Chapter 554
Chapter 554
Cheng Qingli even thought to herself that those people would consider it a blessing if they didn't stab you in the back. After all, which woman in the imperial palace wasn't constantly on guard against everyone else?
How could children born to other women possibly protect the children of their elder sister?
It would be surprising if they didn't harm Miaohe Zhu.
"True!" Miaohe Zhu quickly realized this as well.
But it didn't matter—she was the elder sister. From now on, she would protect her younger siblings.
"Auntie, when are you going to give me some younger cousins? Don't worry, I'll protect them!" Miaohe Zhu wrapped her arm around Cheng Qingli's shoulder, acting spoiled.
"Speak properly. Your auntie isn't even married yet!" Cheng Qingli's face flushed slightly.
In truth, she also wished to have a child with Zhang Yanchu soon.
A boy who looked like him, a girl who looked like herself.
They would call them "Father" and "Mother" in their soft, sweet voices.
"Hehe, isn't that just a matter of time?" Miaohe Zhu laughed, begging for forgiveness.
Prince An's Residence
By the time Xu Heming returned to the residence, Li Zhiwei had already been waiting for quite a while.
"Is my princess waiting for this prince to return?" Xu Heming felt extremely pleased to see that Li Zhiwei was actually waiting for him.
"My lord, have you eaten?" Li Zhiwei quickly stood up when she saw Xu Heming enter, walked over to him, and took the robe from his hands.
"I've eaten. Why haven't you gone to sleep yet?" Xu Heming was delighted to see Li Zhiwei waiting for him, but he also felt a pang of concern.
When he was busy, he lost track of time. If he came back late, would this fool just keep waiting for him?
"Your concubine waited for you to return because there's a matter to discuss." Li Zhiwei said directly.
"What's wrong? Has someone in the residence been making things difficult for you?" Xu Heming asked worriedly.
"No, it's just that there's something I can't decide on on my own. I wanted to wait until you returned to discuss it." Li Zhiwei said with a smile.
"Tell me, then?" Xu Heming quite enjoyed seeing Li Zhiwei rely on him.
"Today, Nanny Feng brought something up with me, and I couldn't make up my mind. Nanny Feng said that the names Qinghua and Qingyue clash with the name Qing Shi, and she suggested we change their names. If we do change them, would Qing Chuan and the others need their names changed too?" Li Zhiwei looked at Xu Heming and asked.
Xu Heming was taken aback for a moment. He hadn't thought about this before, but now that it had been brought up, it was certainly worth considering.
"They're just names. If you think it's inappropriate, you can change them all." Xu Heming said nonchalantly.
"Mhm!" With Xu Heming's approval, Li Zhiwei nodded. Since he had given his say, she now had her decision.
"Qing Feng, Qing Mu, Qingyuan, Qing He, Qingsong, Qing Chuan, hear my command!" Xu Heming announced loudly.
The group quickly stood before Xu Heming and Li Zhiwei.
"We await your orders, My Lord and My Princess!"
They all said in unison.
"From this day forward, all of you of the Qing generation and the Qingzi generation shall take the surname Xu. Dispense with the Qing and Qingzi prefixes in your titles. From now on, you shall carry my surname Xu, followed by your given names!" Xu Heming said, looking at the group.
The crowd were overjoyed inside. They hadn't expected the prince to allow them to bear his surname—this was the highest honor.
"Thank you, My Lord! Thank you, My Princess!" Everyone expressed their gratitude joyfully. From this point on, they would share the prince's surname.
"Alright, you may take your leave."
"Qinghua, Qingyue, Cuiguo, Chunxiang!" Following that, Li Zhiwei called out to those outside.
"We await your orders, My Lord and My Princess!"
Hearing her voice, the group hurried into the room, bowed to the two, and spoke in lowered voices.
"From now on, you will follow the ranking style of Cuiguo and be placed under the Cui generation. Qinghua will be changed to Cuihua, Qingyue to Cuiyue, Chunxiang to Cuixiang, and Cuiguo's name will remain unchanged." Li Zhiwei looked at them and spoke with authority.
"Thank you, Princess, for bestowing our names!" Hearing this, they all expressed their gratitude excitedly.
In truth, the happiest one was Cuiguo, knowing that all of them were now ranked following her name.
"Alright, you may all withdraw now." Li Zhiwei didn't like having these people crowded around the room during her private time with Xu Heming.
It made her feel uncomfortable.
"My Princess, tomorrow we can finish making preparations and set off for Lucheng." Xu Heming said as he held Li Zhiwei.
Today was the reason he had returned to the residence early—to tell Li Zhiwei about this.
"We can set off tomorrow? Why are you only telling me now? I haven't even had time to inform my parents." Li Zhiwei grew a bit anxious when she heard this.
She stood up and started to walk outside.
She wondered if her parents had already gone to bed at this hour.
"Don't worry, my princess. I've already sent someone to inform your father and mother. They must already have everything prepared by now." Xu Heming knew Li Zhiwei would react this way and quickly reassured her.
"Alright, since you've already notified them, I'll forgive you for now." Li Zhiwei breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.
"This prince won't be able to accompany you all the way to Lucheng." Xu Heming felt a pang of guilt as he spoke.
After all, he had originally promised to go to Lucheng, but now he would have to go back on his word.
"If you have important matters to attend to, we can go on our own as well." Li Zhiwei was briefly stunned, but then she spoke considerately.
She knew that Xu Heming must have something extremely important to handle.
Especially now, with the prince of the Qinling Kingdom still in the capital. Li Zhiwei also understood that Xu Heming was truly busy.
"I need to go to Heping County, but this trip must be kept secret. The public story will be that I've gone to Lucheng with all of you." Xu Heming said in a low voice.
"My lord, going to Heping County—is there any danger?"
When Li Zhiwei heard this, she knew that whatever Xu Heming had to do in Heping County was likely very perilous.
She couldn't help but feel worried.
"There's nothing to worry about. There are just some matters that need to be handled quietly." Xu Heming thought about the emperor's orders for him to investigate Heping County and find out where Prince Lanhuai had spent all that gold.
After all, they had only given the last batch of gold to the national treasury, and the gold mine held far more than what had been turned over.
Now, the emperor wanted him to uncover the evidence behind Prince Lanhuai.
Prince Lanhuai wasn't entirely without brain. He had done all this, and it was only in recent times that the emperor had discovered his ambition.
Over these years, he had shown himself as a brainless prince in front of everyone.
If Xu Heming hadn't accidentally uncovered the secrets of Heping County, the emperor might not have found out about this so quickly.
"My lord, you must take good care of yourself. Then I will wait for you in Lucheng." Li Zhiwei carefully instructed him.
"When you're in Lucheng, I will have Xu Mu pretend to be me and stay by your side. Make sure you are a bit more ostentatious during that time." Xu Heming wanted to create the illusion that he was simply in Lucheng with Li Zhiwei.
He wanted Li Zhiwei to be as showy as possible.
That way, others would have no idea that he was actually in Heping County.