Chapter 478, Second Update
Upon entering the palace, Marquis Xuanping received an imperial edict to immediately travel south. The emperor appointed him as the Imperial Commissioner for the Southern Tour, temporarily assuming the position of Admiral of the South Sea City Navy. He was tasked with suppressing the bandits and reclaiming the South Sea Island as quickly as possible and at the lowest possible cost.
Marquis Xuanping led 500 light cavalry out of the capital overnight, and Chang Jing was also in the entourage.
After leaving Princess Xinyang's residence, Gu Jiao took the carriage arranged by Yu Jin back to Bishui Hutong.
The house was bustling with activity as neighbors came to see the baby. He was such a well-behaved and beautiful little one.
Eunuch Qin and Eunuch Wei also arrived.
Gu Jiao's purpose in entering the palace was to bring good news to her aunt and the emperor. The two powerful figures had convened a meeting of their key ministers overnight due to the pirates at sea, and were unable to visit the little one in Bishui Hutong in person. So they sent Eunuch Qin and Eunuch Wei instead.
"You've been holding me for half an hour, let me hold you for a bit!"
Inside the west room, Eunuch Qin spoke to Eunuch Wei with a melancholy tone.
Eunuch Wei turned his back, avoiding Eunuch Qin's outstretched claws, and said arrogantly, "No!"
He got it first!
It was snatched from Aunt Liu's hands; heaven knows what price he paid!
"Come hold him again next time!" Eunuch Wei resolutely refused to give up the baby!
Eunuch Qin was so angry that he ground his teeth.
Little brat, you've served the emperor for a while and already forgotten who the top eunuch in the harem is, haven't you?
Eunuch Wei ignored it.
He won't let me, he won't let me!
Eunuch Qin couldn't just grab the child; if he hurt the child, wouldn't Empress Dowager Zhuang twist his head?
Eunuch Qin tempted, "Let me hug you, and I'll send Dequan over for you to play with for a couple of days later."
Dequan was the little turtle raised by Eunuch Qin, his most beloved one, which Eunuch Wei had coveted for a long time.
Without hesitation, Eunuch Wei said, "Go, go, go!"
With a baby, who cares about your turtle anymore?
The main reason he was craving Qin Gonggong's turtle wasn't for playing with, but to make turtle soup!
In the end, Eunuch Qin failed to outdo Eunuch Wei, which made Eunuch Wei, who was always overshadowed by Renshou Palace, finally feel a sense of pride.
The treasure hunt didn't end until Xiao Jingkong returned from the Imperial Academy. Once Xiao Jingkong appeared, the two of them were basically out of luck.
Who can beat him?
Xiao Jingkong wasn't very good at holding the baby yet. He put the baby in the cradle, but it's worth mentioning that he wasn't even as tall as the cradle, so he had to bring over a small stool and stand on it to see his little brother.
"My little brother's nose is like mine, his mouth is like mine, his eyes are like mine, and his eyebrows are like mine too!" Little Jingkong puffed out his little chest, shook his little head, and said with great pride, "What a handsome little man!"
Everyone: "..."
So after all that, you just wanted to praise yourself, didn't you?
The baby in the postpartum period does nothing but eat and sleep, and cannot respond well to Xiao Jingkong's attempts to amuse him. After playing with his younger brother for a while, Xiao Jingkong loses interest and goes back to walking the chickens in the alley.
Yao was temporarily staying in the east room. She didn't have enough breast milk, so Aunt Liu introduced her to a wet nurse. The wet nurse was an honest woman, a few years younger than Yao. She had given birth around the same time as her sister-in-law, and her baby was being fed by her sister-in-law.
She moved in and lived in the house that Yao had originally lived in. She mainly fed the children at night, and if the children didn't eat enough during the day, she would give them one or two more meals.
Xiao Jingkong was the happiest when he learned that Gu Jiao would be sleeping in the west room.
"I can sleep with Jiaojiao now!"
He washed himself until he smelled fragrant, combed his short hair until it was shiny, and strode confidently into the west room.
"Jiaojiao! I'm here!"
He kicked off his shoes and climbed onto the bed.
Before he could even climb up with his short little legs, his wicked brother-in-law grabbed him and lifted him up.
Xiao Heng: "Go sleep at your great-uncle's place."
Xiao Jingkong thrashed about, crying, "I don't want to! I don't want to! I want to sleep with Jiaojiao!"
You have to have it even if you don't want it.
Xiao Jingkong was ruthlessly dragged to the next room by his wicked brother-in-law.
When Gu Jiao returned to the west room after taking a bath, the quilt on the bed had already been made, but only one quilt was laid out. Xiao Jingkong was not there, but Xiao Heng... was there, though he was packing his own nightgown.
"Aren't you going to sleep?" Gu Jiao asked.
She had just taken a shower and hadn't had time to dry her hair yet. She wrapped a dry cotton cloth around her head, but a single strand of wet hair was left out, hanging down beside her ear, with glistening water droplets dripping onto her fair neck.
It's somewhat tempting.
Xiao Heng coughed lightly, looked away from the bedclothes in his hand, and said, "Jingkong and I will go sleep there."
Gu Jiao looked at the bed in the west room and thought, "Well, this bed is indeed a bit small for three people."
It's not really a matter of whether the bed is small or not, but rather—
Looking at her increasingly beautiful figure, Xiao Heng found it especially difficult to remain calm in the quiet of the night. He took a deep breath, clearing his mind of the surging desires, and said seriously, "It's getting late, you should rest early and remember to dry your hair."
