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

The entire household is now under her control, and Gu Hanjiao can't come up with any more tricks. Perhaps this time she has truly learned her lesson.

“Your Majesty, you cannot keep Consort Gu by your side. She hangs around the Third Prince all day long, and her weak and delicate appearance is something I don’t know where she learned it from. She doesn’t have the demeanor of a lady from a noble family at all.”

“Granny, I know you mean well, but if the Third Prince is so interested, he will still think about her even if you put her at the ends of the earth. It’s better to keep her under your nose. Seeing her every day won’t be anything new.”

"Your Majesty, this old servant is worried about you and the young master. What if that vile woman tries something bad..."

“Aren’t you all still here? All the food and supplies are from our own courtyard. We won’t give her any chance. I suspect that Consort Gu’s idea is just to win over the Third Prince’s heart.”

"No, no, this old servant is really worried."

"Alright, alright, then I'll trouble you, Granny, to make the trip and let Consort Gu diligently copy Buddhist scriptures in the small Buddhist hall. She can come to pay her respects after she finishes copying them. Her food and drink will be delivered to her regularly, and she is not allowed to leave the house."

In this man-made disaster, neither the palace, the Crown Prince's residence, nor the Chu Prince's residence stood idly by. Apart from holding the Third Prince's residence primarily responsible, they all did what they could.

The Crown Princess distributed porridge and meals to the disaster victims every day, and the Chu Prince's Mansion rushed to send in warm clothing and tents. The Third Prince had to speed up the construction of resettlement houses so that the people could have a home to live in.

What made Xiao Yuheng most furious was that he had given the most here, but the common people always praised the Crown Prince and the Prince of Chu's mansion, while they wanted to kick the Third Prince's mansion as soon as they mentioned it.

Many hands make light work. Seeing that the new houses built for them by the imperial court were better than the ones they had lived in before, they didn't say anything more. After all, they had received the compensation they were entitled to, and it was even more than they had imagined.

Moreover, the newly built houses were distributed to each family according to the compensation, which meant that they had a place to stand in the capital and no longer needed to pay for rent.

As for the owners of the houses that were lost, the imperial court provided compensation, and the land in the west of the city was returned to its rightful owner, whoever owned it, and they could rebuild their houses in the future.

With these appeasement policies in place, the people have begun to get back to their lives. Although the New Year was destined to be unpleasant, it was still much better than a time of widespread discontent.

But things just don't always go as planned. From who knows where, a rumor spread that this wasn't a man-made disaster but a warning from God, a reminder that the Emperor had been too cruel to his brothers in the past.

There are also rumors that the King of Xia had an orphan, and that orphan was none other than Wang Ruyan, the second wife of the deceased Prime Minister Gu.

The late emperor's intended successor was the King of Xia, but the King of Xia recklessly sent the late emperor away prematurely; otherwise, the current emperor would not have had the opportunity.

After the Xia king failed to seize the throne, he was unwilling to be humiliated and imprisoned for life, so he committed suicide. The current emperor is also merciful, only allowing the Xia king's mother to be buried alive with the late emperor, and then the Xia king's wife must also be buried alive.

The Xia King's adopted son could live, but the Xia Queen was a ruthless person. Since her own legitimate son did not survive, she naturally would not let the Xia King's illegitimate son live either. So she set a fire and sent the whole family to be buried with the Xia King.

It's not surprising that Princess Xia acted this way. When King Xia was alive, he didn't treat Princess Xia and her son well, much like the late emperor who favored concubines over his wife. Princess Xia was a shrewd woman who kept the concubine under control, which is why the Xia royal family's backyard didn't catch fire.

But when a person dies, it's like a lamp going out. Her own legitimate son lost his life in this struggle for the throne. How could the princess allow the child of that lowly concubine to live?

As for why Wang Ruyan is a descendant of the Xia King's Mansion, there are also rumors circulating.

It is said that in the early years, when Xia Wang was still a prince, he was not yet married. He went to Changqing for a trip and stayed at the Wang family's residence. In order to curry favor with this prince, the wealthy Wang gave his beautiful concubine to Xia Wang.

After a night of pleasure, King Xia returned home, but unexpectedly, his concubine became pregnant. The wealthy man had ulterior motives and kept the child, taking her to his wife and making her his legitimate daughter.

They had planned to wait until King Xia succeeded, and then the wealthy Wang would reveal the child's true identity, which would bring their family great fortune. But who knew that King Xia would actually lose?

Master Wang dared not make a sound, fearing that if others found out that he was involved with King Xia, his entire family would be implicated and punished.

The Emperor couldn't help but laugh when he heard this. At that moment, he was in Consort Xi's palace, listening to her playing the pipa.

"This is utter nonsense. If that Wang Ruyan is really a descendant of the Xia King, then it's truly..." The Emperor himself didn't know what to say.

Fu Ming chimed in, "That's right. King Xia... well, if we calculate his age, Madam Gu's age does match, but this is just too bizarre."

"Before the Xia King got married, he already had a future queen, the Xia King's wife, and he also had that concubine. He was quite the ladies' man. But you wouldn't just casually favor someone else's concubine in a wealthy man's house, lowering your own status. As for the Xia King's orphan... Fuming, go and investigate."

Consort Xi's pipa string suddenly broke.

"Your Majesty, your finger!" a maid exclaimed. Consort Xi's fingertip had been cut by a broken zither string. She turned around and looked at the Emperor with apology in her eyes.

The Emperor intended to go forward and comfort her, but for some reason, looking at her face reminded him of his childhood sweetheart. However, the two were different. That woman lived a flamboyant and passionate life and never had such a delicate and pitiful appearance.

The Emperor still remembered that one day when the girl talked about the late Emperor's favored concubine, she said that such a delicate woman was so weak that she could knock her down with one punch. She said that if they bullied him again, he should call her up to teach those bastards a lesson.

The Emperor suddenly felt somewhat sullen, and even looked at Consort Xi with a sense of boredom.

"Fuming, have the imperial physician come and examine Consort Xi. I still have memorials to submit. Let's return to the Imperial Study."

Consort Xi watched the Emperor leave with teary eyes, and after he left, she reverted to her usual indifferent demeanor.

"Miss."

The palace maid Xing'er was someone that Consort Xi had planted years ago, and it was Consort Xi who found a way to bring Xing'er into the palace this time.

"Reply to your master and have him investigate the matter of the orphan of the Xia Prince's Mansion." The hoarse voice was like shards of broken porcelain rubbing together, sending chills down one's spine.

Xing'er forced herself not to tremble, "This servant will go and make the arrangements right away."

Consort Xi looked into the distance, it seemed that some things should be moved forward, and stopping would not make that person turn back.