Marrying the Crown Prince

When Li Ziyan arrived, Consort Mei and Consort Shu were initially somewhat reserved, but as time went on, they discovered that he was gentle, knowledgeable, eloquent, and spoke fluently and fluently, engaging in a pleasant conversation with Zhou Cheng'an.

Both of them breathed a sigh of relief and secretly wondered: He must have really just been passing by, bumped into Li Ziqi, and then decided to come over to play on a whim.

Meanwhile, at the children's table next to them, Li Zixi had already started asking the palace maids to bring out the leaf cards.

Li Ziyan was made crown prince when he was ten years old. As the crown prince, who would dare to let him come into contact with such things?

Furthermore, Li Ziyan was physically weak, and the imperial physician said that he should not have too much emotional fluctuation, so things that could easily cause great joy or sorrow could not happen to him.

So, this was really Li Ziyan's first time playing.

To be fair, Zhou Zhou stayed by Li Ziyan's side, helping him watch the cards and offering occasional pointers.

When the first game started, Li Ziyan seemed a little nervous, her ears turning slightly red. "Is this difficult?"

“It’s not difficult,” Zhou Zhou said, sitting down beside him. Her voice was clear and pleasant. “Don’t worry, I’m here.”

After thinking for a moment, Zhou Zhou added, "I've never lost at this game."

Playing cards relies on two things: first, algorithms, which test one's brain and memory, both of which Zhou Zhou excels at far beyond the average person; second, luck, which is a lucky coincidence, as she has never rolled a smaller than four when she has rolled dice since she was a child.

"Is that so?" Li Ziyan leaned forward slightly, moving his head closer to Zhou Zhou, his eyes and brows full of smiles.

He has delicate features and clear, bright eyes. When he looks at others with a smile, you can always feel the subtle tenderness in his gaze.

Zhou Zhou felt her heart tremble and her cheeks flush slightly under that gaze.

She silently recited the Tao Te Ching in her heart to suppress the surging emotions in her heart, thinking to herself: Indeed, beauty can bewitch people, and beauties have ruined me.

"Your Highness, please don't be impatient. Let me show you what I can do." Zhou Zhou raised her smiling face.

After saying that, she shuffled and drew cards with practiced ease. When she saw the points on her cards, Zhou Zhou's smile widened.

Even a dog could win with this hand!

After being tormented by Zhou Zhou, Li Zixi became unhappy and clung to him, saying in a coquettish tone, "I already said it was Crown Prince Brother playing, and you were just watching from the side. How could you do this?"

"Okay, okay, I'll watch, I'll watch." Zhou Zhou had no way to deal with Li Zixi in this state, so he quickly raised his hands in surrender.

Li Ziyan looked at the rules for a while, but still didn't quite understand them. It was as if he didn't know how to play. He kept asking Zhou Zhou in a low voice if he could play this card or what that card meant.

Zhou Zhou patiently explained everything to him.

The two were standing quite close, and Li Ziyan felt as if Zhou Zhou was whispering in her ear. This feeling... was indescribable, but very satisfying and pleasant.

It wasn't in vain that I pretended to be stupid and didn't know how to play.

Li Ziyan's lips curled up almost imperceptibly, his voice clear and cool yet magnetic, "Alright, I understand."

However, one cannot pretend to be stupid for too long. What if Zhou Zhou thinks he is really stupid?

So after pretending to play for two rounds, Li Ziyan claimed that he had mastered the game, and then, without Zhou Zhou's guidance, he dominated the game and was the first to finish off all his cards.

"Great, fantastic!" Zhou Zhou praised unconsciously, but as soon as she said it, she wanted to slap herself: Oh no, she mistook His Highness the Crown Prince for Zhou Yue.

His Highness the Crown Prince was very pleased with Zhou Zhou's praise and generously said, "It's all thanks to Eighth Miss's excellent teaching."

When you have something to do, time flies by faster than when you're just sitting around doing nothing. It feels like an hour has passed before you've even played a few rounds.

Consort Mei invited Zhou Zhou and Zhou Cheng'an to stay for lunch, but as for Li Ziyan, she tactfully said, "The Crown Prince might not be used to my simple meals."

What a joke! Who would dare invite him to stay for a meal?

Li Ziyan's health wasn't very good to begin with. If he ate at my place and then fell ill the moment he stepped out, where would I go to complain? Who would believe me if I said I didn't do anything?

Having already shamelessly lingered here for over an hour, it would be incredibly tactless to stay any longer, so Li Ziyan got up to take his leave.

“The Consort Xian’s things are certainly all of good quality, but I suddenly remembered that I had promised to dine with the Emperor later,” he said, bowing his head and lowering his eyes, “so it is inconvenient for me to dine here.”

Although these words were clearly addressed to Consort Mei, for some reason, Zhou Zhou felt that Li Ziyan's slightly apologetic nod just now was directed at her, so... were these words actually spoken to her?

As Zhou Zhou thought this, he reached out and touched his smooth face, which still felt the same as before, soft and tender, without becoming thicker.

Seeing that Li Ziyan had made excuses to leave, Consort Shu also got up and took her son to say goodbye.

On the way back, Consort Shu asked Li Ziqi what she thought, "Now, are you still dissatisfied with the prince consort I chose for you?"

Thinking of Zhou Zhou's incredible winning streak and how he had utterly annihilated her, Li Ziqi fell silent.

"Tsk," seeing that he didn't answer, Consort Shu was a little displeased, her cold and beautiful eyebrows furrowed, "Give me an answer, otherwise once I go to your father the Emperor to grant you a marriage, you won't have anywhere to regret it, you can only hide in a corner and cry."

When her mother brought up the embarrassing incident, Li Ziqi became furious and embarrassed, "Mother, I was only eight years old at that time!"

"So, what's your answer?" Consort Shu didn't care about him and didn't want to see him continue dawdling.

She was very satisfied with this marriage and had tried her best to bring them together. Whether it would come to fruition was something Li Ziqi really didn't want, and Consort Shu was too lazy to come up with any more tricks, lest the mother and son become estranged and it would be a loss for her.

Li Ziqi braced himself and honestly expressed his true feelings, "She... is simply too unfathomable, I'm afraid I can't control her."

In short, he was afraid that Zhou Zhou would ruin him.

It's estimated that only her brother, the crown prince, who is also considered "someone else's child," can rival her.

Upon hearing Li Ziqi's words, Consort Shu glared at him unhappily, cursing inwardly: What a spineless fellow.

Seeing that her mother was ignoring her and even quickened her pace, Li Ziqi hurriedly caught up, "Mother, is this alright or not? Give me an answer."

"Row!"

The word seemed to be spat out through gritted teeth.

But Li Ziqi still smiled happily.

After leaving Chengming Palace, Zhou Zhou did not go out again, but instead started tinkering with things.

The main reason was that she ran into Li Zixiao last time she went out, so she didn't really want to go out anymore.

The old lady was taking Zhou Heng to banquets everywhere, and didn't have time to take herself with her.

So, having nothing better to do, Zhou Zhou made a fishing rod and went to the pond in the house to fish.

The weather was fine and sunny. Zhou Zhou sat under the shade of a tree, holding a book in one hand and a cup of tea in the other. A fishing rod was placed next to him, already baited and cast into the water.

When Li Ziyan stepped into the Yongjing Marquis's residence, this was the beautiful scene that greeted him.