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

Chapter 230 Zongzi Candy

Gu Qingwan explained somewhat helplessly, "I wasn't trying to coax you. I just like to eat it myself. My maid made it herself and it tastes really good. Try it."

Princess Qinghe pouted and said, "What good things are you so eager to introduce to me?"

"If you don't want to eat it, fine. Ruhua's cooking skills are quite good. If Qingwan doesn't want to eat it, just give it all to me." Meng Yanran said from the side, trying to take the purse from Gu Qingwan's hand.

Princess Qinghe, being the kind of person she was, snatched them all away in an instant: "Who said this princess doesn't want them? Humph!"

Gu Qingwan looked at Princess Qinghe with a smile.

Meng Yanran joked, "I wonder who was defeated by Qingwan just now? How dare they eat Qingwan's candy? Aren't they afraid of poisoning it?"

"Sister Yanran, please don't say that. The princess's whip technique is indeed very powerful. Qingwan was just lucky."

Princess Qinghe felt that the taste of the sugar was indeed different, and it was a taste she had never tasted before, so she was in a good mood.

"What luck? You're clearly much better than me. You'll have to teach me more in the future. By the way, this candy is really delicious. What's it made of?"

"This candy is called Zongzi Candy because it looks like a zongzi (sticky rice dumpling). The filling is pine nuts."

"No wonder it smells so good. Have your little maid make more next time, I want to send some to my mother."

"I'm glad the princess is happy."

"Your Highness is truly ignorant. That little maid from Qingwan's family has many specialties. Once you've tasted them, you definitely won't want to eat anything else." Meng Yanran savored the taste endlessly.

After saying that, Princess Qinghe's eyes lit up: "Really? Then when do I have time to come to your house to play with you?"

"If the princess is willing, Qingwan will respectfully await your arrival."

Princess Qinghe smiled and nodded, but after a moment, as if she had remembered something, she licked her slightly sweet lips and said softly, "I didn't mean to target you just now, it was the Prince of Chu..."

Qingwan quietly squeezed Princess Qinghe's hand, interrupting her: "I know, so I didn't take it to heart. This is just right now, otherwise I don't know when I would have had the chance to get to know the princess."

Seeing that Gu Qingwan was so generous and knew how to handle things, Princess Qinghe felt an inexplicable sense of goodwill towards her.

"You know my identity, so you don't need to worry that I will pester the Prince of Chu. However, you should be careful of Miss Wen by the Empress Dowager's side. She is your real rival. Didn't you see how ugly the Duke of Wen's face was when the Prince of Chu proposed to her? Now she has gone to the Empress Dowager's palace with the Emperor. It is most likely about this matter. You must be careful of that woman."

Gu Qingwan nodded, acknowledging Princess Qinghe's gesture.

Princess Qinghe may seem arrogant and domineering, but she is actually the easiest to get along with.

In her past life, she had no chance to get involved with Princess Qinghe. She vaguely remembered that the princess's parents died on the battlefield, and that Princess Qinghe was given to the enemy for a marriage alliance by the new emperor in order to seek peace. Such an innocent girl should not have such an ending in this life.

"Qingwan understands, thank you for informing me, Princess."

"It's good that you're grateful. Remember to make me lots of candy."

"You're getting all worked up over me, aren't you afraid of eating too much sugar and ruining your teeth?" Meng Yanran interjected from the side.

"Meng Yanran, I may not be able to beat Qingwan, but I can beat you."

"Tch, all they know is fighting. They've forgotten their place. They're a disgrace to the royal family."

Princess Changping, standing nearby, made sarcastic remarks about Princess Qinghe.

"Hey,"

Princess Qinghe unknowingly became friends with Gu Qingwan and Meng Yanran. The Empress, sitting above, naturally saw all of this, her eyes flickering with mixed feelings.

Originally, she planned to bring Gu Qingwan into the Eastern Palace, but a sudden change occurred and Gu Qingwan became her sister-in-law.

Princess Qinghe was raised by her, but she dared not set her sights on Princess Qinghe because of the Emperor. So there was also Meng Yanran, but the Crown Prince seemed unwilling to let his mother, the Empress Dowager, make any rash moves.

As she was thinking, someone from Qinghe came to deliver a message to the Empress.

"Your Highness, Princess Qinghe said she wants to go back to the Prince's Mansion today and won't stay in the palace to accompany you. Tomorrow she's going to go play with Miss Gu."

The Empress frowned and said, "Go tell the princess that I am also worried about a young lady going back alone. Let her stay in the palace tonight, and she can do whatever she wants tomorrow morning. No one will restrain this wild girl."

