Forced to be a concubine? I turned around and married the scumbag's father.

Who knew Mu Junyan would be even faster?

The black-armored guards arrived at the city gate in a dense, imposing manner and surrounded the carriage.

The tall, imposing horses and the strong, muscular guards in black armor completely surrounded the onlookers' view.

The moment the black-armored guards appeared, the surrounding temperature dropped by ten degrees, and no one dared to peek at the princess's face; they all dispersed.

The news spread throughout the capital, with everyone saying that the Regent was so protective of his wife that he wouldn't even let anyone glance at her.

Gu Hua was being protected so well that she was unaware of all this. All she could see were the cute little glutinous rice balls rolling towards her.

"Mother."

With tears welling up in her eyes, Yuanyuan clung tightly to Gu Hua's neck with her small, chubby arms, tearfully smearing snot and tears all over Gu Hua's face.

Gu Hua's eyes were red. Holding the soft body, she picked up the child and curtsied to the old lady.

"Mother, you've worked so hard."

The old lady laughed heartily and patted Yuan Yuan's back: "Come down quickly, you've gotten so fat, you're making your mother tired."

Yuanyuan was unhappy and pouted, but fearing that her mother would get too tired, she quickly slipped out of Gu Hua's arms.

The wet nurse brought over the young master An'an. Gu Hua looked at his round little face with delight. The little guy's round eyes were darting around.

Upon seeing Gu Hua, it immediately grinned and babbled, stretching its little hands out towards her.

Gu Hua felt extremely sorry for him, picked up Xiao An'an, and kissed him hard on his fair and rosy cheeks.

"Mother is sorry, little An'an, I left you when you were only a month old."

The old lady smiled and said, "We'll talk about it when we get back."

The group returned to the palace happily, and Mu Junyan also happened to be returning from the palace.

The whole family gathered together in joy and harmony.

After a few days, the matter of the new emperor's ascension to the throne finally settled down.

The new emperor bestowed upon Zhao Luoxuan the title of Grand Princess, bestowed upon her abundant wealth and troops, and sent her back to Dali in a grand procession with the highest honors due to a princess.

Gu Hua personally escorted her out of the city. The two looked at each other for a long time, unable to utter a single word despite their many unspoken thoughts.

Along the way, the two went through many things, faced life and death together, experienced betrayal from loved ones, and grew together.

This feeling has long transcended sisterly affection; their understanding is as deep as that of family.

After a long silence, Gu Hua smiled through her tears: "Take care."

Tears welled up in Zhao Luoxuan's eyes, but she smiled happily: "When you return to Southern Xinjiang, we'll drink together."

"Okay. Duan Qi, thank you for your hard work, sister."

Gu Hua: "He's also my nephew, so he can play with Tuantuan."

"Then I have nothing to worry about."

Zhao Luoxuan waved casually, turned around and got into the car.

As Gu Hua watched the princess's carriage depart, she felt a sudden emptiness in her heart.

Zhao Luoxuan probably doesn't love Duan Yu, but she can't escape her current fate.

Seeing that she was uncomfortable, Mu Junyan stepped forward, took her hand, and said softly, "Your hands are a little cold. Try not to come out in the wind too often."

Gu Hua glared at him: "You might as well just lock me up in the Prince's mansion and not let me out."

Mu Junyan grinned: "If you want to come out, you can. Your husband will accompany you."

The two bickered all the way back to the palace, only to find Qing'e waiting for Gu Hua.

Mu Junyan went to attend to his work, and Gu Hua pulled Qing'e to sit down.

He looked down at her lower abdomen. "You... still have it?"

Qing'e nodded: "The child is innocent. No matter who the father is, he is still my child."

Gu Hua was somewhat surprised, but she respected Qing'e.

"So what are your plans? Will you stay in the capital or settle somewhere else?"

"This humble woman wishes to return to her hometown. Is that permissible?"

"Of course. I will arrange everything for you, including a house, servants, and land. You and your child will be well taken care of in the future."

Qing'e stood up gratefully to bow, but Gu Hua stopped her.

"You're pregnant, so don't perform the proper rituals."

Qing'e sat down as instructed, her eyes slightly red: "Back then, I agreed to the princess's plan with hatred in my heart and a determination to die. I never expected it to succeed and even bring me a bright future."

She lowered her head and stroked the child: "Although the child was given to me by the son of my enemy, if Zhao Yuxuan hadn't been born into the royal family, he would have been the crown prince from birth. He would still be considered a good man."

Gu Hua looked at her: "Could it be that you've fallen for him?"

Qing'e shook her head: "I just feel sorry for him. He once cried in my arms, telling me about his helplessness and dilemma. He also said that if he weren't the Crown Prince, he would definitely run away with me and live the life of an ordinary person."

Gu Hua thought for a moment: "If he weren't the Crown Prince, would you still be willing to be with him?"

