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

"Royal Aunt!"

Little Chang Le crawled out from under the table, hugged Gu Qingwan's waist tightly, and buried her head in it.

Gu Qingwan held the child in front of her with heartache. Although Princess Chang Le's mother was not favored, she was still the emperor's daughter. How could she suffer such torment?

Looking around, although it was a dormitory and there were quite a few furnishings, they were all old and outdated items. Even the Empress Dowager wouldn't use such things; they were clearly just something the servants had prepared to appease her.

Even though it was already winter, there wasn't a wisp of heating in the room, and Chang Le was clearly wearing autumn clothes, probably because she was afraid of the cold and had worn many layers.

"Chang Le, are you cold? Come and crawl inside your aunt's cloak."

“Aunt, Chang Le isn’t cold, look!” Chang Le raised her arm high and rolled up her sleeve to show her.

"Isn't Chang Le very clever? I've worn all the cotton-padded clothes that my mother made for me. If it gets cold again, I can still wear the clothes my mother left behind."

Gu Qingwan felt a pang of sadness. The sleeves of the dress were already quite short. Everyone in the palace was dressed better than Chang Le. It was clear that when she saw Chang Le before, she was wearing her best clothes. Perhaps for Chang Le, spring, summer and autumn were easier than winter.

"Chang Le, where is your maid?" Gu Qingwan looked around but didn't see Chang Le's maid. The only other person around was the plump Granny Cheng.

When Granny Cheng heard Princess Chang Le address the other woman as "Royal Aunt," she immediately thought to herself, "Oh no!"

There is only one person that Princess Chang Le can call "Imperial Aunt" and that is Princess Chu. But even if Princess Chu has entered the palace, she should be in the palace of the Empress Dowager or the Empress. Why would she come to this remote little place?

Granny Cheng began racking her brains for a way to fool Princess Chu.

“It was the nanny who said my maid was disobedient, lazy, and loved to tattle and spread rumors. She told the nanny to take her away and teach her a few days before returning her.”

"Is that the little girl named Mangosteen who was following you before?"

"Yes, Aunt, you still remember her."

"That was a good child."

“Yes, Chang Le also thinks she is very good. Shan Zhu is a maid given to Chang Le by her mother, but…” Princess Chang Le looked at Granny Cheng with some fear.

"do you like her?"

"Yes, I like her. We grew up together since we were little," Chang Le replied crisply.

"Baoqin, go and give the order to find that little palace maid named Shanzhu for me. If anyone dares to stop her, bring her to me and I will explain things to her personally."

Baoqin understood, glanced at the anxious Cheng Mama kneeling on the ground, and couldn't help but sigh and shake her head.

“Princess Chang Le, don’t be fooled by that little hussy’s appearance. Not only did she steal your jewelry and sell it outside, but it’s also because of that little hussy, Shan Zhu, that you can’t wear clothes now. If she hadn’t secretly taken your clothes out to sell, you wouldn’t be in this situation. If it weren’t for my sharp eyes, I would have seen through her and she would have emptied our palace!”

Suddenly, Cheng's mother thought of finding a scapegoat for herself. That way, no one could say that what she said wasn't true, and someone would take the blame for everything she did.

"Hmph, what a sharp-tongued old woman you are! Now you seem to have realized my true identity?"

Granny Cheng, her face wrinkled, knelt and took two steps forward.

"How could this old servant not recognize Your Highness's face? It was my mistake that I did not see clearly and offended Your Highness. I hope Your Highness will forgive me."

Gu Qingwan held Chang Le and sat on the embroidered stool that Bao Qin had brought over.

"Forgive you? How can I forgive you? Forgive you for being harsh on the princess's food and drink?"

Granny Cheng waved her hand and shook her head.

"No, no, no, how could this servant dare to be harsh on the princess?"

"Since you're too scared to tell me what's going on with this food?"

Looking at the yellowed vegetable leaves in the plate, Granny Cheng was speechless. She had no idea that Princess Chu would suddenly come here.

"It's just...it's just..." Granny Cheng stammered for a long time without being able to get to the point, and despite the cold weather, her forehead was covered in sweat.

"Aunt, would you please take Chang Le with you? Chang Le wants to eat meat."

“Princess, your stomach isn’t good, how can you eat meat?” Suddenly remembering something, Granny Cheng said, “Your Highness, you don’t know, but your stomach is always upset in winter. The imperial physicians all say that you should eat something lighter, but we’ve never stopped feeding you fish and meat.”

"Then I don't want to eat cold food," Chang Le replied in a muffled, low voice.

"Oh my princess, didn't your nanny tell you that our palace is too far from the kitchen? It's so cold today, it's normal for the food to get cold during the round trip."

"You're talking nonsense. I clearly saw you all warming wine and eating meat in the greenhouse next door, having a great time." As she spoke, Chang Le tugged at Gu Qingwan's sleeve with a wronged expression and said, "Aunt, it's not that Chang Le is greedy, it's just that it smelled too good. That day they brought me cold rice, but I clearly smelled meat, but the nanny said there was none."

"Good boy, how many days has it been since you've eaten meat?"

"There was a plate of braised pork yesterday, but it tasted a bit off, and I couldn't eat it."

“Princess, your stomach isn’t good. It’s not that the meat has gone bad,” Granny Cheng argued.

Gu Qingwan was furious. She ordered Siqi, "Siqi, since this nanny says the food isn't spoiled, you help her finish all the food here. Don't leave a single grain of rice."

"Yes, ma'am." Siqi had long disliked this old hag; how dare she treat a little girl so harshly? "Granny, shall we do it ourselves, or shall we?"

As Siqi drew closer, Granny Cheng's legs nearly gave way. She was a respectable palace maid; while her meals might not have been as exquisite as those of the masters, she had never eaten leftovers.

She knew perfectly well what was going on with Princess Chang Le's food, but knowing it meant she couldn't say it out loud.

"No, no, I've already eaten, I'm not hungry now."

"How can that be? Even if you've already eaten, you can still have some. Are you going to refuse our Princess's kindness?" Siqi picked up the cold soup from the table and walked towards Granny Cheng.

When Granny Cheng realized that she had spat on this bowl of soup on the way, she felt nauseous and her face turned pale.

"Princess Consort of Chu! You can't do this!" Unable to break free from Siqi's grasp, Granny Cheng immediately stretched out her neck and let out a sharp cry like a hen being strangled.