The Eldest Daughter Returns: Imperial Uncle, I'm Pregnant!

Wen Ling'er couldn't stand being in her tent in the eastern suburban camp for more than a day. The weather was so hot and humid that she felt sticky all over. It was inconvenient to find someone to get her some water to bathe. Although there were tents, anyone outside would know what was going on as soon as she went out to get water. And since everyone outside was a man, Wen Ling'er felt like she was being watched by a lot of people.

It rained last night, and the tents were damp. Outside, it was all muddy. Wen Ling'er originally came for the King of Chu, but now that he's gone, what is she doing here?

After her repeated insistence and requests, the Duke of Ningguo hurriedly finished his work and returned to the capital with Wen Ling'er.

Wen Ling'er cried to the Empress Dowager as soon as she entered the palace. She looked at the girl who was like a flower bud before she left, but when she returned, she was somewhat wilted and pitiful.

"Ling'er, what's wrong with you? Did the King of Chu bully you?" the Empress Dowager asked.

"Your Majesty, please forgive my impeccable appearance." Wen Ling'er knelt in the hall with her head bowed.

The Empress Dowager was very surprised. What was going on? She looked at the palace maid who had gone with Wen Ling'er. The palace maid understood the Empress Dowager's signal and quickly knelt down to report: "Your Majesty, Miss Wen met the Prince, but the Prince seemed unhappy with our visit. I heard that he left that very night, leaving Miss Wen alone in the camp."

"What? The King of Chu left Ling'er behind?"

"Fortunately, the Duke of Ningguo was there, otherwise Miss would probably have had to come back on her own."

“You’re all stupid too. If the King of Chu leaves, you should leave too. It’s not like there aren’t carriages and guards. Why make Ling’er suffer there?”

Hearing the Empress Dowager say this, Wen Ling'er's ears burned. It was all her fault for cutting off her own escape route. She had thought that if the caravan that was sending her back went back, she would have nowhere to go. Even if the King of Chu was unwilling, he would still take her with him, right? Who would have thought that the King of Chu would be so unpredictable and leave without caring about her life or death.

"Your Majesty, please allow me to go and freshen up before I see you." Even without anyone approaching, Wen Ling'er felt that she smelled a bit sour. Her most urgent task now was to take a good bath before making any plans.

"Go, go, wash up and get some rest. Come back to me when you're rested."

"Thank you for your understanding, Aunt Empress Dowager."

Soaking in the bathtub, Wen Ling'er wished she could scrub off a layer of skin from her body. She had always loved cleanliness since she was a child and took a bath almost every day. When had she ever been so slovenly?

She dismissed all the palace maids, leaving only her personal maid Xiaopu, whom she had brought from home, to serve her. After everyone left, Wen Ling'er sat in the bathtub and cried, feeling wronged.

"Miss, Miss, please don't cry."

"Little Grape, I, I, I've never suffered such injustice before! Not even at home!"

"Miss, why don't we go home?" Xiao Pu suggested.

"Go home?" Wen Ling'er lifted her face from the towel, her eyes red as she looked at Xiao Pu. "How can we go back? If we go back, won't all the sisters at home laugh their heads off? Everyone knows that the Empress Dowager originally wanted to choose a princess for the Prince of Chu from the Wen family. She carefully selected me to enter the palace. If I go back like this, everyone will know that the Prince of Chu doesn't want me anymore. What good marriage can I get then?"

Xiao Pu said with some difficulty, "But Miss, the King of Chu doesn't seem to welcome us very much, and we still have to..."

Wen Ling'er had been determined to be the man of Chu ever since she first met him, so no matter how many difficulties lay ahead, she would not back down.

"It's alright. The prince just doesn't like me now. He'll like me once he gets to know me. As long as the Empress Dowager's heart hasn't changed, that's fine. Once I become the Princess Consort of Chu, I'll naturally have plenty of time to spend with the prince," Wen Ling'er comforted herself.

