Chapter 270: Princess, Please Return
Qinghua Princess watched as Yun Chu ascended the steps and knocked on the door.
She laughed in disbelief: "I've already said Doctor Wu isn't seeing anyone today. What, do you think you're the exception?"
The moment she finished speaking, the door opened.
A servant emerged: "Ah, it's Miss Yun! Please come in quickly. Doctor Wu has been waiting for you."
Yun Chu smiled and nodded, stepping inside.
Qinghua Princess stared in utter astonishment.
How... how was this possible?
She, a noble princess, hadn't been granted entry, yet Yun Chu was admitted? By what right?
Because she's a widow? Because she's divorced? Because she comes from the fallen Yun family?
Qinghua Princess swiftly climbed the steps and followed through the doorway: "Didn't Doctor Wu say he was occupied today and wouldn't receive guests? What, he's busy when I come, but welcomes others immediately? Disrespecting me is one thing, but can Doctor Wu bear the crime of contempt for the imperial court?"
"Your Highness exaggerates." Just then, Wu Yun emerged.
This was Yun Chu's first time seeing Wu Yun in six months.
The man who once had a face covered in pustules and wore a black cloak now dressed in light-colored robes, his hair tied back, revealing his face.
Though scars and pockmarks of varying sizes still marked his features, he looked vastly improved compared to half a year ago.
Moreover, his eyes shone with the hope of someone reborn, looking toward the future.
"I've studied under my master for less than a year and my skills remain shallow. I dare not treat Your Highness," Wu Yun's voice was respectful yet firm. "Princess, please return."
Qinghua Princess flushed with anger.
She had even invoked the crime of contempt for the imperial court, yet Wu Yun remained unmoved. Very well!
She turned and stormed away.
Noticing Yun Chu's slight concern, Wu Yun explained: "My master said we must never give face to imperial family members. If my master showed the same deference to royalty as ordinary people do, he would surely be confined within the imperial city. How then could he travel the world? Miss Yun, please come in."
Yun Chu felt relieved. With Divine Doctor Si backing him, Qinghua Princess could do nothing to Wu Yun.
As they walked inside, she asked: "Since returning to the capital, have you visited your mother?"
A genuine smile spread across Wu Yun's face: "Thanks to Miss Yun's help, I could meet my master, cure this strange illness, and become his disciple... During these six months I spent in Qingzhou, my mother remained in the capital. It was only through Miss Yun's care that she gained weight and looks years younger. I don't know how to repay your great kindness, so I specifically asked my master for a fertility pill. My master spent eighteen years perfecting this single pill."
He placed a pill in Yun Chu's hand.
Yun Chu: "..."
It wasn't that she couldn't bear children—she simply didn't want to, nor saw the need.
"Thank you for your kind intention, but it's unnecessary." She returned the pill. "It would be better reserved for someone who truly needs it."
Wu Yun was perplexed.
His master had said that although Miss Yun could conceive, her body required prolonged conditioning. This pill would guarantee pregnancy within three months.
Since Miss Yun was soon to marry into the Prince of Pacifying the West Manor and join the imperial family, how difficult her life would be without children of her own.
He thought he had chosen the perfect gift of gratitude, never expecting Miss Yun would refuse.
Before long, Du Ling, Du Ying, and Du Ying's fiancé—the son of the Vice Left Commissioner—also arrived.As the intermediary, Yun Chu introduced both parties, then Wu Yun took out Divine Doctor Si's case records and began examining the patient's pulse while consulting the documents.
"This illness isn't incurable—it's mainly rare. Without proper treatment, it has worsened over time," Wu Yun released the wrist. "My mentor encountered a similar case years ago and found acupuncture therapy quite effective. For the first treatment cycle, daily acupuncture sessions for seven days, then every three days for another seven days..."
His words gave the Deputy Left Commander's son hope, while Du Ling and Du Ying breathed sighs of profound relief.
They remained to continue the acupuncture treatment as Yun Chu rose to return home.
She couldn't entirely abandon her wedding embroidery preparations to her mother—after all, it was her wedding approaching, and moreover, the marriage she eagerly anticipated.
Returning to the courtyard, she found Lin Shi still discussing details with eight embroiderers. Yun Chu felt this discussion could continue for three days and nights without reaching any conclusion.
Approaching them, she said, "This Hundred Flowers Brocade wedding dress looks quite beautiful."
Lin Shi asked, "Since it's called Hundred Flowers Brocade, which hundred flowers should we include? We must carefully select them."
The embroiderers nodded earnestly and began reciting flower names.
Yun Chu: "..."
A hundred flowers to slowly choose from... her head was already spinning.
Well, she had genuinely tried—that would have to suffice.
She quietly slipped out of the Warm Pavilion.
The next morning, the seventh day of the first lunar month, even court officials had formally returned to their duties, yet there was still no news of Chu Yi.
Yun Chu grew increasingly concerned.
After finishing a solitary breakfast, Ting Xue hurried in to report: "Young mistress, an imperial decree has arrived from the palace."
Her fingers stilled.
Her first thought was of the marriage decree.
But upon second thought, with Chu Yi absent from the capital, the Emperor likely wouldn't issue the decree at this time.
Perhaps it related to yesterday's chance encounter with Qinghua Princess—maybe she had filed a malicious complaint...
While pondering, Yun Chu had already swiftly moved to the front courtyard.
The messenger was the Emperor's chief eunuch. Gao Gonggong smiled and said, "Worthy Person Yun, His Majesty summons you. Please accompany this humble servant to the palace."
Yun Chu bowed her head: "May this titled woman request permission to change attire."
Noting her casual home wear, Gao Gonggong naturally permitted her to do so.
An unease settled in Yun Chu's heart.
If Qinghua Princess had complained, she would never have persuaded the Emperor to specially dispatch Gao Gonggong as messenger.
Something significant must have occurred.
While changing clothes, she told Ting Feng: "Go to the Yun residence with a message—say I've been summoned to the palace by His Majesty."
Ting Feng nodded and immediately departed for the Yun family home.
After changing into appropriate attire, Yun Chu rode in a carriage following the procession to the imperial palace.
After a lengthy walk, she finally followed Gao Gonggong to the entrance of the Imperial Study.
"Your Majesty, Worthy Person Yun has arrived."
"Admit her."
Keeping her head lowered, Yun Chu entered the Imperial Study.
This being her first time here, protocol forbade her from looking up. She knelt in formal greeting, rising only after hearing the command to rise from above.
From her peripheral vision, she noticed several pairs of shoes—judging by them, the Empress and Yin Fei were also present.
"The weather is cold—you must have chilled during the journey. Someone, bring hot tea," the Empress said with notable warmth.
Yun Chu curtsied: "Thanking Her Majesty the Empress for the tea."
"Lady Yun is intelligent, so We and His Majesty shall not speak in riddles," the Empress continued. "Several days ago, the Grand Astrologer compared your and Yi'er's birth characters, and the ancestors also examined them. The results were... somewhat unsatisfactory."
Here, the Empress sighed.When my nephew Gongsun Ning wanted to marry Yun Chu, Yun Chu herself mentioned that her female official star was weak, suggesting she might bring misfortune to her husband.
Fearing it would affect the marriage arrangement, she deliberately didn't mention this to the Emperor. Unexpectedly, the Grand Astrologer still managed to divine it.
Yun Chu showed no surprise on her face.
From the moment she saw Yin Fei here, she knew that today's elaborate summoning to the palace was certainly about the marriage.
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