The Daily Life of a Female Esper in Ancient Times

Chapter 179

The Former Duchess of Yun County and Madam Ning appeared to be at odds publicly. But privately, the two had a good relationship. The Former Duchess of Yun County was having an affair with Prince YongKang, and Madam Ning was the one covering for her.

Prince Yun accidentally overheard this from Madam Ning's servants while visiting the Ning family. After learning this, Prince Yun secretly sent people to investigate and discovered that the Ning family had connections with Prince YongKang, accepting money and estates from him.

The affair of the Former Duchess of Yun County was an indelible shadow in Prince Yun's heart. He also learned that his current wife wasn't as concerned with propriety as he had thought, fantasizing about seducing others by pretending to drown.

For self-preservation and revenge, Prince Yun revealed everything he knew at court this morning, catching everyone off guard.

Only Li Xia, who had been thinking about sleep, was unaware. Upon hearing this, Li Xia remarked, "Prince Yun is really unfortunate, both of his wives wanted to betray him."

"He deserves it," she continued. "In his early years as Prince Yun, he abused his power, relying on his mother's favor with the Grand Empress Dowager and the Emperor. He repeatedly pushed the Emperor's boundaries until he exhausted all goodwill. Now he's just left with misfortune."

"People should know their limits," Li Xia said with a smile.

As they were talking, Li Hui walked in. Seeing Lu XuanNing sitting with Li Xia, his eyes fell on Lu XuanNing holding Li Xia's hand. He stepped forward and swatted their hands apart.

"Xia Xia, a young lady should protect herself," Li Hui said, glancing coldly at a certain someone.

Li Xia looked at Li Hui in confusion, then at Lu XuanNing, silently asking him what he had done to upset Li Hui.

Lu XuanNing indicated that he didn't know.

Seeing the two exchanging glances in front of him, Li Hui's expression darkened further.

"Big brother, why are you back so early today?" Li Xia asked, realizing it was during Li Hui's usual work hours.

"Has Zhou Heng made his move?" Li Hui asked, ignoring Li Xia's question.

"He's going after the Ning family," Li Xia replied without concealment.

"Why?"

"It's a long story," Li Xia said, seeing Li Hui sit down to listen in detail. She recounted the events from when they traveled from Bailang County to Liuzhou, discovering the men in black and later finding them among the mountain bandits.

"You were the one who dealt with the men in black that night," Li Hui said, still remembering the tension and worry when they discovered the men in black in the outskirts.

"Those men in black were probably trying to assassinate me," Lu XuanNing suddenly said, causing the Li siblings to look at him, realizing how fateful their meeting had been.

Li Hui understood Zhou Heng's actions, but he felt it was dangerous. One small mistake could expose not only him but also implicate Li Xia.

"Big brother, I trust Zhou Heng," Li Xia said. She knew that this matter could potentially expose her, but she chose to trust Zhou Heng. If her family were in danger, she would act even more recklessly than Zhou Heng.

"Don't get involved in this," Li Hui instructed Li Xia before turning to look at Lu XuanNing. Lu XuanNing followed Li Hui into the inner room.

Li Xia sat in the outer room, carefully examining a kite. Although the two men inside spoke softly, she could hear everything clearly. Her big brother and future husband were trying to find ways to erase any information that might expose Zhou Heng.

Li Xia was ordered to stay at home and not interfere. "I'll tell mother to keep a close eye on you," Li Hui said.

"Alright, I won't interfere," Li Xia agreed, as she hadn't planned to anyway. She believed that Zhou Heng needed to seek revenge himself to resolve the bitterness in his heart.

With some rare free time, Li Xia stayed in the small kitchen to learn how to make desserts from Wu Auntie.

Wu Auntie had already learned about Li Xia's situation from the head cook. She agreed to guide Li Xia but insisted that Li Xia not touch the stove and follow her instructions.

Li Xia agreed to follow Wu Auntie's guidance step by step. However, the water chestnut cake Li Xia made tasted even stranger than what Qiu Kui could produce. Even Qiu Chan refused to eat it.

