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

Inside Xitong Palace, the Third Prince presented the fur he had just brought from Caiyi Pavilion to the Imperial Concubine. The Imperial Concubine held the cloak and examined it carefully with a joyful expression. The cloak was made of snow-white silver satin with silver thread as the base and gold thread as the outline. The subtle patterns on it prevented the cloak from being ostentatious or vulgar. Every detail was embroidered with exquisite detail. The most precious part was the fox fur at the collar, which was snow-white and without any impurities. It was a rare and fine piece of fur.

"This fox fur is truly a rare find; it's pure white without a single impurity." The imperial concubine stroked the soft fur, clearly delighted.

"As long as Mother likes it, that's good. It's precisely because it's rare that it's even more worthy of Mother." Xiao Yuheng knew that his mother loved clothes and jewelry the most, so he would often bring some fresh colors from outside the palace to give to her to cheer her up.

"Heng'er is so thoughtful. Hu Po, please put it away quickly and don't let dust get on it. This thing is not easy to take care of."

The Imperial Concubine summoned her personal maid to take away her clothes, then sat up again and picked up a round fan, fiddling with it in her hand: "Heng'er, you've reached the age where you should start thinking about marrying a proper wife. Do you have a woman you like?"

"It's fine to leave the decision to Mother."

"In my opinion, we should hear your opinion first. If you have someone you like, your mother won't interfere. If not, I think we should meet someone sooner rather than later. Instead of waiting for your father to arrange a marriage for you, why don't we find someone we like ourselves? What do you say, Heng'er?"

"I have no opinion on marriage, unlike my mother who has considered things more thoroughly."

Xiao Yuheng's appearance is inherited from the Imperial Concubine. No one in the palace can match her beauty. Even though she has already given birth to a son and a daughter, she is still as charming as ever. She is not only in no way inferior to the young concubines in the palace, but also has a more unique charm.

Although Xiao Yuheng was born a man, he was handsome and a rare beauty in the Daqing Dynasty. He was also well-educated, polite, and very gentle. In addition, he liked to wear simple and elegant clothes, always had a smile on his face, and was even polite to the palace maids and servants.

He was never seen arguing with anyone in the court, and he would often seek benefits for some officials. Therefore, everyone called him the Wise Prince. His popularity was growing day by day, and he even seemed to be overshadowing the Crown Prince.

"My son is so outstanding, your mother will definitely choose a woman from a noble family who is worthy of you in every way, including appearance." The Imperial Concubine looked at her son, whom she was so proud of.

"A few days ago, several pots of extremely beautiful 'Beauty Face' flowers were delivered from outside. I sent someone to the Prince of Jin's residence. In a few days, I will have the Princess of Jin host a flower appreciation party and invite well-known ladies and wealthy young men from the capital. You will also attend. Someone bring the list over."

The palace maid took out the roster that the Imperial Concubine had just compiled the night before from the table in the study. This roster had taken her a lot of effort, and she had been deliberating and revising it every day until it was finally finalized last night.

"Take a good look at this booklet when you get back, and keep an eye out for it at the flower viewing banquet so you can get acquainted with it beforehand."

Xiao Yuheng took the roster handed to him by the palace maid, opened it and looked at it. It contained women from famous noble families in the capital, including the Wen family, the Empress Dowager's maternal family, and the Prime Minister's residence.

"Mother, why did the Prime Minister's residence put Gu Hanjiao in the list of concubines? And this Gu Qingwan, I don't think I've ever seen her or heard of her before." Xiao Yuheng pointed to Gu Qingwan's name in the register.

"Gu Hanjiao, she is indeed the Prime Minister's legitimate daughter. However, her mother was promoted from a concubine. I don't know what Prime Minister Gu was thinking. How could a concubine be allowed to rise to prominence?" But thinking of this, she suddenly realized that she was also a concubine. Although she was a Noble Consort and everyone had to respect her, she still couldn't escape the status of a concubine. Even though her son was so outstanding, he was still inferior to the Crown Prince.

"It is said that Prime Minister Gu dotes on this daughter, and he also wields considerable power. If we can gain his support, it will be entirely beneficial to our plans. But if we place his beloved daughter as a concubine, will it anger him?"

