Chapter 27

A week later.

The school’s final assessment was over. Chu Yunmiao held the honor certificates she had earned in both hands and said goodbye to her classmates before boarding the shuttle specially sent by the Imperial Palace back to the Imperial Star.

She had only been able to stay in touch with her family through electronic devices for an entire semester; the longing she had accumulated was almost overflowing. As the shuttle gradually approached the planet she had lived on for decades, Chu Yunmiao’s heartbeat quickened little by little.

Soon, the shuttle landed. The moment Chu Yunmiao stepped out, she saw four familiar figures waiting for her: the two mothers and two sisters she had been thinking about day and night. Chu Yunhuan and Chu Yunli were still in middle school and had already started their holiday earlier, so it was no surprise they were here. But today was a workday, and Chu Yu and Shu Yan’yan had clearly taken time off specially to come pick her up.

Although she felt a little guilty for delaying their work, being so valued made her feel wonderful; there was no way she could possibly be unhappy.

She quickened her steps and, like a little bird returning to its nest, landed lightly in front of the four of them.

“Mommy, Mother, Yunhuan, Yunli!”

Shu Yan’yan and Chu Yu had been married for over ten years. That was enough time for Shu Yan’yan, once an ordinary country girl who knew nothing, to grow into a dignified empress who could appear beside Chu Yu at any time before the media and be supported by hundreds of millions of citizens. Yet in front of her family, she still seemed like that gentle, lovely young mother untouched by the world.

Seeing her outstanding eldest daughter come home for the holidays, her eyes reddened a little. She stepped forward and hugged Chu Yunmiao’s shoulders. “You’re finally back. Mommy missed you so much.”

Chu Yunmiao hugged her back. “Me too!”

Only Chu Yu had the bearing of a family head. She stopped the two of them from pouring out their longing in public. Taking Shu Yan’yan’s hand, she said, “Let’s go home first. The car is waiting outside already.”

Chu Yunmiao nodded and let go of Shu Yan’yan. Since Shu Yan’yan was led away by Chu Yu, the two younger sisters came over just in time, each hooking an arm through hers as the five of them walked happily out of the landing base together.

Sandwiched between her two sisters, Chu Yunmiao lowered her head and patiently answered their questions. Though the three sisters had kept in touch online about her studies away from home, there was still no end to what they wanted to say when they were face to face.

As the three chatted, the conversation between their two mothers in front of them drifted into their ears as well.

“You’re still like this; you tear up at the slightest thing,” Chu Yu said, glancing at the red at the corners of Shu Yan’yan’s eyes. “I should’ve known better than to bring you along.”

Shu Yan’yan clearly refused to accept that. “I’m emotional because I’m so happy to see Yunmiao. That’s why I can’t help it.” She shot Chu Yu a covert glare. “And you; you’re acting like you don’t feel anything at all. You’re making me wonder if you still love her.”

Chu Yu was shameless as ever. “Of course I love her, but I’m a mature person. It’s not like I’d get so worked up over a little separation that I’d cry, would I?”

Shu Yan’yan listed her crimes one by one. “And you wouldn’t even let us mother and daughter talk. Were you rushing back because you had to deal with your official work?”

Chu Yu pressed a hand to her forehead. “I’ve already pushed back all of today’s work. I won’t be handling anything after we get back.”

Shu Yan’yan didn’t seem satisfied with that answer; her pursed lips never relaxed.

Chu Yu smiled and teased her. “Why the long face? Do you want me to cry with you before you’ll be happy?”

She touched her chin and thought for a moment. “That’s a little difficult. How about this…” She leaned close to Shu Yan’yan’s ear and said a few words, successfully making her wife’s face turn red. Shu Yan’yan even raised a small fist and punched her a few times before finally laughing and putting on a proper expression again.

Shu Yan’yan knew she couldn’t win against her.

It had been like this ever since they met. Chu Yu had always liked teasing her over little things. Now they were already an old married couple, and Chu Yu still hadn’t changed that bad habit; the two of them had gone on for ten years exactly the same way, like lovers still in the honeymoon stage.