Once again proving that she had not unlocked any culinary talent, Li Xia gave up. At the same time, she also figured something out.

Not interfering didn't mean not caring or inquiring. That night, Li Xia went to Tian Yi Pavilion. Zhou Heng wasn't there, and Luo Shan was in charge. Luo Shan didn't know what Zhou Heng was planning to do. Before leaving, Zhou Heng had passed the position of pavilion master to Luo Shan. Li Xia left Tian Yi Pavilion and returned to Qingyue Street.

For several consecutive nights, she went to investigate places where Zhou Heng might be. He was nowhere to be found, as if he had vanished into thin air. Li Xia wanted to continue searching, but there were too many undercover agents at night. She had to stop and wait for results.

This sensational case of a son-in-law exposing his father-in-law eventually ended with the Ning family's property being confiscated and the family being exiled.

There was still no news of Zhou Heng, and Li Xia was in a bad mood. She somewhat regretted not getting involved in this matter.

Li Chou, Li Guang, and Li Yao returned to the capital, all having passed their exams. Li Yao became the youngest xiucai in the dynasty. Li Chou and Li Guang became civil and military juren respectively. Li Chou's marriage was approaching.

Regarding Li Chou's marriage, Auntie An wanted to interfere. Her main purpose was to gain some benefits from it.

Understanding Auntie An's intentions, Li Chou asked Mrs. Lu to arrange for someone to keep an eye on Auntie An and prevent her from interfering. Years of experience had taught Li Chou that compared to his birth mother, his stepmother Mrs. Lu was more reliable.

After years of hard study, Li Chou had passed the juren exam. Next year would be the metropolitan examination. If he passed, he would advance further. If not, Li Chou had decided not to try again. He planned to ask his father and elder brother to help him secure an official position in the provinces, where he could do some practical work.

Li Ming supported Li Chou's plans. Having personally overseen Li Chou's studies in recent years, Li Ming knew his situation and believed he would likely become a jinshi.

Li Chou's fiancée was surnamed Zhang. Her father, Zhang Liao, was an old scholar in the Hanlin Academy. Having been a scholar all his life, he had raised his daughter well, and she was a strong-willed and graceful young woman.

However, their family was not wealthy and couldn't afford a substantial dowry. It was difficult for them to find a good marriage match. When Li Ming came to propose, old scholar Zhang was somewhat dissatisfied.

Li Ming brought Li Chou to visit multiple times. Although Li Chou was not as intelligent as Li Hui, he was honest, reliable, and diligent, willing to listen to others' advice.

Madam Zhang was very satisfied with Li Chou. In private, she thoroughly analyzed the pros and cons with Miss Zhang, persuading her to agree to this marriage. With both wife and daughter in agreement, and given the generous betrothal gifts from the Li family, Zhang Liao also consented to the marriage.

Li Chou had met the young lady several times and was also very satisfied with Miss Zhang.

On the wedding day, Li Chou donned his groom's attire and rode a horse, leading the wedding procession to receive the bride. Miss Zhang's brothers symbolically blocked the way before letting them in.

The bride's dowry was truly meager, just 18 loads. When lifted, they were very light, revealing how thin the Zhang family's resources were. Li Xia and Li Xin were in the room listening to Qiu Ling describe the dowry situation.

"Auntie An will definitely find an excuse to criticize sister-in-law," Li Xia knew at once that Auntie An wouldn't be satisfied with her second sister-in-law, Mrs. Zhang.

"Mother is here, isn't she? She won't let our second brother's wife be upset," Li Xin had confidence in Mrs. Lu.

Li Xia didn't speak further about the dowry, "Let's go see the bride."

The two of them, accompanied by their maids, headed to Li Chou's courtyard. The bride's dowry was arranged in the courtyard, and Auntie An looked at it with great dissatisfaction. Today was her son's joyous occasion, so she couldn't make a scene, otherwise, she would have caused an uproar by now.