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

Chapter 276 Hot Spring Villa

"Brother Heng, listen to me, I really didn't know anything about this," Gu Hanjiao cried, clutching her stomach.

Xiao Yuheng was unhappy when he came out of the palace. He wanted to get angry at Li Qianyu, but she never complained and even helped him manage the prince's residence. Because of this, he couldn't get angry.

After returning, he went directly to Gu Hanjiao's courtyard.

"Tell me what to do about this! Your own shop has run into trouble, but now you want my mother to take the blame? Tell me, did you set this up?"

On the way, Xiao Yuheng suspected that Gu Hanjiao had seized her shop as revenge against her mother. He did send people to investigate, and found that all the profits from the cosmetics store went into his mother's pocket, while Gu Hanjiao didn't get a single penny.

"I'm innocent, Brother Heng! How could I have done such a thing? If Mother liked the shop, I gave it to her. I stayed in the inner quarters and Brother Heng arranged everything for me. I didn't need that money at all. When I gave Mother the shop, I even gave her the recipe. I didn't keep a single penny. I even gave away the shop's employees. If Third Prince doesn't believe me, you can investigate! I can honestly say that I have never hidden anything from you, Third Prince!"

Looking at Gu Hanjiao sitting on the low couch with her back to him, Xiao Yuheng's suspicions lessened a bit. He went forward and hugged Gu Hanjiao, but she was still being stubborn and wouldn't let him touch her.

"My dear, it's my fault. Please don't be angry. Otherwise, our little darling will definitely have a bad temper too, what should we do?"

"So what if I have a bad temper?"

"Fine, fine, fine, I'm angry. What are we going to do now? Father Emperor wants me to make compensation, but I just found out that Mother Consort has taken so much money. It will be really difficult to pay it back."

Gu Hanjiao sighed, "I originally thought that I would get the card to raise more funds to make better products, but I didn't expect that the Imperial Concubine would... If my dowry is generous enough, then just take my dowry."

"How can I use your dowry? No, I can't."

"Well..." Gu Hanjiao's eyes darted around as she said, "Could the Yu family help us out? This amount of money is nothing to the Yu family, right?"

"The Yu family?"

“Yes, we’ll ask the Yu family for help with the money. Jiao’er remembers there’s a pharmacy near the Makeup Pavilion. We’ll send someone to book it for a few days and have two doctors on duty to treat this illness, so that no one can take advantage of the situation. This way, we’ll spend much less money. After all, people who can use Makeup Pavilion products are all rich and powerful, and they usually hire imperial physicians. So what we really need to care about is the refund and compensation issue.”

“You’re right, I’ll go talk to Xinqiu about it, but what about you…”

"It's alright, as long as you're well, Brother Heng. It's almost time for dinner, so Brother Heng should go and keep Sister Yu company. After all, we're family, and I think the Yu family will be willing to help."

Xiao Yuheng went to Yu Xinqiu's courtyard and told her his idea. Yu Xinqiu was smart and agreed on the surface, but told him to let the Third Prince talk to his father properly the next day, and that his father would definitely help.

After having dinner with Yu Xinqiu, the Third Prince went to spend the night at the Princess Consort's place.

Watching Xiao Yuheng's departing figure, Yu Xinqiu stopped pretending.

"That bitch actually dares to try and pave her way by stepping on the wealth of the Yu family. Does she think we, the Yu family, are easy targets? Go tell Father right now about Gu Hanjiao's scheme. Our Yu family absolutely cannot take on this mess!"

Sure enough, before dawn the next day, the Third Prince summoned Master Yu, but this time Master Yu was not so easy to talk to.

"It's not difficult to ask for money, but last time you asked me to mine a mountain, I just bought a mountain with the money I had, and I haven't been able to get the funds right now."

"Uncle, you're not lying to me, are you?"

"Why would I lie to you? Why don't you just go to the Yu family and borrow money?"

