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The battle to hold the precious baby continued until Little Jing Kong returned from the Imperial Academy. Once Little Jing Kong appeared, there was basically no chance for anyone else.
Who could compete with him?
Little Jing Kong wasn't very skilled at holding the baby yet, so he put the little one into the cradle. It was worth noting that he wasn’t taller than the cradle, therefore he had to bring a small stool to stand on and look at his little brother.
"The baby's nose looks like mine, the mouth looks like mine, the eyes look like mine, even the eyebrows look like mine!" Little Jing Kong puffed up his little chest, swayed his head proudly, and said, "He's a handsome little man!"
Everyone: "..."
After all that, you just want to praise yourself, don’t you?
During the postpartum period, babies’ activities were limited to eating and sleeping, and the little one couldn't respond much to Little Jing Kong's attempts to entertain him. After playing with his younger brother for a while, Little Jing Kong lost interest and went to walk his chickens in the alley.
Yao shi temporarily stayed in the east room. Her breast milk supply was insufficient, so Aunt Liu introduced a wet nurse to her. The wet nurse was an honest woman, a few years younger than Yao shi. She had given birth around the same time as her sister-in-law and entrusted her own child to her sister-in-law for feeding.
The wet nurse moved into Yao shi's original room and mainly took care of the baby at night. If the baby didn't get enough during the day, she would feed him a couple more times.
The happiest person to learn that Gu Jiao would be sleeping in the west room for a while was ofcourse Little Jing Kong.
"I can sleep with JiaoJiao!"
He washed himself clean, combed his short hair to a shine, and marched proudly into the west room.
"JiaoJiao, I'm here!"
He kicked off his shoes and climbed onto the bed.
But before his little short leg could get all the way up, he was picked up by his bad brother-in-law.
Xiao Heng: "You're going to sleep with Granduncle."
Little Jing Kong struggled, "I don't want to! I don't want to! I want to sleep with JiaoJiao!"
Even if you don't want to, you have to.
Little Jing Kong was unceremoniously carried next door by his bad brother-in-law.
When Gu Jiao returned to the west room after taking a bath, the bed was neatly made with only one set of bedding, and Little Jing Kong was nowhere to be seen. Xiao Heng… was present but was busy packing up his own nightwear.
“Aren’t you going to sleep here?" Gu Jiao asked.
She had just taken a shower, and her hair hadn't been completely dried yet. She wrapped it in a dry cotton cloth, leaving a damp strand of hair hanging near her ear, with glistening water droplets on her fair neck.
It was somewhat tempting.
Xiao Heng cleared his throat, averted his gaze, and focused on the nightwear in his hands, saying, "I'll go sleep with Jing Kong."
Gu Jiao glanced at the bed in the west room. Well, the bed was indeed a bit small for three people.
In reality, it wasn't about the size of the bed but...
Xiao Heng looked at her increasingly enchanting figure, which was particularly difficult to remain calm around in the stillness of the night. He took a deep breath, trying to dispel the turbulent thoughts swirling in his mind, and said seriously, "It's getting late. You should rest soon and remember to dry your hair."
"Okay." Gu Jiao nodded and casually removed the cotton cloth from her head.
Her lustrous black hair fell, draping her shoulders and contrasting with her delicate, snow-white skin.
Xiao Heng took just one glance and felt his blood surging. He was worried that if he didn't leave immediately, he might do something irreversible.
"I'm going now."
With that, he swiftly left the room, almost as if he were fleeing.
Gu Jiao chuckled strangely, "Leaving so quickly. I still wanted to ask about Princess Xinyang's situation."
Princess Xinyang's reaction in the attic was clearly abnormal. Gu Jiao initially thought it might be claustrophobia, but if that were the case, why would she have gone to the attic in the first place? And why was she fine inside the carriage?
Gu Jiao couldn't make sense of it.
"JiaoJiao, have you gone to sleep?"
It was Yao shi's voice.
Gu Jiao put down the cotton cloth and walked over to open the door, "I haven't slept. Why did you get out of bed?"
"It's fine, I'm doing well. I even walked around during the day." Yao shi's childbirth this time took longer than the previous one, but it was a less agonizing process.
"Come inside, it's cold out there." Gu Jiao said to Yao shi.
Yao shi entered the room and sat on the bed, taking her daughter's hand and saying gently, "Your second brother came by."
