The Prime Minister’s Darling

For Xiao Jingkong's safety, Gu Jiao equipped the horse king with a children's saddle, but not the one adorably carved with a tiger's head from last year; instead, it's a new saddle with sharp lines and a simple style, looking both handsome and stylish.

Xiao Jingkong sitting tall on the horse, both he and the horse looked incredibly splendid!

Xiao Hen was on duty at the cabinet. Before he left home in the morning, Gu Jiao had mentioned that she would be going to see their grandaunt after work.

Being in the cabinet is different from the Hanlin Academy; he was no longer the inconspicuous Hanlin Academy editor. Every move of the Prime Minister was under scrutiny, he couldn't be as carefree as before.

So, Gu Jiao didn't go to pick him up after work and went straight into the palace.

The Renshou Palace was exceptionally lively tonight, with Empress Xiao, Noble Consort Zhuang, and Du Xiaoyun all present.

Half a year ago, Du Xiaoyun gave birth to the Crown Prince's first son, delighting Empress Xiao greatly. She immediately fulfilled her promise and requested the emperor to bestow the title of Crown Princess upon her in front of the emperor.

Therefore, Du Xiaoyun was now a legitimate Crown Princess.

Du Xiaoyun had no ambitions, straightforward in nature, not hiding anything to stir up trouble, and she was very filial to Empress Xiao. Empress Xiao was quite satisfied with this daughter-in-law.

Of course, there might be another reason, perhaps because she could bear children.

Indeed, her first son was not even a year old, and she was pregnant again.

In ancient times, where offspring were everything, a dutiful daughter-in-law like Du Xiaoyun, who could have two children in three years, was undoubtedly a golden nugget of the family.

The three leading ladies of the palace sat in the small garden playing cards, but one was missing, so they invited Noble Consort Zhuang.

Noble Consort Zhuang hadn't inherited her grandaunt's intelligence in other aspects, but she was a good hand at cards and had several self-drawn wins.

In contrast, Empress Xiao was a complete card fool, playing a hand and then discarding one. After two hours, her head was all muddled from the play.

She alone lost, while the other three won.

Grandaunt said she enjoyed it very much.

"The Lord and Jingkong have arrived!" came the cheerful voice of Eunuch Qin from the entrance.

At that moment, Grandaunt was discarding a card for Empress Xiao, and her eyes lit up, "Mother, I'm going to win! I'm going to win! I finally won!"

"Jiaojiao is here, let's not play," said the Dowager Empress seriously, pushing her cards away in an instant.

Empress Xiao: "...!!"

The twins were being held by Yu Yaya and the nanny, and they had woken up when getting off the carriage.

It was their first time going such a long distance, and both little ones were looking around curiously as if they could really see something.

Obviously, a forty-day-old infant could only see things within a half-foot to a foot away.

Du Xiaoyun still felt quite embarrassed when she met Gu Jiao, thinking of her ignorant admiration for Wo Linlang in the past, only to end up sleeping with Wo Linlang's husband and succeeding her title.

Somehow, she felt like such a drama queen...

Gu Jiao was very magnanimous, never mentioning her black history.

"Grandaunt, Aunt, Crown Princess, Noble Consort," Gu Jiao greeted the four of them.

"Grandaunt, Aunt, Crown Princess, Noble Consort," Xiao Jingkong mimicked the greeting.

Xiao Jingkong wasn't the main character today; at seven years old, he was long past the age of cuteness. After greeting the elders, he went to Kunning Palace to find Qin Chuyu.

The elders began to admire the twins.

Yes, admire them.

The twins were too adorable, fair and tender, with a milk fragrance and not crying, especially Xiao Yang, who was plump and chubby, quite reminiscent of Aunt Xiao Yi in her day.

Even the Dowager Empress, who wasn't fond of holding children, couldn't resist holding them twice, clearly showing just how popular the twins were.

"Bring Wuyou here," Empress Xiao instructed the palace maid.

Wuyou was the Crown Prince's eldest son, nearly eight months old, at the age of learning to crawl, and quite playful.

The palace maid brought Qin Wuyou to the Renshou Palace and placed him together with the twins.

As an eight-month-old big baby, Qin Wuyou definitely had the capital to look down on the two little sister and brother, and he didn't have to be swaddled in a quilt, so his hands and feet were very free.

When the palace maid brought toys to tease the three little ones, Qin Wuyou unceremoniously snatched the toys from the twins.

This was called setting the rules!

Then, Qin Wuyou faced a tragedy.

The palace maid unwrapped the twins' swaddling blankets to change their diapers.

In the gap of turning around, Xiao Yang gave a small kick and knocked Qin Wuyou over.

Xiao Cong was usually obedient, a quiet little handsome boy, but at this moment, he sneakily added another kick, not as hard as Xiao Yang's, but more painful, truly showing his mischievous nature.

Qin Wuyou, as the royal family's precious little nugget, experienced being ganged up on for the first time in his life. He was in pain, scared, and aggrieved, and he burst into tears with a loud wail.

"Oh dear, what's wrong with the young master?" The palace maid quickly picked up the wailing Qin Wuyou.

