Chapter 531
Chapter 531
"Weiwei, you should talk some sense into your eldest brother too." Lady Yao said, and as she spoke, she too began to discreetly wipe away tears.
Although she had prepared herself mentally for the possibility that her son might leave her.
She just never expected Jiang Yuanrang's departure to come so soon.
"Mother, wasn't this all settled before?" Li Zhiwei looked at Lady Yao with some confusion.
Hadn't they all agreed earlier that they would follow Jiang Yuanrang to Lucheng for a visit?
"I'm worried that your eldest brother won't ever come back after this." Lady Yao said with a hint of unease.
"Mother, if eldest brother doesn't come back, we can always go to Lucheng to visit him, can't we?" Li Zhiwei sighed inwardly. Although she too was reluctant to let Jiang Yuanrang go, Lucheng was after all the place where he had grown up, and perhaps he had his own reasons for wanting to stay there.
"I..." Lady Yao's eyes were red. She actually wanted to tell Li Zhiwei that she wished to go to Lucheng together with Jiang Yuanrang.
But at the same time, she couldn't bear the thought of leaving Li Zhiwei alone in the capital.
And then there was Li Tianyou, who probably couldn't leave the capital anytime soon either.
"Mother, let's talk about all that once we return from Lucheng. Right now, there's something even more important that I need to discuss with you." Li Zhiwei said hurriedly.
"What is it?" Lady Yao thought to herself — something important? Could it be that Li Zhiwei was already pregnant?
Although Li Zhiwei had only been married to the Prince An's household for a few days, the two of them had been in close contact, and with the emperor's blessing for the marriage, could it be that Prince An had already... before the wedding?
With that thought, Lady Yao's gaze unconsciously drifted toward Li Zhiwei's belly.
"Mother, what do you think of Sister Wen Xiu?" Li Zhiwei didn't notice Lady Yao's gaze at all.
She grabbed Lady Yao's hand excitedly and asked.
"That girl Wen Xiu — she's dignified and graceful, knows how to conduct herself properly — she's a truly rare and wonderful young lady." Lady Yao thought about it, and her impression of Wen Xiu was extremely favorable.
But then she thought about how such a wonderful girl still had no marriage prospects, and couldn't help but worry for Wen Xiu.
"Mother, what do you think about having eldest brother marry Sister Wen Xiu?" Li Zhiwei said in a hushed tone.
"Have Zhou'er marry Wen Xiu?" Lady Yao repeated Li Zhiwei's words, and in her mind she was already calculating the feasibility of this idea.
She thought to herself — if Jiang Yuanrang took a wife here in the capital, would he then be more willing to stay put in the capital?
If her own son could marry Wen Xiu, that would be considered marrying up.
"Weiwei, is this your idea, or is it the Prince's idea?" Lady Yao grabbed her daughter's hand and asked cautiously.
She had heard that Wen Xiu's elder brother was a great general.
Their own family had previously been nothing more than a small merchant household.
She wasn't sure whether that general would even look favorably upon her own son.
If this was Xu Heming's idea, could it be that the general had come pleading to their son-in-law?
At that thought, Lady Yao's heart was in turmoil.
"It was the Prince who told me about it." Li Zhiwei answered truthfully.
"Wen Xiu is wonderful, no doubt, but I've heard her elder brother is a general. Your eldest brother..." Lady Yao looked at Li Zhiwei, voicing her concerns.
"Mother, General Wen may be formidable, but Father is no slouch either. Besides, you're the mother-in-law of Prince An himself — surely our eldest brother is worthy of Sister Wen Xiu." Li Zhiwei refused to let others build themselves up at the expense of her own family, and said this quickly.
"That may be true, but what if your brother sets his heart on her, and the girl doesn't think much of him..." Lady Yao thought about this possibility, and she didn't want her son to take such a risk.
"Mother, you're afraid eldest brother might get hurt?" Li Zhiwei facepalmed in exasperation. Her mother was being overly cautious.
But her eldest brother wasn't some delicate flower grown in a greenhouse — surely he could handle a little setback?
Lady Yao nodded.
"Mother, eldest brother is a grown man, not a child." Li Zhiwei felt both heartbroken and helpless seeing her mother like this.
She knew why Lady Yao was being so careful.
She felt guilty toward Jiang Yuanrang.
She felt that Jiang Yuanrang getting lost all those years ago was her fault.
"Mother, what happened to eldest brother back then was an accident." Li Zhiwei said this, even though she knew it might not make any difference.
"Then why don't we ask your eldest brother what he thinks?" Lady Yao said, thinking that if she were to look for a match for her son herself, she might not find a girl better than Wen Xiu.
Although she was also worried that the girl might look down on her own son.
But what if the girl also took a liking to her son? Wouldn't that be an opportunity to keep her son in the capital?
"Mother, when I married into Prince An's household, why weren't you this worried that I might be wronged in the Prince's home?" Li Zhiwei asked with a hint of jealousy.
"Who says I wasn't worried? I even thought of a fallback plan for you." Lady Yao answered without hesitation.
Xu Heming had just been about to step into the courtyard to find Li Zhiwei when he heard his mother-in-law's words, and his footsteps came to a halt.
Good heavens — he'd only been away for a short while, and his mother-in-law was already planning an escape route for his wife?
"Mother, what kind of fallback plan did you think of for me?" Li Zhiwei asked curiously as well.
"What else could it be? If Prince An ever wrongs you, your father and I will take you and leave the capital." Lady Yao had no idea that her good son-in-law was listening just outside the door.
But even if she did know he was listening, she wasn't afraid.
After all, the Li family had the confidence that their daughter could live just fine even if she left Prince An's household.
"Mother, where would you take me?" Li Zhiwei popped a grape into her mouth and asked out of curiosity.
"Somewhere Prince An will never find you." Lady Yao said triumphantly.
"Mother-in-law, rest assured — I will never let that day come." Xu Heming quickly stepped forward and said.
He thought to himself that he needed to keep a close eye on his little wife from now on.
Otherwise, one day his mother-in-law might just whisk her away.
"Oh my, Heming is here too?" Lady Yao gave an awkward smile and said.
She had just been discussing with her daughter, not long after the new marriage, about taking the daughter away from the son-in-law — and now the son-in-law had heard every word of it.
She wondered to herself whether this son-in-law might hold a grudge against her now.
And whether, when he went back, he might make her daughter suffer.
"Yes, has Weiwei already mentioned it to you, Mother-in-law?" Xu Heming quickly looked at Li Zhiwei and asked.
"She has. But I haven't yet asked eldest brother for his opinion." Li Zhiwei nodded and said.
"I'll go ask eldest brother." Xu Heming turned and was about to go find Jiang Yuanrang, but after taking two steps, he looked back at Li Zhiwei and said, "Your Highness, come with me."
After saying this, Xu Heming cast a somewhat inscrutable glance at Lady Yao.
Lady Yao immediately understood the wariness in that look.
She quickly lowered her head and pretended to cover her mouth with her hand, thinking to herself — from now on, would this son-in-law not even let her daughter come see her?
"All right, Mother, I'm off to find eldest brother." Li Zhiwei didn't notice the exchange of glances between the two at all.
She was very curious whether her eldest brother would agree to this.
Seeing Li Zhiwei obediently following him away, a triumphant smile curled at the corner of Xu Heming's lips.