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

Chapter 256 Gu Hanjiao's Wedding

Gu Hanjiao is currently the most talked-about celebrity in Beijing, with rumors and gossip circulating everywhere.

Some say that Gu Hanjiao is a celestial maiden descended to earth, blessed by a lucky star, and that if she were a man, she would surely achieve great things.

Some say that Gu Hanjiao is a reincarnated fox spirit, with a bewitching and seductive appearance that makes men lose their minds. Even with such an excellent husband as the Third Prince, she still thinks about flirting with other handsome men outside, which is really shameless.

Some even say that Gu Hanjiao is a jinx, first causing the death of her mother, then her brother, and then her father almost lost his official position because of her.

However, there were voices in the conversation pleading for Gu Hanjiao.

"You are all so shallow. Haven't you realized that all these bad things actually started to happen after the eldest daughter of the Gu family came back?

The group looked at each other and said, "If you hadn't told us, we really wouldn't have thought of that. It's true."

"Ever since Miss Gu returned, the Gu family has never been quiet."

They seemed to have thought of something and whispered, "Remember when Madam Gu hired a Taoist priest to exorcise the demon? Didn't the priest say that Miss Gu was possessed by a demon or evil spirit?"

"Pah, pah, pah, what nonsense are you spouting?"

"Where am I talking nonsense? My cousin's second aunt's younger sister works in the Prime Minister's residence. How could what she heard be wrong?"

"To be honest, that's pure nonsense. We've all met Miss Gu. She's kind and a good person who always helps those in need. Even if we don't know Miss Gu, we should still trust Madam Ning's character."

"Oh, it's just us chatting casually. These are all people of importance; who would dare to spread it around?"

"If you ask me, there are downsides to being from a wealthy and powerful family. Look at the filth in the inner quarters. You have to swallow your pride and bear it all because of this and that."

"That's not it."

……

On the other hand, everyone said that the Third Prince bravely faced difficulties for true love, which made Xiao Yuheng gain even more favor in the capital. Everyone said that the Third Prince was a loyal and righteous person, and more people followed him.

This made Xiao Yuheng extremely happy. He rubbed his hands together in his mansion and said to Luo Yichen, "Sir, you see, Jiao'er is indeed my lucky star. In just a few days, those who were wavering have made up their minds. So, sir, you can rest assured. When I marry Gu Hanjiao, it will be like adding wings to a tiger."

"I hope so." Luo Yichen was still a little skeptical; he had always felt that this second young lady was extremely strange.

"Mr. Luo has never met her. Putting aside any luck, she is an extremely intelligent woman. The ideas in her head are very interesting. If she were a man, she would certainly not be inferior to you in talent."

Hearing Xiao Yuheng compare him to a woman and say that he was not as good as a woman from the inner quarters, Luo Yichen was a little unhappy, but he did not dare to show it on his face, after all, Gu Hanjiao was now the Third Prince's favorite person.

"Sir, you probably don't believe it." Xiao Yuheng understood that no one wanted to be outdone by a woman, so he took a piece of paper from his desk.

"This is……"

At Gu Ziming's prompting, Luo Yichen looked at each one, but all of them were drawings he couldn't understand.

"Forgive my limited knowledge, but what are these things?"

"It's normal that you don't understand. I only understood it after Jiao'er explained it to me. It contains recipes for making and preserving ice."

Roy Chen was shocked. Ice was a rare commodity, especially in summer. Only the wealthy could afford it, and it was very scarce. You couldn't just buy it if you had money.

This summer, ice started appearing in large quantities on the market. Although the price was high, people were still willing to buy it. Unexpectedly, it was the Third Prince's business, and even more unexpectedly, it was the idea of ​​Consort Gu.

"There's another one, which I haven't presented to my father yet."

Luo Yichen quickly looked at it, but after studying it for a long time, he still couldn't understand it.

"Please enlighten me, Third Prince," Luo Yichen said, somewhat annoyed.

