Marrying the Crown Prince

When Li Zixi woke up, it was already completely dark. Candles were lit in the room, and the whole city was quiet.

She got out of bed, and her personal maid saw her and quickly got up, "Princess, you're awake?"

Hearing this long-unheard form of address, Li Zixi was stunned for a moment before answering, "What time is it?"

"One quarter past the hour of Xu (7:15 PM)".

Upon hearing the answer, Li Zixi showed no further expression, but slowly walked to the door.

A maidservant rushed forward, "Princess..."

Li Zixi didn't even glance at her, and forcefully pushed the door open.

really!

A row of Chen Kingdom soldiers stood at the entrance of her palace.

Upon seeing Li Zixi appear, they hurriedly bowed and greeted her, "Greetings to Your Highness, Princess. What are your orders, Princess?"

Indeed, Li Ziyan has issued an imperial decree to bestow upon Princess Jiafu the title of Princess Jiafu, and an auspicious day will be chosen for the investiture ceremony.

Looking at the group of people bowing in greeting, Li Zixi felt a lump in her throat.

She took a deep breath and said, "I wish to see your Emperor."

She thought she would be refused, but to her surprise, the leader of the group of soldiers replied directly, "Princess, this way please."

It was obvious that Li Ziyan had anticipated that Li Zixi wanted to see him, so he specifically instructed these people.

Soon, Li Zixi arrived at a palace.

There were also quite a few guards at the entrance of the palace. When they saw Li Zixi, they bowed and greeted her, "Greetings, Your Highness the Princess."

Li Zixi nodded, "Please trouble the general to go in and inform the emperor that Jiafu requests an audience with the emperor."

The guards replied, "His Majesty has already given instructions that the Princess is here and can go in directly."

After she finished speaking, the palace door was opened, and Li Zixi lifted her foot and stepped over the stairs.

Inside the hall, Li Ziyan was discussing matters with Marquis Zhaoqing and the Prime Minister of Qixi Kingdom when Li Zixi's appearance immediately caught the attention of the three of them.

"Your Majesty." This was the voice of the Prime Minister of Qixi Kingdom.

"Your Highness, the Eldest Princess." It was the voice of Marquis Zhaoqing.

The moment Li Zixi saw Li Ziyan, she blurted out, "Crown Prince Brother..."

At this point, she gave a mocking smirk, "No, it's His Majesty the Emperor Chen."

Li Ziyan pursed her lips but did not answer.

Li Zixi didn't care about his expression. Instead, she walked up to him, knelt down straight, and performed the full kowtow, saying, "Your subject Jiafu greets Your Majesty. Long live the Emperor!"

Brothers and sisters are supposed to be family, inseparable, but now, face to face, the distance between them feels like a vast ocean.

Li Ziyan watched her quietly until she finished her bow, then said in a cold voice, "Rise."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Li Zixi bowed again before rising.

Soon, news of Princess Jiafu's return to the capital with her son and daughter reached the capital.

As for the two children, they were both given the imperial surname and were named Li Hengye and Li Hengmin respectively.

One is three years old, and the other is seven years old.

Furthermore, Qixi Kingdom was renamed Huai'an Continent, which contained fifteen cities, all of which were incorporated into Princess Jiafu's fiefdom.

Zhou Zhou finished reading the letter Li Ziyan had written, and then let out a heavy sigh.

But she knew in her heart that the current result was already very good, at least better than she had imagined.

On the day Li Ziyan returned to the capital in triumph, the city gates were wide open, and officials stood at the city gates to welcome him. Afterwards, a meeting was held in the Golden Palace.

After finishing these tasks, Li Ziyan took the cabinet ministers to the Imperial Study to discuss how to deal with the former officials of Qixi Kingdom.

Zhou Zhou, who had been separated from Li Ziyan for more than four months, was finally able to meet him again.

She waited and waited at Fengyi Palace, and finally Li Zixi appeared.

Yes, it is indeed Li Zixi.

She brought her two children to Fengyi Palace to pay her respects.

Hearing that she was coming, Zhou Zhou, heavily pregnant, quickly went out.

As Li Zixi watched the round, chubby ball rolling towards her, she suddenly realized that all the people and things hadn't actually changed.

Thinking of this, a smile finally appeared on her face. She stepped forward and took Zhou Zhou's hand.

“Look at you, your belly is so big and you’re still running so fast,” Li Zixi said. “Look how scared you’ve made the palace servants behind you.”

Zhou Zhou put his arm around hers. "It's okay, don't be afraid."

They looked at each other and saw themselves reflected in each other's eyes.

Before they met, they both thought that there would be some distance between them because of various things.

Unexpectedly, when they actually met, the other person looked exactly the same as before.

Li Hengmin was already seven years old and could remember things, so she clearly knew that her father had passed away.

Before she could even grieve, she was forced to leave her homeland with her mother, traveling for over a month to reach a strange place.

Although this place is bustling and the people are kind, it is not her home.

Therefore, when Li Zixi was introducing them, Zhou Zhou looked over and saw that Li Hengmin had a blank face, as if she had no interest in anything; while the young Li Hengye blinked her big eyes and looked around curiously.

Some things are unavoidable, so Zhou Zhou didn't say anything, but instead asked Li Changyuan to take his sister and brother out to play.

Looking at Li Changyuan, who had just given up, Li Zixi chuckled, "The eldest prince's personality doesn't seem like yours."

She is not only unlike Zhou Zhou, but also unlike Li Ziyan.

They were both quiet and reserved people.

In other words, Li Changyuan's unconventional personality is quite similar to that of Li Ziyan's mother, the former Empress Chu, who is now the Empress Dowager.

"Well, the child is still young," Zhou Zhou replied vaguely.

Speaking of children, Li Zixi asked about Zhou Zhou's belly, "I can tell you're quite far along in your pregnancy."

Zhou Zhou thought for a moment and replied, "More than six months, almost seven months."

“That’s great,” Li Zixi calculated the days and then smiled. “I should still be in Kyoto during my delivery period.”

As the two were talking, Li Zixiao also arrived.

Clearly, she rushed over as soon as she received the news.

As soon as she came in, she snatched Li Zixi's cup and gulped down the water.

"Is the King of Hell chasing you? Why are you running so fast?" Li Zixi couldn't help but roll her eyes.

Li Zixiao scoffed, "It's not that I'm not afraid of the King of Hell chasing me, it's that I'm afraid you have little devils hiding behind you."

She went to Princess Li Zixi's residence to wait, and waited and waited, until she received the news that Li Zixi had entered the palace.

Remembering how he had once bravely stormed the Golden Palace and ended up getting a beating from Li Ziyan, Li Zixiao worried that Li Zixi, oblivious to her own fate, would also go to the Golden Palace to get a beating.

So she ran all the way, until she was out of breath, only to find the other person sitting right in front of Zhou Zhou, drinking tea and even mocking her.

Can this be tolerated?

Of course we can't tolerate it!

Zhou Zhou looked at the teacup that had been raised and said calmly, "This is Ru kiln porcelain, a tribute from Ruzhou."