activa-t Chapter 448
Chapter 448
Wenxiu wanted to stay and accompany Li Zhiwei, but she also knew deep down that staying would only make her a burden. What she should do was hurry back and find her eldest brother to come and back Li Zhiwei up."Sister Li, do not worry. I will go back and bring my eldest brother here," Wenxiu said before hurriedly leaving through the back door.
Watching Wenxiu leave, Li Zhiwei let out a long breath.
She knew she had a tough battle ahead of her.
"Let us go!" Li Zhiwei said to Qingyue, who was standing beside her.
"Miss, how about we just do not go?" Qingyue had heard of Princess Fuan's unreasonable and arrogant behavior. Furthermore, the Prince was currently not in the capital.
If something were to happen and they failed to protect the future Princess Consort, the Prince would definitely be devastated upon his return.
"She is already at our door; we have to face her sooner or later." Li Zhiwei did not say much else and walked straight toward the drawing room.
Qinghua and Qingyue quickly followed. As they left, Qingyue signaled the hidden guards in the shadows to call for reinforcements if things got out of hand.
No matter what, they had to protect the future Princess Consort today.
In the Li family's drawing room.
Princess Fuan held a long whip in her hand, pacing back and forth with a look of impatience.
She was deeply dissatisfied. It was only then that she learned this Miss Li was the one who was going to marry Xu Heming, Prince An.
A lowly merchant's daughter actually dared to steal a man from her.
At this thought, Princess Fuan wanted to lash someone with her whip.
Shangguan Mu, however, sat in his chair with a calm and composed demeanor, neither annoyed nor rushing her.
This realization surprised Shangguan Yun a bit. Was this really her usually arrogant third brother?
Prince An's Manor.
Xu Qingshi had finally managed to sneak out of the manor with Moyu.
"Heir, the Prince forbade you from leaving the manor," Moyu said worriedly.
"Hmph, he is not in the capital, so he cannot control me," Xu Qingshi said with a smug look on his face.
"Heir, precisely because the Prince is not in the capital, if something happens to you, he will not be able to rush back to save you!" Moyu advised earnestly.
"What could possibly happen to me? It is exactly because my father is not in the capital that I should be going out." Xu Qingshi gave Moyu a look that said he just did not understand.
"Why?" Moyu scratched his head in confusion. Could the Heir be planning to send gifts to the Grand Princess's estate again?
However, seeing that the Heir was empty-handed, Moyu felt relieved.
Otherwise, when the Prince returned, the Heir's backside would probably be beaten to a pulp again.
"Hmph, my old man of a father is about to reach the big day of his marriage to the pretty sister, yet he still ran off out of town. Is he afraid that someone else will not snatch her away? Do I not have to go and keep an eye on the pretty sister for him? Lest his cooked duck flies away?" Xu Qingshi put on a know-it-all posture, leaving Moyu speechless.
However, thinking about it, there were only a few days left before the Prince was to marry the Princess Consort. For the Prince to leave the capital at this time, the matter must have been incredibly important.
But the Heir's words also seemed to make a lot of sense.
Especially since even he had heard that some Third Prince from the Qinling Kingdom had arrived and was pestering Miss Li, claiming he wanted to marry her as his princess.
Thinking of this, Moyu felt that his Heir was truly far-sighted.
"Xu Qingshi?" An uncertain voice sounded from behind.
At this moment, Xu Qingshi was wearing a set of ordinary clothes with a headscarf wrapped around his head, looking just like a common little pageboy.
"Xu Qingshi, why are you dressed like this? Could it be that Prince An's Manor is so poor that you cannot even afford a decent set of clothes?" Wei Herui could not help but mock him upon seeing his attire.
"What do you know? This is called... this is called the latest fashion!" Xu Qingshi's face turned red. Just now, in order to avoid being discovered by the manor's guards while sneaking out, he had deliberately changed into a pageboy's outfit.
After getting out, he was so happy that he forgot to change back into his original clothes. He had not expected to run into the annoying Wei Herui right after leaving.
Damn it, the question was, what kind of eyes did Wei Herui have? How did he recognize him when he was dressed like this?
"The latest fashion?" Wei Herui deliberately circled Xu Qingshi with a teasing look, then laughed out loud and said, "Xu Qingshi, I heard that your father emptied Prince An's Manor's coffers just to marry a stepmother for you? Tsk tsk tsk, Xu Qingshi, you were the one who picked this stepmother yourself, right? How pathetic!"
After saying that, Wei Herui laughed incredibly smugly.
"Nonsense!" Xu Qingshi was furious.
"I am not spouting nonsense. Look at what you are wearing! Haha, Xu Qingshi, is this what they call shooting yourself in the foot?" Wei Herui's words made the other children nearby burst into laughter.
However, thinking of the ruthless Prince An, everyone held back their smiles. After all, they did not have a Grand Tutor for a grandfather; only Wei Herui dared to mock Xu Qingshi so unscrupulously.
"Hmph, you have no taste at all!" Even though Xu Qingshi was embarrassed, he still stubbornly held his head high, refusing to admit that his family had run out of money.
After all, he had seen it with his own eyes—his grandmother's private storehouse still held many treasures.
"Xu Qingshi, you haven't managed to fool yourself too, have you? Haha, pauper!" After saying this, Wei Herui burst into smug, uproarious laughter.
"Nonsense!" Xu Qingshi clenched his fists.
"Young Prince, didn't you say you were going to see Miss Li?" Moyu, seeing the furious Xu Qingshi and terrified that he might get into another fight with Wei Herui, quickly stepped in to hold him back.
Moyu knew that he might not be able to persuade Xu Qingshi on his own, so he hastily used Li Zhiwei as an excuse.
Hearing this, the previously enraged Xu Qingshi felt a wave of annoyance. Damn it, he had almost fallen for that scoundrel Wei Herui's trick.
"Hmph, I will not lower myself to argue with you today!" With that, Xu Qingshi hurried off in the direction of the Li family estate.
"Don't tell me you've chickened out?" Wei Herui hadn't expected Xu Qingshi to walk away without even looking back.
For a moment, he wasn't quite used to it.
"Young Master Wei, is the Prince of An's Estate really broke?"
"I heard that the betrothal gifts the Prince of An's Estate sent to the Li family amounted to a full three hundred and sixty chests."
"Could a mere three hundred and sixty chests of gifts really bankrupt the Prince of An's Estate? Surely it wouldn't go that far, right?"
The crowd's chatter made Wei Herui frown in displeasure.
"Hmph, even if all your families went broke, the Prince of An's Estate could never be broke!" After snapping at them, Wei Herui walked away, looking rather unhappy.
When Xu Qingshi and Moyu arrived at the Li residence, the gatekeeper saw a young pageboy and was just about to shoo him away when he suddenly recognized that it was Xu Qingshi. He hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Young Prince, what brings you here today?"
Thinking about how lively the estate was today with guests currently visiting, the gatekeeper couldn't help but wonder whether the Young Prince's arrival would bring good fortune or disaster.