Chapter Forty-Five
"Stepmother, I heard you've been kidnapped?"
Xu Qingshi's hurried voice came from the doorway.
"What nonsense are you talking about, child?" The old princess was taken aback at first, then looked at Li Tianyou beside her with some unease, afraid that he would blame her.
"Hey stepmother, when bad guys were arresting you, why didn't you call me?" Xu Qingshi ran in breathlessly, looked Li Zhiwei up and down, and then said with some dissatisfaction.
Li Zhiwei was taken aback at first, then asked with a light laugh.
"Why did you call on the Crown Prince?"
"If you call me, I can help you chase away the bad guys, right?" Xu Qingshi said to Li Zhiwei with a dissatisfied look.
Upon hearing this, Li Tianyou, whose complexion had been somewhat unpleasant, relaxed a little.
"With your skinny arms and legs, who can you possibly beat?" the old princess said irritably.
"Hmph, I'm amazing! I can kill any bad guy with one punch. If one comes, I'll beat him up. If two come, I'll beat them both up!" Xu Qingshi raised his little fist and said something incredibly bold.
"Pfft!" Li Zhiwei was also amused by Xu Qingshi's words.
"Then young master must practice martial arts diligently, otherwise, if I encounter bad guys next time, your little fists are too small to protect me," Li Zhi said with a smile.
"I know without you telling me." Xu Qingshi raised her little face with a proud look, and seeing that Li Zhiwei was alright, she breathed a sigh of relief like a little adult.
Li Tianyou looked at Xu Qingshi's precocious demeanor and, though slightly displeased, his expression softened.
He had never liked the Prince An's Mansion, and he disliked Xu Heming even more, but this child's concern for Wei'er was genuine.
Even so, Li Tianyou had no intention of marrying his daughter into the Prince An's mansion.
“Although the young prince is young, he has such a kind heart. I am deeply grateful to the young prince,” Li Tianyou said, nodding slightly to Xu Qingshi.
Xu Qingshi seemed not to hear, and only focused on moving closer to Li Zhiwei, tilting his little face up and saying very seriously, "Stepmother, don't be afraid, I will protect you from now on! I will start learning kung fu from Master Wu tomorrow!"
Li Zhiwei felt a warmth in her heart and gently patted his head: "Alright, then I'll be waiting for the young master to protect me."
"Hmph, of course!" Xu Qingshi puffed out her little chest, looking smug.
In the palace
Xu Heming told Zhu Jingchen the whole story.
"What a fine mansion of the Marquis of Ru'an!" Zhu Jingchen exclaimed angrily upon hearing this.
“Your Majesty, the behavior of the Marquis of Ru’an’s mansion is utterly lawless,” Xu Heming said softly after a moment of silence.
"Hmm!" Zhu Jingchen had long been dissatisfied with the Marquis of Ru'an's family's scheme to seize Li Tianyou's family property.
It seems now that the Marquis of Ru'an's mansion has no reason to exist.
“Your Majesty, I believe that the Marquis of Ru’an’s mansion is already weak, but it is plotting against the Li family. Just think, how much can the Li family do for others?” Xu Heming said respectfully.
The Marquis of Ru'an's family has quite the ambition!
Zhu Jingchen tapped his fingers lightly on the imperial desk, producing a dull sound, just like the suppressed anger he felt at that moment.
He looked at Xu Heming, his eyes sharp: "What Prince An said is absolutely right. The Li family is richer than a country. If one can control the Li family, it is tantamount to controlling an inexhaustible treasury. Whether it is raising a private army, befriending court officials, or plotting other things, it is more than enough. The Marquis of Ru'an's mansion... has quite an appetite. Aren't they afraid of being overwhelmed by it?"
He paused, his voice growing even colder: "When they were scheming to seize the Li family's assets, they could still say it was a marriage between their children, and I couldn't interfere too much. Now that I've clearly said that this marriage is off the table, I never expected that they would dare to go even further and resort to such despicable means, openly kidnapping people at the palace gate! They simply don't respect me at all!"
Xu Heming lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty is wise. This matter has a terrible impact. If it is not severely punished, it may encourage evil practices, make all the nobles in the capital feel insecure, and also chill the hearts of loyal ministers."
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