The Found Stepmother, Your Dowry Is a Bit Too Much

Chapter 437

The Mingyue Residence was brightly lit with candles, illuminating Lady Yao's pale and haggard face."My lord." Lady Yao nestled in Li Tianyou's arms, her voice so light it seemed it would scatter in the wind. "These days, I keep dreaming of Zhou'er... He just stands by the river, looking at me from afar, neither crying nor smiling. I urge him to come to my side quickly, but he turns and walks into the river... My lord, do you think Zhou'er is blaming me? Blaming me for not watching over him properly?"

Hearing this, Li Tianyou tightened his arm around Lady Yao's shoulders.

"My wife, do not let your imagination run wild. Zhou'er was the most obedient and sensible child, how could he blame you? If Zhou'er has any grievances, they should be directed at me!"

The moonlight outside the window was slightly cold, and the despair and suffocation from nineteen years ago seemed to have returned.

Li Tianyou closed his eyes, as if he could still hear Lady Yao's heart-wrenching cries from back then, and see her haggard appearance as she dragged her weak postpartum body to wait by the river.

That year, they experienced the pain of losing a child, which nearly shattered their family completely.

"My lord, we cannot lose Wei'er too." Lady Yao tightly gripped Li Tianyou's sleeve, her eyes full of pleading.

"If it truly comes to that, my lord, why don't we take Wei'er and leave the capital? We can leave this place and never come back, even if it means leaving the Lannuo Kingdom, as long as Wei'er lives well right before our eyes."

Lady Yao looked up at Li Tianyou's pained face. In her eyes, there was only the plea of a mother unwilling to lose another child.

"My wife!" Hearing this, Li Tianyou quickly lowered his voice. "You absolutely must not say such things in the future. Under the whole heaven, every spot is the sovereign's ground; where could we possibly go? Moreover, Wei'er's marriage to Prince An was bestowed by His Majesty. If Wei'er were to leave at this time, it would be defying an imperial decree and fleeing a marriage, which is a capital offense punishable by the execution of nine familial relations."

Li Tianyou paused, looked at Lady Yao, and said with a hoarse voice, "My Li family has only my single lineage, with no other attachments. If I could truly accompany Wei'er away, that would be fine. But, have you thought about your maiden family? Your brothers?"

Hearing this, Lady Yao's lips trembled. She wanted to say she did not care.

But she could not be so selfish.

"What should we do? What should we do? I do not want Wei'er to go for the political marriage."

Lady Yao could no longer control herself and began to weep aloud.

Banyue Pavilion

The more Li Zhiwei thought about it, the more uneasy she felt.

Growing up, as far as she knew, she was the only child in the family. But why did her mother mention children today?

Could it be that she actually had other siblings?

If she really did, why would her parents hide it from her?

"Cuiguo." Unable to figure it out despite much thought, Li Zhiwei decided to ask Cuiguo.

After all, Cuiguo usually interacted a lot with the servant women.

It was not impossible that she might have heard something.

"Miss!" Hearing Li Zhiwei call her, Cuiguo ran over excitedly.

One must know that usually, whenever the Miss had something to be done, she would call Qinghua and Qingyue.

On ​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‍this rare occasion that the Miss called her first, how could Cuiguo not be excited?

Otherwise, she would have thought the Miss was going to forget about her, the senior maid.

"Cuiguo, in the past, when you were in Li'an County, did you ever hear the older servants in the manor say whether my parents had any other children?" Li Zhiwei deliberated for a long time before asking Cuiguo beside her.

"O... other children?" Cuiguo's eyes widened. How come she had never heard this news?

"Miss, don't the Master and Madam only have you as their child?" Cuiguo had never heard anyone mention that the Madam had given birth to other children.

"Are there any older servants in the manor who followed from Qujing to Li'an County in the past?" Li Zhiwei thought that since Cuiguo came to the Li family later in Li'an County, it was possible she did not know about those matters.

If there were older servants who had followed all the way from Qujing to Li'an County, she should be able to find out from them.

"Miss, among the older servants, it seems only Steward Zhou followed the Master and Madam all the way. However, Steward Zhou is currently in Li'an County. Why are you suddenly asking this, Miss?" Cuiguo thought for a moment before replying.

She just did not understand why the Miss would suddenly have such thoughts out of nowhere.

Over the years, the Master and Madam's kindness to the Miss was obvious to everyone.

Could it be that the Miss suspected the Master and Madam had other children and were secretly giving them things?

This did not seem like her Miss's temperament at all.

Or could it be that since the Miss had been surrounded by Qinghua and Qingyue recently, her temperament had changed?

"It is nothing, I was just asking casually." Li Zhiwei shook her head, not voicing her suspicions.

However, she suddenly felt a bit suspicious again. Did something really happen? Otherwise, why would her parents suddenly move from Qujing back to Li'an County?

Logically, since her father grew up in Qujing, they should have settled there.

But her father and mother had left everything behind there and resolutely returned to the unfamiliar Li'an County.

What exactly happened in all of this?

"Miss, did something happen?" No matter how foolish Cuiguo was, she could see that her Miss was not in a good mood right now.

"Cuiguo, it is nothing." Li Zhiwei shook her head. Although she had suspicions in her heart, there was no evidence for this matter.

Moreover, she could not take her suspicions about her own parents and tell a little maid that her parents were hiding the existence of other children from her.

What if there were none? Wouldn't she be making something out of nothing?

Thinking of this, Li Zhiwei also felt a bit frustrated. She did not know why she actually had an illusion that she was supposed to have siblings.

Thinking of this, Li Zhiwei sighed in her heart. If she really had a sibling, she would not be in such a difficult position.

Seeing that Li Zhiwei had no intention of saying anything more, Cuiguo could not help but feel a bit anxious.

Why didn't the Miss order her to do anything?

"Miss."

At this moment, Qingyue, who had just returned from outside, was about to say something, but seeing Cuiguo there, she fell silent.

"Cuiguo, you may step down first."

Seeing that Qingyue clearly had something to say, Li Zhiwei quickly asked Cuiguo to leave.

Cuiguo glared at Qingyue but still stepped down unwillingly.

"Speak." Li Zhiwei looked at Qingyue, not knowing what she wanted to tell her.

"Miss, take a look at this." Qingyue did not say anything, but simply handed Li Zhiwei a portrait.

Li Zhiwei was somewhat puzzled. At a time like this, how could Xu Heming still have the mood to show her some portrait?

If he did not think of a solution soon, she would probably have no choice but to marry into the Qinling Kingdom and become some Third Crown Princess.

Or could it be that Xu Heming did not want to marry her at all?

Thinking of this, Li Zhiwei felt a bit dissatisfied, but when she saw clearly the person in the portrait, she was completely dumbfounded.

"Where did this portrait come from?" Li Zhiwei frowned and looked at Qingyue beside her.

Her heart leaped into her throat; it was simply too similar.