Chapter 160
"Bang!" With a loud crash, Xu Heming felt the ground beneath his feet tremble, his heart filled with panic. He hadn't even had the chance to explain everything clearly to Li Zhiwei yet.
If he were to die just like this, would Li Zhiwei resent him for a lifetime?
Thinking of this, Xu Heming felt a sour taste in his heart.
With his previous princess consort, they had respected each other like guests. Although he had no deep feelings for Madam Zhou, she had borne him Qingshi, and he was genuinely grateful to her from the bottom of his heart. However, she had passed away during childbirth. Although it was later investigated and found to be related to the Liu family,
she was already gone. He could only seek justice for her, but there was no way to bring her back to life.
Li Zhiwei was a marriage arranged by the Emperor, but from their first meeting, he felt she was different from others.
For some reason, he just didn't want Li Zhiwei to misunderstand him.
Thinking of this, Xu Heming clenched his fists tightly.
"Whew!" Kong Meng'er let out a heavy breath, wiping the sweat from her forehead.
Finding a tree big enough to build a wooden hut had taken some effort from Kong Meng'er.
“Husband, don't worry, I definitely won't let you suffer. I'm determined to build a comfortable dwelling for you right here. You just stay here and focus on bearing children for me. I'll handle the outside world!” Kong Meng'er patted her small chest proudly, imitating the way the brothers at Deyang Manor spoke to their wives.
Xu Heming had just tried clenching his hands again. He could indeed move now. It seemed that although this young girl was skilled at pressure point strikes and qinggong, the effects of the pressure point strike had a time limit.
He was slowly recovering.
He was absolutely certain of this.
However, regarding Kong Meng'er's words, Xu Heming was utterly exasperated, thinking to himself, how could a grown man like him possibly bear children?
He also wondered how Kong Yuchuan usually taught his sister.
But he didn't want to say much more to this Kong Meng'er anyway.
After all, she wouldn't listen to what he said. He only wanted to leave this damned place as soon as possible.
At the foot of the mountain,
Qingsong had already led people to search the surrounding area several times, but there was still no sign of Xu Heming.
"What should we do now?" The head of the shadow guards, Qing Feng, frowned as he looked at Qingsong.
Just think, the dignified head of the shadow guards, going out with the Prince, actually managed to lose him. If this news were to get back to the capital, he probably wouldn't need to be the shadow guard leader anymore.
It was truly humiliating.
Qingsong looked at the mountains surrounding them on all sides. They had searched everywhere they could, but still found no trace of the Prince.
He had no idea what situation the Prince was in now.
"Keep searching!" Qingsong said through gritted teeth.
For now, all they could do was search.
He didn't know where that crazy woman was hiding.
Their own Prince's martial arts were also superior to theirs. He didn't know whether the Prince was no match for that person, or if that person had used some method to restrain him.
Thinking of this, Qingsong was also very anxious, hoping only to find the Prince as soon as possible.
"Could the Prince have gone to find the Princess Consort himself first?" a shadow guard whispered.
After all, the purpose of their trip was to go to Li'an County to find the Princess Consort.
Perhaps the Prince grew impatient?
"If the Prince had gone ahead first, he would definitely have sent us a message. But now, the Prince hasn't given us any news." Qingsong shook his head, thinking it would be good if that were the case.
In the blink of an eye, it was the day of the flower appreciation banquet hosted by Huo Yunyao.
"Beautiful sister, please take me with you!" Xu Qingshi was acting coquettishly towards Li Zhiwei.
He had been staying at the Li residence every day these past few days, not going anywhere. It was really too boring.
"Qingshi, today's banquet is practically a trap. You should stay at the residence." Li Zhiwei sighed. If it were an ordinary banquet, it would be fine, but Huo Yunyao was clearly aiming to see her make a fool of herself.
If she took Xu Qingshi along and, in a moment of inattention, gave the enemy an opening, wouldn't that be throwing Xu Qingshi into the wolf's den? The thought made Li Zhiwei strongly reject such an outcome.
"Beautiful sister, I promise, I won't run around, and I won't let Moyu leave my side." Xu Qingshi said, pulling Moyu along.
Outside Jiyun Manor, Shen An'an waited anxiously for Li Zhiwei's arrival.
She didn't know what Huo Yunyao planned to do today either. However, thinking about Li Zhiwei asking her to act according to her instructions, she was still very afraid.
If something unexpected happened to Li Zhiwei because of this, she thought she would never forgive herself.
Inside Jiyun Manor.
"Mother." A little boy looked timidly at Huo Yunyao, feeling very scared inside.
"Look at you, you're a boy after all. Being so timid and submissive all day long, what kind of appearance is that?" Huo Yunyao felt intense dislike the moment she saw her son.
She, Huo Yunyao, was brave and resourceful. How did she give birth to a son who kept his head bowed no matter who he saw?
He didn't resemble her son at all.
Yet, this person not only looked exactly like his father but also came from her own womb.
Even though she disliked him, she had to accept it.
But thinking about the many guests arriving today, wouldn't his mannerisms embarrass her?
"Your child knows he's wrong." Zhu Maosheng said softly.
He didn't know why, but every time he saw his mother, he felt fear from the bottom of his heart.
Although he knew this was the mother who gave birth to him, he just couldn't feel close to her.
"Didn't Madam invite the ladies and young misses from Li'an County to appreciate flowers today? Why are you angry again? Maosheng, did you upset your mother?" A deep male voice came from outside.
The person arriving was none other than Huo Yunyao's husband, the Second Master of the Zhu family, Zhu Yunxian.
Hearing the voice, Zhu Maosheng felt relieved inside. He knew his father had come to save him.
At this moment, all he needed to do was lower his head and stay silent. His father would naturally find a suitable explanation for him in front of his mother.
"Don't even mention it. Look at this son of yours, where does he resemble the son of Huo Yunyao? This timid and submissive manner all day long is infuriating to see." Huo Yunyao pointed at her son beside her with a dissatisfied expression, her words filled with disdain, as if this wasn't her own biological son.
Hearing this, Zhu Yunxian's eyes darkened momentarily, then he smiled and walked up to Huo Yunyao, patting her back to soothe her: "Madam, Maosheng is just a child. He's still young. If he doesn't do well, I will teach him slowly. Please don't let this anger you and harm your health, otherwise, your husband will be heartbroken."
"You only know how to feel sorry for him? When have you ever felt sorry for me? My son, Huo Yunyao's son, is like this all day. Where do you expect me to put my face when I take him out!" Although Huo Yunyao's words were harsh, her tone softened a bit.
She was still quite receptive to Zhu Yunxian's words.
She just didn't understand why she couldn't bring herself to like this son from the bottom of her heart.
“How could that be? I don't have enough time to feel sorry for you, Madam. Maosheng is our son. If you scold him now, won't you be the one who feels most sorry for him later? It's you I feel sorry for!” Zhu Yunxian said, looking affectionately at Huo Yunyao.
Seeing this, Zhu Maosheng tactfully withdrew.
