Marrying the Crown Prince

Hearing Wang Qingwu's words, Zhou Zhou straightened up, leaned closer, and pressed his face against Wang Qingwu's. "Why... are you telling me this?"

Warm breath sprayed onto her earlobe.

Wang Qingwu was somewhat stunned.

"What are you doing?"

A scream rang out, but why did this scream carry a hint of excitement?

The two people inside looked over and saw Li Zixi staring at them with starry eyes, with Li Zixiao next to her who said, "I didn't see anything."

Wang Qingwu coughed lightly, trying to explain, "It's not what you think."

Li Zixiao had an expression that said, "I understand, I understand everything."

Zhou Zhou: "..."

You know the shit!

Seeing their frustrated expressions, Li Zixi burst out laughing.

Wang Qingwu and Zhou Zhou also laughed, though they didn't know what they were laughing about, they just couldn't help it.

Soon, Zhao Yuehua and Liu Jingyuan arrived. The six of them ordered some tea and snacks, but did not ask Lianren'er to sing and play instruments.

The two princesses asked the palace maids to bring in the items, which turned out to be more than a dozen scrolls of paintings, but they didn't know what they depicted.

"Come, come, these are all the young masters who will be attending the Peach Blossom Banquet," Li Zixiao said, gesturing for several people to look at them together.

Hearing her words, Liu Jingyuan hesitated for a moment, "Isn't this inappropriate?"

Zhou Zhou ruthlessly exposed him, "Tone down your eagerness before you say that."

Liu Jingyuan smiled shyly and gently punched Zhou Zhou's shoulder, "Oh, you're so annoying~".

Zhou Zhou felt so disgusted that he felt like he was constipated, and reached out to push her head away.

The two women were playfully bickering when Li Zixiao pulled out a portrait and unfolded it, saying nonchalantly, "If men can choose concubines, then we can naturally choose husbands too."

As soon as she finished speaking, her expression turned cold, and she curled her lip in disdain, clearly indicating that she had a bad impression of the person in the painting.

Zhou Zhou looked over and saw a handsome young man dressed in black, with his hair tied up high, his posture upright, and his eyebrows sharp. He was clearly not the kind of pampered young master who never lifted a finger.

Overall, the first impression of the person in this painting is that of a spirited young general.

So, does Li Zixiao know this person?

“This is Yang Yu’an, the youngest son of the Duke of Dingguo,” Li Zixiao explained, adding, fearing they wouldn’t understand, “He’s the scoundrel who rode his horse recklessly in the street that day.”

The Duke of Dingguo was a man who guarded the frontier for generations. Under this title are buried one tombstone after another, and beneath the glory are layers of white bones.

Therefore, as long as the descendants of the Duke of Dingguo's family don't go crazy and commit treason, they can be guaranteed eternal wealth and honor.

So, I thought that with Li Zixiao and Li Zixi stepping in last time, this guy who rode his horse recklessly in the street would be severely punished.

In fact, when the Prefect of the Capital discovered that it was Yang Yu'an, the youngest son of the Duke of Dingguo, who was responsible, he immediately sent a memorial to Emperor Chenze's desk.

It is said that this young master of the Duke of Dingguo was born and raised on the frontier. He did not enter the capital until he was fifteen years old. Originally, it was thought that like father, like son, but who knew that he was always playing around and was a frequent visitor to brothels.

Unfortunately, the entire Duke of Dingguo's family was fighting bloody battles on the frontier, and Emperor Chenze didn't want people to say that he deliberately spoiled the son of a meritorious official. But this Yang Yu'an is really a scoundrel!

Emperor Chenze looked at the memorial from the Prefect of the Capital and felt a terrible headache, so he simply tossed it aside—pretending not to see it and not wanting to care.

Who knew that the next day the Censorate would impeach the Duke of Dingguo, saying that he had failed to properly educate his son.

Emperor Chenze: "..."

The Duke of Dingguo is far away on the frontier, hundreds of thousands of miles away. How can he educate his son? Where can he educate his son?

In the end, Emperor Chenze summoned Yang Yu'an to the palace, gave him a good scolding, and the matter was dropped.

On the day he entered the palace, Yang Yu'an bumped into Li Zixiao.

When Yang Yu'an heard that the other party was that meddlesome princess, he wanted to roll his eyes to the heavens. Li Zixiao had originally forgotten about this matter, but after being reminded of it, and seeing that he hadn't lost a single hair, she also rolled her eyes.

That's how the feud between the two of them began.

Upon hearing that the person in the painting was a young master from the Duke of Dingguo's mansion, Zhou Zhou examined the figure in the painting again and couldn't help but ask, "Does this painting resemble him in person?"

The person in the portrait is upright and does not resemble a spoiled brat in the slightest.

“They look quite similar,” Li Zixiao replied.

"He really does look like a respectable person," Liu Jingyuan commented from the side.

Liu Jingyuan came from a military family, and her family had some distant kinship with the Duke of Dingguo. Therefore, she had met Yang Yu'an many times, and her words were more convincing than Li Zixiao's.

only……

Zhou Zhou and Wang Qingwu exchanged a glance, then gently looked away, choosing to remain silent.

Among the people in these paintings, Yang Yu'an was not the only one who left a deep impression on Zhou Zhou. There was also Chen Muchuan, known as the most handsome man in the capital, Wang Qingwu's younger brother Wang Yutong, and... Zhou Cheng'an.

Upon seeing her brother's portrait, Zhou Zhou's usually stoic demeanor crumbled.

The girls in the room immediately picked up the portrait and compared it to Zhou Zhou, saying, "They look quite alike."

Zhou Zhou was speechless. "Haven't you all met my brother before?"

“Oh dear,” Li Zixi laughed, “that was so long ago.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the other girls looked at her with eyes full of gossip. You see, in Chen Kingdom, it is customary for cousins ​​to be family, and for relatives to become even closer.

Seeing them looking over, Li Zixi felt a rare blush rise in her heart, and she warned them with a fierce gesture, "What are you looking at?"

The girls laughed and chatted as they picked out portraits, much like an emperor choosing his concubines.

But before they could finish choosing, they heard the sound of gongs and drums coming from downstairs. Liu Jingyuan exclaimed in surprise, "It's the Hundred Gods Parade!"

Several girls got up, opened the window, and leaned out. They saw a hundred gods dancing and leaping in the street, praying to heaven for favorable weather and national peace in the coming year.

As Baishen gradually disappeared into the distance, the girls' reunion came to an end, and they bid farewell to each other and returned to their respective homes.

As the sun gradually sets and lanterns are hung high, the family gathers together for a sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner before beginning their annual vigil to welcome the new year.

Of course, neither the children nor the physically weak Zhou Rong stayed up too late; they went back to rest around the end of the Xu hour (7-9 PM) or the beginning of the Hai hour (9-11 PM).

As for Zhou Zhou and the others, they gathered together to play cards and build radish towers, and didn't stop until the end of midnight.

Even though it was late at night, Zhou Zhou couldn't fall asleep. He tossed and turned for a long time before finally drifting off to sleep. He then had a bizarre dream, but he couldn't remember what he dreamt about when he woke up.

She rubbed her temples to relieve her fatigue. Sunlight streamed in through the window, illuminating the floor with a pure white glow.

"What time is it?" Zhou Zhou asked, standing up as her long, black hair cascaded down to her waist.

“One quarter past 9:00 AM,” Jufang replied.

I didn't realize I'd slept for so long.