"This thing is called a curved plow, and it was designed by Jiao'er herself. It is used for plowing and can save half of the manpower, making the work very efficient."

Luo Yichen's eyes lit up. "If that's really the case, then making good use of the grain yield is just around the corner."

"Yes, I have already sent people to build three of them and tested them at the estate. If they are as good as Jiao'er said, I will present them to Father Emperor when the time is right."

“At that time, the people of the world will be even more grateful to the Third Prince.” Luo Yichen nodded in satisfaction. “Consort Gu has truly made a great contribution, and the Third Prince should reward her handsomely.”

The auspicious day that the Imperial Observatory had chosen for the Third Prince was fast approaching, but ever since the change of the Princess Consort, the Li family felt that the date couldn't be chosen too badly, otherwise it would look to outsiders as if their daughter had stolen the Gu family's marriage.

Therefore, the Li family requested the Imperial Observatory to recalculate an auspicious date based on the couple's birth dates. Because of the Empress Dowager's protection, the Emperor also felt somewhat embarrassed, so he did not hold the matter of changing the date against Li Xinhan and granted his request.

But this gave Gu Hanjiao an opening. She subtly reminded the Third Prince that the date they had agreed upon was an auspicious day based on their birth dates. If it was that day, she would still consider herself his wife regardless of their official status, but she couldn't bear to put the Third Prince in a difficult position.

Xiao Yuheng immediately agreed. The previous day was their wedding day. If they brought Jiao'er in on that day, and he quietly held the wedding ceremony in the courtyard, wouldn't that count as getting married?

He did whatever came to mind, and sure enough, on the appointed day, Xiao Yuheng led a group of people to the Gu family, playing trumpets.

People in the capital went to see it out of curiosity. Although she was called a concubine, it was only slightly better than a concubine. In the end, she was still a concubine. I have never seen a family take a concubine and the head of the household personally go to welcome her, with a trumpet flower in hand.

Xiao Yuheng was still afraid of displeasing his father, but he also wanted to maintain his image as a responsible man. After thinking for a long time, he decided to keep everything simple and not follow the royal wedding rules. Instead, he would have a wedding like a commoner's, with a bridal sedan chair and a horn. The sedan chair was neither too big nor too small, but it was very exquisite. He did not overstep the rules or disrespect the Li family, nor did he embarrass the Gu family.

Everyone was guessing that the Third Prince was giving face to the Prime Minister, and Gu Ziming was clearly pleased with the Third Prince's arrangement.

Li Xinhan was unwilling, but what could he do? Gu Ziming had recently made a big deal out of a few of Li Xinhan's mistakes, and had the censor impeach him. In addition, Li Xinhan had promised the emperor that he would not do anything extra for his daughter who was getting married, so as long as it was not excessive, he could only turn a blind eye.

This action led Gu Ziming to believe that Li Xinhan was afraid of him.

The Gu family had only produced one concubine, and she was pregnant out of wedlock, yet they made it seem like a wedding for their daughter, decorating the mansion and setting up a banquet.

Gu Ziming originally thought that now that he had been reinstated to his official position, his original residence could be returned to him.

The Emperor said directly, "That mansion is no longer under my jurisdiction after the old Duke Ning bought it. The house and land deeds are complete. As the Emperor, I can't just forcibly seize it for you, can I? If you really can't bear to part with that place, just buy it back from the old Duke. It's no big deal."

Gu Ziming almost choked on his own blood because of the Emperor's words. How could he not know that the house had been bought by the Ning family and then given to that wretched Gu Qingwan? Even if he could buy it back with money, he was penniless and had no spare money to buy it back.

Thinking about this, Gu Ziming felt even more strongly that Wang Ruyan, that bitch, had colluded with that adulterer to drain his family's wealth from under him. Otherwise, why would his family have lived so comfortably when Ning Jingxian was alive? Even after Ning Jingxian left, Wang Ruyan still had her dowry to her.

