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

The Third Prince's residence wasn't exactly peaceful either.

Although the Third Prince's wife has taken charge of the household affairs, Yu Xinqiu still assists her. Fortunately, Yu Xinqiu does not have much ambition and is quite obedient by Li Qianyu's side.

Logically speaking, wives and concubines are always enemies, but there are always exceptions. As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Right now, Yu Xinqiu, as a concubine, is able to get so close to the Third Prince's wife, Li Qianyu, thanks to Gu Hanjiao.

Yu Xinqiu grew increasingly dissatisfied with what she was thinking. She looked at Li Qianyu, who was looking down at the account book, and couldn't help but throw down the melon seeds in her hand and say something.

"Your Highness, look at that girl in the Hidden Beauty Courtyard. She monopolizes the Third Prince every day. Even yesterday, which was the first day of the lunar month and the winter solstice, such an important day, she wouldn't let the Third Prince return to the main courtyard. What kind of behavior is this!"

Without looking up, Li Qianyu comforted her, "After all, Consort Gu is pregnant. Let's be more understanding."

Li Qianyu's feelings for the Third Prince were very deep at first; otherwise, she wouldn't have risked so much to run out and save him. However, after they got married, the Third Prince's attitude towards her remained lukewarm, which gradually buried her initial passion.

Li Qianyu thought that since she liked the person in front of her, she should just be a good princess consort and help him manage his household so that he could have no worries.

But when she thought of the word "relationship," she couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness.

"Your Highness, please don't blame me for being nosy. After all, you are the rightful Princess Consort. You should give birth to a legitimate son for the Third Prince as soon as possible. Now that Gu Hanjiao is pregnant, she should take good care of herself and give the Third Prince to us so that the royal family can continue to prosper."

Li Qianyu unconsciously touched her lower abdomen. There was still no sign of pregnancy, and her mother had sent people to inquire about it many times.

But just as Consort Yu said, she couldn't conceive without the Third Prince's visit. She had finally thought that since yesterday was both the first day of the lunar month and the winter solstice, the Third Prince should at least stay overnight in the main courtyard, but…

"Sigh, having a child also depends on fate." Li Qianyu shook her head and continued to look down at the account book.

Yu Xinqiu said with a look of disappointment, "Your Highness, you can't do this. Even if you don't want to compete for the emperor's favor, you still have to consider the health of the Third Prince."

Whenever anything related to the Third Prince was mentioned, Li Qianyu was the first to become restless. She asked, "What's wrong with the Third Prince? He seemed perfectly fine yesterday?"

"You don't know, Gu Hanjiao is already too far along in her pregnancy to serve the Third Prince anymore, but she still has a lot of tricks up her sleeve, keeping the Third Prince hooked up with her every night."

Li Qianyu was visibly taken aback. She said, "The Third Prince is a restrained person, and Consort Gu is carrying the first child of our household and also the first in the royal family. Even if he couldn't hold back, he wouldn't..."

"Your Majesty, if you don't believe me, you can send someone to check. There's no need to hide in the shadows; you can hear the sounds coming from the outer room of the Hidden Beauty Courtyard."

Li Qianyu felt a little embarrassed. After all, she was the legal wife; how could she eavesdrop on her husband's private affairs?

Seeing Li Qianyu's state, Yu Xinqiu was unwilling to continue the conversation. After exchanging a few more casual words, she said she was a little tired and had to leave.

On the way back, Yu Xinqiu chatted casually with her personal maid Xiaoqing. Unfortunately, she couldn't help but talk about it, and she happened to see Gu Hanjiao in the garden.

"Oh, what a coincidence to run into Sister Yu today! Are you here to relax?"

Yu Xinqiu frowned. Was Gu Hanjiao mocking her?

"The weather is nice today. I just came back from the Crown Princess's place. I'm quite tired from helping her manage the household affairs all day. With such a large family business, there's no place where we don't have to worry. My sister is much more relaxed, enjoying the flowers and scenery every day. She's very content."

As expected, Gu Hanjiao's sore spot was hit. It was because she had no real power in the mansion and her family was not very powerful. Otherwise, she would not have tried so hard to keep the Third Prince by her side.

