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

Because there were still noblewomen to pay their respects to the Empress, Madam Ning took her leave early and waited for Gu Qingwan near the main hall where the banquet was to be held.

More and more people arrived for the gathering and walked into the hall one after another. Lady Ning kept a straight face and even chatted with the other ladies who came forward to greet her, but she was extremely anxious inside. Even though she disguised herself very well, the King of Chu who came over saw through her.

The King of Chu pretended to be passing by and greeted Lady Ning, saying, "Greetings, Madam."

"Oh, it's Your Highness. I'm all well."

The ladies who were exchanging pleasantries with Lady Ning saw the King of Chu arrive and quickly bowed. Seeing the King's cold expression, they lost their desire to continue the conversation and also bowed and took their leave.

"Is there anything troubling you, Madam?"

Lady Ning stared at the King of Chu for a moment, thinking about what Qingwan had told her family before, and also about her mother's attitude, so she decided to be honest with the King of Chu.

"Your Highness is wise. It is Qingwan. She was summoned away by the Imperial Concubine and has not returned yet. I am quite worried."

The King of Chu frowned and gave an order to Xiao Yi, who nodded and left.

"Madam, please don't worry."

A moment later, Xiao Yi returned and said, "Your Highness, Princess Anqing and Miss Gu are coming this way together. They should be here soon."

The King of Chu nodded, and Lady Ning breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank you, Your Highness."

"Small things."

"Your Highness, please go inside quickly, lest you give others cause for gossip."

The King of Chu didn't say much, just nodded and left. It was only a few words in total, and even if someone saw it, they would only think that the King of Chu was inquiring about the Ning family.

Sure enough, Gu Qingwan came over shortly afterward. Madam Ning pulled Gu Qingwan around, looking her over from left to right, and patted her chest in relief when she saw that she was alright.

You have no idea how worried I was.

"Don't worry, Aunt, Qingwan is fine, all thanks to Princess Anqing."

"Where is Princess Anqing? I just heard from someone close to the King of Chu that they saw you with Princess Anqing."

"Princess Anqing is not able to travel with me, so I came first. She will be with Her Majesty the Empress later."

"A princess is a princess after all; she's so thoughtful."

"Aunt, are you talking about the King of Chu?"

Madam Ning explained briefly: "It's nothing. I'll thank the King of Chu when I see him tomorrow. The King of Chu isn't as cold-hearted as the rumors say."

"Aunt, quite a few people have arrived. Let's hurry inside."

"Okay, stick close to me, don't get separated from me."

"Don't worry, Aunt, Qingwan will stay by your side without missing a single step."

Madam Ning patted her hand with satisfaction, and the two of them went to the main hall hand in hand.

"Qingwan?"

Coincidentally, the seats for the Marquis of Yongyi's residence and the Duke's residence were arranged together, and Meng Yanran arrived early with Madam Meng.

Gu Qingwan stepped forward to greet Madam Meng: "Greetings, Madam."

"This must be Qingwan. Yanran talks about you every day at home. Now I've finally met you."

"Madam Meng is here too? She looks a bit older," Madam Ning said.

"It's nothing serious, my family is just being overly cautious. I don't think it's a big deal. If Madam Ning wants me to play polo, I can do it."

"I wouldn't dare. Please spare me. If I really did that, Marquis Yongyi will have to come to my house to settle this matter."

"Ha ha ha ha ha"

"Qingwan, it's been so long! I've missed you so much! Where are your seats?"

“Look, it’s right next to you.” Gu Qingwan pointed to the spot next to her.

"That's great! We can eat and chat at the same time and keep each other company." Meng Yanran whispered in Gu Qingwan's ear, "The palace banquets in previous years were really boring. It's good that you're here this year."

Gu Qingwan smiled and took her hand: "Be careful someone doesn't hear us."

The two sisters chatted intimately together, and Lady Hou and Lady Ning also discussed childcare. For a moment, neither of them found the palace banquet time difficult to pass.

But some people just don't like seeing them like this.

Gu Hanjiao spent the whole day getting ready. In order to make herself look more ethereal today, she had been dieting hard these past few days, and the results were very good. Her waistline was noticeably thinner than before.

Today she wore a white and light pink gradient strapless dress, with white layers piled up on the chest, like petals stacked on her chest. As her chest rose and fell, the petals seemed to come alive.

The skirt had a touch of light pink at the hem, adding a touch of girlish charm and vitality to the group, making her look like a budding flower.

Her headdress was even more eye-catching. There was a pink and white gradient flower bud-shaped hairpin in her hair. Such jade is very rare. There were also butterflies adorning her hair bun. Every time she moved, the butterflies would flutter their wings and fly as if they were real.

She wore lotus-patterned shoes, a style known as "walking on lotus blossoms."

Gu Hanjiao was like a lotus fairy, ethereal and otherworldly, even more unique and lively than the other young ladies dressed up.

