allonlinenovel Chapter 341
Chapter 341
"Lord Li, please do not stand on ceremony with this old servant. His Highness gave strict orders for me to take good care of you," Liu Ming said with a smile.However, at this moment, Liu Ming assumed that Li Tianyou was going to help rescue their heir.
"Where is your prince?" Li Tianyou asked with a frown.
He had not seen Xu Heming all day.
"Lord Li, please do not take offense. His Highness left the city early this morning. Perhaps the Emperor had some important errand for him to attend to," Liu Ming quickly explained with a smile.
"Oh no, this is bad!" Li Tianyou suddenly remembered that he had missed the morning court session.
Saying this, he was about to stand up. He had to go to the morning court, otherwise, the Emperor might misunderstand and think he was being disrespectful.
"Father, what are you doing?" Li Zhiwei hurried forward to support Li Tianyou, who was trying to put on his shoes.
"Oh dear, I have to go to the morning court. I did not ask for a leave of absence from the Emperor yesterday. What should I do if the Emperor blames me for this!" Li Tianyou did not really care about his salary, but he was afraid the Emperor would find his behavior inappropriate and punish him. It would be terrible if his wife and daughter were implicated.
"Lord Li, please rest assured. His Highness has already reported to the Emperor on your behalf. The Emperor said you should rest well before returning to the morning court," Liu Ming quickly said.
"Really?" Li Tianyou was still a bit suspicious. Didn't they say Xu Heming left the city early in the morning?
How could he have asked the Emperor for a leave of absence?
"It is true. My prince went to the palace last night and spoke with the Emperor," Liu Ming added.
"Father, since His Highness has already arranged this matter, you should just rest well for now." Li Zhiwei first helped Li Tianyou sit down.
Seeing that Li Tianyou had no major issues other than looking a bit pale, she breathed a sigh of relief.
"I am fine." Li Tianyou felt that he had unspeakable grievances right now.
But he was truly fine.
He was just a little hungry, and after drinking that millet porridge just now, he already felt much better.
"How can you say you are fine? Do you know you nearly scared your daughter to death?" Li Zhiwei looked at her father, her tone full of dependence.
"It is my fault." Li Tianyou felt bad seeing his daughter like this.
Fortunately, he was fine today, otherwise, he would not know how to explain things to his wife and daughter.
Prince Lanhuai's Manor
"Secondary Consort, I have looked into it. His Highness went to the Cheng family yesterday, but after leaving the Cheng residence, his expression was not very good," Fangcao said, looking at Huo Yunzhi.
"Yesterday, His Highness clearly went out to acquire the Qin Tower for me. Given his demeanor, I suppose he failed to buy it?" Huo Yunzhi said absentmindedly while trimming a potted plant nearby.
"Secondary Consort, is this Qin Tower really a must-have?" Fangcao asked, somewhat puzzled. In her eyes, the Qin Tower was just a dilapidated restaurant.
"What do you know? There is naturally a reason why I want that Qin Tower. Besides, for His Highness, acquiring a mere Qin Tower should have been a simple matter." Huo Yunzhi felt that the Cheng family must have said something else to displease the Prince.
"If that is the case, why doesn't the Secondary Consort wait for His Highness to hand the title deed of the Qin Tower over to you?" Fangcao asked in confusion.
"What do you know?" Huo Yunzhi naturally had enough money to buy the Qin Tower herself, but buying it herself and having Prince Lanhuai gift it to her were two entirely different concepts.
Moreover, why should she spend her own silver to buy that restaurant?
Wasn't it much better to have Prince Lanhuai spend his silver to buy it for her?
However, looking at it now, Prince Lanhuai was nothing special if he could not even secure a single Qin Tower.
Thinking about how she had been struck off the list at Qingyu Pavilion and how she had made a guarantee to Princess Fuan, Huo Yunzhi decided to visit the Cheng family personally.