Of course, there was nothing wrong with that kind of relationship. After all, the three princesses, who were always being force-fed displays of affection from their own mothers, put on the expression of “I was walking along just fine and suddenly got kicked in the shin,” while secretly feeling envious in their hearts.

Not everyone could meet a partner on life’s journey who matched both their soul and their body.

Very soon, they arrived back at the Imperial Palace.

Besides her two mothers and two younger sisters, Chu Yunmiao had one more close relative—the Dowager Empress, who had not gone to the shuttle port to pick her up today.

Come to think of it, when she was little, she had spent almost half her time with this grandmother and half with her two mothers. The Dowager Empress had always felt that someone with Chu Yu’s personality probably wouldn’t be able to find a wife; after she found Chu Yunmiao and her mother again, she treated them even better than she treated her own biological daughter. Under such circumstances, Chu Yunmiao, who had lived a few hard years outside when she was young, ended up being spoiled rotten by the whole family.

Every time they indulged her without condition, Chu Yunmiao felt a little afraid.

She was grateful she had always had firm principles and goals; otherwise, with all the doting from the elders in the palace, she probably would have grown into one of those unruly little nobles who feared nothing.

Sure enough, the moment she returned to the Imperial Palace, the Dowager Empress pulled her into a tight embrace, calling her “my treasure” and “my sweetheart” over and over again. Chu Yunmiao chatted with her while feeling a little helpless. She was no longer a child, after all; being held like this by an elder was still somewhat embarrassing. Unfortunately, the others all looked at her with expressions that said they couldn’t help her.

Even Chu Yu could only boss around her own palace; as for her own mother, she did not dare say anything reckless.

So the Dowager Empress fully poured out her longing for Chu Yunmiao and ended up ruffling her long hair into a mess.

When everyone ate together that evening, she still didn’t forget to ask, “Grandma didn’t go to the shuttle port to pick you up. Our treasure won’t be angry, will she?”

Yunmiao shook her head. “Of course not!”

The Dowager Empress explained, “The palace is preparing your birthday banquet. This afternoon just happened to have a few ceremonies that needed confirmation, so Grandma couldn’t get away. Don’t blame Grandma, Yunmiao.”

Yunmiao hurriedly said, “Grandma is busy with my affairs; I’m touched beyond words. How could I blame you? I know Grandma is good to me, so don’t worry.”

The Dowager Empress smiled until her teeth showed.

Since the birthday banquet had been mentioned, everyone naturally continued the topic.

Shu Yan’yan brought up, “The guests need to be confirmed early. Yunmiao, I’ll give you the list tomorrow. See how many more names you need to add. You should know quite a few people at university, right? We don’t know, so just fill in everyone you want to invite.”

Chu Yunmiao nodded. “Okay.”

Beside her, Chu Yu suddenly asked, “Have you decided who else you want to invite?”

Chu Yunmiao didn’t hesitate for long. “I get along very well with my classmates. This time, I want to send invitations to all of them.”

Chu Yu asked again, “What about the teachers?”

“The teachers…” Chu Yunmiao paused, then nodded. “Mm, I should invite a few teachers too, I think.”

Without even lifting her head, Chu Yu continued deboning the fish on Shu Yan’yan’s plate and said, “I don’t think there’s any need.”

Chu Yunmiao was surprised. “Huh?”

“You don’t really socialize with them, and besides, they’re teachers. If all your classmates are coming, inviting the teachers too would probably make it less fun,” Chu Yu said, giving her opinion.

Chu Yunmiao thought about it. “That… might be okay, though…”

The Dowager Empress immediately sided with her precious granddaughter. “Yunmiao can invite whoever she wants. At worst, we can just arrange for the teachers to sit in another area separately.” She looked at Chu Yu. “Have you gotten so free lately? Now you want to interfere with who Yunmiao invites to her birthday banquet too.”

Chu Yu’s expression stiffened a little, but she didn’t dare argue with her mother. After nodding, she looked at Shu Yan’yan and sought comfort from her dear wife.

Shu Yan’yan was already struggling to keep from laughing at her. Seeing this, she lightly pinched Chu Yu’s fingertip, then acted as though nothing had happened and continued chatting with the others at the table.

