mtlumby2d Chapter 419
Chapter 419
"Alright, I know. You can go back first!" Xu Heming rolled his eyes inwardly at the messenger from Prince Lanhuai's estate. He didn't say whether he would attend the appointment or not.However, he was getting increasingly annoyed with the affairs of Prince Lanhuai's estate.
He wondered to himself how the Emperor's investigation was going.
But he was already swamped with the mines, the weapon forging, the arrival of the Qinling envoys in the capital, and on top of all that, his upcoming wedding.
He simply didn't have the time or energy to spare.
With this in mind, Xu Heming had absolutely no intention of keeping Prince Lanhuai's appointment.
Prince Lanhuai had Zhou Zuo take Little Fatty and wait at the City God Temple from the hour of Xu to the hour of Zi.
But there was no sign of Xu Heming.
"Didn't I tell you to notify him? Where is he?" Prince Lanhuai angrily kicked Eunuch Wu and interrogated him.
"Your Highness, this old servant already informed Prince An. This old servant also doesn't know why Prince An hasn't come!" Eunuch Wu felt wronged. Why didn't this Prince An play by the rules?
Furthermore, at the time, Prince An had clearly agreed so readily.
Why didn't he show up?
Thinking of this, Eunuch Wu complained bitterly in his heart.
However, Xu Heming knew none of this.
After all, he had already returned to Prince An's estate by now.
Xu Qingshi was looking at him with teary eyes, clamoring to go out and play.
"Father, you go out and have fun by yourself every day, locking me up in this tiny little world. Do you think that's fair?" Xu Qingshi asked in dissatisfaction, hands on his hips.
"Where do you want to go?" Xu Heming rubbed his aching forehead, looking at Xu Qingshi as he asked.
Xu Qingshi looked at Xu Heming, momentarily stumped by his father's question. Where did he want to go?
Naturally, he just wanted to leave the estate.
"Father, can I go anywhere I want?" Hearing this, Xu Qingshi asked very happily.
"Yes, wherever you want to go, Father will accompany you. But you must promise Father that during the day, you won't leave the estate and will stay obediently at home." Xu Heming figured that as long as he took the boy out himself, nothing would go wrong.
"Can I go to several places?" Xu Qingshi asked joyfully.
Xu Heming originally wanted to say no, as he was truly quite tired today. However, seeing the look of utter anticipation on his son's face, he couldn't bring himself to refuse.
"Not for too long. We need to come back early to rest," Xu Heming finally said, looking at Xu Qingshi.
He thought that he would just take him for a quick spin around the places he wanted to visit and then return, which wouldn't be going against his wishes.
"Then I want to go to the Grand Princess's estate, I want to see the pretty sister, I want to see Xie Yanzhi, and I also want to see Jiang Yu, I want to see the Third Prince, and I also want to see Wei Herui," Xu Qingshi said, counting them off one by one on his fingers.
The more Xu Heming listened, the tighter his brows furrowed. He could understand wanting to see the others, but what was he going to the Grand Princess's estate for?
He didn't recall his son being good friends with the young master of the Grand Princess's estate.
"What are you going to the Grand Princess's estate for?"
Xu Heming looked at Xu Qingshi and asked in a deep voice.
Seeing his father's gaze, Xu Qingshi felt a bit guilty.
He didn't know why, but he just felt that he didn't want his father to know he was going to the Grand Princess's estate to see Little Dumpling.
But if he didn't say it, he was worried Xu Heming wouldn't take him.
Thinking of this, Xu Qingshi looked conflicted.
"You can't say?" Xu Heming looked at his conflicted son, highly curious.
What kind of secret could there possibly be that he couldn't know?
However, thinking about the time, it probably wouldn't be convenient to take him into the palace to find the Third Prince, so he added, "Going into the palace probably won't work."
"Why?" Hearing that he couldn't go see the Third Prince, Xu Qingshi looked at Xu Heming with dissatisfaction. He hadn't seen the Third Prince in a long time and missed him very much.
"It's too late," Xu Heming sighed and said.
In truth, it wasn't that he couldn't get into the palace. It was just that if he went too often, Zhu Jingchen might take issue with it. After all, it was the imperial palace. As an unrelated male, breaking into the palace at night for no good reason was never a good look.
Even if he knew he was innocent, if some concubine were to have an affair one day, he might be the first person suspected.
Although he was completely innocent.
But right now, he couldn't take that risk.
"Father, what are you thinking about? Don't tell me you're secretly thinking about the pretty sister again?" Xu Qingshi said in dissatisfaction, seeing his father zoning out right in front of him.
After all, he was the one who had brought the pretty sister back in the first place.
Now, his father, this old man, was getting all the benefits.
Thinking of this, Xu Qingshi sighed. Back then, he thought the pretty sister was beautiful and might give birth to good-looking younger brothers and sisters. Now it seemed his father was quite useless; it had been so long, and he still hadn't married her.
"It's nothing, let's go!" Xu Heming snapped back to reality and said to his son.
After all, he was afraid that if they went too late, his boy would only be able to stand watch outside people's houses.
Knowing he couldn't enter the palace tonight, Xu Qingshi didn't press the issue, only silently apologizing to Zhu Hanyu in his heart.
Who told him to live inside the imperial palace?
Xu Heming took Xu Qingshi, and their first stop was the Li family.
Li Zhiwei and Li Tianyou were taken aback when they saw Xu Qingshi.
"Qingshi, what brings you here?" Li Tianyou immediately waved at Xu Qingshi.
After all, they were now friends who had gone through adversity together.
"Grandfather, I missed you to death." Without a second thought, Xu Qingshi threw himself into Li Tianyou's arms with a grieved expression, acting spoiled.
Li Zhiwei's mouth twitched as she watched. Anyone who didn't know better would think that Xu Heming, his biological father, was abusing his own son.
Running to his future stepmother's house to complain?
"Have Heming and Qingshi eaten yet?" Lady Yao reacted and quickly asked.
"Grandmother, we haven't eaten yet," Xu Qingshi quickly popped his head out from Li Tianyou's embrace and said.
Xu Heming choked. He had only been focused on bringing this brat out for some fresh air and hadn't bothered with dinner. But now, saying it like this in front of his future mother-in-law made it sound as if they had purposely come to the Li family to mooch a meal.
Xu Heming felt a bit embarrassed and even more annoyed inwardly. He should have taken this kid somewhere else just now.
Otherwise, he wouldn't be making a fool of himself at his future mother-in-law's house.
"Zhou Tong, hurry up and have someone bring two extra sets of bowls and chopsticks, and tell the kitchen to send over a few dishes that the Prince and Qingshi like," Lady Yao quickly instructed Zhou Tong, who was standing to the side.
"Mother-in-law, please don't trouble yourself, we'll be leaving shortly!" Xu Heming hastily said.
"Thank you, Grandmother. You truly are like my real grandmother, unlike my father, who locks me up all day and doesn't even let me eat. I wonder if Prince An's estate has run out of money," Xu Qingshi said, his eyes narrowing as he acted incredibly sweet toward Lady Yao.
Hearing this, dark lines formed on Xu Heming's forehead. Did Prince An's estate deprive him of food or clothing, for him to disparage him like this at the Li family's house?
He and Li Zhiwei were about to get married. What if this made Li Tianyou change his mind and refuse to marry his daughter to him?
"Xu Qingshi, stop your nonsense!" Xu Heming said with a dark expression, his tone full of warning toward Xu Qingshi.
"Is Prince An's estate truly out of money?"