"Mother must be utterly disappointed in me. My biggest mistake was marrying into the Huang family. If only I had listened to Mother back then." Li Yan did not cry when her scheme was exposed, but seeing her mother, she finally broke down in tears.
"What's the use of saying that now? You refused when I suggested you divorce him. I told you the worst was yet to come. There was a time you wanted to take Yu An back, but then your eldest and second nephews passed away successively, and things were left unresolved. That's when you started having ideas, wasn't it?" the old lady recalled the past with regret.
"Yes, back then I thought if Yu An inherited the Li estate, I could openly return to live in the Li manor, just like before I was married," Li Yan said, half sincerely, half trying to stir her mother's pity.
"You were foolish! Without your brother's family, is the Li estate still the Li estate?" the old lady said with a heavy heart.
"It was my momentary lapse in judgment, Daughter."
Seeing her daughter's devastated state, the old lady couldn't help but shake her head. She didn't want to say more and repeated her earlier question: how did her eldest and second grandsons die?
"In truth, when my eldest and second nephews were young, I already noticed that they weren't as brotherly as they appeared. The elder nephew saw himself as the elder brother and felt responsible for caring for his two younger brothers, being quite lenient. But the second nephew, when no one was watching, always looked at him with envy," Li Yan recounted her observations.
"When elder brother and second brother were alive, they were very good to me. We were born of the same mother; how could it have come to a life-or-death situation?" Li Yuqun said anxiously, recalling the appearance of his two elder brothers in his memory. He knew what his aunt was about to say – that they killed each other. This was the last thing he wanted to hear. He would rather his brothers had been killed by others, so they could seek revenge. His brothers would always be his good brothers.
"The reason Mother couldn't find any clues before was that she was looking in the wrong direction. Since I've provided a direction, you can investigate thoroughly and see if my guess is correct." Li Yan knew that the idea of them killing each other was hard for them to accept, and she believed they would seek confirmation.
"And what about Physician Liu?" Wu Caiwei voiced her confusion.
"Many years ago, I paid close attention to the second nephew's whereabouts. I knew more than you did. Once, I followed him and saw him meeting with Physician Liu outside the manor. Physician Liu looked helpless but had no choice. I vaguely overheard the word 'identity,' and I only hinted at his identity issues. I never expected my guess to be so accurate," Li Yan felt that heaven was on her side; she was only one step away from controlling the Li estate.
"Xiang'er, that was your trap, wasn't it? But I don't know how you discovered that maple trees combined with a specific pill would be a deadly poison. Yulan had already thrown the medicine into it. How did you escape?" Although Li Yan admitted defeat, many doubts still lingered in her heart.
"Aunt, you should know there is always someone better, and there is always a way." Li Yuqun was unwilling to say more.
"Yes, I was foolish to ask. All the physicians said you wouldn't live long, yet now you've completely recovered. Clearly, you met a divine physician. With a divine physician secretly assisting, what poison can't be solved?" Li Yan shook her head self-deprecatingly, feeling that her loss was not unreasonable.
Wu Caiwei and Li Yuqun offered no further explanation, letting her infer.
that night, Old Mrs. Li did not sleep. The next morning, she found her grandson and granddaughter-in-law and apologetically expressed her desire to minimize the matter. She also stated that she would sever ties with Li Yan from then on and would not allow anyone from the Huang family to set foot in the Li family again.
The couple did not object. They had actually discussed it the previous night. Regardless, Li Yan was the old lady's daughter, and especially since her only son had passed away, her daughter's importance in her heart could only increase. The old lady's arrangement today was the best possible outcome.
It is unknown what Old Mrs. Li and Li Yan discussed, but that day, Li Yan helped Huang Yu An pack his belongings and leave the Li manor.
Although they were unwilling to admit that the eldest and second sons had killed each other, some matters had to be investigated clearly, and an explanation had to be given to the living. If they were murdered by others, they would avenge them. If the two brothers had killed each other, they believed there must have been a reason.
The old lady sent people to summon all the attendants and maids who had served the eldest and second sons. She then spoke with Steward Li Quan, whom she trusted the most, about the investigation she had commissioned back then. As a result, both of them could not help but shed tears.
"Actually, I'm not entirely clear about the specifics. When the young master died, the old lady asked me to investigate, but I didn't find anything. Later, when the second young master died, the authorities captured that group of bandits. According to their description, a month prior, someone gave them several thousand taels of silver and a portrait of the second young master, specifically ordering his death. I asked them what that person looked like, but their description clearly matched the facial features of the eldest young master. I was so shocked at the time," Li Quan recalled his feelings then, still vivid in his memory.
"The world is full of wonders. Based solely on their description, it couldn't be confirmed that the person was my eldest grandson," although Old Mrs. Li knew her steward was meticulous and wouldn't speak without basis, she was still unwilling to believe it.
"That is natural. After returning to the manor, I investigated further and discovered that Mo Shu, who was by the eldest young master's side, had frequently left the manor and had contact with these bandits, leaving behind some evidence. As for Nan Feng, who was by the second young master's side, he had gone out to buy venomous snakes. Although he was very discreet, his extreme fear when buying the snakes made a deep impression on the snake vendor. I used an excuse to have both of them beaten severely, and they confessed everything. I hated them for being accomplices and harming the eldest and second young masters. I sold them to the mines. How could I tell you, old lady, about such a matter? At your age, what if you were stimulated? I could only bear this secret alone and prepare to take it to my grave," Li Quan was forced to reveal the secret that had been buried in his heart for so many years. It was not as heavy as he had imagined; instead, he felt much lighter.
"But why? They were brothers, how could it come to this?" The old lady couldn't help but choke back tears. There was also a deep sense of self-blame. So many people had discovered the problem, yet she hadn't. If she had discovered it earlier and mediated promptly, perhaps the subsequent events would not have occurred.
Li Quan suddenly slapped his own head, lamenting, "I should have kept those two people alive so they could atone properly. So much time has passed; they've likely died there by now. If they were alive, even if they didn't know the truth, they might have provided some clues. What should we do now? Where should we start investigating?"