Chapter 306
Chapter 306
Hearing Zhu Hanyu's words, the Empress's gaze toward Cheng Qingli grew a few degrees colder.
"It is one thing for you to fool around normally, as at least you had some sense of limits. But today, you have truly gone too far!" the Empress reprimanded, looking at Cheng Qingli with intense displeasure.
Cheng Qingli shrank her neck back. At the time, she hadn't thought that much about it.
She had only wanted to trick Li Zhiwei into going there to see how Xu Heming would react.
"Sister, I know I was wrong. I did it covertly; no one else saw," Cheng Qingli said with a wronged expression.
She had meant to say that she had actually considered Li Zhiwei's reputation and hadn't made a big show of bringing people there.
"Quietly take some men and bring Miss Li out!" the Empress ordered a nearby eunuch.
She was worried that if they were too late and something happened to Li Zhiwei, it would be difficult for her to explain it to the Emperor.
After all, Li Zhiwei's current status was not merely that of a merchant's daughter. She was the future Princess Consort An, and the legitimate daughter of the current Vice Minister of Revenue.
If something really happened to Li Zhiwei, the Empress dreaded to think how the Emperor would view her.
After all, Cheng Qingli was her most beloved younger sister.
In such a case, it would be hard for the Emperor not to implicate her as well.
"Sister, Prince An should have already taken Miss Li away," Cheng Qingli whispered from the side.
"You even let Prince An go?!" Hearing this, the Empress roared in displeasure.
"Prince An forced me at swordpoint, so I had to tell him," Cheng Qingli muttered softly.
The Empress gasped. If Prince An had resorted to threatening Cheng Qingli with a sword, she could only imagine how furious Xu Heming must have been at the time.
She didn't dare to imagine how much the Emperor would hate her if he found out she went to a male brothel to hire male prostitutes.
This was practically slapping Xu Heming in the face.
In the future, even if Xu Heming and Li Zhiwei married, this incident would likely remain a thorn between them.
At this thought, the Empress stumbled slightly, looking at Cheng Qingli with bitter disappointment.
Her heart felt desolate; the disaster Cheng Qingli had caused this time was truly monumental!
Zhu Hanyu, who had initially been somewhat gloating, quickly shrank his neck upon seeing the Empress so angry, hiding to the side with lingering fear.
It seemed his aunt had caused a massive disaster this time. And this matter was related to Xu Qingming?
Thinking of this, Zhu Hanyu planned to sneak out of the palace later to find Xu Qingshi and ask what exactly was going on.
The Empress fell silent for a moment before saying to Cheng Qingli, "Leave the palace. The trouble you have caused—hiding with me won't help this time. I cannot save you! You had better pray that Miss Li and Prince An are fine, otherwise, you will face severe consequences for this!"
After speaking, the Empress propped her forehead with her hand, gesturing for Nanny Chang to escort Cheng Qingli out.
"Sister!" Cheng Qingli looked at the Empress in terror. After all, since she could remember, her sister had never spoken such harsh words to her.
In the past, whenever she entered the palace, her sister would always urge her to stay. Yet today, her sister was actually telling her to leave first.
Thinking of this, Cheng Qingli felt genuinely afraid. After all, no matter what she had done in the past, her sister had never gotten angry with her.
But today's matter...
"Look out for yourself!" The Empress turned away, mentally exhausted, unwilling to spare Cheng Qingli another glance.
At this moment, Cheng Qingli felt so miserable that tears streamed down her face.
However, she also knew that her sister would not let her stay in the palace today.
Recalling Prince An's furious expression as he drew his sword earlier today, Cheng Qingli felt cowardly again.
"Second Miss, please!" Nanny Chang looked at Cheng Qingli, who turned back with every step, and sighed inwardly. The Empress's doting on this Second Miss had truly made her arrogant and ignorant of the world's immensity.
Li Zhiwei dragged her exhausted body back to the Li residence.
"Why did you come back so late? Are you alright?" Lady Yao hurried forward to ask with heartache upon seeing Li Zhiwei return.
"Mother, I am fine." Li Zhiwei hadn't expected Lady Yao to still be waiting for her.
So much had happened today that, for a moment, Li Zhiwei didn't know how to explain it to Lady Yao.
"As long as you are fine, as long as you are fine!" Lady Yao gently patted her daughter's back, unable to hide the heartache in her eyes.
Rumors had spread outside today that Prince An was going to send his own biological son back to his in-laws' family because of her daughter. The news was already causing an uproar throughout the capital.
Lady Yao had naturally heard these rumors as well.
She wanted to ask Li Zhiwei but didn't know how to broach the subject. However, having raised this child with her own hands, how could she not know her daughter's temperament?
This was definitely not Li Zhiwei's intention.
Still, Lady Yao saw the exhaustion in her daughter's eyes. Although she had many questions in her heart, she didn't press for details.
Whatever it was, it was no longer important to them.
"Have you eaten?" Lady Yao asked, looking at Li Zhiwei.
"Mother, I am a bit tired. I'll go back to my room to rest first," Li Zhiwei said with an awkward smile.
It wasn't that she didn't want to talk to Lady Yao, but she knew that Lady Yao was in poor health. Telling her these things would only give another person cause to worry.
Today's events had happened one after another in quick succession, and Li Zhiwei herself hadn't fully recovered her senses yet.
"Is Wei'er back?" Li Tianyou came out and saw Lady Yao staring blankly in the direction of Li Zhiwei's courtyard, prompting him to ask.
"Husband, tell me, was it right or wrong for us to come to the capital?" Lady Yao asked, looking at Li Tianyou with some confusion.
How wonderful it was back when they were in Li'an County, without so many distressing matters.
Now that they were in the capital, there was always one thing or another that they had to face.
Li Tianyou gently patted Lady Yao's hand, speechless for a moment.
If he could, he wouldn't have wanted to come to the capital either, nor did he want to be some Vice Minister of Revenue. Working himself to the bone every day for that meager salary was worse than what he used to earn in a single day.
Truth be told, now that Li Tianyou's initial craving for officialdom had passed, he was starting to miss his life in Li'an County.
But he couldn't leave just yet.
His daughter's marriage had not yet been finalized.
"Husband, was the heir of Prince An really sent to the Zhou family?" Lady Yao hadn't dared to ask about the rumors outside, but Li Tianyou surely didn't have such reservations and could find out.
"Word is that he has already gone to the Zhou residence. I don't understand what Xu Heming is trying to do. I can't help but feel that brat is ruining my daughter's reputation!" Li Tianyou felt extremely displeased at the thought.
His perfectly good daughter was having her reputation dragged through the mud by Xu Heming like this.
If it weren't a marriage bestowed by the Emperor, Li Tianyou truly wouldn't want Xu Heming as a son-in-law.
It was one thing that he was a widower with a child, but he didn't even know how to cherish her!
A man like that deserved to be lonely for the rest of his life.
Li Tianyou thought resentfully.
The study in Prince An's Manor.
Xu Heming let out a loud sneeze!
"Your Highness, have you caught a cold?" Qingsong asked carefully from the side.