Guo Shi was dead, and Li Zhaozhu was married off, so Li Man'er thought it was time to consolidate the real estate she owned. Whether it was shops, restaurants, or manors, she should be thoroughly familiar with them, not entrust all her assets to others to control.
The shops were manageable, all located within the city, but the manors were a bit far.
Two manors were not near the capital, and they were very large. The two manors in the outskirts of the capital were smaller, but they were adjacent to mountains with forests and had beautiful scenery.
Li Man'er also wanted to rest, so she asked Cui Shi for leave and said she wanted to stay at a manor for a few days. Cui Shi did not suspect anything and immediately agreed.
She was now very afraid of angering Li Man'er and had to appease her on the surface.
Before coming to the manor, Li Man'er had sent a letter to Huang Shi, telling her to come pick up her son by carriage the next day. As for Li Man'er, she took the opportunity in the evening, when there was nothing else to do, to "take Guo Yongzhang out for a walk."
In any case, she had already disciplined him. Whether Guo Yongzhang could be saved or was completely bad was no longer of much concern to her.
Li Man'er took a rope, tied up Guo Yongzhang, gagged him, and then sent him directly to the side room, leaving him there.
She slept soundly. The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Li Man'er woke up to someone reporting that strangers had arrived at the manor, but their carriage was parked outside the residence, not bothering anyone.
"It must be Huang Shi! She's probably afraid of disturbing my rest." The parental heart of a loving mother is truly touching, to go to such lengths for her son.
"Lü Yi, please invite Madam Guo over!"
Lü Yi quickly took her orders and left.
Ziyan said, "Miss, you haven't even combed your hair yet!"
"It's fine, just do a simple style. It's not for an outsider. I'm in mourning, so I don't need to wear any jewelry."
"Oh!" Ziyan quickly sped up and tied Li Man'er's hair into a neat bun.
By the time they had changed their clothes and finished their hair and makeup, Lü Yi had also brought Huang Shi over.
"Madam Guo."
"Eldest Miss."
They exchanged greetings. Li Man'er only curtsied slightly, while Huang Shi performed a full curtsy.
"Madam Guo is too polite, please sit."
Huang Shi had lost a lot of weight. It seemed she had been preoccupied lately, worrying about Guo Yongzhang and unable to eat or sleep well.
"Eldest Miss, I apologize for disturbing you so early in the morning."
Seeing the urgency in Huang Shi's eyes, Li Man'er thought that regardless of Huang Shi's character, she was indeed polite and faultless.
"I can understand Madam Guo's feelings. A mother's heart is truly touching," Li Man'er said. "Lü Yi, go to the side room and ask Young Master Guo to come out to meet us."
Hearing this, Huang Shi's expression became even more excited. She hadn't seen her son for quite some time and wondered how much he had suffered.
A moment later, Lü Yi returned, bringing Guo Yongzhang with her. Of course, before bringing him out, she had untied the rags from his mouth and the ropes from his body, let him stretch his muscles, and told him that his mother was here to pick him up. If he behaved, she would take him to his mother to go home; but if he misbehaved, he would be tied up again.
"Okay, okay, okay." Guo Yongzhang was now extremely scared and was determined to go home, no matter how difficult it was. He never wanted to stay with Li Man'er again, enduring the cold wind and nearly falling off a cliff. No one would believe it if he told them.
Yes, he shouldn't say anything. If he did, he might lose his life.
Guo Yongzhang was very cooperative and obediently followed Lü Yi to see his mother, Huang Shi.
The mother and son met and embraced, weeping.
Huang Shi was more restrained. Although she missed her son, seeing that his mental state was good and he had not been abused, she felt relieved.
Guo Yongzhang, however, truly felt like he had escaped from disaster. The feeling of almost dying was too painful, too unpleasant. He felt wronged, but he couldn't express his grievances, which made him feel extremely suffocated. His tears were thus exceptionally real and tragic.
Huang Shi was the first to recover. She wiped her face with a handkerchief and urged Guo Yongzhang to calm down. After all, they were still on someone else's manor. What if she changed her mind and refused to let them leave?
Guo Yongzhang did not understand Huang Shi's meaning, but he was hungry and too weak to cry. So he simply sat there, sobbing, but at least he stopped crying.
"Eldest Miss, forgive my rudeness. You've seen a spectacle."
Li Man'er indicated she didn't mind. "Madam Guo, your son is now returned to you. I hope that in the future, the two families will have no further disputes. You may not know me, but I have a rather bad temper."
Guo Yongzhang instinctively shivered, not even daring to look Li Man'er in the eye. This woman was truly ruthless! He had experienced it firsthand.
"Eldest Miss, please rest assured. Now that my sister-in-law is gone, I will definitely discipline Yongzhang and ensure he never makes such mistakes again."
Huang Shi conveyed two main points: first, that everything was arranged and instigated by Guo Shi, and not by their family's intentions.
Second, that the two families would likely have no further contact and would not intersect again.
Li Man'er nodded. "That would be for the best."
Huang Shi asked with some excitement, "Uh, Eldest Miss, can we leave now?"
Are you waiting for me to serve you a meal if we don't leave?
"Please do."
"Good, good." Huang Shi was overjoyed and was about to leave with Guo Yongzhang.
Suddenly, Li Man'er said, "Young Master Guo."
Guo Yongzhang froze, not daring to move.
"Li, Miss Li."
Huang Shi was surprised. Her son had never been so obedient. It seemed that Li Man'er had indeed not held back and had thoroughly disciplined him during this time!
This was pre-arranged, so Huang Shi felt no dissatisfaction. After all, as long as her son was not abused, she was content.
How could she know that although Li Man'er had not abused her son, she had almost taken his life?
"When you go back, you must be filial to your mother. She is the only one who truly wishes you well. If you mend your ways and from now on our past debts are wiped clean, but if you are still ignorant of consequences and life and death in the future, I fear I will have to invite you to enjoy the scenery in the mountains again."
As soon as Guo Yongzhang heard the word "mountains," his face turned ashen, and he shook his head like a rattle drum. "No, I wouldn't dare. I will definitely mend my ways in the future and will not be like before."
Li Man'er expressed her satisfaction and raised her hand, signaling Lü Yi to escort them out.
Thus, Guo Shi and her son left Li Man'er's residence, got into their own horse-drawn carriage, and rode away without looking back.
It was a joke; they never wanted to experience such a thing a second time in their lives.
Li Man'er thought that her grievances with the Guo family had truly come to an end here.
Perhaps, the next step, she should contact the Ning family. After all, she still had half of the Ning family's blood flowing in her veins!
Well, put it on the agenda!