Li Man'er murmured, "Loyal to the end, loyal to the end, what a loyal to the end!" At this point, her tone suddenly turned fierce, and she slapped the table. "Granny Wu, do you have some misunderstanding of the word loyalty?"
Granny Wu trembled, not understanding how she had offended Li Man'er. In a moment of panic, she felt guilty and lacked confidence, her mind a mess.
"This county princess has never doubted you before."
Granny Wu's heart skipped a beat, and she stammered, "Miss... oh no, Your Highness, this old servant is truly loyal!"
"Loyal and devoted, for so many years, I've always thought so too! You were sent to the countryside, lived a difficult life, and when you were brought back, you were thin and old, as if you had suffered greatly." Li Man'er leaned forward slightly. "But your acting skills are too poor, easily seen through. Don't you know that?"
"This servant, this servant doesn't know..." She didn't know where she had made a mistake.
"That year, you also participated in Consort Cui's poisoning of my mother and concealed it until now, didn't you?"
Granny Wu shook her head incessantly. "No, Your Highness, this old servant is wronged." Despite crying out that she was wronged, sweat poured down Granny Wu's body.
Li Man'er stared intently into Granny Wu's eyes and said word by word, "That year, you personally saw Madam Cui and Madam Guo harm my mother, right? You personally saw them tamper with my swaddling clothes? Was someone telling you, or was it all your delusion?"
Granny Wu shivered, her eyes gradually losing focus, and she involuntarily revealed the truth of that year. "On the day of the banquet, this servant truly saw Madam Cui and Madam Guo carrying the young lady's swaddling clothes suspiciously."
"Then did you see them put anything in the swaddling clothes?"
"I couldn't see clearly."
Li Man'er rolled her eyes. "Then what did you see clearly?"
Granny Wu shook her head blankly.
It seemed her guess was correct. Granny Wu was not in league with Consort Cui to harm Ning Shi. She had likely been kept in the dark initially, and later discovered something but didn't speak of it.
"When did you discover that my mother was harmed?"
Granny Wu struggled. This was the deepest secret in her heart, and even under hypnosis, she was reluctant to reveal it easily.
Seeing this, Li Man'er gave her two more suggestions. Granny Wu finally revealed everything she knew.
When Consort Cui wanted to harm Ning Shi, she indeed didn't know. Granny Wu was not a clever person, and as a servant, she dared not speculate about her masters without reason. However, Ning Shi, although suffering from the蛊毒 (gǔ dú - curse poison) and often groggy, was intelligent enough to notice some clues.
She was not suffering from postpartum weakness; she had been harmed.
Ning Shi had very little time when she was conscious. Whenever she woke up, she would tell Granny Wu that she was being harmed. At first, Granny Wu paid no attention, thinking Ning Shi was delirious from her illness. Later, Ning Shi repeated it twice, and only then did Granny Wu take it seriously.
But Ning Shi was dying, and the young master was still small. Granny Wu was at a loss and terrified after discovering such a major event, fearing that Consort Cui would find out and take her life at any moment.
In fact, Consort Cui had tried to kill Granny Wu more than once. If it weren't for her perceived stupidity and timidity, Consort Cui would have likely sent her to join Ning Shi long ago.
If one were to talk about mistakes, Granny Wu was not entirely wrong. Although she did not expose Consort Cui's evil deeds, she did not participate in the harm. At most, she was looking out for herself, claiming to be uninvolved.
However, the Ning family had treated her well, and Ning Shi had treated her well! Her actions were tantamount to disregarding human life, which Li Man'er could not tolerate.
If one were to talk about the original owner's childhood, Granny Wu's enduring hardship to protect her could be understood. But so many years had passed, the original owner had grown up, and she had had the opportunity to return to the Ning family. Why didn't she speak up?
To put it bluntly, it was still cowardice. She had grown accustomed to a stable life and dared not, nor wanted to, break this balance.
Li Man'er was too exhausted to interrogate Granny Wu further. Knowing the truth, she felt a sense of powerlessness.
"Ziyan."
Ziyan, who had been guarding the door, hurried into the room. "Miss... Your Highness."
"Tie her up, gag her, and send her to the woodshed first. Let her starve for two days. Have someone guard her and prevent her from committing suicide."
"Your servant understands."
Ziyan quickly had Granny Wu tied up and taken away. Ziyan felt that it was already a great mercy that her mistress hadn't beaten Granny Wu to death directly. Such a disloyal servant deserved to have her entire family killed, and it would be no major matter.
Li Man'er was tired all day and fell asleep without even eating dinner.
It was less that she was tired and more that she was angry.
However, today's matter had finally reached a satisfactory conclusion. As for the newly married Madam Liu, Li Man'er hadn't even thought about her.
Li Man'er never expected that Madam Liu, whom she had barely considered, would dare to give her a cold shoulder the next day.
Li Man'er had always had the habit of waking up early to practice martial arts. After her morning exercises and changing clothes, she was about to eat. The morning had been calm and uneventful until the unexpected arrival of a maid.
"Someone from Chaohui Courtyard has arrived."
"Chaohui Courtyard?" Li Man'er slowly took a sip of soup. Since Madam Guo's death, she had had almost no contact with Chaohui Courtyard. Why would someone come now?
"Who is it?"
"It's the new madam's maid, named Yuhe."
"New madam?" Li Man'er smiled and wiped her mouth with a handkerchief. "Let her stand in the courtyard for a while." No matter what background this new madam had, sending someone over early in the morning showed a lack of discernment.
"Yes!"
Li Man'er leisurely ate her breakfast. The little maid Yuhe in the courtyard waited and waited, but no one appeared. She became anxious and shouted into the courtyard.
Li Man'er threw down her spoon, and Luyi immediately brought her clear tea for rinsing her mouth.
"What is she shouting about?"
The little maid took the spittoon and went down. Luyi said, "Your servant heard that she wants to see you. It seems to be Madam Liu's intention."
"Tch, let's go and see."
Li Man'er, wearing a brocade robe, stood at the doorway, clasping her hands and smiling as she asked, "What is all this commotion?"
Before the elderly servant and maids could reply, they heard Yuhe exclaim, "Young Lady has such great etiquette. Our Madam has just entered the house, and you haven't gone to pay respects to an elder..."
"Slap her."
Ziyan, standing beside her, heard Li Man'er's command and immediately raised her hand, giving Yuhe a slap.
A crisp slap echoed. Yuhe clutched her face, tears welling up in her eyes. "You, you are bullying people."
Luyi walked down the steps, hands on her hips, and cursed, "Shameless little slut, how dare you be so presumptuous in front of our county princess?"
"County princess?" Yuhe was stunned. Where did a county princess come from?