The world is full of opportunists. If she loses even the Third Prince's favor, there will be plenty of people who want to humiliate her.

"Hehe, Sister Yu is indeed working hard, but you should also take good care of your health. It's good to help the Third Prince's Consort, but please don't end up doing all the work for someone else."

"What do you mean?" Yu Xinqiu asked, squinting her eyes.

"What could my sister possibly mean? She's just rambling on." Gu Hanjiao yawned as she spoke. "Oh dear, I've been serving the Third Prince these past two days and I'm feeling quite tired. Plus, my body feels increasingly heavy, and my energy is declining day by day. Please don't blame me, sister. I need to go back and get some rest."

Before Yu Xinqiu could react, Gu Hanjiao helped Chunlu back home.

Enraged, Yu Xinqiu ripped off the flowers beside her and tore them to shreds.

"You little bitch, how dare she be so arrogant! What is she! Does she think she's the legitimate daughter of the Prime Minister's mansion?!"

The maid Xiaoqing helped Yu Xinqiu wipe the green juice off her hands and then chimed in, "Your Majesty, there's no need to get angry over such a person. He's just gloating over the little thing in his belly. He's so arrogant now, who knows if he's even a boy."

Yu Xinqiu's eyes flickered and she said, "Whether it's a boy or a girl doesn't matter. The main thing is that this is the Third Prince's first child, and also the Emperor's first grandchild."

"Bah! Tomorrow I'll go to Qingquan Temple to pray to the Three Pure Ones and beg them to grant that child a boy without a penis, otherwise they'll be so arrogant as to die!"

"Hmph, it's better to rely on yourself than to ask others for help." Yu Xinqiu looked thoughtfully in the direction Gu Hanjiao had left.

"What do you mean by that, Your Highness?" Xiaoqing asked, puzzled.

“Xiaoqing, come here. Go out and tell my brother in a bit, and ask him to find out the source of Gu Hanjiao’s stuff, and then find a way to add some ingredients without anyone noticing.”

What ingredients should I add?

"Add a little aphrodisiac, the kind that makes the Third Prince lose control of himself."

Xiaoqing was a little stunned. Then she saw Yu Xinqiu's gloating look and said, "Didn't she say that serving the Third Prince was hard work? Then let our Third Prince serve her. After all, being pregnant is a meritorious act, and she should enjoy such treatment. I just don't know if the baby in her belly can handle it, hehe."

Xiaoqing shuddered. At first she didn't understand, but now she understood completely.

"Your Majesty has a brilliant plan. This way, even if something goes wrong, no one else can be blamed; they can only blame their own bad luck."

"Oh, right, tell my brother to make sure things are handled perfectly, so that even if they investigate, they can't trace it back to us."

"Your Majesty, please rest assured, this servant will go shortly."

Yu Xinqiu grabbed Xiaoqing's hand and said, "No, go now. Go back now. If anyone asks, just say you went out to buy me pastries. Oh, and don't forget to bring a box of pastries back with you."

"Yes, I'll go right away."

Watching Xiaoqing's departing figure, Yu Xinqiu was in a great mood.

Gu Hanjiao, Gu Hanjiao, didn't you not care about the precious thing in your belly and insist on possessing the Third Prince? Then let's see if the Third Prince still wants you if you don't have it.

The next day, Gu Qingwan received an invitation from the matriarch of the Ning family, who said she missed Gu Qingwan and asked her to bring Princess Eqinghe and Princess Changle back to the Ning family to have a meal with the matriarch.

Gu Qingwan naturally wouldn't refuse such a request, and immediately ordered someone to prepare a carriage and call for Princess Qinghe and Princess Changle to go to the Ning family together.

"I must say, Old Madam Ning really dotes on you. It's only been a short time, and she's already thinking of calling you back for dinner. If our Prince's residence were closer, I imagine my father and mother would often call me home for dinner too," Princess Qinghe couldn't help but sigh.

"Do you miss the King and Queen of Yunnan?"

"A little bit."

Gu Qingwan touched Princess Chang Le's face and said to Princess Qinghe, "It won't be long before you are able to return to your mother, the Axe King."

"real or fake?"

