Chapter 316
Chapter 316
Hearing this, Zhu Hanyu quickly stood up. He was a bit confused; weren't the chairs in the Zhou residence meant for sitting?
"Are these chairs not for sitting?" Zhu Hanyu said. Without caring what Old Madam Zhou thought, he directly sat down on another chair.
Seeing that 'Xu Qingshi' actually ignored her, Old Madam Zhou was furious.
"Prince An, is this how you usually discipline your child? Sitting down before an elder has given permission?" Old Madam Zhou looked at Xu Heming with displeasure, feeling that she had finally found a fault with him.
"Old Madam, you should ask your parents that question. Is this how they taught you?" Xu Heming twitched the corners of his lips.
He sneered inwardly. Did this damn old woman really think he, Xu Heming, was so easily bullied?
"Hmph, I wondered who he took after. So this is the upbringing of Prince An's estate. No wonder the child has no respect for his elders at such a young age. I wonder if the Emperor would still be willing to entrust you with tasks if he knew of your character." In her heart, Old Madam Zhou was somewhat jealous. Why did someone like Xu Heming gain the Emperor's appreciation?
How were her husband and son any less capable than Xu Heming?
Yet, Zhou Zhonghe had little presence in the imperial court.
In front of the Emperor, he couldn't even get a word in.
Thinking of this, Old Madam Zhou resented Xu Heming even more, blaming him for not giving her son a helping hand.
Thinking of her daughter who had died early, Old Madam Zhou felt dissatisfied again, thinking she was truly useless.
The Zhou family had exhausted their efforts to marry her into Prince An's estate, but she only enjoyed the glory for a year or two before passing away.
Usually, Xu Heming rarely interacted with the Zhou family.
Furthermore, he was very guarded against them and disliked them constantly visiting the child.
Otherwise, the child wouldn't have been raised to be so unruly.
Sitting on the side for a long time without seeing any servants come to serve him tea, Zhu Hanyu felt somewhat displeased.
"Is the Zhou family's hospitality this perfunctory?" Zhu Hanyu asked with dissatisfaction.
"Your Highness, the Zhou family's tea is not good anyway, so just bear with it," Xu Heming comforted him.
"Seeing how improper they are, it makes sense that they don't have good tea. Uncle Prince An, where is Qingshi?" Zhu Hanyu nodded like a little adult, then asked Xu Heming where his good friend Xu Qingshi was.
Hearing this, Xu Heming, who was already in a bad mood, looked at Old Madam Zhou with a dark expression.
"Old Madam Zhou, my son entered your Zhou residence perfectly fine, but now his whereabouts are unknown. Shouldn't your Zhou family give my Prince An's estate an explanation for this?" Xu Heming's cold voice rang out.
Old Madam Zhou was startled at first, then looked at 'Xu Qingshi' in confusion.
"Xu Heming, what kind of act are you putting on? Isn't your son sitting right here?" Old Madam Zhou looked at Xu Heming and questioned angrily.
"Which eye of yours sees that this is my son?" Xu Heming rolled his eyes at Old Madam Zhou, not wanting to argue with this old woman anymore.
The most urgent matter was to find Xu Qingshi first.
"What, Qingshi is missing?" Zhu Hanyu finally understood this time; Xu Qingshi was truly missing.
For a moment, he grew anxious. How could she be missing?
He still had many things he wanted to say to her.
"You aren't Qingshi? Then who are you? Why are you in our Zhou residence?" Old Madam Zhou was just worrying about having nowhere to vent her anger. Originally, she thought this person was Xu Qingshi, but unexpectedly, he wasn't.
Then who was this child?
"I walked in. The servants in your residence are truly useless, they can't even guard the main gate. When I came in, he only dared to hide there shivering." Zhu Hanyu looked disgusted as he said this.
However, after saying this, Zhu Hanyu turned to look at Xu Heming again, anxious to find Xu Qingshi.
He didn't want to stay here with this fierce old woman; he disliked her.
"Where did this wild brat come from, daring to point fingers at my Zhou family's affairs?" Hearing this, Old Madam Zhou ignored Zhu Hanyu's identity and pointed at his nose, scolding him.
"Audacious! How can you point your finger and scold my master?" Hearing this, the little eunuch at the side reprimanded Old Madam Zhou in dissatisfaction.
Old Madam Zhou, who was previously full of anger, was instantly dumbfounded upon hearing this voice.
Why did this voice sound a bit off to her?
It sounded exactly like the eunuchs in the imperial palace.
Thinking of this, Old Madam Zhou stared fixedly at Zhu Hanyu and the little eunuch beside him.
Could this person be from the imperial palace?
"Uncle Prince An, quickly take me to find Qingshi," Zhu Hanyu said, pulling Xu Heming's hand.
"Let's go!" Xu Heming sighed. He still wanted to return to Tingyun Courtyard to check if he had missed anything over there.
"Uncle Prince An, didn't you say you would take me to find Qingshi? Why did you bring me here?" Looking at an empty courtyard that had been burned to nothing, Zhu Hanyu asked in confusion.
"Qingshi might be in here." Xu Heming looked at the ashes again, his eyes full of pain.
If Xu Qingshi really died in this fire.
He was afraid he would never forgive himself for the rest of his life.
"Your Highness, we haven't found the heir." Seeing Xu Heming approaching, Qingsong quickly ran over and said sadly.
At this moment, Qingsong's face and hands were covered in black ash, obviously having gone down to search for the person himself.
"Your Highness, this subordinate believes that Qingyuan must have taken the heir away. No bones were found at the scene." Qing Chuan also quickly ran over and said.
"Send more people out to search," Xu Heming said again, looking at the ruins.
"Uncle Prince An, Qingshi is fine, right?" Zhu Hanyu, with red eyes, looked at Xu Heming and asked.
Xu Heming himself was unsure if his son was alright.
Meanwhile, the old madam anxiously called Zhou Changfeng over.
"Mother, what do you need me for?" Zhou Changfeng was truly exhausted. Prince An and the people he brought were still in the Zhou residence.
As the host, it was somewhat unjustifiable for him not to be in front of Prince An.
"Let me ask you, is that brat Xu Qingshi really gone?" Old Madam Zhou asked again, somewhat uncertainly.
"Mother, the residence is currently in chaos, please don't add to the trouble. The child hasn't been found, and Prince An's men are still searching over at Tingyun Courtyard," Zhou Changfeng replied helplessly.
"There is a child beside Prince An. Go and see if that child is Xu Qingshi." Old Madam Zhou still felt that Prince An had deceived her. That child looked to be the exact same age as Xu Qingshi.
How could it not be Xu Qingshi?
And that servant who sounded like a eunuch, Old Madam Zhou felt that all of this was just a trick Prince An was playing on her.