Marrying the Crown Prince

Seeing that Zhou Zhou had not yet gotten up, Li Ziyan also stood up and reached out to hold her arm.

"How long are you going to keep bowing?" Li Ziyan pressed Zhou Zhou, who was still in shock, back into the chair.

"This humble woman has been rude." Zhou Zhou touched her nose, thinking that this Crown Prince was truly unpredictable. When he ascended the throne, all the ministers would surely be driven crazy by his strange temper.

“Hmm,” Li Ziyan replied casually, “I’m here to enjoy the rain too.”

Zhou Zhou blinked, thinking to himself: Is this an explanation for me?

Whether Li Ziyan did it intentionally or unintentionally, his words did ease Zhou Zhou's mind.

Listening to the pitter-patter of the rain, her brow relaxed. "This rain scene is indeed quite beautiful."

Noticing the change in Zhou Zhou's emotions, Li Ziyan's lips curled up slightly.

So the two of them stayed in the pavilion, listening to the wind, the rain, and the rustling of the grass and trees, watching the drizzling rain and the lush bamboo forest, sipping tea and chatting until the rain stopped.

After the rain stopped, the air was fresh and carried a hint of earthy smell, which was very pleasant.

If possible, Zhou Zhou would like to sit a little longer, but she had already been out for long enough.

She rose to say goodbye, "I have other matters to attend to, so I will not disturb Your Highness's enjoyment any longer."

"Mm," Li Ziyan nodded in response.

As Zhou Zhou walked out, just as he was about to leave the pavilion, he heard Li Ziyan's voice, "Zhou Zhou."

His Highness the Crown Prince suddenly called out his name.

Zhou Zhou paused, then slowly turned around. "What are your orders, Your Highness?"

"I am unable to play chess with you today, but you will not be able to refuse again in the future." Li Ziyan's gaze was intense, as if there was a fire in his eyes.

“That’s natural.” Zhou Zhou nodded with a slight smile.

Watching her walk further and further away until she disappeared from his sight, Li Ziyan finally stood up. "It's getting late."

Back in the room, Sizhu immediately checked Zhou Zhou's clothes and found that they were still clean, only his shoes and socks were a little wet.

"Your socks are a little wet, Miss, why don't you change them?" she suggested.

Zhou Zhou was fine before she knew, but as soon as she heard her say that, she instantly felt that her socks were wet and sticky on her feet, which was extremely uncomfortable.

So, without waiting for Sizhu to do anything, she quickly took off her socks.

“We didn’t bring many socks, so if we stay here tonight, Miss, you can’t get your socks wet again,” Sizhu said in an unfriendly tone.

Listening to her nagging like a busybody, Zhou Zhou beckoned her over and then threw herself into her arms, saying, "Good, good, my Sizhu is the best."

Sizhu was rendered speechless.

The master and servant were playing around in the room when, before long, Wang Gui's mother came over.

"Mom, what brings you here?" Zhou Zhou asked.

“A monk just went to look for the old lady, saying that the mountain road is slippery after the rain and it is not easy to travel,” Wang Gui’s mother replied. “After thinking it over, the old lady decided to stay here at Yongxing Temple tonight.”

"I'm not surprised at all by this result," Zhou Zhou replied. "Yes, thank you for making the trip, Mom."

Just when everyone thought the day was over, Wang came running over in a panic, saying, "Zhouzhou, your second sister is missing."

Zhou Zhou blinked, feeling it was a bit far-fetched—her second sister was already in her twenties, how could she get lost?

That's what I think, but I can't say it like that.

"Third Aunt, don't panic," Zhou Zhou told Wang Shi to sit down. "Perhaps my sister just went out to play? Should we send someone to look for her?"

"Not yet, I dare not say anything, for fear it will damage your sister's reputation." Wang Shi broke down in tears, sobbing, "She's my only daughter, what should I do?"

Zhou Zhou felt a throbbing in his forehead. "Yongxing Temple is full of monks, my sister will be fine."

“In that case, we’re worried about letting others go looking for Auntie. Why don’t I go out and take a look?” Zhou Zhou suggested.

After thinking it over, Wang could not come up with a better solution, so she could only nod and say, "You must come back before sunset."

This did remind Zhou Zhou.

She stood up, her figure resolute. "Third Aunt, it will be 5 PM in an hour. If my second sister and I haven't returned by then, you can go and find Grandmother."

Zhou Zhou's eyes were calm yet resolute, making Wang subconsciously believe that she could handle everything.

Wang looked at Zhou Zhou with hope in her heart, "Okay."

Thinking about the rain that had just started, and fearing that it might rain again, Zhou Zhou asked Sizhu to bring an umbrella and a cloak.

The umbrella was to block the rain, and the cloak was to keep Zhou Rong warm so she wouldn't get wet.

It was quite a coincidence. When Zhou Zhou first returned, he was thinking of repairing the umbrella before returning it, but he never expected that it would come in handy again so soon.

Sizhu accompanied Zhou Zhou out, carefully leading the way, her voice tinged with complaint, "The rain just stopped, and the stone steps on the road are wet and slippery. The Third Madam actually sent Miss out to look for someone."

Zhou Zhou frowned. "Sizhu, that's none other than my second sister."

Others may not remember, but Zhou Zhou has a good memory; she still remembers things from her childhood even after so long.

She was only about five years old at the time. She went to a banquet at the Prince of Wuxing’s mansion with her family. The adults had things to talk about, so they told a large group of children to play in the back garden.

The children were all excitedly playing with the ball, but Zhou Zhou, who was always quiet, didn't participate and sat quietly to the side watching.

I thought time would just pass by like this, but when you're down on your luck, even if you don't go looking for trouble, trouble will still find you.

A child accidentally kicked the ball over and shouted, "Hey, you there, the ball—"

Seeing the ball coming towards him, Zhou Zhou subconsciously moved to the side, and the ball fell into the small pond with a "plop".

Several people ran over quickly, stopped panting in front of Zhou Zhou, and immediately questioned, "Where's the ball?"

Zhou Zhou pointed to the ball that had fallen into the water, "There."

"Why didn't you stop them?" the girl in the lead exclaimed, jumping up and down.

"Why should I stop you?" Zhou Zhou frowned, puzzled.

"So you did this on purpose, didn't you?" Someone immediately put their hands on their hips and questioned Zhou Zhou.

“First, you guys kicked the ball down, what does it have to do with me?” Zhou Zhou pouted, feeling that the group of kids were being unreasonable. “Second, a wise man doesn’t stand under a crumbling wall. Even I knew there was a small pond here when I first came to the Prince’s mansion. Is this your first time here too?”

The oldest of their group of children was only seven years old, and they had all been pampered at home since childhood. They had only been in school for a year, so their words were naturally not as sharp as Zhou Zhou's, and they were left speechless by Zhou Zhou's words.

"You, you, you..." The little girl in the lead pointed at Zhou Zhou, but didn't know where to begin refuting him.