It was a meal that left everyone thoroughly satisfied. After dinner, Chu Yunmiao was dragged off by her two sisters to the training ground.

The three sisters had been apart for so long; they needed a proper catch-up.

After a while of fooling around, the three of them sat together and chatted.

As the eldest, Chu Yunmiao naturally asked about their lives at school. She knew Yunhuan and Yunli were both very outstanding and did not need anyone watching over them to finish their studies well. After getting satisfactory answers, she asked, “And Mommy and Mother? During the time I was away, were they both doing well too?”

“Of course they were,” Chu Yunli, the third princess, rolled her eyes. “I honestly don’t know what could go wrong with Mother and Mommy. The two people with the best relationship in the whole world are them.”

Chu Yunhuan, the second princess, had a different opinion. “Mother picks on Mommy too much sometimes. Mommy even came to sleep with us for two nights before.” She propped her chin on her hand, looking worried. “I’m really afraid that one day Mommy will actually get angry and break up with Mother directly. Hmph; if that really happens, I’d like to see how Mother plans to clean up that mess!”

“NONONO! She absolutely won’t!” Chu Yunli objected. “Don’t you think Mommy actually enjoys it? I think Mommy gets angry sometimes, but she’ll never separate from Mother in this lifetime; that’s just how the two of them are!”

Chu Yunhuan rolled her eyes. “Maybe.”

She said, “Does an Omega have to be bullied by an Alpha? When I grow up, I definitely want to Differentiation into an Alpha; I don’t want to Differentiation into an Omega.”

When the topic turned to secondary sex, Chu Yunmiao sighed.

Chu Yunhuan realized what she’d said and quickly said, “Ah… Sis, no, I didn’t mean Omega is bad, um, I, I mean, actually Omega is pretty good too! It’s not like every Omega is like Mommy, being bullied by their partner all day, right? Cough, and also, Mother is actually very doting toward Mommy most of the time, which is, is pretty good too.”

She seemed unsure how to explain herself; her words came out in a mess.

Chu Yunmiao smiled. “I know, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Mother and Mommy being like this.”

She said, “Don’t you envy them? Being able to find someone to accompany you for life.”

The two little princesses nodded in unison.

At that, Chu Yunli suddenly thought of something.

“How are things on your end of university? Has no one discovered your real secondary sex?”

Chu Yunmiao: “Mm…”

Chu Yunhuan thought for a moment. “Sister Changning found out? You said before she helped you handle some trouble, but you were vague and wouldn’t say it clearly.”

Chu Yunmiao had no choice but to admit it. “She knows.”

“Sister Changning is amazing. When you were grabbed during the final assessment before, she was the one who saved you,” Chu Yunli said. Then, suddenly thinking of something, she looked at Chu Yunmiao and asked, “Wouldn’t you be bullied by Sister Changning if it were you and Sister Changning?”

She voiced the observation she had held for a long time: “Sister Changning really dotes on you!”

Chu Yunmiao didn’t react at first. By the time she understood what that sentence meant, her entire face was already flushed.

She glared at the Third Princess. “What nonsense are you saying? What do you mean she bullies me? She, does she dare?”

Chu Yunmiao looked innocent. “She wouldn’t dare… so that’s why I said she definitely wouldn’t bully you?”

Chu Yunmiao was frantic. “That’s not what I mean. It’s just, why would she bully me?”

Chu Yunmiao was still confused. “…How would I know? The two of you…”

Seeing that their eldest sister was practically about to smoke from the head, the second princess hurriedly interrupted the youngest. “What Sister means is, she and Sister Changning aren’t together yet, so there’s no question of bullying or not bullying.”

The knot in Chu Yunmiao’s chest finally loosened. Looking at her second younger sister, she nodded in relief. “Mm!”

“But Sis…” Chu Yunhuan propped her cheek in her hand, making the right side of her face squish out of shape as she stared straight at Chu Yunmiao. “You got so anxious just from hearing a hypothetical about being together with her that you couldn’t even speak. Are you sure about the relationship between you and her…”

She didn’t finish; instead, she turned to exchange a look with the third princess. Both of them wore expressions that clearly said, you two have something going on.

