The auspicious hour was approaching, and the maids were relieved when they saw that Zhou Sisi was finally willing to wear the wedding dress. After doing so, Zhou Sisi said that she wanted to calm down in the room alone, so the maids waited outside and didn’t dare to go far.

But then they found that Zhou Sisi had disappeared again, but fortunately, she was soon found in a room of the Tianzhen Building.

But when they found Zhou Sisi, Zhou Sisi was with a man.

The maids were too scared to approach and only heard Zhou Sisi calling “Imperial Cousin” in the room, and they all thought that the man inside was the Crown Prince.

So they hurriedly went to report to Mrs. Zhou, and she didn’t go in to check and directly told them to call Qiao Jinniang over.

Qiao Jinniang and Lu Chen met on the way. Qiao Jinniang walked over and asked Lu Chen, “What the hell is Zhou Sisi doing again?”

Lu Chen didn’t know, so he simply said, “Let’s go and have a look first.”

When Prince Qi saw his consort, he somehow felt that the way his consort looked at him was strange.

Prince Chu had the same feeling and felt a chill down his spine. “What happened?”

Consort Chu smiled gently. “Nothing.”

Prince Chu somehow panicked. The more gently his consort smiled, the more he was terrified.

Li Lingling didn’t see Prince Huai, and frowned slightly.

They entered the Tianzhen Building, and when Mrs. Zhou saw Lu Chen, she was stunned and even stammered. “G-Greetings, Y-Your Royal Highness, and Your Highnesses.”

Mrs. Zhou kept shaking. If the man inside was not Lu Chen, then who was inside?

It was already a great disgrace for Sisi to get married in such a hurry. If she was found having sex with a man before marriage, her life would be completely ruined.

Mrs. Zhou propped herself up and pushed open the door. The man inside had already dressed and said coldly, “I came to attend the wedding ceremony as a guest, but when I was changing, Miss Zhou drugged me! Mrs. Zhou, you really educated Miss Zhou well!”

Li Lingling frowned when she heard the voice inside.

Qiao Jinniang smiled and congratulated Li Lingling. “Sister-in-law, congratulations. It seems that you’ll have one more sister now.”

Li Lingling almost vomited out a mouthful of blood. She rushed in and pointed at Zhou Sisi, snapping, “You shameless b*tch, how dare you drug Prince Huai! Mrs. Zhou, you must give us an explanation!”

Zhou Sisi, who slowly woke up on the bed, spat out a mouthful of blood!

How could this be?

The one she wanted to drug was Imperial Cousin not this man!

Why did it become Prince Huai?

After all, Zhou Sisi and Prince Huai’s identities were special, and now Mrs. Zhou didn’t know what to do.

Old Madam Zhou was supported over. She frowned and said to Prince Huai, “Your Highness, there may be a misunderstanding. The auspicious hour has come, so please let my granddaughter finish the wedding ceremony first.”

Mrs. Zhou said to Old Madam, “But, Mother, Sisi has already given herself to Prince Huai…”

Old Madam Zhou’s scrutinizing gaze swept to Prince Huai and she said, “The girls of our family would rather marry a beggar than become a concubine! Therefore, the best choice is to continue the wedding.”

Prince Huai cupped his hands and said, “Miss Zhou is not clear in the mind after all. I don’t know who drugged me, but since I failed to control myself, I should be responsible for what I have done. I am willing to take Miss Zhou as my concubine.”

Old Madam Zhou said, “The girls of the Zhou family will never be a concubine.”

Prince Huai frowned, and Li Lingling turned pale. What did this old woman mean?! Did she want her to surrender her position to Zhou Sisi?

Mrs. Zhou said to Old Madam Zhou, “Mother, it’s not appropriate to continue the wedding now. Let’s ask His Majesty and Her Majesty what to do first, okay?”

In Mrs. Zhou’s opinion, Lu Chen was so ruthless towards Sisi. It was not a bad choice for Sisi to marry Prince Huai.

The Queen and the Crown Prince were simply heartless, but Prince Huai was still willing to marry Sisi eventhough he was drugged by Sisi. He was really a good man.

No matter how much Old Madam Zhou insisted, since Prince Huai was involved, it could only be the Emperor who made the decision, so the marriage ceremony was canceled.

…

Not long after Qiao Jinniang and Lu Chen returned to the East Palace, they were called by Emperor Huilin to the Taiji Palace.

In the Taiji Palace, Prince Huai and Li Lingling were already there.

After Qiao Jinniang and Lu Chen saluted, they sat aside.

Emperor Huilin asked Lu Chen, “Zhou Sisi drugged Prince Huai and made him have sex with her. What do you think about this, Chen’er? Of the two, one is your brother and the other is your cousin.”

Logically speaking, to maintain the face of the royal family and the Duke Wu Mansion, it would be best to let Zhou Sisi marry Prince Huai as his concubine.

But Emperor Huilin was partial to Lu Chen. If he let Prince Huai marry Zhou Sisi, wouldn’t that mean giving all the power of the Duke Wu Mansion to Prince Huai?

The Duke Wu Mansion was originally on Lu Chen’s side.

Lu Chen said, “Since this matter has happened, I think Eldest Brother should take his responsibility, but the Zhou family doesn’t want their daughter to be a concubine, so how about Eldest Brother marrying Cousin as his ‘Equal Wife’? Marrying an ‘Equal Wife’ is popular among the folks.”

Emperor Huilin said, “Nonsense! Which decent man will marry an ‘Equal Wife’? Your brother is a prince after all.”

Lu Chen said, “But this is a special case, so it deserves special treatment. It is indeed inappropriate to have two Consorts Huai, but there is no other way to solve this matter now.”

Li Lingling almost burst with rage. If there were two Consorts Huai, she would become a real joke. She said, “Why don’t we ask Her Grace if she thinks the idea of ‘Equal Wife’ is acceptable?”

The Empress Dowager hated the women of the Zhou family the most, and she would definitely not let Zhou Sisi marry Prince Huai as Consort Huai.

However, to Li Lingling’s surprise, the Empress Dowager agreed to Lu Chen’s proposal right away.

Although the Empress Dowager didn’t like the girls of the Zhou family, Li Lingling certainly couldn’t bring Prince Huai the power Zhou Sisi could.

Besides, this could sow discord between Lu Chen and the Zhou family. Why not?

Regarding the ‘Equal Wife’ matter, imperial censors kept submitting memorials, trying to stop this ridiculous thing, but Emperor Huilin didn’t change his mind.

…

After Qiao Jinniang returned to the East Palace, she went to the kitchen to make a bowl of fish balls for Lu Chen.

Seeing that there were fish balls at dinner, Lu Chen looked at Qiao Jinniang curiously and said, “Why are you being so kind to me today?”

Qiao Jinniang said, “Don’t you think it’s not worth it to fall out with the Zhou family and lose a very valuable supporter for the sake of me?”

Lu Chen chuckled and held Qiao Jinniang into his arms. “If it’s not worth it, I wouldn’t have done it. Besides, I’m the Crown Prince, not someone they can push around.”

Qiao Jinniang said, “But Mother…”

Lu Chen smiled. “Don’t worry about Mother. If you feel guilty, make her more bowls of chicken soup wontons. She likes folk snacks the most.”

Qiao Jinniang leaned against Lu Chen’s chest and looked into his eyes. “What about Zhou Siming? You’re as close as brothers for so many years…”

Lu Chen just hugged Qiao Jinniang tightly and didn’t say anything. As Confucius said, do not attempt to work with people whose way is not your way.

Zhou Siming chose Zhou Sisi, while he chose Qiao Jinniang. This was not their fault but fate.