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

Chapter 284 Aning came looking for me

Fortunately, Princess Chu came to the rescue; otherwise, my family would have been in grave danger.

She looked out the window with a complicated expression. Her mother-in-law was a good person who treated her like her own daughter. She didn't have any difficult mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationship. Her husband also respected her and did everything she asked.

The only one who had a hard time was this young lady. Her real name was Shen Xiaoru. She was the only bloodline of Madam Meng's younger sister. Madam Meng's younger sister wanted to send her daughter to her aunt's house to find her a good marriage. For the sake of their sisterly bond, Madam Meng would do anything to fulfill her sister's wish.

Thinking of this, Madam Meng sighed. "So be it. Let's wait until the Marquis returns. This is a matter for the Meng family, and it's only right that the Meng family resolves it. If the Marquis can't give her a satisfactory answer this time, then her family is not to be trifled with."

Although Madam Meng came from the Zhou family, a scholarly family in Jiangnan, the Zhou family had been a family for centuries and had always been a family highly respected by literati.

The Zhou family had produced high-ranking officials in previous generations, but they later grew tired of the ways of officialdom and withdrew from the world. They opened a private school in the Jiangnan area. Although it was not as excellent as the Shanlu Academy, it was still quite famous. It was called Qingshan Academy. The most famous thing about this academy was that it had a girls' school and allowed girls to study.

Zhou was personally taught by her elders from a young age and also attended a girls' school in an academy. Therefore, she was qualified to be the matriarch of a family in every aspect. This was the daughter-in-law that Old Madam Meng tried every means to marry.

She wasn't completely unaware of the intricacies of the inner quarters of the household. When she married into the family, she brought a generous dowry, and her family's expectations for her were no less than those for the men in the family.

Both the old lady and the Marquis respected her greatly. After all, although the Marquis's mansion had not declined, it still relied on her to manage its affairs. Otherwise, it would have really come to the point of having to use her dowry.

She knows who caused her premature birth today.

Today, Shen Xiaoru somehow persuaded the old lady to invite her to the old lady's courtyard to discuss Shen Xiaoru's marriage.

Zhou had long been fed up with Shen Xiaoru. Her constant act of blaming Shen Xiaoru made Zhou feel disgusted.

She would always talk to the old lady about how she and the Marquis were when they were young, or how her mother often talked about how she and her sister were when they were young. But even with these old stories, there were times when they ran out of things to say.

The Marquis naturally knew what his sister-in-law was thinking, but he was already this old. Even if he had held her when she was a child, what difference would it make? His eldest son was about to get married, but this Shen Xiaoru just wouldn't get married. She seemed to have the idea of ​​outliving Zhou Shi so that she could marry the Marquis.

Shen Xiaoru wasn't celibate; she did do things but was caught by the Marquis and severely scolded. However, she kept quiet because her mother was old.

It was the same old routine. Taking advantage of the fact that Zhou was pregnant and unable to serve the Marquis, the Marquis went out drinking one night and came back drunk. He felt that he smelled bad and was afraid of disturbing his wife's rest, so he went to the study. This made Shen Xiaoru very happy, and she quickly sneaked to the Marquis's bed.

Lord Marquis has been to the battlefield, though he may not be as good as some of the generals. He was just there to gild his reputation back then, but he still has a lot of strength.

He kicked her off the bed. Poor Shen Xiaoru only managed to touch the edge of the bed before she couldn't get up. He almost broke her ribs, thinking she was an assassin. It is said that the Marquis had a group of servants watching from his study and gave Shen Xiaoru a good scolding.

Shen Xiaoru dressed extremely thinly in an attempt to seduce him, with even her undergarment barely visible. The Marquis showed no mercy, only criticizing her with great distress. The servants' gazes were practically stripping her naked, making her even more embarrassed.

Shen Xiaoru burst into tears on the spot, saying that she had been blinded by greed and would never dare to do it again. She begged him not to tell the old lady about this. The Marquis also felt that the old lady was too old to be subjected to any more shocks, so he ordered that no one should gossip about what happened that night.

I never expected that after being so well-behaved for a while, they would cause trouble again.

Thinking that she had nothing else to do and hadn't visited her mother-in-law in the hospital for a long time, Zhou led her people to the main courtyard.

Her mother-in-law was kind to her, understanding that she was pregnant and told her not to come to pay her respects so often. She could just have the maid tell her what was going on. Even when she was pregnant, her mother-in-law, who was in charge of managing the household, did not take the opportunity to leave. She just told Yanran to learn how to manage the household and that she would help out if she was too busy. She was still in charge of making decisions on her own.

