Chapter Two Hundred and Thirty-Nine
"I'm fine. Do you know where the Young Master is rushing off to in such a hurry?" Nanny Luo asked, supporting her own waist and walking with a limp.
"This servant doesn't know either. However, weren't the Young Master of Yongning Hou, Young Master Xie, and Young Master Wei keeping him company in his courtyard?" The little maid, who hadn't seen Xu Qingshi leave, said somewhat puzzled.
She had assumed Xu Qingshi was still in Liangqi Courtyard.
"He's gone out. Let's go check Liangqi Courtyard." Nanny Luo frowned.
She was also curious in her heart about where exactly Xu Qingshi was going.
Inside Liangqi Courtyard, after Xu Qingshi left, Jiang Yu couldn't help but point at Wei Herui's nose and demand, "Wei Herui, have you gone mad? Didn't you see Qingshi is still weak and needs rest? Why did you have to say those things to him?"
"I didn't say anything wrong!" Wei Herui didn't understand. Since this matter wasn't his doing, why was Jiang Yu blaming him?
"No one said this matter is your fault. But, saying it at this moment is your problem. Qingshi is still recuperating. This matter didn't have to be said right now!" Xie Yanzhi said disapprovingly.
"I merely stated a fact. Whether said early or late, he would have found out eventually. Besides, if you want to blame someone, blame that fickle Miss Li!" Wei Herui felt these two were being unreasonable. These events weren't caused by him.
"Wei Herui, those are just rumors! No one has any proof that they are true!" Xie Yanzhi still remembered how Li Zhiwei had protected him. He couldn't believe that Li Zhiwei would do such a faithless and unjust thing.
Moreover, this information was just gossip. What if it wasn't true?
"Then why is everyone spreading it?" Wei Herui, however, believed that since everyone was talking about it, it must be true.
Seeing the young men arguing incessantly, Nanny Luo quickly stepped forward with a smile and asked, "Young Masters, do you know where my Young Master has gone?"
"Greetings, Nanny Luo!" Xie Yanzhi, who visited the An Prince's mansion most frequently, recognized her.
"Greetings, Nanny Luo!" Jiang Yu also hurriedly greeted.
"Hmph!" Wei Herui, however, felt she was just a servant and he needn't give her any face.
"Nanny Luo, Qingshi has probably gone to the Li residence." Xie Yanzhi thought for a moment and said.
"Gone to the Li residence?" Nanny Luo was puzzled. Why would he go out wearing only his inner garments?
"Nanny Luo, Qingshi wants to go ask Miss Li why she is marrying someone else." Jiang Yu quickly explained.
"This child, how could he believe such words?" Nanny Luo frowned. Had the Young Master only just learned of this?
It seemed someone was spreading these false rumors.
Their goal was to ruin the marriage arrangement between the An Prince's mansion and the Li family?
Thinking of this, Nanny Luo hurried back to Ci'an Hall.
Xu Qingshi, though weak, was driven by a stubborn determination to see Li Zhiwei as soon as possible.
He wanted to ask clearly why Li Zhiwei was betraying him and marrying someone else.
Moyu, holding a robe, followed behind Xu Qingshi, extremely worried.
"Young Master, perhaps this servant can carry you?" Moyu was genuinely concerned that Xu Qingshi might not be able to endure.
"I will walk there myself!" Xu Qingshi stated with obstinate determination.
Moyu had no choice but to stay protectively by Xu Qingshi's side.
By the time Xu Qingshi reached the Li residence, he was already panting heavily from exhaustion. Nevertheless, he had Moyu knock on the main gate.
"Young Master, what brings you here?" The gatekeeper was very surprised to see the thinly-clad Xu Qingshi but quickly ushered him inside the mansion.
"Where is Li Zhiwei? I want to see her!" Xu Qingshi said between gasps for breath.
When Lady Yao heard that Xu Qingshi had arrived, she hurried over and heard his impolite, direct call for "Li Zhiwei."
His tone also seemed to carry a great deal of resentment.
Remembering the things Xu Qingshi had said to her daughter on their journey back to the capital, Lady Yao's heart sank. It seemed her daughter might also face some hardship in the An Prince's mansion.
She thought to herself that if possible, she too would prefer her daughter not marry into the An Prince's mansion.
"Qingshi is here." Lady Yao then changed to a smiling expression and walked in.
Seeing Xu Qingshi wearing only a single layer of inner garments, Lady Yao's heart tightened. In this weather, dressed so lightly yet with sweat beads on his forehead, she wondered if this child had run here on his own.
"You silly child, why aren't you properly dressed? You'll catch a cold, and that won't do." Lady Yao took the robe from Moyu's hands and gently draped it over Xu Qingshi's shoulders.
Xu Qingshi, his eyes red, looked at Lady Yao. Not seeing Li Zhiwei, the grievance in his heart grew heavier.
"Is it true she's really married?" Xu Qingshi asked, his voice choked with sobs.
Lady Yao was momentarily confused. Who got married?
"Waaah... Why is she marrying someone else?" Xu Qingshi cried while looking at Lady Yao and asking.
Even now, Lady Yao didn't understand who this child was asking about or why he was crying.
"Madam, has Miss Li truly married?" Seeing Lady Yao's puzzled expression and his own young master crying so heartbreakingly, Moyu anxiously asked on his master's behalf.
"Ah? When did she get married?" Lady Yao looked with bewilderment at the weeping, distraught Xu Qingshi.
So, he was crying so sadly because he thought her daughter had married?
Xu Qingshi, who had been crying uncontrollably, suddenly froze.
Her grandmother doesn't know she's married either?
"Waaah... Waaah... Waaah... Grandmother, she got married secretly and didn't even tell you? Waaah..." Xu Qingshi became even more heartbroken. He couldn't understand why Li Zhiwei would do this.
"By 'married,' are you referring to my daughter, Wei'er?" Lady Yao asked, somewhat amused, seeking confirmation from Xu Qingshi.
Xu Qingshi nodded, wanting to say something, but because he had been crying so hard, he could only hiccup intermittently.
Lady Yao looked at Xu Qingshi, both exasperated and amused.
"Couldn't you have checked the truth of the matter before crying your heart out?" Lady Yao said with feigned annoyance, giving Xu Qingshi's forehead a light rub.
She also found it quite funny in her heart.
This child cried for so long because he thought her daughter had married?
"So... so... hic... she... hic... didn't get married?" Xu Qingshi asked between hiccups and sniffles.
"When we were in Li'an County, you saw her almost every day. Did you ever see her put on a bright red wedding dress and sit in a big red bridal sedan chair?" Lady Yao asked with a laugh.
Xu Qingshi thought for a moment and quickly shook his head. He hadn't seen Li Zhiwei wear red clothes or sit in a red sedan chair.
"Well, there you have it. We've only been back for two days. Surely I wouldn't marry off my daughter in just two days. When I marry off my daughter, it must be done with great fanfare, sending her off with a dowry procession stretching for ten li. How could I marry her off in such a shabby manner?" Lady Yao said, giving Xu Qingshi's forehead another light rub.
She thought to herself, this child would probably repeat these words to his father, right?
If Xu Heming dared to treat her daughter lightly in the future, she would not stand for it!
