At the Eastern Palace banquet, basically all the invited guests had arrived.
Yun Chu immediately spotted Du Ling sitting among the crowd and was about to walk over when someone approached from the side.
It was the pregnant Fang Xinyan. Her pregnancy was already showing, and with her protruding belly, it appeared even more prominent.
“Princess Consort of Pingxi.”
Fang Xinyan held the hand of a palace maid and bent her knees in a curtsy.
Before the Crown Prince ascended the throne, she, as a secondary consort, had to bow to Yun Chu, who was a primary consort.
But once the Crown Prince became Emperor, she would certainly be one of the four consorts, and Yun Chu would have to greet her instead.
Yun Chu’s face maintained its unchanging smile. “Secondary Consort Fang is with child, there’s no need to perform such courtesies.”
Fang Xinyan straightened her body, paused for a moment, then spoke. “I’ve heard people say that after the Princess Consort of Pingxi married into the prince’s manor, she drove away many of the manor’s longtime servants. Even Prince Pingxi’s wet nurse was expelled… The Princess Consort is so kind, surely you wouldn’t do such things, would you?”
The women seated nearby perked up their ears one after another.
The capital was neither large nor small, but at least they had all heard about the events at Prince Pingxi’s manor.
They’d heard that several old matrons who had served for over ten years at the manor had been beaten with rods until their legs nearly broke and then driven out. That was one thing.
Reportedly, Prince Pingxi’s wet nurse had also been sent far away to a country estate by this newly elevated Princess Consort of Pingxi to spend her retirement.
In just a few months, the new Princess Consort had turned Prince Pingxi’s manor upside down. Next, would she set her sights on the Young Lord?
Everyone was very curious about these matters, but Yun Chu basically never attended banquets, so they had no way to gather information.
Coming to the Eastern Palace today, they never expected that the Eastern Palace’s secondary consort would directly ask the Princess Consort of Pingxi to her face, which satisfied their curiosity.
The Crown Princess frowned slightly.
This Secondary Consort Fang was truly too brainless, actually asking such questions in front of Yun Chu.
Fang Xinyan pulled at the corners of her lips.
She wasn’t brainless—she deliberately wanted to ask Yun Chu this question in front of so many people.
Yun Chu certainly wouldn’t admit that she herself had driven away Prince Pingxi’s wet nurse. She wanted everyone to hear just how hypocritical Yun Chu was.
“Who told Secondary Consort Fang these things?” Yun Chu looked Fang Xinyan over once, then said, “I can tell that Secondary Consort Fang is someone who would believe such things. Oh, I don’t mean to say Secondary Consort Fang is brainless—you’re pregnant, after all. Pregnancy makes one foolish for three years. That’s understandable.”
Before Fang Xinyan could speak, she looked toward the others nearby. “Those hearsay rumors—I imagine all of you ladies with clear minds wouldn’t believe them.”
Once these words were spoken, who would dare say they believed those rumors?
Wouldn’t that be admitting they had no brains?
Fang Xinyan’s face turned white with anger. “You…”
“Enough!” The Crown Princess interrupted coldly. “Secondary Consort Fang is with child and shouldn’t stand for long. Go sit down.”
She turned to Yun Chu. “Third Sister-in-law, don’t stoop to Secondary Consort Fang’s level. This way, please.”
Yun Chu walked over and sat beside Du Ling.
She gave Qiutong behind her a look. Qiutong slowly retreated a few steps, her figure obscured by green trees, and quickly disappeared from the banquet hall.
“Ever since your grand wedding, you’ve stayed completely indoors. Outside, there are all sorts of rumors about you, yet you can really keep your composure.” Du Ling shook her head. “After other princess consorts enter their households, they immediately arrange various banquets. When will you hold one?”
Yun Chu said hurriedly, “Spare me, please. I’m most impatient with such things.”
Du Ling knew her temperament and said in a low voice, “Do you still remember when the Crown Prince brought someone back from the imperial mausoleum last time? I heard that palace maid became a minor consort in the Eastern Palace.”
Yun Chu nodded. “She saved the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince gave her a position for protection. It’s reasonable.”
“The Eastern Palace has two secondary consorts and four minor consorts. When the Crown Prince ascends the throne, this palace maid will at least become an imperial concubine.” Du Ling clicked her tongue. “From a lowly maid, she suddenly flew up to the branches to become a noble. Her life has completely changed.”
Yun Chu said nothing more.
Before long, Qiutong silently appeared behind her and said in a low voice, “Princess Consort, this subordinate just went to look. That newly elevated minor consort is the eldest daughter of the Xie Family, Xie Ping.”
Yun Chu’s face revealed an expression of “just as I thought.”
Ever since hearing that Xie Ping had died, she had suspected that Xie Ping had switched places and entered the Eastern Palace. The facts were exactly as she had guessed.
Not long after, the Emperor and Empress also arrived. After all, the spectacle of corn poppies in full bloom was rarely seen. The imperial couple also wanted to join the excitement and chat with everyone.
Yun Chu noticed that a lady was following alongside the imperial couple—about fifty years old, extremely well-maintained, with temperament and appearance in no way inferior to the Empress standing beside her.
“You’ve rarely attended banquets in recent years, so you probably don’t know this lady.” Du Ling said quietly, “She is the Duke’s wife.”
Yun Chu understood.
The entire Great Jin dynasty had only one Duke, though he had died twenty or thirty years ago, leaving behind only the Duke’s wife.
Because that late Duke had rendered great service, even after his death, the glory of the Duke’s manor hadn’t perished. The current Duke was valued highly by the Emperor, so this great family remained standing firm in the capital.
“Do you know? This Duke’s wife has never had children of her own in her entire life.” Du Ling’s voice grew even softer. “The current Duke is a clan child she selected from the collateral branches and adopted under her own name.”
Yun Chu indeed didn’t know much about this Duke’s wife and asked, “Didn’t the Duke leave behind any illegitimate sons?”
“There were many illegitimate sons, but…” Du Ling pressed her lips together. “They all died mysterious deaths or went mad.”
Yun Chu fell silent.
Matters of the inner quarters were mostly unspeakable.
She hadn’t expected that this Duke’s wife had actually dealt with all the illegitimate sons…
However, without knowing what others had experienced, she wouldn’t casually pass judgment.
“What are the Princess Consort of Pingxi and Lady Ji chatting about?”
A steady voice came from the side.
Du Ling gave a start and immediately stopped talking, smiling awkwardly. “Greetings to the Duke’s wife.”
Yun Chu spoke with a smile. “Lady Ji and I were saying these corn poppies are blooming beautifully. We wanted to ask the Crown Princess for some flower seeds to plant back home.”
The Duke’s wife said, “I also took flower seeds from the Eastern Palace to plant before. Strangely enough, these corn poppies bloom sparsely everywhere else, but flourish so abundantly in the Eastern Palace. I don’t know what the reason could be.”
The three chatted about corn poppies for a while.
When the banquet formally began, they finally ended their conversation and each began to eat.
Du Ling felt somewhat shaken and kept her head down, eating frantically.
She would never again dare to gossip about others in such settings. If overheard, it would cause major trouble.
“The grand wedding of the Princess Consort and Prince Pingxi is still vivid in my memory.” The Duke’s wife suddenly spoke. “The Princess Consort’s former husband died, and so quickly you remarried and obtained such a suitable husband. How enviable.”
Yun Chu’s hand paused.