"Miss Gu, your outfit must be quite expensive, right?" The one who made the compliment was the daughter of the Imperial Censor Luo. She wanted to curry favor with Gu Hanjiao, so she addressed her as Miss Gu instead of the Second Miss Gu.

“Miss Luo has excellent taste. This is a limited edition ‘Morning Lotus’ jointly created by Duobaoge and Caiyige. As the name suggests, it is as fresh and beautiful as a lotus flower at the first light of dawn.” The explanation came from Li Qianyu, one of the Li sisters.

"Miss Li knows so much."

"Yeah yeah."

"My sisters are too kind. I just happened to see the pattern booklets from Duobaoge and Caiyige. They were very expensive and I heard that they were bought out in limited quantities. I never expected that they would end up on Miss Gu's body."

Gu Hanjiao felt that her choice was correct; this outfit indeed made her the most dazzling among the many noble ladies.

"Miss Li has excellent taste. Han Jiao has indeed put in a lot of effort today, and I apologize for making you all laugh."

“Miss Gu is too modest. The Gu sisters each have their own merits. Miss Gu is charming and beautiful, while Miss Gu is dignified and elegant,” Li Qianyu said.

Li Jingge was unusually well-behaved today. Although she still didn't like Gu Hanjiao, she didn't say anything sarcastic. However, she also thought that Gu Hanjiao's outfit was indeed beautiful.

Everyone felt that the rumors that Prime Minister Gu doted on this daughter were indeed true. Compared to Gu Qingwan, who was sitting there chatting with Meng Yanran, Gu Qingwan seemed rather ordinary.

Miss Luo, who was interested in befriending Gu Hanjiao, thought for a moment and said, "Miss Gu's attire today matches the Third Prince very well. The two of them standing together are truly like a golden couple."

Gu Hanjiao was very pleased with these words. She secretly glanced at the handsome Third Prince and blushed slightly.

"Miss Luo, please don't speak nonsense. I dare not compare myself to His Highness, whose demeanor is so outstanding. I'm afraid I would be disrespecting His Highness."

"Hmph." Li Jingge sneered.

Upon hearing this, Li Qianyu gripped her handkerchief tightly, but after a moment, she regained her friendly smile.

Gu Hanjiao ignored the Li sisters, because she also saw them dressed in palace attire.

"Excuse me, everyone. I saw my elder sister sitting over there, so I'll go and say hello to her first."

"It should."

Gu Hanjiao walked up to Gu Qingwan and said, "Sister."

Gu Qingwan smiled and nodded, but did not reply.

"Sister, you look beautiful today. Would you like to come and sit with me at the Gu family's table?"

"Thank you, sister. I'll be fine sitting here. You look absolutely stunning today; you're sure to be the center of attention tonight."

Hearing Gu Qingwan flatter her, Gu Hanjiao felt a little smug. It seemed that Gu Qingwan was self-aware enough to know that she could only be a supporting character by her side.

"Then I'll take your kind words, sister. Since you're not coming, then I'll have to excuse myself."

Since it was almost time, and the ladies who had been chatting around her had all returned to their places, Gu Hanjiao didn't want to attract attention at this time.

Meng Yanran imitated Gu Hanjiao's coquettish mannerisms from behind, which made Gu Qingwan chuckle.

"Sister Yanran..."

"I just can't stand her acting like a concubine. She's clearly a noble lady, so why is she like that? I don't know what that person likes about her." Meng Yanran gestured towards the Third Prince.

Gu Qingwan looked over, and just then the Third Prince also looked over. The Third Prince smiled and nodded at Gu Qingwan as a greeting.

Gu Qingwan's eyes turned cold. What should she do? She wanted to rush up and kill the two scoundrels right now.

Siqi was a good maid, and she quickly tugged at her mistress's clothes.

"Huh? Why is it a little cold?" Meng Yanran said, rubbing her arms.

The Third Prince, Xiao Yuheng, saw that Miss Gu had been staring at him for a while and thought that she had finally noticed him. Xiao Yuheng was very surprised that there was a woman who was not attracted to him. Perhaps it was because of her sister.

However, what pleased Gu Qingwan was that she saw the Chu King Xiao Jingchen sitting there playing with the jade pendant she had given him at his waist. Seeing his slender and strong hands reminded Gu Qingwan of the warmth of his palms, and she couldn't help but blush.

"Qingwan, are you hot? Why are you blushing? What's with the weather today? It's so hot and cold all the time!" Meng Yanran asked, puzzled.

"No, maybe it's because I'm wearing more layers than my sister."

Xiao Jingchen also noticed Gu Qingwan's appearance and was quite satisfied with her performance. Although he didn't know what grudge Gu Qingwan had against Xiao Yuheng, he knew enough that she disliked Xiao Yuheng, because he didn't like him either.

Just then, the announcer shouted, "The Emperor and Empress have arrived!"