The appointed time brought good news for Lai Gui from Wang Guanglin. A day later, Wang Guangning brought Lai Gui a potted plant and a deposit of ten taels of silver.
After receiving the potted plant, Lai Gui was still a bit uneasy and secretly took it to a doctor for examination. The doctor became very angry, "Are you young man bored and playing tricks on me? Isn't this just a common maple-elm tree from the mountain? What poison could it have?"
Upon hearing this, Lai Gui repeatedly apologized, but still felt uneasy. He then visited several other medical clinics, and the doctors' opinions were generally the same.
Lai Gui couldn't understand. The thoughts of wealthy families were indeed different from those of ordinary people; even sending a gift was so circuitous.
What Lai Gui didn't know was that the moment he accepted the gift, a pair of eyes had been watching him, observing his every move and word. Only when he brought the item into the Li mansion did they leave.
Xiang'er circled the potted plant, turning left and right, but couldn't discern anything special about it. She didn't understand why someone would go to such lengths to send it.
Li Yuqun and Wu Caiwei, hand in hand, walked out after their midday nap and saw a group of maids and nannies gathered around something, discussing it animatedly.
The two exchanged glances and also became curious, quietly approaching.
"What kind of tree is this?" a maid asked curiously.
"I don't know, it's the first time I've seen it." Another maid, with wide, round eyes, was equally curious as she observed it.
"If I'm not mistaken, doesn't it look like the maple-elm trees from the mountain?" a slightly older nanny said thoughtfully.
"Has Nanny seen it before?" Everyone, hearing a potential lead, quickly looked at her.
"I'm not entirely sure. You all know that although I've been in the Li mansion for many years, I was already old when I entered. I remember many things. In my childhood, there was a tree on the mountain behind my house called the maple-elm tree, which looks very similar to this. Because it has a very good meaning, 'feng' sounds like 'feng' meaning abundance, and 'yu' sounds like 'yu' meaning surplus, it represents a bountiful harvest and surplus. Older people liked to plant one in their yards, hoping for good fortune in the coming year." The nanny recalled diligently as she saw the young maids listening intently.
"When someone gave it to me, I just thought it was pretty. So it has such an auspicious meaning," Xiang'er said with surprise.
The more affluent the family, the more they liked things with good meanings. Upon hearing about the auspicious meaning, everyone quickly gathered around it, examining it carefully, and continued to chatter about it.
Li Yuqun was filled with novelty and wonder at everything happening outside. He quickly hurried over. When the servants saw him, they respectfully bowed and voluntarily made way.
The leaves of this tree were wide and thick, and the tree had been deliberately shaped like an umbrella, which indeed looked quite pleasing to the eye.
Li Yuqun couldn't help but feel fondness and happily inquired, "Is this tree for sale?"
Xiang'er quickly stepped forward, "If young master likes it, it would be my honor and the tree's honor. Please feel free to take it."
"I appreciate your sentiment, young master, but I must still pay for it, otherwise I won't take it. Xi Yan, go get twenty taels of silver for her." Li Yuqun instructed his attendant.
With his words, Xiang'er quickly thanked him.
Wu Caiwei ordered a servant to move the potted plant to their bedroom.
A maid was diligently cleaning. When no one was paying attention, she quickly threw something from her sleeve into the ashes of the incense burner.
Wu Caiwei paused slightly as she entered the room and walked to the incense burner, throwing something in as well.
Li Yuqun looked at her and curiously asked, "Is it about time to reel in the net?"
"Almost," Wu Caiwei nodded slightly.
Li Yan was somewhat surprised when she received the invitation from her nephew. It wasn't a festival or holiday, so why would he invite her over? This was the first time her nephew had sent her an invitation since he grew up, and she couldn't refuse his request.
After dressing and making herself presentable, she arrived as scheduled. As soon as she entered the main hall, she saw everyone looking solemn. Her heart sank, and she thought, "This is bad."
"I haven't seen my nephew in so many years, and now upon meeting, it feels like a trial?" Li Yan preemptively spoke, thinking that perhaps her plan had been exposed.
"I believe you already know without me saying, Aunt." Li Yuqun's expression remained unchanged.
"It seems Yuqun misunderstands me greatly. I don't even know what happened, yet you're blaming me," Li Yan said unhurriedly.
"Bring him in," Li Yuqun called out towards the outside. The door opened, and Wang Guanglin was brought in, bound and gagged.
Seeing him, Li Yan knew things were dire. However, she was still unsure of how much her nephew had uncovered. She quickly composed herself and looked at Li Yuqun with feigned confusion, "Who is this person?"
"Aunt doesn't know? As far as I know, he frequently enters and exits your Huang Mansion. In fact, the place where we apprehended him is at the back gate of the Huang Mansion," Li Yuqun said with a smile, looking at his aunt. He truly hadn't expected that the person they had investigated for so long would be his own aunt.
"There are so many people in the Huang Mansion. He might be a relative of one of our servants. How can you be so sure he's my person?" Li Yan prepared to deny everything.
Li Yuqun remained indifferent to her words. He clapped his hands three times forcefully, and two more people were brought in: Yulan, a cleaning maid from their courtyard, and Mei'er, another senior maid from the Old Madam's courtyard.
Seeing these two people, Li Yan knew she was utterly finished.
"Aunt, don't pretend not to recognize them. Since we invited you here, it's because we have absolute evidence. If Aunt doesn't admit it, we will have no choice but to report it to the authorities and let an official judge the crime of persecuting the sole heir of the Li family," Li Yuqun said casually, knowing she was unwilling to confess.
"Since you know everything, I have nothing more to say. All the small actions in the recent period were done by me. But have you ever thought that you were weak since you were young? When your eldest and second brothers were still alive, do you think the deaths of your eldest and second brothers were accidents?" Li Yan, seeing that her plan was exposed, although she had poisoned him, it hadn't caused any substantial harm. Mother would protect her, and in the end, things would be resolved. If it really escalated to the point of reporting to the authorities as he said, that would be the worst outcome.
Li Yuqun suddenly stood up, "You're saying that the deaths of my eldest and second brothers were deliberate? But Grandma had people investigate thoroughly at the time, and nothing was found."
"My actions against you happened after your eldest and second brothers passed away. At that time, your health was poor, and the poison had spread throughout your body. I thought you would die sooner or later, so I wanted you to leave earlier. If you were gone, with Mother's affection for Yu An, the Li Mansion would certainly be handed over to him. Initially, everything was proceeding according to my plan, but then Bai Xue appeared, and everything changed." Li Yan openly admitted her intentions.
"Who killed my first two grandsons?" The Old Madam Li couldn't help but walk out from the inner room, looking at her daughter with complex emotions.