"I never expected the Ninth Princess Consort to be so formidable. Why not take the opportunity of the one-month-old banquet held by the Grand Princess's estate for the young miss to instruct the madams and young ladies present? Just what exactly did you rely on to get to where you are today?" Li Zhiwei added before the Ninth Princess Consort could recover her wits.

"You..." The Ninth Princess Consort hadn't expected the person in front of her to be so shameless.

What right did she have to speak of her like that?

However, everyone else was looking at her with strange expressions.

This made the Ninth Princess Consort feel incredibly embarrassed.

Just as she was about to lash out, a maidservant walked up to Lady Yao and said, "Young Madam Xie, the Grand Princess has asked you to go over."

For some reason, Lady Yao had an intuition that the Grand Princess looking for her must be related to the children.

Could something have actually happened to those kids?

"I'll go with you," Li Zhiwei quickly offered.

Although she wasn't Xu Qingshi's biological mother, she was his soon-to-be stepmother. If something really happened to him, she could help handle it.

"Qinghua, find a way to notify the Prince." Li Zhiwei didn't know if Xu Heming was in the capital, but if something really happened to Xu Qingshi in the Grand Princess's estate right now, she wouldn't be able to cover it up.

"Rest assured, Your Highness, this servant has already sent a message to the Prince," Qinghua whispered.

In her heart, she was also wondering: just where did the young heir go?

The maidservant glanced at the woman beside her. She didn't know who this person was, but since she wanted to go along, the maidservant didn't say much.

If the Grand Princess didn't want to see her later, she would naturally be asked to leave.

Lin Ziyi wanted to follow along, but she was held back by her good friend, Madam Qu.

"Ninth Princess Consort, my apologies, but we have to go see the Grand Princess now. If you still have any grievances, you can take your time to digest them yourself!" After Li Zhiwei finished speaking, she turned and left.

Lady Yao had wanted to say something more, but after thinking about it, she felt that it would be inappropriate for her to say anything.

Upon hearing this, Chang Wenyin's face turned pale. What did she mean by "digest them yourself"?

"Damn merchant's daughter!" Chang Wenyin cursed resentfully.

Hearing this, Lin Ziyi wanted to step forward and retort. She thought to herself, just because everyone calls her the Ninth Princess Consort, does she really think she's a big deal?

"Alright, calm down. Why go poke the bear? She wasn't talking about you," Madam Qu said somewhat helplessly.

"I just can't stand her talking about Sister Li like that," Lin Ziyi said with dissatisfaction.

"When are you going to change this temper of yours? Let her say what she wants. Miss Li didn't even pay her any mind, so why are you rushing in to get angry?" Madam Qu sighed inwardly. She thought that only the Wei family could protect Lin Ziyi's brash personality; otherwise, she would really suffer.

"I just noticed that the Grand Princess seems to have added more guards. Do you know what happened?" Madam Qu asked curiously.

Lin Ziyi thought of the fact that the little granddaughter of the Grand Princess's estate had gone missing. She wanted to say it, but then noticed that quite a few people were paying attention to their side, so she just gently shook her head. She couldn't speak recklessly about this matter.

"You really don't know?" Seeing her friend's expression, Madam Qu knew that she must know something but was just not saying it.

Prince An's Estate

"Oh no, I forgot that my mother is still at the Grand Princess's estate." Xie Yanzhi suddenly remembered that he hadn't told his mother when he left.

Could his mother still be looking for him at the Grand Princess's estate right now?

Thinking of this, Xie Yanzhi grew anxious.

"You're doomed. Your mother must be going crazy looking for you at the Grand Princess's estate right now," Xu Qingshi said with a serious face.

In his heart, he thought that if Xie Yanzhi left, there would only be Jiang Yu left, who couldn't compete with him at all. Then the little one on the bed would be all his.

"No, I have to hurry back." Xie Yanzhi stood up and was about to leave.

"But if you go to the Grand Princess's estate like this, will they even let you in?" Jiang Yu frowned and asked.

After all, they had just sneaked out through a small side door.

"Do you guys think that bad woman from earlier saw us?" Xu Qingshi suddenly realized that if the woman had seen their faces, wouldn't going back to the Grand Princess's estate right now be like throwing themselves into the net?

Although he wanted Xie Yanzhi to leave, he also wanted him to be safe.

"How about this, I'll have Steward Liu send someone to the Grand Princess's estate to tell your mother that you came back with us first?" Xu Qingshi thought about it and decided that sending someone would be safer.

"Alright!" Xie Yanzhi was also afraid of what might happen if that bad woman tried to catch him later.

When Liu Ming saw Xu Qingshi, he was taken aback for a moment.

How come he didn't seem to have seen Xu Qingshi come back?

"Didn't the young heir go to the Grand Princess's estate to deliver gifts today? Why are you back already?" Liu Ming checked the time and thought to himself, shouldn't the heir still be at the Grand Princess's estate right now?

"Oh, that banquet thing was too boring, so we came back early," Xu Qingshi smiled and told a little lie.

"Heir, you can't act like this the next time you attend a banquet." Liu Ming sighed inwardly, thinking that he would have to send an apology gift to the Grand Princess's estate later.

If he had known, he would have personally accompanied the young heir.

"Grandpa Liu, could I trouble you to go to the Grand Princess's estate and tell my mother that I came back with Qingshi first?" Xie Yanzhi quickly stepped forward and pleaded.

"You little rascals!" Hearing this, Liu Ming's heart leaped into his throat. So it turns out they had sneaked back?

Liu Ming sighed at his words, and in the end, personally took an apology gift and headed to the Grand Princess's estate.

However, after walking for a bit, Liu Ming looked back at Xu Qingshi. He remembered that when the heir went out today, he was wearing a sky-blue outfit, but now he had changed into a tortoiseshell-colored one. Why did he change his clothes before coming back?

But since Liu Ming was in a hurry to get to the Grand Princess's estate, he didn't ask any further.

Hearing this, Xu Qingshi and the others happily walked towards Liangqi Courtyard.

Nanny Luo happened to see Xu Qingshi return and looked puzzled. She wanted to go and ask the young heir if the Grand Princess's estate was lively today.

However, just as she walked to the entrance of Liangqi Courtyard, she heard a burst of a baby's crying.

"Waa... waa... waa..." Little Gu Nuonuo's cries grew louder and louder.

The few boys wanted to hold her, but they didn't know where to start.

They could only watch her wail on the bed.

"Why is she crying again?" Xu Qingshi said anxiously. After speaking, he stealthily covered Gu Nuonuo with the quilt, hoping that Nanny Luo wouldn't notice the little brat.