Chapter 271
Chapter 271
Hearing his son's words, Xu Heming's heart skipped a beat.
He carefully recalled his recent actions. He shouldn't have done anything lately that would warrant an interrogation from his mother, right?
After all, his recent activities merely involved secretly going to Heping to investigate Tang Youquan's affairs.
He had only just returned, yet he was immediately summoned to Ci'an Hall.
Seeing Xu Qingshi covering his mouth and snickering, Xu Heming finally realized that he had been played by his own dear son.
"You brat, have you grown bold? How dare you try to scare your father!" Xu Heming glared at his son, who clearly loved stirring up trouble, and scolded him.
He wondered if he had been too lenient with the boy. When he was his son's age, he not only had to attend school every day but also practice martial arts. Now, looking at his son, the boy hadn't even started on either.
Coupled with the previous incident at the academy, his mother was currently unwilling to let this brat go to school. It seemed he would have to persuade his mother after all.
"Mother, you called me back in such a hurry, is there something urgent?" Xu Heming ignored Xu Qingshi and turned to ask The Old Princess, who was still looking at the baby beside her.
In fact, what he also wanted to say was that if there was nothing else, he was in a hurry to go to the palace to report his findings to the Emperor.
"Take a seat first. We will talk once everyone is here," The Old Princess said, feeling a bit of heartache seeing her son looking so travel-worn.
Moreover, since the people from the Jiang and Xie families hadn't arrived yet, she wanted to use this gap to let her son rest for a moment.
Xu Heming was puzzled. They still had to wait for people?
Looking at the little figure on the bed, Xu Heming thought to himself, were the people they were waiting for related to this child?
He didn't even know whose child this was, or why the baby was in Prince An's Manor.
Suddenly, a very absurd thought popped into Xu Heming's mind. Could it be that some woman had come to their door with a child, claiming it was his?
Given his mother's love for children, it wasn't impossible that she would keep the child because of this.
At this thought, Xu Heming could no longer remain calm.
Heaven knew he had kept himself pure and chaste.
It was impossible for him to let those women outside get close to him, let alone have a child this big.
Thinking of this, Xu Heming began to worry again. What if Li Zhiwei also misunderstood and thought this child was truly his? What should he do then?
"Mother, this child..." Xu Heming was fraught with anxiety, just about to tell The Old Princess that this child was not his.
"The Old Princess, Lord Xie has arrived," a servant's voice suddenly called out from outside.
Xu Heming was confused. Which Lord Xie?
"Let him in," The Old Princess said.
Beside them, Xie Yanzhi also poked his head out, wanting to see if this Lord Xie was his father.
Once he clearly saw Xie Jincheng's figure, Xie Yanzhi quickly ran over and called out obediently, "Father!"
"Why are you here, kid? Weren't you going to the Grand Princess's manor?" Xie Jincheng frowned at his son, speaking with some confusion.
"Father, I left early." Xie Yanzhi lowered his head, feeling a bit uneasy. After all, he had sneaked away behind his mother's back. He wondered if his mother was anxiously looking for him.
"Greetings to The Old Princess!" Xie Jincheng bowed to The Old Princess as a junior.
"Take a seat first." The Old Princess nodded, asking Xie Jincheng to sit and wait.
"Mother, is he the person you were waiting for?" Xu Heming didn't know why, but upon seeing Xie Jincheng, he felt a wave of relief. He thought, since the arrival was Xie Jincheng, this child shouldn't be his, right?
Otherwise, the person arriving would have been a woman.
Xu Heming no longer felt the need to explain to The Old Princess that the child wasn't his, and instead calmly drank his tea on the side.
Xie Jincheng was somewhat perplexed. He had also noticed the baby beside The Old Princess.
He cast a rather strange glance at Xu Heming, thinking to himself, could it be that this guy had an affair outside and someone brought the child to their door?
However, he didn't understand why The Old Princess would call him over for such a matter.
Could it be that she was afraid Miss Li would find out, and wanted him to take the child back to cover up for this fellow Xu Heming?
Thinking of this, Xie Jincheng felt he had hit on the truth. After all, a child born to the late princess consort and an illegitimate child born to a mistress were two completely different concepts.
With this thought, Xie Jincheng's eyes were full of teasing as he looked at Xu Heming.
Xu Heming only felt that this person must have bad eyesight. Otherwise, why would he look at him so strangely?
Before the two could clear things up, Jiang Hanhai walked in from outside.
Jiang Hanhai first glanced at Xu Heming and Xie Jincheng sitting to the side, then looked at The Old Princess on the other side. He quickly stepped forward with a smile and bowed to her, "Wishing The Old Princess infinite blessings!"
"You child." The Old Princess looked at Jiang Hanhai, and her previously tense expression softened a bit.
"Oh, Old Xu, when did you get a new baby? You did such a big thing without making a sound?" Jiang Hanhai quickly noticed the little dumpling on the side.
Without a second thought, he teased Xu Heming behind him.
"I say, adding a member to your household is a good thing. No matter what, you should have invited us brothers for a drink. Doing it so sneakily, and I came in such a rush, I didn't even prepare a gift for my little nephew or niece." Jiang Hanhai patted his clothes and smiled rather awkwardly; he had left in a hurry and brought nothing.
"Father, this is a younger sister!" Jiang Yu, who was standing to the side, quickly jumped out and said.
"Hey, you brat, why are you here?" Jiang Hanhai was genuinely startled to see his own son.
After all, wasn't his son supposed to attend the one-month-old celebration banquet today?
"Since everyone is here, sit down," The Old Princess said, not answering Jiang Hanhai's question.
After all, once the matter of this child was clearly explained in a moment, everyone would understand.
The few children gathered together.
"You all come over too." The Old Princess waved to the children, and everyone leaned over the bed again, looking at Gu Nuonuo, who was sleeping sweetly.
As for their fathers arriving, the boys thought that perhaps The Old Princess wanted everyone to come and discuss which family this child should go to.
"I called you all here today to talk about this child," The Old Princess cleared her throat and slowly began.
The grown men looked at each other, now somewhat confused. A matter about a child?
Which child?
They all looked at Xu Qingshi, Jiang Yu, and Xie Yanzhi.
They all had the same thought in mind: could it be that these boys had caused trouble again?
"Today, the children went to the Grand Princess's manor to attend the one-month-old celebration banquet, and they brought back this baby," The Old Princess said, picking up Gu Nuonuo.
"They... they stole the baby?" Jiang Hanhai swallowed hard, thinking to himself that his son had really outdone himself. He actually managed to steal a child from the Grand Princess?
Xu Heming's brain couldn't process this fast enough.
Could a child from the Grand Princess's manor be stolen so easily?
Xie Jincheng looked at Xie Yanzhi in disbelief. Wasn't his son very well-behaved?
He shouldn't be the type to do such a thing.
"This child was indeed stolen by someone, but they were not the ones who stole her." The Old Princess sighed and recounted the whole story once more.