Xiao Pu moved her lips, but dared not say anything more. As the personal maid, she knew best about her mistress's affection for the prince. When the prince went to war, the mistress prayed for him at home every day. When the prince returned in triumph, the mistress would go to the city gate early to wait, hoping that the prince could see her deep affection.

After Wen Ling'er finished getting ready, she didn't rest but went straight to serve the Empress Dowager.

"I told you to rest properly, why are you rushing here to me?"

Wen Ling'er smiled and said, "Ling'er is not tired at all. After taking a bath, I feel refreshed and not sleepy at all. It has been a long time since I saw the Empress Dowager. Ling'er misses her very much."

The Empress Dowager felt a warmth in her heart, which was also why she liked Wen Ling'er. She was a warm and considerate girl. If she married her son, her son's cold personality would be somewhat better.

"You are the most considerate of all. I have missed you during the days you were away."

"Your Majesty, how is your leg ailment?"

"It's still the same. I'm used to it." The Empress Dowager glanced at her legs, her eyes becoming incredibly dull. These legs were caused by kneeling on the cold ground all night after giving birth to Jingchen, before she had even finished her postpartum confinement. In addition, she hadn't had time to recover from the hardships of those years. Sometimes the pain was so bad that she couldn't even get out of bed.

"Ling'er thinks the flowers outside are very beautiful. Why don't you go and pick some for the Empress Dowager to see?"

The nanny beside the Empress Dowager thought for a moment and said, "The weather outside looks nice, so why don't you and Miss Wen go out for a stroll?"

The Empress Dowager had been in a bad mood due to leg pain and didn't want to go out, but she felt much better these past two days. After thinking about it, she nodded and said, "Let's bring over the chair that the concubine brought, and go see the scenery of the Imperial Garden together."

Wen Ling'er watched as a palace maid brought out a solid wood chair from the back hall. However, this chair was strange, as it had two large wheels installed underneath. The Empress Dowager got up and sat on the chair. Wen Ling'er, being very perceptive, stepped forward and offered to help the Empress Dowager push the chair from behind, heading towards the Imperial Garden.

"This chair is truly ingenious; now the Empress Dowager can come out for a stroll."

"Yes, it's annoying to always be cooped up in the house. This was sent to me by my third brother. I don't know what he was thinking. It's such a nice thing. I'm so grateful for his thoughtfulness."

"It's the Third Prince. The Third Prince has always been filial. I heard that even when he went out on official business, he didn't forget the Empress Dowager's leg ailment. Ling'er must learn from him."

What old lady wouldn't be happy to be treated so well by her children and grandchildren? Clearly, the Empress Dowager was also pleased. She smiled and said, "Why are you imitating him? He's so busy that I don't even get to see him. Sigh, when I was little, I always wondered when my children would grow up. Now that they're all grown up, I start wondering when they'll have time to come and visit me."

"Don't be sad, look, isn't Ling'er by your side admiring the flowers with you?" Ling'er playfully teased the Empress Dowager from behind.

The morning sun was not yet scorching and was quite cool. It had just rained last night, and there was a fresh, earthy fragrance mixed with a hint of floral scent in the Imperial Garden. Wen Ling'er had someone pick a particularly beautiful flower and handed it to the Empress Dowager.

Holding the flowers, the Empress Dowager looked at the young girl before her and sighed deeply, "How could the King of Chu not cherish such a lovely girl like you? My only worry is Jingchen."

"Queen Mother..."

"Don't feel wronged. I will definitely stand up for you. Jingchen is such a bad boy. He should get married and start a family soon. Otherwise, I won't be able to close my eyes in peace."

The Empress Dowager was extremely distressed about her youngest son. He had never been very close to her, so there were some things she couldn't do too much. As for the concubines in the inner palace, she didn't dare to actually arrange for them to come to her unless Xiao Jingchen agreed. She was also worried that the mother-son relationship she had worked so hard to build over the years would be completely destroyed by such a thing.

“Ling’er has nothing to be wronged about. It’s good for her to stay by the Empress Dowager’s side. Look at the food and clothes Ling’er eats and wears now. She never had such treatment at home before.”

