books44 Chapter 352
Chapter 352
Li Zhiwei got into the carriage and looked back. For some reason, she felt that Xu Qingshi's demeanor just now seemed a bit evasive. Could it be that he was hiding something from her?However, seeing her father, she didn't ask any further questions, planning to interrogate him once they returned.
After all, she was worried about Li Tianyou's condition. Compared to her father, Xu Qingshi was full of vigor and vitality, not looking like he was in any trouble at all.
"What's wrong?" Li Tianyou seemed to notice his daughter's hesitation and asked in confusion.
"It's nothing, Father. Let's go home." Li Zhiwei quickly sat down beside Li Tianyou, looking at him with heartache.
She sighed inwardly, wondering what her father had been through.
"Well, if you have something to do..." Li Tianyou looked at his daughter's somewhat distracted appearance, assuming she still had things to say to Xu Heming. Feeling a bit sour, he wanted to urge his daughter to go to Xu Heming if she wanted to.
He was just an old man; he could go home by himself.
"Father, what are you talking about?" Li Zhiwei glared at her old man. Didn't he hate Xu Heming quite a bit?
Why had his attitude changed again now?
"That boy, even though he has been married once before, he's actually not bad." Thinking of how Xu Heming had carried him down the mountain on his back, Li Tianyou awkwardly turned his head away.
He would never admit that he had done it on purpose at the time.
However, what surprised him was that Xu Heming had actually personally carried him down the mountain.
At this thought, Li Tianyou recalled Lin Jitong. Back when their two families were discussing marriage, Lin Jitong had also visited Li'an County. But at that time, he had walked around with his nose in the air, looking down on them.
If it hadn't been absolutely necessary, he would have rejected the marriage proposal right then and there.
Xu Heming had never looked down on them because of their merchant status.
Even to him, his future father-in-law, a prince was willing to lower himself and carry him down the mountain. With such sincerity, Li Tianyou felt that Xu Heming was indeed worthy of his daughter entrusting her life to him.
As for the matter of Xu Heming buying fake wine for him to drink, he hadn't done it on purpose.
He would let it slide for now.
"Father? Where exactly did you go these past two days?" Li Zhiwei frowned at Li Tianyou, not understanding what her father had experienced to make him change his opinion of Xu Heming.
Could it be that Xu Heming had locked her father up and done something to him?
At this thought, Li Zhiwei's frown deepened.
"Cough! Cough, cough!" Hearing his daughter's words, Li Tianyou felt so embarrassed he wanted the ground to swallow him whole.
He really didn't want to answer this at all.
"Father?" Li Zhiwei first frowned and patted Li Tianyou's back, then realized that her father probably didn't want to answer her question and was faking the cough.
"Father? You weren't locked up by Xu Heming these past few days, were you?" Li Zhiwei said, reaching out to pull open Li Tianyou's collar to see if he had any injuries.
Had Xu Heming tortured Li Tianyou to extort a confession?
"Why would you think that?" Li Tianyou looked at his daughter, extremely surprised. Why would his daughter think he had been locked up by Xu Heming?
Although Xu Heming was a bit cold, he didn't seem like the kind of person who was utterly heartless.
Thinking of this, Li Tianyou suddenly couldn't help but laugh.
Suddenly, he began to pity Xu Heming.
He had no idea what that boy had done to cause his daughter to misunderstand him to this extent.
"Then how do you explain where you went during the two days you disappeared?" Li Zhiwei looked at Li Tianyou with a posture that suggested she had guessed correctly.
Seeing this, Li Tianyou touched his nose as a little internal conflict began to wage in his mind.
One side wanted him to explain clearly so Xu Heming wouldn't take the blame.
The other side wanted him not to explain and let his daughter continue to misunderstand. Wasn't this exactly what sons-in-law were used for?
Watching Li Tianyou remain silent, a small flame of anger flared up in Li Zhiwei's heart.
How dare you, Xu Heming, scheme against her father!
And locking him up for two days! If he didn't want to marry her, he could have just said so directly. Why torment her father?
Thinking of this, Li Zhiwei looked at Li Tianyou with heartache again. How much grievance had her father suffered to become so weak?
No wonder Xu Qingshi was perfectly fine after disappearing for two days, while her father looked as if he had taken a heavy beating!
Far away on Mount Wangxian, Xu Heming let out a massive sneeze.
"Your Highness, are you alright?" Qingsong quickly stepped forward and asked.
"I am fine. Keep searching!" Xu Heming looked at the mountain, wanting to find the location of the iron mine as soon as possible.
After all, they had found quite a few rocks at the pit, but their men had also discovered that it wasn't the actual location of the iron mine.
"Your Highness, are there really iron mines in this place?" Gu Shixing, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works following behind, held a hammer and asked somewhat doubtfully.
"Watch your tone!" Qingsong glared at Gu Shixing in dissatisfaction, secretly blaming him for doubting his prince's words.
Besides, hadn't they found many iron ores in that giant pit?
"Prince An, please forgive me. I didn't mean to doubt you. It's just that we have searched all around this area and indeed haven't seen any traces of an iron mine," Gu Shixing hurriedly said, thinking of the rumors circulating outside about Prince An.
He was genuinely worried that his previous remark might bring upon him a fatal disaster.
Xu Heming merely stood up and looked around. It was daytime now, so he could clearly see the surrounding environment. The trees here were lush; it indeed didn't look like a place with an iron mine.
"Send more men to search the surroundings. Don't look in heavily wooded areas. Look for exposed steep cliffs that are reddish-brown, purplish-brown, or black," Xu Heming instructed very calmly, not reprimanding Gu Shixing at all.
"Yes, sir!" The surrounding guards heard this and dispersed to search.
"Then... I... I will go too!" Gu Shixing said tremblingly upon seeing the glance Xu Heming threw his way.
Otherwise, he feared that once he finished speaking, Prince An might make an example out of him.
After all, he had witnessed with his own eyes how Prince An executed people, which had terrified him so much that he couldn't sleep well for several nights.
"Lord Gu, there is no need to rush. However, there are quite a few ores down in that pit. If you have time, you can go and sort them out first," Xu Heming said indifferently, seeing the extremely nervous Gu Shixing.
"Yes, I will go right away, right away!" Hearing this, Gu Shixing hurriedly jumped down into the pit.
"Huh, isn't Lord Gu a civil official?" Seeing Gu Shixing's swift movements, Qingsong said in some surprise.
"That's enough. Send two men to follow him so nothing happens." Xu Heming didn't care about Gu Shixing's affairs. Instead, he wanted to resolve the matters here as soon as possible. After all, he felt that his son's disappearance was not that simple.
Li Zhiwei should have arrived at the manor by now, right?
Thinking of this, Xu Heming sighed, wondering if Li Zhiwei would blame him for not taking good care of her father.