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

Chapter 250 Rumors

"I know, what's this about letting others down? Ever since I followed Brother Heng, I've given him everything. Whether it's good or bad, it's all my fate. I can't blame anyone else. Things are pretty good right now, aren't they?"

"I won't let you suffer any injustice." Xiao Yuheng kissed Gu Hanjiao's forehead and said to her, "You should rest well. Although Chunlu and Qiushuang won't be punished, I'm still worried. I'll send someone to take care of you later."

"Brother Heng, there's no need for this. I feel fine."

"No, the child in your belly is my eldest son."

Hearing this, Gu Hanjiao couldn't help but feel dejected. "So what if he's the eldest son? Because of me, his mother, he's destined to be an illegitimate son, just like me, who will eventually become an illegitimate daughter."

Xiao Yuheng embraced Gu Hanjiao and gently comforted her, "Jiao'er, don't belittle yourself. I am not Prime Minister Gu, so I will not treat our child like this. Leave it to me, leave everything to me."

Xiao Yuheng didn't stay long before his subordinates called him away. Not long after Xiao Yuheng left, Tianxiang arrived at Gu Hanjiao's side with her men.

"This servant greets the Second Miss. I have been ordered to come and take care of the Second Miss." Tianxiang greeted Gu Hanjiao very respectfully.

Gu Hanjiao abandoned her delicate and fragile demeanor. She deliberately ignored Tianxiang and sipped her tea slowly, making Tianxiang half-squat and bow, just like a mistress to a concubine.

She had disliked the two maids, Hongxiu and Tianxiang, from the very beginning. They had been with the Third Prince for a long time and were personally trained and rewarded by the Imperial Concubine. If nothing unexpected happened, they would definitely be promoted to concubines after the Third Prince's wedding.

Gu Hanjiao narrowed her eyes. They had been following Xiao Yuheng closely for so long, she wondered if they had gotten pregnant.

"Oh dear, get up quickly. Chunlu is here to offer a seat to Miss Tianxiang. The Third Prince only said he would send someone to take care of her, but I didn't expect Miss Tianxiang to come in person."

"This servant dares not. Please just ask me to add incense, Miss. It is my great honor to be able to take care of you. I hope you will not find me clumsy."

Although Tianxiang and Hongxiu grew up together, their personalities are completely opposite.

Hongxiu wears her heart on her sleeve and is incredibly arrogant. Few people can get a kind look from her. But Tianxiang is different. She is very good at reading people's expressions and has excellent interpersonal relationships. Even though she knows that Gu Hanjiao is deliberately making things difficult for her, she doesn't care.

The Third Prince originally wanted Hongxiu to come, but Hongxiu was very reluctant. Tianxiang couldn't bear to see Hongxiu being wronged, so she volunteered to come instead.

"Then I'll trouble you to add incense from now on," Gu Hanjiao said with a smile.

Xiao Yuheng returned to his residence, where Luo Yichen was waiting in the study. Besides Luo Yichen, there was another person, the fortune teller from Fengzhou.

"Oh ho ho, sir, you've really made this prince search for you."

The fortune teller was so frightened that he squatted on the ground and kept wailing, "I'm just a small fortune teller. What do you want with me? I only have this one life, and I only have ten taels of silver on me. You can take it if you want."

Clearly, the fortune teller did not hear Xiao Yuheng's words.

Luo Yichen had the fortune teller taken away and said, "I asked around and almost tortured him, but what this fortune teller said was exactly the same as back then. It seems he really wasn't acting under anyone's orders."

"Sir, I told you long ago that it was impossible for anyone to start planning at that time. Jiao'er is indeed a lucky woman. After meeting her, I, the prince, visibly entered the emperor's sight. Mr. Luo is also aware of this."

Luo Yichen naturally knew this. He had been following Xiao Yuheng for a long time. It has to be said that Miss Gu always came up with novel ideas for the Third Prince, and her proposed solutions were always ingenious. This is how the Third Prince was able to stand out from the other princes and enter the political arena ahead of the Emperor.

Luo Yichen thought that even he himself couldn't come up with those good ideas. How could Gu Hanjiao, a young lady from a secluded family, have such vision and perspective? In his opinion, Gu Hanjiao was beautiful and smart, almost like a demon.

Luo Yichen suddenly remembered what the fortune teller had said, and his expression turned somewhat grim. He seemed hesitant.

