Chapter 614

“Oh, now that Mother has a younger daughter, she’s starting to dislike me. And once Sister-in-Law marries into the family, there won’t be any place for me at all, will there?” Li Zhiwei said deliberately, putting on a troubled expression as she watched Wen Xiu and Zhiya approaching from a short distance away.

“You child, what nonsense are you talking about? You’re all equally important to me.” Lady Yao tapped her daughter lightly on the forehead, though in her heart, Li Zhiwei was still the most important of all.

“Really? I thought there was only room for Sister-in-Law in your eyes.” Li Zhiwei covered her mouth and giggled as she glanced at the bracelet in Wen Xiu’s hand.

Under Li Zhiwei’s teasing gaze, Wen Xiu felt a little awkward as well.

Her engagement to Li Tingzhou had now been placed on the official schedule. Their wedding had been set for the ninth day of next month.

After all, Li Tingzhou and Wen Xiu were no longer young, and both families felt that the two should marry as soon as possible.

Neither of the two parties involved had any objections.

Especially now that Li Tingzhou was helping the Emperor manage his private assets. He could be considered someone whose name was known to the Emperor. In the future, Li Tingzhou would serve as the Emperor’s treasurer, and the burden on his shoulders would be even heavier.

“My dear younger sister, are you dissatisfied with your elder sister?” Wen Xiu asked, deliberately putting on a troubled expression.

“I wouldn’t dare. From now on, whenever I return to the residence, I’ll have to watch your expression, Sister-in-Law,” Li Zhiwei said, pretending to be frightened.

“Rest assured, you can come back whenever you like.” The words had barely left Wen Xiu’s mouth when she realized that they sounded inappropriate. After all, she had not yet married into the family.

“Sister Wen Xiu, how did you find the time to come over today?” Li Zhiwei knew that Wen Xiu had been staying at home lately, embroidering her wedding trousseau.

She had not expected Wen Xiu to have time to come visit her today.

“I heard that you’d woken up, so I came especially to see you.” Wen Xiu quickly explained herself.

“By the way, I heard that the princess of the Qinling Kingdom wanted to marry into our country, but the Emperor refused her.” Wen Xiu leaned closer and whispered into Li Zhiwei’s ear.

“But I also heard that, in a few days, a very burly warrior from the Qinling Kingdom will compete against someone from our Lan Nuo Kingdom. My elder brother told me not to leave the residence when the time comes.” At the thought of this, Wen Xiu’s brows furrowed.

After all, the Qinling Kingdom was far more powerful than theirs. She was worried that if they lost, the other side might make some unreasonable demand.

“Don’t worry. Everything will be fine.” Li Zhiwei felt that Xu Heming did not seem particularly concerned about the matter. He must already have a way to deal with it.

Prince An’s Residence

“Oh, look who finally decided to come home! Our Prince An actually remembers that he has a residence!” Xu Qingshi had been waiting at the entrance since early morning.

He had heard that his dear father would be returning home today, so he had stayed there waiting.

But after waiting and waiting without seeing anyone, he had begun to suspect that the news was wrong.

Now that Xu Heming had finally appeared, Xu Qingshi adopted the manner of an adult and spoke with exaggerated sarcasm.

“Where did you learn to talk like that?” Xu Heming frowned. The way Xu Qingshi spoke gave him quite a shock.

Anyone ​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‍who did not know better might have thought some jealous young wife was speaking.

That sarcastic, mocking tone made Xu Heming extremely uncomfortable.

“Where did I learn it? Have you forgotten that you still have a mother and a son waiting for you at home?” Xu Qingshi planted his hands on his hips and pointed at Xu Heming angrily.

The moment he remembered how Xie Jincheng had once surrounded the entire Prince An’s Residence with his men, claiming that Xu Heming was plotting rebellion, Xu Qingshi grew even angrier.

Had his father even thought about the fact that he and his grandmother were still in the residence?

“You child, watch your tongue. Of course I know about all of you.” Seeing his son puffed up with anger, Xu Heming’s own irritation faded considerably.

This had indeed been his fault.

He had been away for quite a long time. On top of that, after learning that Li Zhiwei had fallen unconscious during her pregnancy, he had been too busy to return to the residence even after coming back to the capital. It was only natural that Xu Qingshi had been worried.

“Hmph! I’m telling you now, I’m not going to be easily placated over this.” Xu Qingshi turned his face away, clearly displeased.

Then he secretly glanced behind Xu Heming. When he failed to see Li Zhiwei, he looked at his father suspiciously.

“Did you lose my mother?” The thought that Li Zhiwei had not returned to the residence filled Xu Qingshi with a terrible premonition.

“What nonsense are you talking about?” Xu Heming thought helplessly that this child truly dared to imagine anything.

He might lose himself, but he could never lose his wife, could he?

“Your Highness, you’re finally back!” When Liu Ming saw that Xu Heming had returned safely, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

For the past few days, soldiers had been stationed around the residence, while people outside spread rumors that their prince had rebelled. Though Liu Ming had never believed it for a moment, the situation at the residence had still been deeply unsettling.

Now, the soldiers had withdrawn, and their prince had returned safely as well.

“Steward Liu, where is my mother?” Xu Heming nodded and asked.

“Your Highness, the Old Princess is waiting for you in the Hall of Benevolent Peace,” Liu Ming replied with a smile. “She asked you to go see her.”

Xu Heming ignored Xu Qingshi and headed toward the Hall of Benevolent Peace.

“Wait! Where are you going? You still haven’t told me where Mother is!” Seeing that Xu Heming had paid him no attention, Xu Qingshi hurried after him and called out.

“Young Lord, His Highness is going to see the Old Princess,” Liu Ming quickly explained as he followed behind Xu Qingshi.

“Then he should give my mother back to me first!” Xu Qingshi said unhappily. It had taken him so long to finally get a mother, and now this man had somehow lost her again.

The thought made Xu Qingshi burst into loud sobs.

“Oh, my goodness, Young Lord, please stop crying. The Princess Consort is perfectly fine,” Liu Ming said hurriedly when he saw Xu Qingshi crying.

“Then why hasn’t she come back to the residence? Did Father bully her?” Xu Qingshi quickly wiped his tears with his sleeve and asked.

“Xu Qingshi, have you no sense of cleanliness?” Xu Heming’s brows drew tightly together.

He could not understand it. He had only been gone for a month or so—how had Xu Qingshi picked up so many bad habits?

“That’s none of your business! My mother is gone, and you won’t even let me cry for a while?” Xu Qingshi protested.

“Steward Liu, take him away,” Xu Heming said after drawing a deep breath, consoling himself that there was no point arguing with a fool.

By the time Xu Heming reached the Hall of Benevolent Peace, the Old Princess had already been waiting for him for quite some time.

“Your son pays his respects to Mother.” Seeing how much more gray had appeared in the Old Princess’s hair, Xu Heming felt a pang of guilt.

He had been so focused on his own affairs that he had neglected those who cared about him.

“It’s enough that you’re back.” The Old Princess did not ask Xu Heming what he had been doing.

However, she knew that he must have had something extremely important to take care of this time.

Even when Xie Jincheng had brought men to guard the residence, she had believed that her son could never have committed treason.

Still, now that she was looking at her son again, the Old Princess was filled with complicated, unspoken emotions.

“Zhiwei didn’t come back with you?” The Old Princess asked in confusion.

She could not help wondering whether something had happened to Li Zhiwei.