The mention of borrowing money made Xiao Yuheng's face turn extremely ugly. He hadn't yet repaid the money he borrowed from Yu Linglong last time, and if he were to borrow again, Yu Linglong would probably make him pay it back.

It's truly humiliating. "What can we do? I never imagined my mother would run off with all the money in the shop. In a short time..."

Master Yu thought for a moment and said, "I do have a plan, but I don't know if it's feasible."

"Uncle, tell me about it."

"In my opinion, you should sell the cosmetics shop. I'll find a way to get the Yu family's eldest son to take it over. That way, the funds will be channeled, and once things calm down, your uncle will return the shop to you. It's no big deal."

The Makeup Pavilion is a very profitable shop. Although it has some problems now, it is still worth investing in. This is what Xinqiu told him last night, telling him to find a way to buy the Makeup Pavilion and not to give Gu Hanjiao a single penny.

"Then... that's all we can do."

Gu Qingwan rarely slept in. In fact, since marrying Xiao Jingchen, her wake-up time has been delayed. But even though he did most of the work, why was he still able to get up so early to practice his skills?

She got up and touched her waist, secretly cursing Xiao Jingchen in her heart as a beast in human clothing.

Hearing the noise, Siqi asked softly at the door, "Has the Princess woken up?"

"Well, come in."

There are also servants on the estate. They were all arranged by Shishu beforehand. The two maids that Siqi brought are the two daughters who look after the estate. The two maids have never seen the prince and princess before. When they came in just now, they saw that the prince outside was really handsome and tall, which made the maids blush.

“Your Highness, these are Steward Wang’s two daughters, one named Xiaoya and the other Xiaoqin. Why don’t they pay their respects to Your Highness?” Siqi said.

Gu Qingwan was wiping her face with the handkerchief Siqi handed her when Xiaoya quickly knelt down to pay her respects. Seeing that her younger sister Xiaoqin was still in a daze, she quickly tugged at her sleeve, and Xiaoqin finally came to her senses and knelt on the ground.

"Greetings to the Princess!"

"Yes, I'm up. Thank you for your help these past two days." Gu Qingwan rinsed her mouth with Siqi's hand, and Xiaoya, being very perceptive, took the spittoon from her.

Xiaoqin, on the other hand, was somewhat absent-minded as she served them.

"How's it going outside?" Gu Qingwan asked.

"Your Highness, the cosmetics store has started refunding the cards. The Third Prince has designated a pharmacy and paid for two doctors to treat this illness. All expenses will be borne by the Third Prince's residence."

"Does Caizhuangge deserve it?" Gu Qingwan sneered. "Send a message to Shishu later, and tell her to find a way to take over Caizhuangge."

Gu Qingwan glanced at Xiaoya and Xiaoqin. One of them kept her head down obediently, while the other's eyes darted around, especially when she saw the hairpins and jewelry in her dressing box.

At that moment, the prince entered.

"Why are you up so early? Why don't you sleep a little longer?"

Xiao Jingchen was practicing outside, sweating profusely. His thin upper body was soaked through with sweat, revealing his powerful physique. Siqi and Xiaoya kept their heads down, while Xiaoqin stared wide-eyed.

When she saw the King of Chu gulp down a large cup of water and want another, she quickly stepped forward and picked up the water jug.

"This servant will add some tea for Your Highness." As she spoke, she deliberately moved closer to the Prince of Chu.

The King of Chu's sharp gaze caused the small zither that was near him to be knocked over and thrown to the doorway.

"You ill-mannered thing!" After saying that, he turned and went to the clean room. He knew that this was Gu Qingwan's servant, so he didn't say anything. Besides, this was a matter of the inner courtyard, and it should be managed by the princess.

"Your Highness, spare me! Your Highness, spare me! I know I was wrong! I know I was wrong!" Xiaoqin ignored her pain and hurriedly scrambled to her knees.

Xiaoya was so frightened that she immediately knelt down beside her sister and begged for mercy: "Please, Your Highness and Princess, spare my sister's life. It is my fault for not educating her properly."

