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

With the Emperor's permission, the Crown Princess quickly arranged for everything to be taken care of, from the guests to the teacups and saucers to be used on the day of the banquet.

The Gu family was also among those invited, so Gu Ziming had no choice but to lift the ban on Wang Ruyan and her daughter long ago and let them prepare to attend the Crown Princess's flower appreciation banquet.

This time, the Prime Minister's residence also needs to set an example in making donations. There are specific rules about what items to donate and how much money to donate. Therefore, Gu Ziming temporarily handed over the stewardship to Wang Ruyan.

To prevent any mishaps like those that occurred at Madam Ning's birthday banquet, Gu Ziming was extremely careful, giving her numerous instructions and reminders. He even took Batu to personally inspect everything after everything was prepared before he felt at ease.

Whether Wang Ruyan did it on purpose or not, she carefully prepared things for herself and Gu Hanjiao, but made no mention of Gu Qingwan.

Early that morning, Wang Ruyan frowned as she arrived at the Prime Minister's residence with her daughter. She had clearly instructed that only one carriage be prepared, so why was there another one now?

She only lost her management rights for a period of time. Do you think these servants would dare to disobey her?

"What's going on?" Wang Ruyan asked in an unfriendly tone.

The servant at the door didn't know what to say, and just smiled awkwardly. After a while, Gu Qingwan came out from inside.

"Madam and my sister came out so early, they didn't even call me."

"What are you saying, elder sister? Didn't we send someone to tell you yesterday that we would meet at the door at this time and set off together?" Gu Hanjiao explained.

"Really?" Gu Qingwan asked, somewhat puzzled, turning to ask, "Siqi, did Madam or the Second Miss send someone to discuss this matter yesterday?"

"No, Miss. Perhaps you've gone to the wrong courtyard."

"Hmm, that's probably it."

Wang Ruyan was somewhat embarrassed. There were maids, servants, and boys all at the door. Was Gu Qingwan deliberately trying to embarrass her in front of so many people?

"Hehe, Qingwan must have misunderstood. I haven't been managing the household properly these days. It must be these maids and servants who have been negligent. When we get back from the Crown Prince's residence today, I will definitely give them a good talking to. They almost ruined our plans."

"That's wonderful. Thank you for your trouble, Madam. Qingwan will take her leave now."

"What do you mean? Aren't you coming with us?" Wang Ruyan asked.

"No, Madam didn't prepare a carriage for Qingwan either. The Ningguo Duke's Mansion has already sent someone to pick me up. It's getting late, Madam and sister should also set off soon."

After Gu Qingwan finished speaking, she led Siqi to sit in the slightly larger carriage at the entrance. Without comparison, there would be no harm; the two carriages at the entrance immediately stood out as one taller than the other.

Wang Ruyan had originally planned to have Gu Qingwan at least beg her for help. It wasn't that she hadn't prepared a carriage; she just intended to have the gatekeeper bring it out after they left—a small carriage that was fine but not bad. Who would have thought...

"Mother……"

"Let's go, Jiao'er. Your older sister is right. It's getting late, and we should set off."

Gu Qingwan sat comfortably in the carriage, smiling as she looked at the beautiful young woman sitting there, who was now the wife of the Duke of Ningguo and her aunt.

"Aunt, why did you come to pick me up in person?"

“I told you to go back yesterday, but you wouldn’t. So I had to come and pick you up on the way. That concubine is still the same old lowlife. I heard that her daughter made trouble in the carriage last time. How come she likes this kind of thing too? No wonder they’re mother and daughter.”

Madam Ning didn't arrive too early. When she arrived, Wang Ruyan and her daughter had just come out. Madam Ning had always looked down on the concubine-like appearance of Wang Ruyan, so naturally she didn't come down to greet her. She simply pretended not to see her and waited quietly in the carriage.

But I never expected to see this scene.

"If I didn't have something to do today, I would have gone down and given her a good scolding before I was done. Who is she, and who are you, to dare to act like this?"

"My dear aunt, why are you arguing with someone like that? That would be beneath your dignity. By the way, why didn't Grandmother come?"

“My mother had a craving for watermelon yesterday and ate a few extra pieces with your cousin. That’s why she has a bit of an upset stomach this morning, so she won’t join in.”

Is my maternal grandmother alright?

"It's nothing, two doses of medicine and I'll be fine. My mother didn't want to come, saying she didn't know what was so interesting about those flowers and plants."

Gu Qingwan instantly understood. Her stomach discomfort was just an excuse; her grandmother's true thought was that she didn't want to participate.

"Qingwan, after the banquet, don't go back to the Gu family. Come back to the Duke's Mansion with me. Ning Chenghao has been talking about you to me so many times. My ears are about to fall off."

Gu Qingwan laughed as soon as she heard this, "He definitely misses me, but that kid must be craving the pastries Ruhua makes."

"You know him best. No one can control him when you're not home, so hurry up. Since you have nothing else to do, come home with me today."

Gu Qingwan thought about it and realized that Qing'er's matter had indeed been settled. Now that Gu Changfeng was essentially useless, as long as Qing'er could perform steadily and methodically, she would surely give Gu Ziming hope, and that would be a natural outcome.

The old lady's health has improved somewhat, and with Concubine Rou whispering in her ear, it seems that Wang Ruyan's days ahead won't be easy. It's not a bad idea to postpone things for now.

"Then as Aunt said, Qingwan will go home with you after the flower viewing banquet. But Aunt, I heard that we are going to donate money this time. How much is our Duke's Mansion going to contribute?"

"How much should we take? No matter how much we take, it can't exceed the palace's limit, right? I've prepared five thousand taels. Father's idea is that we should observe how much others have taken and stop there. How much is the Prime Minister's residence planning to take?"

"I haven't heard of that, but I doubt they would go beyond the palace to cause trouble."

It's no secret that the Empress took out five thousand taels of silver; everyone in the palace already knows.

Because Consort Yu took out 8,000 taels of her private savings, and the Yu family then transferred 100,000 taels to the national treasury, Consort Yu was able to regain her rank. This might very well have been a trap set by the Emperor and Empress.

This way, they could find an excuse to elevate Consort Yu's position to a higher level to counterbalance the harem and save the Empress some trouble. They could also make the Yu family willingly and gratefully contribute money to the country. Most importantly, even if the Third Prince's freedom was not restored, the Yu family would not have any complaints. It was a plan that killed three birds with one stone.

Since Gu Qingwan could see through the intricacies, others might be able to as well, so the amount donated today is quite particular.

But it's certain that no one would be willing to spend that much silver. Wouldn't that be blatantly telling the emperor that their family is very wealthy? As for how they became wealthy, that's even more thought-provoking.

If you want to gain the emperor's attention, there's no need to risk your life by spending money, is there?

"Madam and Miss, we have arrived at our destination."

Gu Qingwan helped Siqi down from the carriage, and then personally helped Madam Ning down as well. Many ladies and young women had already arrived outside the Crown Prince's residence. When they saw that Miss Gu had come with the Ning family's carriage, they all knew what was going on and hurriedly went up to greet Madam Ning.

"Qingwan!" The clear, crisp voice naturally came from Meng Yanran.

"Sister Yanran, you're here too?"

"Of course I had to come to such a lively place. Not only did I come, but my mother came too. My grandmother was worried that my mother would be bored at home, so she asked her to bring me here for a stroll."

"Judging by the time you look at it, your mother is quite far along in her pregnancy, and the baby is stable. It's a good time for her to go out. I didn't get to see her last time, so I must go and pay my respects this time."

Gu Qingwan greeted Madam Ning and then went to the Meng family's carriages.

Sure enough, they saw Madam Meng with a slightly protruding belly, and Young Master Meng helping her out of the carriage.

"Miss Gu has arrived as well."

"Greetings to Madam Meng, and greetings to Young Master Meng."

Meng Jiyue realized it had been a long time since he had seen Gu Qingwan, and for a moment he couldn't take his eyes off her. However, he could also see that Gu Qingwan was distant, so he just nodded politely.

"This must be Miss Gu. Yanran always talks about you at home and thinks about going to play with you all the time. Now that I see you are indeed a beautiful woman, I would be happy to play with you too."

"Madam Meng, you flatter me. You can just call me Qingwan. Sister Yanran and I hit it off immediately. I'm new here and it's all thanks to Sister Yanran's generous help."

"Don't call me Madam Meng anymore, just call me Auntie." Madam Meng held Gu Qingwan's hand and said softly, "We all know about that matter, but we still have to thank you."

Gu Qingwan shook her head and said, "Fortunately, it was a close call. Auntie, you don't need to worry about it. My aunt is over there. If you're feeling heavy, why don't you come with my aunt?"

"That's wonderful, I haven't seen your aunt in a long time either." Madam Meng said with a smile, "Jiyue, you go back first, your sister and I will go inside."

"Then Mother, please be careful. I will come to pick you up after the banquet. Yanran, please take good care of your mother and don't be naughty."

"Brother, what are you saying? Do you think your sister is such an unreliable person?"

Meng Jiyue smiled but didn't respond. Instead, she looked at Gu Qingwan gently and said, "I'll have to trouble you today. I'll invite you to Yanxi Restaurant for roast duck another day."

"Brother is so stingy. I've asked him so many times and he still hasn't taken me. Now he's so generous in inviting Qingwan."

Madam Meng seemed to have figured something out, and tapped Meng Yanran on the head: "You're so talkative, let's hurry up and go over there."

The Gu family's carriage followed behind them. Wang Ruyan's expression was not good as soon as she got off. Although several officials' families came to greet her, none of them were as important as Madam Ning's family.

Gu Hanjiao has her own little circle. After visiting with Wang Ruyan, she went to her own circle to enjoy the flattery of those people. However, Gu Hanjiao had another purpose today, which was to promote her skin care products.

The ladies went to the reception room to drink tea and eat snacks while chatting with the Crown Princess, while the young ladies, naturally, had no inhibitions and went to the flower garden to admire the flowers or drink tea and chat.

There is a large lotus pond in the Crown Prince's residence. The Crown Princess invited everyone to admire the lotus flowers and arranged small boats. Those who are refined can also have their servants row the small boats to pick a few lotus flowers. Moreover, to prevent people from falling into the water, all the servants can swim.

As Gu Qingwan sat on the edge of the covered walkway, she admired the Crown Princess's meticulousness. She had considered all possible bad situations, and her foresight was truly remarkable. It was clear that she had experienced a lot and was afraid of what might happen.