Marrying the Crown Prince

"Oh, right," Zhou Laowu slapped his forehead—he had completely forgotten about that.

"Granny, are there any vacant courtyards in the East Garden?" Zhou Laowu asked Granny Gao, who was standing next to him.

Dongyuan is a collective name for several small courtyards, where Zhou Chengan and Zhou Zhou live.

“An’er lives in Liuyun Pavilion, Zhou’er lives in Lingcui Pavilion, and Baixixuan and Tingyuxuan are currently empty.”

"Baixi Pavilion is close to Liuyun Pavilion, and Tingyu Pavilion is near Lingcui Pavilion."

After listening to Granny Gao's words, Zhou Laowu quickly made up his mind, "Then I'll trouble Granny Gao to clean up Tingyuxuan for Yue'er to live in."

He hesitated for a moment before finally speaking, "Clean up the west courtyard and give it to Madam Xu to live in."

Xu Shi, who was initially somewhat dissatisfied that Zhou Yue only received Tingyuxuan, was instantly delighted and flirted with Zhou Laowu.

Unfortunately, Zhou Laowu was still immersed in his memories of Gao Shi, so he ultimately gave that flirtatious look to the dog.

The two large boxes of items were quickly delivered to Lingcui Pavilion. The head servant opened the boxes, and Zhou Zhou stood in front of them for a while, then took the gift list and checked it.

As she looked around, she said to Zhilan beside her, "Pick out a few novel items to send to my second sister, seventh brother, third brother, fifth sister, and sixth brother. Then send the flower and bird painting to my eldest aunt, the lark painting to my third aunt, and this 'Jingzhou Miscellany' to my eldest brother."

The eldest brother refers to Zhou Bai, the eldest son of Zhang Shi. He and the third, fifth, and sixth sons were all born to the first wife; while the second and seventh sons were born to the third wife.

As for the fifth branch, there are Zhou Cheng'an, the fourth son; Zhou Zhou, the eighth son; and Zhou Yue, the ninth son, who has just appeared.

To put it simply, Zhou Laoda, Zhou Laoer, and Zhou Laowu were all born to the old lady; Zhou Laosan and Zhou Laosi were born out of wedlock.

Among them, Zhou Lao Er's name is Zhou Ruofang. She entered the palace as a concubine when she was young and gave birth to the fifth prince and the seventh princess. Zhou Lao San's name is Ze, a son born out of wedlock. He is always smiling and has no temper. Zhou Lao Si's name is a daughter born out of wedlock. She is already married.

"Let's put the rest into the inventory and catalog." Unfortunately, Zhou Zhou looked through the catalog but still couldn't find anything suitable, so he closed it.

She handed the gift book to Zhilan and casually asked, "I remember that in early spring, my uncle sent over a Buddhist rosary that had been blessed by Master Ming'en?"

“You personally deliver those prayer beads to your grandmother.”

Everyone got one, and naturally, the old lords like the Marquis couldn't be left out.

Thinking of this, Zhou Zhou had someone send over the knee pads she had made before, including Zhou Laowu.

She said she made it herself, but how could such a young child hold a needle? However, she did sew more than a dozen stitches.

As Zhou Laowu lamented the fleeting nature of time and grieved for the loss of his beloved wife, he received knee pads delivered by someone sent by Zhou Zhou.

So filial! Holding his knee pads, Zhou Laowu tried hard to recall what his daughter looked like, but all he could remember was his old man's dull and boring face.

The picture is too beautiful to imagine.

Zhou Laowu sighed and looked at his wife's portrait. "If only Zhouzhou had half your beauty."

As for Zhou Yue, Zhou Zhou also picked out a hair accessory and had someone send it over; the person who delivered the gift returned quickly, saying that the Eighth Miss had returned a handmade purse.

Zhou Zhou glanced at it; the purse was pink overall, embroidered with fish playing among lotus leaves, and had the words "Peace and Joy, May All Your Wishes Come True" written next to it.

Clearly, this is not a project that a five-year-old child could complete.

However, the fact that I received a response means that I can get along with her peacefully for the time being.

That's good.

