bookrandom Chapter 476: Li Clan panics and seeks out Concubine Xiao to discuss strategy
Chapter 476: Li Clan panics and seeks out Concubine Xiao to discuss strategy
A few days later, after matching their horoscopes, the specific date for Li Xi to marry the princess was finally settled - at the beginning of autumn this year, to be precise, on the auspicious day of September 6th.
This way, there was still ample time before the wedding for all parties to make thorough preparations. This seemingly long period of time actually gave Gu Shiyi a perfect opportunity.
Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, it's already May. During this time, Li Xi never gave up on tracking down the mysterious jade pendant's origins. His efforts paid off, and he finally succeeded in uncovering the truth: the jade pendant's owner was undoubtedly Gu Shiyi.
However, what was puzzling was that, despite knowing about this, Gu Shiyi did not take the initiative to come forward to acknowledge him or explain anything. Li Xi was not in a hurry about this. After all, given his status and position, he had the patience to wait for the other party to take the first step.
On the morning of the third day of the fifth lunar month, sunlight streamed through the window lattices onto the ground, casting patches of light and shadow. Just as Li Xi was quietly reading in his study, a servant hurried in, presenting a secret letter.
Li Xi took the letter and opened it. It turned out to be a message secretly sent by Gu Shiyi, inviting him to meet in an elegant private room in front of Tianxiang Tower at noon that day.
After reading this letter, Li Xi couldn't help but feel puzzled. After all, such a long time had passed since he learned about the jade pendant, and Gu Shiyi hadn't contacted him at all, never taking the initiative. Now, she suddenly sent a letter to meet him, the reason behind this was truly intriguing.
He subconsciously frowned and muttered to himself, "What on earth does this mean? Is there some conspiracy going on?"
After pondering for a moment, he turned to the servant beside him and instructed: "You go and tell her that I am very busy today and can't spare time to go to the appointment. By the way, ask her what she is doing. If it is not an urgent matter, don't blame me for ignoring her in the future." The servant responded respectfully, then turned around and left to carry out the order.
As the agreed time approached, the servant arrived in front of Tianxiang Tower according to Li Xi's instructions. He looked up at the magnificent restaurant with its carved beams and painted buildings, took a deep breath, and walked in...
He went upstairs to the private room he had been in before, knocked on the door, and Xiaoyan came to open it. This time, she was dressed as a man.
She opened the door and saw that the person coming was not Li Xi, so she asked, "Who are you?"
The servant was also taken aback. Wasn't that Miss Gu? Why was it a man? However, he still said, "Young man, I'm here to deliver a letter for His Highness. I wonder if Miss Gu is here?" Only after hearing this did Xiaoyan let the servant in.
As the servant entered the room, Gu Shiyi straightened her clothes. When she saw that it was not Li Xi, her smile froze on her face. However, she quickly adjusted herself and asked calmly, "Who are you? Where is His Highness? Why didn't His Highness come?"
The servant saw that the person sitting in the room was a young man, but the words he spoke did not sound like a man. Then he realized what was happening and bowed, saying, "Miss Gu, I am here to deliver a message for His Highness. His Highness is busy today and cannot leave, so I asked you to ask what you want. If you have anything important, please write a letter and I will pass it on to His Highness."
Gu Shiyi knew he was trying to put her off. After all, she'd heard that Li Xi held no official position and didn't have to attend court. What could she possibly be busy doing? She felt a little angry, but after calming down and thinking for a moment, she said, "Well, I'll write a letter to His Highness. Xiaoyan, go get the waiter some paper and pen."
Xiaoyan agreed and went to ask for paper and pen. After the paper and pen were brought, Gu Shiyi wrote a short sentence on the piece of paper, folded it and handed it to Xiaoyan, who then handed it to the servant.
Gu Shiyi said, "If Your Highness wants to see me, please meet me at the Tihua Restaurant at noon the day after tomorrow."
The servant stuffed the note into his pocket and then bowed, saying, "I will tell His Highness this when I get back. I will take my leave now."
After the servant left, Xiaoyan said, "You are truly a master of foresight. You actually guessed that His Highness would not come."
Gu Shiyi smiled bitterly and said, "Why is it so hard to guess? He's a prince, what kind of woman can he want? And if I didn't look for him, why would he come to me? What's more, I haven't looked for him for so long, so if I suddenly look for him, he will definitely be suspicious and it's normal for him to find someone to test me."
Xiaoyan seemed to understand a little. She nodded and said, "Then let's go back? Otherwise, if the master finds out, he will punish you and put you in solitary confinement again."
Gu Shiyi stood up and said, "Go pack some food for father and auntie, or go back."
Xiaoyan took the order and went to buy some food. After packing it up, the two of them left.
At the Nanyang County Prince's Mansion, Li Xi was reading in the study. The servant had left and returned. Li Xi thought that Gu Shiyi was not in any serious trouble, so he asked without even raising his eyelids, "How is it?"
The servant replied, "Your Highness, Miss Gu is disguised as a man today. She didn't tell me why she wanted to see you, but she wrote a note for me to bring to you."
Li Xi originally thought that Gu Shiyi was looking for trouble, or maybe she was just missing him? But now he heard that she had something to say, and she couldn't tell him orally, but had to write a note to pass it on, which showed that there was something wrong. He just hoped that she wouldn't let him down.