"Did you take the local specialties I asked you to send to the King and Queen of Yunnan last time?"

"Yes, yes, I brought it. I'm just waiting for a reply. Judging by the days, it should arrive in the next couple of days. It might even come along with the Prince's letter."

Gu Qingwan smiled and said to Chang Le, "In a little while, your aunt will introduce you to a little friend named Ning Chenghao. He's about your age, so you two should get along well."

“Ning Chenghao?” Chang Le tilted her head and thought for a while before saying, “I recognize him.”

"You actually know Ning Chenghao?"

“I saw him when he entered the palace last time.”

"That chubby boy is quite tough. If he bullies you, Chang Le, just tell Sister Qinghe, and she'll definitely beat him until he begs for mercy," Princess Qinghe said jokingly.

The carriage suddenly stopped, and all that could be heard outside was a great commotion, including Siqi arguing with someone.

What are you doing?

"Routine inspection!"

"Open your eyes and look carefully. This is the carriage of the Prince of Chu, and the Princess of Chu is sitting inside. Are you trying to commit insubordination by stopping the carriage like this?"

"It is precisely because we are worried about the Princess's safety that we need to conduct the inspection. It is not troublesome to just look once; all the Princess needs to do is cooperate."

Gu Qingwan recognized the voice and, sure enough, heard Siqi outside saying, "How dare you! Heir Apparent of the Marquis of Yi'an, do you know who you're talking to? These are all women; are you going to conduct a routine inspection in the street?"

"No, that won't do." He had just received the news that he had seen Ning Chengze following the carriage of the Prince of Chu's residence, trying to escape. How could he let such a crucial person get away?

Moreover, he had been longing for the Princess of Chu for a long time. Although he had a special fetish, he couldn't surpass the Princess of Chu's beauty. Furthermore, she was already married to another man, which made her even more alluring.

Now that we've finally met, we're naturally unwilling to let go so easily.

"Then you'd better get out of the way right now!"

"Don't rush." ​​Lu Yan stepped forward, clasped his hands in greeting to the carriage, and said, "Princess Consort Chu, I am Lu Yan, the heir of the Marquis of Yi'an. For your safety, please sit in the carriage and come with me to a safe place so that we can have a thorough check."

"Bullshit!" Princess Qinghe was not one to be trifled with. She got off the carriage and grabbed a whip to lash Lu Yan.

Lu Yan never expected that there was someone else in the carriage, and that it was Princess Qinghe. He was caught off guard and was struck on the shoulder by Princess Qinghe's whip. If he hadn't dodged quickly, the whip would have landed on his face.

"Princess Qinghe!"

"You still recognize your great-aunt? What, what do you want to check? Do you want me to whip you to wake you up?"

The whispers around him made Lu Yan feel very embarrassed. He had already come this far, and if he hadn't checked the Chu Prince's carriage today and hadn't been able to see the Chu Princess herself, it would have been a huge loss.

"I was just doing my duty. Princess, please don't make things difficult for me. I don't think the Princess Consort is the kind of person who would be domineering."

Gu Qingwan smiled, and her melodious voice came from inside the carriage, making Lu Yan's heart itch with desire, wishing he could fly into the carriage right now.

"Young Master Lu is a member of the patrol battalion, in charge of the safety of the capital. Naturally, I cannot interfere with his work. I just wonder who he is arresting?"

Lu Yan said, "A major criminal who assassinated the current prime minister Gu Ziming is said to have fled into the capital. If such a serious criminal who disregards human life is not caught, everyone in the capital will be in danger."

Lu Yan deliberately brought this up, but didn't reveal who the person was. He wanted to test whether Gu Qingwan knew about it.

"You mean, Prime Minister Gu has passed away?" Gu Qingwan asked, somewhat surprised, as she opened the cotton curtain of the carriage.

Lu Yan was somewhat dazed when he saw the face that haunted his dreams. Gu Qingwan was like a fairy princess, making people want to get closer and closer.

"What are you doing!" Siqi stepped forward and blocked Lu Yan's way.

Lu Yan then came to his senses and said, "Oh, please accept my condolences, Your Highness. I am not very clear about the specifics of the matter, but I have only received news that someone attempted to assassinate Prime Minister Gu."

