Chapter 500

Xu Heming looked at Xu Qingshi and did not reply."What do you think?" Xu Heming did not answer Xu Qingshi's question but instead asked a counter question.

Xu Qingshi was stunned.

For a moment, he could not tell whether he truly was not his father's son, or whether his father simply did not want him anymore.

Xu Qingshi's eyes reddened, his heart filled with both fear and helplessness.

Could it be that since a stepmother had entered the household, his father no longer wanted him?

"Father, I don't eat much. Please don't abandon me, alright?"

Xu Qingshi asked softly.

He did not know what he would do if the two people had been telling the truth and he really was their child.

"And what if I do abandon you?" Xu Heming's lips curled into an unreadable smile.

He wanted to see whether the boy could withstand such a blow.

This was the consequence he would have to bear if he truly intended to enter that world.

Xu Qingshi was so frightened that he fell to the ground, unable to say another word.

"You believed them?" Xu Heming looked at Xu Qingshi with a hint of disappointment, as if lamenting his lack of backbone.

Xu Qingshi wanted to nod, but he also wanted to shake his head.

He did not know.

He did not know whether those two people's words could be trusted.

"Xu Qingshi, whose food have you eaten since you were little?" Xu Heming gave a light snort as he asked.

Clearly, Xu Heming was very displeased that after all these years of providing for Xu Qingshi's food and drink, the boy would still hesitate.

"Father—" Xu Qingshi looked at Xu Heming, wanting to speak but holding back, a five-year-old child's confusion in his eyes.

"Come on, let's go." Xu Heming thought that this matter needed Xu Qingshi to digest it slowly on his own.

"Father, are you not sending me away?" Xu Qingshi asked, puzzled.

"Why would I send you away?" Xu Heming had never said he wanted Xu Qingshi to leave.

Why should he hand over the son he had carefully raised for five years just because of a few words from others?

Xu ​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‍Heming considered himself no fool; having raised Xu Qingshi for five years, he was not about to simply give him up.

"I am not Father's son, am I?" Xu Qingshi looked up at Xu Heming and asked timidly.

"Who said that?" Xu Heming stopped and looked at Xu Qingshi.

"That person inside said so," Xu Qingshi replied, pointing toward the room.

"I say you are, and you don't believe me. But when they say you are not, you believe them?" Xu Heming was not entirely certain himself.

But whether it was true or not did not matter.

He thought, if he said it was so, then it was so.

"Father, I will be obedient from now on," Xu Qingshi said carefully.

"Mm. Go back now." Xu Heming finished speaking and signaled to Qingsong behind him to handle the matter.

He was not so magnanimous as to let those two people live after they had disrespected him so blatantly.

By the time Xu Heming returned to Songmo Courtyard, it was already the hour of the Rooster (around 5-7 PM).

The courtyard outside was filled with guests, but Xu Heming still managed to find time to return to Songmo Courtyard first.

"Has the Princess had anything to eat?" Xu Heming asked the maidservant outside the room.

"Yes, Your Highness. The Princess has just eaten something," the maidservant replied with a bow.

"Good." Xu Heming entered the inner chamber, and Li Zhiwei quickly stood up.

"Your Highness." Li Zhiwei curtseyed.

"Zhiwei, if you are tired, you may rest early," Xu Heming said with some guilt.

Li Zhiwei wanted to ask questions, but seeing that Xu Heming's expression was not pleasant, she held back her curiosity.

"Your Highness, you have worked hard," she said.

After she spoke, she felt a little awkward.

"You have been wronged," Xu Heming sighed. He had wanted Li Zhiwei to never regret marrying him, but now it seemed things had turned out rather badly.

"Your Highness, I am fine." Li Zhiwei shook her head. She thought, compared to this, what mattered was that her parents were still alive. Everything else was unimportant.

Her sacrifice had been worth it.

"I need to go out and attend to the guests. I will be back soon. If you are tired, feel free to rest," Xu Heming said gently.

"Go ahead, Your Highness."

For some reason, Li Zhiwei felt relieved when Xu Heming said he was leaving.

As soon as Xu Heming stepped out, Xu Qingshi arrived.

"Mother," Xu Qingshi called timidly.

"Qingshi? Why are you here? Have you eaten?" Li Zhiwei was surprised to see him, especially since she did not see his guard Moyu.

"Mother." Xu Qingshi hung his head, feeling sad.

Even though his father had told him that what those two said was not true, he still felt it might be real.

He just did not understand. Hadn't his birth mother supposedly passed away?

"Mother, may I tell you a secret?" Xu Qingshi asked cautiously.

"Of course you may." Li Zhiwei then signaled everyone to leave the room.

"Pretty Sister, am I really Father's son?" Xu Qingshi looked at Li Zhiwei with red-rimmed eyes.

Li Zhiwei was taken aback. She had not expected Xu Qingshi to ask her this question.

Then again, she thought it was not entirely surprising. The person who had appeared in the wedding sedan today must have been seen by quite a few people.

But for the moment, she did not know how to answer Xu Qingshi's question.

She was afraid that answering wrongly might lead to a misunderstanding.

"Have you seen your father?" Li Zhiwei asked cautiously after thinking it over.

"Yes, I saw him. And I also saw those two people. They said I am not Father's son." Xu Qingshi's tears began to fall as he spoke.

"Did your father... say anything else?" Li Zhiwei was shocked inwardly. She had not expected there to be a third person involved.

She wanted to ask who those two were, but she held herself back, afraid it would not be good to know too much.

"He said it wasn't true, but I always feel that what those two said might be real," Xu Qingshi whispered.

"You would rather believe outsiders than trust your father?"

With Xu Heming's words in mind, Li Zhiwei knew how she should speak to Xu Qingshi now.

Still, she was somewhat surprised that Xu Heming had been so easygoing about it.

But then she remembered that Xu Qingshi was the one who had saved her. Regardless, she did not want Xu Heming to be too harsh with the child.

Li Zhiwei even thought that if worst came to worst, she could take the boy back to the Li family.

The Li family could certainly afford to raise him.

She would just make sure Xu Heming never saw him again.

However, since Xu Heming had told Xu Qingshi it was not true, either Xu Qingshi was indeed his biological son, or Xu Heming simply did not care about his true origins.

Since Xu Heming had no objection, she, as the stepmother, had no right to question it, did she?

"I am not believing outsiders. I am just afraid—" Xu Qingshi stopped, not knowing what to say next.

He did not know what he should do now.

"Has your father said that he wants you to leave the Prince's Mansion?" Li Zhiwei asked in confusion.