Chapter 282

As soon as the words left his mouth, Xu Heming felt a pang of regret. After all, Cheng Qingli was not an easy person to get along with.

He also worried that Li Zhiwei might be taken advantage of.

However, if Li Zhiwei wanted to accomplish anything in the capital, partnering with Cheng Qingli was her best option. After all, Cheng Qingli was a daughter of the Cheng family, the Empress’s maiden family, and the Empress’s own legitimate younger sister.

Although Cheng Qingli had a flamboyant and arrogant personality, the Empress doted on her deeply. Because of this, even the Emperor showed a fair amount of tolerance toward his sister-in-law.

“Father, are you crazy?” Xu Qingshi, who had been rubbing his bruised backside, stared at Xu Heming in sheer disbelief.

He couldn’t believe his father would actually tell his pretty sister to go find Cheng Qingli.

Others might not know of Cheng Qingli, but he was good friends with the Third Prince, Zhu Hanyu, and the name Cheng Qingli was like thunder piercing his ears.

She was a complete demoness. Every time the Third Prince mentioned her, he would grind his teeth in anger.

How could his father tell his pretty mother to seek out that demoness?

Xu Qingshi’s guarded expression left Li Zhiwei feeling a bit puzzled.

Just who exactly was this Cheng Qingli?

“Pretty sister, listen to me, you absolutely must not go see that Cheng Qingli. She is not a good person!” Xu Qingshi instructed nervously, tugging at Li Zhiwei’s hand.

Li Zhiwei looked at Xu Heming in confusion. If this person was truly like that, why would Xu Heming suggest she seek her out?

“Don’t listen to his nonsense. Miss Cheng is not like that,” Xu Heming sighed, softly defending Cheng Qingli. Although Cheng Qingli was not confined to the inner courtyards like the other noble young ladies of the capital, Xu Heming felt that she had a very quick and sharp mind.

Most importantly, Cheng Qingli was intimately familiar with the people and affairs of the capital. No matter what Li Zhiwei wanted to do, seeking out Cheng Qingli would absolutely not be a mistake.

“Father, you haven’t taken a liking to that demoness, have you?” Xu Qingshi looked at Xu Heming in horror. He could actually hear a tone of appreciation for Cheng Qingli in his father’s words.

At this thought, Xu Qingshi looked at Li Zhiwei with worry.

Li Zhiwei, however, did not think that much into it. If Cheng Qingli truly had such abilities, it wasn’t impossible for them to work together.

Of course, cooperating to marry the same man was out of the question.

But making money together was definitely a possibility.

“You will understand once you meet her another day,” Xu Heming said, ignoring Xu Qingshi beside him. He thought to himself that the next time he went out with Li Zhiwei, he shouldn’t bring this eyesore of a son along.

He only knew how to drag them down.

“Your Highness makes a fair point,” Li Zhiwei nodded. She pondered in her heart that she should first create samples of the things she wanted to make; only then could she properly discuss a partnership.

“When does my father-in-law plan to move to the residence on Dongyuan Street?” Xu Heming asked, thinking of another matter.

The manor the Emperor had bestowed upon Li Tianyou was located on Dongyuan Street, which was not too far from the Prince An Manor.

Recently, Li Tianyou and Lady Yao had been busy preparing for the move.

“Yes, once the preparations are mostly done, we will move over,” Li Zhiwei nodded. Although Xiliu Alley was quite nice, it simply couldn’t compare to the four-courtyard compound on Dongyuan Street.

It wasn’t that Li Tianyou couldn’t afford a residence in the capital. It was just that previously, they were merely merchants, and being able to purchase a house in Xiliu Alley had already required pulling quite a few strings.

Now that they had a manor bestowed by the Emperor, they naturally had to move there.

“Pretty sister, did Grandfather save a courtyard for me?” Xu Qingshi hurriedly asked from the side.

Xu Heming glared at his son, feeling incredibly jealous. He wanted a courtyard too.

However, he didn’t have the face to ask Li Zhiwei that.

Li Tianyou might leave a courtyard for his son, but he definitely wouldn’t leave one for him.

At this thought, a trace of sourness welled up in Xu Heming’s heart.

“Of course there is,” Li Zhiwei said with a smile.

Their family only had three masters, her and her parents, so setting aside a courtyard for Xu Qingshi was a minor matter.

“That’s wonderful! When the time comes, I’ll move into the Li family home.” Xu Qingshi paid absolutely no mind to his father’s face, which was currently as black as ink.

But soon after, Xu Heming seemed to think of something, and a faint, imperceptible smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

Since he liked living at the Li residence so much, let him live there.

Anyway, Li Zhiwei would still have to return to Prince An Manor with him.

The bustling sounds of peddlers crying out their wares drifted in from the lively streets of the capital. Li Zhiwei lifted the carriage curtain and peered outside.

“How about we go down for a walk?” Xu Heming rarely had free time, and seeing that Li Zhiwei seemed interested, he asked softly.

“If Your Highness has urgent matters, you can go attend to them first. Don’t worry about me.” Li Zhiwei figured Xu Heming must be quite busy.

“It’s fine, a little while won’t matter.” Xu Heming thought to himself, how could official business be more important than accompanying Li Zhiwei?

Besides, he had already sent word to the Emperor that he would report on the matters of Heping County tomorrow instead.

Furthermore, the memorial he prepared for the Emperor was already finished.

Qingsong had just submitted it to the palace.

For now, he would treat this as a small vacation from his recent exhausting travels.

“In that case, let’s stroll for a bit.” Since Li Zhiwei wanted to accomplish things in the capital, she had no intention of just playing around on a small scale.

First and foremost, it was highly necessary to understand the market.

Hearing this, Xu Qingshi nimbly scrambled down from the carriage.

“Get back in the carriage,” Xu Heming said with a frown.

“I don’t want to. I want to be with pretty sister,” Xu Qingshi replied without a second thought, trailing right behind Li Zhiwei.

“If a child walks too much, they’ll become short. Don’t tell me you want to stay this short forever?” Xu Heming said with a straight face, trying to trick the child.

“You’re lying! You walk every day, so why did you grow so tall?” Xu Qingshi put his hands on his hips in anger.

“I didn’t walk when I was little,” Xu Heming replied without batting an eye.

“Miss Li, please let my father go, I beg of you.” Just as Li Zhiwei stepped down from the carriage, a young woman suddenly rushed up to her and began kowtowing incessantly.

Li ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‍Zhiwei was startled.

For a moment, she didn’t recognize that the person in front of her was none other than Xu Jin’an.

“Miss Li, I beg of you, please spare my father!” At this moment, Xu Jin’an possessed not even a shred of her former dignity as an eldest miss.

These past few days, ever since her father was dismissed from his post at the Court of the Imperial Stud, her mother had been sighing in despair at home all day. Back then, her father had emptied the family’s savings for this opportunity to report for duty in the capital. Now, they couldn’t even afford the rent for their house.

It looked as though they would have no choice but to return to their hometown of Feng City.

How could Xu Jin’an be willing to accept this?

She thought about how everything had changed the moment Li Zhiwei returned to the capital.

She had deliberately chosen today, when Li Zhiwei was out, to beg for mercy on the main street, intending to force Li Zhiwei to back down out of embarrassment.

“Who is your father?” Li Zhiwei looked at the person before her, feeling somewhat perplexed. She shouldn’t know this person, right?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep