Chapter 25: Xu Qingshi and Gu Nuonuo
Without a moment’s hesitation, Xu Heming replied, “Why wouldn’t we go?”
In fact, Xu Heming was even thinking that it would be better if every one of those little rascals were taken off his hands.
Besides, the marriage between Xu Qingshi and the Gu family had long been agreed upon by both families.
“That’s good.” Li Zhiwei finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She had been worried that Xu Heming might be displeased and that the marriage the two families had arranged would fall through.
After all, this was the girl Qingshi loved.
Li Zhiwei and Xu Heming prepared generous gifts and went to the Grand Princess’s residence.
“Prince An, Princess Consort of An!” The Grand Princess was extremely pleased when she saw the gifts they had brought.
Although the Grand Princess’s residence lacked for nothing, the more gifts Prince An’s household gave, the more it showed how highly they valued Nuonuo. That was what the Grand Princess truly wanted to see.
“Grand Princess!”
Li Zhiwei bowed to her.
“Have things gone well for you in Jiangnan, Princess Consort of An? Our Lannuo Kingdom is fortunate to have a couple like you.” The Grand Princess’s face was filled with warmth and approval.
“You flatter us, Grand Princess. It was simply our duty,” Xu Heming replied hastily.
“Qingshi, why don’t you go out with Nuonuo for a while? You haven’t returned to the Grand Princess’s residence in quite some time.” The Grand Princess had always been very fond of Xu Qingshi.
Xu Heming and Li Zhiwei were not the sort to meddle in other people’s affairs.
Still, she did wonder whether they intended to remain in the capital or return to Jiangnan.
“May I ask whether Prince An and Princess Consort of An plan to return to Jiangnan or stay in the capital?” The Grand Princess had no intention of guessing. Instead, she asked with a smile.
“We’ve more or less finished dealing with matters in Jiangnan, so from now on, we plan to settle in the capital. As for the children, they may have other arrangements,” Li Zhiwei replied with a smile.
“Qingshi still has to return to Jiangnan?” The Grand Princess frowned.
“Qingshi will stay in the capital. As for those two mischievous monkeys, they still need to go out and gain some experience,” Li Zhiwei said with a smile.
“The two young masters are old enough to start looking at marriage prospects, aren’t they?”
The Grand Princess had not expected that the ones leaving would be Li Zhiwei’s biological sons, and she asked in confusion.
“His Highness says there’s no need to rush. We can wait a few more years. A young man needs to become more mature and responsible before he can shoulder the responsibilities of a family,” Li Zhiwei replied with a smile.
The Grand Princess was stunned for a moment, then smiled. She was even more satisfied with the marriage arrangement.
The two families smoothly exchanged their formal betrothal documents.
Xu Qingshi followed behind Nuonuo, unable to suppress the smile at the corners of his lips.
“What are you smiling about?” Gu Nuonuo turned around. Seeing the faint smile on Xu Qingshi’s face, her eyes reddened despite herself.
“Why don’t I take you over there?”
Xu Qingshi pointed toward the place where he had once rescued Gu Nuonuo.
Nuonuo was puzzled. Her parents had always forbidden her from going there.
Yet she had always been curious.
What was over there? Why had her parents never allowed her to go?
Looking at the sealed-up doorway, Xu Qingshi asked in confusion, “Wasn’t there a door here before?”
“A door? It’s always been like this for as long as I can remember.” Gu Nuonuo frowned and thought hard for a while, but she had no memory of ever seeing a door.
“When you were little, someone stole you out through here.” Xu Qingshi pointed at the place where the doorway had been sealed.
“Stole me?” Gu Nuonuo blinked, unsure whether to believe him.
“I was the one who brought you back.” Xu Qingshi looked rather pleased with himself.
“When you were little, you were adorable. I carried you home.” At that, Xu Qingshi rubbed his nose awkwardly. Thinking back on the things he had done as a child, even he felt a little embarrassed now.