"Alright, Xiaoya, you can take Xiaoqin downstairs now."

After the two left, Siqi was a little unhappy: "Your Highness, I'll go and deal with that Xiaoqin later!"

"There's no need. She's just a little girl. You can go now."

Turning around, he saw that the King of Chu had already come out of the clean room, having changed into clean undergarments, but his face showed a wronged expression.

"My lord, what's going on?"

"I was almost defiled by a maid just now. Your Highness should comfort me properly."

What to do? Gu Qingwan suddenly didn't want to pay attention to Xiao Jingchen anymore. This prince was actually acting cute. Luckily, none of the servants were around.

Ignoring Xiao Jingchen's coquettishness, Gu Qingwan asked directly, "Is Your Highness returning to the capital today?"

"No, we're not going back. The scenery here is quite nice. We can stay here for a couple of days without any problem."

"How about we go hunt some game in the back mountains later, and have barbecue tonight?"

The King of Chu thought for a moment and realized that eating roasted meat in this season seemed like a good idea, but he couldn't bear to see Gu Qingwan suffer from the cold. So he said, "Let's wait until next year at the royal hunting grounds and I'll roast meat for you myself. Today we're having hot pot at Zaimen. It's so cold, I can't bear to let the Queen Consort go hungry and cold."

"You're just being cheeky."

The two of them didn't end up going to the back mountain because three more people arrived at the estate: the Crown Prince, the Crown Princess, and the Fifth Prince. Their arrival was so coincidental; the pot had just been set up when they arrived.

"Why are you here?" Gu Qingwan was taken aback. Wasn't the Crown Prince supposed to be very busy? How come he had time to accompany the Crown Princess to a manor in the suburbs to find them?

The Crown Princess said, "I just went to the Chu Prince's residence and heard from the steward that my uncle and aunt had come to the estate. The Crown Prince and I discussed it and decided that since we had nothing to do today, we would come and visit my aunt's estate. I didn't expect the scenery here to be so beautiful."

"I happened to meet my elder brother and sister-in-law on the road. They asked if I was here to visit my uncle, so I followed them," the Fifth Prince explained.

"What a coincidence." The King of Chu glanced at the Fifth Prince with a forced smile, and the Fifth Prince shrugged and remained silent.

"We've arrived at the perfect time; I could smell the aroma of meat from afar." The Crown Prince, without any hesitation, pulled the Crown Princess over to the table and urged Siqi to add a few more pairs of chopsticks.

"It's not ready yet. There are still some side dishes that haven't been served. This is just the base of the pot. Xiao Yi and the others are slaughtering a sheep. You may have to wait a while," Gu Qingwan said with a smile.

"It's alright. When Xinyuan and I arrived, she said the scenery here was very beautiful. I'll show Xinyuan around and see if there are any fruits we can pick."

"There aren't many fruits left this season, but there are still some vegetables later on, you can go and take a look," Gu Qingwan suggested. "Since you're already here, why don't you stay for hot pot and a soak in the hot springs tonight?"

The Fifth Prince was even happier. He loved being with Uncle Chu the most, and he had already decided that if Uncle Chu returned to Yuhan Pass, he would go with him. So when he learned that the Crown Prince was coming to see Uncle Chu, he quickly followed.

"I feel bad disturbing my brother and sister-in-law as they strolled together, so I'll go with my uncle instead."

That damned Fifth Prince! You can't disturb your elder brother and sister-in-law's private time, but does that mean you can interfere in your uncle and aunt's private time?! What kind of behavior is this!

The King of Chu's face was dark. This was supposed to be his and Wanwan's private world, and in order to avoid being disturbed, he only brought Siqi and Xiaoyi with him, while the others stayed in the palace. He never expected that this little brat would bring his wife and younger brother all the way here to beg for money.

The Fifth Prince also sent out all the people he brought to help Xiao Yi, running around very attentively.