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

Wang Ruyan was dumbfounded. How could things have suddenly turned out like this? She had sent someone to find Master Huang, but why was he spouting nonsense at this moment? Wang Ruyan quickly gave a wink to the Wang brothers beside Master Huang, and the two understood and hurriedly tried to pull Master Huang away.

Master Huang was not about to be swayed by others. He immediately shouted, "Stop your insolence! Heaven is giving us a warning. I am here to deliver a message to the Prime Minister. Can you afford to offend him if you mess things up?"

Grand Tutor Xu had already boarded the carriage, but upon hearing the commotion outside, he quickly peeked out to see what was happening.

The surrounding people were attracted by the loud argument. Upon closer inspection, they realized it was Master Huang from Qingquan Temple. He was a legendary figure, and nothing he couldn't do was impossible. So everyone quickly stopped in their tracks to see what the master had predicted this time.

Gu Ziming pointed at Master Huang and said, "Stop talking nonsense! What do you know about the affairs of the world!"

Master Huang walked calmly to the front of the Prime Minister's residence, stroking his beard as he was about to say something, when he saw a girl in yellow standing under the eaves. The girl was smiling at him, which startled Master Huang. Wasn't that his master? What was she doing here?

However, Master Huang quickly regained his composure. He knew this was not the time to be in a daze. He composed himself and said to everyone, "Gentlemen, recently I have been observing the celestial phenomena at night and saw that the sky was unstable. It seems that there is a great calamity in the southeast. I was really uneasy, so I quickly performed divination, and the result was still an ominous one. That's why I came down the mountain to travel and find out what is going on."

"Interesting. What is it?" Grand Tutor Xu seemed intrigued and got off the train to stand next to Gu Ziming, asking.

“My lord, I heard that the Third Prince went to the south to inspect the dikes, so I used this divination. The Third Prince’s trip is an ominous sign. He will surely encounter misfortune on his way back, and it will be related to water.”

"What nonsense are you spouting! How could the Third Prince be in trouble! He is of royal blood, how can you be allowed to spout such nonsense and curse him at will! Guards, get rid of this bastard who is spouting nonsense!" Gu Ziming shouted angrily.

How could he not be angry? He was the one who brought up the matter of inspecting the dikes, and most of the places involved were his people. The Third Prince kept sending good news, which made the Emperor very happy and praised the Third Prince for his competence. His momentum had clearly surpassed that of the Crown Prince, which was a good thing. This Taoist priest was talking nonsense. Wasn't he implying that he and the Third Prince had committed the crime of deceiving the Emperor?

"Lord Gu, you must take the warnings from above with a sense of awe. You cannot ignore them like this. Heaven brought us together so that I could deliver these warnings to you and help you make plans. If you ignore them, you will surely be punished!"

"Nonsense!" Gu Ziming waved his hands angrily.

Xu Taifu found it quite interesting. He had heard his wife mention this Taoist priest Huang before, because his wife often went to Qingquan Temple to pray for a child. The last time he met Miss Gu on the road, it was also because she had gone to Qingquan Temple.

"Lord Gu, why don't you listen to this?" Grand Tutor Xu suggested.

“Grand Tutor Xu, listening to such nonsense will only mislead people,” Gu Ziming said.

Upon hearing that Grand Tutor Xu had shown interest, Master Huang immediately perked up and said, "I have nothing more to say; I have already conveyed what I needed to say."

"Then how do we break this?" Grand Tutor Xu asked.

"Only if the relevant people tell the Emperor the truth, so that he can know the facts and make plans in time."

Upon hearing this, Gu Ziming almost jumped up in anger. Wasn't this another accusation that he and the Third Prince were deceiving their superiors and concealing the truth? "Go, go, go! If you don't leave, I'll have the servants kick you out!"

Master Huang glanced at Gu Qingwan standing inside the door. Seeing her nod, he knew that things were almost done. With the shoving of the Gu family servants, Master Huang was pushed away while muttering incoherently.

