Hearing this, Li Zhiwei said to Xu Heming, "Your Highness, I will take Qingshi to get his wounds treated first."

As for what Xu Qingshi and the Zhou family were plotting, Li Zhiwei didn't care.

She didn't care because, after all, if anything truly happened later, Xu Heming would naturally tell her.

However, she would never do as they wished and marry into the Zhou family.

Holding Xu Qingshi's hand, Li Zhiwei remained silent along the way. Xu Qingshi paid no mind to his own injuries; instead, he looked at Li Zhiwei carefully and asked in a low voice, "Pretty sister, are you angry?"

Xu Qingshi paid no mind to his injuries, instead looking at Li Zhiwei carefully.

"Hmm?" Li Zhiwei was momentarily puzzled, not understanding why Xu Qingshi would ask her that.

"Pretty sister, don't worry, I didn't lose. You won't have to marry into the Zhou family as a concubine," Xu Qingshi added, looking at Li Zhiwei with a face full of concern.

"Let's go take a look at your wounds first," Li Zhiwei sighed, not saying anything more.

For a moment, she didn't know how to tell Xu Qingshi that he didn't need to fight others over such things.

But then again, wasn't Xu Qingshi fighting for her sake?

At this thought, Li Zhiwei felt a heavy weight in her chest, but she couldn't quite articulate what felt wrong.

Xu Qingshi was in a bad mood. It was all Zhou Xingzhi's fault. If he hadn't said that the pretty sister was going to be his father's concubine, Xu Qingshi wouldn't have attacked him.

Meanwhile, on the other side.

"Your Highness!" Looking at Xu Heming's displeased expression, Zhou Changfeng actually felt a bit uncertain in his heart.

However, if he didn't seize this opportunity today to make things clear with Xu Heming and arrange for Zhou Yuying to enter the Prince An Manor, there might not be another suitable chance in the future.

"Eldest Young Master Zhou, you had better think carefully about what you want to say to me in private!" Xu Heming looked at Zhou Changfeng coldly, thinking to himself that if the man dared to suggest making Li Zhiwei a concubine, he wouldn't mind breaking his legs.

To even dare covet his future Princess Consort—it seemed that over the years, he had given the Zhou family the impression of being too easy to push around.

"Your Highness, regarding today's incident, Xingzhi was reckless. As the elder cousin, he shouldn't have fought with Qingshi in public." Although Zhou Changfeng felt heartache over his own son's injuries, the man before him was Prince An. Since he was in an inferior position, he had no choice but to apologize first.

Seeing that Xu Heming remained silent, Zhou Changfeng boldly continued, "When two children fight, it's never just one person's fault. Qingshi was also in the wrong. I know that these past few years haven't been easy for Your Highness, playing the role of both father and mother. But as the child grows older, he ultimately needs a caring person by his side to guide him."

"Your Highness is busy with official duties on a daily basis. Everyone understands this. My father and mother ache for Qingshi, who lost his mother at such a young age, so they thought about having Yuying enter the manor to properly accompany him," Zhou Changfeng said implicitly.

"Prince An Manor has never said that the Zhou family is forbidden from visiting Qingshi. However, do you not know in your own hearts why Qingshi refuses to see you nowadays?" Xu Heming asked, looking at Zhou Changfeng with mockery.

Prince An Manor had never lacked anything from the Zhou family.

Nor did Xu Qingshi.

But what did the Zhou family do every single time?

They always came empty-handed, and when they left, they invariably pocketed many items from Xu Qingshi's courtyard.

Once, twice... Even though Xu Qingshi was just a child, he felt utterly disgusted by this.

Hearing this, Zhou Changfeng choked on his words. What their Zhou family wanted was far more than just visiting rights.

They wanted the authority to manage Prince An Manor.

Xu Qingshi was the heir, and eventually, Prince An Manor would fall into his hands. However, with Li Zhiwei about to marry into the family, what if Xu Heming favored a son born to Li Zhiwei and wanted him to inherit the manor instead?

