Marrying the Crown Prince

Li Changyuan glanced at the letter in Zhou Zhou's hand, then at her expression, and tentatively asked, "Does Mother miss Father?"

Zhou Zhou's hand stopped.

"Mother, don't be unhappy. Although Father is not here, I am."

"I am a man, and I will protect my mother."

At this point, Li Changyuan stood up deliberately, looking like a pillar of strength.

Zhou Zhou raised an eyebrow, then smiled and said, "Okay."

The mother and son played for a while, and then Zhou Zhou coaxed him to go out and pick lotus seeds so that the kitchen could make lotus seed soup in the afternoon.

Upon hearing this, Li Changyuan excitedly jumped off the bed and ran out.

After the person left, Zhou Zhou opened the drawer and took out the tinderbox.

She took a deep breath, blew on the tinderbox, and soon sparks lit up.

Zhou Zhou brought the letter in his hand close to the flames, watching as it was gradually engulfed by the raging fire.

The grayish-white paper dust, like fallen leaves, danced and drifted in the air before finally settling on the ground.

As the letter burned, a part of Zhou Zhou's heart gradually dissipated and turned to ashes.

She stood up and instructed Donghe, who was serving her, "Prepare ink."

Zhou Zhou picked up the pen and, without hesitation or pause, finished writing the letter in one go. He put the pen down, then took the inkpad and stamped it with his personal seal.

Once the ink on the letter had dried, she quickly sealed it in an envelope, sealed the envelope with rice paste, and then stamped it with sealing wax.

Seven days later, a letter arrived from the capital.

Li Ziyan sat lazily in the chair, opened the envelope, took out the letter written by Zhou Zhou, and read it quickly.

As he looked around, Li Ziyan sat up straight.

He immediately stood up, paced around the shed, and became more and more delighted as he looked around. Finally, he said loudly, "Quickly, go and invite Marquis Zhaoqing to come and discuss matters."

Soon, the two of them brought out a map and called over a scout from the army. The three of them huddled around the table and studied the letter Zhou Zhou had given them.

Marquis Zhaoqing clapped his hands in admiration, "Yes, how come we didn't think of that? Her Majesty the Empress is truly an extraordinary person."

Zhou Zhou was not an extraordinary person; she knew all this because Su He and Wan Ying had exchanged several letters with her.

Suhe and Wanying wouldn't be foolish enough to reveal the city's defense map, but she could describe the unique regional features of her fiefdom and write about the scenery of the city.

In other words, Zhou Zhou roughly knew the characteristics of the city where Su and Wan Ying were located from the words in the letter.

They knew exactly where the city's water sources were, understood which way led to which, and even boldly guessed the city's military deployment.

With this information, Marquis Zhaoqing immediately reorganized his army and prepared to launch an attack.

As the sun gradually sets in the west, night falls as scheduled, and the round moon hangs high in the night sky, quietly casting its pure white light.

Zhou Zhou stood by the window, wearing her nightgown.

The evening breeze was light and gentle, yet it still made her, dressed in thin clothes, shiver.

Zhou Zhou instinctively hugged herself, wanting to give herself enough warmth.

However, this quiet night was just too lonely.

She looked at the moon in the sky and murmured to herself, "By all accounts, the letter must have been delivered to the frontier by now."

Upon hearing Zhou Zhou's voice, Ju Fang hesitated before finally speaking, "Yes, according to the rules, the letter will be delivered before noon today."

"is it?"

Her voice was soft and distant, floating in the air.

Jufang lowered her head, not daring to look any longer.

Fortunately, Zhou Zhou had no intention of speaking again.

She silently gazed out the window at the pitch-black night, listening to the croaking of frogs outside, and felt even colder.

After an unknown amount of time, perhaps not long, a warm cloak was draped over Zhou Zhou.

She looked over and saw Jufang's concerned gaze.

"Your Majesty, it's late," she said.

Zhou Zhou exhaled a breath of stale air, calming his emotions. "Yes, it's time to rest."

The moment she turned around, a tear slid down her cheek and dripped onto the ground, leaving a faint water stain.

The night wind blew, and the water stains quickly disappeared, as if they had never appeared.

Soon, news of victory arrived: the Chen Kingdom army had captured another city, and Princess Su and Wan Ying of the Qixi Kingdom, who were defending the city, had died defending it.

Zhou Zhou looked at the good news, his face expressionless and very calm.

She gently stroked the words on the victory report, then looked up, her voice firm, and said, "Good! Our Great Chen army is indeed invincible!"

Zhou Zhou didn't know if what she did was right or wrong, but she didn't regret it.

She is the Empress of Chen Kingdom, and she is the Princess of Qixi Kingdom. They each act in their own way, but both are doing it for the sake of their own people.

If anyone has a problem, it's fate.

Another month passed, and Zhou Zhou was fishing in the fishpond in the Imperial Garden when a palace servant suddenly came to report.

"Your Majesty the Empress." She bowed, head bowed, and was extremely respectful.

Zhou Zhou didn't turn around to look, so Dong He looked over and asked, "What is it?"

"Aunt, this is the token handed in by Princess Xuanping." The palace maid held it up with both hands.

Princess Xuanping was none other than Wang Qingwu.

Donghe took it, her tone softening, "I understand, you may leave."

The sign was handed to Zhou Zhou.

Zhou Zhou held it in his hand for a while, then said, "Let's make the arrangements."

After saying that, she handed the sign to Donghe and gestured for her to put it away.

"Yes." Donghe bowed and withdrew.

The next day, just after Zhou Zhou finished his court session, Wang Qingwu arrived.

Zhou Zhou glanced at the sky and asked, "Have you had your meal?"

"Not yet." Wang Qingwu sighed; she had gotten up very early.

“Yes, I haven’t eaten yet either. Let’s eat together.” Zhou Zhou nodded and looked at Ju Fang. “Go tell the kitchen to add an extra pair of chopsticks for breakfast today.”

"Yes." Jufang bowed and withdrew.

Zhou Zhou sat down in a chair and gestured for Wang Qingwu to sit down as well.

She asked with a smile, "What's wrong? You've become so reserved after just a few days?"

"Oh dear," Wang Qingwu sighed wistfully, "There's nothing we can do. The Empress's majesty is so great that we dare not be presumptuous."

Zhou Zhou: "..."

Are you still pretending?

If you're going to pretend, at least pretend to be at least a little more convincing.

Seeing that Zhou Zhou was speechless, Wang Qingwu smiled and put away his expression, glancing at Zhou Zhou's body—his stomach.

Zhou Zhou leaned back in her chair, rubbed her stomach, and said, "Oh? So that's why you came?"

Wang Qingwu's eyes lit up. "So, it's true?"

“Of course it’s true.” Zhou Zhou was amused by her reaction.

"I thought……"

Wang Qingwu touched his nose and didn't continue speaking.

Zhou Zhou didn't want to ask, because she knew that she didn't want to hear many of the following words.

Even though she didn't ask, Wang Qingwu still said, "I thought you were fat."

Got it!

As expected, this wasn't what I wanted to hear.