"Yes."

Consort Yu, who wasn't far away, naturally heard it too. She said, "Oh my, Your Highness is so good to the Princess. Even the Crown Princess doesn't receive such treatment."

The Crown Princess, whose name was called, looked up and stared blankly at the crowd.

"Your Majesty is joking. The Empress Dowager treats us younger generation very well. She even treats your Third Prince as her own son. How could she possibly treat the only daughter of the Prince of Yunnan and his wife, who have made great achievements outside the country?"

"Qinghe may seem carefree, but she is actually quite thoughtful. Her parents are not around, so she has entrusted me with taking care of her. I have to be extra attentive to her, unlike the Consort who is so leisurely. Now that her children are all grown up, the Consort still has plenty of time to tend to the flowers and plants in the palace. I heard that the Consort has recently started getting beauty treatments, and seeing the results today, they are truly impressive."

Consort Yu was praised and couldn't help but touch her smooth face.

"What Mother says is true. With Third Brother being so capable, Consort Gui naturally doesn't need to worry. I heard that Consort Gui's cosmetics shop outside the palace is doing very well."

Upon hearing the Crown Princess's words, Consort Yu's expression changed.

It should be noted that apart from the Empress, who could have a dowry, even those who held the rank of Imperial Noble Consort or Noble Consort could only be considered concubines.

If a concubine from an ordinary family has a good family background, she can bring some personal belongings with her. Concubines in the palace can also bring personal belongings or a maidservant. However, they absolutely cannot have any private property or dowry. Even if they do, it must be bestowed by the emperor and they absolutely cannot acquire it themselves.

If others find out that she has acquired private property, it will be considered that she has colluded with outsiders without authorization, and that crime would really put her in a very difficult situation.

"Your Highness, you must have misunderstood. I have no private property whatsoever. It's just some savings that my family provides to help me out of the palace so I won't suffer. All of that is recorded. If Your Majesty doesn't believe me, you can send someone to check. As for the cosmetics shop that Your Highness mentioned, I know a little about it."

"Oh? You only know a little bit?" the Empress asked.

"That's Miss Gu's dowry shop. I didn't expect that child to have a business mind. The business is doing quite well. She just occasionally brings some novelties to the palace."

"In that case, Miss Gu is truly a filial child. By the way, where is Miss Gu?"

"Your Majesty, the princess accidentally soiled the child's clothes, so I had a palace maid take her back to change. Just now, a palace maid came to report that the second young lady was not feeling well, and since the banquet was almost over, I let her go back first."

The Empress nodded. "After all, she is your future mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. The Consort was very fond of Miss Gu back then and even tried her best to promote her marriage with Xiao San. Although things have changed, she is still your daughter-in-law. As for the clothes that Qinghe dirtied, I will replace them for her later."

"Your Majesty is too kind. How could we trouble Your Majesty to personally bestow clothes upon such a young child? The Second Princess just recently got a few new outfits, and since the two children are about the same size, we can just give her one of the Second Princess's."

The second princess, who was watching the play from the sidelines, became unhappy when she heard her mother mention her and that her new clothes were going to be given to Gu Hanjiao.

"Mother, those are my clothes!"

"What do you mean 'yours' and 'mine'? Changping loves your sister Hanjiao the most, so why are you being so stingy now? We're all family. Your mother will make you even prettier clothes in the future."

Originally, it was just a perfunctory remark from the Imperial Concubine, but unexpectedly, Changping took it seriously. Imperial Concubine Yu had no choice but to give her unfortunate daughter another perfunctory reply.

Li Qianyu's expression was not good, and the entire Li family's expression was also not good. The past was the past, but now the Third Prince's Consort is Li Qianyu. Even if the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is good, it should be Li Qianyu and the Imperial Consort.

Li Qianyu wasn't sure what Consort Yu was really thinking. She had initially thought that Consort Yu was more on her side, but after the Empress said that, she also felt that Consort Yu was being excessively kind to Gu Hanjiao.

Consort Yu naturally understood the Empress's provocative intention: "There's no such thing as good or bad. Your Majesty is also someone's mother-in-law. I just think that since the child doesn't live with us, people say that once a man marries a wife, he forgets his mother. So we should treat her daughter as well as we can, even if it's just for the sake of our son."

The phrase "marrying a wife and forgetting his mother" struck a nerve with the Empress. It wasn't that the Crown Prince was so obedient before he got married; now that he has such a powerful Crown Princess, she, as his mother, can't even make decisions about her son taking a concubine. She, as a mother-in-law, is truly quite aggrieved.

