Chapter 242
"I, your humble servant, obey the imperial decree. I will definitely investigate this matter thoroughly. My mother's poisoning has absolutely nothing to do with Lord Li. I sincerely hope Lord Li can forgive me." Xu Heming adopted an extremely deferential attitude, hoping to lessen Li Tianyou's animosity towards him.
He sighed inwardly. He had just barely managed to get past the incident where he gifted his future father-in-law counterfeit wine.
Now, a cousin had accused him of poisoning his own mother.
This filled him with a sense of helplessness.
It felt like his image in Li Tianyou's mind was beyond repair.
Given this, would Li Tianyou still agree to let his daughter marry him?
Thinking of this, Xu Heming looked at Li Zhiwei with a somewhat aggrieved expression.
Li Zhiwei had no desire to pay him any mind.
She had never met that so-called cousin, but the letter sent to Li'an County back then seemed to have been written by that very cousin.
She had read that letter. Anyone who saw it would find it hard to believe the two of them had no connection.
If it hadn't been for the subsequent investigation revealing the poisoner was that cousin, Li Zhiwei felt she too would have doubted whether Xu Heming's relationship with that woman was truly innocent.
With such an incident occurring, Zhu Jingchen also found it inappropriate to press further about setting a wedding date for the two.
After all, one was his trusted aide, and the other was now earning him a considerable amount of silver—essentially, his future purse.
He believed that with these two by his side, his Lan Nuo Kingdom would only prosper more and more in the days to come.
"Eunuch Liu, later, go to my private treasury, select some nourishing items for the Dowager Princess Consort, and deliver them personally to the An Prince's residence on my behalf," Zhu Jingchen instructed Eunuch Liu, who stood nearby.
"I've heard that Lady Li has also come to the capital this time. The residence I selected for Lord Li has now been fully renovated. Lord Li, discuss it properly with your wife later and see if you can move in," Zhu Jingchen then turned to Li Tianyou, mentioning the matter of bestowing him with an official residence.
"Your humble servant thanks Your Majesty for your immense grace!" Although Li Tianyou had heard earlier from the Emperor about bestowing him a residence, he hadn't felt it appropriate to inquire further before it was officially granted.
While living in Xiliu Alley was decent enough, the social environment there was rather complex, and it lacked the privacy offered by an official residence.
If possible, Li Tianyou actually hoped to move out.
It wasn't that he hadn't wanted to buy a larger property in the capital before.
The truth was, even that small courtyard in Xiliu Alley had required considerable effort to purchase.
After all, as a mere merchant, obtaining the qualification to own property in the capital was extremely difficult. Moreover, for this courtyard, he first had someone sign a "white deed" (unofficial contract), then relied on numerous connections and pulled many strings to finally get it officially stamped by the authorities.
Only after the courtyard had the "red deed" (official contract) did it truly belong to them.
Nevertheless, Li Tianyou felt deeply gratified to have been able to buy even such a small courtyard in the capital.
But now, they were to have another residence, and one bestowed by the Emperor himself. No matter how you looked at it, it was a joyous occasion.
Furthermore, he was now a second-rank official. The residence bestowed by the Emperor shouldn't be too small.
After these arrangements were made, Li Tianyou took his daughter and left.
Xu Heming originally wanted to say a few words to Li Zhiwei, but judging by his future father-in-law's demeanor, he probably wouldn't be allowed to speak.
He could only watch helplessly as Li Zhiwei and Li Tianyou departed.
The Wei Residence
Xie Yanzhi and Jiang Yu personally supported Wei Herui and escorted him back.
"Oh dear, what happened to you all?" Lin Ziyi, seeing her son being propped up by the two young men, thought Wei Herui was injured and asked with concern.
"Greetings, Lady Wei!"
"Paying respects to Lady Wei!"
Xie Yanzhi and Jiang Yu both obediently bowed to Lin Ziyi.
Seizing the opportunity, Wei Herui quickly hid behind his mother.
"What's wrong with you, child?" Lin Ziyi, seeing Wei Herui seemed to have suffered some grievance, was somewhat puzzled.
"Mother, they bullied me!" Now that he had an adult to back him up, Wei Herui pointed at Jiang Yu and Xie Yanzhi to tattle.
Jiang Yu and Xie Yanzhi hadn't expected Wei Herui to be so shameless.
He was clearly the one who had done wrong, and now he was falsely accusing them of bullying him?
The two of them had initially not wanted to tell Lin Ziyi about the awful thing Wei Herui had done today.
But seeing Wei Herui being so unreasonable, they exchanged a glance and saw the same answer in each other's eyes: tell on him.
"Lady Wei, we did not bully Wei Herui. He insisted on going with us to the An Prince's residence today. Then, upon seeing the frail An Prince heir, he spoke recklessly," Xie Yanzhi said with clear dissatisfaction.
"That's right. We told him to stop, but he had to go and tell the heir that Miss Li had married someone else and didn't want the young heir anymore. Wasn't that just adding fuel to the fire?" Jiang Yu added, equally displeased.
"Did you really say such things to someone?" Lin Ziyi felt a surge of anger she couldn't suppress.
Was this really her son? How could he do something so malicious?
Moreover, while outsiders were spreading rumors about Li Zhiwei being married, she personally felt it was impossible.
Lord Li had been in the capital all along; how could a father be absent from his daughter's wedding?
Besides, Li Zhiwei was betrothed to the An Prince.
She didn't believe Li Zhiwei would defy an imperial decree and marry privately.
And, going to Li'an County to get married? If there had been a suitable match in Li'an County, Li Zhiwei wouldn't have been betrothed to come to the capital in the first place.
She didn't believe any man in Li'an County could be more outstanding than the An Prince. As long as Li Zhiwei wasn't foolish, she wouldn't marry someone else.
And her own foolish son had to go and rub salt in the wound.
Such a tactless, blunt personality couldn't possibly be inherited from her, right?
It must be hereditary, from the Wei family side!
"Mother, I wasn't wrong. Miss Li really is married," Wei Herui pouted and said discontentedly.
"I'll teach you to spout nonsense!" Lin Ziyi picked up a small whip from nearby and started lashing at Wei Herui.
She was furious. How could he recklessly say such things?
If this reached the An Prince's ears, the entire Wei family might face disaster!
Thinking this, Lin Ziyi lashed out a few more times.
Xie Yanzhi and Jiang Yu were so frightened they immediately ran away, afraid the whip might land on them next.
"Whew... that scared me to death. Wei Herui's mother is really fierce!"
Jiang Yu ran for a good while before stopping to catch his breath and speak.
"Absolutely. I was worried the whip would hit me too," Xie Yanzhi said, now feeling that his own mother was far too gentle—she had never whipped him like that!
The Li Residence
Lady Yao saw the father and daughter returning and first breathed a sigh of relief, then hurried forward to greet them.
"Is everything alright?" Lady Yao asked worriedly.
"Mother, it's fine. Please don't worry," Li Zhiwei quickly reassured Lady Yao.
"How can I not worry? Oh, it's good that you're both back. It's good that nothing happened," Lady Yao said, patting her chest.
"Wei'er, now that rumors are spreading outside that you're married, what should we do about this?" Lady Yao then thought of the rumors and was ultimately worried they would damage her daughter's reputation.
