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

Xiao Jingchen has been in the Southern Frontier for some time now. The army in the Southern Frontier was already established before he left last time, and the army is still the same now that he has returned. Moreover, the King of Yunnan is also a very good manager, and the army has expanded considerably in this short period of time.

"I haven't congratulated Your Highness on your marriage yet," said Mu Zhao, the arrogant King of Yunnan, congratulating the King of Chu.

"Thank you, Prince Mu. Princess Qinghe has personally delivered the congratulatory gifts prepared by Your Highness to the residence. Qingwan likes them very much. Your Highness and Princess have gone to great lengths."

King Mu laughed heartily and waved his hand, saying, "That brat is the hardest to manage. I was worried about sending her to deliver things. I heard that my daughter and the Princess of Chu have become close friends. That's a great blessing. Tomorrow I must have the Princess of Chu teach my girl a lesson on what a proper woman should be."

Mentioning Gu Qingwan softened the lines on Xiao Jingchen's face.

"These two became friends after a fight. Princess Qinghe is a forthright person, and she and Qingwan share similar interests."

"Oh? The two of them had such a strange encounter. I had never heard of it before. The girl that the old Duke Ning brought out must be amazing. I had heard that Princess Chu went to the battlefield at a young age and even repelled the enemy. It's a shame that Qinghe lost. If she had won, she would have written to me bragging. Hahaha, but losing to Princess Chu is not shameful!"

"Even I was once defeated by Qingwan, but it is already quite remarkable that the princess has reached this level at such a young age. In the capital, even among men, there are few who can rival the princess."

When the King of Yunnan heard others praising his daughter, a sense of pride welled up within him, but it was only for a moment. He couldn't help but sigh and say, "Qinghe is a good woman. Whether it's martial arts or the battlefield, she has her own ideas. It's a pity she's a girl. But if I pass away without anyone to carry on my legacy, my daughter can also take up the mantle of the King of Yunnan!"

Xiao Jingchen had no idea that the King of Yunnan and his wife had such a plan, which meant that the first female general in the history of Daqing might have been born.

"It's better for girls to be pampered. On the battlefield, swords have no eyes. If it really comes down to women taking the lead, then the Great Qing is not far from its demise." Xiao Jingchen was not discriminating against women, but respecting them from the bottom of his heart. In his eyes, women are the last line of defense for a family and a country. If it comes down to women taking the lead, then decline and destruction are not far away.

Even with Gu Qingwan, Xiao Jingchen tried everything he could to make her life more comfortable.

"If there were more people like the King of Chu, the surrounding small countries would soon be incorporated into the territory of our Daqing."

"Your Highness need not worry too much. My wife asked Princess Qinghe to send us the prescription. Your Highness and Princess should study it carefully."

The King of Yunnan said solemnly, "These things still depend on fate. My wife and I are already this age. If... if we have children, that would be best. If not, we, as husband and wife, will have no regrets. I heard that the Crown Prince in the capital has been attacked by court officials because his wife has no children and has been delaying the expansion of the Eastern Palace. If you ask me, these people are just idle. Take them to the front lines for a trip, and they'll behave themselves when they get back. The Crown Prince is much better."

Xiao Jingchen didn't comment much on this, but instead changed the subject.

"In the letter, the prince mentioned that a village had been turned into a ghost village. Could the prince send someone to investigate again?"

When this matter was brought up, the King of Yunnan also said that it was a bit difficult to handle.

A while ago, someone reported that a village had suddenly disappeared. At first, he didn't understand what it meant to disappear all at once and thought that the people below were talking nonsense. Later, more and more villages were reported to be like this.

"Your Highness may not know this, but before it was just that the villages disappeared overnight. Now, at night, ghost soldiers appear in these villages."

"Ghost soldiers?"

"According to eyewitnesses, it was indeed a unit wearing armor and carrying weapons, exuding a cold aura and devoid of any human warmth, as if they had come from the underworld. The unit was orderly but no one spoke as they passed through the village."

Xiao Jingchen did not believe in ghosts or gods.

"It's all nonsense. There are no ghosts or monsters. You and I have fought on the battlefield for so many years. If there were really any ghosts or monsters, we would probably be haunted by them and unable to get off the battlefield by now."

“Your Highness is right. We are people who would die on the battlefield, and we no longer believe in ghosts and gods. So I thought I would personally lead a group to find out for myself.”

Xiao Jingchen disagreed, saying, "Your Highness is now the commander of an army and dares not act rashly. If something unexpected happens, foreign enemies may take advantage of the situation. It is actually more convenient for me to not hold any official position now."

"How can that be allowed! Your Highness is of noble status; how can you risk your life like that!"

"I heard that the Holy Maiden of Southern Xinjiang has arrived on the battlefield, and the small disturbances around here are inseparable from the Holy Maiden of Southern Xinjiang. Your Majesty, you may not know this, but when I returned to the capital last time, I went to Xishan. There were some people wearing armor and steel masks there, who looked a lot like the ghost soldiers that the villagers here talk about. Moreover, we also found a large number of Gu worms that have not yet hatched in the caves of Xishan."

"West Mountain! Doesn't that mean it's very close to the capital?!"

Xiao Jingchen nodded. "The infiltration power of the Southern Frontier people is far greater than we imagined. Moreover, according to the letter from the Princess, there are already Southern Frontier people in the capital. Based on the last Xishan incident, if I'm not mistaken, that person should hold a high position."

The King of Yunnan knew that the situation was far more serious than he had imagined, so he did not offer much obstruction.

"Your Highness, please be careful on your journey. I will send a guard to accompany you. Your Highness must remember not to go alone, as the Princess Consort of Chu in the capital is still worried about you."

The Crown Prince is now disliked by the Emperor because of the issue of having an heir. For some reason, the Crown Prince refuses to agree to expand the Eastern Palace, even though the Empress has already chosen a successor. The Crown Prince refuses without hesitation, which leads the Emperor to reprimand him in court for spending his days in the inner quarters without any ambition. The Emperor orders the Crown Prince to copy the laws of the Great Qing Dynasty a thousand times, and he will not be allowed to leave the palace until he finishes copying them.

The evidence that Ning Chengze murdered Gu Ziming was insufficient, but that did not prove that the Ning family was innocent of colluding with the enemy. Therefore, the Emperor ordered that after delivering the grain, Marquis Yongyi should stay behind to investigate whether the Ning family had any evidence of collusion with the enemy.

At this point, the Crown Prince's faction in the court was filled with melancholy, and the rivalry between the Second Prince and the Third Prince became increasingly apparent.

Everyone was somewhat surprised. When did the Second Prince develop his own connections in the court? This was not something that could be accomplished overnight.