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

Gu Qingwan was in a bad mood. She knew her elder brother's feelings and that her aunt intended to bring them together, but she hadn't said it out loud yet. As for her maternal grandmother and grandfather, they hadn't mentioned it. She remembered that in her previous life, everyone in the Ning family thought she would marry one of the Ning family's young masters when she grew up, and they all treated her like the future mistress of the house. Unfortunately, she had let down Zhen's good intentions and deep affection.

Now, Gu Qingwan is going to have to let this deep affection go. She needs to find a time to talk to her grandmother, aunt, and older brother to make things clear, so as not to delay her brother's marriage.

Gu Qingwan returned to her room alone, without having Baoqin and the others serve her. She wanted to be alone for a while, and was probably thinking about something, so she didn't notice that someone had come into the room.

"Is your older brother really that hard for you to let go of?" A cold voice entered her ears, instantly bringing Gu Qingwan back to her senses.

Gu Qingwan looked closely and saw that it was none other than Xiao Jingchen, who was comfortably leaning on her soft couch, reading the book she hadn't finished yet.

"When did Your Highness arrive?"

"Just arrived."

"Did Your Highness hear everything?"

"Hmm." Xiao Jingchen responded without hiding anything. He was not a good liar, nor was he a narrow-minded person. However, after hearing their conversation, especially Ning Chenglin's words, he felt very uncomfortable. Although Ning Chenglin did not say anything, a man's intuition made him very unhappy.

Gu Qingwan could tell he was unhappy. Although his expression was no different from usual, Gu Qingwan could still sense it.

"Don't be upset, he's just my older brother. He'll understand in time." Gu Qingwan didn't spell it out clearly, but it was enough for Xiao Jingchen to understand that Gu Qingwan only regarded Ning Chenglin as her older brother.

However, Xiao Jingchen already had many ideas in his mind. He felt that it was still necessary to bring Gu Qingwan back to his palace before he could feel at ease.

"Ah."

“My maternal grandfather and uncle are both back. You still dare to come over? Aren’t you afraid they’ll notice?” Gu Qingwan tidied up the table and moved an embroidered stool to sit opposite Xiao Jingchen.

"You're so exhausted, you need to rest now, even if you don't sleep. Don't worry."

"I heard from my uncle that the Prince brought them back today. I was wondering why I didn't see the Prince. Turns out he's here with me?" Gu Qingwan looked at Xiao Jingchen with a smile.

Looking at the little fox in front of him, Xiao Jingchen felt a sense of ingratiation, which improved his mood.

"I was originally planning to leave, but I thought it would be nice to stop by and see you."

"So, how did Your Highness feel when you saw me?"

Xiao Jingchen really did take a good look at him: "You've gained weight."

Gu Qingwan was a girl, and she was naturally unhappy that two people had told her she was fat today. She pouted and puffed out her cheeks: "Why do you all say I'm fat?"

"Actually, it's better to be a little chubby; you're too thin."

"Tch, and you're the one talking about me. The prince himself isn't that fat."

"I am a man, you are a woman, we are different."

Speaking of women, Gu Qingwan thought of Miss A Ning in the Prince's Mansion. Gu Qingwan hesitated and looked at Xiao Jingchen, wanting to ask but not knowing whether she should.

Xiao Jingchen noticed Gu Qingwan's concerns, so he continued reading his book and said, "Ask whatever you want, don't worry about anything."

"Um... Your Highness, that... Aning is..." Gu Qingwan felt it was better to ask directly, otherwise, if she kept guessing, the two of them would easily have unnecessary misunderstandings.

Xiao Jingchen knew that Gu Qingwan would ask about A Ning sooner or later. In fact, A Ning was nothing to him, not even worthy of being mentioned by Gu Qingwan. But since she cared about him, it was necessary to explain things properly.

