Chapter One Hundred and Seventy-Eight
"There's no need for such formality, Uncle. We are all family." Xu Heming quickly helped Yao Qisheng up, feeling quite pleased with himself. It seemed this uncle was somewhat sensible after all.
Hmph, let's see if he still dares to try and steal from me!
Li Zhiwei was his; no one else could come and snatch her away.
The corner of Li Zhiwei's mouth twitched. Who was the one putting on airs just a moment ago?
And now, suddenly they're 'family'?
"You are a prince, Your Highness. It is only right for a commoner like me to pay my respects." Yao Qisheng wasn't sure if Xu Heming genuinely meant for him to skip the formalities or was just being polite.
In any case, he dared not overstep the bounds even a little.
After all, commoners do not contend with officials.
Moreover, this was a top-tier official. Even if you gave Yao Qisheng ten extra doses of courage, he wouldn't dare show any disrespect.
"You are Zhiwei's uncle, and that makes you my uncle as well. There's no need for such courtesy." Seeing Yao Qisheng being so tactful, Xu Heming spoke with satisfaction.
"Alright, hurry up and go. If you delay any longer, that person might run off again. How will you seek justice for my father then?" Li Zhiwei said discontentedly, hands on her hips, glaring at Xu Heming.
She had been wondering why Huo Yunxuan had slipped away so quickly today.
So it was because he had a guilty conscience.
"Don't worry, I will definitely seek justice for my future father-in-law." At this thought, the ruthlessness in Xu Heming's eyes intensified.
Did Huo Yunxuan really think he could become the Emperor's trusted aide and that he, Xu Heming, was easily fooled?
Back then, it was only because he had trusted him too much that he was deceived.
"Zhiwei, my dear, this gentleman... is he my future nephew-in-law?" Watching Xu Heming leave with his men, Yao Qisheng finally let out a sigh of relief.
However, he thought to himself that his son's safe return was probably due to his niece's intercession.
"Uncle, I'm afraid you've witnessed something rather embarrassing. The Emperor has decreed our marriage. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, he should indeed be your future nephew-in-law." Li Zhiwei nodded as she spoke.
"Your future husband treats you quite well." Yao Qisheng recalled how Li Zhiwei had spoken to Xu Heming rather poorly earlier, yet Xu Heming showed no sign of anger and instead remained very humble and amiable.
"Uncle, don't let him fool you." Thinking of Xu Heming, Li Zhiwei also sighed.
"Well, as long as he treats our Zhiwei well, that's what matters. By the way, where is your mother?" Yao Qisheng asked with some curiosity.
After all, he genuinely cherished Lady Yao, his only sister.
While his visit this time carried an element of apology, he also truly wished to see his sister after more than a decade apart.
"Mother's health has improved a lot recently. Let me take you to her right now." Li Zhiwei said with a smile.
"Good. Is it true your father has really become an official in the capital?" Yao Qisheng asked as they walked.
"It's true. It was by the Emperor's grace that Father was appointed as a Vice Minister of Revenue." Li Zhiwei nodded.
Upon hearing this, Yao Qisheng sighed inwardly.
He thought, if back then, when his sister had written that letter, they had agreed to let Shuheng come to the Li family to marry Zhiwei...
Now that his brother-in-law was an official in the capital, could their own son have also benefited from the connection?
But regretting it now was useless. After all, his niece had a better path to walk.
As her uncle, he should be happy for his niece and his sister's family.
"That's wonderful. In the future, with your parents in the capital, you can all look out for each other." Yao Qisheng said with a smile.
"Yes, Uncle. When I marry Prince An, I invite you and Aunt to come to the capital to attend the ceremony." Li Zhiwei said smilingly to Yao Qisheng.
"Splendid! I'll take your aunt to broaden our horizons. We've never seen what the capital looks like." Yao Qisheng replied with a hearty laugh.
"Then you must bring Aunt and stay in the capital for a good while, to properly explore the city."
As they chatted, they arrived at Lady Yao's courtyard.
At that moment, Lady Yao was sitting in the courtyard, pruning her favorite camellia bush.
"Mother, look who's here?" Li Zhiwei called out cheerfully.
"You child, who is it?" Lady Yao chided with a smile, her heart also curious about who had come to make her daughter so happy.
"Little sister!" Seeing his sister, still as gentle and graceful as she was on her wedding day, Yao Qisheng couldn't help but feel his eyes grow moist.
"Elder brother? How did you get here?" When Lady Yao saw clearly that the visitor was Yao Qisheng, she quickly put down her shears and stepped forward excitedly to look at her elder brother.
"It's been so long since I've seen you. I wanted to come and visit." Yao Qisheng said with a smile.
"Chuntao, why haven't you served tea to our honored guest?" Overjoyed, Lady Yao immediately instructed the maid by her side to bring tea for Yao Qisheng.
"Elder brother, please sit." Lady Yao pulled Yao Qisheng to sit down while studying her elder brother.
Seeing the grey hair at his temples, her heart was deeply moved.
Her elder brother had aged too; he already had white hair.
There were also many wrinkles on his face.
"How have you and sister-in-law been all these years in Qujing?" Even though Yao Shuheng had told her about his parents' situation in Qujing during his last visit, Lady Yao still wanted to hear directly from her brother how they had been faring all these years.
"We've been well. It's just that we missed you. Over the years, we always thought of coming to see you, but something always came up and delayed us." Thinking of this, Yao Qisheng couldn't help but smile self-deprecatingly.
After all, this time, if not for his son nearly causing trouble at his sister's place, he probably still wouldn't have come to Li'an County to visit her.
"As long as you are well, that's what matters. My health hasn't been good these years either, otherwise, I should have gone to visit you." Lady Yao did not bring up the matter of Yao Shuheng. Since her daughter was not pursuing it, she hoped her brother wouldn't dwell on it too much.
After all, she still trusted her brother's upbringing of his child. Shuheng had merely been momentarily blinded.
In the future, with no need to meet again, this matter could be considered closed.
"Sister, Zhiwei, I must apologize to you both once more here! I failed in teaching my son, allowing Shuheng to commit such an absurd act against Zhiwei. I am ashamed before you!" However, Yao Qisheng stood up and bowed deeply to them with great solemnity.
"Uncle, please don't be like this. That matter is already in the past." Although Li Zhiwei knew Yao Qisheng had come partly because of the Yao Shuheng incident, she had not dealt with it at the time and had no intention of delving into it now.
"Elder brother, as Zhiwei said, let this matter be turned over. Why must you hold onto it?" Lady Yao sighed, comforting her elder brother.
"Back then, when you wrote saying you wanted to match Zhiwei and Shuheng, I considered sending Shuheng to Li'an County. At that time, your sister-in-law couldn't bear to part with him, so the matter was delayed again and again." Yao Qisheng sighed, never imagining that a delay of a few months would result in his niece being betrothed to someone else by the time they finally acted.
"This matter is also my fault for not writing to you promptly. At that time, the marriage proposal from the Ruan Marquis family came so suddenly, giving us no time to prepare. By the time we thought to write to you, Zhiwei had encountered trouble in the capital. Before things were settled, I felt too ashamed to write to you." Lady Yao sighed, never thinking that this was the reason the two children had missed their chance.
"What trouble did Zhiwei encounter?" Yao Qisheng asked in surprise upon hearing this.
