Marrying the Crown Prince

After hearing Zhou Zhou's words, Li Zixiao silently put the teacup back on the table.

Zhou Zhou looked at Dong He and said, "Bring more cups."

Donghe, who had been watching the show in a daze, quickly came to his senses, bowed, and left.

Three people are just the right number for a game of leaf cards.

Zhou Zhou was indeed lucky, but she didn't count her cards today. Instead, she played them however she pleased.

Therefore, the three of them played several rounds, and the outcome was not that Zhou Zhou alone won; everyone had wins and losses.

Li Zixiao said, "You've always been ruthless, why are you being so gentle and tender today?"

Zhou Zhou: "..."

I really want to smear this card in her face.

Just as Zhou Zhou was contemplating whether to take the next round seriously, a palace servant came to report, "Princess Xuanping requests an audience."

Ok……

If one doesn't come, none of them will come; if one comes, they'll all flock to the same place.

Since it was a rare occasion for the four of them to get together, Zhou Zhou immediately asked someone to go to the kitchen to add more dishes, and then instructed Dong He to go to Li Ziyan's place.

"Tell the Emperor that I am hosting a banquet for my friends at the Phoenix Palace today."

In other words, if there's nothing important, don't come and bother us.

So they all stayed at Fengyi Palace for lunch.

After lunch, Li Zixi took the child, along with Li Zixiao and Wang Qingwu, to Kangning Palace.

Since they rarely get to visit the palace, they naturally go to Kangning Palace to pay their respects to their mother.

Moreover, Consort Mei had never met her two grandsons.

After everyone left, Zhou Zhou, who had eaten and drunk his fill, yawned.

She stood up, stretched, and was about to walk back to her dormitory when someone grabbed her around the waist and hugged her.

The other person's warm, large hand gently rested on her stomach, and their head rested on her shoulder.

“Anyone who didn’t know better would think the Emperor had been hiding nearby the whole time,” Zhou Zhou said, placing her hand over Li Ziyan’s, half seriously and half jokingly. “Otherwise, the Emperor wouldn’t have appeared here as soon as everyone else left.”

Hearing her words, Li Ziyan felt wronged and said, "I was just waiting on the side."

"Hmm..." Zhou Zhou's hand traced patterns on his arm, not really listening to what the other was saying, just responding subconsciously, then suddenly realizing, "Hmm?"

"We've been apart for so long, don't you miss me at all?" Li Ziyan's voice was even lower, more aggrieved.

This……

I have thought about it, but not to that extent.

Because in life, we have to consider many things, and love is just a seasoning in life.

Seeing that she didn't answer, Li Ziyan roughly knew what she was thinking.

"You heartless bastard..."

His warm breath brushed against Zhou Zhou's neck and ears.

Zhou Zhou couldn't help but shrink his neck—it was a little itchy.

"Hmm? What's wrong?" Li Ziyan feigned concern and continued to tease her.

Zhou Zhou turned around and glared at him fiercely, her slender, jade-like hand brushing against his collar.

Li Ziyan's expression changed instantly.

Then Zhou Zhou raised her eyes tenderly and asked softly, "I wonder... does Your Majesty think of me day and night?"

Li Ziyan, whose mind was wandering, immediately nodded, then met Zhou Zhou's ambiguous smile.

Li Ziyan touched his nose and answered honestly, "I have thought about it."

I think about it day and night without even thinking about it.

On the battlefield, he would occasionally think of Zhou Zhou, who was far away, when he had a spare moment; but most of the time he was constantly on the move.

This battle, though seemingly simple, was actually far from easy.

After saying that, the two looked at each other and smiled.

As the saying goes, people tend to feel sleepy after a big meal.

They lay down on the bed together. Li Ziyan gently put his arm around Zhou Zhou, holding her loosely, not daring to press on her stomach.

"Is the child lively?" Li Ziyan asked curiously.

Zhou Zhou was already sleepy, so she closed her eyes and mumbled a little, replying, "It's alright."

Upon hearing this, Li Ziyan pressed his ear against Zhou Zhou's stomach.

Zhou Zhou opened his eyes, but hesitated to speak.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Perhaps he had heard something, because Li Ziyan's eyes lit up.

“You’re like this…” Zhou Zhou paused for a moment, then continued, “It’s kind of scary.”

After all, you didn't do this with your first child.

“It’s different,” Li Ziyan replied.

It was indeed different. When Zhou Zhou was pregnant with Li Changyuan, although she missed the first three months as well, she returned in the fourth month.

But this time, Zhou Zhou's belly had grown into a ball before he came back.

At this point, Li Ziyan's eyes were filled with tenderness and guilt.

He reached out and ruffled Zhou Zhou's hair, saying gently, "Thank you for your hard work."

Li Ziyan's warm palms slipped through her hair, gently stroking her scalp.

It's a little itchy, but it relieves fatigue more.

Zhou Zhou squinted, like a well-fed cat basking in the warm sun.

She looked content and very cute.

Li Ziyan leaned down and placed a light, feather-like kiss on her face.

Zhou Zhou smiled slightly but said nothing.

"Go to sleep," Li Ziyan coaxed her softly.

“Hmm,” Zhou Zhou closed her eyes again, “asleep.”

Soon, the Imperial Astronomical Bureau calculated the date: May 23rd of this year, an auspicious day.

May is still more than three months away.

Indeed, Li Zixi was still in Kyoto when Zhou Zhou gave birth.

After the date was set, Zhou Zhou asked Li Ziyan, "After the investiture ceremony, will Jiafu stay in the capital or go to his fiefdom?"

Huai'an Continent was, after all, the homeland of the Qixi Kingdom. Although Su and Cao both atone with their deaths, some of the Qixi Kingdom's remaining people and friends were unwilling to annex the country.

Therefore, small-scale riots occasionally occur in Huai'anzhou.

Li Zixi was originally the Queen of Qixi, and both of her children carried the blood of the Qixi royal family.

With her there to keep order, the former officials and people of Qixi Kingdom will be much calmer.

All of the above makes it inconvenient for Li Ziyan to keep Li Zixi in Kyoto, especially since Li Zixi doesn't want to stay in Kyoto either.

"I will choose an auspicious day and order General Mingwei to escort her to Huai'an Prefecture," he replied.

As expected, Zhou Zhou didn't ask any further questions.

Leisurely days are always happy, and of course, they pass quickly. So, three months passed in the blink of an eye.

Zhou Zhou's belly grew bigger and bigger, until it became somewhat frightening, and then the child was born.

Although the midwife and the Empress Dowager both said that her first childbirth went smoothly, Zhou Zhou felt that she still suffered a lot.

Now, with my second child, I don't know if it's because I have experience, but unlike the first pregnancy, it didn't take me half a day to come out. Instead, the baby was born three hours after my water broke.

The midwife took the baby out, washed it with warm water, wrapped it in swaddling clothes, and brought it to Zhou Zhou.