"What, sir? Is there anything you can't say?"

"That fortune teller just now said that if you want to borrow luck, you have to marry someone with extremely good luck, and you have to worship heaven and earth and get heaven's approval before you can successfully borrow luck."

"Worshiping Heaven and Earth? That means you're husband and wife." Xiao Yuheng frowned upon hearing this. "No wonder I always fall short in my actions. Is it because I lack the approval of Heaven and Earth? If so, then Gu Hanjiao must be my principal wife."

Luo Yichen disagreed, saying, "Third Prince, given your status, strength, and our current situation, you can actually rely entirely on yourself. You don't need to depend on someone else's luck to rise to the top."

This is also why Luo Yichen rejected Gu Hanjiao. The Third Prince is a dignified man, and his current situation is so good that there is no need for him to put all his eggs in one basket with a woman.

"Moreover, Miss Gu was chosen by the Emperor to become a concubine. If the Third Prince insists on marrying her as his principal wife, he will not only offend the Ministry of Revenue but also displease the Emperor. In that case, the Third Prince will suffer a loss. Besides, since it was chosen by the Emperor, who is the Son of Heaven, it can be considered as having received the approval of Heaven. It can also be considered as taking advantage of good fortune, right?"

Although Luo Yichen didn't believe in luck-borrowing, his master was obsessed with it, so he could only go along with the persuasion. Otherwise, given Xiao Yuheng's mindset, he certainly wouldn't listen to him.

But Xiao Yuheng still didn't listen this time.

"Mr. Luo doesn't know how difficult the path to the throne is. Right now, the Crown Prince has gained too many advantages, especially since I have suffered repeated setbacks recently. I will not give up any chance I can get."

"Three princes..."

"Sir, there's no need to say any more. My mind is made up. I'm going to try no matter what. If it really doesn't work out... well, I'll just do my best and leave the rest to fate."

Upon hearing this, Luo Yichen knew that further words would be pointless, so he decided to leave it at that.

"Third Prince, the Imperial Concubine has sent someone to say that you must enter the palace immediately."

Xiao Yuheng knew that his mother wouldn't send someone to make him rush back unless there was something urgent, so he didn't hesitate and headed to the palace with Laiwang. This meant that he didn't have time to check on the affairs inside and outside the mansion.

Consort Yu was so angry that her head was practically steaming, and no amount of herbal tea could quell her rage.

"What's wrong with Mother Consort? Why is she so anxious to summon her son to the palace?"

"What's wrong? How dare you ask me? My God, your mother is furious! What's wrong?"

Amber helped to soothe Consort Yu, saying, "Your Highness, please don't be so angry. Take care of yourself. His Highness is here now. You two can talk things out. It's not worth getting so angry."

"How can I not be angry? I'm going to become the laughingstock of the entire world!"

Why would Mother say such a thing?

“Amber, you tell him!”

"Sigh." Amber seemed a little embarrassed. She didn't want to get involved, but since the Imperial Concubine insisted that she speak, she couldn't refuse.

"It's just that some unpleasant rumors have reached Her Majesty's ears," Amber subtly reminded him, but Xiao Yuheng didn't seem to understand.

"It's just some gossip outside. Mother can just listen to it as a story and let it go. Why get angry?" Xiao Yuheng was very puzzled. It was just some trivial matter outside. Was it worth making such a fuss?

"If it were just idle gossip, I naturally wouldn't react this way, but what those people are talking about is related to you!"

Xiao Yuheng paused, his expression blank. What did this have to do with him? These people in the capital must have a lot of free time.

“Mother, I’ve been the subject of much discussion in the capital. I don’t care, and you shouldn’t care either. Amber, please don’t tell me about those unpleasant things from outside anymore.”

"It was my fault." The Third Prince was scolding her for being too talkative.

"Why are you taking your anger out on Amber? If she hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known that my son had been cuckolded! You are a prince, and your dignity and honor as a prince have been trampled underfoot without you even realizing it!" Consort Yu was so angry that she almost poked Xiao Yuheng's nose with her finger.

No man can tolerate being told he's been cuckolded, and Xiao Yuheng was no exception.

"Which bastard said that? I, the prince, will surely tear him to pieces!"

