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

"You've been waiting for days and it's not working? Why don't you go back and train properly before coming back to me?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yi exclaimed, "No way, Your Highness... The Third Prince also has secret guards around him. If it weren't for the Princess Consort diverting the Third Prince and the people in the study, I really wouldn't have been able to succeed."

Xiao Jingchen opened the envelope, glanced at the list on the letter, and nodded. This was what he wanted.

"I just don't understand how the Princess knew about the hidden door and the secret room in the study?"

Xiao Jingchen repacked the letter, placed it in a bamboo tube, sealed it with beeswax, and said to Xiao Yi, "Are you sure no one has discovered you?"

"I'm sure none of my subordinates have noticed..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Yi became somewhat uneasy, "Could it be?"

"What do you think? If you hadn't been discovered, how would you have heard those words from the tree?"

Xiao Yi was somewhat shocked. Could he really be that unlucky?

His lightness skill, while not the best in the world, is certainly among the best in the martial arts world. If a weak woman like the princess... well, the princess is not weak at all, but rather very strong. However, if such a woman can discover his presence, then the princess is not only a strong person, but a god-like being.

Thinking of this, Xiao Yi suddenly cast a pitying glance at his lord.

Xiao Jingchen couldn't stand it any longer and asked, "What do you mean by this?"

"Your Highness, I just feel that the Princess Consort is too powerful. You may be under her strict control from now on."

"Being completely controlled?" Thinking of this, Xiao Jingchen smiled. "That's quite interesting."

Xiao Yi felt as if she had been struck by lightning. She never expected that her prince was a masochist who liked this kind of thing. No wonder the prince didn't like the princesses that the Empress Dowager chose for him. It turned out that he liked strong women.

"knock knock"

During the conversation, there was a knock on the door. Xiao Yi quickly went to open it and saw Xiao Jia standing there.

"Your Majesty!"

"Hmm, how is your injury?"

"Your Highness, the injuries are no longer serious. Please assign me any tasks you have."

"Deliver this letter to the Crown Prince; he must need it." Xiao Jingchen handed the sealed document to Xiao Jia.

"Is Your Highness going to help the Crown Prince?"

"I will not help anyone. If I were to help anyone, it would only be my elder brother. As for sending gifts to the Crown Prince, it's simply because I feel that the young master has been causing trouble lately, so I'm giving him something to do. You should tell the Crown Prince to keep a low profile."

Xiao Yi silently mourned for the Third Prince, but this Third Prince had no choice but to set his sights on his future aunt.

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, the Crown Prince has been away on disaster relief for over a month. The situation is gradually becoming clearer, and the Emperor is overjoyed. He says that when the Crown Prince returns, he must lead all the civil and military officials to welcome him.

At this point, the ministers in the court breathed a sigh of relief. They were no longer trembling with fear, afraid that they might say something wrong in court and become the emperor's punching bag.

However, some were unhappy, such as the Third Prince Xiao Yuheng, whose face was extremely pale.

Some of his cronies planted over there were actually pulled out by the Crown Prince and dealt with one by one, some killed and some dismissed. Although they weren't completely wiped out, the remaining small fry couldn't cause any big trouble.

Each one was more accurate than the last, making him wonder if someone close to him had betrayed him.

Unfortunately, he is currently far away in the capital and cannot do anything about it. He can only stay at home, feigning illness and brooding.

That's nothing compared to what came early this morning. The palace issued an edict reprimanding him for his poor judgment in choosing officials, for bringing so many corrupt officials into the court and disrupting the livelihoods of the people. The edict ordered the Third Prince to reflect on his actions in his residence and forbade him from stepping out of the Prince's residence. Only the imperial physicians were allowed to come and treat him regularly, and no one else was allowed to visit him.

At the time, he didn't know what had happened. It was only after his men secretly sent him a message from outside that he found out what was going on.

Even if something happens now, Xiao Yuheng doesn't dare to make any moves. He doesn't even dare to call his advisors over to discuss countermeasures. He can only let the Crown Prince trim his feathers.

Even Consort Yu knelt in front of the Imperial Study to plead for the Third Prince. His Majesty only said that if she continued to plead without repentance, then she would no longer be a consort. Consort Yu was so frightened that she fainted on the spot and was carried away by the palace servants.

"That Xiao Ziyu! I'll kill him one day!"

After Gu Ziming arranged for someone to deliver the message to the Third Prince, he sent someone to tell Gu Hanjiao not to go to the Third Prince's residence recently, and that everyone in the household should stay at home and not go out unnecessarily.

Because it was time for Gu Changfeng's hospital admission exam.

Gu Changfeng was full of confidence and didn't work as hard as before, but he didn't dare to cause trouble or go out because of his father's reputation. The college entrance exam was tomorrow, and Gu Changfeng came to the main courtyard to see his mother preparing things for him.

"Brother, you must do your best tomorrow. If you pass the exam, you will definitely pass the next imperial examination. Father will think highly of us, and with our family's influence, we can definitely secure a good future for you."

"Of course, just you wait and see, little sister, there won't be any problems."

Gu Hanjiao looked at Gu Changfeng with some suspicion. Her brother was good at everything from attracting cats and fighting dogs, but when it came to studying, he was really not cut out for it. How could he be so confident now, as if he already knew the answer to the question?

Suddenly, Gu Hanjiao froze. She glanced at her mother, who was still packing her things, and there was no one around to serve her.

She walked over and sat down on the embroidered stool next to Gu Changfeng, and asked.

"Brother, you didn't buy the exam questions, did you?"

Gu Changfeng was drinking water and almost choked on his own sister's words: "How did you know!"

Gu Hanjiao, with an air of "I knew it," pursed her lips and returned to her seat with her fan.

"Do you think I don't know what kind of person you are? You're so confident that even if I wanted to not know, I couldn't help it."

"Don't try to boost others' morale and diminish my own! Why can't I do it? This time I'll definitely succeed! My dear sister, you must keep this a secret for your brother, hehe."

At this moment, Wang Ruyan came out from the inner room carrying clothes and said, "Jiao'er, don't underestimate your brother. Recently, even your father said that your brother's writing is good enough to take the imperial examination. I have also asked the teachers, and they all praised your brother."

“Mother…” Gu Hanjiao was somewhat helpless. She simply couldn’t believe that a poor student could suddenly become a top student.

"Alright, alright, Feng'er, you have to take the exam at the academy tomorrow. Make sure you bring everything you need and don't forget anything. Also, make sure you don't have anything with writing on it, or you'll be considered cheating if it's discovered."

"Alright, Mother, I understand. What a hassle! A mere academy exam is as rigorous as the imperial examination. They're just trying to make themselves look good!"

"Feng'er!" Wang Ruyan glanced at him disapprovingly.

"Brother, you should be more careful. After all, it's always better to be safe than sorry. Unexpected things can happen at any time, so you should be well prepared."

"Can't you just shut your mouth?" Gu Changfeng said with some dissatisfaction. "Why don't you go out and ask around? Your brother's talent is now no less than yours. You're just being a woman with no sense of reason."

Gu Hanjiao was a little unconvinced. Did this academic underachiever really think he was a top student?

"Even you..."

As soon as Gu Changfeng heard Gu Hanjiao bring up his buying of exam questions again, he immediately interrupted loudly.

"What do you mean, 'you'! How rude of you! Little sister, you should learn from our eldest sister and talk less. If you keep nagging like this after you marry the Third Prince, you'll be disliked sooner or later."

Gu Hanjiao's eyes widened in anger.

“Mother, do you think it’s appropriate for an older brother to say such things?”

Wang Ruyan sighed and quickly stepped in to smooth things over.

"Alright, alright, you two siblings, stop arguing. Feng'er, how can you talk about your own sister like that? What good does it do you if your sister is not good? Only if your sister is good will the Third Prince be able to help you in every way."

"Humph!"

Gu Changfeng didn't want to stay any longer, so he got up and went back to his own courtyard. It would be more pleasant to whisper some secrets with the little maid in bed.

Seeing that his younger sister was only born with a pretty face, the Third Prince was truly pitiful. If he were to marry her, he would be nagged to death.

The next day, Gu Changfeng went to the academy for the exam. Wang Ruyan, at home, didn't bother to set rules for Gu Qingwan or cause her any trouble. She put everything aside and began to pray in the small Buddhist shrine.

Gu Hanjiao was called over by her mother early in the morning to keep her company. Gu Hanjiao's eyes were a little dry from the aromatherapy, so she covered her mouth with a handkerchief and fanned the smoke in front of her eyes with a round fan.

"Mother, this is useless."

"What do you know, you little kid? As long as you're sincere, it will definitely work. Once your brother gets into the academy, he'll definitely calm down and study hard. Who knows, our family might even produce another top scholar in the future."

Upon hearing this, Gu Hanjiao pursed her lips. "Top scholar, indeed! If Gu Changfeng really becomes the top scholar, this dynasty is probably not far from its demise."

I don’t know what my mother saw in this stupid son. Although my mother is short-sighted, she is still quite smart, and my father is an extremely intelligent man. How could they have such a stupid son?

Gu Hanjiao knew that her mother wouldn't listen to anything she said at this point, and she didn't want to suffer here either, so she simply left with her maid to avoid seeing anything.

I happened to run into Xue Niang at the door.

"Where are you going, Miss?"

"I'm a little tired and want to go back and take a nap. If Mother needs anything, just send someone to call me."

"Miss, don't sleep too long. A messenger came from the front yard just now and said that the master will be waiting for us in our yard tonight. He and the young master will be back together, and the whole family will have dinner together."

Gu Hanjiao really didn't know what to say. Just for such a useless person, even if he passed the exam, it would have been by buying exam questions. Was it really worth it for her family to go through all this trouble?

"Okay, I got it. I'll be there when the time comes."