Chapter 186
"What are you muttering about?" Li Zhiwei hadn't caught what Xu Heming was saying and asked, puzzled.
"I said, making that Huo Number Two drink spiked wine and sending a few beggars her way was going easy on her," Xu Heming said, looking at Li Zhiwei with a somewhat complicated feeling.
"You really did that?" Li Zhiwei hadn't expected Xu Heming to settle that score too?
This was indeed beyond her expectations, as she hadn't discussed the details with him.
However, thinking that Qingchuan and the others must have told him, she no longer found it strange.
Besides, when he first arrived at Jiyun Manor, wasn't he mistaken for a beggar himself?
Yet, thinking of that Kong Meng'er, Li Zhiwei still had questions in her heart.
What exactly happened between this man and that girl? Why did the girl say he was her mountain stronghold husband?
And even wanted to have children with him?
She hadn't known the An Wang could bear children.
Thinking this, Li Zhiwei tapped the table with one hand, her eyes fixed intently on Xu Heming's stomach.
She was extremely curious—could this belly really carry a child?
Could it be that girl had some secret medicine that allowed men to give birth?
If such a thing really existed, she wanted some too.
"Naturally. This prince also let her taste the beggar's lot, so she'd stop scheming to harm people all day," Xu Heming assumed Li Zhiwei was looking at him because she wanted to know about Huo Yunyao's matter and quickly added.
"Father, what kind of taste do beggars have? Aren't beggars all smelly?" Xu Qingshi asked from the side, not understanding.
Xu Heming was momentarily at a loss for how to explain such a matter to a child and looked at Li Zhiwei for help.
"The fault of the child lies with the father," Li Zhiwei's lips curved slightly.
She thought to herself, the child was now at an age curious about everything; she couldn't possibly answer all those 'whys.'
Besides, this was his biological father; answering his own son's questions was only right, wasn't it?
Xu Heming hadn't expected Li Zhiwei to respond to him like this.
"Father, hurry up and say, what exactly do beggars taste like?" Seeing Xu Heming hadn't answered his question, Xu Qingshi asked again.
"Adult matters are not for children to worry about. You'll know when you grow up," Xu Heming said with a dark expression, brushing it off.
"Mean-spirited!" Xu Qingshi stomped his foot in dissatisfaction.
Deyang Manor.
Kong Yuchuan looked at his younger sister, who had been sent back trussed up like a chicken, full of bewilderment.
"Who are you? How dare you bind someone from my Deyang Manor?" Kong Yuchuan glared at the people who had brought Kong Meng'er back.
"We are from the An Wang Residence," Qing Mu said with a cold face.
Throughout the journey, he had had quite enough of this young lady's shrieking.
Fortunately, the Wangye had the foresight to have her take a sleeping draught initially.
But once the medicine wore off, this young lady either tried every way to escape or screamed and shouted.
The task of escorting her back to Deyang Manor was even more exhausting than battling on a battlefield.
"People from the An Wang Residence?" Hearing Qing Mu's words, Kong Yuchuan's heart sank a little.
They and the An Wang Residence could be said to have kept well clear of each other.
Today, the An Wang sent people to bind his younger sister and deliver her back.
This matter, however one looked at it, seemed anything but simple.
"Indeed. By my Wangye's order, I am escorting Miss Kong back. This is a letter my Wangye instructed me to deliver to Manor Master Kong," Qing Mu took out another letter, personally written by Xu Heming to Kong Yuchuan.
Kong Yuchuan frowned.
He glanced at his struggling sister on the ground.
Then looked at Qing Mu and asked, "What have you done to my younger sister? Could you untie her first?"
Kong Yuchuan's words were spoken quite politely, considering that at his own doorstep, with his sister still held captive, if word got out, his reputation as the master of Deyang Manor would be ruined.
"Then Manor Master Kong must guarantee to keep a close watch on Miss Kong and not let her go out to cause trouble for others," Qing Mu still wore a cold expression as he spoke.
"Naturally, naturally," Kong Yuchuan said this, though his heart felt somewhat uneasy.
His younger sister had lost their mother young and was raised by their father and her several brothers.
Later, their father passed too, and they doted on her even more, basically granting her every wish.
This girl, unable to bear the hardship of learning martial arts as a child, had instead mastered lightness skill better than any of them.
If you took your eyes off her for a moment, you wouldn't know where she had slipped off to.
This time, she had been gone for quite a while too.
In the past, after playing enough outside, she would return on her own. This was the first time she had been brought back bound.
"Who are you? Let go of my sister!" Kong Yuhe, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, roared upon seeing his restrained sister.
Qing Mu merely gave Kong Yuhe a cold glance and said nothing.
"Second brother, don't be rash," Kong Yuchuan feared his younger brother would provoke this military officer, who might then take their sister away and not return her.
While they weren't necessarily incapable of fighting, if a misunderstanding arose with the An Wang Residence, resolving it later would be troublesome.
Besides, commoners shouldn't contend with officials.
Since they were returning her, presumably they had no intention of harming his sister.
He was more curious about whether his sister had done something to them to warrant being sent back trussed up like this.
"Elder Brother, they've slapped us right at our doorstep! If you can swallow this insult, I can't!" Kong Yuhe raised the iron hammer in his hand, intending to strike Qing Mu.
"Second! Does your elder brother's word count for nothing here?" Kong Yuchuan shouted angrily.
"Elder Brother!" Kong Yuhe was displeased but didn't dare act recklessly.
"Manor Master Kong should read the letter first," Qing Mu believed his Wangye must have clearly detailed Miss Kong's misdeeds in the letter.
His Wangye hadn't even punished her, merely sending her back; that was already magnanimous.
Kong Yuchuan hurriedly opened the letter. The more he read, the more cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
Good heavens, was this something his sister would do!
Playing bandit and kidnapping the An Wang was one thing, but then wanting him to be her mountain stronghold husband and even have children with her...
Thinking this, Kong Yuchuan's face could barely contain his embarrassment.
This really was his own foolish younger sister!
Could men bear children?
She didn't even know such common sense.
"Thank you for your trouble, Officer, in escorting my younger sister back. This matter is due to our lack of proper discipline. Please convey to the An Wang that we will certainly keep a close watch on her and absolutely will not let her appear before the An Wang again to displease him," Kong Yuchuan quickly said to Qing Mu with a smile.
He thought to himself, the An Wang had suffered a tremendous humiliation at his sister's hands. Not killing her was already giving face to their Deyang Manor.
If he didn't have the sense to keep her properly watched, next time, they might not be so lucky.
Kong Yuhe at the side was extremely dissatisfied. They had bullied his sister like this, yet his elder brother was still bowing and scraping to them, without a shred of backbone.
Wasn't this inviting others to trample all over Deyang Manor's neck from now on?
Thinking this, Kong Yuhe shot Qing Mu a glare.
"Since the person has been returned and the matter clarified, I hope Manor Master Kong will abide by what you just said in the future. Do not let Miss Kong appear before His Highness again. After all, next time, what is sent back might not be a person!" Having said this, Qing Mu led his men and departed.