She hadn't expected that as soon as she stepped onto the main courtyard steps, her foot slipped. Just as the maid beside her was about to help her, Shen Xiaoru suddenly appeared out of nowhere, shouting, "Sister-in-law, be careful!" but pushed everyone around her aside.

Shen Xiaoru also fell and landed on her own body, but unfortunately, it bumped her stomach. She was already pregnant with twins and had been sitting on the uterus since she got pregnant, so this fall caused her to go into premature labor.

The old lady was quite frightened and quickly had her carried back to the delivery room that had been prepared in advance. She had already found two midwives for the delivery and even arranged who would accompany her during the delivery. However, one of the midwives had to leave home on that day because of some family matters. She had thought that there were still many days before the delivery, so she only had one day and agreed. But she never expected that something would happen on that one day.

So one of the midwives who delivered her baby was the one she had found as a backup, and the other one came from who-knows-where.

The situation was quite dangerous at the time, and no one cared where the midwife came from. Everyone was in a panic and confused, which allowed the villain to take advantage of the situation.

While patting her daughter's back to comfort her, Zhou thought that once she recovered, that wicked Shen Xiaoru would not be able to escape. This time, whether Shen Xiaoru wanted it or not, she would drive Shen Xiaoru back from the Marquis's mansion!

She was still hoping to secure a good marriage through the Marquis's mansion. Let her dream on. The fact that she wasn't killed is a testament to the Zhou family's upbringing, which forbids her from doing such a thing.

She had thought things through and knew what to do next. Her body, still recovering from childbirth, made her feel extremely tired and sleepy. Amidst her daughter's incessant chatter, Zhou Shi fell asleep. Before going to sleep, she instructed her personal maid to stay close to the two children at all times.

She was exhausted and needed to rest. She wondered when the Marquis would be back.

When Gu Qingwan returned, it was already dark. She asked the servants and found out that the prince had already returned to the main courtyard, so she hurried back.

Upon arriving at the room, they saw the King of Chu reading some documents. Seeing that the Queen had returned, Ru Hua quickly went downstairs to instruct people to prepare dinner.

"You're back." Xiao Jingchen put down the documents in his hand and stepped forward to help her take off her cloak. "How was it? Any trouble over there?"

"I really don't know how someone as shrewd as Madam Meng could be so easily fooled by a young girl. My maternal grandmother once told me about the Marquis of Yongyi's mansion, and I thought they were just being cautious, but now it seems they're all just muddleheaded. If Yanran hadn't come to find me today, Madam Meng would probably be in grave danger. The Marquis just left, and I don't know when he'll be back. I beat up his sister-in-law; I wonder if the Marquis will be angry."

"So what if I beat you up? You're my queen. Why should I worry about whether someone will be angry when I beat someone up? But Marquis Yongyi might not be back for a while."

"Huh?" Gu Qingwan swallowed the tea in her mouth. "What do you mean?"

"Gu Ziming somehow managed to get his elder brother to agree to let him go along to escort the grain supplies."

"Heh, this Gu Ziming is really good at causing trouble. The Emperor clearly doesn't want to use him anymore, but now..."

Gu Qingwan seemed to have thought of something, and she stared at Xiao Jingchen, asking, "Does the Emperor know something?"

Xiao Jingchen touched his nose and said, "After you left today, I also went to the palace. I told my brother about Consort Yu and warned him to be wary of the Wen family. My brother told me about the information his spies found out. The Duke of Wen has caused more than just this little bit of trouble."

"So the Emperor wants to resort to the same old trick again, promoting Gu Ziming to counterbalance Duke Wen?"

"That's not quite right. It should be that we're preparing to uproot both bad seedlings at the same time." Xiao Jingchen squeezed the little hand in his palm.

You two are truly wicked... If we're talking about wickedness, no one is worse than you two brothers. You're full of evil schemes and plot against others. I don't know if the Duke of Wen is lucky or unlucky.

Logically speaking, the Empress Dowager wasn't very bright, and according to my maternal grandfather, the late emperor was just so-so. He only knew how to be sentimental and protect his true love in the harem. Otherwise, others wouldn't have been able to take advantage of the situation in the court so quickly.

How did two not-so-bright people give birth to these two incredibly clever sons?

Gu Qingwan thought about it and realized that congenital deficiencies were not a problem; the influence of the environment after birth was really important. The harsh environment spurred the two brothers to break through the encirclement and made them even more adept at scheming against others.

Soon it was time for the baby showers of the two young masters of the Meng family. However, since the Marquis had not returned, the baby showers were held in a simple manner. Madam Meng was still in confinement and it was inconvenient for her to go out, so all the household affairs were handled by Old Madam Meng.

Fortunately, Meng Jiyue returned in time last night, so there was someone to receive the male guests. The old lady in the inner courtyard received some ladies or people of high status, while Meng Yanran greeted the young ladies.