At first, he was only thinking about the income of the household, and as long as it wasn't excessive, he turned a blind eye and didn't ask any questions.

Even if that wretched Gu Qingwan took away her mother's dowry, it shouldn't have caused such a deficit in a prime minister's mansion.

Thinking of this, Gu Ziming gritted his teeth in hatred. He also knew that his mother had embezzled a lot of money from the household. Even the dowry that Ning Jingxian lost back then mostly ended up in his mother's pocket.

The problem is that his mother is a complete miser. Even when the Prime Minister's mansion was in such dire straits, she refused to give him a single penny to help him. Now that his mother has suffered a stroke and is paralyzed in bed, Gu Ziming has tried to find out more, but all his efforts have been in vain.

When Gu Ziming returned to his residence, the more he thought about it, the more he felt that Gu Qingwan might have a soft heart. She was just like her mother, a stubborn person. So he sent someone to tell Gu Qingwan about the matter.

Gu Qingwan, that bastard, only said one thing: pay up. When asked how much she would sell it for, that bastard said, "You decide, and I'll sell it to you if I think it's suitable."

What kind of talk is this? What does it mean to say "give it to whoever you think is right"? It's like she simply doesn't want to sell it to him.

So Gu Ziming didn't want to make a fool of himself any further, so he bought the house next door. The two rooms were combined, so it wasn't very big, but it was much better than the previous tiny place. At least it didn't look like a disgrace to the name of the Prime Minister's Mansion.

Xiao Yuheng was dressed in new clothes, which, although not bright red, were still festive enough. He rode a tall horse to personally greet his concubine.

Everyone is speculating: the imperial edict clearly states that two concubines will enter the residence at the same time, so how will the Third Prince choose?

Originally, the Third Prince didn't have to make a choice.

When the auspicious time arrived, the Gu and Yu families prepared the two concubines and carried them directly to the prince's residence. However, the Third Prince insisted on giving a special gift to Gu Hanjiao from the Gu family, which caused a problem.

Should we go to the Gu family to welcome Gu Hanjiao back first, or go to the Yu family to welcome Yu Xinqiu back? Although these two families are not on the same street, coincidentally, if we go to the Yu family, we have to pass by the Gu family's door.

Geographically speaking, Gujia is relatively close.

At this moment, Gu Qingwan was sitting in the teahouse watching the commotion below, accompanied by Meng Yanran and Princess Qinghe.

"I'd say this Xiao Yuheng is a complete idiot. The other princes haven't even tried to trip him up yet, and he's already creating trouble for himself."

Princess Qinghe utterly despised the Third Prince, that idiot. He wasn't good at his studies when he was young; his only redeeming quality was his good looks. But who would want to play with a boy who looks like a little girl? Especially since he was a prince.

He was even worse at fighting. Every time he lost, he would go to his mother and cry. His mother would then go to the Emperor and cry. At first, the Emperor would try to control the children, but later, seeing that the Third Prince was always the one getting beaten, especially by Princess Qinghe, what could he say? He couldn't very well reprimand Princess Qinghe, who was even younger than the Third Prince.

Therefore, the emperor always scolded the third prince, saying that he was not ambitious and deserved to be beaten.

Every child in the palace is born with a sharp mind; otherwise, who could survive?

The Third Prince is rather dim-witted, spending all his time with his vixen mother, and he thinks himself extraordinary.

According to Princess Qinghe, Xiao Yuheng is just rich and stupid. If it weren't for the Yu family's rise in business and the large amount of taxes they pay to the national treasury every year, Consort Yu and her son would probably still be squatting in some corner of the harem.

“Princess, look how handsome the Third Prince is! He’ll be even more handsome on his wedding day. So what if he’s a fool? At least he’s pleasing to the eye at home, isn’t he?” Meng Yanran leaned against the window and stuck her head out to look.