She was initially pleased that the Crown Princess was on her side against Consort Yu, but now she's unhappy to see the Crown Princess.

"Alright, it's about time. I'm a little tired too. Young people can play a little longer if they want. I'll head back now."

"Mother, I will escort you back," the Crown Prince said hastily.

"No need. You and the Crown Princess can handle the rest here. I'm fine, just a little tired. I'll go back and rest."

The Empress didn't give the Crown Prince any face and left with a sour expression. Li Mama, who was standing beside her, looked at her Empress helplessly. She couldn't say anything in this situation and could only help the Empress leave.

Consort Yu was clearly superior. She adjusted her hair, realizing that there was no point in her staying after the main characters had left. So, the Consort Yu left with an air of superiority.

The Crown Prince and Crown Princess exchanged a glance, remarking that their mother was becoming more and more like a child, which was truly exhausting.

Even if they were exhausted, there was nothing the Crown Prince and Crown Princess could do. They had to handle everything that followed. The Empress Dowager had left without a care in the world, and the banquet was about to end successfully. They couldn't afford any mishaps.

The Third Prince, however, paid no attention to this side. He kept drinking, still feeling depressed about Gu Qingwan becoming the Princess Consort of Chu. He didn't say a word, drinking one cup after another. He didn't refuse any toasts offered to him, and he would drink the wine down in one gulp. His eyes were fixed on Gu Qingwan, who was chatting and laughing with Qinghe and the others, as if he wanted to shut her out of his sight.

Li Qianyu knew about the Third Prince's injuries and that his leg injury had not yet healed. Seeing him drinking like this, Li Qianyu felt very sorry for him. She knew she shouldn't try to stop him at this time, since the two of them were not yet married and others would laugh at them, but she couldn't bear to.

Li Qianyu walked to Xiao Yuheng's side and said, "Third Prince, please don't drink anymore. Your body has not fully recovered yet. If you drink like this, your wound will hurt when you get back."

Upon seeing Li Qianyu, Xiao Yuheng became even more furious. He felt that it was Li Qianyu who had taken Gu Qingwan's position as the prince's consort. If it weren't for her, he could have married Gu Qingwan as the prince's consort.

However, in front of everyone, Xiao Yuheng still maintained some composure. He merely snorted coldly and said in a voice that the two of them could hear, "Do you think that becoming a prince's consort will allow you to replace her in my heart? Never! Don't be delusional. Just be a good prince's consort, or don't blame me for being impolite!"

Hearing this, Li Qianyu felt as if she had fallen into an ice cellar. She knew that the Third Prince had always liked Gu Hanjiao, and the position of Third Prince's consort was originally reserved for Gu Hanjiao. If it weren't for the many unexpected events that occurred, she, Li Qianyu, would not have had the opportunity to come to his side.

Even though Gu Hanjiao has been disgraced, the Third Prince still can't forget her. Ever since Gu Hanjiao left, the Third Prince has been depressed and drinking alone. It seems that only she can move his heart.

After an unknown amount of time, Li Qianyu finally found her voice and said, "Third Prince, rest assured, I... I will definitely do my duty. Third Prince, you don't need to worry."

"Hmph, that would be perfect."

What happened between the two is unknown to others, but to outsiders, the Third Prince and his future Third Princess have a very good relationship. They are already caring for each other even before they are married. Of course, some people also sigh that the Third Prince was so infatuated with Gu Hanjiao back then.

"Look at him, how infatuated Xiao Yuheng was with Gu Hanjiao back then, determined to marry her no matter what. Now, it's all about the new love and the old love's tears. I wonder if Gu Hanjiao would regret her choice if she saw this." Princess Qinghe sighed.

“Princess, you really know a lot. By the way, Qingwan, what happened to your younger sister? Why didn’t she come back?” Meng Yanran asked.

"Perhaps they've already gone back. Let's pack up too."

At this moment, a palace maid from the Empress's side came to call Princess Qinghe back.

"Qingwan is right. I'm going to visit you at the Ningguo Duke's Mansion tomorrow. Do I need to send an invitation in advance? If so, I'll have someone deliver it right away, but wouldn't that be too late?"

Gu Qingwan smiled and took her hand, saying, "There's no need for the princess to visit. Qingwan will wait for the princess at the main gate tomorrow."

“Me too, me too. Princess, why are you being so polite? When we want to visit Qingwan, we never need any invitations. We can just show our faces and get in,” Meng Yanran said with a smile.