The two girls simultaneously curtsied.

"Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince."

The Crown Prince did not respond, nor did he even look up at the two of them. Instead, he turned to look at the heir of the Marquis of Chengen.

"What does Uncle mean by this?"

The heir of the Marquis of Chengen smiled and said, "We're all family. Let them come and meet you so that you won't feel unfamiliar when you meet again in the future."

"In the future?"

The crown prince raised an eyebrow, a cold glint in his eyes.

Marquis Chengen had drunk a bit too much and didn't notice the change in the Crown Prince's expression. He even pretended to be friendly and patted the Crown Prince's shoulder.

"Once you ascend the throne, you will naturally want to expand your harem. Choosing someone from within the family is better than choosing someone from outside. Hua'er and Shu'er are both your cousins; it would be good for them to get to know each other beforehand, wouldn't it?"

He assumed the Crown Prince was still the same neglected and submissive prince who spoke without restraint. He forgot the fundamental distinction between ruler and subject.

The prince grabbed his wrist, shoved him, then stood up and kicked the table.

Clang!

Clang!

A loud crash followed, and the cups, bowls, and plates on the table shattered on the floor.

The two Zhou girls turned pale with fright, took several steps back, and almost fell to the ground.

The crown prince had a dark and gloomy face.

"I had heard about this before, but I thought it was just a rumor. I never imagined that the Marquis of Chengen's mansion would actually have such a plan! I considered you all family, yet you schemed against me like this?"

The Marquis of Chengen's heir sobered up instantly. Upon seeing the enraged Crown Prince, he was so frightened that he knelt down on the ground with a thud.

"I...I...I didn't mean to scheme against you! Isn't this just trying to strengthen family ties? It's a win-win situation for both Your Highness and our Zhou family!"

The crown prince gave a cold laugh.

"A win-win situation? If it were truly a marriage between relatives, why didn't you mention it before? Why didn't you mention it when the Empress Dowager was alive? Why did you only bring it up now that I'm about to ascend the throne? Isn't it because you saw that I was weak before and not valued by that treacherous villain, so you couldn't bear to send your daughter to the Eastern Palace to suffer?"

"You've got a good plan in the bag. Do you really think I can't see through it?"

The prince approached step by step, his boots making a sour sound as they stepped on the broken porcelain shards.

Just like his mood right now.

The heir of the Marquis of Chengen swallowed hard and tried to explain himself.

"No...no...Your Highness, you've misunderstood! Hua'er and Shu'er weren't old enough before..."

What he said wasn't wrong.

Initially, the emperor and empress were on good terms, and the crown prince's position was secure, so the Zhou family had no need to marry their daughter to the crown prince for political alliance.

After the Empress's death, the Crown Prince was not favored by the fake Emperor and was repeatedly harassed, his position jeopardized several times. After finally surviving several crises, the Crown Prince came of age, got married, and his position became much more stable. It was then that he began to have this idea.

At that time, the Zhou family's daughters were all still young.

Therefore, the heir apparent and his wife chose Hua'er and Shu'er and focused on cultivating them, thinking that they would be sent to the Eastern Palace when they reached the right age.

Unexpectedly, the Crown Prince's son did not have any offspring for several years.

If it were just the Crown Princess who was unable to conceive, that would be one thing. But for the entire Eastern Palace, for nine whole years, not a single child was born, and no one even got pregnant. Everyone knew that the problem lay with the Crown Prince.

Now, the heir apparent of the Marquis of Chengen hesitated.

However, they had spent a lot of money on their two daughters, and they couldn't just marry them off casually. So, while looking for suitable families, they also kept an eye on the situation in the Eastern Palace.

Until this year, news of several pregnancies in the Eastern Palace emerged, although only Consort Xi successfully gave birth. This proved that the Crown Prince was "well," so the heir of the Marquis of Cheng'en started plotting again.

Originally, it was thought that, given the Crown Prince's temperament and the kindness the Zhou family had shown him over the years, he wouldn't have any objections.

The heir of the Marquis of Chengen never expected that the Crown Prince would get angry.

Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar crown prince before him, he suddenly realized that he was no longer the humble, polite, and deferential crown prince he once was.

He is the Son of Heaven, the Emperor.