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

“Brother, the situation in Xishan is indeed not peaceful, just as our scouts reported, and the matter is far more complicated than we imagined.”

"How to say?"

Xiao Jingchen seized a batch of smuggled weapons and armor on the frontier. Although there was no war at the moment, the small countries outside had always been eyeing their Great Qing with covetous eyes. However, he intercepted a batch of weapons being exported abroad on the frontier. The implications of this were obvious. So he sent his secret guards to follow this line. After a long time, the clues were cut off in Xishan.

So Xiao Jingchen wrote a secret letter to the emperor, telling him about the matter and also his brother's thoughts, wanting to leave the military camp to go to Xishan to see what was going on.

The emperor received the secret letter and was shocked by its contents. It revealed that someone within his Great Qing Dynasty was colluding with foreign powers to forge weapons. Given the crucial role weapons and armor played on the battlefield, the fact that they could be smuggled out of the country through so many checkpoints meant that officials from the court were undoubtedly involved. Enraged, the emperor smashed many teacups that very night.

After calming down and thinking it over, the Emperor realized that only his own younger brother could put his mind at ease. Coincidentally, the Empress Dowager had been saying these past few days that she missed the Prince of Chu and wanted him to return to the capital, and also to find him a young woman who was ready to settle down. Under this pretext, the Emperor sent the Prince of Chu back to the capital to report on his duties.

The King of Chu and his entourage split into two groups. To avoid attracting attention, Xiao Jingchen ordered his men to take the carriages and guards along the main road, while he himself led his secret guards on horseback along a side road towards the western mountains.

The journey there was quite smooth, but once we reached Xishan, it was shrouded in mist.

"I sent out four secret guards in total, but they didn't find anything unusual."

"Nothing unusual? Could your guess be wrong?"

"I was initially skeptical that my guess was wrong or that my direction was incorrect, but when I encountered the assassination attempt, I became certain that my guess was correct and that there was definitely something wrong with Xishan."

"Assassination?!"

"Yes, when we arrived, everything was fine. We stayed for three days without any incident. But on the night my guards returned to report, assassins came."

"You must have alerted them. They were worried you knew something, but they weren't sure, so they simply killed you." The Emperor thought these people were too impatient, but this also exposed that Xishan was problematic.

Xiao Jingchen nodded in agreement. That night, the assassins disguised themselves as waiters and came to his room to kill him, but they were all dealt with by his guards. Seeing that it was not a good place to stay, he quickly left with his guards.

The initial assassination attempts after leaving Xishan were insignificant, requiring no personal action from Xiao Jingchen. However, later on, they were intercepted and killed by highly skilled individuals.

"Prince Chu, why did you choose to come to our territory instead of taking the proper official road?" the leader of the men in black said to Xiao Jingchen.

"Since you know I am the King of Chu, aren't you afraid of being punished by the royal family?"

"Sigh, we take people's money to solve their problems. This is the kind of life we ​​lead, living on the edge. How could Your Highness, who is so precious, understand? Your Highness, I respect you as a man of honor, but I'm sorry for today. Brothers, let's go!"

"Don't get too entangled with them, let's go back to Beijing."

"Yes!" The four guards escorted Xiao Jingchen as he retreated towards the capital.

Xiao Jingchen and his group possessed extraordinary martial prowess; within the Daqing Dynasty, few could rival them. Their secret guards were scattered by their relentless pursuit, but Xiao Jingchen remained unconcerned, as they had a unique means of communication. Fortunately, they were nearing the capital, but Xiao Jingchen was still caught by the man in black.

Xiao Jingchen stood there, killing one of them with a single palm strike using his internal force. The leader of the men in black saw this and his eyes lit up: "Your Highness, your martial arts are truly legendary. I am humbled and have come to learn from you!"

This time, Xiao Jingchen picked up the swords and knives on the ground and fought with the man. The man was more experienced in assassination, and for a time Xiao Jingchen did not gain an absolute advantage. The assassin used his internal energy to clash with Xiao Jingchen's sword and shattered the sword in Xiao Jingchen's hand.

Upon seeing this, the assassin smiled smugly, "You're not so great yourself."

Xiao Jingchen remained completely calm. Having witnessed countless battles on the battlefield, he was no match for this scene. He drew his personal sword, Qinggangying, the blade flashing with a cold light that highlighted the scars on his face.

