Chapter 172
"Young Mistress, rest assured, this old servant won't even let a mosquito in," Zhong hurriedly said upon hearing her words.
Li Zhiwei nodded upon hearing this and entered the courtyard.
Seeing Li Zhiwei go in, Zhong quickly closed the main gate securely.
The Young Mistress had given orders not to let anyone in.
From now on, no matter who came, he would keep them outside the gate.
When Xu Heming arrived at the Li residence, he was met with tightly shut gates.
He knew then that Li Zhiwei must be angry.
He just couldn't figure out whether she was angry because he shouldn't have saved those two people, or because he had bought fake wine for Li Tianyou to drink.
But regardless of which it was, he needed to explain himself to Li Zhiwei as soon as possible.
"Your Highness, this subordinate will go knock," Qing Chuan said, stepping forward upon seeing the closed gates.
"Hmm!" Xu Heming thought of the stubborn gatekeeper, wondering if this time he would still be shut out.
Knock! Knock! Knock! After receiving Xu Heming's permission, Qing Chuan quickly stepped up to knock.
The successive knocks fell on the ears of Xu Heming, who stood nearby.
"Oh, Qing Chuan, you're back?" The gatekeeper, Zhong, poked his head out from the small window with a smile.
"Uncle Zhong, if you please, open the gate," Qing Chuan said to Zhong with a smile.
"Oh dear, Qing Chuan, you've come at an unfortunate time. Today, no matter who comes, this gate cannot be opened," Zhong said, feeling somewhat puzzled. He didn't know how Qing Chuan had offended the Young Mistress to be shut outside the manor.
After all, the Young Mistress was usually very gentle with servants like them.
"Uncle Zhong, that person over there, see him? He's your Young Mistress's fiancé. You'd better open the gate quickly, otherwise, when the Young Mistress blames you later, it won't be easy to explain, right?" Qing Chuan pointed at Xu Heming not far away.
Zhong looked in the direction Qing Chuan pointed. At that moment, Xu Heming had his back to them. Although Zhong didn't see his face clearly, he somehow looked familiar.
However, as for a fiancé or such, he, a mere servant, hadn't heard anything about it.
He only knew that the Young Mistress had given orders today not to let anyone in.
"The Young Mistress said, no one can come in, no matter who it is. Qing Chuan, why don't you take him somewhere else," Zhong said, shaking his head resolutely.
Qing Chuan was exasperated, thinking that the Princess Consort was indeed angry.
And rightly so. His Highness had actually saved another woman right in front of the Princess Consort. She must have misunderstood his relationship with that woman.
When Du Qiuniang arrived at the Li residence, she saw Xu Heming still outside the manor.
"Benefactor!" Du Qiuniang was overjoyed.
She knew it; her benefactor was waiting for her.
Seeing Du Qiuniang, Qing Chuan inwardly cursed: Damn it!
This was truly fearing what comes. Just thinking about the Princess Consort misunderstanding His Highness's relationship with this woman, and here she comes.
If His Highness really took this woman back to his residence, he probably wouldn't be able to explain it clearly even with a hundred mouths.
However, Qing Chuan was also curious: when did his master get to know this Du Qiuniang?
"Benefactor, I'm sorry, I couldn't walk as fast as you, so I'm late," Du Qiuniang said with a coy and shy expression. Not seeing anyone else there, she assumed Xu Heming was waiting for her.
Hearing this, Qing Chuan's mouth twitched.
Where did she get the nerve?
"What's going on?" Xu Heming looked at Qing Chuan with impatience; he really didn't want to deal with the person before him.
Even if the noble young ladies in the capital had intentions towards him, they still restrained themselves due to their status, not daring to shamelessly cling to him like this.
But this Du Qiuniang clearly had no shame.
She only wanted to cling to Xu Heming, this big tree.
"Your Highness, the Princess Consort won't let us in," Qing Chuan said somewhat awkwardly.
Xu Heming frowned, sighing inwardly. She was still angry.
"Benefactor, your clothes are still wet. How about you come to my place first to change before visiting Miss Li?" Upon hearing this, Du Qiuniang felt a surge of joy and quickly suggested to Xu Heming.
Li Residence
"Beautiful Sister..." Xu Qingshi bit his lip, looking somewhat embarrassed at the somewhat sullen Li Zhiwei.
"What's wrong?" Li Zhiwei's mind was currently filled with the image of Xu Heming fearlessly jumping into the lake to save someone.
She felt very unsettled.
"Can I have someone send some dry clothes to Father?" Xu Qingshi asked quietly.
After all, he was his own father. If he fell ill, Xu Qingshi didn't want to see that happen.
"Have Steward Zhou take him to the guest quarters," Li Zhiwei sighed, ultimately softening her heart.
"Thank you, Beautiful Sister," Xu Qingshi said, relieved upon hearing this.
This was about all he could do to help his father.
Just as Lady Yao returned to the manor, she saw a man standing at the gate, looking utterly disheveled.
Thinking that people often came to the Li family for help, Lady Yao sighed, took out a tael of silver, and tossed it in front of Xu Heming, saying, "Take the silver and leave quickly!"
Lady Yao also sized up the tall and sturdy Xu Heming, thinking, a man this big and strong, yet he doesn't know to find some work to support himself.
She somewhat looked down on such people.
Xu Heming stared at the silver suddenly thrown in front of him, completely stunned.
What did she mean?
Did she think he was a beggar?
Xu Heming frowned, his eyes filled with coldness.
The sudden hostility from Xu Heming frightened Lady Yao, causing her to step back repeatedly.
"Madam, you're back?" Qing Chuan, having just disposed of Du Qiuniang somewhere out of sight, returned to see Lady Yao.
"Qing Chuan, quickly chase this man away!" Seeing Qing Chuan return, Lady Yao felt relieved.
She knew that the people her daughter brought back were all exceptionally skilled.
With Qing Chuan here, she felt somewhat more confident.
"Chase... chase away?" Qing Chuan was dumbfounded.
Make his own prince leave?
He didn't dare!
Xu Heming was also dumbfounded!
This lady who had just given him alms was actually his future mother-in-law!
The problem was, he seemed to have just frightened her!
Xu Heming was filled with remorse. Looking more carefully, Lady Yao bore a sixty percent resemblance to Li Zhiwei. How had he not looked properly just now?
"Your son-in-law pays his respects to mother-in-law!" Xu Heming hurriedly performed a deep bow to Lady Yao.
"What?" Lady Yao couldn't believe it. This person was actually An Wang, her Wei'er's fiancé?
Lady Yao looked up and down at the disheveled Xu Heming, her heart sinking to the bottom.
Heavens, who would tell her, why is this prince so poor?
No wonder he picked our Wei'er to be his secondary princess consort?
That scoundrel Li Tianyou, does he think my daughter only deserves to marry a poor man?
Couldn't he pick a better one for his own daughter?
Thinking of this, Lady Yao felt regret. If she had known earlier, it would have been better to let her daughter marry Yao Shuheng!
At least they knew his background.
"Madam, this is An Wang, Miss Li's fiancé," Qing Chuan explained somewhat awkwardly.
Xu Heming also felt uneasy. He didn't know what kind of luck he had. Buying wine to show filial respect to his future father-in-law, he ended up with fake wine.
And now his future mother-in-law mistook him for a beggar asking for money.
"Enough. I dare not accept being called mother-in-law. I do not agree to your marriage with Wei'er. We'll discuss this matter later. For now, come inside!" Lady Yao said, then signaled for Zhong to open the gate.
