Chu Yunfei did not recall for too long.
After Baochan and Sheng Xia finished packing, she had the most capable and senior Nanny Xiong from the Prince's Estate called over, then took her two personal maidservants and boarded a carriage to return to the Chu family.
No one blocked their way as they walked out of the Prince's Estate.
Having been married into the Prince Zhan's Estate for a year, everyone in the estate knew that Prince Zhan doted on his wife; no one dared to neglect her, and she had held the power of the inner chambers since entering the estate, governing the inner courtyard in an orderly fashion.
Whether in the front courtyard or the rear courtyard, from the butler and the head nanny down to the rough-work maidservants, no one was disrespectful to her—except for that Lianqiao, who thought she had latched onto Chu Yun Jiao's coattails.
However, the year-long peace was broken today by a letter of divorce.
Chu Yunfei sat in the carriage, closing her eyes to ponder Rong Cang's attitude toward her before and after their marriage, thinking about his sudden change of heart without warning, and felt that there must be a hidden reason.
"Princess Consort." Baochan sat in the carriage compartment, her brows slightly furrowed, "If you return to the Chu family now, wouldn't that give the Second Miss even more opportunity to be alone with the Prince?"
Chu Yunfei opened her eyes, her gaze cold: "If she can truly grasp this opportunity, then that is her ability."
"The Prince must have been bewitched by her and was confused for a moment." Nanny Xiong followed beside the carriage, her voice calm, "Your Ladyship need not worry."
One is the legitimately married main consort, the other is a concubine-born daughter who exchanged favors in secret.
They are not even qualified to be compared together.
Even if Prince Zhan truly had other thoughts, the Emperor likely would not allow him to divorce his wife, let alone marry a concubine-born daughter who cannot be brought into the light as his main consort.
Chu Yunfei had nothing to worry about.
She was not returning home because of Rong Cang, but to make Chu Yun Jiao understand her own identity.
The carriage soon arrived outside the Chu Family Main Gate.
"The Eldest Miss is back! The Eldest Miss is back!" The voice of the servant reporting echoed throughout the Chu family residence and was passed down, "Quickly go report to Madam, the Eldest Miss is back!"
"What are you shouting for? You have no rules at all." The butler walked out, frowning and scolding, "Call her Your Ladyship!"
The gatekeeper's report immediately changed to: "The Princess Consort is back! Your Ladyship is back!"
The butler led the servants to stand in two rows outside the gate, respectfully welcoming the Princess Consort Zhan back to the residence.
Sheng Xia lifted the carriage curtain and, together with Baochan, helped their Master step down from the carriage.
Just as Chu Yunfei stepped over the threshold, she saw the Chu family's head Madam, Madam Ji, leading people out to welcome her, bowing according to royal rules: "Your Ladyship..."
"Mother!" Chu Yunfei hurriedly stepped forward, raising her hand to stop her bow, then her eye sockets reddened, and she couldn't help but choke up, "Mother..."
Madam Chu's heart sank, and she hurriedly asked: "Fei'er, what happened?"
"Mother, I am fine." Chu Yunfei took a deep breath, restraining her emotional fluctuations, "Please have Mother go to the front hall and summon all the Chu family servants."
Madam Chu's expression was slightly startled: "Fei'er?"
Chu Yunfei's voice was cold: "Someone in the family has overstepped their identity, and your daughter wants Mother to teach her the rules and let her recognize her own identity."
"You are talking about..." Madam Chu's expression was hesitant, "Chu Yun Jiao?"
Even though her husband favored his concubines, she was, after all, the head Madam, and she knew the tricks of those concubines and their daughters in her heart.
To be able to make her own daughter this angry, and it being someone in the family—besides Chu Yun Jiao, who else could it be?
Chu Yunfei nodded.
So Madam Chu did not ask further and immediately instructed her personal nanny: "Summon everyone to the front hall, do not make any mistakes!"
"Yes, Madam." Nanny Yang received the orders and left.
The mother and daughter soon arrived at the front hall, and Madam Chu asked worriedly: "Fei'er, what exactly happened? Why didn't Prince Zhan come back with you? He..."
"He is currently staying with Chu Yun Jiao." Chu Yunfei said, lifting her foot to walk into the front hall, "He might even personally send Chu Yun Jiao back later."
