Marrying the Crown Prince

"Your Highness, it's a princess," the midwife announced.

Zhou Zhou looked over with difficulty, and when she saw the child's wrinkled, red face, she didn't think it was ugly like she had before; instead, her eyes curved into a smile.

"Yes, a reward!" she said.

On the third day after her delivery, several close friends gathered in Zhou Zhou's delivery room.

Li Zixiao looked at the child, then hugged him, finding it quite unusual.

"Do you want to raise one?" Zhou Zhou asked curiously, seeing how much she loved it.

Li Zixiao shook her head. "No, it's fine as it is now."

She refused, so Zhou Zhou didn't ask any further questions.

In fact, observing a year of mourning for her deceased husband already shows deep affection.

Li Zixiao is not only a first-rank princess, but also the daughter-in-law of the Duke of Dingguo's mansion. Whoever marries her will undoubtedly rise to prominence.

Indeed, according to the customs of Chen Kingdom, once a woman marries into her husband's family, she is considered half a daughter.

If a woman's husband dies, and she observes mourning for him, she can remarry as a daughter.

Of course, Li Zixiao's status is different from that of ordinary women. If she were to remarry, she would definitely do so as a princess.

However, Li Zixiao had a good relationship with the Duke of Dingguo and his group.

Therefore, if she were to remarry, whoever she married would have some kind of kinship with the Duke of Dingguo's family.

Therefore, Li Zixiao, who has always been single, is a highly sought-after woman in the mansions of various noble families.

They did try to ask, but Li Zixiao's mouth was as tight as a clam shell; she just wouldn't budge.

As time went on, fewer and fewer people asked, and now, there aren't any left.

In response, Li Ziyan said, "It's fine if I don't get married. I can keep a few male concubines. Wouldn't that be more comfortable than when I was in the Northern Region?"

This……

That's quite an interesting point.

Zhou Zhou felt that something was not quite right, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it, so he was speechless for a moment.

Back at Fengyi Palace, Li Zixiao weighed the child in her hands and then placed him in Li Zixi's arms.

Li Zixi is a mother of two, unlike Li Zixiao, who needs someone to teach her how to hold her child.

She deftly took the child, gently rocked him, and even lightly tapped the child's nose with her finger.

"Have you chosen a name yet?" Li Zixi asked.

"Not yet," Zhou Zhou replied. "We've just given it a nickname, so people call it Tuantuan or Tuantuan all the time."

Tuan means reunion.

Upon hearing this name, everyone in the room fell silent.

Among them, besides Zhao Yuehua who followed her husband Zhou Chengan to work in another region, there was also Liu Jingyuan.

The death of Liu Jingyuan is not only a pain for the entire Chen Kingdom, but also a pain for them.

After a while, Wang Qingwu broke the silence, "I wonder if Sister Zhao returned to the capital for New Year's Eve this year."

"I haven't heard them mention this," Zhou Zhou replied truthfully.

Li Zixiao snorted lightly, "It's alright. In a few days, I'll follow the army escorting the grain and go to the Northern Region to live for a few months."

After she finished her mourning period, she traveled between Kyoto and the northern regions.

"Yes, it's fine..."

Upon hearing this, Li Zixi spoke softly.

A month passed quickly, and on the day Zhou Zhou finished her postpartum confinement, the baby girl's name was decided—Li Changrong.

A few days later, Li Zixi went to Huai'anzhou.

On the day she left, Zhou Zhou and Li Ziyan changed into ordinary duke's clothes, boarded an ordinary carriage, and quietly left the palace.

They stood on the city wall, watching Li Zixi's carriage and entourage travel further and further away.

For some reason, Zhou Zhou suddenly felt a little sad.

She reached out and hugged her arm, gently stroking it to ease her anxiety.

Seeing this, Li Ziyan put his arm around her.

At that moment, a fast horse rushed out of the city gate and galloped away.

"drive--!"

"drive--!"

"drive--!"

Li Zixiao was very fast, and soon caught up with Li Zixi's swaying carriage.

Hearing the sound from inside the carriage, Li Zixi lifted the curtain and looked over. "It's you?"

"What?" Li Zixiao straightened her back, her tone rather arrogant. "Can't it be me?"

Li Zixi gritted her teeth: Fine, fine. Who told her to come all the way to see me off? I'm not angry. Even if she's sarcastic, I'm not angry.

She took a deep breath and replied, "Yes!"

"Hmph!" Li Zixiao snorted lightly, then asked, "Want to go for a run?"

Li Zixi glanced at her son and daughter beside her.

The son blinked his big eyes, looking completely bewildered; the daughter sat there obediently, quietly reading the storybook.

Yes, it is a storybook, and it's one of Zhou Zhou's treasured possessions.

Of course, the original is with Zhou Zhou, and the one that Li Hengmin has now is a copy.

After thinking about it, Li Zixi agreed.

Before leaving, she told Li Hengmin, "Take good care of your younger brother. I'll be back soon."

Li Hengmin nodded. "Okay."

So the two horses broke away from the main group and galloped quickly into the distance.

Standing on the city gate tower, Zhou Zhou asked uncertainly, "Is that Shun'an?"

Li Zixiao, titled Shun'an.

“Yes,” Li Ziyan replied, then after a moment’s thought, he explained, “A few days ago she asked me for a favor—to allow her to travel freely between the Northern Region, the Southwest, and the capital.”

Zhou Zhou quickly grasped the crux of the matter, "So Shun'an didn't go to see someone off today?"

"Yes, she went to Huai'an Island with Jiafu."

After hearing Li Ziyan's words, for some reason, the frustration in Zhou Zhou's chest suddenly dissipated.

It came quickly and went quickly.

She smiled faintly and looked at Li Ziyan, "Let's go, let's go back to the palace."

“Okay.” Li Ziyan took her hand and walked down the steps.

One step at a time, the long staircase eventually came to an end.

"Let's go to Mingde Mountain Villa to escape the summer heat in a few days."

"it is good."

"Bring both children along?"

"Ah."

"At that time, let's also take a walk around the neighborhood."

"Row."

……

Along the way, Li Ziyan kept rambling on and on, like a little old man.

Upon returning to Fengyi Palace, Zhou Zhou took the child from the wet nurse, hugging and kissing him affectionately for a while before finally handing the baby to Li Ziyan.

Like Zhou Zhou, Li Ziyan spent some time building a relationship with the child before handing it back to the wet nurse.

Babies this age are particularly good at sleeping, so the child fell asleep very quickly in the wet nurse's arms.

Seeing this, Zhou Zhou instructed, "Take him back to sleep."

"Yes."

The nannies and palace servants who were serving Li Changrong all left.

I thought today's business was done, but then the Empress Dowager came.

Zhou Zhou and Li Ziyan quickly got up and went out to greet them.

"Your subject greets Your Majesty." They bowed and paid their respects.

The Empress Dowager reached out and offered a helping hand.

"Mother, why have you come here?" Li Ziyan asked curiously.