Moreover, as it stood, Xu Qingshi was not close to their Zhou family.

Seeing that Xu Heming was about to marry someone else, how could the Zhou family not be anxious?

"Brother-in-law, what we mean is for you to marry Yuying. After all, Yuying is Qingshi's biological aunt. She would definitely protect Qingshi well," Zhou Changfeng said to Xu Heming with a somewhat fawning tone.

"What, does this Prince have to marry the unmarriageable daughters of your Zhou family? The marriage between me and the young miss of the Li family was bestowed by His Majesty himself. Defying an imperial decree is a capital offense that warrants the execution of nine generations. The Zhou family is also included within my nine generations, isn't it?" Xu Heming said, looking at Zhou Changfeng sarcastically.

Hearing this, Zhou Changfeng felt both ashamed and embarrassed. For Xu Heming to call his sister an unwanted girl—those words were truly too harsh.

"Brother-in-law, we don't mean for you to defy the imperial decree. If worst comes to worst, letting Yuying be a side consort is also acceptable." Upon hearing Xu Heming's words, Zhou Changfeng realized he clearly had no intention of marrying Zhou Yuying. He also thought about how, if Xu Heming didn't marry Li Zhiwei and suffered the execution of nine generations, the Zhou family wouldn't be able to escape death either.

Thus, he figured that if Zhou Yuying became a side consort, as long as Xu Qingshi grew close to her, wouldn't the Zhou family ultimately call the shots in Prince An Manor in the future?

"Heh, what makes you think that this Prince has to listen to you?" Xu Heming felt that the Zhou family's schemes were truly running deep.

"Your Highness Prince An, Qingshi is, after all, the only flesh and blood my sister left behind in this world. There is nothing wrong with us not trusting outsiders," Zhou Changfeng said with clenched fists, a look of righteous indignation on his face.

"Since you don't trust outsiders, you can take him back to the Zhou family." Xu Heming knew that they definitely wouldn't truly be willing to take Xu Qingshi back to raise him.

After all, if Xu Qingshi went to the Zhou family, everything belonging to Prince An Manor would no longer have anything to do with him.

"What, you're unwilling? Didn't you just say you don't trust outsiders? What's the matter, are you family members unwilling to raise him to adulthood on behalf of your good sister?" Xu Heming couldn't help but mock again as he looked at Zhou Changfeng's unpleasant complexion.

"Your Highness, Qingshi is ultimately the heir of Prince An Manor. Wouldn't going to our Zhou family be a grievance to him?" Zhou Changfeng said somewhat tremblingly.

In his heart, he thought: Who wanted to raise a child for him?

It wasn't as if their Zhou family didn't have their own children to raise.

If the time came and this child turned around to fight for the Zhou family's property, who could he cry to?

"This Prince wouldn't mind letting him become a child of your Zhou family. After this Prince marries, Prince An Manor will certainly have other children," Xu Heming said to Zhou Changfeng, enunciating every single word.

Zhou Changfeng's face instantly worsened.

This was absolutely not the outcome they wanted.

Watching Zhou Changfeng's expression sour, Xu Heming's mood improved slightly.

The Zhou family was still a long way off from successfully scheming against him.

Just as Zhou Changfeng was smugly preparing to leave, he saw Xu Qingshi and Li Zhiwei standing not far away, their complexions somewhat poor.

Seeing Xu Qingshi looking at him with red eyes, Xu Heming's heart skipped a beat.

He had a bad feeling. Could it be that his son had overheard the words he just said as a mere expedient measure?

Li Zhiwei also hadn't expected Xu Heming to say such things, and for a moment, she didn't know what to say to comfort Xu Qingshi.

"Rest assured, Royal Father. I will go back right now to pack my belongings and move to the Zhou estate." At the mere thought of going to the dreadful Zhou household, Xu Qingshi could not stop the tears from streaming down her face.