Chapter One Hundred and Seventy-Four
Xu Heming suddenly knelt before them, startling both Lady Yao and Li Zhiwei.
One must remember, Xu Heming was a prince of the realm.
Lady Yao hastily dismissed the servants.
She was terrified that later, this prince or someone of his stature, would hold her and her daughter accountable.
"Your Highness, what is the meaning of this?" Li Zhiwei frowned and asked displeased.
After all, the one who had done wrong was clearly him. How dare he kneel before her and her mother?
Was this not bringing misfortune upon them?
Consider that he, the esteemed Prince An, in the capital, only needed to kneel before the Emperor, the Empress, and the Empress Dowager.
Even other consorts, princes, and princesses had to address him respectfully as "Your Highness, Prince An."
Seeing him kneel like this before her, Li Zhiwei was utterly at a loss.
Lady Yao was even more flustered. One must understand, the Li family were originally merchants.
She was only accustomed to kneeling when she saw officials or their wives.
But no one had ever knelt to her!
"I apologize. I know I was wrong to buy counterfeit wine for my father-in-law. This matter caused him much suffering. It is fortunate that he is alright, otherwise my crime would truly deserve death ten thousand times over. However, I truly did not do this intentionally. Huo Yunxuan deceived me. It was my failure to judge character correctly. I am at fault! I beg Mother-in-law and my Princess to punish me!"
Xu Heming spoke with utmost sincerity.
Having said this, he also brought out a whip he had prepared in advance.
"In Li'an County, who doesn't know that the Huo family's young master and my husband are sworn rivals? How could a man of Your Highness's courage and wisdom believe his lies? Whether Your Highness did this on purpose or by accident, you yourself know best!" Lady Yao, thinking of how her husband had nearly lost his life from drinking the fake wine, felt her heart could find no peace.
Even though the person before her was a prince, she still had to speak a few words of justice for her husband.
Talking about being deceived—in her view, this man was simply a wolf with ambition, coveting their family's wealth.
"Back then, when Father-in-law recommended Huo Yunxuan to the Emperor, I assumed, based on that, that Father-in-law was on good terms with him. Huo Yunxuan even specifically let me taste that wine, and it was fine. He then led me to believe that Father-in-law loved this wine most. That's why I spent a high price to buy a jug from him, hoping to cater to Father-in-law's preferences. I never imagined my good intentions would lead to such a bad outcome!" Thinking of this, Xu Heming was also full of remorse.
He never expected that Huo Yunxuan would dare to cheat even him.
He was also extremely angry about it.
However, he had heard that Huo Yunxuan had returned to Li'an County. This grudge, he was determined to settle.
Lady Yao looked at her daughter in disbelief. Would Li Tianyou recommend Huo Yunxuan?
How was that possible? Weren't they mortal enemies?
Why would her husband do such a thing?
Li Zhiwei, however, nodded to her mother. This matter was likely true, as it was to investigate accounts that her father had asked her to return.
Still, thinking of how her father had nearly lost his life, she felt unwilling to forgive Xu Heming just like that.
"In this matter, all the fault, every bit of it, is mine. Whatever anger Mother-in-law and my Princess harbor, please vent it all! I will never make such a mistake again." Xu Heming once again spoke with great humility, raising the whip over his head.
Lady Yao quickly turned her face away.
She was angry.
But asking her to hit someone? She wouldn't dare, especially when this person was a prince, more powerful than the county magistrate.
Li Zhiwei looked at the whip, then thought of the peril her father had faced, nearly losing his life.
Outside the door
"Will this trick of yours work?" A guard asked Qing Chuan with some worry.
"I don't know either. But if His Highness can't get past this hurdle, do you think he can smoothly marry the Princess?"
"It looks doubtful!" Even without much sentimentality, the guard understood that what their prince had done would displease Miss Li and Lady Li.
"Do you think Miss Li will whip His Highness?" Qing Chuan asked with some anticipation.
"Probably not?" The guard's words had barely fallen.
Li Zhiwei, without the slightest hesitation, picked up the whip in her hand and lashed it across Xu Heming's body.
"The first lash is for your failure to judge character, which nearly cost my father his life!"
Even using all her strength, the blow caused little actual pain to Xu Heming.
However, Xu Heming instead breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as Li Zhiwei didn't hold further resentment against him because of this.
He was a grown man; taking a few lashes was hardly a big deal.
"The second lash is for you acting on your own without consulting my father first!"
The thought that Xu Heming had actually believed Huo Yunxuan's lies without verifying anything made Li Zhiwei extremely unhappy.
If Huo Yunxuan said there was something between her and him, would he believe that too!
"The third lash is for you trying to hide this matter from me after my father fell ill!" Li Zhiwei used all her strength, striking Xu Heming three times.
"If my Princess is still unsatisfied, please whip me more." Seeing Li Zhiwei still looking somewhat furious, Xu Heming said with a pained heart.
He had long known he was wrong in this matter, just hoping for Li Zhiwei's anger to subside.
"Have you apologized to my father?" After whipping him, Li Zhiwei asked angrily.
"I have already begged for forgiveness from Father-in-law in the capital regarding this matter." Xu Heming quickly replied.
"And my father just forgave you like that?" Li Zhiwei frowned as she asked.
"Father-in-law was extremely angry when he heard..." Xu Heming didn't know if Li Tianyou's anger had subsided, so he could only report truthfully.
"Fine. This matter will be discussed again when my father forgives you!" Li Zhiwei was also furious with Huo Yunxuan in her heart.
To think that with his polite demeanor around her, he would resort to such underhanded tactics.
The Huo family truly had no good people.
It seemed she should have less to do with the Huo family from now on.
Hearing this, Lady Yao frowned beside them, thinking, was her daughter forgiving him so easily?
She didn't know what her daughter saw in him.
Hearing this, Xu Heming also relaxed, thinking the matter was over, and started to stand up.
"Kneel down!" Li Zhiwei's dissatisfied voice came again.
Xu Heming looked puzzled. Had he done something else to displease Li Zhiwei?
But, Xu Heming obediently knelt back down.
Lady Yao looked at her suddenly much fiercer daughter, then glanced at Xu Heming in disbelief. Was he really this obedient?
"Wei'er, that's about enough." Although Lady Yao didn't like Xu Heming, a man's knees were worth gold. The fact that he was willing to kneel before her and her daughter to apologize had already earned half her forgiveness.
Now that the matter was clarified and her daughter had already struck him, it was unreasonable to keep him kneeling further.
If word got out, it wouldn't be good for her daughter's reputation.
"Mother, your daughter knows her limits." Li Zhiwei thought to herself, since he was already kneeling, and her father's matter was explained, there was still the matter of Du Qiuniang that hadn't been clarified.
That kind of venomous woman, she had no desire to share a husband with her.
"If I have done anything to wrong my Princess, please punish me as you see fit." When Qing Chuan first suggested kneeling to apologize, Xu Heming had been very resistant. But once he started doing it,
it didn't seem so difficult after all.
"What is your relationship with Du Qiuniang?" Li Zhiwei looked coldly at Xu Heming and asked.