"You are going to the Cheng family, Secondary Consort?" Fangcao looked at Huo Yunzhi in terror. One must know that the Cheng family was no ordinary household.
That was Her Majesty the Empress's maiden family.
If the Secondary Consort offended the Cheng family, the servants like them would likely suffer the consequences.
"We are setting off right now." Thinking of the Qin Tower, Huo Yunzhi stood up and walked straight out.
"But, Secondary Consort—" Fangcao wanted to tell Huo Yunzhi that she needed to seek His Highness's permission first.
However, in Huo Yunzhi's mind, such a rule did not exist, nor did she feel the need to ask Prince Lanhuai for permission to go out.
Just as the two were about to exit the main gate, they saw Princess Fuan supporting Princess Consort Lanhuai as they walked out.
Princess Consort Lanhuai frowned at Huo Yunzhi. This secondary consort was not a well-behaved one.
If the Prince had not said she was still useful, she would have dealt with her long ago.
"Greetings to the Princess Consort. Greetings to the Princess!" Fangcao hurriedly bowed to Princess Consort Lanhuai and Princess Fuan, while her small hand gestured for Huo Yunzhi to quickly pay her respects as well.
"Greetings, Princess Consort!" Huo Yunzhi reluctantly gave a half-hearted curtsy.
As for Princess Fuan standing to the side, Huo Yunzhi acted as if she did not see her.
"Mhm, where are you rushing off to, Secondary Consort?" Princess Consort Lanhuai asked, looking at Huo Yunzhi with some displeasure.
"I have a matter to attend to and need to go out," Huo Yunzhi said bluntly, her tone lacking the respect she ought to have for Princess Consort Lanhuai.
"Halt!" Princess Fuan, however, was dissatisfied with Huo Yunzhi's disrespectful attitude toward her mother. She was merely a lowly secondary consort, yet she wanted to climb over her mother's head?
If she acted like this when Princess Fuan was present, who knew how wildly she would behave in front of her mother when she was not around!
"What else is there?" Huo Yunzhi's gaze toward Princess Fuan was not friendly.
It held only impatience!
After all, Huo Yunzhi never felt she was inferior to Princess Fuan in any way. Speaking of which, their ages were actually quite similar.
This was also the reason why the two frequently clashed.
"Huo Yunzhi, you are nothing but a concubine in this manor, yet you dare to disrespect the main wife? You do not even greet the legitimate daughter of the house when you see me. Is this the upbringing the Huo family gave you?" Princess Fuan not only scolded Huo Yunzhi for her lack of manners but also dragged the entire Huo family into her reprimand.
"Princess Fuan certainly has a fine upbringing, shouting and yelling at an elder!" Huo Yunzhi deliberately emphasized the word elder. After all, she was Prince Lanhuai's secondary consort, which technically made her an elder to Princess Fuan.
Huo Yunzhi stared intently at Princess Fuan, feeling extremely furious. If her father had not told her to endure, why would she tolerate Princess Fuan disgusting her like this?
"Elder? What kind of elder are you? You are merely one of the many concubines in our manor, nothing more," Princess Fuan said, growing increasingly smug.
She had long disliked her, yet this Princess Fuan kept trying to converse with her time and time again?
For a moment, Huo Yunzhi could not find the words to retort against Princess Fuan.
They squabbled quite often on normal days.
Princess Fuan looked down on Huo Yunzhi from the bottom of her heart.
"Princess, I am your father's secondary consort!" Huo Yunzhi said through gritted teeth. Although she had not seen her official jade registry document, she refused to believe this fact was fake.
However, having the matter brought up again by Princess Fuan left a very bitter taste in her mouth.
"When you go out, make sure you do not embarrass the Prince's estate!" Princess Consort Lanhuai said impatiently. With that, she led her daughter out of the room.
"Just you wait. Once I get my hands on Qin Lou, I will definitely make you regret treating me like this today!" Huo Yunzhi said indignantly.