Chapter One Hundred and Fifty
The more Li Zhiwei thought, the more worried she became.
After all, Xu Qingshi was someone she had brought out. If anything really happened to him, she probably wouldn't be able to forgive herself.
"Zhiwei, what's wrong?" Shen An'an, who had been chattering non-stop, finally noticed Li Zhiwei's unusual state and asked in confusion.
"An'an, I have something to attend to." Li Zhiwei stood up and rushed straight out.
Without a second thought, Qinghua and Qingyue followed her.
"Hey..." Shen An'an still wanted to ask if Li Zhiwei would be coming back, but she saw that Li Zhiwei was already far away.
With an anxious heart, Li Zhiwei headed towards the place where they said the incident had occurred.
There were only many servants wailing on the ground.
She did not see Xu Qingshi's figure.
Only then did Li Zhiwei breathe a sigh of relief. As long as she didn't see Xu Qingshi, it was fine. That meant the person involved wasn't him.
Capital City
"Where did that little brat go?" Li Tianyou asked angrily, looking at Liu Ming.
"Master Li, my prince has gone to Li'an County," Liu Ming said with a fawning expression, but inwardly he thought, this Master Li has quite the nerve!
He actually dares to call my prince a little brat.
In the past, aside from the old prince who used to scold him like that, no one else has ever spoken of my prince in such a manner.
However, considering that Li Tianyou is my prince's future father-in-law, Liu Ming felt it might not be a big issue. Isn't it said that a son-in-law is half a son?
Moreover, given the incident where my prince nearly caused harm to Master Li, Liu Ming always felt that his prince was in the wrong. Even when speaking with Li Tianyou, he felt he needed to be extra humble and submissive.
This way, he wouldn't bring any more trouble upon his prince.
"That cunning villain! He ran off to Li'an County by himself without even calling me? What a treacherous scoundrel!" Upon hearing this, Li Tianyou flew into a rage and cursed loudly.
He went by himself, so why didn't he take me along?
That's my home!
Damn that Xu Heming! He must have been guarding against me, that's why he didn't tell me!
"Does your prince have something he's hiding from me?" Li Tianyou suddenly remembered, for some reason, the young lady he had seen at the An Prince's mansion before.
They say these high-ranking families in the capital always have their favorites, their white moonlight, and such.
Could it be that Xu Heming is going to find my daughter because of that woman?
The thought that his daughter might suffer a disadvantage made Li Tianyou extremely anxious.
Liu Ming stood by, forcing a smile while wiping the sweat from his forehead. Inwardly, he also sympathized with Li Tianyou's grievance. In this matter, it was one thing for the prince not to take him back together, but he could have at least sent a message.
Although he didn't agree with his prince's actions in his heart, that was his master, and he couldn't speak ill of his master.
However, remembering that the person Xu Heming had sent to the Ministry of Justice prison seemed to be the magistrate of Li'an County, he hurriedly said to Li Tianyou, "Master Li, when the prince left, he said there was an important matter and asked this old servant to pass it on to you."
"Hmph, that kid definitely can't be up to any good!" Li Tianyou felt that agreeing to this marriage alliance back then was too hasty.
"Master Li, someone was sent from Li'an County, said to be the magistrate there. I don't know what crime he committed, but he was sent to the Ministry of Justice prison. Perhaps you could find time to go take a look?" Liu Ming quickly added.
"The magistrate of Li'an County? Is that person surnamed Cao?" Li Tianyou was startled upon hearing this. If Magistrate Cao was brought to the capital by Xu Heming's men, the only possibility was that Cao Yunpeng had offended either his daughter or Xu Qingshi.
Neither outcome was something Li Tianyou wanted to see.
"I believe he is surnamed Cao," Liu Ming thought for a moment and said.
This matter didn't require excessive inquiry from a steward like him.
He only needed to be responsible for the internal affairs of the An Prince's mansion.
However, Prince An had specifically sent someone to tell him that if Master Li came, he should inform him of this matter.
"This is bad!" Upon hearing this, Li Tianyou turned and left without another word.
Steward Liu breathed a sigh of relief, but he also felt some curiosity. What exactly was the background of that magistrate from Li'an County?
Li'an County
As soon as Li Zhiwei returned to the Li residence, she saw Xu Qingshi waiting at the main gate.
Xu Qingshi had been very uneasy the whole way. He didn't understand why Li Zhiwei had suddenly stopped liking him.
He and Moyu had thought it over carefully but couldn't figure out what he had done wrong that would make Li Zhiwei feel disgusted with him.
The worst mistake was probably him calling Li Zhiwei 'mother' regardless of the occasion.
Therefore, Xu Qingshi and Moyu had been waiting at the gate, just to wait for Li Zhiwei to return to the mansion and apologize to her.
"Beautiful sister," Xu Qingshi, upon seeing Li Zhiwei, did not call her mother again, but instead called her 'beautiful sister' as he had when they first met.
Hearing this, Li Zhiwei was first taken aback.
She didn't understand why Xu Qingshi had suddenly changed his form of address again?
However, thinking that Xu Qingshi was safe, she also felt a great sense of relief.
But, seeing Xu Qingshi's aggrieved expression, Li Zhiwei also felt somewhat uncomfortable.
He's just a child. Why should I vent the faults of his father onto him?
"Let's talk inside," Li Zhiwei said, softening her tone.
Xu Qingshi, standing beside her, misunderstood Li Zhiwei's meaning. So, she really doesn't like me calling her mother?
Qin Family
"Mother, you must stand up for your daughter!" Qin Keyun cried all the way into the main courtyard.
"What's going on?" Huo Yunlan had just returned when she heard her daughter's wailing. Thinking about her brother's lack of cooperation today, her mood was already poor. Hearing Qin Keyun's cries made it even worse.
"Mother, today on the street I met a very handsome young man. I just wanted to go say hello, but he actually pushed me. Look at my hand." After sobbing and sniffling, Qin Keyun presented her hand, which would have healed if she hadn't shown it, right in front of Huo Yunlan's eyes.
"What? How dare someone treat a member of our Qin family like this!" Huo Yunlan angrily slapped the table and cursed.
The pearl hairpins in her bun jingled and clattered, as if echoing their owner's fury.
"Mother, I've never seen that young man before. Mother, you must catch that villain for me!" Though just a little girl, a flash of malice not befitting her age passed through Qin Keyun's eyes.
"And the people around you? Are they all dead? Can't even protect their mistress?" After her initial anger, Huo Yunlan turned her displeased gaze towards Lancao, Qin Keyun's maid, and demanded.
"Please forgive me, Madam. It was this servant's fault for not protecting the young miss properly. All the servants were beaten down by the attendants that person had with him. This servant and the young miss only escaped from those people's hands with great difficulty," Lancao quickly knelt and said.
However, what Lancao didn't know was that the hidden guards around Xu Qingshi had never intended to do anything to a little girl like Qin Keyun.
"Hmph! I want to see just who it is that doesn't even put our Qin family in their eyes!" Huo Yunlan stood up and strode out. She was determined to find and drag out the culprit who had bullied her daughter!
