Qiao Mei inherited the original owner's memories and had never heard of a royal identity requiring her to go to such lengths.
She remained silent for a while, not replying to Qiao Ziming's question, but suddenly asked him a question.
"Do you remember when my birthday is?"
Qiao Ziming was stunned. He didn't expect her to ask such a question suddenly. After a moment of stunned silence, his expression turned a little unpleasant. He asked her what she was doing.
Qiao Mei smiled faintly: "It seems you don't remember. After all, you have so many children, it's normal not to remember. In that case, I don't want to tell you about it. You should understand, right?"
She didn't say it explicitly, but she made it clear to Qiao Ziming what she meant.
He himself doesn't care about his daughter, so what obligation does she, as his daughter, have to tell him every detail of her life and let him make decisions for her?
The new Seventh Prince's Consort, being a woman, possessed a greater sensitivity to hidden meanings than a man like Qiao Ziming. She understood Qiao Mei's meaning before he did and looked at her calm demeanor with surprise.
How could she say such a thing in front of someone of the Crown Prince's status?
But Qiao Mei didn't seem to think anything of it. After speaking, she asked Qiao Ziming what he had come here for today.
"It can't be a simple gift, can it? If there's something you'd like to say to your mother privately, I can contact her for you. She and your father are busy counting the money from the gift right now, so she might not have much free time."
When Qiao Mei emphasized the word "father," Qiao Ziming's face darkened even more.
It was as if she was deliberately reminding him that in her heart, the person she could recognize as her father was Li Chonghua, not him, her biological father in terms of biological relationship.
He stared at Qiao Mei with a sinister look for a while, and finally chuckled, "You, as a junior, don't need to know these things. When I come here, I will contact her personally. Just go do what you need to do."
After saying that, he didn't even glance at Qiao Mei again, and strode confidently into the main hall.
Fearing he might cause some trouble, Qiao Mei contacted Xu Hui and explained the situation to her.
Xu Hui had already taken Li Wuyou into the house to breastfeed. After hearing what Qiao Mei said, she immediately contacted Xu Wenfeng.
In terms of status alone, she and Qiao Ziming could not compete head-on, but Xu Wenfeng was different.
"Why is he here? What could he possibly want to cause trouble on such a joyous day? Where are you now? I'm coming to find you. Remember to bring Chonghua along too. He's your legal husband now, so of course he'll be the one to stand up for you in case anything happens."
Xu Hui is currently breastfeeding and her body is relatively weak, so she really can't withstand too much stimulation.
Fearing that Qiao Ziming might act unpredictably, she told Xu Wenfeng the location and then mentioned it to Li Chonghua.
Upon hearing that Qiao Ziming had arrived, Li Chonghua immediately summoned two waiters to help them count and process the gift money.
He then found Xu Hui as quickly as possible, took the sleeping Li Wuyou from her arms, and let her rest her arm for a while.
Not long after, Xu Wenfeng, sitting in a wheelchair and wearing a well-tailored black suit, arrived, his face dark and gloomy as if someone owed him a lot of money.
"Where is the Crown Prince?"
Xu Hui shook her head: "They haven't come yet, but I guess they'll be here soon."
She had barely finished speaking when she heard the sound of someone climbing stairs coming from the northwest.
Upon glancing over, Xu Hui noticed that Qiao Ziming had brought a strange woman with him. Her brows furrowed, while Li Chonghua blocked her path, acting as a protective wall in front of her.
Qiao Ziming saw Li Chonghua and Xu Wenfeng from afar. He had originally planned to say some sarcastic remarks, but when he got to Xu Hui, he didn't know how to say them.
He could only offer a few words of congratulations as a token gesture, and then asked, "Where is the child? I want to see what he looks like. To be honest, I'm not blessed. We've worked so hard together for so long, and all we've got is a daughter."
On the surface, his words seemed to be genuinely referring to his daughter, but in reality, they were a subtle reminder to Li Chonghua that Xu Hui had once been his woman and had been possessed by him for a long time.
But Li Chonghua acted as if he hadn't heard anything, and looked at Qiao Mei and Ao Cang, who had walked over from behind Qiao Ziming, and said word by word, "The child is asleep and can't be shown to you. But even if Xiao Mei is not my biological daughter, I will treat her as my own. Your Highness doesn't need to worry too much."
Xu Wenfeng nodded in agreement: "Anyway, Xiao Hui and Xiao Mei are doing no worse after leaving the palace than they were before. You don't need to worry about these things, Your Highness. Xiao Hui just finished feeding the baby and is still quite tired. If you don't have anything else, I'll take her to rest."
Seeing that he was trying to drive the guest away, Qiao Ziming wanted to use his status as the crown prince to put pressure on him, but Xu Wenfeng was no ordinary person. If he put pressure on him now, it would be openly going against the Xu family.
His father would definitely give him a severe scolding.
He could only suppress his anger and deliberately pulled the new Seventh Prince's wife, whom he had brought with him, closer to his chest, his gaze landing on her lower abdomen, as if in provocation as he looked at Xu Hui and said:
“Alright, I came here to tell Xu Hui that she might be coming to celebrate my son’s one-month birthday soon.”
As he said this, Qiao Ziming stared intently at Xu Hui's face, trying to see any jealousy or concern on her face.
But all he saw was a calm as still as a pool of water. He couldn't even see anger in her eyes. It was as if she treated him as a stranger. Whether he lived or died, or whatever happened to him, it had nothing to do with her.
But it shouldn't be like this!
He stared intently at Xu Hui's face, which had become bright and gentle since she left him, and suddenly felt a pang of regret for letting her go so easily.
How come he never noticed before that she was still attractive to him?
Xu Hui didn't even glance at him. She touched Li Chonghua's large hand with her small hand, and after interlocking their fingers, she smiled faintly and said, "Then I congratulate Your Highness the Crown Prince in advance. I'm a little tired, so I'll go and rest with my father first."
Qiao Ziming, exasperated, stopped her: "Xu Hui!!"
Xu Hui frowned and turned around, finally glancing at him.
The gray-eyed man stared intently at her familiar yet unfamiliar face, his voice almost escaping between clenched teeth: "You really don't regret the decision you made?!"
If she chooses to come back while he has rekindled his interest in her, he might be able to start doting on her again.
Qiao Mei watched from the side, thinking that Qiao Ziming was out of his mind. Seeing Xu Hui remain silent, she was just about to speak up for her when she heard Xu Hui reply:
"Regret what? Weren't all the decisions I made forced upon me by you? Qiao Ziming, I hope this is the last time you act like this in front of my husband and father. If it happens again, I don't care who you are, I will never speak to you again! You only disgust me!!"
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