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

At night, Xiao Jingchen was painting a picture alone in his study. It was a picture of Gu Qingwan standing by the river that day. He painted each stroke with such patience.

Every time he saw Gu Qingwan, he felt as if he had known her in a past life and that this life was just a continuation of their past relationship. Although they had not met many times, her image was etched in his mind.

I wonder if Gu Qingwan still remembers me. In the past, most people were afraid of him, firstly because of his status, and secondly because of his appearance. However, there was one person who was not afraid: Gu Qingwan when she was a child.

On that day, there was a grand banquet in the palace. Gu Qingwan also came to the palace with his parents. Feeling bored, he left the banquet early to enjoy the garden, where he happened to run into Gu Qingwan who had secretly run away.

"Brother, your face..."

"Oh, it looks ugly, doesn't it? Did it scare you?"

"Is anything more ugly than the mask you're wearing?"

"Ah."

"I don't believe you, brother. Take it off. It's so uncomfortable to have it hanging on your face like that."

Xiao Jingchen found the exquisitely beautiful little girl extremely amusing. After checking that no one was around, he decided to tease her a bit.

"If you see my face, I might kill you."

"Hehehe, brother is lying again. If you're so good, why did you kill Wan'er?"

"So your name is Wan'er."

"Yes, what's your brother's name?"

"Me? I'm called Yama, and I eat children." With that, Xiao Jingchen took off his mask, intending to scare the child in front of him, but the result was not what he expected.

"Look how beautiful you are! Don't wear this ugly mask anymore."

"you……"

"Wan'er! Wan'er!"

"Mother, Wan'er is here!"

Just as Xiao Jingchen was about to say a few more words to the child, she heard someone coming to look for her. As she turned to respond, Xiao Jingchen leaped and hid herself in the night.

A heavily pregnant woman, accompanied by a young maid, arrived here. The woman had a gentle face and her eyes were full of tenderness. With such a mother, this little girl must be so kind and lovely.

"Why are you running around everywhere? I've been looking for you for ages. Be careful your father doesn't scold you when he finds out."

"Hehe, no way, Mommy's here..."

"Then what were you doing here just now?"

"This is a secret, I don't want to tell Mother."

"You little rascal..."

The gentle lady led the small figure toward the banquet. Although they could no longer be seen, their lighthearted and amusing conversation still lingered in the night, a sight to behold.

Gu Qingwan was the only one who wasn't afraid of him. From then on, he never wore that mask again. His mother was overjoyed when she found out, always thinking that she had overcome the hurdle of having a flawed face.

Later, he was invited to various banquets at their home, but this time the meeting was in a different way. When he arrived, the little girl had already fallen into the water.

To protect the young girl's reputation, Xiao Jingchen left after rescuing Gu Qingwan and seeing the maid approaching. Not long after, he went to the frontier with the army and never heard of her again.

"Your Highness, A-Ning has something to discuss with you."

"Come in."

A Ning is one of Xiao Jingchen's bodyguards, and also his only female bodyguard.

"What is it?" Xiao Jingchen carefully covered the clean sheet of Xuan paper with the painting on the table. He didn't want others to know that the person he painted was Gu Qingwan, because the two of them hadn't officially started dating yet, and he didn't want his negligence to tarnish her reputation, even in front of his own people.

When Ah Ning saw Xiao Jingchen's actions, her eyes narrowed.

"Your Highness, Miss Gu is not worthy of you."

"Oh? Who told you that? Xiao Yi?"

Ah Ning remained silent. After completing her mission and returning to the secret guards, she saw that all the brothers around her were very happy, as if it were almost New Year's Day. Upon further inquiry, she learned that the prince's marriage had been arranged, and everyone was happy for the prince.

Upon hearing this, Ah Ning inquired further and learned that Xiao Yi knew the most. When they arrived at the torture chamber, Xiao Yi was already drenched in sweat and lay flat at the entrance. After asking around, she learned that Xiao Yi was the eldest daughter of the Gu family. She then hurriedly ran to the prince to ask him if it was true.

"Ah Ning, you're meddling a bit too much," Xiao Jingchen warned Ah Ning in a low voice.

“Master, Aning is doing this for your own good. That woman is not worthy of you.”

"This is my private matter. By the way, how is the situation at West Mountain?"

"Reporting to Master, we have made some progress. Xiao Jia asked me to come back and deliver a letter to you." As he spoke, he took out the letter that Xiao Jia had asked him to bring back from his bosom.

Xiao Jingchen nodded, looking at the unopened wax seal on the letter.

"You've all worked hard these past few days, Aning. Go back and get some rest."

"My lady, please heed my advice, don't let beauty blind you." A-Ning stepped forward anxiously.

She was the only woman among the secret guards. Her entire family was slaughtered by the enemy, but the prince saved her life. She repaid him with her own body, but she was of lowly status and not worthy of the prince. The prince did not need any maids or servants by his side, so she joined the secret guards. Among all of them, A-Ning was the most hardworking, just so that one day she could stand by the prince's side and be seen by him.

Finally, through her own efforts, she reached the prince's side and became his direct bodyguard. Being able to see the figure in her heart at all times was incredibly satisfying for A-Ning. Even though she knew that the prince would definitely have a princess by his side in the future, she still did not want any woman to be by the prince's side.

Seeing that A Ning was still standing there with her head down and not moving, seemingly unwilling to leave, Xiao Jingchen narrowed his eyes and warned A Ning.

"Ah Ning, if you don't listen to me, we should go back to base camp and find someone else."

"master……"

Just then, the steward knocked on the door and came in. As soon as the steward heard that A-Ning had returned to the manor and was rushing to find the prince, he felt something was wrong. He knew about A-Ning's feelings for the prince and had long wanted to advise her to give up on these feelings, but he had never found a suitable opportunity.

"What is it?" Xiao Jingchen asked the butler.

"Your Highness, a few days ago the Second Prince's Consort sent you an invitation to a flower viewing banquet, but you were too busy during the day to inform her."

"What am I going to do? I'm not going."

"Yes." The butler knew something was wrong when he saw the stubborn Ah Ning standing there. "Ah Ning is back too. If she hasn't had dinner, there's still some left in the kitchen."

"Follow the butler downstairs."

At this moment, the butler grabbed Ah Ning's sleeve and led her out. Ah Ning knew that the butler had come to rescue her, but she was still unwilling to give up.

The steward had no children of his own and had served the prince since he was young. A-Ning was the only girl in the mansion, so the steward treated A-Ning as his own daughter. The prince knew this and, understanding his situation, tacitly agreed without saying anything.

When they arrived at the door, the housekeeper saw that Ah Ning was still throwing a tantrum, and he sighed angrily.

"What are you still standing here for? Hurry up and leave! Sigh!"

Ah Ning moved her mouth but didn't say anything more before leaving with the butler.