Chapter 250
Chapter 250
There was just one thought in her mind: Seeing how eager your son is, why don't you just indulge him?
Xu Heming received Li Zhiwei's glance and saw the teasing in her eyes, making him feel utterly exasperated.
For outsiders to gossip that his wife had married someone else was one thing.
But for his own son to genuinely wish for his father's wife to run off with someone else?!
His son had even planned his own backup plan.
He simply didn't care about his father's fate.
"Xu Qingshi, are you itching for a beating?" Xu Heming's voice turned icy.
Xu Qingshi shrank his neck in fear, hiding behind Li Zhiwei, and said, "Mother-in-law, look, my father is so fierce. It's a good thing you didn't marry him. He might even hit his wife!"
Li Zhiwei looked at Xu Heming's livid face and chuckled inwardly.
However, she forced herself to maintain a calm expression.
"Qingshi, stop talking nonsense. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, I can only ever be your stepmother, absolutely not your mother-in-law!" Although Li Zhiwei found it amusing, she still told Xu Qingshi this harsh truth.
"No! You can't marry my father!" Xu Qingshi, who had just been heartbroken over the thought of Li Zhiwei marrying someone else, now seemed to have forgotten why he was so sad moments ago.
Instead, he started scheming in his mind about finding the next suitable match for Li Zhiwei.
"Xu—Qing—Shi!"
Xu Heming gritted his teeth and called his name again.
Xu Heming felt he had been too lenient with Xu Qingshi. Otherwise, how could the boy utter such words of betraying his father for personal gain?
He actually wanted to steal his father's princess consort?
"Father, don't worry. I know you don't like my mother-in-law. Later, if you marry my third aunt, I won't object either. But from now on, you can't stop me from marrying a beautiful wife." Xu Qingshi now stood protectively in front of Li Zhiwei as if shielding his own cub.
Xu Heming felt a suffocating anger rising in his chest, stuck and unable to dissipate.
"Qingshi, enough nonsense. If you keep talking like this, I'll ignore you and go back." Li Zhiwei was also somewhat speechless at Xu Qingshi's train of thought. But since words couldn't stop him, it was best to ignore it for now.
"Then I won't say it. Can you stay here with me?" Xu Qingshi now felt somewhat unwilling again.
"Xu Qingshi, you are already an adult. Don't pester Miss Li for no reason!" Xu Heming actually wished for Li Zhiwei to stay, but hearing his foolish son call her 'mother-in-law' repeatedly was truly grating.
Besides, he had just heard that Lady Yao came with Li Zhiwei.
So, they definitely had to go back together.
This time, Xu Qingshi didn't reply to Xu Heming. He just looked somewhat dissatisfied at his useless father, his eyes filled with discontent.
"Miss Li, the Dowager Princess Consort asks if you have finished matters here?" Xiuzhu hurried over and called from outside the door.
"Almost done, I'll head to Ci'an Hall right away." Li Zhiwei knew Lady Yao must be worried and impatient, which was why she sent someone to find her.
"Are you leaving again?" The reluctance in Xu Qingshi's eyes was unconcealed.
He was lost in his own thoughts.
At this moment, he felt that once Li Zhiwei left this time, it would be difficult for him to see her again in the future.
"I'm going to find my mother. Once you've recovered, you can come to the Li family to find me, can't you?" Li Zhiwei patted Xu Qingshi's head and sighed inwardly, thinking he was just anxious to find her because he was unwell and had believed those rumors.
However, Xu Qingshi knew it wasn't a big deal. In a couple of days, he'd be bouncing around again.
Zhennan Prince's Mansion
"Consort Ru, it's terrible! The County Princess has been sent to prison!" A servant anxiously rushed into Consort Ru's courtyard to report.
"What? Who dares to arrest even a County Princess? Do they have a death wish?" Upon hearing this, Consort Ru's first thought was, who would dare to arrest someone from the Zhennan Prince's Mansion?
But then she remembered this was the capital, not Wuyang City.
No one would dare do anything to them there.
Now that her daughter was imprisoned in the capital, Consort Ru momentarily felt at a loss.
In Wuyang City, the Zhennan Prince was like a king in the eyes of the commoners, and no one dared to offend him.
But here in the capital, right under the Emperor's feet, someone dared to send her daughter to prison so easily.
"Where is His Highness?" Consort Ru was so anxious she paced in circles, wanting to find the Zhennan Prince to discuss.
"Consort Ru, His Highness went to the palace to give his report and hasn't returned yet," a servant nearby quickly replied.
"This won't do! My Lan'er is still in prison. When has she ever suffered such hardship?" The thought of her daughter made Consort Ru pace back and forth anxiously again.
"Consort, perhaps you should seek out the Princess Consort?" The maid Juhua cautiously suggested from the side.
"I won't go!" Consort Ru thought of Princess Consort Qin's haughty demeanor and felt extremely displeased.
"Consort, this is no time for willfulness. The County Princess is a member of the Zhennan Prince's Mansion. If something happens to her, it concerns the entire mansion. Surely the Princess Consort wouldn't want the matter to escalate and would think of a way to help rescue the County Princess." Juhua thought that the capital was full of the Prince's Mansion's connections. Now that the County Princess was in trouble, wouldn't they have to rely on the main wife's methods to save her?
"What if she refuses?" Thinking of this, Consort Ru felt her pride getting in the way.
She felt it would be humiliating to beg Qin.
"But right now, His Highness hasn't returned. The longer you hesitate, the more time is wasted, and the longer the County Princess has to stay in that prison." Juhua naturally understood her mistress's concerns.
She couldn't worry about anything else now and quickly urged her.
"Fine, I'll go!" The thought of her daughter possibly suffering in some corner made Consort Ru unable to remain calm.
The Zhennan Princess Consort was reviewing the mansion's account books when a servant reported that Consort Ru was requesting an audience.
"Princess Consort, Consort Ru requests an audience!"
"What does she want?" Qin frowned. Consort Ru looked down on her, and she likewise looked down on someone like Consort Ru.
However, she now had sons and daughters in the mansion and had reached a point where she didn't need her husband's favor.
Moreover, the Zhennan Prince was very sensible. Although Consort Ru was favored, he would never allow her to override the Princess Consort.
So their encounters were extremely rare.
That Consort Ru would come to her door was quite surprising to Qin.
"Princess Consort, if you don't wish to see her, we can simply decline the audience." Matron Chang, worried that seeing Consort Ru would put Qin in a bad mood, straightforwardly suggested.
"Matron, what do you think she wants, coming to me like this for no reason?" Qin said, still somewhat puzzled.
After all, the Prince had returned to the capital but hadn't stayed with her either?
So why would Consort Ru come to her?
Surely she couldn't be coming to flaunt her power here?
Lately, this Consort Ru hadn't missed a chance to assert her presence here, and each time, the Prince had smoothed things over.
If she really dared to come here to assert herself while the Prince was away, would the Prince tolerate such troublemaking?