Liu Ya's backbone was quite stiff! She was not an ordinary maid; those who rode horses and wielded swords on the battlefield had hard hearts!
Liu Ya glanced at the old woman, her face expressionless, as if the matter had nothing to do with her from beginning to end.
The old woman was furious in her heart, but on the surface, she put on a pathetic expression and pleaded pitifully with Liu Ya, "Please, miss, have pity on me. If you don't forgive me, I fear Seventh Miss will drive me out. At my age, it will be difficult to survive outside."
"What has that got to do with me?"
Li Man'er really wanted to applaud Liu Ya. Well said.
The old woman had no choice but to beg Zhu Yu, "Please, miss, plead on my behalf."
Zhu Yu was also very impatient, but this was a task Seventh Miss had given her, and she dared not disobey. She said, "Miss Li, she was wrong. I beg you, for the sake of her old age, to forgive her this once!"
Li Man'er smiled and said, "Please trouble Miss Zhu Yu to take her back. Since she is from Seventh Miss's courtyard, regardless of right or wrong, it's not for an outsider like me to say."
The old woman immediately kowtowed to Li Man'er, "Miss Li, if you don't forgive this old servant, then this old servant will not get up from kneeling here."
Li Man'er smiled and said nothing, then turned and left.
Liu Ya snorted coldly, "Do they think our miss is easily bullied? If you want to kneel, then kneel. You won't die from kneeling." With that, she directly closed the door with a loud bang, making a great racket.
Zhu Yu was full of anger. She spat at the servant and said, "You can just kneel here until you die." What a disgrace.
Zhu Yu ignored the old woman's life or death and turned to leave.
The old woman knelt on the ground, looking at Zhu Yu's retreating back, then turned to look at the tightly shut door. Her face was exceptionally gloomy.
What was her mistake! She was merely loyal and protecting her mistress. Li Man'er was so arrogant, always suppressing Seventh Miss. As a servant, she couldn't stand it. What was wrong with teaching Li Man'er's maid a lesson for her mistress? She was just a maid, not the master. Could she not stand outside for a while, wait a little longer?
A sinister glint flashed in the old woman's eyes. It was fine that Li Man'er didn't forgive her, but why did Seventh Miss also abandon her? She had done it to vent anger for her mistress.
Thinking of this, the old woman staggered to her feet, reached out to rub her knees, and limped away.
Liu Ya had been watching the old woman's actions from the window. Seeing her leave, she frowned, "Miss, why did she leave? This servant feels something is not right."
Li Man'er walked over to take a look and only saw the old woman's retreating figure. She turned left and disappeared beyond the moon gate.
That back carried a hint of desperation, as if she were about to do something significant.
Li Man'er smiled, "Don't worry about her. We just need to be careful ourselves."
Liu Ya was very confused. She looked in the direction the old woman had disappeared and muttered, "Just an old woman." She was no different from an ant.
Li Man'er did not agree with Liu Ya's statement and did not explain anything.
Although insignificant people were not worth mentioning, once a person had a heart of desperation, they would do something astonishing. Although that old woman was an ant, perhaps she could still make a splash.
"Stop looking. Close the window, it's quite cold."
"Alright." Liu Ya's unhappiness had long since vanished. She closed the window and turned to hand the list from her sleeve to Li Man'er.
"Miss, should this servant send it again?"
Li Man'er took it and directly threw it into the charcoal basin.
"Miss?"
"Rewrite it." Li Man'er said, "I think the things we need to prepare are still too few. When we go into the mountains, the more supplies, the better."
Liu Ya was so happy she almost jumped, "Miss, I'll go grind the ink."
Li Man'er spent a long time rewriting it. She didn't let Liu Ya send it either, but kept it herself. When Xiao Qi Niang came in person, she would give it to her.
Four or five days passed. Li Shu's body entered a phase of rapid recovery. He visibly gained weight, and his complexion turned ruddy.
From Old Sun's words, Li Man'er knew that Jiao Niang had not come to attend to him at night, so how could his recovery not be good?
Li Man'er administered the last acupuncture treatment to Li Shu.
As she removed the last silver needle, Li Man'er thought that she had saved Li Shu twice, which could be considered repaying his kindness of raising her on behalf of the original owner. After this, their relationship would have to be re-evaluated.
"Father, this is the last acupuncture treatment. The poison in your body has been completely cleared, and some of the blood and qi in your internal organs have been replenished. In the days to come, as long as you take your medicine and exercise regularly, you will soon recover."
Jiao Niang listened from the side, very anxious, "Eldest Miss, the master's needles cannot stop." In Jiao Niang's opinion, acupuncture was the most miraculous treatment. Li Shu had been unconscious, and Li Man'er had woken him up with seven days of needling, which showed that needling was more effective than medicine.
Only acupuncture could make Li Shu recover quickly. Only when he recovered could she legitimately stay by Li Shu's side, or even accompany him to the capital.
Li Man'er placed the needles in a container filled with wine to sterilize them, then handed the container to Old Sun to take it down.
"Are you a doctor, or am I?" Li Man'er glared at Jiao Niang, "Where is it for you to speak here? Get out."
Jiao Niang's eyes immediately filled with tears, and she turned to look at Li Shu.
Li Shu's old face was somewhat flushed. After all, he had only been awake for two days before he had something with Jiao Niang. It was indeed not very proper for this to spread.
But he was also a man, and some things were understood implicitly.
In front of his daughter, Li Shu found it difficult to say anything, but he was still somewhat unhappy.
Jiao Niang was indeed not worth mentioning, like a plaything. However, she had followed him. Even without a title, she had been taken in and was his woman.
"Man'er..."
Before Li Shu could finish speaking, Li Man'er turned and glared at him, "What, Father, are you going to scold me for such a thing now?"
Li Shu was originally somewhat guilty, but when he heard Li Man'er speak to him so disrespectfully, his temper flared up.
"What, I am the father, is it not permissible for me to discipline my daughter a few words?"
Jiao Niang secretly rejoiced but humbly pleaded, "My lord, please take care of your health. It is not worth getting angry with Eldest Miss for this servant."
Li Man'er lifted her foot and kicked her down, "What do you think you are, to dare to sow discord between our father and daughter?"
Li Shu was about to get angry when he heard Liu Ya say, "Marquis, Eldest Miss expends a great deal of energy every time she needles you, especially in the beginning when your poisoning was severe. Eldest Miss exerted more effort during the needling. Every time she finished needling you, she was covered in a cold sweat, and her energy was greatly depleted. Do you think Eldest Miss has given more, or has this Jiao Niang given more?"