Qing'e paused for a moment, then shook her head: "Seeing him reminds me of how Sun Shi caused my parents' tragic deaths."

After seeing Qing'e off, Zhao Chufei arrived.

She came alone.

Gu Hua smiled at her energetic demeanor: "You are the most noble lady in Bianjing, Your Highness."

"Don't laugh at me. I've never cared about being a princess."

She grabbed Gu Hua and said urgently, "My father wants me to go to the palace again."

Gu Hua's eyes widened, and after thinking about it, it wasn't surprising. How could the eldest daughter of the King of Zhen not enter the palace?

Zhao Yufeng also needs a family like that of his in-laws.

"What do you think?"

Zhao Chufei frowned and said, "It doesn't matter who I marry, I just want to ask you whether you want the emperor to be a puppet or..."

"What nonsense?"

Gu Hua glared at her: "If we weren't worried about Zhao Yufeng's unstable throne, we wouldn't want to be regents. If you really want to be empress, I'd be relieved. Once you enter the palace and properly instruct the new emperor, maybe we can be hands-off and return to Juzhou sooner."

Zhao Chufei looked at her with some suspicion: "You went through so much trouble, all the way from Juzhou to the capital, just to keep the Great Liang stable?"

Gu Hua smiled and said, "I'm the laziest person, and I don't want to get involved in messy things. If Mu Junyan wanted to be in a high position, he could have done it long ago, why wait until now? If you like Zhao Yufeng, just marry him quickly, and I won't have to worry about your marriage all the time."

Zhao Chufei snorted, reverting to her usual noble demeanor: "Then even if I become Empress, you'll still have to kneel before me."

Gu Hua smiled: "Yes, Your Majesty the Empress."

Zhao Chufei's face immediately turned red, and she tossed her handkerchief aside: "Let's go."

After a busy day, Gu Hua was exhausted. She handed the children over to the nanny and maids, and after taking a bath and changing her clothes, she sat comfortably on the small couch by the window, flipping through the Wangfu's account books.

When Mu Junyan returned, he witnessed this scene.

Gu Hua, dressed in a pale yellow ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), lowered her head slightly, the warm candlelight falling on her face, the flickering light outlining her delicate features.

A sharply defined shadow fell on the wall, and long, curled eyelashes trembled slightly.

Gu Hua was engrossed in what she was watching when she suddenly felt a burning gaze on her. She lifted her eyelashes and looked at Mu Junyan, who was standing at the door staring at her intently.

"What are you looking at? Why don't you come in?"

Gu Hua asked in surprise, thinking there was something on her face, and quickly reached out to touch it.

Mu Junyan stepped in, approached her, and kissed her forehead: "Look at my charming wife."

A blush spread across Gu Hua's cheeks.

Mu Junyan's words are getting sweeter and sweeter; he's really good at praising people.

especially……

Gu Hua suddenly sensed something was wrong.

Last time, he praised his own soft lips and said that her cherry lips were beautiful and charming without any lipstick, which made her so infatuated that she willingly leaned down and opened her mouth.

And the time before that, he praised her hands for being soft and boneless, and as white as snow. She was so flattered that she almost broke her hand.

She tensed up, her face serious: "A weasel offering New Year's greetings to a chicken, praising me is definitely not a good thing."

Suddenly, she noticed that he was looking at her slightly open collar, so she quickly crossed her arms and shrank back onto the bed.

"You're trying to coax me again, what are you planning this time?"

Looking at her flustered appearance, Mu Junyan couldn't help but chuckle, finding it amusing to coax this little cat that was showing its claws.

He touched her hair and said, "Really, I just think you're so beautiful."

After saying that, he sat down next to her and looked at the account book in her hand.

"Don't you dislike looking at account books?"

Gu Hua pouted: "Dongqing talked a lot about business outside, but she doesn't know much about it, so I have to make a lot of decisions. Before, with Zhilan and Zhou Chunyu around, one was in charge of external affairs and the other was in charge of internal affairs, and the two of them discussed and resolved the coordination between them. Now, Dongqing is in charge of internal affairs, and Dongmo is in charge of external affairs. But Dongmo isn't very skilled in external affairs either. They don't handle internal and external affairs as well as they do, so I have to keep an eye on things."

Hearing her distant thoughts, Mu Junyan ruffled her hair: "Then what do you want?"

Gu Hua slapped his hand away: "You didn't do a good job of what I asked you to do."

Mu Junyan was completely bewildered: "What is it?"

"About Dongqing and Mr. Min. If they get married, and Mr. Min manages the outside affairs, wouldn't the two of them tacitly coordinate things? I wouldn't have to work so hard."

Mu Junyan laughed: "Okay, I'll do nothing but pressure Mr. Min to get married these next few days."

Gu Hua smiled and said, "Okay."

Mu Junyan leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Then how will you thank your husband?"

Gu Hua's alarm went off.