The Found Stepmother, Your Dowry Is a Bit Too Much

Chapter 394

"Your Majesty, just tell me if you will give it to me or not!" Xu Heming did not want to admit that he was doing this just to please his future princess consort!After all, his princess consort's dowry had all been given to the national treasury.

He had to get at least some of it back.

"I did not say I would not give it! But you know that most of her dowry was already spent back then!"

Zhu Jingchen thought back to how financially strapped they had been at the time.

With the floods in Jiangnan, money was desperately needed everywhere. The only way was to quickly convert that dowry into silver. Now, if he were asked to produce those items again, he simply could not.

"I never said I wanted the exact same dowry items back intact," Xu Heming thought to himself, knowing the Emperor's private treasury held many fine treasures!

It would not be too much to ask for Li Zhiwei to take a few of them when the time comes, right?

"Alright, alright, I get it!" Zhu Jingchen thought to himself, this scoundrel just wants the things in my private treasury, does he not? That is my personal stash!

The nerve of him to even think about it. His appetite is getting bigger and bigger!

Kunning Palace

"Miss Li, I really did not look into this matter clearly enough. That is why I called you here to explain everything, as it caused a misunderstanding." The Empress smiled as she looked at Li Zhiwei.

In the end, it was the Emperor who forgot to send someone to deliver the decree. But rather than letting the Emperor take the blame, she might as well take it upon herself.

"Your Majesty, I understand. I have absolutely no intention of blaming you or the Emperor!"

Li Zhiwei was actually in a bit of a dilemma; it felt wrong to blame them, but also wrong not to.

She was very aware of these little thoughts and could only keep them buried in her heart.

After all, these two were the most noble couple in the Lannuo Kingdom. She could not afford to offend either of them.

Perhaps she could even make them feel a bit guilty about this, and later use that guilt to secure some benefits for herself!

Or perhaps get a better post for her father—that would not be a bad idea either.

"Sister, you have no idea. Sister Li almost thought Prince An was going to marry someone else!" Li Zhiwei did not dare utter a word of blame, but Cheng Qingli spoke up directly in front of the Empress without any hesitation.

After all, the Empress before her was the sister who doted on her the most.

Hearing ​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‍this, Li Zhiwei gently tugged at Cheng Qingli's hem, signaling her to stop talking.

Otherwise, she worried the Empress might mistakenly think she had put Cheng Qingli up to saying this.

"Alright, alright, your sister knows she was wrong this time!" The Empress never had any boundaries when it came to her younger sister, nor did she let her status as the mother of the nation stop her from apologizing.

"Sister, you have to compensate Sister Li properly!" Cheng Qingli tugged at the Empress's sleeve, acting coquettishly.

"You child, I know!" The Empress felt both helpless and amused. Her sister was really making her favor an outsider.

However, it was just giving out some rewards, which the Empress did not see as a problem.

"I heard you two are planning to set up some kind of shop?" The Empress had heard that her sister was constantly running over to the Li residence lately, and she was quite curious.

But she could tell that Cheng Qingli genuinely liked Li Zhiwei.

This inevitably stirred up a bit of jealousy in her; her own sister was not even this reliant on her.

"Yes, sister! We plan to have Sister Li wear the clothes and jewelry from our shop, so everyone will know about our Jinhua Hall!" Cheng Qingli said with a look of pride.

"Oh? And when do you plan to open?" the Empress asked curiously. She recalled that her sister had not seemed this happy even when she successfully managed the Qingyu Pavilion.

Now, a mere little shop was making her this overjoyed.

Her sister must be truly happy. Regardless of whether the shop did well or not, she would have to lend a hand.

"Sister, I will let you know when we open," Cheng Qingli said happily.

Li Zhiwei watched the interaction between the two sisters with a hint of envy in her heart, but she obediently refrained from interrupting.

Prince Lanhuai's Mansion

"What has Prince An been busy with these past few days?" Prince Lanhuai paced back and forth anxiously. He thought that after Prince An saw his son that day, he would immediately return those two land deeds.

But three days had passed without any movement from Prince An. Prince Lanhuai could not help but feel anxious. Could the contents inside have already been discovered?

"Your Highness, Prince An seems quite busy lately. We do not know what he is looking for. Today, our informants in the palace saw him in the Emperor's imperial study again, and they seemed to talk for a long time," Shanzi quickly reported.

"How is the child?" Prince Lanhuai asked somewhat impatiently.

After all, was it not said that Prince An doted on his son?

Why has he not come to see him for so many days?

"Your Highness, that chubby little boy is doing great. We have been serving him good food and drink, and he does not even want to go back anymore!" Zhou Zuo hurriedly stepped forward and said.

"Enough, keep a close eye on him. Do not let him escape, or Prince An will be hard to deal with!" Prince Lanhuai thought that if he lost his trump card, Prince An's Heir, Xu Heming would not be at his beck and call anymore.

Ideally, his son would remain in his hands forever, so he could make him do whatever he wanted.

"Rest assured, Your Highness. I have kept a tight watch on him. I absolutely will not let him escape again!" Zhou Zuo quickly said.

"Again? Has that chubby boy escaped before?" Prince Lanhuai frowned upon hearing this. Could it be that Prince An was trying to rescue the child secretly?

"No, no!" Zhou Zuo waved his hands repeatedly. He did not dare admit that Prince An's Heir had already escaped and that this was just some random chubby boy he had grabbed.

He was even more afraid to tell Prince Lanhuai that Prince An probably already knew the child in their hands was not his son.

But he also did not understand why Prince An had not exposed the truth.

"Good that he has not. Shanzi, go find Prince An again later! Tell him that my patience is limited! If he does not want his son anymore, I would not mind sending him on his way!" Prince Lanhuai ordered with a gloomy face.

"Yes!" Shanzi quickly replied.

However, he looked at Zhou Zuo, whose eyes were dodging.

"Are you sure you are not hiding anything from His Highness?" Shanzi asked uncertainly.

"How could I hide anything from His Highness? We both work for him. Do not try to make up lies about me just to step on me!" Zhou Zuo looked at Shanzi and said with a face full of dissatisfaction.

He also did not understand why, as they were both close guards of Prince An, Prince An trusted him more.

He believed he did no worse than Shanzi.

And this time, Shanzi was actually interrogating him.

"Alright, go do your work!" Prince Lanhuai did not take anyone's side, but instead told the two to step down quickly.

In his heart, however, he was also thinking that this matter was a bit unusual.

Why had Prince An not come to see the little brat for three days?

This did not seem like something a doting father would do.

Could it be that Prince An did not actually like the child?

After all, his birth had caused the death of the princess consort.