After the Eastern Palace welcomed a legitimate son, they soon welcomed Miss Fang as a secondary consort.

The Crown Prince taking a secondary consort was not the same as an ordinary man taking a concubine. A secondary consort would be entered into the imperial jade registry, and the etiquette and protocols were far more complicated than even a commoner marrying a principal wife.

Although the spectacle was not as lively and grand as welcoming a principal consort, everything that should be present would be there.

Yun Chu hadn’t expected that she would receive an individual invitation from the Eastern Palace.

She was now a divorced woman. By all rights, she shouldn’t be invited to such a joyous occasion.

Yun Chu pondered secretly. The Crown Prince was someone with shallow thoughts. It was highly likely that the Empress was using this opportunity to invite her to the palace, but what was the purpose?

In the carriage on the way to the imperial palace, she thought it over again and again but couldn’t come up with an answer.

The carriage soon stopped at the palace gates. Young eunuchs and palace maids came forward to greet her and led her toward the Eastern Palace.

All along this route were people coming to congratulate the Eastern Palace. Some were familiar with Yun Chu and would exchange a few words with her, but most people kept their distance from her. After all, the Yun Family had gotten into trouble, and everyone feared being tainted by association.

“Chu Chu.” Duling caught up with Yun Chu’s pace and walked shoulder to shoulder with her quite intimately, speaking in whispers. “This Fourth Miss Fang previously threatened suicide to marry Prince Pingxi, making a scene that everyone knew about. Yet now she’s marrying the Crown Prince. I wonder what her feelings will be when she sees Prince Pingxi again in the future?”

Yun Chu shook her head.

After Fourth Miss Fang had made such a scene, she could still marry into the imperial family. From this, one could see the Fang Family’s position in the court.

If Prince Pingxi hadn’t defied the imperial decree and had married Miss Fang, the Fang Family would have become a great source of support…

But he had refused the marriage.

Why had he refused…

She had a vague guess in her heart.

The two chatted idly, and soon arrived at the Eastern Palace.

The Eastern Palace was where the heir apparent resided. Composed of the eastern, southern, western, and northern palaces combined into one Eastern Palace, it was imposing and magnificent. Many guests had already arrived at this moment.

Qiutong, who was behind Yun Chu, handed the congratulatory gift to the head eunuch, then stepped inside.

The Empress had already arrived, and many imperial consorts were accompanying her in conversation.

Yun Chu walked over and curtsied. “This subject pays respects to Empress Your Majesty and all the noble consorts.”

“Isn’t this the eldest daughter of the Yun Family who became a widow and then divorced?” Noble Consort Yuan smiled without warmth. “A widow coming to a celebratory banquet seems rather inappropriate, doesn’t it? Didn’t the Yun Family teach such etiquette?”

Imperial Concubine Yun’s expression darkened.

Ever since the Yun Family got into trouble, Noble Consort Yuan had been making trouble for her at every turn. For the sake of the Eighth Prince, she could endure what she could endure.

But she wouldn’t allow Noble Consort Yuan to bully Chu’er.

Imperial Concubine Yun was about to speak.

Then she saw the Empress speak first. “It was I who invited Chu’er to come and chat. What, Noble Consort Yuan, must I seek your approval for whom I invite?”

Noble Consort Yuan’s face paled.

Hadn’t her words just now implied that the Empress didn’t observe proper etiquette?

She hurriedly said, “This consort didn’t mean that. Please forgive this consort, Empress Your Majesty.”

The Empress waved her hand, too lazy to haggle over it.

The Crown Princess stood up and said to Yun Chu, “Miss Yun, sit here.”

Yun Chu walked over and sat beside the Crown Princess.

She felt somewhat sorry for the Crown Princess, who had just given birth to the legitimate eldest son. Before even finishing her confinement period, she had to come forward to manage her husband’s taking of a secondary consort.

How many women could achieve such magnanimity and consideration?

The expressions of many guests who had come changed slightly.

The Yun Family had gotten into trouble, and the Emperor hadn’t truly punished them—that was one thing. But why was the Empress still so close to the Yun Family members?

Could it be that Yun Silin’s case of collaborating with the enemy and betraying the country had taken a turn?

As everyone pondered various thoughts, Yun Chu was also pondering.

She knew that the Empress was not truly a magnanimous person in the real sense. Treating her this way, she must have some purpose.