The Empress Dowager and her entourage stopped and strolled around, admiring many sights. The Empress Dowager said, "Let's go back. I'm a little tired from not being out for so long. Let's go back and rest our eyes."

“Let’s walk along the connecting corridor ahead. I remember there’s shade there, and it’s quite cool without the sun,” Wen Ling’er suggested.

As they walked, they heard the sounds of stringed instruments and women's laughter. The Empress Dowager's expression changed upon hearing this. She disliked the frivolous behavior of the women in the harem the most and said sternly, "Go and see who is so bold as to be so frivolous and unrestrained in the harem."

The young eunuch returned and reported, "Your Majesty, that's Consort Rong's courtyard up ahead. She says she's rehearsing a dance performance for the Emperor."

The Empress Dowager's face was gloomy. "This princess from the Northern Rong, before she even entered the palace, I heard that she was always chasing after the mistress. Now that she's a concubine, not only is her attire indecent, but her behavior is even more indecent. I really don't know how such a woman became the most favored princess of the Northern Rong."

"Perhaps it's just a difference in customs. The sun is about to rise, Your Majesty, let's hurry back."

"What customs! Since you've entered our Daqing Palace, then abide by our Daqing rules." The Empress Dowager said with displeasure. Although the women in the palace had all used every means for the Emperor, it was rare to see someone as bold as Consort Rong.

The next day, the Empress Dowager issued an edict summoning the King of Chu to the palace. The King of Chu refused, citing his busy military affairs. The Empress Dowager was not angry, as this was not the first time her son had refused her like this. Whenever the Empress Dowager wanted to help the King of Chu find a wife, the King of Chu would disappear to who-knows-where.

The Empress Dowager was equally persistent. She sent a palace maid to the King of Chu, saying that he had been impolite and had mistreated the woman, and that he should send her some gifts as an apology. In the past, the King of Chu would have simply had his steward prepare some gifts and send them over, but things were different now. How could he easily send gifts to other women? Wanwan would be unhappy if she found out.

Ah Ning naturally heard about Wen Ling'er's situation while at home. In her eyes, she also disliked Wen Ling'er, but judging from the prince's attitude, Ah Ning knew that the prince did not like that woman. This made Ah Ning find Wen Ling'er much more pleasing to the eye than Gu Qingwan. If the prince insisted on marrying a princess, Ah Ning still hoped that the prince could marry a woman he did not like.

This time, the Empress Dowager seemed determined to arrange a marriage for her son. She instructed the palace servants to intercept the Prince of Chu whenever he entered the palace and bring him to her Yongshou Palace. She was willing to offend the Prince of Chu in order to get him married as soon as possible and have a son or daughter so that she could feel at ease.

Gu Qingwan noticed the recent continuous rain and knew that the rainy season was approaching. Although Rou Niang had told her that Gu Ziming was very happy because the Third Prince had handled things well and there were always good news about the dikes, Gu Qingwan knew that these good news were just worthless pieces of paper and would be shattered when the real rain came.

That evening, Gu Qingwan led Siqi and Ning Er out of the north gate and disappeared into the night, leaving Baoqin in the room to keep watch.

Master Huang was living a very relaxed and carefree life at Qingquan Temple. Ever since his master asked him to perform a divination for the second young lady of the Gu family, he had not come to see him again. However, on the day the second young lady of the Gu family became a prince's consort, Ning Er sent him a box of gold. This was not the important thing. The important thing was that he also sent him a prescription. This prescription came from Medicine King Valley and was very beneficial to his son's illness.

Although he couldn't see Gu Qingwan often, Huang Daozhang believed that once he had made up his mind, he would not betray her. Besides, it was very easy and comfortable to be with such a master, and he could do whatever he wanted.

Moreover, in Master Huang's view, Gu Qingwan seemed to be a spiritual being. She secretly had Ning Er send him some messages, all of which were things that had not yet happened, but every single one of them came true, making Master Huang's reputation even more remarkable in the capital. Now, some officials are even writing to him, wanting him to predict their official fortunes.