“A-Ning is the younger sister of one of my former subordinates. He took an arrow for me and entrusted me with taking good care of his sister before he died. Although that arrow posed no threat to me, he did die trying to save me. His loyalty is commendable, and I think I can grant his dying request.”

Seeing Xiao Jingchen's explanation, Gu Qingwan didn't know what to say. So, the death of that subordinate was really too worthless? The prince didn't even care about that arrow. But if you say it was worthless, it was also quite worthwhile. After all, very few people could receive the prince's favor, and now he was even brought into the prince's mansion. Thinking of this, Gu Qingwan felt a little jealous.

"So you've settled them in your palace?"

"No, it was Ah Ning who wanted to stay by my side. I disagreed, so she joined the secret guard. I didn't expect her to be so hardworking and stand out among a group of secret guards, working with Xiao Jia and Xiao Yi."

"A bodyguard? But I didn't sense any martial arts ability from her at all." Gu Qingwan was somewhat surprised. Could it be that this A Ning's martial arts skills were higher than hers? How could she not sense that the other party was a martial artist?

"Of course not. She did something wrong, so I crippled her martial arts." Thinking of how that audacious woman dared to have such thoughts about him that night, Xiao Jingchen felt that it was already merciful of him not to kill her: "Originally, I was going to kill her, but the steward pleaded for her and wanted to adopt Aning as his goddaughter, so I agreed. She will be married soon. I didn't expect her to be so bold as to provoke you that day. I have already punished her."

Gu Qingwan nodded. After hearing Xiao Jingchen's explanation, she suddenly felt that this woman wasn't that important. Asking her again was unnecessary, so she stopped worrying about it.

"By the way, my maternal grandmother's birthday is coming up. Will the Prince be coming?"

Xiao Jingchen rose from the soft couch, leaned closer to Gu Qingwan, looked into her eyes, and asked, "Did you want me to come?"

Gu Qingwan was caught off guard by Xiao Jingchen's unexpected move and blushed, saying, "Then...then naturally we hope Your Highness will come."

Gu Qingwan wanted Xiao Jingchen to gain favor with the Ning family so that when she was honest with them, they wouldn't be too surprised.

Seeing Gu Qingwan's embarrassed blush, Xiao Jingchen smiled. He stood up, patted the wrinkles on his clothes, and said, "If Wanwan wants me to go, then I will definitely go."

The gentle call made Gu Qingwan's cheeks turn as red as a ripe apple. She glanced at Xiao Jingchen.

"You're the one!"

"I'm leaving now. You get some rest. I'll definitely come back that day."

Seeing that Xiao Jingchen was about to leave after teasing her, Gu Qingwan suddenly remembered something and quickly said, "Your Highness, please wait!"

"What? You don't want me to leave?"

Gu Qingwan ignored him, got up and took out the clothes she had made from the side of the bed and handed them to him: "These are for the prince, I don't know if they will fit."

Xiao Jingchen was even happier when he saw the clothes. This was the first time in his life that someone had made clothes for him personally: "Wanwan made them by hand?"

"Well, this is my first time making it, so my skills might not be very good."

Gu Qingwan was also a little embarrassed. She hadn't heard Xiao Jingchen's voice for a while, but she heard the sound of clothes rubbing together. Gu Qingwan was a little surprised and turned her head to see the prince unbuttoning her clothes.

"What are you going to do, Your Highness?"

"Try on clothes, how will you know if they fit if you don't try them on?" Xiao Jingchen stopped what he was doing and explained naturally.

"Oh dear, Your Highness, you should go back and try it on." Gu Qingwan shoved the clothes into Xiao Jingchen's arms with some annoyance, and pushed him out, saying as she walked, "Your Highness, go home and try it on. I only made this one set. I had the owner of Caiyi Pavilion make a few more and send them to the Prince's residence. Your Highness, please go."

Before Xiao Jingchen could react, he heard the door slam shut behind him. He looked at the door and then at the clothes in his arms. He knew that his Wanwan was leaning against the door, breathing rapidly. Xiao Jingchen decided not to tease her anymore; his Wanwan always had him in her heart.