The marriage between the Grand Princess’s residence and Prince An’s household was settled quickly.
Li Zhiwei arranged everything according to the highest possible standards, observing all the traditional rites of betrothal.
Zhu Jingchen even bestowed an imperial marriage decree upon Xu Qingshi and Gu Nuonuo.
As Xu Qingshi’s maternal uncle, Li Tingzhou also sent a generous number of wedding gifts.
“Thank you, Uncle.”
Xu Qingshi respectfully bowed to Li Tingzhou.
Now that he had grown up, he knew that Li Tingzhou was the maternal uncle of his younger brothers and sisters, not his biological uncle.
Even so, Li Tingzhou had still sent him a wedding gift, clearly treating him as his own nephew.
“Why? Now you’re acting like a stranger to your uncle?” Li Tingzhou asked, his eyes filled with amusement.
“How could I? You’re my uncle today, and you’ll be my uncle forever. On my wedding day, you must have a seat of honor.” Xu Qingshi hurriedly reassured him.
“That’s more like it!” Li Tingzhou laughed and patted Xu Qingshi on the shoulder.
The little heir from years ago had now grown into a fine young man, on the verge of starting a family and building a career.
Thinking of how everything the Li family had today had come from a single choice Xu Qingshi had made—
Whether it was Li Tingzhou’s return to his ancestral family or his younger sister’s happy life now, all of it had been made possible because of him.
Li Tingzhou was sincerely grateful to Xu Qingshi.
“Qingshi, let me ask you something. What do you think of that boy, Xie Yanzhi?” Li Tingzhou draped an arm around Xu Qingshi’s shoulder and asked in a low voice.
“Uncle, why are you asking about him all of a sudden?” Xu Qingshi looked at Li Tingzhou in confusion. He did not understand why his uncle was asking about Xie Yanzhi.
“Uncle, has Xie Yanzhi been bullying you?” Xu Qingshi asked worriedly.
“Nothing like that. I was just asking.” Li Tingzhou laughed awkwardly.
He couldn’t exactly tell Xu Qingshi that Wenxiu had sent him to make inquiries.
A matchmaker had come to propose a marriage between Xie Yanzhi and Mingyue.
As her father, he naturally had to investigate the young man thoroughly.
“Uncle, we’re practically family. Just ask whatever you want. I may not know much about other people, but I know Xie Yanzhi very well. When we were children, I knew every time he wet his pants.” Xu Qingshi patted his chest with a laugh.
“Then what do you think of him? Is he reliable?” Li Tingzhou immediately pressed.
“He’s a decent fellow, though he can be a little rigid at times. Does Uncle need him to handle something? You could ask me instead. I’m much more dependable than he is.” Xu Qingshi thought that if Li Tingzhou needed Xie Yanzhi’s help, he might as well come to him instead.
“You can’t help with this particular matter.” Li Tingzhou shook his head with a smile.
“If Qingshi can’t help, I can lend a hand as well, Master Li.”
The Third Prince happened to be passing by and spoke up.
The Third Prince had already been clearly rejected by Xu Heming.
But he believed that as long as Niannian remained unmarried, he still had a chance.
Besides, he had already asked his father to build him a prince’s residence next to Prince An’s estate, on the site where the Zhang family’s residence and the neighboring courtyards had once stood.
Once it was completed, Prince An would surely agree to let him marry Niannian.
And if all else failed, it would not be impossible for him and Niannian to live in Prince An’s residence.
“This is something neither of you can help with,” Li Tingzhou said with a smile.
In his heart, he decided that he still needed to investigate Xie Yanzhi a little more carefully.
Meanwhile, An’an looked at Kong Shuyin with a frown.
“Why are you here?”
“Brother An'an, my mother said that you're my husband, so I have to keep an eye on you!” Kong Shuyin said, planting her hands on her hips as she glared at An'an. She was secretly displeased that he was returning to the capital without taking her along. Could it be that, just as her mother had said, he was planning to run away?
