The carriages of Leng Ruoli and Jun Mohan, since entering the capital, had heard the most gossip on the bustling streets about the Concubine Leng of Prince Qing giving birth to an hermaphroditic monster, which was then ordered by Prince Qing to be drowned in the lake.
Leng Ruoli, inside the carriage, heard these rumors and immediately guessed that Leng Ruoshuang must have given birth to a hermaphroditic infant.
Such hermaphroditic infants, if placed in modern times with advanced medical technology, could have their intersex condition corrected through surgery and restored. However, in ancient times with backward medical standards and superstitious people, they could only be treated as monsters.
However, Jun Moyao was quite ruthless. As the saying goes, even a tiger does not eat its cubs. Even if the child was born a monster, it was still his own flesh and blood. He truly could order his subordinates to throw the child into the lake and drown it.
"Jun Mohan, I didn't expect so many things to have happened in the capital in the few months we've been gone."
Leng Ruoli couldn't help but sigh.
"As long as they don't provoke us, it has nothing to do with us," Jun Mohan said lazily.
As the two chatted, the carriage unknowingly stopped at the entrance of Prince Leng's mansion. The guards stationed at the entrance, seeing Yin Yi and Yin Er driving the carriage, immediately guessed that their Prince and Princess had returned, and their hearts were filled with excitement.
"The Prince and Princess are back!"
"The Prince and Princess are back!"
"..."
The guards at the entrance repeatedly shouted in unison, dancing with joy like children.
One of the guards immediately rushed into the mansion to inform everyone inside to come out and welcome their Prince and Princess.
"Your Highness, Princess, we have arrived," Yin Yi reminded in a low voice.
"Ah, we've been out for months. I wonder how everyone in the mansion is doing?" Leng Ruoli said with nostalgia.
"We'll know once we enter the mansion," Jun Mohan said, stretching out his long arm and embracing Leng Ruoli's slender shoulder.
During these past few months, they had often lived in the open, causing his Lier to lose a lot of weight. Jun Mohan's heart ached greatly.
Immediately, Jun Mohan pulled Leng Ruoli's hand and smoothly alighted from the carriage. The two walked hand in hand into Prince Leng's mansion.
Chu Mingxuan and Yin Chen, who followed closely behind them, also alighted from the carriage and walked into the mansion behind the Prince and Princess of Leng.
Upon hearing the guards at the gate say that the Prince and Princess had returned, the servants in the mansion were initially stunned for a few seconds. Once they snapped back to reality, the entire mansion erupted in excitement.
Everyone quickly put down their work and rushed towards the main entrance of the mansion, forming two long lines.
Seeing the Prince and Princess entering the mansion, everyone's faces were beaming. Ye Ying and the butler, along with all the servants of the mansion, happily bowed to the two, shouting in unison: "Welcome back, Your Highness and Princess! We wish you auspiciousness!"
"Rise, everyone!" Jun Mohan waved his hand.
Everyone stood up.
Ye Ying and the butler walked towards Jun Mohan and Leng Ruoli. The two young maids, Xing'er and Ling'er, also walked over and surrounded Leng Ruoli.
Jun Mohan immediately instructed Ye Ying to arrange for people to go to the palace, Prince Leng's mansion, and the Xia mansion to announce the good news. Only then did he lead Ye Ying and the butler to his study to hear the reports of the past few months.
As for Leng Ruoli, she was escorted by her two maids towards the Hanchen Courtyard, their residence.
"Princess, you've been away for so long this time. Xing'er really misses you to death," Xing'er said, hugging one of Leng Ruoli's arms with a smile.
"Yes, Princess, Ling'er misses you too," Ling'er also hugged Leng Ruoli's other arm and said affectionately.
"Princess, could you take us, Xing'er and Ling'er, with you the next time you go on a long trip?" Xing'er asked with a smile.
"Of course! If I weren't in a hurry to handle business, I would take you two along."
Leng Ruoli chuckled.
"Thank you, Princess!" Xing'er and Ling'er said in unison.
As the three stepped through the moon gate of Hanchen Courtyard, a colossal creature flew from a dense osmanthus tree and landed in front of Leng Ruoli, its small head held high as it proudly blocked their path.
"Huh? Where did this golden eagle come from? Why is it so fat?" Leng Ruoli asked, a little puzzled.
As soon as she spoke, Xing'er and Ling'er burst into laughter.
"Princess, it's your pet golden eagle!"
Seeing the very large and fat golden eagle that had been fed, Leng Ruoli's forehead was immediately covered with a row of black lines.
"My goodness! You've fed it too much. It's almost like a chicken. Can it still fly?"
Leng Ruoli looked at the fat golden eagle with mixed feelings. Originally, Ming Jiuxiao had given her a golden eagle to be her mount. These two young maids had gone and treated it like a chicken.
"Princess, you can't completely blame us! Ever since you left, we've been stuck in the mansion and were so bored that we made feeding the golden eagle our entertainment. But Ye Ying, the butler, and the other guards and servants in the mansion, knowing that the Princess kept a golden eagle that liked to eat meat, would sneak into the garden every day with basins of chicken meat to feed the golden eagle. The golden eagle was fed until it was full every day, and it has become the darling of our mansion. As we kept feeding it, it got this fat," Xing'er said with amusement.
"You must stop feeding it like this. If it gets so fat that it can't fly anymore, it will truly become a chicken. From now on, you can only feed it one piece of chicken meat a day, not a single piece more," Leng Ruoli commanded.
"Yes, Princess," Xing'er and Ling'er replied respectfully.
"Xing'er, then go and inform the other servants in the mansion that they don't need to bring chicken meat to feed the golden eagle anymore. We will personally get meat from the kitchen to feed it."
Xing'er and Ling'er nodded obediently.
Then, Xing'er immediately ran out of Hanchen Courtyard.
Ling'er followed Leng Ruoli into the master bedroom, helping Leng Ruoli prepare clean clothes. Then, she instructed two maids to prepare a bath for the Princess and withdrew.
Leng Ruoli originally didn't want to trouble Ling'er and the others to prepare a bath for her, as she could have simply taken a shower in her space. However, seeing Ling'er's smiling face, she couldn't bear to refuse and accepted the petal bath prepared by Ling'er.
---
In Jun Mohan's study, Ye Ying and the butler were reporting to Jun Mohan about the events that had occurred in Prince Leng's mansion over the past five months, as well as several major events that had transpired in the capital during this period.
Nothing much had happened in Prince Leng's mansion. It was just that two months ago, the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, missing Leng Ruoli and Jun Mohan terribly, had secretly visited Prince Leng's mansion twice to check on them. Leng Jinyu and Madam Xia had also visited Prince Leng's mansion several times out of their longing for Leng Ruoli.
Jun Mohan was not surprised by these people visiting Prince Leng's mansion. What was strange, however, was that Prince Ning and Prince Qing had also visited Prince Leng's mansion twice. This made Jun Mohan very puzzled, as his relationship with them and Lier was not very deep. They must have had other motives for visiting Prince Leng's mansion.