"Does anyone else need to say it? Ah! Gu Hanjiao's mother is no good either. She got pregnant out of wedlock and seduced a married man. And she wasn't satisfied with that. Even after becoming the Prime Minister's wife, she still had affairs with other men. Like father, like daughter! And what kind of good person is Gu Hanjiao!"

Since becoming a concubine, Consort Yu has rarely shown such a vulgar side; her curses were extremely offensive.

Xiao Yuheng was completely confused. How did the gossip outside lead to him being cuckolded and now it was about Gu Hanjiao?

Seeing the Third Prince's bewildered expression, Amber suddenly realized what was going on. She quickly stepped forward to comfort him, saying, "Your Highness, please calm down. It seems the Third Prince doesn't know..."

Consort Yu was taken aback. She glanced at her son with a strange expression, and seeing that he did indeed look confused, she calmed down.

"Don't you know what happened today?"

"What should I know?" This question only confused Xiao Yuheng more. "This morning, after court, I was summoned by the Emperor to the Imperial Study to assist the Crown Prince, and then..."

Xiao Yuheng paused for a moment, then said, "I talked with Prime Minister Gu for a while. Later, I had some business to attend to at home, so I went back to handle it. After I finished, I heard someone say that my mother wanted me to go to the palace immediately. I didn't dare to delay, so I came right away."

The more they talked, the more confused they became, so Amber quickly stepped forward to help the two of them sort things out.

"It's like this. Today, Her Majesty heard that the Third Prince had summoned the imperial physician, and she was worried that you might be feeling unwell. She immediately sent someone to your residence to check on you, but the person she sent said that you did not return home but went to Prime Minister Gu's residence. On the way, she also heard some gossip about Miss Gu."

"What did they say?"

"So, you really took the imperial physician to Gu Ziming's residence?" Consort Yu asked.

"That's true. Mother, look, this is a peace charm that your son got for you at Qingquan Temple. I just brought it to you."

"Look, look, Amber, most of the rumors outside are true." Consort Yu looked at the peace charm and instead of being happy, she became even more convinced that the rumors outside were true.

"Your Majesty, please calm down. Let me explain things to His Highness." After comforting Consort Yu, Amber turned to Xiao Yuheng and briefly explained the situation.

"People outside say that many ladies and young women from noble families saw Miss Gu get off her carriage in front of the Taoist temple today with a handsome stranger. The two of them were hugging and kissing in public in a very indecent manner, and they were exchanging flirtatious glances without any regard for propriety or shame. What's more, the Taoist priest Huang in the temple noticed that Miss Gu is pregnant, and everyone is speculating about whose child it is."

Amber finished speaking in one breath, glanced at Xiao Yuheng who was standing there in a daze, and after a while Xiao Yuheng reacted. Subconsciously, when he heard that Gu Hanjiao was involved in a scandal with another man, he felt that he was being cuckolded. No man could tolerate that. But when he heard that Gu Hanjiao was pregnant, he felt something was wrong.

"What else?"

"There were many people present at the time, and Master Huang's divination was naturally overheard by some people with ulterior motives. Master Huang said that the second young lady was a lucky star who appeared only once in a hundred years, with extremely good luck. Whoever could marry her would naturally have good luck as well, in addition to being born with a phoenix-like destiny..."

Xiao Yuheng's heart skipped a beat. This was almost exactly what the fortune teller had said. It seemed that the fortune teller was right.

Amber didn't know what Xiao Yuheng was thinking at the moment. She carefully considered her words and continued, "There are rumors outside that the Third Prince wants the Second Miss to be his concubine because of her destiny, even though he doesn't care about breaking up their relationship or the fact that the Second Miss is carrying another man's child... In short, the Second Miss's reputation is now at two extremes, both good and bad."

Upon hearing this, Consort Yu's anger, which had just subsided, flared up again.

"Look at you! I told you to marry Miss Gu back then. If you had listened, there wouldn't have been so much trouble. Look at how much face you've lost because of that Gu Hanjiao. Even a little beggar might be listening to people gossiping about you at the teahouse entrance. How can your mother not be angry!"

“That Gu Hanjiao is unfaithful to her husband. Mother Consort will send someone to investigate. If it is true, our royal family will not tolerate such a woman!”

"Mother, there's no need to send anyone to investigate. Jiao'er... is indeed pregnant."

"What!" Consort Yu was so shocked that she almost snapped off her well-maintained long fingernails.