The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 705 - 705 330 Fetal Movements (Second Tael Update)_3

Chapter 705: 330 Fetal Movements (Second Tael Update)_3 Chapter 705: 330 Fetal Movements (Second Tael Update)_3 The Emperor and Empress Dowager Jing sat on chairs, the Emperor furrowed his brow as he looked at the new palace maids picked to serve the Empress Dowager Jing, a frown marring his face: “How are you serving the Empress Dowager? You even lost her jade pendant!”

Empress Dowager Jing sighed: “Don’t blame them, it was I who lost it. I seem to have heard something earlier in the Imperial Garden, but didn’t think much of it at the time, so I probably dropped it then.”

“Mistress, I…I found it, but I…” A palace maid stammered nervously.

Empress Dowager Jing gently said: “Don’t be afraid, just tell me what happened, I won’t blame you.”

The palace maid, gathering courage, moved forward on her knees, bowed deeply and said: “I found a jade pendant in the Imperial Garden, I didn’t know it was Your Majesty’s. I thought I would give it to the head maid later, so I left it on the table. When I went to get the pendant after picking flowers, it was gone!”

The Emperor sternly said: “Why did you carelessly leave the jade pendant on the table?”

The palace maid fearfully responded: “The jade pendant was broken, I thought it wasn’t valuable, not something precious…”

“Broken?” The Emperor looked at Empress Dowager Jing in surprise.

Empress Dowager Jing bitterly nodded her head, remaining silent.

Nurse Cai earnestly said: “Two years ago, the Empress Dowager had a fall and broke her jade pendant. One corner was completely shattered into powder and couldn’t be repaired. But that pendant was a keepsake from Princess Ning An, so the Empress Dowager wore it every day despite the damage.”

Hearing about Empress Dowager Jing’s fall, the Emperor’s heart ached as if it had been pierced, filled with regret for not bringing her back to the palace sooner.

“Your Majesty has suffered.” He said guiltily.

Empress Dowager Jing said: “Your Majesty is overreacting, I simply had a fall. As one ages, it’s not uncommon to experience some discomfort.”

“As for Renshou Palace…” The Emperor wanted to say that the resident of Renshou Palace seemed to be more sprightly now than before she got leprosy. He probably also thought it wouldn’t be appropriate to always mention the Queen Mother, so he cleared his throat, and looked at the few maidens kneeling on the ground, “Aside from you, who else went to the Imperial Garden?”

The palace maids glanced at each other.

Even though the jade pendant was broken, most of it was still extremely valuable, not just ordinary jade, but the Thousand-year-old Cold Jade from Yan Country. These palace maids may not recognize it, but that didn’t mean others wouldn’t.

“Speak!” The Emperor coldly said, “Who took the Empress Dowager’s jade pendant?”

Everyone bowed and it was the same palace maid who initially found the pendant who said, “Your Majesty, we really didn’t take it! We can’t distinguish good items from bad, why would we take a piece…”

She didn’t dare to say ‘broken jade’ again.

The Emperor asked gravely: “Who else went to the Imperial Garden besides you?”

After thinking for a moment, the palace maid said, “There was a young lady… I don’t know which palace she is from, her dressing doesn’t seem to belong to a concubine or palace maid, her left cheek… has a red birthmark.”

If she’s neither a concubine nor a palace maid, and she has a red birthmark on her left cheek — isn’t this Gu Jiao?

This was becoming awkward.

If it was an ordinary jade pendant, the Emperor certainly wouldn’t bother investigating. But this pendant was a memento from Princess Ning An to Empress Dowager Jing, a person whom the Emperor had once deeply cherished.

The Emperor cared for her, not any less than he cared for Empress Dowager Jing.

Eunuch Wei looked at the Emperor with a complicated expression.

Miss Gu wasn’t someone to be trifled with; if the Emperor dared to send someone to ask her if she had found a jade pendant, she might never interact with the Emperor again.

Okay, although she is already angry with the Emperor now.