In short, the division of labor is quite clear, which makes things relatively safe.

As the benefactor of the two young masters of the Meng family, Gu Qingwan was naturally among those invited.

Early in the morning, Gu Qingwan had people start preparing the gifts for the baby's third-day celebration and made some other arrangements. She watched Xiao Jingchen sitting there drinking tea, thinking about how he had been wearing a sour face since he woke up that morning, and how he had kept her up until the middle of the night without saying a word.

She thought carefully and realized she hadn't offended him in any way. If it really was something else, then it must be this one thing right now. So she tentatively asked.

"It's rare that Your Highness is resting at home today instead of going out. Today is the baby's third birthday celebration for the two young masters of the Marquis of Yongyi's mansion. Would Your Highness like to come with me to watch the excitement?"

"It seems I did not receive an invitation."

Gu Qingwan raised an eyebrow. See, that really is the reason. How come this petty man is so adorable when he's being awkward?

So Gu Qingwan said with a smile, "Isn't mine the prince's? Why are you making such a distinction, isn't that right, my husband?"

Clearly, Xiao Jingchen was pleased by these words. He personally poured Gu Qingwan a cup of tea and said, "What the princess said makes sense. It was I who did not understand. Since the princess has said so, then I will do you the honor of going to see the two little ones."

Baoqin and Xiaoyi could tell that the prince had been appeased, especially Xiaoyi, who was extremely grateful to the princess.

However, they only glanced at each other before averting their gazes, neither daring to look at the other.

Ever since they came out of Song Niangzi's secret passage, the two of them have been acting strangely. Siqi can't help but blush whenever she sees Xiao Yi, and Xiao Yi can't help but look at Siqi a few more times when he sees her blush. Siqi feels uncomfortable whenever Xiao Yi looks at her a few more times, and she can't help but hit Xiao Yi.

Then it became a vicious cycle, and everyone often saw Xiao Yi being beaten up by Siqi all over the place in the mansion.

However, Xiao Yi secretly sighed in his heart, "Heaven knows, when the prince found out that the princess was going out without taking him with her, he, Xiao Bing, and Xiao Ding were dragged out by the prince for a one-on-one sparring session, and they were almost beaten to death, okay?"

If the princess really goes out without the prince today, she might really get beaten to death by the prince. At that time, that little maid Siqi will be waiting to collect our corpses, and she'll be crying her eyes out.

"Your Highness, Commander Chen requests an audience."

"Let him in."

Gu Qingwan was stunned when she heard the name Commander Chen. She didn't immediately recognize who it was. Then she remembered that the prince had restored Xiao Jia's former name, Chen Zizheng, and had him leave the ranks of the secret guards to work openly for the Chu Prince's Mansion, becoming the commander of the manor's soldiers.

But ever since Aning's defection, he has become disheartened.

But everyone knew he could never go back, because those in the secret guards were not allowed to get married or have families; such secret guards would be extremely dangerous to their master.

If it were to fall into enemy hands by accident, this weakness could very well become the biggest hidden danger of betraying one's master, so such a hidden danger must never be allowed to arise.

The fact that the prince not only allowed him to get married but also didn't kick him out is already the greatest favor he could receive, and it's truly rare.

"Your subordinate greets Your Highness and Your Highness!"

"what's up?"

"Your Highness, last night A-Ning came to the dungeon. As the Princess Consort instructed, we lay in ambush around the area and did not show ourselves. A-Ning did indeed come to see Zheng Yang."

Chen Zizheng acted as if it were all business, as if his deep affection for Aning had vanished with her departure.

What did they say to each other?

"I overheard that Ah Ning seemed quite agitated; she was questioning Doctor Zheng."

After leaving, A Ning did not follow her original agreement with Doctor Zheng to first assassinate Gu Ziming and then find a way to rescue him. Instead, she completely forgot about Gu Ziming and focused on how to assassinate the Princess of Chu.

After some time, her face started to itch. At first, she didn't pay attention to it, but later when she looked in the mirror, she could clearly see what looked like bugs crawling under her skin. She was so frightened that she smashed the mirror on the spot.

Later, during her cultivation, she discovered that the internal energy she had painstakingly accumulated was being gradually devoured by something. Now it was even more terrifying; her face was covered with spiderweb-like purple lines, and her martial arts skills were weakening little by little.

If she were to simply sit and wait for her death, she believed she would be even more miserable than before. Thinking of this, Aning decided to sneak into the dark dungeon of the Chu King's mansion to spy on Doctor Zheng Yang.

She knew perfectly well how to get in and out of the Chu Prince's mansion's secret dungeon, which had been renovated while she was still alive, and how often the guards at the gate rotated.