"Oh. Then why are you checking my carriage? Do you suspect that I assassinated Prime Minister Gu?"

Lu Yan didn't know what to say. Early this morning, he received news that the Chu Prince's Mansion was preparing the carriages, and he even saw a figure hiding in one of them. In addition, he really wanted to see Gu Qingwan as soon as possible, so he rushed over without planning things out properly.

Upon seeing this, a guard standing nearby glared angrily and said, "Even if you are the Princess Consort, you have no special privileges. Besides, we are just conducting a routine inspection. What is there for the Princess Consort to be ashamed of?"

The man had barely finished speaking when Princess Qinghe lashed him aside with her whip. "If you can't speak properly, then shut your mouth!"

Gu Qingwan grasped Princess Qinghe's hand, shook her head at her, and said to Lu Yan, "Does Prince Lu already conclude that the suspect you are looking for is in the carriage of the Prince of Chu's residence?"

"Your Highness is too kind. I was merely taking a look."

The guard who had been slapped by Princess Qinghe covered his face and said, "My lord, that person must be hiding in the carriage of the Prince of Chu's mansion. As the saying goes, the most dangerous place is the safest place, and I really saw that suspicious figure."

Gu Qingwan looked at the guard with a half-smile and said, "You speak with such certainty that I'm starting to suspect you're spying on the Chu Prince's residence. You know, the Chu Prince's residence is a prince's residence. I just don't know who has the audacity to spy on it!"

No one can wear this hat. If the emperor finds out about spying on the King of Chu, he will definitely reprimand them. This is sowing discord within the royal family.

"I wouldn't dare! Your Highness, please calm down!" Lu Yan knew how to assess the situation. With Princess Qinghe and Princess Changle present, and so many people around, even if he wanted to, he couldn't flirt with Princess Chu.

Gu Qingwan didn't even look at Lu Yan and said, "Siqi, open the carriage door and let the young master see if there are any other people inside."

Lu Yan followed Siqi's movements and looked over. There was indeed no one inside. He frowned and wanted to go up and check carefully.

“Young Master Lu,” Gu Qingwan called out to Lu Yan, “It seems that Young Master Lu knows very well what ‘taking an inch and then a mile’ means. I don’t mind driving the carriage directly to the Emperor and letting him examine it carefully.”

Lu Yan knew that the Princess Consort of Chu was angry, so he quickly stopped in his tracks.

"Your Highness, please calm down. I will not delay your business any longer."

Gu Qingwan, carrying Chang Le, pulled Princess Qinghe back onto the carriage. Princess Qinghe had never been treated like this before. She said, "We are a princess, a princess, and a county princess, and we are being bullied like this by these people!"

"If the princess hadn't mentioned it, I would have almost forgotten. Ning Yi, go and slap those who were just being disrespectful, so they don't think the Chu Prince's Mansion is easy to bully."

"Yes!"

"Oh, by the way, Young Master Lu, I heard that the Lady of Yongyi Marquis took Miss Su to the estate to rest and prepare for childbirth."

Lu Yan's face was ashen. This wasn't just slapping a subordinate; it was a blatant slap in his own face, and right there on the street. The problem was, he couldn't say no, because they hadn't found anything suspicious during the search.

But the Queen Consort of Chu's last words sounded so intriguing...

Once back in the carriage, Gu Qingwan and her entourage no longer had the cheerful atmosphere they had when they first came out.

"What kind of thing dares to swagger in front of us?" Princess Qinghe said.

Chang Le seemed a little scared and didn't say anything.

"He's nothing but a clown. Just you wait, he'll get what's coming to him later."

Gu Qingwan knew that the Chu Prince's mansion must be being watched. Originally, she planned to have Ning Chengze follow her carriage back to the Ning family today. Fortunately, her maternal grandmother was more skillful and had the maid who came to deliver the message in the morning take Ning Chengze away. Otherwise, Ning Chengze would definitely have been discovered today.

At that point, regardless of whether Ning Chengze is guilty or not, the mere fact that the prince is not home, and that she is keeping a lover, will be enough to make her a target of public condemnation.