The passersby's expressions changed drastically upon hearing this. What had Master Huang just said? That a disaster would befall them, but it seemed to be in the south, so it had nothing to do with the capital, right? At least they were safe, weren't they?

Inside the carriage, Madam Xu felt that this was a place of trouble and it would be best not to come here again. It was a pity that such a lovely person as Miss Gu was being taken away. She lifted the curtain, called Grand Tutor Xu into the carriage, and drove away.

These rumors spread like wildfire, becoming increasingly outrageous. Some said the Third Prince was nearing his end, others that he had already died on the road and the royal family was simply keeping it a secret, and still others sympathized with Gu Hanjiao, claiming the royal family was keeping it a secret until the Second Miss Gu married into the family and became a widow for the Third Prince. There were all sorts of versions.

Of course, when Grand Tutor Xu returned to the Crown Prince's residence after experiencing this incident, he told the Crown Prince about it. Coincidentally, the Prince of Chu was also in the Crown Prince's palace.

"Oh? That's interesting. What was Lord Gu's reaction?"

"Lord Gu was very angry and loudly rebuked the Taoist priest, but interestingly, in my opinion, there was a hint of guilt in his words," said Grand Tutor Xu.

The crown prince thought for a moment and then said, "Uncle, what do you think?"

The King of Chu tapped the table with his finger and said, "Recently, the Third Prince has received praise from your father. Judging from the memorials, things have been handled very well. That Taoist priest said there will be a disaster, which in the south would be a flood."

"But there haven't been any major floods in recent years. On the contrary, the south, especially Cangzhou, Xishan, and Linqing, has experienced several droughts in the past two years. The local official in Linqing even submitted a memorial saying that there aren't enough seeds for planting this year and asked the court to come up with a solution. So why is there a flood this year?"

Xu Taifu said, "After a severe drought comes a flood. If you count, it has been two or three years already. The rainy season is just around the corner. In that case, what this Taoist priest said may not be an exaggeration."

"Then why do you say the Third Prince is in trouble? I haven't heard of that." The Crown Prince wondered if this Taoist priest really had such abilities. He had also heard that this Taoist priest had predicted the fate of the Second Miss Gu as a phoenix, and that she would be betrothed to him by the Emperor not long after. After that, the Taoist priest's predictions for others were also accurate, which suddenly aroused the Crown Prince's curiosity.

Xiao Jingchen didn't speak, but pondered. It was hard to believe that no one was behind the Taoist priest's words at this time. He recalled what Gu Qingwan had told him before: the rainy season would be approaching after the delegation left, and the area around Xishan had suffered from drought for two consecutive years. Regardless of whether it rained this year, the Emperor would have a reason to send the prince there...

Thinking of this, Xiao Jingchen smiled inwardly. Was this the excuse Wanwan had given him? His people in Xishan hadn't made any progress these past few days, so now he had a reason to go. This Taoist priest Huang must be one of Wanwan's men; this woman was more interesting than he'd imagined.

"It's alright. Since it's a punishment sent down by Heaven, the Third Prince, as the heir of the dragon, should accept it." According to the King of Chu's idea, since it was Wanwan who instructed him, even if no divine warning descended upon the Third Prince, the King of Chu would find a way to create a divine warning to make Xiao Yuheng stop.

Seeing his uncle's unfathomable expression, the Crown Prince suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He shrank back and hurriedly went to find the Grand Tutor to discuss recent court matters.

After seeing off Grand Tutor Xu, Gu Ziming stormed off to his residence, with Wang Ruyan struggling to keep up. Suddenly, Gu Ziming stopped, and Wang Ruyan nearly bumped into him.

"Master, what's wrong?"

"Why did that charlatan come to our gate and spout such nonsense?"

"I didn't know either."

"Master Huang? Qingquan Temple?" Gu Ziming thought for a moment and felt that the name sounded familiar. "Isn't he the Master Huang who told Jiao'er's fortune and gave her the destiny of a phoenix?"

Wang Ruyan didn't know why Gu Ziming asked that, but after hesitating for a moment, she nodded.

