A letter was inexplicably handed over.
"Was this letter delivered to the gatehouse?"
"Yes," Lüyi replied quickly. "The people downstairs are smart now. As soon as they saw a letter for you, they immediately sent someone to the second gate." She then rolled her eyes.
It didn't sound like praise.
Li Man'er opened the letter and found only three thin pages of paper. The content on the paper was actually the true worth and life story of the caretaker of the Medicine King Temple.
Li Man'er's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and she cursed inwardly, "Who is so perverse to be spying on me! If I want to investigate the temple caretaker, can't I do it myself?"
*Cough cough~*
Alright, she was indeed short-handed, otherwise she wouldn't have considered having the temple caretaker become her personal attendant.
This person was interesting, even handing her a handle.
Li Man'er folded the letter and tucked it into her sleeve, actually putting it into her spatial dimension.
"Any movements from the Madam's side?"
Lüyi shook her head. "I haven't heard any news. It seems they haven't invited the doctor again, and the people around the Madam are also behaving themselves. Old Madam Yu hasn't been released either. However, it seems the Second Young Lady has caused quite a stir, but her door has been locked, and no one dares to let her out."
Li Man'er knew that Cui Shi had made her move.
"Alright, I understand. Let's leave it at that for now!"
Seeing that she was not in high spirits, the maids dared not disturb her and quietly withdrew.
Li Man'er yawned, thinking boredly, "Life in a large family is truly dull. After eating and drinking enough, with nothing to do, people only think about playing mind games. The women in the inner court are like fighting cocks, constantly bickering, pecking at each other. What's the point? They have no destructive power at all."
If Zi Yan could hear Li Man'er's thoughts at this moment, she would definitely pull her hair and shout, "Other young ladies are busy learning piano, chess, calligraphy, painting, cooking, and needlework every day, and you? You eat and sleep, sleep and eat, occasionally hit someone, and then complain about it being meaningless and boring!"
Li Man'er indeed felt bored. She had already guessed who had written the letter to her. She also had a pretty good grasp of Li Shu's and Cui Shi's intentions.
Now, there was one more thing she wanted to uncover the truth about herself.
After midnight, as the sleeping people entered deep slumber, Li Man'er suddenly opened her eyes and sat up from her bed. She tied her hair into a neat, large bun, took off her nightgown, and took out a set of night-wear from her spatial dimension.
After thinking for a moment, she found another set of her usual clothes and put it into her spatial dimension, just in case.
Li Man'er quietly climbed out of the window. She landed as silently as a nimble cat, making not a sound. The high courtyard walls were not even an obstacle to her. With a breath, she skillfully leaped over the wall.
Before long, Li Man'er arrived at Chaohui Courtyard.
The courtyard, usually the most bustling and prosperous, seemed to have its spirit drained in just a few breaths, exuding a sense of desolation inside and out.
Li Man'er climbed over the wall and skillfully avoided the night watchmen, arriving at the woodshed where Old Madam Yu was being held.
A large lock secured the room tightly, with no guards around.
Li Man'er took out a small piece of iron wire and, in a few moves, unlocked it. She carefully removed the lock, casually hung it on the door, and then pushed the door open.
The smell inside was unpleasant and somewhat pungent. It seemed the person guarding Old Madam Yu was not very attentive.
Li Man'er saw a figure huddled in the corner. Upon closer inspection, it was Old Madam Yu, who, like Madam Guo, was in a deep sleep. She efficiently changed into her everyday clothes from her spatial dimension, then took out a very long needle and abruptly pricked it into the Baihui acupoint on the crown of Old Madam Yu's head.
An ordinary person might have passed out from such a prick, but Li Man'er pinched a pill and fed it to Old Madam Yu. Then, she withdrew the needle. After a short while, Old Madam Yu, who had been in a deep sleep, slowly regained consciousness.
When she first opened her eyes, Old Madam Yu was a little dazed, as if she had no idea where she was. Upon seeing Li Man'er, she was suddenly startled, looking around as if remembering something.
The woodshed, the dark night, only a faint light shone in from an unknown source, falling on Li Man'er.
Old Madam Yu turned pale with fear. "Eldest Young Lady, this, this..."
"You must be disappointed to see me unharmed?"
Old Madam Yu's heart pounded. Her memory was still stuck at that afternoon in the Medicine King Temple, at the moment Madam Guo suddenly fainted, and she herself lost consciousness shortly after, completely unaware that two days had passed.
"Your old servant doesn't know what the Eldest Young Lady is talking about."
"At the Medicine King Temple, I know exactly what you and Madam were plotting. Not only do I know, but the Marquis and the Old Madam also know clearly."
Old Madam Yu assumed Li Man'er was bluffing and stubbornly refused to say anything.
"Oh, do you think we are still at the Medicine King Temple? Or do you think young master Guo succeeded?" Li Man'er smiled. "This is the woodshed in your Chaohui Courtyard, don't you know? That's right, after all, Old Madam Yu is a favored person by Madam, how could she possibly end up in a place like a woodshed?"
Old Madam Yu naturally didn't believe it, but everything before her forced her to believe.
"You have all been poisoned by my Thousand-Day Drunk. Without an antidote, it's not easy to wake up. Oh, right, and Madam Guo, she not only has Thousand-Day Drunk, but also my Drunken Dream of Immortality." Li Man'er smiled. "If there is no antidote, your Madam will lie like a living dead person for three months and finally die in her dreams."
Old Madam Yu gasped, "You, you have such gall, how dare you! Aren't you afraid of the Marquis and the Old Madam?"
"How dare I? When you were scheming against me, you probably never expected this day, did you? Why should I, Li Man'er, be framed by you, and she, Madam Guo, cannot be? That young master Guo is a coward and confessed everything. With Madam Qian and Madam Qin as witnesses, do you think Father and Grandmother will still protect Madam Guo?" Li Man'er smiled. "Don't forget, I am now a distinguished guest of Princess Wuyou! The Old Madam is still waiting for my prescription to help Imperial Concubine Shu recuperate. Why would she make things difficult for me?"
The more Old Madam Yu listened, the more frightened she became. The more she thought, the more she felt that the situation was beyond her control.
"No, you wouldn't dare!"
"Don't worry, after Madam Guo dies, I will ask Father to grant you to be a martyr, to show your loyalty." Li Man'er smiled sinisterly. "And your entire family, more than ten people in total, will be buried with Madam Guo. Then, you can serve Madam diligently in the underworld!"
Old Madam Yu's head buzzed. She was a servant born into the household. Her son, her grandsons, were all servants of the Marquis's estate. The lives of her entire family of more than ten people were in Li Man'er's hands.