N-A-A Chapter 1687 Priority Selection
Chapter 1687 Priority Selection
"The Queen has arrived."
Qingxiao saw the Empress approaching from afar and judged from her demeanor that she seemed to have ill intentions. He immediately shouted into the hall to remind the Prince.
The Crown Prince's expression brightened, and he said to Zhou Shiyue, "Uncle, Mother has arrived."
Although I missed the wedding ceremony, it's still okay to come before the wedding banquet. I hope my uncle won't hold it against my mother.
After all, the Empress Dowager hadn't left the Buddhist temple for so many years, let alone the palace. The fact that she came showed how much she valued the Imperial Uncle.
Zhou Shiyue responded and turned around, patting the hem of his robe. His back was straight, and his imposing aura immediately emanated from him, making everyone present tense up.
They all looked at the woman who was walking towards the hall.
Your Majesty the Empress, truly Your Majesty the Empress!
The Crown Prince hurried forward, calling out expectantly to the Empress, "Your subject greets Your Majesty, Your Majesty..."
Before he could finish speaking, the empress raised her hand to interrupt him.
"Ze'er, I have something to ask you. Please come out with me first. Your Highness, would you mind stopping for a moment?"
Looking at the guests filling the hall, the Empress felt that at this moment, they should at least close the door and have their own people talk things out properly first.
The crown prince hesitated for a moment, but still followed the empress out of the hall.
However, since they were surrounded by guests, even though they stood outside the hall, they couldn't avoid the attention of everyone.
"Your Highness, Her Majesty the Empress..." Qing Xiao spoke with some concern beside Zhou Shiyue.
Zhou Shiyue raised his hand, signaling him not to speak yet.
Lu Anfan clenched his fist and walked to Yin Yunting's side.
Here, besides Zhou Shiyue, he was most familiar with Yin Yunting and trusted Yin Yunting the most.
"Brother Yin, the Empress doesn't look too well," he said in a low voice. "Is my elder sister being mistreated?"
In the past, Lu Zhaoling could arrogantly smash talismans, and no one could beat her. When it came to matters with the government, Prince Jin was always there to protect her.
But after all, he didn't get to face the Empress.
The Empress's status is different, and her seniority is higher than that of Prince Jin. Prince Jin wouldn't dare to be too arrogant in front of her, would he?
Yin Yunting calmly said, "Don't worry, let's wait and see."
Lu Anfan had no choice but to remain calm.
The Empress had been holding back all the way, and seeing the festive red decorations at the Prince of Jin's residence seemed to provoke her even more.
She grabbed the Crown Prince's hand and asked urgently, unable to contain herself, "Did you know that the engagement between the Prince and Lu Zhaoling was originally yours?"
The crown prince was momentarily stunned, not understanding what she meant by those words.
The Empress was a little annoyed when she saw him like this. He never fights or competes for anything. What kind of Crown Prince is he?
She patiently said, "What I mean is, the person who is engaged to Lu Zhaoling is you, not Zhou Ling, do you understand?"
The Empress didn't actually like Lu Zhaoling that much, since she had never met Lu Zhaoling.
She had only heard Huan Mama mention that Lu Zhaoling had been betrothed to Prince Jin, but she hadn't taken it to heart.
At that time, the only thing she cared about was—
How does the Prince of Jin treat her? He shouldn't become obsessed with a woman, otherwise he'll transfer all his care and attention to her and might neglect the Crown Prince.
Granny Huan inquired about it at the time.
What kind of news could one possibly get from inside the palace? They could only overhear what Zhou Shiyue wanted the emperor to hear.
So Huan Mama told the Empress that Lu Zhaoling was a country girl who had just arrived in the capital and was not familiar with the Prince. The Prince was just thinking about getting the Emperor Emeritus to fulfill a wish, so he randomly grabbed someone to marry.
Anyway, that person will never overstep the Crown Prince's bounds.
Hearing this, the Empress was relieved.
Later, she heard about Prince Jin and Lu Zhaoling a few times, but in the Empress's eyes, such a young girl following Prince Jin around was always unreliable.
But today she heard the news that Lu Zhaoling was originally Cui Liyue's daughter, and that Cui Liyue was the woman she had met and chatted with back then. Only then did the Empress recall the scene of meeting Cui Liyue in the past.
He suddenly remembered something Cui Liyue had said years ago.
She said that her daughter would surely be extraordinary when she grew up, worthy of the princes of the Great Zhou, and would certainly not be ashamed of the Great Zhou's empire.
Cui Liyue said that if the prince could protect her daughter in the future, her daughter would do her best to repay him.
The Empress arrived so late because she had been reminiscing about the past.
Many years have passed, and the Empress's memory has become blurred.
It's also possible that she didn't really take it to heart afterwards.
So the engagement was made, and for so many years, no one came looking for her. They assumed that the woman who seemed to have suffered a huge blow and had little energy left was no longer alive.
The affair she made back then was also a rash decision she made on a whim.
However, over the years, the Empress has never paid much attention to the Crown Prince's marriage, and there is actually a reason she does not want to tell others.
She wanted to see if the Emperor could really ignore their two sons so completely.
In the end, will the emperor choose a virtuous and capable crown princess for his son?
The Empress was holding her breath, as if a taut string was taut and she was fighting with the Emperor.
This kind of thinking is actually seen as naive and childish by many. They haven't even figured out their own and the emperor's true identities.
Ultimately, despite her advanced age, the Empress was still a teenage girl at heart who only believed in love.
However, the Queen always felt that she was a loving mother to her son.
She wouldn't be the kind of person who only forces her son to fight for the throne; she wanted Zhou Ze to be a crown prince who could do whatever he wanted and get what he wanted from the people he desired.
So when the Empress learned that the person Zhou Shiyue was going to marry was actually the person she had been betrothed to the Crown Prince, she thought she had to give the Crown Prince priority in choosing.
Only if the Crown Prince says that he does not want to fulfill the marriage agreement and does not want the girl, can the girl marry the Prince of Jin and become the Princess of Jin.
The Empress remembered that the person who had told her this news before revealed that the Crown Prince seemed to have someone in his heart recently, but it seemed that this person was not someone he could openly marry into the Eastern Palace. Therefore, His Highness the Crown Prince had been suffering and was in pain, which was heartbreaking to see.
The other party deliberately misled the Empress's thoughts, making her believe that the Crown Prince was only yielding to Prince Jin and therefore dared not fight for the woman he loved.
The Empress felt sorry for her son.
She wanted to help her son.
"Ze'er! Your mother didn't know before that the marriage was arranged for you back then! The prince mentioned in the marriage certificate was you, not Zhou Ling! Zhou Ling has been disliked since childhood, how could Cui Liyue possibly want to entrust her daughter to him?"
The Empress held the Crown Prince's hand tightly and said, "Therefore, Lu Zhaoling should be your Crown Princess!"