“Your considerations are not without merit, but look at that list, isn’t there a Gu Qingwan on it?” The Imperial Concubine pointed to the list in the air: “I wonder if Gu Qingwan will come this time. This Gu Qingwan is the legitimate daughter of Prime Minister Gu. Her mother is the only legitimate daughter of the Duke of Ningguo’s family. Now she has received the Emperor’s favor to come to the Duke of Ningguo’s family to serve her mother.”

"My son seems to remember now. Isn't he the one who said at the family banquet in Prime Minister Gu's mansion that the eldest daughter fell into the water and then disappeared without a trace?"

"I don't remember very clearly, but marrying her would definitely make things much easier."

“What Mother Consort said is true. This Gu Qingwan has the support of both the Gu family and the Ningguo Duke’s family. If we can marry her as our principal wife, then we will have indirectly gained the support of the Ningguo Duke. I have always lacked the support of the military. Once the Ningguo Duke takes the position, then the situation in the court will become clear. I just don’t know what kind of woman this Gu Qingwan is…”

"Heng'er, don't worry. I met her mother back then. Besides, Prime Minister Gu is quite a handsome man, so their daughter shouldn't be too bad-looking."

Xiao Yuheng didn't reply, but stared at Gu Qingwan on the list in a daze. In fact, he preferred women like Gu Hanjiao. The little bird was still quite talented, and more importantly, her interests were similar to his. Her father was the powerful prime minister. Wouldn't it be better to marry a woman with such background, talent, beauty, and the ability to win his heart?

However, my mother seems to favor the woman named Gu Qingwan. The name sounds nice, but...

"Don't worry, Mother, I'll keep an eye on things." Xiao Yuheng put the booklet into his arms, picked up his teacup, and listened to his mother talking about some trivial matters in the palace. In fact, he knew that his mother was not asking him to express his opinion, but just looking for someone to confide in.

"I heard today that the King of Chu went to the palace, but I haven't heard when he will return."

"Has the Imperial Uncle entered the palace?" Xiao Yuheng asked, putting down his teacup.

"Yes, I just sent someone to invite the Emperor to our palace for dinner. When the palace servants came back, they said they didn't see the Emperor. It was that old fellow Fuming who said at the door that the Prince of Chu was inside."

At this moment, Xiao Yuheng felt uneasy. He thought for a moment and felt that he needed to do something.

"Mother, I have some matters to attend to, so I will take my leave now."

"Alright, since you have something to do, you can go now. Oh, Zijuan, take the pastries made in the small kitchen to the Prince."

Xiao Yuheng left Xitong Palace carrying a food box and led his servant to the outside of the Emperor's study. Sure enough, he saw Eunuch Fuming standing at the door with a whisk in his hand, and the eunuchs around him all had their heads down and did not move around.

When Fuming saw the Third Prince approaching, he quickly went up to him with a smile and said, "Your Highness, the Third Prince has arrived."

"Eunuch Fuming, is Father Emperor inside?"

"Reporting to the Third Prince, Prince Chu has returned today, and His Majesty is inside chatting with him."

"Oh, so it's the Imperial Uncle who's back." Xiao Yuheng's expression showed surprise, but also some anticipation. "Please trouble Eunuch Fuming to go in and announce my return. I'll pay my respects to my father and also to the Imperial Uncle."

"This..." Fuming looked troubled. "I'm afraid it's not very convenient..."

"Is that so? Well then, I'll come to pay my respects to Father Emperor another day." With that, Xiao Yuheng went to the center of the doorway, lifted his robe, knelt down, kowtowed, and left.

Walking through the alleyways of the palace, Xiao Yuheng thought to himself, his mother was right, his uncle had indeed returned. But why had he come back this time? Was it to help the Empress and the Crown Prince, or for his own sake?

It's understandable that Xiao Yuheng would have doubts. He and his mother had long been on the path to the throne, and they couldn't help but be wary of someone like Uncle Chu, who held a large army. Most importantly, Uncle Chu had always maintained neutrality and protected the emperor, never interacting much with the princes. Even when they met, he would just nod and rarely speak to them.

He had tried to win over the imperial uncle, but had never succeeded. He really didn't know what to do.