"Well, then I'm leaving."

Xiao Jingchen didn't hear any echo from inside the house. He turned around and stepped forward. In the corner, he saw Ning Chenglin, who was about to leave earlier. He stopped there, and the two looked at each other.

Xiao Jingchen did not deliberately conceal his presence. After Ning Chenglin left, he sensed something was amiss and returned to Gu Qingwan's courtyard, where he overheard their conversation. Xiao Jingchen naturally knew that Ning Chenglin was deliberately ignoring them.

"Your Highness," Ning Chenglin clasped his hands in greeting, "Although you are a prince, it is probably not proper for you to trespass into a woman's private quarters."

"Your Highness need not worry, I will give Wanwan an explanation. Farewell." The King of Chu put on his icy face, unchanged from the year before, and said coldly. Then he ignored him and left using his lightness skill.

Ning Chenglin could do nothing at that moment. He stared at the closed door with complicated emotions, clenched his fists, and turned to leave.

Xiao Yi, who was waiting outside, was squatting in the corner counting ants when a pair of black boots with gold trim landed in front of him.

"Your Highness, you're back!" Xiao Yi quickly stood up and, seeing the things in the boy's arms, rushed over to help him carry them.

However, the prince stopped Xiao Yi's actions and carried the bag himself, saying, "Let's go back to the manor."

Xiao Yi was a little stunned. Was this a gift from Miss Gu that the prince treasured so much? He just didn't know what it was. Xiao Yi's curiosity was successfully piqued by his own prince.

Back at the manor, Xiao Yi knew what the prince was carrying. The prince used his lightness skill to return to the manor, almost causing Xiao Yi to lose his way. Xiao Yi watched as the prince, dressed in new clothes, turned left and right in front of the bronze mirror, just like a child.

"Your Highness, did Miss Gu make this for you?"

"how?"

"Young Miss's cooking skills are truly excellent, and the prince's clothes fit him perfectly."

Just then, Uncle Hua came in from outside, carrying a pile of clothes and shoes. "Your Highness, these are clothes that Miss Gu sent over..."

When Uncle Hua looked up, he saw that the prince was wearing new clothes and asked in surprise, "The prince has new clothes?"

Xiao Jingchen glanced at the clothes in the steward's hands without changing his expression, nodded to Xiao Yi to put them away. Xiao Yi felt rather complicated. In his mind, the prince had always been a tall and majestic figure, but now he seemed a bit repressed and flirtatious.

Seeing that the prince was in a good mood, the steward hesitated and said, "Your Highness..."

"Ah."

"Ah Ning... is injured and has lost her martial arts skills. She has a fever now. Could you please give her some medicine?"

Xiao Jingchen frowned, then nodded. Xiao Yi, having received the instruction, quickly went to fetch the best wound medicine and fever reducer for Uncle Hua.

Xiao Yi knew that on that day, A Ning had gone to entertain Miss Gu without permission and even made provocative remarks, which displeased the Prince. After Miss Gu left, the Prince ordered A Ning to be whipped twenty times. The Prince was always cold and ruthless, and only towards Miss Gu did he show any warmth. Thinking of this, Xiao Yi shook his head, wondering when A Ning would come to her senses.

Ah Ning probably couldn't understand it. At this moment, she was lying on the bed, her tears soaking her hair and disappearing into the pillow. Her mother, who was taking care of her, sighed repeatedly, "Girl, you should be more careful in the future."

Ah Ning was unwilling to accept this. She felt that based on her understanding of the prince, the reason he hadn't killed her was because he must have feelings for her. The prince probably thought that taking her as a concubine would make the new princess unhappy. If she could stay by the prince's side, she was willing to compromise. She could wait until the prince's wedding, and then even the princess wouldn't be able to stop the prince from taking a concubine, right?