Marrying the Crown Prince

Empress Chu was accompanied by four consorts—the Noble Consort, the Virtuous Consort, and the Consort of Virtue. Among them, the Consort of Virtue was a newly favored consort, while the Noble Consort Chen Shuyun was the mother of the Third Prince Li Ziqiong and the Sixth Princess Li Zixiao, and the Virtuous Consort was the birth mother of the Eighth Prince Li Ziqi.

As for why Consort Shu only gave birth to one child but was able to surpass Consort Xian, it's because the second princess was also her child, but unfortunately, she didn't survive.

Emperor Chenze had relatively few children compared to other emperors throughout history, with a total of nine. Among them, the eldest prince, the second princess, and the fourth prince did not grow up. Crown Prince Li Ziyan was actually the fifth in line, but according to the custom of Chen Kingdom, after the crown prince was conferred his title, he was no longer ranked in terms of age with the other princes.

In other words, there is no brotherhood among emperors.

As for Consort De, none of her sons were able to rise to the position of one of the four consorts, which shows how much she was favored.

"Your Majesty, I, your humble servant, bow to Your Majesty. May Your Majesty live a thousand years!" Everyone present rose and performed the full kowtow.

Empress Chu took her seat and then slowly said, "No need for formalities, please sit down. There's no need to stand on ceremony."

"Thank you, empress."

Zhou Zhou and Wang Qingwu sat down next to Li Zixi.

Next to Li Zixi was Consort Mei, who had a very keen sense of smell and immediately detected the fragrance on her daughter.

It turned out that as soon as Li Zixi received the sesame oil from Zhou Zhou, she couldn't wait to use a drop and rub it on her clothes.

"The spices you used today are quite good." Consort Mei thought her daughter had taken the peach blossom banquet seriously and was very pleased.

Li Zixi immediately took it out as if presenting a treasure and handed it to Consort Mei, "Mother, this was given to me by Zhouzhou. She said it's a rare item from the Western Regions."

Upon hearing this, Consort Mei couldn't hide the smile in her eyes. "Good, good, they are all my good children."

Knowing that she needs to maintain a good relationship with her future sister-in-law, Zhou Zhou seems willing to do so. In two years, or rather, next year, she might have to change her address.

Thus, a perfect misunderstanding was born once again.

Since it was a gift from her daughter-in-law whom she had chosen, Consort Mei naturally had to use it. So, following Li Zixi's instructions, she took a drop and poured it into her palm.

The aroma is rich and refreshing.

Of course, Wang Qingwu is the granddaughter of the Grand Tutor, so she can't be neglected too much. After all, according to relevant intelligence, she is the Crown Princess whom Emperor Chenze has taken a liking to.

Thinking that Wang Qingwu would be Empress Chu's daughter-in-law in the future, Consort Mei pursed her lips slightly. She did not have a good relationship with Empress Chu. Moreover, Empress Chu was not dignified at present. In fact, it was all an act. The real Empress was straightforward, not very smart, and jealous, so she often made a fool of herself.

Therefore, none of the four concubines, who had been favored by the emperor or had previously been, had a good relationship with the empress, especially the Noble Consort.

Consort Lü Yao is the daughter of the current Grand Secretary. Her father is the head of the civil service, and her son is the emperor's eldest son. How could she be content to remain only a concubine?

Unfortunately, Crown Prince Li Zichen was the legitimate son of the Empress and the grandson of the Marquis of Beiping.

The Marquis of Beiping guarded the southeastern frontier with an army of 50,000 under his command. Empress Chu also grew up on the frontier, which is why she developed such a simple and innocent appearance.

On another note, Consort Mei looked at Wang Qingwu and said in a kind tone, "Qingwu looks especially beautiful today."

Wang Qingwu didn't dress up specially today. She and Li Zichen were already in love, and she didn't need to rely on today's peach blossom banquet to choose a suitable husband for herself.

She thought this, but couldn't say it aloud. Wang Qingwu pretended to be shy, lowered her eyes, and said in a soft voice, "Thank you for your praise, Your Majesty."

She knew that if she married Li Zichen, she would definitely have to get past Consort Mei, but the reason why Consort Mei disliked her made her feel very helpless.

As the saying goes, the more you do, the more mistakes you make. It's normal for a little girl to be shy and not dare to talk much, so Wang Qingwu decisively chose to act.

Seeing her shyness, Consort Mei considerately looked away and continued talking with Li Zixi and Zhou Zhou.

The banquet for the couple was certainly not just a simple chat. The Queen of Chu chose the simplest method—passing a flower while beating a drum. When the drum stopped, whoever had the flower had to perform one of their best acts.

Soon, the ball was passed to Consort Mei. Without thinking, she skipped over Li Zixi and Zhou Zhou and threw the ball to Wang Qingwu.

In her eyes, one of them was her own daughter, a noble princess, and all she had to do was sit here and wait for those men to appear. Why did she have to put on such a show?

The other one is the daughter-in-law he chose. Since she was chosen by him, why is she going out to perform?

As a result, the drumming stopped at that moment, and the performer was Wang Qingwu.

Everyone in the capital knew that Wang Qingwu was a talented woman, proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and the best candidate to be the Crown Princess. Who would dare to compete with the Emperor for a son-in-law? So when they learned that Wang Qingwu would be the first performer, the adults present were not very interested.

As for the girls, those who had only heard of Wang Qingwu but had never seen her were somewhat expectant; while those who had seen Wang Qingwu perform were divided into two groups: one was delighted to hear another wonderful performance, and the other felt a little bittersweet—how could she be so amazing, not only did she know so many things, but she was also the first one chosen.

Wang Qingwu slowly rose and bowed towards Empress Chu's position, indicating that she had received the bouquet.

When Empress Chu saw it was her, her smile froze, and her tone became somewhat unnatural, "So it's the daughter of the Grand Tutor's family."

It is true that Emperor Chenze's chosen Crown Princess is Wang Qingwu, but Empress Chu's chosen daughter-in-law is her own niece, Chu Xuan.

Like her, Chu Xuan grew up in the frontier. Unlike her, Chu Xuan came to the capital with her mother when she was twelve years old, and she and Crown Prince Li Ziyan could be considered childhood sweethearts.

Although Li Ziyan hadn't met Chu Xuan many times, he had seen her many times under the Empress Chu's patronage.

"Now that you've been chosen, have you thought about what you'll perform?" Perhaps having calmed down, Empress Chu's tone returned to normal, and she looked at Wang Qingwu with affection.

Just as Wang Qingwu was about to answer, a delicate voice came, "It seems to me that the flower ball didn't stop in Miss Qingwu's hands?"

The sound was melodious and pleasant, like the strains of a zither, making one's heart itch with desire.

"Consort De, what are you saying?" Empress Chu's face immediately darkened, her tone unfriendly and her warning clear.

Consort Mei's eyes narrowed slightly, concealing the displeasure and danger within them.

"I believe this bouquet was brought to rest in the hands of the Zhou family's daughter," Consort De replied calmly with a composed smile, showing no sign of panic.

Did the gossip get back to haunt you?

Zhou Zhou raised an eyebrow and looked at Consort De. She saw that Consort De had a small, charming face, and beneath her slender, willow-leaf eyebrows were a pair of captivating, affectionate eyes. Even though she was being provocative, she still exuded a seductive charm.