Chapter 440: Return to the Government to Wait for the Birth

Chapter 440

Gu Ying did not care and said, "I know Mother will understand sooner or later. There is no private affair between me and Jiang Yin. As a fallen top scholar, how can he compare to the Eldest Prince? Even if I were blind, I still wouldn't look up to him."

Mrs. Lin said with feeling, "Mother believes in you and Du as well. She won't mention this matter again in the future."

Gu Ying smiled smugly, "That's right, isn't it? No matter what others say, as long as our family's hearts are together, we will never be provoked, neither between me and Mother, nor between me and the Eldest Prince."

A gratified smile emerged at the corners of Mrs. Lin's lips. People, if they don't go through the gates of hell, they won't know how to cherish.

Only now did she know who were the ones that treated her well.

She swore that in the future she would treat Gu Ying well.

...

After Shen Ruxu was thrown into the dungeon of the Ministry of Justice, she was sentenced to be executed in autumn.

Before the execution, Gu Ying visited her once in the dungeon.

Unable to withstand the torture every day, Shen Ruxu scratched at her skirt hem with a ghostly appearance, crying and begging her to spare her life.

She said whatever Gu Ying asked, no longer having the arrogance from before.

When Gu Ying left the dungeon, she looked back once.

The nearly mad and foolish Shen Ruxu had her head stuck between two sturdy prison pillars, uttering eerie chuckles.

"Hehehe, the Eldest Prince..."

"My husband..."

"The Eldest Prince is my husband..."

"Husband, have you come to take me? You will always treat Ruxu well, right..."

Gu Ying didn't listen to what she said after that. She turned around and left the Ministry of Justice.

A few months later, the weather gradually turned cool.

In mid-September, Gu Ying's belly grew increasingly prominent, and Mrs. Lin became anxious. She ran to the Censorate every day, wanting to bring the soon-to-give-birth Gu Ying back to the Duke's Residence.

Neither Qin nor Gu Shuang wanted Gu Ying to leave.

Counting the days, in these next few days, the Eldest Prince should also have sent a letter.

She was not worried about the Eldest Prince, only about Jiang Yin.

After the Shen Ruxu incident, Jiang Yin faded from her sight again.

Although Su He secretly helped her search, they never found the person. What made her feel even more uneasy was that many high officials in Bianjing had deliberately opposed the Duke's Residence for some unknown provocation.

With the Eldest Prince still at the border fighting the Qiang people, some actually memorialized accusing the Eldest Prince of colluding with the enemy and selling out Dongli's military intelligence to the Qiang tribe.

If not for the mediation of the Crown Prince, the Tianqi Emperor might really have suspected the Eldest Prince.

Court politics were treacherous, as a woman confined indoors, her hands couldn't reach the court. She could only ask Ning Si to help more.

Thinking of Ning Si's days in the Eastern Palace recently.

Gu Ying couldn't help sighing long.

Not long after marrying into the Eastern Palace, the Empress kept urging her to take concubines for the Crown Prince.

Speaking of which, the Empress was very fond of Ning Si in the beginning.

It was just that before Ning Si's marriage, she was already pregnant out of wedlock, which inevitably caused gossip.

Even though the Crown Prince had explained it to everyone, neither the Empress nor some of the ministers believed the child in the Crown Princess's belly was of royal blood.

Thus, soon after the couple married, the Empress impatiently crammed people into the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace.

Beauties like Li, Zhang, Wang, and more.

Ning Si was muddleheaded, and didn't know how to refuse. To please the Empress, she properly settled all those beauties in the Eastern Palace.

Since marrying into the Eastern Palace, she had suffered much injustice.

Although the Crown Prince protected her, he was ultimately a busy man handling state affairs, having to go before the Emperor every day to listen to politics. After the Tianqi Emperor granted Princess Yuan the title, he spent his days accompanying her on outings, leaving state affairs for the Crown Prince to oversee. This made him even busier, with no time to pay attention to the harem.

With Ning Si's habit of only reporting good news and not bad, living in the palace really put her at a disadvantage.

Yanzhi came out from the washroom, the corners of her lips curving up. "My lady, the hot water is ready. Let me help you bathe."

Yin Lan advised earnestly, "Young Master Jiang said my lady's due date is either end of this month or early next month. Don't worry. Keep your spirits up - there are still over ten days left."