Marrying the Crown Prince

"hairpin."

Empress Chu's eyes lit up, and she said excitedly, "Alright, it's just a hairpin. Consort De, don't be so stingy. I'll pay for it for you."

After saying this, without waiting for Consort De, she pulled another hairpin from her hair and threw it onto the plate.

Upon hearing Empress Chu's words, Consort De's eyes flashed with a fierce light. She gritted her teeth and managed to utter a few words with difficulty, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Oh dear," Empress Chu said with a beaming smile, seeing Consort De's nose almost crooked with anger. "You're too kind, sister. It's just a hairpin."

It's no wonder Empress Chu was happy; the blame lies with Consort De, who, after years of being favored, became arrogant and haughty, openly and secretly criticizing Empress Chu several times and frequently embarrassing her.

"Yes, it's just a hairpin. Consort De is so distressed about it, but it makes my Zhouzhou look bad." Consort Mei joined in the discussion, "Anyone who didn't know better would think that the Emperor has mistreated my sister."

Consort De's face turned ashen, and she gripped her handkerchief tightly with both hands, barely managing to suppress the urge to curse.

Seeing this, Empress Chu was even happier, her tail almost wagging in the air. She excitedly turned her head, only to see Li Ziyan with a calm expression.

Empress Chu's smile froze.

"Mother," Li Ziyan said, bowing slightly, "I will go to the peach grove now."

"Good, good," Empress Chu said as if she had been awakened from a dream, and addressed the young ladies and gentlemen below, "You young people, go and have fun, don't be so reserved."

Since the Empress has said so, whether they like it or not, they have to stand up and walk deeper into the peach grove.

Since it was free time, Li Zixi, Li Zixiao, and the others quickly gathered together.

Li Zixiao looked Zhou Zhou up and down, and finally nodded with great certainty, "That woman must be blind, that's why she thinks you are prettier than her, and that's why she targets you like this."

Zhou Zhou: "..."

No, are you sick?

"Alright, alright, of course our Zhouzhou is beautiful." Wang Qingwu hugged her and coaxed her, but he should probably hide the gloating smile on his face.

The six of them walked in chatting and laughing, with the two princesses leading the way, and no one dared to get too close.

Zhou Zhou wasn't interested in the prizes and lazily followed at the back of the line. It was Li Zixi who saw that her hands were empty and couldn't stand it, so she stuffed two red cloth strips into her hands.

Indeed, the riddles were written on red silk, then cut into long strips and hung on the flower branches.

The girls took down the red ribbons that were low to the ground themselves; Liu Jingyuan broke off a tree branch and used it to pick down the ones that were high up.

This was fun, and Zhou Zhou tried to break off a branch, but unlike others who had practiced martial arts, he couldn't manage it.

Liu Jingyuan patiently explained the principle to Zhou Zhou, "I tore the strip of cloth with force."

After hearing her words, Zhou Zhou silently threw away the branch—this kind of work is not something an ordinary person can do.

In the end, the six of them formed a scene of perfect teamwork. Zhou Zhou and Wang Qingwu walked at the back and were responsible for solving the puzzles, while the other four were responsible for searching and picking up items.

Zhou Zhou rolled the red cloth strip into a ball and played with it in his palm. "I wonder when I'll be able to go back."

"Isn't the scenery here nice?" Wang Qingwu's voice was like a gentle breeze, soothing Zhou Zhou's agitated heart.

Zhou Zhou tugged at the strip of cloth, but did not respond.

Seeing Zhou Zhou, who had always been mature beyond his years, showing a childlike side, Wang Qingwu's heart softened a little. "You seem a bit unhappy?"

“I don’t know why,” Zhou Zhou shrugged helplessly, “but after entering the peach grove, I felt a little uneasy.”

Her sixth sense is always very accurate; I'm afraid something bad is about to happen.

Wang Qingwu reached out and patted Zhou Zhou's head. "You must have been bothered by Consort De just now, which is why you're overthinking things."

At that moment, Consort De picked up a pastry, ready to taste it, but her nose started to itch and she sneezed.

Seeing this, Empress Chu became excited once again, "Consort De, are you feeling unwell?"

It's good that she's sick; it would be even better if she were to fall seriously ill, so that she would have a reason to remove Consort De's green plaque.

Seeing Empress Chu's eyes light up, Consort De deliberately put on a affected voice and replied, "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty, but I am perfectly fine."

This tone of voice successfully disgusted the Empress Chu.

Back to Zhou Zhou, somehow one of the strips of cloth in her hand fell to the ground.

Of course, if everything she had belonged to her alone, then losing it wouldn't be a big deal, but unfortunately it didn't.

Zhou Zhou resignedly stopped and bent down to pick it up, but a gust of wind blew by and the red ribbon swirled into the air.

Zhou Zhou pursed his lips, cursing inwardly, but he didn't stop walking, chasing after the direction the strip of cloth had flown away.

Wang Qingwu noticed that Zhou Zhou had left the group and wanted to follow her, but Li Zixi grabbed her clothes and said, "Tell her to go by herself. Maybe she'll meet a perfect match."

These words...

Wang Qingwu didn't quite agree, but following Li Zixi's gossipy gaze, he saw two people in the distance. One was wearing a robe with a dark pattern of toads and laurels, and the other was wearing a long, red brocade robe with a pattern of rain and clouds.

It doesn't matter who the person hiding in black is; what matters is that crimson figure—Wang Yutong.

Thinking of her younger brother's future happiness, Wang Qingwu silently swallowed her objection.

The wind finally stopped, and the strip of cloth was stuck to the peach tree branch. Zhou Zhou stopped and tried to reach the red cloth by standing on tiptoe.

As I always say, height is something that, if it's not right, it's not right.

Zhou Zhou sighed silently—now he finally understood where that unease in his heart came from; this was just too unlucky.

Since she wasn't tall enough, she had to make do with a bamboo pole. She lowered her head, trying to find a suitable branch, when a cheerful voice came from behind her, "Miss Zhou Zhou, what are you looking for?"

It turned out to be Li Ziyan and Wang Yutong.

When the wind picked up, Zhou Zhou was intently staring at the strip of cloth and didn't notice that there were two people standing not far from where the cloth had landed.

When Li Ziyan saw Zhou Zhou enter her field of vision, she made a decision in an instant—to go over and take a look.

Zhou Zhou bowed respectfully, "This humble woman..."

Li Ziyan reached out and grasped her arm. His hand was beautiful, fair and well-proportioned, with a red rope tied around his wrist, which contrasted sharply with the blue veins.

His palms were warm, and the warmth seeped through his sleeves to Zhou Zhou's hands.

Zhou Zhou froze, unsure whether to go up or down.

Li Ziyan, with her bright eyes and peach-blossom face, smiled as pure as a clear blue sky without clouds. "Sister Zhou, there's no need for such formalities."

The word "sister" set off alarm bells for Zhou Zhou. Although she hadn't had much contact with this prince, she keenly sensed that he wasn't as harmless as he appeared.