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

Under Gu Ziming's arrangement, the porridge distribution was quickly organized in detail. The Prime Minister's Office took care of everything, including the time and place of distribution, the equipment in the shed, and the on-site cooking of the porridge.

To make things easier for Gu Hanjiao, Gu Ziming even handed over the power of housekeeping to Wang Ruyan.

Watching the mother and daughter bustling about, keeping the entire household busy, Ru Hua grumbled unhappily, "Miss, we've gone through all this trouble, and those people are completely unharmed. It's infuriating..."

Gu Qingwan was tending to the orchids in the Youlan Courtyard. These orchids were her mother's favorites, and Gu Qingwan cherished them dearly.

"Why are you in such a hurry? Little girl, calm down. You have to eat one bite at a time, and you have to grind down a bad person little by little."

Gu Hanjiao has now moved out of Youlan Courtyard. In Youlan Courtyard, she can only live in a small side room and does not have her own independent courtyard. If Yu Xinqiu comes to her door to discuss things, it would be too embarrassing.

Although Youlan Courtyard is nice, its location is somewhat remote. If someone didn't deliberately bring you here, no one would notice it.

So Gu Hanjiao thought about it and asked Gu Ziming to renovate the embroidery building near the main courtyard. Although this embroidery building was not as big as Youlan Courtyard, it was very exquisite and was also an independent courtyard with two floors.

This embroidered pavilion was originally built by Ning Jingxian and Gu Ziming for their unborn daughter, Gu Qingwan. At that time, the two had a good relationship, and thinking that since she was their first child, they couldn't bear to let her live far away, so they built an embroidered pavilion in a different location. But now, things have changed.

On the day of the porridge distribution, Wang Ruyan had the porridge shed set up in the designated place early in the morning. Before dawn, she had her servants cook the porridge on the spot in the shed. In order to show her benevolence, she also made arrangements for the porridge shed in every way.

Gu Ziming originally said that Wang Ruyan didn't need to come, as their family didn't need a prime minister's wife showing her face everywhere anymore. However, Wang Ruyan compromised on her own, saying she was worried about her daughter. Oh well, as long as she does well, it doesn't matter.

The surrounding people looked at the Prime Minister's wife's extraordinary attire and couldn't help but scoff. It was clearly a show for them. If she really wanted to do good deeds, she should dress like an ordinary person. At least she shouldn't be so extravagant, as if she were begging people to rob her.

Gu Hanjiao arrived a little late. She dressed rather simply today, wearing only one hairpin to hold her hair in place, without any other jewelry.

When she got out of the car and saw her mother dressed so elaborately, she couldn't help but sigh inwardly. She quickly went up to Wang Ruyan and pulled her aside to talk.

"Mother, today is the first day of distributing porridge, which is the most important day. Why are you dressed so formally?"

"Of course I know that the first day is the most important, which is why I came here early this morning. I'm dressed... I am dressed a bit formally, but your mother is the Prime Minister's wife. Do you expect me to dress like them?"

Seeing that her mother was somewhat unmoved by her words, Gu Hanjiao patiently persuaded her, "I understand your good intentions, Mother, but although the weather is nice today, it is also very hot. You came here early in the morning, and I'm sure everyone here has seen you. But it will get hot soon, and you will sweat a lot in all that clothes. Wouldn't that make you look less attractive?"

Wang Ruyan thought about it and realized it was true. She hadn't felt hot since she arrived so early in the morning, but after working for a while, her clothes were already a bit damp. She would definitely start sweating in a little while. It wouldn't be a problem if no one could see her body, but her makeup would definitely be ruined, and people would laugh at her.

"Jiao'er is right. Mother didn't expect that. Here's what I'll do: Mother will go back now and leave the servants here to keep you company. I'll come back to check on you again at lunchtime."

"Mother, go in peace. I'll take care of everything here."

Watching Wang Ruyan board the carriage and leave, Gu Hanjiao finally breathed a sigh of relief. A short while later, she saw a small group of soldiers dressed as government officials approaching. The leader of the group immediately clasped his hands in salute when he saw Gu Hanjiao.

"Greetings, Miss Gu. We are here on the orders of the Third Prince to assist you. If anyone tries to cause trouble, please do not be afraid."

Gu Hanjiao smiled. The Third Prince was backing her up. How could Gu Hanjiao not accept such a favor?

"Thank you all. There are no problems yet. Why don't you help organize the team? The porridge distribution is about to begin."

Gu Hanjiao had Chunlu and Qiushuang tie her sleeves with a ribbon so that it would be easier for her to serve the porridge. Every time she scooped out a spoonful of porridge, she would smile and say some encouraging words to the other person.

"Don't rush, everyone will get some. The porridge is still hot from the start, so be careful."

The people who came to collect porridge all felt that this young lady was approachable and so beautiful, truly a fairy descended from heaven.

The atmosphere was very relaxed, and everyone queued in an orderly manner without scrambling or pushing.

Just then, a few children were running and playing nearby, and accidentally spilled some porridge on Gu Hanjiao's white dress.

Chunlu pushed the child away immediately: "What are you doing, being so reckless?"

The once lively scene suddenly became quiet, and everyone held their breath to watch Gu Hanjiao's reaction.