The two little perpetrators lay on the bed in perfect unison, with synchronized expressions and actions, staring blankly at the same spot on the ceiling.

Completely unperturbed.

Empress Xiao heard the commotion and came over, holding the little guy in her arms and sighed, "Why are you crying again? Look how well-behaved your little brother and sister are!"

Qin Wuyou cried even harder.

Not long after, Xiao Hen arrived from the cabinet.

Being an outside man, Noble Consort Zhuang was about to leave, but the Dowager Empress waved her hand, "It's our own, no need."

Noble Consort Zhuang felt warmth in her heart, and suddenly her nose tingled with emotion.

Rarely, even after being so defiant to her aunt, her aunt still treated her as one of her own—

Grand Tutor Zhuang fell from grace, Prince Ning was imprisoned, and the entire Zhuang family was exiled. She originally thought she couldn't escape death, but her aunt fought against the opinion of the masses to protect her.

From now on, she would no longer act foolishly.

Empress Xiao asked someone to call over Qin Chuyu and Little Jingkong for dinner, as the Crown Prince was out of the Capital City, so he was not summoned.

Originally, even the emperor wasn't called, but he tagged along on his own.

"Mother Empress!"

Little Honghong came to see you!

He greeted energetically.

Empress Dowager Zhuang rolled her eyes with a face ashen as if dead.

The whole family dined in Renshou Palace, Qin Wuyou babbled, while Little Jingkong and Qin Chuyu played tag, Zhuang Guifei, Empress Xiao, and Du Xiaoyun gossiped about everything under the sun.

Xiao Hen teased the dragon-phoenix twins in the Courtyard, while Gu Jiao accompanied her grandaunt admiring the moon.

Renshou Palace used to be the coldest and most unsentimental palace in the Imperial Palace, but now it has the warmth of a family.

Eunuch Qin looked at Empress Dowager Zhuang, whose face showed displeasure, but with eyes glowing, and felt truly happy for her.

She had drifted through life for a long time without her own children and thought she would end her days in loneliness, but heaven took pity and gave her a complete and fulfilling late life.

After saying goodbye to grandaunt, Xiao Hen and Gu Jiao took the dragon-phoenix twins back to the Princess Residence.

They first visited Princess Xinyang.

The dragon-phoenix twins were hungry, so Yujin prepared milk for them. They were too young to drink on their own and needed someone to feed them.

The one-year-and-three-month-old Little Yiyi volunteered to take on this responsibility.

"Yiyi, feed." She said in her childish voice.

Princess Xinyang used to never let her children do anything themselves, but since Xuanping Hou got involved in child-rearing, her mindset changed a lot.

"Can you handle it?" She asked Little Yiyi.

Little Yiyi patted her tiny chest: "I can handle it!"

Princess Xinyang handed the two bottles to Little Yiyi.

Little Yiyi climbed onto a stool, then into the crib of the dragon-phoenix twins to feed them.

She fed her little nephew first because he was skinny! So, he should eat first!

"Open your mouth." She sat cross-legged and said in her childish voice to Xiao Cong.

Seeing that Xiao Cong didn't open his mouth, she decisively stuffed the little nipple into his mouth.

Just as Xiao Cong took a sip, Little Yiyi took the bottle away and drank two sips herself.

Her feeding principle was: you take a sip, I take a sip, I take another sip, and then you get a small sip.

So it's not without reason that Xiao Cong can't gain weight; not only is there no late-night snack from Long Yi, but he also has to contend with his little aunt抢食 (snatching food).

He had a hard time.

Princess Xinyang asked blandly, "Yiyi, did you抢 (snatch) Cong'er's milk again?"

"No, no, Yiyi didn't." Little Yiyi burped.

Princess Xinyang: "..."

...

The next day, Gu Jiao took the dragon-phoenix twins for a trip to Bishui Alley, and Xiao Hen still came over after duty.

Everyone in the alley had heard that Gu Jiao had given birth to dragon-phoenix twins and they all came to see the little ones.

The little ones were very accommodating, letting the neighbors watch, occasionally letting out little pleasant sounds that melted everyone's hearts.

Aunt Liu suddenly felt that grandaunt's son wasn't so appealing; she wanted to steal the babies!

Gu Xiaobao was two and a half years old, no longer had his baby fat, looked slim, but was very quick-witted.

The only thing was that he was still particularly lazy.

For example, when he was asked to feed milk to the dragon-phoenix babies, he was too lazy to抢食 (snatch food).

He fed them in full zen mode.

"Sis."

He could now call 'Sis' very fluently.

"What's wrong, Xiaobao?" Gu Jiao looked at him.

"The little brother and sister are so small." He looked at the little infants on the bed and said.

Gu Jiao laughed: "They're not little brother and sister; they're nephew and niece."

Gu Xiaobao was obviously unfamiliar with these terms, having only heard of grandsons and granddaughters, like the ones Great Uncle Zhao next door had.

He thought they meant the same thing.

Thinking about it, he solemnly said, "I'm not old."

Only old folks have grandsons and granddaughters.

"Haha!" Gu Jiao burst into laughter.