Gu Ziming thought to himself, "This is terrible. If what Master Huang said is true, then he and the Third Prince will be in trouble. But if what he said is not true, then his daughter's fate of being born as a phoenix is ​​just something he made up on the spot. People outside will start gossiping again. No matter what, the Gu family will not benefit."

Gu Ziming noticed Wang Ruyan's shifty gaze and suddenly realized that this matter seemed to be related to her. He asked, "Is there anything you want to tell me?"

"No, no," Wang Ruyan straightened her back and replied loudly, "Master, no matter what happens, your first thought is whether it has anything to do with me. Do you think I am so worthless?"

"Hmph, I'll find out if it's true or not by asking around. Ba Quan, bring those two Wang family boys from the gate in here. I have some questions for you."

Gu Ziming's personal attendant, Ba Quan, had been with Gu Ziming since childhood and only had Gu Ziming in his heart. Ignoring Wang Ruyan's objections, he led his men to bring the two boys from the Wang family into the study courtyard and made them kneel there.

Wang Ruyan was extremely uneasy. She returned to the main courtyard and paced back and forth in the house. Gu Hanjiao came in and saw her mother's anxious appearance, and asked, "Mother, what happened?"

"My dear, are you feeling any better?" Even though Wang Ruyan was extremely anxious, she did not forget that her daughter had said she was not feeling well.

"It's nothing, you'll be fine after coming back, having some water and resting. But Mother, what's wrong?"

"Hey, I sent someone to find Master Huang to come to your house and set up the feng shui for your brother. I didn't expect that the master to be so unreliable. He started talking nonsense in front of Xu Taifu, which angered your father. Coincidentally, your father saw the two boys from the Wang family in front of Master Huang. Your father is now asking Ba Quan to call them over for questioning."

"Just ask, Mother, why are you in such a hurry?"

"Oh dear, what if your father finds out that I was the one who brought this here? Wouldn't he come and scold me again?"

“Mother, don’t think so much. Your purpose is for my brother, not anything else. Even if you found him, we wouldn’t know in advance what Master Huang was going to say.”

Hearing Gu Hanjiao comfort her like this, Wang Ruyan felt a little better.

In the study, Gu Ziming did not immediately bring the two men inside for questioning. Instead, he made them kneel in the courtyard because he was not entirely at ease. He feared that what the Taoist priest had said might not be unfounded. He quickly wrote a letter and sent it by carrier pigeon to the Third Prince, reminding him to be careful in everything, as this Taoist priest might actually be on the Crown Prince's side.

Just then, Aunt Rou came over to deliver something to Gu Ziming. As she walked into the courtyard, Wang Da spotted her immediately and quickly lowered his head, probably afraid that Aunt Rou would recognize the two brothers. However, Wang Er, whose head was being held down, didn't know what was happening. He curiously looked behind him and his eyes met Aunt Rou's.

Aunt Rou turned pale with fright, dropping everything she was holding. Xiao Cui quickly helped her up, asking, "Aunt, what's wrong? Is your stomach upset?"

Xiao Cui followed Aunt Rou's gaze and was so surprised she almost cried out.

"Xiao Cui, hurry, hurry, pick up the things, let's go inside." Aunt Rou said softly, being extra careful as she passed in front of the two men, afraid that they might have bad intentions and push her over.

Just as Gu Ziming finished dealing with his business at the door, he saw Aunt Rou approaching and asked, "Why did you come in person? Is there something you need?"

"No, Master's hat ended up with me. I was worried that Master might need it, so I brought it over."

"You didn't need to do such a small thing yourself. Just have a servant bring it over." Gu Ziming touched Aunt Rou's cheek, noticing her pale complexion and expressing concern. "Why do you look so unwell?"

"My lord, I..."

Xiao Cui knew it was time for her to step in, and she whispered to Gu Ziming, "Master, those two kneeling outside are the ones who tried to take away my aunt that day."

Upon hearing this, Gu Ziming's eyes lit up, and he tightly grasped Aunt Rou's cold hand: "You didn't see wrong?"