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

Gu Hanjiao quickly stood up, picked up the incense burner from the imperial physician's hand, plucked a little powder from her fingertip, and smelled it. She didn't notice anything amiss, which only made her more alarmed.

There must be something inside this incense burner, and it was Chunlu who put it there. If Chunlu hadn't run away this time without her following, how could she have fallen into someone else's trap and entered the room she designed?

But now the incense burner is perfectly fine, which is very unusual. Who is secretly sabotaging this?

"Miss Gu, you keep saying that Miss Gu is the one who interfered. What evidence do you have?" the Empress asked.

"I..." Gu Hanjiao was at a loss for words. She couldn't very well say that she didn't like Gu Qingwan.

"Your Majesty the Empress is very kind. In the family, everything good is always given to the eldest young lady. The master also talks about the eldest young lady all the time. So, my daughter has never dared to compete or say anything since she was a child. This time, she must have been frightened. I beg Your Majesty the Emperor to forgive her."

Madam Gu stepped forward to stop Gu Hanjiao, secretly pinching her to prevent her from causing any further trouble. After all, this was the inner palace, and officials from outside the palace were not allowed to enter, so her father couldn't offer any help.

“I think my sister was also terrified. After all, she won first place in the dance at the banquet, then her poetry was exposed as plagiarism, and the princess even took away her hairpin. So many things have happened. My sister has been pampered by her parents since she was a child. She has never seen anything like this before, unlike Qingwan…” Gu Qingwan lowered her eyes, looking sad and upset.

Xiao Jingchen saw it all. Although he knew Gu Qingwan was acting, he couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for her.

"Your Majesty, I..." Gu Hanjiao hadn't finished speaking when the Third Prince finally spoke up.

"Father!" The Third Prince could no longer remain silent. Although silence would not cause any mistakes, it would make the Emperor think that he was an irresponsible person. How could an irresponsible person be fit for a great responsibility?

"Father, it's all my fault!" The Third Prince stepped forward and prostrated himself on the ground, explaining, "I have long admired Miss Gu, deeply impressed by her talent. If it weren't for you in front of me today, Father, I wouldn't have known that Miss Gu also admires me. I am overjoyed to hear this."

As he spoke, the Third Prince Xiao Yuheng grasped Gu Hanjiao's hand.

"Father, today's events were a misunderstanding. Miss Gu mistook someone for someone else. Seeing how heartbroken she was, I wanted to comfort her. A man and a woman alone together, feelings arise without warning, and I was wrong to do such an indecent thing. I am willing to accept punishment! I hope that Father can grant my wish to be with Miss Gu!"

“Third Prince…” Gu Hanjiao looked at Xiao Yuheng with teary eyes, feeling deeply moved.

“My child, if you like Miss Gu, you should tell your mother sooner rather than later. Although your mother is not very helpful, she will definitely try her best for you. Even if all else fails, your father will stand up for you.” Consort Yu wiped away her tears and wiped the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief. “Your Majesty, Heng’er is a quiet child who keeps everything to himself. Even I didn’t know that our Third Prince had secretly fallen for someone.”

However, the emperor's expression darkened, and he stared at the third prince for a long time without saying a word.

What does the King of Chu think?

"This is my brother's family matter, and I am not good at handling such domestic affairs," Xiao Jingchen said calmly, as if it were none of his business.

"Yes, King Chu is right. I am not good at handling such matters of love and family. It is said that even an upright official finds it difficult to settle family disputes."

The Empress understood that the Emperor did not want to deal with it immediately, so she quickly took over the conversation: "Hehe, yes, Your Majesty is busy with many affairs of state. When you are in a good mood, you can ask about the children. But Your Majesty does not know that matters of love between men and women are the most troublesome. If you are not careful, you will be known as a troublemaker."

"The Empress is right."

Since the Emperor has categorized this matter as a family affair involving personal feelings, the Empress understands what to do next. The Emperor is simply weighing certain things.

"In my opinion, this matter should be handled by me."

"Your Majesty..." When Consort Yu heard that the Empress wanted to take away this power, she thought it would be better to fight for it herself and get the greatest benefit for the Third Prince. However, the Emperor did not give her this opportunity.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Empress, since the children are in love, please grant them your blessing. It just so happens that Heng'er does not yet have a principal wife, so granting Miss Gu the position of principal wife would not neglect the Prime Minister's residence, would it?" Consort Yu offered her opinion.

"This..." The Empress looked at the Emperor with some hesitation.

The emperor was somewhat unhappy at this moment, but he did not show it.

"I cannot treat my Prime Minister unfairly. I will consider this matter carefully. Let's leave it at that for today. I'm sorry to have troubled the Old Madam and Madam Ning."

"Your Majesty has done us a favor, and we are deeply grateful. It is an honor to have seen your countenance." Madam Meng and Madam Ning quickly rose to express their gratitude.

"Yes, please get up quickly. Don't be so polite. Today's incident was all caused by the prince. I will send someone to deliver some things to your residence later as an apology."

"My wife dare not."

"We are all parents, and we all owe our children debts." The Empress immediately put it in a very approachable way. Problems between children shouldn't be solved by the parents. This way, she could accept the reward with a clear conscience and at the same time minimize the nature of the matter.

Gu Hanjiao and Madam Gu understood that they completely trusted the Marquis of Yongyi's mansion and the Duke of Ningguo's mansion. However, this was the truth. Although it was Gu Hanjiao's design, they couldn't openly say that it was her plan. Since the Empress had given them a way out, they had to be sensible.

"Your Majesty is right. My daughter was blind and misjudged. She was heartbroken and slandered at the time, and misjudged the situation." Madam Gu said, "Jiao'er, go and apologize to your two elder sisters!"

As she spoke, Gu Hanjiao stood up and walked towards Meng Yanran and Gu Qingwan.

"Han Jiao apologizes to my two elder sisters. My mistake caused you such an injustice, and I hope you won't blame me." After saying this, she bowed and apologized.

This action made Meng Yanran somewhat uncomfortable. How could she be the one who was wrongly accused, or was she the victim? She didn't want to accept this apology, but refusing it in front of the Empress would make the Yongyi Marquis's Mansion seem petty and disrespectful to the Empress.

"It's all a girl's business, it's nothing to worry about. They'll still be playing together in the future." Consort Yu smoothed things over, because she still wanted to win over Prime Minister Gu for the Second Prince. Although Heng'er hadn't handled the matter well, she thought that this matter could be resolved in the name of her protecting his precious daughter.