Chapter 220
"Lord Li was also at the residence?" Xu Heming hadn't expected Li Tianyou to be involved in this matter as well.
"That day, Lord Li originally came to the Prince's mansion to ask the Old Princess if you had sent any messages home. He never expected to encounter the incident with the Old Princess. For this, Lord Li and this old servant were accused by Miss Zheng of being the poisoning culprits. We were almost arrested."
Liu Ming recounted everything truthfully.
He wasn't lodging a complaint; he was simply explaining the situation to the Prince.
Moreover, this was not something he fabricated.
"What audacity this Zheng Qiaoshu has! Who gave her the nerve?" Xu Heming, furious upon hearing this turn of events, exclaimed.
On the other side, after court adjourned, Li Tianyou bid farewell to his colleagues and prepared to return to West Willow Lane.
Not long after his carriage started moving, there was a loud 'thud'.
"Zhou Tong, what happened?" Li Tianyou asked with a frown.
"Master, someone bumped into our carriage." After saying this, Zhou Tong hurried to check on the person who had collided with them.
He thought to himself, the road was so wide, why did this girl specifically run into their carriage?
"Young lady, why aren't you watching where you're going?" Zhou Tong asked the girl, somewhat exasperated.
Xu Jin'an bit her lip, looking at Zhou Tong with eyes welling up with tears.
"You there, your carriage hit someone, and you're blaming the young lady?"
Soon, someone couldn't stand it and spoke up for Xu Jin'an.
After all, Xu Jin'an looked utterly pitiful at the moment; who wouldn't feel sorry for her?
"She ran into our carriage herself. The road is so wide, why didn't she avoid it when she saw the carriage?" Zhou Tong was very angry. Was it a case of the weaker party always being right?
He had seen it clearly; it was this girl who deliberately bumped into them.
"I saw it too. Their carriage wasn't moving fast. The girl had plenty of time to avoid it," a bystander who witnessed the event quickly spoke up for Zhou Tong.
"Zhou Tong, what's going on?" Hearing the noisy chatter outside, Li Tianyou frowned and lifted the carriage curtain to ask.
"Master, it's nothing. This person bumped into our carriage." Zhou Tong quickly ran to Li Tianyou and pointed at Xu Jin'an.
Xu Jin'an, with reddened eyes, looked at Li Tianyou, wearing an expression that seemed on the verge of tears.
Seeing a young girl, about the same age as Li Zhiwei, looking at him like that, Li Tianyou sighed and said to Zhou Tong, "Take this young lady to a nearby clinic."
Regardless, since their carriage was involved in a collision, they should have a physician check if she's injured.
"This master is reasonable."
"Young lady, you should go get checked."
The crowd urged Xu Jin'an.
Although Zhou Tong was upset, since his master had instructed, he took Xu Jin'an to the nearby Huichun Clinic.
The physician carefully examined Xu Jin'an.
Xu Jin'an's own mind was in turmoil. She knew she was fine, but her mother had told her to find a way to go home with Lord Li. Unable to think of any other method, she had resorted to bumping into his carriage.
Earlier, she had caught a glimpse of Li Tianyou's appearance, and her heart fluttered. Her mother had said she was to marry Lord Li.
Thinking about serving Li Tianyou in the future, Xu Jin'an's small face flushed red again.
"Young lady, where does it hurt?" The physician, looking at Xu Jin'an's flushed face, asked puzzledly.
Xu Jin'an shook her head.
"She's fine." The physician sighed and said to Zhou Tong beside him.
"Zhou Tong, give her some silver. Let's go back." Li Tianyou sighed and added.
In his view, it was just spending a little money to avoid trouble.
Zhou Tong stuffed ten taels of silver into Xu Jin'an's arms without a word, then drove the carriage back home.
Xu Jin'an, however, kept following behind the carriage.
"Master, that girl is still following the carriage." Zhou Tong said unhappily.
"Did she say what she wants?" Li Tianyou frowned. The girl was unharmed, and he had Zhou Tong give her ten taels of silver. That should be enough, right?
Besides, someone had already said she ran into them herself; it wasn't their carriage that hit her.
Moreover, on the street, their carriage couldn't move fast anyway. The girl had clearly bumped into them on purpose.
"Master, she hasn't said a word." Zhou Tong said, utterly exasperated.
The girl just kept looking at you with that pitiful expression.
This made Zhou Tong very frustrated. They had done nothing wrong, even took her to a physician and gave her ten taels, yet the girl still wouldn't leave.
It was as if she wanted to latch onto them.
"Never mind her. Let's go back." For some reason, Li Tianyou thought of Xu Xiangren, who had been frequently "running into" him lately.
He found the appearance of this young girl equally distasteful.
Zhou Tong acknowledged and paid no more attention to Xu Jin'an.
When their carriage stopped at West Willow Lane, the Li family's gate had just opened. Xu Jin'an, however, contrary to her previous demeanor, rushed into the courtyard.
"Hey, you girl, why are you running into someone else's house?" Zhou Tong shouted in displeasure.
Li Tianyou frowned, sensing nothing good would come of this.
Xu Jin'an, however, was secretly delighted.
Her mother had said that once she entered the Li residence, her mother would have a way to make a scene. Then, pressured by public opinion, Lord Li would have no choice but to marry her.
Thinking of this, Xu Jin'an walked into the house with a smug look on her face.
"Ouch!"
Not paying attention, Xu Jin'an bumped directly into Qinghua, rebounded, and fell sitting on the ground.
"You girl..." Zhou Tong, who had chased in, saw Xu Jin'an sitting on the ground. Just as he was puzzled, he spotted Li Zhiwei and Lady Yao sitting not far away.
Lady Yao had been kindly waiting for her husband to return, never expecting a strange young girl to show up instead.
Qinghua, who had been ordered by Li Zhiwei to intercept the person, was also confused about where this girl came from.
"Miss..." Zhou Tong was about to address the young lady when a look from Li Zhiwei stopped him.
Zhou Tong could only glance behind him, thinking, Master, you'd better pray for good fortune.
After all, the Madam was back.
Thinking this,
Zhou Tong looked at Xu Jin'an on the ground with disgust, thinking this girl really knew how to pick her timing.
"Zhou Tong, hurry up and have someone throw her out." Li Tianyou said irritably as he entered the gate.
Zhou Tong lowered his head.
Xu Jin'an was stunned. Looking at the two beautiful women seated above, she momentarily didn't know how to react.
After all, hadn't her mother said Lord Li's wife and daughter were not in the capital?
Then who were these two?
Frowning, Li Tianyou walked into the courtyard. First seeing Xu Jin'an sitting on the ground, he said with displeasure, "Young lady, I bear you no old grudges or recent grievances. I kindly gave you ten taels of silver. Why have you come running to my house?"
"Perhaps she wants to become your concubine!" Li Zhiwei said coldly, looking at Xu Jin'an with a mocking tone.
Li Tianyou looked toward the source of the voice in horror.
