bookrebus Chapter 413
Chapter 413
"Miss, are you alright?" Having just left the Qingyu Pavilion, Qinghua asked nervously.Recalling the man's words just now, Qinghua was deeply filled with regret. She should have stayed right by her miss's side; then that man wouldn't have had the chance to take advantage of the situation.
"Sister Li, are you alright?" Wen Xiu also hurried forward to ask.
Wen Xiu was quite shocked by the man's appearance just now. This person was somewhat different from them.
However, she had bitten her lip earlier and hadn't dared to say a single word.
Thinking about how nervous her eldest brother and Xu Heming had looked, Wen Xiu secretly guessed the man's identity in her heart.
"I'm fine. Let's hurry back." After such an incident, Li Zhiwei didn't dare to linger around. It would be bad if they ran into that man again.
Who knew, he might even think she was interested in him.
At this thought, Li Zhiwei sighed.
Her luck was truly something else.
"What's wrong?" Cheng Qingli had stayed behind to give the shopkeeper a few instructions. When she came out, she felt that the tone of the two girls was a bit off.
"Sister-in-law, did you see a man with deep-set eyes just now?"
Wen Xiu quickly grabbed Cheng Qingli's hand and asked.
"I didn't see him. What's wrong? Did you see him? Are you alright?" Hearing this, Cheng Qingli asked nervously. She wanted to go back and tell the shopkeeper to keep an eye out.
But Li Zhiwei held her back. "Let's hurry back."
Li Zhiwei knew that Xu Heming's hasty departure meant he definitely had some arrangements to make.
If they stayed here, they might ruin their plans. The most urgent thing right now was to leave quickly.
"Alright, shall I escort you back?" Seeing that the two seemed quite frightened, Cheng Qingli offered.
"No need, Qingli. You should hurry back too. Wen Xiu and I will go together," Li Zhiwei shook her head. They weren't going in the same direction, so it was better to head back first and talk about other things later.
In the end, Li Zhiwei and Wen Xiu left together, while Cheng Qingli returned to her own estate.
Little did they know that as they left, someone was secretly following behind them.
Since Shangguan Mu had taken a fancy to Li Zhiwei, he would definitely investigate which family she belonged to.
However, Shangguan Mu had an appointment with someone at the Qingyu Pavilion today, otherwise he wouldn't have rushed out.
If the other party hadn't confidently assured him that the Qingyu Pavilion's confidentiality was excellent, Shangguan Mu wouldn't have come.
But having come, he didn't regret it. After all, running into a little beauty was quite a pleasant surprise.
When Xu Heming entered the palace, Zhu Jingchen was having a meal with the Empress.
"You had better have a good reason. Otherwise, for interrupting my meal with the Empress, I will truly punish you!" The moment Zhu Jingchen saw Xu Heming, he knew it couldn't be anything good!
He finally had some free time to dine with the Empress, yet this man came to disturb them. He wondered who had put Xu Heming up to this.
"Your Majesty, this humble official has urgent matters, which is why I interrupted your meal with Her Majesty the Empress. This matter is extremely urgent, so I beg Your Majesties for forgiveness," Xu Heming quickly knelt down and said.
"Even if you kneel, I won't forgive you!" Zhu Jingchen said somewhat childishly.
"Your Majesty, for His Highness Prince An to come at this hour, he must have something important to discuss with you," the Empress said to Xu Heming with a smile.
She didn't mind Xu Heming arriving at this time; after all, she and the Emperor were almost finished eating anyway.
It was just that the Emperor had been saying they should reconsider the marriage between Cheng Qingli and Wen Zhaonan. After all, Wen Zhaonan's family background was truly ordinary.
There was only one younger sister in his household, and no one would be able to support her in the future.
Given Cheng Qingli's lively and unconstrained personality, this marriage might not be very suitable.
The Empress naturally knew that the Wen family's background was a bit lacking. However, having a small and simple family was both a problem and an advantage.
Her younger sister had a pure personality, and the Wen family's inner courtyard was clean and free of complications, which was also a benefit.
But before the two of them could finish discussing it, Prince An had unexpectedly arrived.
The Empress wasn't annoyed. This marriage had just been arranged, so they would have plenty of time to discuss it later.
"Your Majesty, people from the Qinling Kingdom have entered the capital." Xu Heming didn't beat around the bush and said it directly in front of the Empress.
"What did you say?" Hearing this, Zhu Jingchen stood up.
Weren't the envoys from the Qinling Kingdom said to have just passed the checkpoint?
How could they have arrived already?
What kind of transportation were they using?
That was way too fast!
Otherwise, according to their estimates, it would take at least another half a month for them to travel from the Qinling Kingdom to the Lannuo Kingdom.
"Your Majesty, today, this humble official, along with Lord Wen, Miss Li, the Second Miss Cheng, and Miss Wen, encountered a man at the Qingyu Pavilion who was confirmed to be from the Qinling Kingdom," Xu Heming said. Then, recalling the Emperor's mention of transportation, he added, "There was no report from the city gates about anyone from the Qinling Kingdom arriving. Presumably, they traveled in secret?"
When Xu Heming said this, he actually wasn't entirely sure.
After all, the man was from the Qinling Kingdom, but it was hard to say what his exact identity was.
"Have someone follow him. Since they didn't come with great fanfare, we will pretend we don't know anything and carry on as usual. However, dispatch some men to keep a close eye on him," Zhu Jingchen paced back and forth upon hearing this, finally coming to a decision.
"Yes, General Wen is already keeping an eye on things there. That is why this humble official rushed into the palace to explain the situation to you," Xu Heming quickly said.
"I understand. Hurry back and send people to watch him," Zhu Jingchen said, pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back.
"Your Majesty, if that is the case, what about this humble official's marriage to Miss Li—"
Xu Heming asked gloomily.
He thought to himself that just as he was about to marry his wife, it seemed all hope was now lost.
Thinking of this, Xu Heming wondered why the Emperor couldn't have chosen an earlier date.
He also regretted his actions; he shouldn't have come to tell the Emperor just now and should have just sent people to keep watch himself.
"The wedding will proceed as planned, of course!" Zhu Jingchen said without a second thought.
"You can't possibly think that just because people from the Qinling Kingdom have arrived, your marriage to Zhiwei will be delayed?" Zhu Jingchen was rather dissatisfied at the thought.
"Yes!" Hearing this, Xu Heming was filled with joy. As long as it proceeded, everything was fine.
After all, he had wanted to marry Li Zhiwei for a long time.
Now, this young lady was finally going to be his.
"Hurry up and make your arrangements!" Zhu Jingchen said, waving his hand to dismiss Xu Heming.
As soon as Xu Heming left, Zhu Jingchen picked up his chopsticks from the table and began to feast heartily.
"Your Majesty, are you not worried?" the Empress asked, looking at her carefree husband in confusion.
"What is there to worry about? Even if the sky falls, there are taller people to hold it up. Besides, it's just some people from the Qinling Kingdom arriving; they can't even be called envoys," Zhu Jingchen said without a care.
In fact, their armory had long since forged a much sharper, more lethal weapon.
When the time came, they believed that the Qinling Kingdom wouldn't be able to affect their state of mind at all.
However, Shangguan Mu at the Qingyu Pavilion had no idea that his every move was under someone else's surveillance.