Gu Hanjiao quickly composed herself. She knelt down and carefully helped the child up, patting the dust off his body.

"Be careful, did you hurt yourself? You should take the kids to play over there. It's all hot soup here, you might get burned."

"Wow, is the fairy sister from heaven? She's not even angry."

Gu Hanjiao smiled and said, "Go and have fun, I have things to do."

After that, someone came over and led the children to an open area to the side, and the porridge distribution team resumed its lively activity.

The first pot of porridge was quickly finished, and soon some burly men came out of the crowd, each carrying a heavy basket. Everyone curiously made way for them.

"what is this?"

"I don't know, why does it smell so good to me?"

The doubts were quickly cleared up. The tall, thin man at the head bowed to Gu Hanjiao and explained, "We are servants of the Yu family. Our young lady said that the Yu family was not considerate enough and only gave everyone porridge, which was not enough to fill their stomachs. That's why they had these large steamed buns made overnight. However, there are not many, just one for each person."

The crowd erupted in uproar upon hearing this.

"So it's the Yu family distributing porridge. Is that fairy in front the eldest daughter of the Yu family?"

"No, that's the daughter of the Prime Minister's family, the future Third Prince's wife."

"Oh, oh, oh, we outsiders don't know that. We do know the Yu family, they're famous imperial merchants, and now they're even giving us big steamed buns. Master Yu and Miss Yu are truly living bodhisattvas."

"That's right. Although it's not much, the sentiment behind it is genuine."

"However, the Yu family is the Third Prince's maternal family, so we're all one family. It doesn't matter who distributes the porridge..."

Gu Hanjiao naturally heard these comments as well. She gripped the spoon tightly in her hand, not retaliating, but cursing inwardly.

What on earth is the Yu family up to? Yu Xinqiu never told her about giving her steamed buns. Isn't this a slap in the face?

When Yu Xinqiu heard that someone from the Yu family had arrived, she rushed over. Obviously, she didn't know about this arrangement. She recognized the person in charge, who was the Yu family's steward. She quietly ran over and asked him.

"Butler, what's wrong..."

"Miss Qiu, thank you for your hard work. We will leave these things here. You will have to distribute the steamed buns yourself."

After saying that, he ordered his men to quickly set up the shed for making steamed buns. When the cloth on top was lifted, the steaming aroma of the buns wafted out, even more fragrant than porridge.

Gu Hanjiao couldn't stand it any longer. She walked over to Yu Xinqiu and asked, "What do you mean by this?"

Yu Xinqiu could only smile bitterly, because she didn't know how this had happened, so she couldn't explain herself at all.

Obviously, now was not the time to talk. Everyone had to maintain appearances. Fortunately, nothing went wrong. Around noon, the two young ladies needed to eat, so the servants served porridge to them.

Gu Hanjiao was still angry with Yu Xinqiu, and Yu Xinqiu didn't know how to bring it up with Gu Hanjiao. The two of them tacitly avoided sitting together and instead kept a distance from each other, ignoring each other.

As arranged by her family, Yu Xinqiu ate congee and steamed buns for lunch. Having suffered hardships, Yu Xinqiu could eat the food, even though it was bland and tasteless. In addition, the servants brought two small dishes of pickled vegetables, which were the most refreshing thing to eat in the hot summer.

On the other hand, Wang Ruyan, just as she had said in the morning, had changed her clothes. Although they weren't as dazzling, they were still appropriate for someone of her status.

Gu Hanjiao couldn't help but feel a pain in her temples.

Wang Ruyan came to deliver the meal, and the servant behind her was carrying a large food box. When Wang Ruyan saw that Gu Hanjiao's clothes were also dirty, she immediately took out a handkerchief to wipe Gu Hanjiao's sweat with some heartache.

"My dear, you've worked so hard. Why did you make yourself look so disheveled? Just do a little bit and let the servants do it."

Gu Hanjiao originally thought that way, but who would have thought that Yu Xinqiu would take the opportunity to personally distribute the steamed buns, so she dared not slack off even more.

"It's nothing, I'm not very tired. What are you doing here in this heat, Mother?"

"I was worried you were hungry, so I brought you some simple food."

One by one, the dishes were taken out of the food box. Gu Hanjiao didn't think there was anything wrong with it. They were all home-cooked meals, without any fancy dishes. But even though they were home-cooked, the aroma was enough to make the people around her salivate.

Sensing that everyone was looking at her, she turned around and looked at Yu Xinqiu, and her face immediately fell.

She quickly put the food back into the box and handed it to the maid in the mansion, saying, "Mother, take it all back. Today, I will eat porridge and steamed buns."

"My darling..."

“Mother, if you continue to act on your own initiative, Father will surely punish you. Someone, escort Madam back to the mansion.”

Before Wang Ruyan could react, she was half-pushed and half-forced back into the carriage.

Gu Hanjiao sat there with her back to everyone, her face dark, waiting for Qiu Shuang to bring her white porridge and steamed buns.

I really don't know how I could have such a mother. She's constantly digging pits for her own daughter, and she's afraid she won't fall into them. And Yu Xinqiu, on the surface, calls her "sister," but actually she just wants to gain a good reputation in this matter and improve her chances of becoming a concubine in the future. Humph, she's really scheming.