So he put down the book and asked the servant to give him the note. The servant naturally stepped forward quickly and handed the note to Li Xi.
Li Xi opened the note. Although it only had one line of words, it still shocked him. He couldn't help but murmur, "How is this possible?"
The servant saw Li Xi's expression and was a little worried: "Your Highness, what happened?"
Li Xi didn't say anything. He frowned and thought for a moment before saying, "I'm going to the palace." Then he stood up, put the note on his body, and hurried out. Li Yuan, the personal bodyguard who was guarding outside, followed him quickly.
Li Xi was a man who could not hide his secrets. He mounted his horse and galloped into the palace. Arriving at the palace, he was still very anxious, but Li Yuan reminded him, "Your Highness, don't worry. We are already in the palace. Don't let anyone catch you."
Hearing this, Li Xi took a deep breath to calm himself down, then walked proudly along the palace road again. After about two quarters of an hour, they arrived at the Lingxiao Palace where Concubine Xiao lived.
When the maidservant of Lingxiao Palace saw Li Xi coming, she saluted respectfully and then said, "Your Highness, I will report to the Imperial Concubine right away."
Li Xi waved his hand to signal her to go, and the maid left, saying, "Everyone, get up."
Not long after, the maid who had just reported the news came back and made a "please" gesture and said, "Your Highness, the Imperial Concubine invites you."
Li Xi followed the maid into the main hall. When Concubine Xiao saw Li Xi coming, she waved for him to come over.
Li Xi stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Your son pays his respects to your mother."
Concubine Xiao smiled and said, "My son, please get up quickly. Come and sit down!" Li Xi nodded and sat down next to Concubine Xiao.
Concubine Xiao asked again, "Xi'er, why did you come to my place at this time today? If my mother hadn't gotten up from her nap, you would have had to wait for quite some time."
Li Xi looked around, and Concubine Xiao realized that Li Xi seemed to have something to do, so she said to the maids around her: "You all go down first!" The maids went down as expected.
When there was no one else around, Li Xi knelt down again and said, "I have done something wrong. Please punish me, mother."
Concubine Xiao was a little confused by his apology. She reached out and helped Li Xi up, asking, "Xi'er, what's wrong? Get up and tell me."
But Li Xi did not stand up with Concubine Xiao. He said, "It's all your fault. I got drunk in Tianxiang Tower that day, and a woman took advantage of me. I mistook her for Guo Fengmin..."
After hearing this, what else did Concubine Xiao not understand? Was it because her son slept with another girl? She said, "Get up first. You are the Prince of Nanyang County. What's wrong with sleeping with a woman? If it's a servant, if she really makes a fuss, you can take her in as a concubine if you like. If not, you can put her in jail for seducing the prince. If it's a girl from a good family, or the daughter of an official, you can just take her in as a concubine. Why go to this?"
Li Xi took out the note and said, "Mother, that woman asked me to come to Tianxiang Tower for a chat today, but I declined, saying I had something else to do and couldn't go. I asked a servant to ask her what she wanted, and she gave me a note in reply."
As soon as Concubine Xiao took the note, she knew that this girl was indeed a powerful person and had some plans.
Concubine Xiao asked, "Did she say anything?"
Li Xi said, "My mother is a diviner. She said if you're interested in a chat, we can meet at the Tihua Restaurant at noon on the fifth day of the fifth month."
Concubine Xiao asked again, "Do you know who this woman is?"
Li Xi bowed his head and said, "She is the daughter of the Dali Temple Minister, Gu Shiyi."
Upon hearing this, Concubine Xiao was so angry she laughed. "I've heard about this woman since I left the palace that she's not a good person. She used the same trick to marry Li Chu. It's just that you, my son, have been lax! And the people around you, I should replace them with more useful ones later!"
Li Xi was utterly ashamed, but Concubine Xiao regained her motherly expression, helped Li Xi up, and said, "Xi'er, remember, don't let your feelings get to you easily in the future. It'll make it easy for people to exploit your weakness. Do you understand?"
Li Xi nodded and said, "It's all my fault. I'm sorry for causing you trouble."
Concubine Xiao smiled and said, "It's okay. You are my son after all. Come closer and listen."
Li Xi stood up and sat down next to Concubine Xiao again. Concubine Xiao said, "Xi'er, this is it..."
Upon hearing this, Li Xi's brows stopped furrowing, and he said, "Mother is truly amazing. I have learned a lot from you."
Concubine Xiao smiled and said, "You, please stop flattering me. Learn to be a good person in the future. You can't always come to me for help when something goes wrong. If you sit in that position in the future, how can you do that?"
Li Xi bowed and smiled, "Your Highness is right, Mother. I will study hard."
Concubine Xiao said, "Alright! But this woman is not a pushover. You must negotiate with her and seize this opportunity. After Li Chu gives birth to a legitimate son, your father will agree to make him king. This is also a good opportunity. If what she said is true, Xi'er, you must seize the opportunity, understand?"
Li Xi nodded firmly and said, "Yes, mother, I understand!"
After the two of them agreed on this matter, they put it aside and talked about Li Xi's wedding. Li Xi didn't have much expectations. After all, he was marrying someone he didn't love, and it would be the same for anyone.
Seeing his expression, Concubine Xiao knew that his heart was not in it, so she said, "Forget it, leave this matter to mother! You just need to deal with Gu Shiyi's matter." Only then did Li Xi breathe a sigh of relief.