allonlinenovel Chapter 338
Chapter 338
"No, these stones are very pretty. I want to take them back to give to Grandmother, the pretty sister, and the Third Prince." Xu Qingshi shook his head. Looking at the mere three stones in his arms, he felt it wasn't enough and quickly grabbed a few more from the dirt pile beside him.Qingsong looked at the stones in Xu Qingshi's arms, thought for a moment, and said, "Heir, please go up first. Your subordinate will bring these stones up for you in a moment."
"Then bring them all out for me, I want them all!" Xu Qingshi looked at the six stones in his arms and still felt it was a bit too few.
Only by taking them all back did he feel he would have enough to share.
"Alright!" Qingsong readily agreed. This wasn't a difficult task anyway.
Qingsong quickly carried Xu Qingshi out of the pit.
"Hurry up and go!" As soon as his feet touched the ground, Xu Qingshi didn't even have time to greet Xu Heming before turning to urge Qingsong.
"Did you drop something inside?" Xu Heming asked with a frown.
"Father, why did you only just get here!" Looking at Xu Heming in front of him, Xu Qingshi burst into tears.
"Alright, it's okay now. Hasn't Father found you?" Xu Heming originally had a lot he wanted to say to Xu Qingshi.
However, seeing his son looking so heartbroken, Xu Heming couldn't bring himself to utter a single word of reprimand and could only comfort him.
"Then are you still going to send me to the Zhou family?" Xu Qingshi, with tears lingering in the corners of his eyes, looked at Xu Heming with lingering fear.
He didn't want to go to the Zhou family.
"You don't have to go. From now on, as long as you don't want to, no one will make you go anywhere else," Xu Heming comforted, stroking his son's head.
"You said so yourself. Let's make a pinky promise, you can't lie to me!" Xu Qingshi held up his little finger toward Xu Heming, speaking between sobs.
"I won't lie to you. But from now on, no matter where you go, you must tell me or your grandmother." Thinking about how nerve-wracking the search had been this time, Xu Heming quickly instructed.
"I know!" Xu Qingshi obviously also realized that the various dangers they encountered this time were all because he had sneaked out behind his family's back.
"Phew!" Qingsong leaped back up, carrying a pile of stones.
"What are you doing picking up these stones?" Xu Heming frowned at them.
At this time, the sky was gradually darkening, and Xu Heming didn't notice anything unusual about the stones.
"Your Highness, let's hurry down the mountain now," Qingsong said urgently, looking at the thickening mist on the mountain.
He was afraid that if they left any later, they wouldn't be able to see the path ahead.
Not long after they started down the mountain, they ran into Qing Chuan and the others halfway.
"Qingsong, did you go mushroom picking?" Qing Chuan teased, seeing Qingsong carrying a large sack of things.
"I'm tired of carrying it, your turn." After speaking, Qingsong slung the sack over Qing Chuan's shoulder.
"No, Qingsong, what on earth is this stuff?" Qing Chuan turned his head, wanting to take a closer look, but was stopped by Xu Heming.
"Hurry down the mountain," Xu Heming urged.
Qing Chuan had no choice but to take Qingsong's bundle. However, just as he was about to lift it, he realized that it was actually quite heavy.
"Qingsong, don't tell me this bag is full of broken rocks?" Qing Chuan asked curiously as he took the heavy bag.
"Let's go back first and talk later." Qingsong noticed his prince's displeasure and realized he needed to quickly follow behind Xu Heming.
"Brother Qingsong, carry me!" Xu Qingshi opened his arms, asking Qingsong for a hug.
He was truly too tired to walk.
He didn't want to take another step.
A guard quickly stepped forward, wanting to pick up Xu Qingshi.
"I will do it!" Xu Heming simply bent down and scooped his son up.
Xu Qingshi was a bit scared at first.
However, seeing that although his father had a cold expression, he didn't scold him, he happily wrapped his arms around Xu Heming's neck.
Seeing this, Qingsong didn't say much and merely stepped forward to support Li Tianyou.
"I'm getting old, useless now," Li Tianyou said somewhat embarrassedly.
The truth was, for the past two days, he had been tense as a bowstring, not daring to relax for even a moment.
On one hand, he was worried about being caught and taken back; on the other hand, he had to protect Xu Qingshi.
On top of that, they hadn't found much to fill their stomachs along the way.
Now, seeing Xu Heming and the others, he felt a wave of relief but also a profound sense of exhaustion.
"Lord Li!" Qingsong had originally intended to help Li Tianyou down the mountain, but to his surprise, Li Tianyou collapsed directly.
"Grandfather!" Xu Qingshi cried out anxiously upon seeing this.
"What happened?" Hearing this, Xu Heming frowned and turned around. Seeing Li Tianyou fall, he was also somewhat concerned.
"Grandfather is starving," Xu Qingshi whispered.
After all, they had only caught one fish by the river today, and he had let Xu Qingshi eat it.
Thinking of this, Xu Qingshi felt extremely sad.
"Your Highness, Lord Li looks like he's exhausted. We need to hurry down the mountain," Qingsong said quickly after checking on him.
"Mm." Xu Heming's brow furrowed tightly at those words.
"I'll carry him down the mountain," Xu Heming said after a moment of thought.
"Your Highness, let your subordinate carry Lord Li," Qing Chuan quickly crouched down and offered.
"I will do it myself!" Xu Heming looked at Li Tianyou and sighed. He had to do this personally; otherwise, when Li Tianyou woke up, who knew how he might blame him for incompetence.
"Your Highness—" Qing Chuan wanted to persuade him further, but stopped talking when Xu Heming shot him a sharp glance.
Qing Chuan had no choice but to pick up Xu Qingshi instead.
He followed behind Xu Heming.
Xu Heming hoisted Li Tianyou onto his back and didn't dare delay, only thinking of getting down the mountain as fast as possible.
Although the path down the mountain was winding, Xu Heming was a martial artist after all. Even carrying Li Tianyou, his steps remained steady.
By now, it was getting late, and no one lingered.
Qing Chuan carried Xu Qingshi, followed by a guard holding Xu Qingshi's bag of pretty stones.
Qingsong followed closely behind Xu Heming, ready to take over at any moment.
In no time at all, Xu Qingshi leaned against Qing Chuan's shoulder and fell fast asleep.
It was already the hour of Hai by the time Xu Heming returned to the capital.
Fortunately, the city guards recognized Xu Heming and quickly opened the gates to let them in.
After all, they were well aware that Xu Heming had left the city today to search for someone.
By this time, Xu Qingshi and Li Tianyou were in the carriage behind.
One had fainted, and the other was asleep.
When Xu Heming returned to the manor, Li Zhiwei had already gone back to the Li family.
However, even after returning to the Li family, Li Zhiwei didn't dare to sleep.
She knew that Xu Heming had received news of Xu Qingshi and her father today.
If she couldn't wait for news of her father's safety, she wouldn't be able to rest easy.
After all, today was already the second day.
At this time, Lady Yao was also lying in bed, unable to fall asleep for a long time.
She had a feeling that Li Zhiwei was hiding something from her.
"Madam, what's wrong?" Seeing Lady Yao sit up, Chuntao hurried forward to ask.
"Has the Master returned?" Lady Yao asked with a frown.