Chu Yunmiao shot to her feet as though there were fire under her butt. “You two are getting more and more mischievous. I’m tired; I’m going back to rest. I’m not talking to you anymore.”

The third princess pouted. “Why? Actually, Sister Changning is pretty good. If you…”

She shut up too, not because she was kindly leaving room for Chu Yunmiao like her second sister had, but because Chu Yunmiao’s glare practically wanted to bore through her.

This counted as the Third Princess’s life-saving self-rescue.

Since Chu Yunmiao seemed determined to leave, the two younger sisters didn’t stop her. Chu Yunhuan reminded her, “Tomorrow at nine, we’re going to the National Museum, okay? Don’t forget, Sis. Oh, right, and one more thing…”

Chu Yunmiao turned back to give her face. “I remember the museum. What else?”

Chu Yunhuan asked, “Are you going to invite Sister Changning to your birthday banquet? Don’t be nervous; I’m just asking casually.”

Chu Yunmiao did not want to mention her at all now, but she still answered patiently, “Probably… I will? Why?”

After all, Yu Changning was her instructor, and she had also helped her make up a lot of classes for free this semester. Not inviting her… would make no sense at all.

Right, precisely because it made no sense, she had to invite her! Chu Yunmiao thought to herself.

Chu Yunhuan thought for a moment. “Well, if there’s nothing especially important, I suggest…” She said, “You’d better not invite her.”

Chu Yunmiao was astonished. “Why?”

From Chu Yunhuan and Chu Yunli’s attitude, she felt the two younger sisters had a lot of good feelings toward Yu Changning, so she couldn’t understand why the second sister would say something like this at a time like this.

Chu Yunhuan herself was also conflicted. “Uh… no, maybe it’s better to invite her after all?”

The second princess was thrown into chaos. “Ai, I don’t know. Anyway, you decide for yourself.”

Chu Yunmiao found it even stranger. “What exactly is going on?”

Chu Yunhuan said vaguely, “Mother really values your birthday banquet. She also invited many foreign imperial heirs…”

She didn’t go on.

Chu Yunmiao narrowed her eyes.

She remembered that, regardless of the others, one thing was certain: her own mother, Chu Yu, definitely did not want to see Yu Changning. As for the foreign imperial heirs Chu Yunhuan had mentioned…

What did those people have to do with her?

“I understand.” Chu Yunmiao nodded.

Chu Yunli was completely baffled by the roundabout exchange between the two of them.

She asked bluntly, “So, Sis, are you going to invite Sister Changning or not?”

Chu Yunmiao didn’t hide it either. “Mm, I will.”

The second princess widened her eyes. “You’re sure?”

She didn’t know why her eldest sister had suddenly become so firm in her resolve; just a minute ago, she had clearly still been wavering.

Chu Yunmiao explained briefly, “Things between Yu Changning and me… can be considered resolved. We’re not in the state of having cut ties like before.” She stated her reasoning. “I don’t want Mother to keep hating her because of this. This time just happens to be a good opportunity. I want to take this chance to also resolve the misunderstanding between Changning and Mother.”

After saying that, she raised a hand to bid farewell to her two younger sisters and left the training ground in high spirits, returning to her own palace.

Inside the training ground, the two little princesses were in complicated moods.

The Third Princess, Chu Yunli, turned to confirm with her second sister. “I keep feeling like Sis’s idea is a little off. Mother hating Sister Changning… doesn’t seem to be because Sister Changning and Sis broke off contact, right?”

More accurately, in her view, it should have been Chu Yu who first disliked Yu Changning, which then led to their elder sister cutting ties with her best friend.

Chu Yunhuan shrugged. “This is Sis’s twentieth birthday banquet; it’s a coming-of-age celebration and pretty extraordinary. It should be lively, shouldn’t it?”

She imagined what might happen then. “Mm, it’s definitely going to be lively enough now.”

The two little princesses looked at each other, each spreading their hands, then went shoulder to shoulder back to their warm little bedrooms.

Under the night sky, the Imperial Palace was as quiet as a painting.