With the matter settled and an estimated hour before dinner, Zhou Zhou opened the calligraphy book and asked Sizhu to grind ink for him.

Sizhu was already used to such diligence.

To be precise, practicing calligraphy was not a form of learning for Zhou Zhou, but rather a hobby to pass the time when he was bored.

After writing two hundred large characters, Zhou Zhou's hand started to ache, but she didn't force herself and asked someone to put it away.

Jufang fetched water for Zhou Zhou to wash her hands, then dried them with a handkerchief, and massaged her hands to loosen her muscles and relieve her fatigue.

Zhou Zhou let the other person pat him, sitting lazily and carefree.

It was almost time for dinner, and Zhou Zhou had recovered her energy. She got up to invite Zhou Cheng'an, who lived next door. Coincidentally, Zhou Cheng'an had the same idea, and the two met on the way.

"Brother, did you come to see me?" Zhou Zhou smiled gently, a breeze blowing, her expression softening.

Zhou Chengan took his sister's hand and said, "Of course, you're my only sister."

That makes perfect sense, and Zhou Zhou found it quite pleasant to hear, but it couldn't be shared with anyone else.

Without hesitation, she reminded him, "You mustn't say that when you pay your respects to Father later."

In Zhou Cheng'an's mind, Zhou Zhou's words were the words of his teacher, so he nodded seriously to indicate that he would not, looking as if he was about to raise his hand to swear an oath.

“Then… let’s go see Father together,” Zhou Zhou said.

The pause was mainly due to hesitation about whether to invite Zhou Yue along. According to etiquette, the three children should have made arrangements to go together.

However, this was their first meeting today. Although Zhou Zhou didn't have any hostility towards Zhou Yue, he certainly didn't like her.

However, on the way, Zhou Zhou and his companion ran into Zhou Yue. The little girl was with her mother and seemed a little timid when she saw Zhou Zhou and his companion, secretly glancing at them.

The old woman led Zhou Yue in a bow. Judging from her manners, Zhou Zhou was certain that she was not an old woman from an ordinary family, which meant that her younger sister was very favored by her father.

"I should have asked you out, but since we only met today for the first time, I didn't dare to bother you." Zhou Zhou spoke the truth, her tone lacking in warmth, but it was the greatest goodwill she could express.

Zhou Yue looked at the wet nurse, and seeing her nod, she timidly replied, "How could that be? Sister, you are so beautiful, and you are my only biological sister. On the way back to the capital, Father told me many times to learn from you."

Yes, after hearing the old lady's description in the letter, Zhou Laowu imagined the cute and charming Zhou Zhou. At that time, Zhou Laowu even fantasized about carrying her on a horseback!

So, imagination is beautiful, but reality is cruel—this was the thought that popped into Zhou Laowu's mind when he saw Zhou Zhou.

Zhou Laowu rubbed his forehead and looked at Zhou Cheng'an beside him, "Have you been to school?"

“Yes, I studied at Uncle Zhang’s private school with my older brothers,” Zhou Cheng’an said.

Uncle Zhang, also known as Zhang's eldest brother, is now the Marquis of Boyuan.

Thinking of how his sister-in-law had taken care of his child all these years, Zhou Laowu was deeply moved.

Then he turned to look at Zhou Yue, noticing that her complexion had regained its rosy hue and she no longer showed signs of fatigue from days of travel. He nodded in satisfaction, "Is your place ready? Is there anything you need?"

“Great! The house is big and spacious, and there’s a small fishpond next to it. It’s so much fun!” Zhou Yue smiled, her face full of innocent joy.

Having shown concern for two of the three children, Zhou Laowu felt he couldn't show favoritism, so he put on a stern face and forced a commanding presence, asking, "Eighth Girl's chess skills are excellent, do you enjoy playing chess?"

"Yes." Zhou Zhou nodded.

Then she felt that her answer was too blunt, so she added, "My daughter thinks that the process of manipulating one side's pieces, playing the other side like puppets, and then slowly driving them to a dead end is very interesting."

Zhou Laowu's expression could no longer hold up—he's... a pervert!

Zhou Cheng'an rubbed his forehead, quietly tugged at his younger sister, and said nothing more, but made it clear: "Don't scare Dad."