Chapter 272
Chapter 272
After hearing this, the group finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The child had been stolen by someone else, and then these children had found him and brought him back.
"Right now, we don't even know if the Grand Princess's estate realizes the child is missing. The children are still young and don't know the proper limits of things. After finding the baby, they secretly brought him back. If the child hadn't cried when Nanny Luo went over, we probably wouldn't have even discovered there was a baby in the estate."
The Old Princess paused, glancing at the grown men before continuing, "As the saying goes, if a son is uneducated, his father is to blame. You are all fathers here today. You should teach your children well on how to properly handle situations like this. The children were just lucky today that no accidents happened." With that, The Old Princess let out a sigh.
The men lowered their heads. Thinking about the incident now, a wave of delayed fear washed over them.
"Yanzhi, where is your mother?" Xie Jincheng suddenly asked. His son was here, but what about his wife?
"Father, I left in a hurry and didn't tell Mother. She is still at the Grand Princess's estate," Xie Yanzhi replied in a small voice.
"The most urgent matter at hand is to send this child back," Xu Heming said with a frown.
He sighed inwardly. He was too busy on a daily basis and had disciplined his child too little.
That was why, when faced with such a dangerous situation, their first thought was to follow the culprit instead of finding an adult.
"Father, I didn't do anything wrong!" Catching his father's gaze, Xu Qingshi proudly puffed out his little chest and spoke with a smug look on his face.
"Yes, you didn't do anything wrong. However, the next time you encounter such a dangerous situation, you should go find an adult. After all, this is not something a child like you can resolve," Xu Heming said, rubbing his son's head.
The Grand Princess's Estate
As soon as Li Zhiwei and Lady Yao stepped out of the Grand Princess's courtyard, they were surrounded by a crowd.
"Well? What did the Grand Princess say to you?"
"Did the Grand Princess say when we can leave?"
"Li Zhiwei, could it be that a merchant's daughter like you, having never seen anything nice, stole something from the Grand Princess?" Chang Wenyin stood at the back, looking at Li Zhiwei with a face full of mockery.
"If you ask me, the Grand Princess shouldn't have invited an unpresentable thing like you today. You're nothing but a lowly merchant's daughter. Do you really think that just because you changed your identity, you can wash off the stench of copper and be just like us?" Chang Wenyin sneered, unleashing a barrage of insults at Li Zhiwei.
"The Ninth Princess Consort is certainly high-class. However, the pearl hairpin on your head seems to be an old design from the Treasure Pavilion, doesn't it? And the dress you're wearing isn't the latest fashion either. What's wrong, do you not have the silver to tailor the newest styles?" After speaking, Li Zhiwei deliberately stepped closer to Chang Wenyin, fanned the air with her hand, and added, "This face powder seems to be quite ordinary as well. How is it that someone as noble as the Ninth Princess Consort cannot afford the premium Sandalwood Heart incense?"
The crowd looked puzzled, not understanding what kind of incense Sandalwood Heart was.
They had never even heard of it.
Li Zhiwei, who originally hadn't harbored any particular schemes, suddenly formed a bold idea in her mind under Chang Wenyin's relentless provocation.
Didn't the noble ladies of the capital look down on her merchant background?
Well, she would use the very thing they despised her for to make them bow in admiration.
Wherever there were women, there was a battlefield.
And wherever there was a battlefield, she could carve out her own piece of the sky.
A woman's war was nothing more than clothes, jewelry, cosmetics, and men.
She couldn't participate in the aspect of men, but when it came to clothes, jewelry, and incense-making, she was an absolute expert.
"What would a country bumpkin like you know?" Chang Wenyin hadn't expected this lowly merchant's daughter to actually spot the flaws in her outfit.
At this moment, the ladies and young misses turned to look at Chang Wenyin and realized that her set of jewelry was indeed an old design from the Treasure Pavilion.
Furthermore, the embroidered patterns on Chang Wenyin's dress were not of the latest trend either.
Realizing this, the people who had been crowding around Chang Wenyin subconsciously took a few steps back.
Especially those standing close by; upon smelling the incense on Chang Wenyin, they recognized that it was indeed of mediocre quality.
As for the Sandalwood Heart that Li Zhiwei mentioned, they had never seen it, but in this kind of social setting...
No one would admit that they didn't know what Sandalwood Heart was.
After all, if they spoke up, others would know they were ignorant.
Thus, even if they didn't understand, they couldn't show it.
Some even made up their minds to send their servants to buy this Sandalwood Heart the moment they returned home.
"What is the meaning of this? Could it be that you're all listening to this country bumpkin?" Seeing the crowd's reaction, Chang Wenyin was furious. She, Chang Wenyin, had never suffered such a huge humiliation.
All of this was to blame on this damn Li Zhiwei.
At that moment, the gaze Chang Wenyin directed at Li Zhiwei was filled with venomous resentment.
Prince An's Estate
Just as the men were about to set off for the Grand Princess's estate, Liu Ming rushed hurriedly into Ci'an Hall.
"Steward Liu, what's wrong with you?" Jiang Hanhai looked at Liu Ming and asked in confusion.
"Oh my, Marquis of Yongning, this old servant has an urgent matter to report to The Old Princess." With that, Liu Ming barged straight into the inner room.
Seeing the baby in The Old Princess's arms, he was taken aback for a moment. He had only been gone for a short while; how did The Old Princess suddenly end up with a child?
Was there something going on that he, as the steward, wasn't allowed to know?
"Steward Liu, what is it that you needed to tell this old woman?" The Old Princess prompted, looking at the dazed Liu Ming.
"The Old Princess, this old servant just went to the Grand Princess's estate and found its main gates tightly shut. No matter how hard I had the men knock, no one answered the door. This old servant suspects that something might have happened inside the Grand Princess's estate," Liu Ming said hastily, not daring to delay.
"Are you saying that the Grand Princess's estate has closed its doors to guests today?" Xu Heming asked with a frown.
"Your Highness!" Only then did Liu Ming notice that Xu Heming and Xie Jincheng were also present, and he quickly cupped his hands in greeting.
"That's impossible. When we went to the Grand Princess's estate today, the gates were open," Xu Qingshi stated firmly.
"This old servant doesn't know the reason either." Liu Ming wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead. He had found the situation bizarre, which was why he hurried back to report it.
"Oh no, this is bad! My mother and Auntie Li are still at the Grand Princess's estate." Hearing this, Xie Yanzhi instantly grew anxious.
"Zhiwei went too?" Xu Heming's heart filled with anxiety upon hearing this.
"Mother, please look after the child for now. We will go to the Grand Princess's estate to check on the situation," Xu Heming said. Without waiting for The Old Princess to agree, he immediately strode out.
Xie Jincheng directly followed right behind him.
"Hey, wait for me!" Seeing the two men leave just like that, Jiang Hanhai wanted to follow them as well.
"Father, you should just wait here for news. Even if you go, you won't be able to help," Jiang Yu said, quickly grabbing Jiang Hanhai's sleeve.
After all, Jiang Hanhai's martial skills couldn't compare to those of Xu Heming and Xie Jincheng. It was better for him to wait here for updates.
"Haha, my son truly understands his father!" Jiang Hanhai thought about it and realized he was right. He was the type of person who preferred not to move unless absolutely necessary; it was best not to go and drag them down.