the Phoenix Palace, were essentially living there – examining her pulse twice a day.

It's a pity that Director Zhang, at his advanced age, still has to make two trips a day.

"Her Majesty's pulse is stable, and the young prince is also very healthy." Chief Physician Zhang withdrew his hand, his eyes filled with satisfaction as he looked at Zhou Zhou.

This pregnancy can be described as a dream pregnancy. Since Zhou Zhou became pregnant, she has never suffered any hardship. She didn't experience anything like morning sickness, anxiety, or hair loss.

However, even now, it still feels somewhat uncomfortable.

For example, I sometimes get leg cramps in the middle of the night.

Every time this happened, Li Ziyan would sit up abruptly, half-asleep with his eyes closed, and grope around to massage Zhou Zhou's calves to relieve the pain.

Zhou Zhou looked at Li Ziyan, who was dozing off while massaging herself, and couldn't help but laugh and cry.

She said, "Your Majesty, please stop. You've just fallen asleep. You can have the palace maids on night watch come over to handle these matters."

Yes, there are many more things to do during wartime.

As a result, Zhou Zhou was too busy with her pregnancy to help with some things, so Li Ziyan was busy until late at night every day.

Therefore, Li Ziyan did not enjoy any blessings during the six months he was on the throne.

"Mmm," Li Ziyan responded, continuing to press the buttons on his own.

Seeing how enthusiastically he was kneading it, Zhou Zhou let him do as he pleased.

He pressed for a while longer, and when he felt the muscles under his hand were no longer tense, he asked indistinctly, "Are you feeling better?"

"Okay, the cramps are gone, you should go to sleep now..."

Before Zhou Zhou could finish speaking, Li Ziyan collapsed back onto her pillow with a thud.

Zhou Zhou: "..."

Even after watching it several times, this scene still feels somewhat shocking.

Besides experiencing nighttime cramps, frequent and urgent urination is also unavoidable.

At this point, the test is not for Li Ziyan, but for Zhou Zhou.

Li Ziyan can be described as a very alert person, but recently he has been so busy that he is dizzy and often sleeps until dawn.

Zhou Zhou initially slept in the bed.

But every time Zhou Zhou got up at night, she had to step over him, which was really too much trouble.

Of course, the real reason for the change of position was that Zhou Zhou once stepped on his calf when he got up in the middle of the night.

Li Ziyan, who was fast asleep, suddenly woke up, hugged her legs, and curled up on the bed.

After this experience, at Zhou Zhou's insistence, she moved her sleeping position from inside the bed to outside the bed.

Overall, however, the baby in her belly hardly caused her any trouble, and Zhou Zhou was very satisfied with that.

As night fell, Zhou Zhou had dinner and washed up. She intended to wait for Li Ziyan to return so she could talk to him and share her anxieties.

As a result, Zhou Zhou waited and waited, and eventually went from the couch to the bed.

Late at night, Zhou Zhou was awakened by cramps.

She twisted her legs painfully, struggled to get up, and tried to walk.

As if sensing something, Li Ziyan sat up and began massaging Zhou Zhou's calves.

His large, warm, and strong hands felt very comfortable pressing on my legs.

Zhou Zhou let out a comfortable sigh of relief, but didn't forget her thoughts from before going to bed that night: "Has His Majesty woken up?"

Because she was sleepy, Li Ziyan was too lazy to open her mouth, so she kept her mouth closed and made a sound through her nose, "Mmm".

"My mother sent a letter today."

Zhou Zhou's tone was calm, but Li Ziyan shuddered and instantly sobered up.

"What did the letter say?" Li Ziyan asked cautiously.

"I just told you about the local customs and culture I saw along the way," Zhou Zhou answered truthfully.

Because he felt guilty, Li Ziyan spoke in a low voice, "Well, Madam Du is very knowledgeable. The customs that she recorded must be quite interesting."

“Indeed,” Zhou Zhou nodded, his expression natural, “They’re all just funny stories.”

Hearing this, knowing that Du hadn't written or spoken carelessly in her mind, Li Ziyan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Before they could even catch their breath, they heard Zhou Zhou's words again—

"But something just doesn't feel right to me?"