The Prime Minister's Darling novel Chapter 1009

Chapter 1009: 478 Second Watch

Upon entering the Imperial Palace, Marquis Xuanping received an imperial edict to head south immediately. The Emperor appointed him as the special minister for the southern inspection tour, temporarily taking over the role of Naval Commander of Nanhai City, with orders to exterminate bandits with the greatest speed and least cost and to recapture the southern islands.

Marquis Xuanping led five hundred cavalry and left the Capital City overnight, with Chang Jing also among those accompanying him.

After leaving the Mansion of Princess Xinyang, Gu Jiao took the carriage arranged by Yujin back to Bishui Alley.

The house was bustling with neighbors who came to see the newborn, a truly well-behaved and beautiful baby.

Eunuchs Qin and Wei also paid a visit.

Gu Jiao’s trip to the palace was to bring joyous news to her aunt and the Emperor. Due to the urgent matter of bandits at sea, the two influential figures convened an overnight meeting with key ministers and couldn’t personally visit the little one in Bishui Alley, so they sent Eunuchs Qin and Wei in their stead.

"You’ve held him for half a ’shichen’ now, let me hold him too!"

Inside the west room, Eunuch Qin said resentfully to Eunuch Wei.

Eunuch Wei turned his back, dodging Eunuch Qin’s looming claws, and stubbornly said, "No!"

He had grabbed the baby first!

And he had snatched the baby from Aunt Liu’s arms, heaven knows at what cost!

"You can hold him the next time you come!" Eunuch Wei resolutely refused to hand over the baby!

Eunuch Qin was grinding his teeth in frustration.

Kid, just because you spent time with the Emperor, you’ve forgotten who’s the top eunuch in the Imperial Harem, huh?

Eunuch Wei didn’t care.

If he said no, it was no!

Eunuch Qin couldn’t exactly snatch the baby away; what if he hurt the child? Wouldn’t the Empress Dowager screw his head off?

Eunuch Qin said enticingly, "Let me hold him, and I’ll let you play with Dequan for a couple of days."

Dequan was Eunuch Qin’s pet turtle, his most treasured one, which Eunuch Wei had coveted for a long time.

Without a second thought, Eunuch Wei dismissed him, "Go away, go away!"

With the little baby here, who would still fancy your turtle?

Mainly because Eunuch Wei craved Eunuch Qin’s turtle not for the sake of playing, but for making turtle soup!

In the end, Eunuch Qin could not snatch the baby from Eunuch Wei, which allowed the always overshadowed Eunuch Wei by the Longevity Palace to puff up his feathers triumphantly.

The battle for the baby continued until Xiaobao returned from the Guozijian, and once Xiaobao appeared, the two stood no chance.

Who could outdo him?

Xiaobao still wasn’t quite adept at holding the little baby, so he placed the baby in a cradle. Worth mentioning, he wasn’t as tall as the cradle yet, so he had to fetch a small stool to stand on it and watch his little brother.

"Brother’s nose looks like mine, his mouth looks like mine, his eyes look like mine, even his eyebrows look like mine!" Xiaobao puffed out his little chest, shook his small head proudly, and said with immense satisfaction, "He’s truly a handsome little man!"

Everyone: "..."

After all this time, you just wanted to compliment yourself, didn’t you?

The baby, being in his confinement period, couldn’t do much besides eating and sleeping and wasn’t able to respond well to Xiaobao’s amusement. Xiaobao lost interest in his brother after playing for a while and continued to roam around the alleyway with chickens.

The Yao Family temporarily stayed in the east room, as she didn’t have enough breast milk. Aunt Liu introduced her to a nanny, an honest woman, a few years younger than the Yao Family, who had given birth around the same time as the nanny’s sister-in-law. Her child was passed to her sister-in-law’s care.

Thus, the nanny moved in, taking over the room previously occupied by the Yao Family. She mainly fed the child at night, and if the baby wasn’t full during the day, she would feed him one or two more times.

Upon learning that Gu Jiao intended to sleep in the west room, the happiest one was Xiaobao.

"I can sleep with Jiaojiao now!"

He washed himself until he smelled nice and combed his buzz cut until it shone; he went to the west room, brimming with pride.

"Jiaojiao! I’m here!"

He kicked off his shoes and clambered onto the bed.

But before he could even get his little leg onto the bed, he was lifted away by his wicked brother-in-law.

Xiao Hen: "You go sleep with Uncle instead."

Xiaobao flailed, "I don’t want to! I don’t want to! I want to sleep with Jiaojiao!"

Even if he didn’t want to, he had to.

Xiaobao was mercilessly carried off to the next room by the wicked brother-in-law.

When Gu Jiao came back to the west room after her bath, the bed had been made with just one blanket; Xiaobao wasn’t there, and Xiao Hen... was there but was tidying up his sleeping garments.

"Aren’t you sleeping?" Gu Jiao asked.

She had just bathed, and her hair wasn’t dried yet. Wrapped around her head in a dry cotton cloth, she inadvertently left a wet strand hanging beside her ear, glistening droplets falling onto her fair neck.

It was somewhat tempting.

Xiao Hen cleared his throat and averted his gaze, looking instead at the clothes in his hand, and said, "I’ll go sleep with Xiaobao."

Gu Jiao glanced at the bedchamber in the west room, alright, it did seem a bit small for three people to sleep in.

But it wasn’t really a matter of the size of the bed; rather—