The two were not happy for long. As soon as they entered the mansion, they were forcibly dragged by several people and thrown into a small courtyard.
They knew the location of this small courtyard, it was in the most remote part of the Li family, and it had always been empty and somewhat desolate. Even if their minds were not sharp, they realized at this moment that Wu Lian'er had brought them back with malicious intent.
With their legs not working well, they struggled to get up from the ground and watched as the group left the courtyard, locking the door in their sight.
Li Changqing and Liu Wenwen saw the fear in each other's eyes and quickly went to the courtyard gate, banging on it and shouting, "Let us out, let us out..."
Unfortunately, there was no response. When it was mealtime, no one brought them food. As it was getting dark, they returned to the room and found nothing inside except two worn-out quilts.
Li Changqing was in a daze, while Liu Wenwen was more practical and quickly tidied up the room. At least there was a place to sleep, and they wouldn't freeze to death at night.
The next day, they were so hungry that their chests stuck to their backs, and their voices were hoarse from shouting. Suddenly, they heard the sound of the courtyard gate opening. Hope burst into their eyes, and they quickly stood up. It might have been from sitting for too long, or from not eating all day, but as soon as they stood up, their vision went black, and they stumbled a few steps, grabbing onto a nearby pillar to steady themselves. After a while, they felt better and immediately walked out.
As soon as they stepped outside, they were stunned. They looked at the various farm tools and seeds in the courtyard, staring at them inexplicably.
A dowry maid of Wu Lian'er said proudly, "This is a little food and a little vegetable that the madam has rewarded you with, so that you don't starve to death. How you live from now on is up to you. The courtyard is so large, you can grow vegetables and grains and be self-sufficient. Oh, I forgot to tell you, there is a well next to the kitchen, so you don't have to worry about water. We will send you some firewood every few days."
Li Changqing could hardly believe what he was hearing. If he really did as he was told, what was the difference between him and a farmer in the countryside? But the problem was that he had never done such work since he was a child. He quickly grabbed his hand, "I am the only young master of the Li family, you cannot treat me like this."
The other person looked at him with a smile that was not a smile, "That's not necessarily true, isn't there another one in Auntie's belly?"
"We don't even know if it's a boy or a girl, how dare you bet everything on him?" Li Changqing thought they were crazy.
The other person took a few steps forward, came next to Li Changqing, leaned close to his ear, and whispered, "This time it will definitely be a boy, and he will inherit the Li family's fortune."
This was the funniest joke Li Changqing had heard recently. "How dare you be so sure..." Before he could finish speaking, he saw the other person's determined gaze and suddenly realized the problem. His heart sank to the bottom. He had completely lost his value, and he looked at him in disbelief, then sat down on the ground and murmured, "How dare you?" Sudan Novel Network.
Unfortunately, no one answered him anymore. Liu Wenwen painfully got up from the ground again and cried loudly. When they had left earlier, she had rushed forward to beg for mercy, but no matter what she said, the other person ignored her and even roughly pushed her to the ground as they left.
Looking at everything in the courtyard, she was suddenly filled with grief. After struggling for so long, working so hard, everything was back to where it was before. No, this time they were even worse off, having lost their freedom, their lives in the hands of others. She imagined that while they suffered here, outsiders would praise Wu Lian'er for her generosity in taking them back. The thought made her want to vomit.
Although life seemed hopeless, they still had to live. After a few days of idleness, they found that it was just as they had been told. Except for someone coming to deliver firewood every few days, they were not given any food at all. Fearing that they would starve to death if they ate these things, they could only muster their spirits and gradually learn to manage the land.
When Li Changqing started doing farm work, he realized that the suffering he had endured before was nothing compared to this. Those who dug their living from the soil were the hardest workers. Thinking that this was the life he would have from now on, his eyes gradually became numb. Before long, they felt like walking corpses.
The reason Wu Caiwei had intervened that day was to guide Li Changqing and force Wu Lian'er to take him back. Enemies meeting made their eyes red with hatred. She could imagine how lively it would be for the two of them to live under the same roof.
Unfortunately, Li Changqing disappointed her. This was a one-sided fight. She dared to guess this because she knew Li Changqing's temperament. If he hadn't lost his freedom now, he would have turned the Li mansion upside down. The fact that the Li mansion was so peaceful explained the problem.
Unlike Li Changqing, she could guess Wu Lian'er's scheme, because she had seen it before. The concubine's belly held a daughter, but seeing Wu Lian'er's calm demeanor, she knew that no matter what, this child would be a boy.
Before long, the news came that the Li family's concubine was about to give birth. Wu Caiwei quickly sent her people.
On that day, the concubine smoothly gave birth to a boy. When Old Madam Li and Old Master Li heard the news, they were overjoyed and wept. They immediately knelt and kowtowed, thanking heaven for giving their Li family an heir.
And the concubine, looking at the infant beside her, extended a trembling hand, wanting to forcefully pinch his neck. But in the end, she thought of her daughter, whose whereabouts were unknown, and could only resentfully put her hand down, leaving his small life for now.
Yes, the concubine had long discovered that this child was not hers. When the child was born, although she was exhausted, she still tried her best to open her eyes and examine him from head to toe. She was satisfied only when she saw a birthmark on his sole before closing her eyes.
She was not a fool, or she wouldn't have survived until now. After Li Zixin's death, she dressed very plainly and kept a very low profile, never appearing before Wu Lian'er, so that Wu Lian'er almost forgot about her. Every time Wu Lian'er came to visit and test her attitude, she would lower her head, always prioritizing the madam, which made Wu Lian'er very satisfied, thinking that this person's life could be spared.
What if this childbirth resulted in the death of both mother and child? Others would definitely suspect her. If this child grew up and was instigated by others to go against her, wouldn't all her years of effort be in vain?
Keeping her alive would silence the public opinion. In a few years, she would tell the concubine the child's true identity and then sow discord between them, making her believe that this child was the reason for their mother and daughter's separation. She could also use the child's current location as leverage to threaten her, not afraid she wouldn't comply.
Her plan was good, but what she didn't know was that the concubine realized something was wrong as soon as she woke up. Unable to do anything to the child, she could only try her best to pull the bedsheet, venting her resentment.