What?
Madam Chu's expression changed.
Chu Yunfei slowly turned around, looking expressionless toward the outside of the hall: "I returned today because there is a matter I must deal with in public."
She was originally the legitimate daughter of the Chu family and had been married to Prince Zhan for a year, so her eyebrows and eyes naturally carried a sense of awe-inspiring bearing.
The servants who arrived one after another lowered their heads involuntarily.
Seeing that there were more and more people, Chu Yunfei finally spoke coldly as if announcing a crime: "The Chu family's concubine-born daughter, Chu Yun Jiao, is shameless; without a matchmaker's words, without her parents' command, she has openly committed adultery with her own brother-in-law. For such a morally corrupt crime, should she be dealt with according to family law?"
Once these words were spoken, the servants' expressions changed one after another.
With her own brother-in-law?
Did the Eldest Miss mean that the Chu family's Second Miss committed adultery with Prince Zhan?
"Of course she must be dealt with according to family law." Madam Chu regained her senses, her face filled with coldness, "Fei'er, did she really do such a thing that disgraces our family reputation?"
Chu Yunfei nodded.
"Truly a misfortune for the family." Madam Chu was furious, "The Chu family is a dignified official family with a noble and distinguished reputation, yet we have produced such an uneducated, shameless thing; it is my negligence as the head Madam!"
"Eldest Miss..." A nanny outside the hall peeked at Madam Chu and spoke cautiously, "The Second Miss and the Eldest Miss previously had deep feelings for each other; could there be some misunderstanding in this?"
"Misunderstanding?" Chu Yunfei gave a cold smile, "She instigated Prince Zhan to divorce his wife so that she could sit in the position of the head Madam; is this a misunderstanding?"
As her words fell, everyone outside the hall was suddenly shocked and in an uproar.
"What?"
"The Second Miss actually dared to instigate Prince Zhan to divorce his wife?"
"Prince Zhan is deeply in love with the Eldest Miss, how could he possibly divorce his wife?"
"Is the Second Miss possessed by an evil spirit? How could she dare to have such a fantastical idea?"
"This is simply outrageous!" Madam Chu slapped the table, her eyebrows and eyes filled with frost, "A lowly concubine-born daughter, actually stupid enough to not recognize her own identity, even daring to covet her own brother-in-law? She is simply courting death!"
The nannies and servants outside the hall looked at each other, their expressions shocked and uneasy.
For one, they could not believe that the Second Miss would dare to commit such a treasonous act; having an affair before marriage, if reported, would only lead to death.
Secondly, for a concubine-born daughter to overstep and covet a Prince of the current dynasty was even more of a fantastical idea.
The person Chu Yun Jiao was coveting was her own brother-in-law.
Any one of these things would be enough for her to die several times over.
"Jiao'er is wronged!" A gorgeously dressed woman suddenly rushed into the crowd and walked quickly into the hall, "Although this concubine and Jiao'er have lowly identities, this concubine has always strictly followed the rules and also taught her to be dignified and virtuous. It is absolutely impossible for Jiao'er to commit such a morally corrupt act. I ask the Eldest Miss not to have a misunderstanding—"
"This Princess Consort saw it with my own eyes, how could it be false?" Chu Yunfei said sternly, "Chu Yun Jiao is at the Prince Zhan's Estate right now."
"Impossible!" Concubine Chen denied it flatly, "Jiao'er has always stayed in her room and has never gone out."
Facing death, she still dared to be stubborn?
Chu Yunfei's gaze was like a knife, staring at Concubine Chen's face, which still retained its charm, thinking of Chu Yun Jiao's provocative words: "Your mother is unfavored; you wouldn't be as thick-skinned as your mother, would you?"
What a good "unfavored," what a good "thick-skinned."
Where did a concubine-born daughter get the courage to be so disrespectful to the head Madam and her legitimate sister?
"Concubine Chen is most skilled at telling lies with her eyes open." Chu Yunfei's expression was cold, "Do you think I would deliberately frame and falsely accuse her?"
Concubine Chen's expression changed: "I did not mean that—"
"Kneel down." Madam Chu spoke suddenly.
Concubine Chen's expression froze on her face, and she looked at her in disbelief: "What did you say?"
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