Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Five
Li Zhiwei's face darkened.
This matter might very well be true.
After all, they had hidden guards around them, yet they were still captured. That clearly indicated someone familiar had targeted them.
However, what she couldn't understand was that Yao Shuheng should only have known about Qinghua and Qingyue being by her side; the others were all protecting her in secret.
Could it be that Yao Shuheng had also discovered their existence?
Thinking of this, Li Zhiwei looked at Yao Shuheng with suspicion.
Yao Shuheng avoided her gaze, somewhat flustered. He hadn't expected that person to take the money and not do the job.
The hidden guards had actually been nearby the whole time. The reason they hadn't shown themselves was simply to let Li Zhiwei see Yao Shuheng's true colors.
After all, they were Xu Heming's men. Their duty was not only to protect the safety of Li Zhiwei and Xu Qingshi but also to safeguard the position of the Prince's rightful consort.
Since a person with such wolfish ambitions had appeared by Miss Li's side, they thought it best to clear this obstacle for their Prince and let Miss Li see his ill intentions clearly.
Yesterday, they saw Yao Shuheng talking to this Liu Mazi. They hadn't thought much of it at the time. But today, after Yao Shuheng sent Qinghua and Qingyue away, they saw Liu Mazi making hand signals to Yao Shuheng from behind.
At that moment, Chang Boyuan, the leader of the hidden guards for this mission, ordered everyone to watch and wait.
As long as there was no danger to the person, they would hold their positions and not act.
Moreover, the other side was just one person who didn't seem to have any combat skills, so they felt at ease.
The next day, when Li Tianyou woke up, he only felt extremely uncomfortable.
His head throbbed violently, and his whole body felt weak and listless.
"Master, you're finally awake." The servant Zhuzi, seeing Li Tianyou awake, hurried forward to help him sit up.
"Why is it you? Where's Zhou Tong?" Li Tianyou looked at Zhuzi and asked, puzzled.
After all, it had always been Zhou Tong attending to him by his side.
He was accustomed to Zhou Tong's care.
"Master, Steward Zhou drank too much with you last night. He's still sleeping off the hangover," Zhuzi said, his eyes darting away.
Last night, Prince An had been truly terrifying, making them afraid to say anything out of line, so they just claimed it was a result of drinking too much.
Zhuzi thought of the peril from the previous night, and a wave of fear washed over him. Who would have thought the wine sent by the new son-in-law could be poisoned?
However, he dared not breathe a word of this matter.
After all, it was something that could cost one's head. Any thoughts he had could only rot in his own belly.
"He got drunk from just that little bit? This Zhou Tong, he's not even as good as this old man," Li Tianyou said, standing up somewhat unsteadily with Zhuzi's support.
"The master is in robust health despite his age," Zhuzi complimented appropriately.
"Old now, not what I used to be," Li Tianyou also felt that he hadn't drunk much last night, yet today he felt dizzy.
It's true, age is catching up; just that bit of alcohol has done this to me.
"Master, His Highness the Prince said for you to rest well at the residence these next couple of days. Affairs at the yamen can be put aside for now, and you need not attend the morning court sessions for the next two days either," Zhuzi quickly added, remembering Xu Heming's instructions from the previous night.
"Oh? Has he finally developed a conscience, letting me rest?" Li Tianyou said sarcastically.
"The Prince is still concerned about you," Zhuzi said with a smile.
He thought to himself: He almost 'concerned' the master to death. If the young lady finds out about this, I wonder if the Prince will still be able to marry our young lady.
"Hmph, unsolicited kindness is either deceptive or malicious!" Li Tianyou didn't believe for a second that Xu Heming could be that well-intentioned.
Zhuzi could only offer an awkward smile, thinking that his master truly saw things clearly.
"Master, you drank too much last night. Have some congee first," Zhuzi soon brought over a bowl of plain rice congee and said.
"Hey, is this also on Xu Heming's orders?" Li Tianyou looked at the plain congee with disdain in his eyes.
He didn't like it.
"Master, you drank too much last night, which hurt your spleen and stomach. You need to nourish your stomach properly. The Prince is also doing this for your own good," Zhuzi hurriedly explained.
These were the words of Doctor Hu from last night. He said that although the master had taken the antidote pill in time, his stomach was still injured. The Steward Zhou next door, because he was delayed for a few extra days, isn't faring as well.
He probably won't be able to eat anything for several days.
"Fine, I'll listen to him. He hasn't even married my daughter yet, and he's already nagging me like an old nanny," Li Tianyou sighed. Actually, he didn't have much appetite anyway.
But, considering Xu Heming meant well, he didn't dwell on it. However, come to think of it, wasn't it him who sent that wine last night?
When you get down to it, it was because he sent me the wine that I got greedy and drank too much.
After finishing the congee, Li Tianyou still felt somewhat out of sorts, but he still had Zhuzi support him to go next door to check on Zhou Tong.
Recently, to better care for him, Zhou Tong had been staying directly in the side room of his courtyard.
At this moment, Zhou Tong was lying weakly in bed.
"Zhou Tong, why do you look so terrible?" Li Tianyou, unaware of the reason, was startled to see Zhou Tong's sickly pallor. If he hadn't seen him perfectly fine just yesterday, he wouldn't have believed that in just one night, Zhou Tong looked as if he had been ill for a long time.
"Master!" Upon seeing Li Tianyou, Zhou Tong felt like crying. Prince An was clearly up to no good, trying to harm the master's life!
Last night, when Xu Heming arrived, Zhou Tong was still conscious. He was fully aware of what had happened.
But he dared not reveal a single word of it.
Prince An's aura was simply too overpowering.
He could only swallow this grievance.
However, seeing Li Tianyou standing before him now without any serious issues, Zhou Tong felt both wronged and somewhat comforted. At least he had borne some of the burden for the master; the master hadn't suffered too greatly.
But from now on, they really dared not accept anything sent from Prince An's residence.
"Ah, you young man, your constitution is too weak. It was just a few cups of wine, how did you end up like this? And you're still a young lad!" Li Tianyou shook his head at the utterly weak Zhou Tong.
He also felt a bit bad. Had he been mistreating Zhou Tong?
"Go tell the kitchen to prepare some good nourishing food for Zhou Tong. He needs to recuperate properly," Li Tianyou said to Zhuzi beside him.
"Master, Steward Zhou is the same as you. These next few days, he needs to recuperate gently. Rich, heavy tonics should be avoided," Zhuzi said, his scalp tingling, looking somewhat reproachfully at Zhou Tong.
He thought to himself, the work by the master's side was not easy. He really hoped Zhou Tong would recover quickly.
"Well, we'll make it up to him properly later. We mustn't shortchange ourselves. Zhou Tong, if you lack anything, just have the procurement buy it for you. Being this weak at such a young age won't do! Your father is still counting on you to give him a fat, healthy grandson to hold," Li Tianyou looked at Zhou Tong and added.
"Thank you for your concern, Master." Zhou Tong, in his 'weak' state, felt a tumult of emotions. With the master caring for him like this, did his sacrifice now have meaning?
The Imperial Palace
"You want to request a few days of leave for Minister Li? Why?" Zhu Jingchen looked at Xu Heming with a puzzled expression.
Wasn't it said that the one who had the accident at the Liu residence yesterday was Xiao Guozhi?
Why is it Li Tianyou asking for leave?
