Chapter 92
Faced with Li Tianyou's words, Li Zhiwei found herself at a loss for how to respond.
When she thought about it, the injury on her face was somewhat related to Xu Heming—but not entirely. However, explaining this to her father was difficult. After all, it wasn’t something she could openly discuss, especially since the person who had hurt her was involved.
But she knew her father’s temperament. If she didn’t give him a reasonable explanation, he wouldn’t rest easy.
After a moment of hesitation, Li Zhiwei simply chose to remain silent.
Let Xu Heming bear the blame for this. It wasn’t entirely unfair—after all, it was his romantic entanglements that had caused this mess.
"Hmph, I knew it!" Li Tianyou was furious when he heard that his daughter’s injury was once again connected to Xu Heming.
Wasn’t Xu Heming Prince An?
A man of such high status in the capital—how could he fail to protect his own future princess?
The thought made Li Tianyou frown.
He refused to believe that Xu Heming was incapable of protecting his daughter in the capital.
It wasn’t a matter of ability—it was a matter of willingness.
The fact that Xu Heming had allowed others to harm his daughter repeatedly could only mean one thing: he didn’t truly care for her. He didn’t see her as his future princess.
With this realization, Li Tianyou turned to Zhou Tong and said coldly, "Tell him the young lady has already retired for the night. The prince should leave."
His tone left no room for courtesy.
In Li Tianyou’s mind, not having Xu Heming thrown out immediately was already more than generous.
Zhou Tong nodded. He had seen the shocking slap mark on his young lady’s face, and it filled him with anger. The Li Family treasured her above all else.
Yet, because of Prince An’s repeated appearances—if he truly didn’t want to marry their young lady, the master certainly wouldn’t force the match.
With this in mind, Zhou Tong’s expression was far from welcoming when he returned to the parlor to face Xu Heming.
"Your Highness, Prince An, what an unfortunate coincidence—our young lady has already retired for the evening. You may take your leave now." Though Zhou Tong spoke with a smile, his tone carried little respect.
Xu Heming understood the underlying message. Considering the humiliation Li Zhiwei had endured today, it was no surprise she didn’t want to see him.
"In that case, I shall return tomorrow to see Zhiwei," Xu Heming said as he stood.
He had wanted to ask Zhou Tong to convey his wishes for Li Zhiwei to rest well, but he held back. After all, Li Zhiwei wasn’t present, and Zhou Tong was merely a servant of the Li Family.
It wasn’t appropriate to say such things to him.
As he left, Xu Heming couldn’t help but reflect on the absurdity of today’s events in the palace.
The emperor had ordered him to perform for the concubines—already ridiculous enough. But then, one of them, Concubine Liu, had actually kidnapped Li Zhiwei out of some misguided infatuation with him, leading Li Zhiwei to suspect there was something between them.
The way Concubine Liu had spoken, as if they had some past connection, was utterly preposterous.
"Qingsong," Xu Heming called out, "have someone investigate whether Concubine Liu and I ever crossed paths before she entered the palace."
Though he was certain they had never met, he couldn’t afford to take chances. If someone was scheming against him, he might never clear his name.
"Yes, Your Highness." Qingsong didn’t know what had happened in the palace, but he didn’t question his master’s orders. If Prince An wanted to investigate Concubine Liu, there must be a reason.
Xu Heming’s mind kept replaying the events in the palace, especially Li Zhiwei’s question—
Was there really nothing between him and Concubine Liu?
He was sure there wasn’t. But Concubine Liu’s extreme actions made him wonder—had he unknowingly done something to give her the wrong idea?
If he had, he would apologize. But regardless, there could never be anything between them. Concubine Liu belonged to the emperor, and he himself was about to marry Li Zhiwei. He couldn’t afford to be careless in this matter.
Before he could figure out how to explain everything to Li Zhiwei, his carriage arrived at Prince An’s residence.
At the gate, another carriage stood, packed to the brim with belongings.
Xu Heming frowned.
Had another guest arrived?
"Who is visiting?" he asked the steward, Liu Ming, with clear displeasure.
He was in no mood to entertain guests today. If possible, he’d rather have them lodged at an inn.
"Your Highness, it’s Young Master Xu Qingshi. He insists on packing his things to move into the Li Family’s residence," Liu Ming explained, relieved to see the prince return.
The young master had been making a scene, demanding to live with his future stepmother. As a servant, Liu Ming had no authority to stop him.
"Where is Xu Qingshi now?" Xu Heming’s frown deepened.
That brat was always causing trouble. Now he wanted to move into the Li Family’s home?
What gave him the right?
"The young master is still in Liangxi Courtyard, packing more things," Liu Ming said, wiping sweat from his brow.
"What, does he plan to live there permanently and never return?" Xu Heming snapped, eyeing the fully loaded carriage.
"Well..." Liu Ming hesitated. The young master had indeed implied he wanted to become the Li Family’s son.
"I’ll deal with him myself." Xu Heming’s expression darkened.
He had enough problems already—why couldn’t Xu Qingshi behave?
If Li Zhiwei had refused to see him today, it was probably because of Xu Qingshi’s antics.
"Take this, this, and this—all of it!" Xu Qingshi was busy directing servants to pack his belongings.
He hadn’t realized how attached he was to his things until now.
But since he was going to be the Li Family’s child from now on, he had to bring everything with him.
"Is there anything else you plan to take?" Xu Heming asked sarcastically as he approached.
"Everything I can!" Xu Qingshi retorted, spotting his father from afar.
Xu Heming’s expression was stormy, but Xu Qingshi merely rolled his eyes.
The thought of his father possibly marrying that madwoman made him want to leave Prince An’s residence immediately.
"What about me and your grandmother? Are we not coming?" Xu Heming demanded.
"Once I settle in at the Li Family, I’ll come back for Grandmother," Xu Qingshi replied seriously.
Just then, the Old Princess arrived at Liangxi Courtyard—only to hear her grandson declare that he would bring her to the Li Family once he was established there.
She was utterly bewildered.