"Then you try it and see how good I am!" Xiao Jingchen's martial arts moves became even more crisp and clean, because there were too many people on the battlefield, and those fancy moves would only waste too much of his energy.

The two fought for twenty rounds before the assassin began to falter. He resorted to using a hidden weapon to assassinate Xiao Jingchen, just as his bodyguards Xiao Jia and Xiao Yi found him.

"Your Highness, please go first. We two will cover your retreat."

The leader of the men in black had been beaten to a pulp by Xiao Jingchen, and the other henchmen had also been mostly crippled. Without lingering for the fight, he used his lightness skill to head towards the capital.

Unfortunately, it started raining, and the hidden weapon was poisoned. Luckily, he ran into Gu Qingwan, but he didn't tell the Emperor about meeting her.

"Jingchen, do you know who those people are?" The emperor looked at the Prince of Chu. Knowing full well that they were imperial relatives, he still dared to intercept and kill them. He was truly remarkable.

Xiao Jingchen shook his head, picked up the teacup on the table to moisten his throat, and said, "However, one thing is certain: there is a traitor within the court."

Upon hearing this, the emperor nodded solemnly. He sat down at his desk, his hand constantly touching the jade pendant at his waist. There must be a traitor within the court, otherwise the assassins wouldn't have known that the Prince of Chu was returning to the capital. After all, he hadn't made this public, and not many people knew about it.

Furthermore, the fact that the assassin could recognize Xiao Jingchen can only mean that the person who hired him had told him in advance who the target was. Otherwise, he would have given up when he saw that the target was the current prince, since no martial arts force would be willing to oppose the imperial court.

"This is serious. If the problem really is in the capital, then... I hope you and I are overthinking it."

Xiao Jingchen lowered his head and thought for a moment, but decided not to tell his elder brother about what happened in the manor's cellar. He had not yet investigated the matter thoroughly, and if he told his elder brother rashly, emperors, who have always been suspicious, it would probably bring unnecessary trouble to the Ning family and the young lady.

"Rest assured, Your Majesty, I have already sent people to Xishan again. They will definitely find out the truth for you, no matter who it is in the capital." Xiao Jingchen stood up and clasped his hands in a gesture of assurance in the open space in front of the Emperor's table.

"Why did you stand up again? Sit down quickly, you're injured." Along the way, it wasn't so much that he was protecting his younger brother, but rather that his younger brother was protecting him. The scars on his face were because of him. Sigh, he's so old and still doesn't have a proper wife. It's so worrying.

"By the way, now that you're back, don't leave again. Quickly find a proper wife, get married, and have children."

"Not urgent."

"What do you mean you're not in a hurry? You're not in a hurry, but the Empress Dowager and I are." The Emperor said, pointing at Xiao Jingchen in exasperation, "Let me tell you, if you still can't find someone, I will personally arrange a marriage for you."

"No rush, we have to take it slow." At this moment, Xiao Jingchen's mind was filled with the image of the little girl standing by the window in a daze after taking a bath that night.

Seeing his younger brother's absent-minded look, the Emperor, being an experienced man himself, understood perfectly: "Just handle it well, that's enough. Which family is it from?"

"I'll tell you later, don't worry."

Upon hearing this, the emperor felt a surge of joy. His younger brother had suffered greatly since childhood, and his personality had become cold and aloof. Seeing that his brother had found a girl he liked filled him with comfort.

"This is the military tally." Xiao Jingchen took out the military tally from his bosom and handed it to the emperor.

"Why are you giving me this?"

"I'm not going back. I'll just leave it here with you for now, so that no one will use it against me."

The emperor laughed upon hearing this, thinking that his younger brother was still always thinking of him. "Only when I have you in my heart can I truly feel at ease."

This time, the Emperor did not use the word "朕" (zhen, meaning "I" or "the Emperor") but used "我" (wo, meaning "I" or "I"). Xiao Jingchen understood his brother's thoughts perfectly well. Although he held a high position, there were always people who coveted the throne. Moreover, the princes were gradually growing up, and their ambitions had become unfathomable.

Back then, the Emperor disregarded his mother, who was the Empress, and his elder brother, who was the Crown Prince, and instead favored his illegitimate son and suppressed his legitimate son. The three of them, mother and sons, had gone through the struggle for the throne and fought their way out, almost losing their lives, to survive to this day.

Xiao Jingchen didn't say anything more and put the military tally back into his pocket.