"Mm." Gu Jiao nodded and took off the cotton towel from her head.
Her long, black hair cascaded down her shoulders, making her delicate skin appear as white as snow.
Xiao Heng felt his blood surging after just one glance. He worried that if he didn't leave soon, he would do something irreversible.
"I'm going there."
After saying that, he quickly left the house, almost as if he were fleeing in panic.
Gu Jiao gave a strange "hmm": "You're walking so fast, I wanted to ask you about the princess."
Princess Xinyang's reaction in the attic was clearly abnormal. Her first thought was claustrophobia, but if she had claustrophobia, why would she go to the attic? And why was she fine when riding in the carriage?
Gu Jiao couldn't understand it.
"Jiaojiao, are you asleep?"
It was Yao's voice.
Gu Jiao put down the cotton cloth in her hand, walked over and opened the door: "I wasn't asleep, why did you get out of bed?"
"It's alright, I'm fine. I even got out of bed and walked around during the day." This time, Yao's labor took longer than the last one, but the process wasn't as painful.
"Come in, it's chilly outside," Gu Jiao said to Yao Shi.
Madam Yao entered the room, sat down on the bed, took her daughter's hand, and said gently, "Your second brother has been here."
Gu Jiao said "Oh," and then added, "He's here to buy hair growth serum." Has Gu Chenglin run out of his hair growth serum again? Did he use it up too quickly?
"I'm here to bring you something too," Yao said, handing her the brocade box.
Gu Jiao took the brocade box: "Did he give this to me?"
"Hmm." Madam Yao nodded with a smile. "I don't know what it is either. Open it and take a look."
Gu Jiao opened the box, inside was a packet of dried meat.
It's the flavor that Gu Jiao likes to eat.
Gu Jiao doesn't usually show her preferences outwardly. It was only because Xiao Heng noticed that she liked to eat dried meat that she discovered it. Has she ever eaten it in front of Gu Chengfeng?
Gu Jiao had no recollection of it.
"Your three brothers..." Madam Yao hesitated, unsure of what to say. She had indeed had a great disagreement with the three sons left by the late Madam, but those were all things of the past. Besides, they had been misled by Aunt Ling.
What can children understand? They simply do what adults teach them.
Admittedly, there are some things she still cannot forgive, but sometimes she has to learn to accept and move on.
They hurt Gu Yan, and they also saved Gu Yan.
It's pointless to try to determine which of the three brothers made the biggest mistake or the biggest contribution.
Regardless, they are all their daughter's blood relatives in this world.
Even if all the elders are gone someday, at least the daughter will still have her brother to love her.
Gu Jiao raised an eyebrow and said, "Alright, considering he gave me a gift, I'll sell him the hair growth tonic at a lower price next time."
Yao couldn't help but smile.
...
In the following days, Gu Jiao frequently entered and exited the palace.
She was wondering whether she should remind her aunt that there might be a large number of Chen troops stockpiled at the border.
As it turns out, Empress Dowager Zhuang's ability to dominate the court for so many years was not due to any luck whatsoever. The moment the bandits appeared in Nanhai City, Empress Dowager Zhuang immediately sent a message by carrier pigeon to Tang Yueshan, asking him to investigate the movements of the Chen army.
Tang Yueshan's message by carrier pigeon arrived at Renshou Palace five days later.
The letter stated that after receiving the message from Empress Dowager Zhuang, Tang Yueshan immediately led his men to infiltrate the border of Chen State, only to discover that Chen State had secretly brought an army of 80,000.
With unrest on the borders of Chen, 10,000 troops should have been sufficient. Why then was 80,000 needed?
Empress Dowager Zhuang immediately guessed that they were about to start another war with the Zhao Kingdom, and this time they chose to go to war near the border, which most likely meant that they had colluded with the remnants of the previous Zhao Kingdom.
Inside Renshou Palace, the emperor frowned after listening to Empress Dowager Zhuang's analysis: "Yuan Tang is still in Zhao Kingdom. Has the King of Chen Kingdom gone mad? He doesn't even care about the life of his own son! Guards! Arrest Yuan Tang for me!"
Before long, Eunuch He came to report: "Your Majesty! Yuan Tang has run away!"
The emperor roared, "Run? Seal the city gates! I want to see where he can run to!"
Empress Dowager Zhuang didn't care much about Yuan Tang. Since the Chen Kingdom dared to send troops at this critical juncture, it meant they had abandoned Yuan Tang, so whether or not they captured him was not very meaningful.
She rubbed her aching temples, stood up, and paced back and forth in the room: "The Chen Kingdom has 80,000 troops, and the remnants of the previous dynasty have 50,000 troops..."
She closed her eyes; the border region was in grave danger.
What happened next confirmed Empress Dowager Zhuang's suspicions.
"Urgent report from the border: Princess Ning'an has been captured!"
"The old Marquis was also captured by the remnants of the previous dynasty while trying to save Princess Ning'an!"
"The Chen army entered the country, Tang Yueshan was defeated, and three border cities were lost in succession!"
Three cities lost in quick succession!
The Zhao Kingdom only has twenty-one cities in total!
Empress Dowager Zhuang's eyes turned cold, her phoenix robe fluttering in the evening breeze: "Issue my decree, summon Gu Changqing back to the capital immediately! Reorganize the Gu family army and march north to attack the enemy!"
(End of this chapter)
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