The late emperor was buried after being laid to rest for 25 days. Before the grief could spread for long, preparations for the new emperor's succession ceremony were in full swing.

White silk fell all over the palace, and as the new emperor named his biological mother the Empress Dowager and conferred titles on the concubines in the harem, the last trace of sadness in the air was blown away in an instant.

"I heard that the Great Chanyu of the Northern Hu and his wife will be attending the current emperor's coronation ceremony."

"That was the princess personally appointed by the late emperor, the younger sister of the current emperor. No wonder His Majesty has been so pleased these past few days and even ordered the Ministry of Works to renovate the Weiyang Palace, which hadn't been occupied for a long time. Could it be that this was done for that princess?"

Things can never be kept secret in the palace, and these rumors were unfortunately heard by Princess Li who came to the palace to visit the concubine dowager.

She has always been a person who can't keep things to herself, so she went to Cihe Palace in a rage.

"Mother, did you hear that? I really don't know what my royal brother is thinking. I'm obviously his biological sister. That fake princess is just a despicable palace maid who married into the palace under the title of princess. How can she compare to me!"

After the late emperor passed away, Princess Li gradually realized the fickleness of the world and felt extremely resentful.

"The Weiyang Palace has always been the residence of favored concubines. How can she be worthy of it?"

Looking at Princess Li who was speaking wildly and angrily, Concubine Ming who had sent away the palace maids, only now realized that her own daughter had been spoiled to the point that she could not see the current situation and was extremely brainless.

He sighed and gently warned the princess who was sitting beside the couch with a sullen look on her face.

"Don't say that again!"

The princess, who had no place to vent her anger, became even angrier.

"Mother!"

She was about to speak when she was choked by her mother's warning look.

"We are no longer the same as we were before. The late emperor is gone, and our supporters are gone too."

"The Empress already has a bad impression of me. If you anger the Emperor again and lose the royal protection, I will have a hard time in the palace, and you will have a hard time outside the palace too. Do you understand?"

Princess Li had never suffered such humiliation before. When the late emperor was alive, he favored her immensely.

Although she became a little colder for some reason later on, she still enjoyed more protection than the other princesses.

Now asking her to bend over for a woman who is lower in status and appearance than herself, in other words, her substitute, is impossible.

"Mother, you're worrying too much. After all, I'm the Emperor's biological sister. Even if that woman took the position of First Consort, it was because of her status as the Dagan Princess."

"A barbarian leader and a contemptuous palace maid, what a match!"

Princess Li had never met Yu'er, so she dared to speak so arrogantly.

When she returned to the palace, Yu'er had already been crowned a princess and married off. Concubine Ming had never met Yu'er, so she thought her daughter was right.

But how could the palace maids of Da Gan compare to the nobility of her daughter, who was a member of a royal family.

Two days after the emperor's coronation ceremony, a group led by Hu Yanlie came to Dagan and were arranged to stay in the post station in the city.

Waiting for the coronation ceremony.

"Her Royal Highness, the Empress Dowager has summoned you to the palace for an audience."

The group had just checked into the inn to rest. Yu'er washed up and changed into a dry dress. Before she knew it, she was summoned into the palace by the Queen Mother.

The Cining Palace was silent. The old empress dowager with white hair looked at Princess Mingzhu who was bowing gently in the middle of the hall.

Her jade-white face and bright and dazzling beauty are as good as ever, and even better than before.

He blinked in surprise, then looked up again as if he couldn't believe it.

Twenty years passed in a flash. The previous emperor passed away and the current emperor succeeded to the throne. No one can escape the passage of time.

The woman in front of him was the same as she was twenty years ago, in the prime of her life. Time was cold and ruthless to others, but it was lingering and sad to her.

The jade-like branches and trees, the snow-white skin and the flower-like appearance, have changed and yet have not changed.

What has changed is that it has grown, like a flower in full bloom, emitting a mature and rich fragrance, and has become more beautiful.

What remains unchanged is the still clear eyes, as clear as a handful of snow in the mountains, clean and thorough, without the trials and tribulations of the world.

It can be seen that she has lived a very good life over the years.

"The Empress Dowager?"

Yu'er just kept looking around without saying anything. She slowly stood up and looked at the dazed old woman in the main seat with some confusion, and reminded her softly.

The empress dowager smiled, having regained consciousness, and took the opportunity to cover up her previous daze.

Without any hesitation, she raised her hand and beckoned her nominal daughter to sit next to her. She held her hand. People in the palace should not ask what she thinks in her heart, because she is always putting on an act on the surface.

"You look very happy. I guess you've been doing well in Northern Hu these past few years. How has the Northern Hu Khan treated you?"

Da Gan married more than one princess. The ones he married before might not have adapted to the local climate or might have been homesick due to being away from home. In short, none of them lived as comfortably as the one in front of him.

A peerless beauty who has not been deceived by decades of time and has not been worn down by the wind and frost.

I thought that the wind and frost on the grassland would wear away her beautiful face, and that leaving her hometown and living in a foreign country would cause this delicate flower to wither early.

Who would have thought that the flowers would grow even more prosperously in a foreign country.

The Empress Dowager looked at the late emperor with a complicated look, who had been obsessed with him for decades. Even after she left, he neglected Concubine Ming for a while and found hundreds of women who were one thousandth or one ten-thousandth of the same appearance to favor him. In the end, it was just a temporary solution and he felt lost.

It even made the current crown prince, who last year, go to great lengths to invite the princess who had been married to another country for decades to return under the pretext of the coronation ceremony.

Such beauty.

Why didn't the Queen Mother stop the Prince? She just took it for granted that twenty years had passed and no matter how beautiful a woman was, she couldn't withstand the ravages of time.

Rather than letting the present think about it, I miss you very much.

It would be better for him to meet Yu'er, who was in her forties and whose appearance and complexion were no longer intact, and give up the idea.

The emperor let go of his thoughts and obsessions, and enjoyed a loving relationship with the queen and concubines.

What should she do? Just as the empress dowager was having an intimate conversation with someone but was thinking about it without showing it, she heard loud singing outside.

"The Emperor has arrived~"

One voice after another, the loud singing carried into the house without any resistance.

The shocked empress dowager couldn't figure out the emperor's thoughts. The woman he had been thinking about for twenty years arrived.

He was so impatient that he left the morning court without even returning to the imperial study and went straight to her Cining Palace.

Yu'er was not as overthinking as the empress dowager. She just thought it was a coincidence that she ran into the emperor coming to pay his respects. She couldn't leave, so she had to get up obediently.

When the bright yellow figure came striding over, he didn't dare to look at it any longer. He lowered his brows and bowed.

"My sister pays respect to His Majesty the Emperor. May His Majesty be blessed with good health."

No matter what, on the one hand, she was the princess of Dagan, and on the other hand, she was the first concubine of the Northern Hu royal court, and her status was equivalent to that of the queen. She did not need to kneel, but only needed to bow slightly to greet him.