Gu Jiao responded with an "Oh" and asked, "Did he come to buy hair tonic again? Did Gu Chenglin run out of it so quickly?"
"He also came to bring you something." As she spoke, she handed a brocade box to her.
Gu Jiao accepted the box and asked, "He gave this to me?"
Yao shi nodded with a smile, "Yes. I'm not sure what it is. Open it and see."
Gu Jiao opened the box to find a packet of dried meat, her favorite flavor.
Gu Jiao usually didn't express her preferences outwardly, but Xiao Heng had noticed that she liked dried meat. But, had she ever eaten it in front of Gu Chengfeng?
Gu Jiao couldn't remember.
"Your three brothers..." Yao shi hesitated. She didn't know how to put her thoughts into words. She had indeed experienced significant conflicts with the three sons left behind by her husband's previous wife, but those were all in the past. Moreover, they had been influenced by Concubine Ling.
What could children understand? They merely followed how adults taught them.
Admittedly, there were things she still couldn't forgive, but sometimes she had to learn to accept and embrace.
They had hurt Gu Yan, but they had also saved Gu Yan.
There was no point in determining who among the three brothers had made the most mistakes and who had contributed the most.
No matter what, they were Gu Jiao's flesh and blood in this world.
In the future, when all of them, the older generation, were no longer around, at least her daughter would still have her brothers to care for her.
Slightly raising an eyebrow, Gu Jiao said, "Alright, in light of his gift, I'll sell the hair tonic to him at a cheaper price next time."
Yao shi couldn't help but laugh.
……
In the days that followed, Gu Jiao frequently entered and left the imperial palace.
She had been thinking about whether she should remind Grandaunt that the borderlands might be amassing a significant State of Chen troops.
Facts had proved that Empress Dowager Zhuang's ability to wield power in court for so many years wasn't just luck. The moment the unrest began in Nanhai City, she immediately sent a message to Tang Yueshan, instructing him to investigate the movements of the State of Chen’s army.
Tang Yueshan's pigeon message arrived at Renshou Palace five days later.
The message reported that, upon receiving Empress Dowager Zhuang's message, Tang Yueshan and his men had immediately infiltrated the border of the State of Chen. To their surprise, they had discovered that the State of Chen had secretly brought in an army of eighty thousand soldiers.
Considering the border unrest of the State of Chen, a force of ten thousand should have been enough. Why did they need eighty thousand soldiers?
Empress Dowager Zhuang immediately speculated that they might be preparing for another war with the State of Zhao, and this time, they had chosen the borderlands as their location. It was highly likely that they had colluded with the remnants of the State of Zhao’s former dynasty.
Inside Renshou Palace, after hearing Empress Dowager Zhuang's analysis, the Emperor frowned, saying, "Yuan Tang is still in the State of Zhao. Is the State of Chen's ruler insane? He's willing to sacrifice his own son! Guards, arrest Yuan Tang for me!"
Shortly after, Eunuch He came to report, "Your Majesty, Yuan Tang has escaped!"
The Emperor raged, "Escaped? Seal off the city gates! I want to see where he can run to!"
Empress Dowager Zhuang, on the other hand, was not particularly concerned about Yuan Tang. If the State of Chen dared to deploy troops at this critical juncture, it meant they had abandoned Yuan Tang. Capturing him wouldn't make much of a difference.
She massaged her throbbing temples, stood up, and paced the room, muttering to herself, "The State of Chen with eighty thousand troops, remnants of the previous dynasty with fifty thousand troops..."
She closed her eyes, realizing the borderlands were in danger.
What happened next confirmed Empress Dowager Zhuang's suspicions.
"Urgent report from the border: Princess Ning'an has been captured!"
"Old Marquis was also captured by the remnants of the previous dynasty while trying to rescue Princess Ning'an!"
"The State of Chen's army has invaded, and Tang Yueshan was defeated. The borderlands have lost three cities in a row!"
Three cities in a row!
The State of Zhao only had a total of twenty-one cities!
Empress Dowager Zhuang's eyes turned cold, and her phoenix robe fluttered in the evening breeze. She commanded, "Issue Aijia’s decree to summon Gu Changqing back to the capital immediately! Reorganize the Gu Family Army and march north to confront the enemy!"
Raz P.'s Thoughts
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