Sure enough, after Yun Chu sat briefly with the Crown Princess, the Empress claimed she needed to change clothes, and the Crown Princess pulled her along to attend to the Empress.

The Empress let the palace maids wash and dress her hair, saying warmly, “Chu’er is only twenty, isn’t she?”

Yun Chu lowered her head to reply, “After the new year, I’ll be twenty-three in nominal age.”

“Twenty-three is also a woman’s prime years. Wouldn’t it be lonely to waste the years alone?” The Empress suddenly grasped her hand. “When you were young, you often entered the palace with your mother. I’ve watched you grow up. When you married the top scholar Xie Jingyu back then, it was considered a good match. What a pity…”

“It truly is a pity.” The Crown Princess took up the conversation. “Miss Yun was the foremost beauty who crowned the capital back then. Keeping to an empty room alone is truly lonely… Mother Empress, my eldest cousin is also alone now. In my view, he matches well with Miss Yun. Why doesn’t Mother Empress play matchmaker and achieve a good marriage?”

Yun Chu’s heart suddenly sank.

The eldest cousin in the Crown Princess’s mouth was the Crown Prince’s legitimate maternal cousin, which was to say the Empress’s elder brother’s legitimate eldest son—the current National Uncle’s legitimate eldest son, Gongsun Ning.

The legitimate eldest son of the Gongsun clan—of course Yun Chu had heard of him.

Gongsun Ning should be at least thirty years old this year. Two principal wives had already died before, and he had a whole group of concubines and children at home.

The Empress wanted her to become Gongsun Ning’s third wife.

“Chu’er, if you marry into the Gongsun Family, you should call me Aunt from now on.” The Empress looked kind and benevolent. “Today is a good day. How about I ask His Majesty to bestow this marriage upon you both?”

She actually wasn’t very willing for her nephew to marry a Yun Family daughter.

Yun Silin had been missing for so many days—he was probably long dead in some corner. Even if the Yun Family wasn’t ultimately convicted, the Yun Family had lost power.

The Yun Family, having lost military authority, wasn’t quite suitable to be marriage relations with the Gongsun clan.

However, Yun Chu had an extraordinarily beautiful face. Ever since Yun Chu became a widow, her nephew had been like someone possessed, pestering her daily to marry Yun Chu.

She really had been pestered to the point of having no other option.

She could only invite Yun Chu to the palace and use this opportunity to settle the marriage.

The only benefit she could see from this marriage was that the Emperor still remembered the Yun Family’s generations of meritorious service and pitied the Yun Family members, so he would naturally regard the Gongsun clan more highly.

“Please withdraw your command, Empress Your Majesty.”

Yun Chu directly knelt on the ground.

“Thank you for Empress Your Majesty’s kind regard. This subject’s daughter lost her husband and divorced. My eight characters have weak official stars. I dare not aspire so high as Lord Gongsun.”

The Empress frowned.

When a woman’s eight characters had weak official stars, in common terms it meant she had the fate of bringing misfortune to husbands. Xie Jingyu’s death could serve as some proof of this.

She hadn’t been very willing for her nephew to marry a Yun Family daughter in the first place.

Now that Yun Chu put it this way, she immediately dismissed the thought and helped Yun Chu up. “I was just asking your opinion. Since you’re unwilling, then let it be.”

Yun Chu breathed a sigh of relief.

She truly hadn’t expected at all that even though she’d become a widow and divorced, even though the Yun Family was in such a state, there would still be people eagerly trying to matchmake for her.

Fortunately, the Empress wasn’t some obstinate person. Otherwise, if an imperial decree bestowing marriage came down, she would have nowhere to cry even if she wanted to.

Yun Chu and the Crown Princess carefully attended to the Empress changing clothes. When they walked out of the inner chamber, the secondary consort was just entering the Eastern Palace gates at the front, and the ceremonial bows formally began.

The matchmaking women and palace maids clustered around the Crown Prince and secondary consort as they walked in from the main gate.

All the guests, regardless of gender, stood on both sides to observe the ceremony.

The Crown Prince’s secondary consort couldn’t wear pure red—she wore a slightly lighter water-red color and held a fan in her hand that covered most of her face.

Fang Xinyan quietly lowered the fan a little bit, raised her head, and looked toward the guests standing on one side. She saw that face that had haunted her dreams.

She hadn’t been able to become Princess Pingxi, yet she had become his elder brother’s secondary consort.

Why had they missed each other like this?

Fate played tricks on people…