Marrying the Crown Prince

"It's nothing, not worth mentioning." Being praised, especially by a beautiful woman, the man instantly raised his chin, his face full of arrogance. He was supposed to be modest, but his tone was very smug, as if he was encouraging others to continue praising him.

Just as the woman was about to continue speaking along with Zhong Xu's words, Zhou Zhou's horse suddenly rushed up to the two of them.

Zhou Zhou tightened the reins, and the horse excitedly raised its front hooves high, displaying its strong and smooth body, before landing gracefully, its fierce gaze sweeping over the couple in front of it.

Ding Dong was so frightened that his scalp tingled. He pointed at Zhou Zhou tremblingly and asked, "Did you do this on purpose?"

Zhou Zhou curled his thin lips into a half-hearted apology, “This horse was a gift from the Seventh Princess. It’s a bit too spirited and scared you two. I had no choice.”

Isn't the princess's bestowal of gifts just an act of bullying?

Zhong Xu's face instantly darkened. "If you can't ride, don't bring it out and embarrass yourself."

Zhou Zhou ignored his barking, but the main concern was that the rabbit was still stuck in the ground and struggling. She was afraid that if she didn't intervene, this hard-won creature would be lost.

She leaped off her horse and cleanly cut the arrow in half, but did not pull it out. If she hadn't had any tools to stop the bleeding, pulling it out would have likely killed it even faster.

"Young lady, this is clearly our property, how can you steal it?" Ding Dong quickly blocked Zhou Zhou's way.

Zhou Zhou finally couldn't bear to look at her. It would have been better if he hadn't looked at her, because looking at her made him feel disgusted.

This face bears a striking resemblance to Zhong Xu's former mistress, with about 70% similarity.

I thought Zhong Xu was a devoted lover, but it turns out he's bisexual and only loves his face.

how?

Because of guilt or genuine affection, as long as it's the same face, even if it's someone else, one can still love them to death. Such love is utterly repulsive!

"Yours?" Zhou Zhou smirked. "What, Young Master Zhong? If you can't hunt it, you kill it and claim it as your own. That's just your style."

Being mocked like that, Zhong Xu, who wasn't one to hold back his temper, immediately retorted, "Stop talking nonsense! Hand over the stuff or I'll make sure you know I'm not someone you can mess with!"

"Hahahaha," Zhou Zhou laughed mockingly, as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world. "Zhong Xu, Zhong Xu, has anyone ever told you that only those with real ability can make threats, while you..."

She looked at Zhong Xu with disdain, sizing him up and down, and finally shook her head, "What you say is no different from farting to me."

"You!" Zhong Xu was furious.

Ding Dong hurriedly took over the task of rebuking Zhou Zhou, "You ungrateful girl, how can you be so ungrateful? My young master is unwilling to argue with you, otherwise you would probably be rolling on the ground by now."

She spoke harshly, but her hand gestured where Zhong Xu couldn't see—she was hinting to Zhou Zhou to run away quickly, lest she really get beaten up by the enraged Zhong Xu, which would be a loss for her.

Zhou Zhou stared at her hand, then looked at her face, revealing a dazzling smile. "I misspoke."

After saying that, she looked at Zhong Xu with a sincere expression, "At least farting has some sound and some smell, so your words, to me, tsk."

She didn't say it explicitly, but her expression said it all.

"This is outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!" Zhong Xu could no longer contain himself and drew his sword.

No sooner had he drawn his sword than a group of guards appeared in a flurry, drawing their swords with a sharp, cold glint.

Zhou Zhou's lips curled up, and under Zhong Xu's gaze, he spoke clearly, word by word, "There's an assassin! Arrest him!"

In no time, Zhong Xu's sword was taken away, and his hands were tied behind his back.

The opponent was too weak, and the victory was a foregone conclusion and meaningless.

Zhou Zhou tossed the rabbit to the guard and told him to take good care of it.

Upon hearing this, the guard indicated that he understood, and then raised the sword that had not yet been sheathed, intending to stab the man to death, when he was stopped by the person next to him.

"Are you stupid? It was alive before I put it in your hands, but it died after I got it. Aren't you afraid the girl will blame you?"

"Besides, this thing was hunted by the young lady, and it might be meant to be given to His Highness. Why are you in such a hurry to make a decision? Aren't you afraid of being skinned alive?"

"Ah, what is that?"

"I told you to bandage the little rabbit." The man looked at him with a look of utter disappointment.

The conversation between the two successfully caught Zhou Zhou's attention, but before she could ask a question, Zhong Xu interrupted, "Bullshit, I was the one who hunted it."

Zhou Zhou scoffed, picked up the bow and arrow he had broken, and waved the mark on the sword in front of him. "If you're blind, get it treated quickly."

Overwhelmed by shame, anger, and resentment, Zhong Xu struggled violently, roaring, "Let me go! Let me go! I'm going to kill you! Kill you!"

Unfortunately, he was never able to break free from the guards' control.

Zhou Zhou sneered inwardly and solemnly ordered, "This man has probably lost his mind. Quickly, send him back to the camp and ask the imperial physician to examine him."

Zhong Xu roared and struggled, then his mouth was gagged and he was dragged away.

The change happened so fast that Ding Dong hadn't even had time to react before Zhong Xu was pulled away, and then she was met with Zhou Zhou's smiling face.

Ding Dong's legs went weak and he knelt down. "I really didn't know who you were, young lady. I didn't mean to offend you. Please spare my life!"

Looking at that face, Zhou Zhou was annoyed for the first time at how good his memory was—last time he had only caught a fleeting glimpse, yet he still remembered the face of the mistress kneeling before him that day.

She rubbed her temples, impatient. "Are you the one Zhong Xu brought in?"

Zhou Zhou realized from the beginning that this woman did not recognize him.

The noble ladies in the capital are all shrewd and capable, and those who can follow the emperor from the capital to the Chengming Palace and then to the Suifeng Hunting Grounds are the cream of the crop.

Therefore, all the noble ladies who came along knew Zhou Zhou's identity as the future Crown Princess, and Yi knew that he needed to get along well with Zhou Zhou.

Therefore, this person who doesn't recognize herself can definitely not be one of the noble ladies.

"Yes." Ding Dong answered cautiously, afraid of incurring Zhou Zhou's wrath and having his life taken.

Zhou Zhou gave a soft "hmm" and continued to ask, "Where are you from?"

“I have been making a living in a theatrical troupe in Kyoto.”

Hearing that it was another actor, Zhou Zhou felt disgusted once again.

It seems that Zhong Xu only likes this face and the fact that she can sing opera; he doesn't care about anything else.

Thinking of this disgusting thing, Zhou Zhou took a deep breath. "Is the indenture paid?"

"Never."

“Very good.” After saying that, Zhou Zhou reached into his sleeve, but found nothing.

How embarrassing! Before setting off today, Zhou Zhou left his purse with Ju Fang so that it wouldn't interfere with drawing his bow.

She chuckled awkwardly twice, then looked towards where Li Ziyan was hiding and asked, "Your Highness, I would like to borrow some silver from you."

Li Ziyan appeared leisurely, holding the reins and riding his horse.

Without asking any further questions, he simply took out the purse inside and handed it to Zhou Zhou.

Zhou Zhou simply said "thank you," but the corners of her mouth betrayed her good mood.

Li Ziyan had both silver and silver notes in his purse. Zhou Zhou took out a fifty-tael silver note and slowly said, "Now I'll give you two choices. One is for me to send someone to take you back to Zhong Xu's side, and the other is to take this fifty taels and stay by my side. After you come to the capital with me, I will let you leave."

"You can choose between these two paths."