But this situation is different.

Miss Gu wasn’t somebody with dirty hands, but the Emperor wouldn’t let go of any lead. The problem is, once he asked, suspicions would inevitably arise between them.

Not to mention that Miss Gu is now in the Renshou Palace, what would the Empress Dowager think when she learns about this? She won’t let go until she scolds the emperor thoroughly.

The Empress Dowager can be slighted, but Miss Gu cannot.

Grandpa Wei secretly broke out in a cold sweat, thinking, it’s over, utterly over.

The Emperor soldied his mind and grasping Empress Dowager Jing’s hand, he said, “The little doctor won’t pick any jade pendants from the table. The Empress Dowager cherishes her so much that she wishes she could give her all the treasures in Renshou Palace. Although the thousand-year-old cold jade given by Ning An is precious, it does not catch her eye. Ning An also once gave me one. As they are both sentiments left by Ning An, I will have someone bring mine to the Dowager Mother later.”

“I will get it right away!” without waiting for the emperor to give him the order, Grandpa Wei quickly left, as if afraid the emperor would change his mind the next second.

The Emperor said, “These few young palace maids failed to handle things properly and lost the dowager mother’s jade pendant. They don’t need to serve the dowager mother anymore in the future, and I will select some competent palace maids for the dowager mother.”

Empress Dowager Jing smiled, “I practice vegetarianism and recite Buddhist scriptures. I don’t need to have too many people around me. Cai Grandma is enough.”

The Emperor replied, “Grandma Cai is also getting older, and it’s inevitable that her physical strength can’t keep up. If there were a few clever palace maids by the dowager mother’s side today, they definitely wouldn’t have lost the dowager mother’s jade pendant.”

Gu Jiao knew nothing about what happened in Huaqing Palace. She went to the small kitchen and made Milk Dates and Fresh Flower Cakes, and there were still plenty of fresh flowers left.

The young palace maid smiled, “I’ll pack them into a sachet for you, Madam. You can take them home and make dried flowers.”

“Good thinking.” Gu Jiao nodded.

The young palace maid found a sachet for dried flowers wrapped in gold thread and stuffed the remaining flower petals from the basket into it.

After dinner, Gu Jiao returned to Bishui Alley.

Gu Xiaoshun was scratching his head in the courtyard, looking quite troubled.

“What’s wrong?” Gu Jiao walked over and asked.

Gu Xiaoshun said, “Lord Gu fainted, and he hasn’t woken up.”

It turned out that after Gu Jiao’s visit to Grandma, Lord Gu didn’t leave immediately. Instead, he asked where his Son Yao went, and as soon as the words were out, he saw Yao coming out of the house with a big belly.

This was not just round like a ball, but there was literally a ball in her belly!

There was nothing more frightening than a man returning from a trip to find his wife pregnant.

If it was just that, it would be fine. However, just then Lord Xuanping came over and spoke to Yao with a smile.

Lord Xuanping, the most unrestrained man in the Capital City, had a trace of a rogue and evil character even when he smiled genuinely. Lord Gu immediately felt the sky collapse!

Lord Gu had always been troubled by his own looks, but he had to admit, Lord Xuanping was indeed more handsome than him. This libertine could make countless women fall at his feet with just a wave of his hand.

Could it be… his Yao was also seduced?!

Otherwise, he couldn’t understand why Lord Xuanping would appear here!

With rage overtaking him, he felt like everything around him was turning green.

Unable to hold himself together, Lord Gu stuck out his tongue, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted——

Gu Jiao went into Yao’s room to check Lord Gu’s pulses and said, “He’s okay.”

Yao nodded, although this husband of hers could sometimes be rather oblivious, after all, he was the father of her two… no, now three children. She didn’t want her children to be fatherless.

But——

Looking at her constantly protruding belly, Yao wondered, was the child inside making such vigorous movements just six months into the pregnancy? Why did it feel like the baby was already trying to kick her husband?