Chapter 749
Hearing his father’s response, Li Mingrui finally let out a breath he had been holding. He slowly released the steward’s collar and fainted from the pain.
“Quickly! Carry the young master inside! Quickly!” Li Mao’s face changed drastically.
Watching his son being hurriedly carried into the courtyard by the servants, Li Mao’s face darkened. He clenched his hand behind his back and whispered to the steward standing beside him: “Go to Jiuchuan Alley and find the old man. Send him immediately to the Princess of Zhen’s mansion. If the Princess of Zhen doesn’t take his life…”
Li Mao’s voice paused and lowered significantly: “When the old man returns to Jiuchuan Alley, put something in his medicine to end it.”
The steward was quite surprised: “But… but when the young master wakes up, won’t he be furious?”
Li Mao narrowed his eyes, his gaze icy cold: “Mingrui is the eldest legitimate son of the Li family. He cannot have any weakness!”
Initially, Li Mao only thought that the old man had a life-saving grace for his wife and son, and had forgotten his past, unable to even find his own home. It wasn’t impossible for the Li family to provide for his old age.
But now, this old man had led his decisive son to protect him so fiercely!
Li Mao was not foolish and understood his son well. Li Mao feared that to protect the old man, his son had stabbed himself before the Princess of Zhen.
Li Mao could not tolerate anyone who could have such an influence on Li Mingrui! fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
Li Mingrui was the future of the Li family.
“But, Prime Minister, doing this… when the young master wakes up, he might take his anger out on me!” The steward was still deeply fearful of Li Mingrui. Despite the young master appearing gentle and refined, he was ruthless at heart.
“Blame the Princess of Zhen!” Li Mao turned to the steward. “This way… Mingrui will naturally hold a grudge against the Princess of Zhen. Moreover, after this incident, Mingrui will understand the Princess of Zhen’s methods are as formidable as gods and demons. He will no longer underestimate her just because she is a woman, and will be cautious and vigilant in the future. This might not be a bad thing for our Li Mansion!”
Hearing Li Mao’s reasoning, the steward nodded in agreement and immediately took people to Du Residence in Jiuchuan Alley to find the old man.
Indeed, as Li Mingrui had expected, the old man was at Du Residence. However, the old man was not injured. He was trembling all over, holding his head, his face pale, as images both strange and familiar flooded his mind.
A cold-faced little girl practiced long swords and short knives diligently in a university courtyard. Despite her face turning blue from the cold, she did not give up. A tall, smiling teenager handed her a bowl of hot soup, brushed away the snow from her head, and said: “Drink the soup and stop practicing! Go inside to rest and warm up!”
The little girl wiped the soup from the corner of her mouth with her sleeve, her eyes resolute: “Master said not to rest until I’ve practiced for two hours.”
“Master is always strict in words but soft in heart. This meat soup was sent by the master.”
Upon hearing this, the little girl’s clear eyes looked in his direction.
The old man pressed his head tightly, recalling the girl who called him “Master” today… the one who almost got her arm cut off by him. Her gaze was exactly the same as that of the little girl in his memory.
Then… who was that boy?
The more he thought, the more his head hurt. The more it hurt, the more he wanted to remember desperately, feeling as if his head would burst.
Suddenly, the old man moved his ears. He heard the sounds of a large group heading towards Jiuchuan Alley. The old man stood up, placing his hand on his waist, only to realize his short knife was missing.
The old man did not hide. He moved his ears, closed his eyes, and listened carefully to the footsteps. Among them, he recognized a footstep he had heard before. It seemed to be the steward from the Li Mansion who had previously come to Du Residence to fetch him to protect Li Mingrui.
Only then did the old man relax his guard, walked outside, opened the door, and waited quietly for the steward from the Left Prime Minister’s mansion.
Soon, the people from the Li Mansion arrived and stopped at the gate of Du Residence. The old man, enduring his headache, looked at the steward who was briskly walking towards him.
Seeing the steward bow to him, the old man nodded slightly: “What is it?”
“The Young Master has returned to the mansion. He has ordered me to take you to the Princess of Zhen’s mansion. The Young Master injured himself with a dagger to plead for your safety. Rest assured, the Princess of Zhen will not harm you. Please, come with me.”
The steward from the Li Mansion deliberately emphasized that Li Mingrui had injured himself for the old man. Sure enough, he saw the old man’s eyes tremble. Only then did the steward step aside and invite the old man to the carriage: “Please, sir!”
“How is the Young Master… injured?” the old man asked.
The steward from the Li Mansion did not raise his head, lowering his eyes: “The injury is serious. The sooner this matter is resolved… the better the Young Master can rest and recover. Please, sir, do not delay. Please…”
The old man frowned and, after some thought, boarded the carriage brought by the steward from the Li Mansion to go to the Princess of Zhen’s mansion.
Shen Qingzhu was astonished to hear that the Li Mansion had sent over the old man. She rushed straight to Qinghui Courtyard.
Zhenming saw Shen Qingzhu hurrying in and covered her mouth with a smile, lifting the curtain for her: “The lady is changing clothes…”
Shen Qingzhu nodded. As she entered, she saw Bai Qingyan already draped in a fox fur cloak, taking an intricately carved bamboo gentleman hand warmer from Zhenguang. Shen Qingzhu bowed her fists: “Lady!”
“I know you’re anxious. Let’s go!” Bai Qingyan adjusted her cloak and stepped out of Qinghui Courtyard, her steps steady, showing no sign of frailty.
Watching Bai Qingyan sit on the shoulder carriage, Shen Qingzhu followed by her side, reminding herself not to reveal any inappropriate expressions before the people of the Li Mansion.
However, after so many years, her master, presumed dead, had come back to life. Shen Qingzhu’s emotions surged like a tidal wave.
When the servants carrying the shoulder carriage took a route that wasn’t toward the front hall, Shen Qingzhu was quite surprised: “This isn’t the way to the front hall?”
“I’ve already sent people to invite your master to my father’s study,” Bai Qingyan looked down at Shen Qingzhu walking beside the shoulder carriage, “to prevent you from losing your composure in front of the Li Mansion’s people if your master doesn’t want to stay at the Bai Mansion and wants to leave. It would be disadvantageous for your master.”
Moreover, although Bai Qingyan had only met Shen Bozhong, Shen Qingzhu’s master, once, and even though Shen Bozhong had never lived in Dadu City, since he was someone her father trusted, he might have visited her father’s study. Letting Shen Bozhong go there might help him recall something.
“Thank you for your consideration, my lady.” Shen Qingzhu felt deeply grateful.
Shen Bozhong followed the Bai family’s attendants to Bai Qishan’s study, passing through the winding, intricately carved corridor, observing the pavilions and buildings flanking the stone-paved path.
On the southeastern corner, there was the slightly frozen surface of Youbi Lake, with a Bajiao Pavilion in the center. The eaves fluttered with bronze bells swaying gently in the wind, highlighted by the setting sun…