Simply Trading 197 Suspicions 1

After all, Du Yan's skill as an alchemist was considered rather shaky, compared to all the experts that his father had about the place. Still, it wouldn't do for him to refuse the larger fellow's gesture. Du Yan had been working on his formulae for a good while now. Almost one year and seven months, to be exact. So he should have improved since that debacle that had Lin Liushui lying abed for three whole days.

Li Sanlang had been intent on throwing that out as a joke, and warning Qin Feng about the medicines that he receives from Du Yan in the future. And with Lin Liushui present, Du Yan would probably be too embarra.s.sed to kick up too much of a fuss about all the teasing that he would receive. That should make everything easier for Li Changhai, and allow the Ducal Prince to ease the conversation back to their plans to go treasure hunting.

To be honest, he was slightly more anxious to be away at the moment. His father was behaving strangely, and Li Changhai was not certain that was a good thing. The Duke had generally been content to leave him to muddle through his own affairs, although he did keep him close at hand. All this sudden interest in his activities, and in his choice of companions, was rather odd. And uncomfortable, to tell the truth.

And now, it looked as if his mother was taking a hand in the matter! Why was she summoning him to her courtyard, and at first light at that. He had barely gotten dressed when one of her maids showed up at his door, and more or less insisted that Li Sanlang visit his mother. At once, no less!

Well, Li Changhai was more sensitive to the warning signals, compared to the period before he had left to visit his maternal grandparents. The changes that had erupted around him had been enough of a warning that things were going to be very different from then on, so he did not waste any time and quickly directed the servant girl to lead the way. One thing was for sure, it would be far easier to beg the forgiveness of his Companions than to get his mother to let him off!
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And while he trudged along after the maidservant, he began to wonder what had caused his mother to call for him that early in the morning. For a moment, he thought that it was the whole matter of the attack in the streets, and that she was still worried about his involvement in the same. But he had already briefed her about that, when they shared the nightly dinner that evening, immediately after the event. His father had even warned him beforehand, what to say and what to leave out of his account.

And the d.u.c.h.ess had accepted his story without any noticeable agitation. So it was unlikely that she would be bringing that up now, wasn't it? Unless she had found out more about the incident? Before the Second Ducal Prince himself?

Li Changhai shook his head at that possibility. That wasn't very likely, was it. After all, it had only been one night since Fatty Zhou had been captured, so at the most, his father's interrogators only had a night to work on him. And that is if they didn't let him recover a little from the lost of his arm.

So how could his mother have gotten any information out of his father regarding the matter. Butler Jin would have definitely directed all the interrogators to report directly to the Duke regarding this, and he was rather certain that his father would not have shared all of the sensitive details with his mother.

Which was why Li Sanlang dismissed that possibility at once, and started to consider others. What could possibly have happened to get his mother to summon him into her presence the first thing in the morning? That was more than unusual, to tell the truth.

Usually, she would only kick up a bit of fuss if he did not show up at her courtyard by noon, to pay his respects for the day. Even then, he had the option of sending word to her, if he had some other pressing business. Or was too busy gallivanting about the City with Lin Liushui and Du Yan. So it was unlikely that she would call him for now reason at all.

Unless the attack the day before had fl.u.s.tered her more than he knew? Shaking his head, Li Changhai dismissed that immediately. She didn't know about the details, and even if she was to ask the soldiers who had been present, it was unlikely that she would have learned anything that would cause her to summon him, or to give him a piece of her mind. So it couldn't be that.

Then he winced. He had heard some rumors about the letters that his mother had been receiving from the other n.o.blemen's wives from the Southern Cities and the Capital. Some of the soldiers and the female servants had been gossiping about that some time ago, and he had caught s.n.a.t.c.hes of their conversation.

That was not the sort of thing that most n.o.ble-born would bother to do. But Li Sanlang enjoyed taking shortcuts over the walls when he was visiting his companions, and he had to keep himself hidden so that none of the servants in the Palace would learn of his slightly disgraceful habit of exercising his Lightness-of-Body martial arts there. So it was only by chance that he learned enough of their gossip to make him concerned now.

Especially one particular piece of it:

The Marquis of the Southern City of Yue'an had just initiated a search for a possible groom for his fifth daughter, who had just turned fifteen. And to view the likely candidates, he was inviting all the n.o.bles from around the Kingdom to pay a visit to his fief to celebrate the Mid-autumn Festival that year!

Li Changhai was no fool and knew that he was already well past the age when he should be betrothed or married. After all, he was already in his twenties, and most n.o.blemen were matched with some prospective bride by their early teens. Fortunately for him, his father had never really bothered, and his mother did not seem too anxious for grandchildren herself.

Still, he would have to be careful all the same. He was sure that it was just another scheme by that old Marquis of Yue'an to tie himself to the more powerful n.o.ble families in the other parts of the Kingdom. And so improve the network of his influence! The old Marquis had another three other daughters to marry off as well. So he would have to be careful to bring that up, if his mother did summon him to talk about that issue. Paying a visit there was like stepping into a tiger's den!

A smile crept onto his lips slowly, as he considered all of the possible arguments that he could deploy if she brought the matter up. It was the most likely reason why she had summoned him, after all.

And regardless of what she had said to him much earlier, when he was still a very young teenager, there was a strong possibility that she was starting to feel left behind, with some of her friends already becoming grandmothers. So he would have to be careful that he did not end up being sent out to pick some n.o.bleman's daughter as a bride.

It was at this point that the maid in front of him suddenly came to a halt, and took a step to the side. Li Sanlang looked up and saw that they had already reached the entrance of his mother's personal courtyard, and the fragrance of the late plum blossoms wafted over him as he took pains to check on his attire.

Then, confidently, the Second Ducal Prince stepped within, ready to have words with his mother regarding her plans for his marriage.

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