Chapter 41

Sister, can you really bear to watch our Li Clan decline?

Li Yifu instantly burst into tears.

Even though he's elderly, he's still a great lord—when he sheds tears, the impact is huge.

Li Shi saw this, and her heart clenched.

Little brother, you're poking my sister's heart!

Li Shi also shed tears.

Wang Mama watched from the side, her heart also somewhat moved. But after that feeling, she felt especially strange, always sensing something was off.

But if asked what exactly was wrong, she couldn't put her finger on it.

Sister, I feel ashamed before our Li Clan's ancestors!

Sister—

You, you must help me!

Li Yifu finally revealed his purpose.

He needed Li Shi's help.

However, under the emotional atmosphere, Li Shi didn't notice her brother's intentions at all. On the contrary, Wang Mama, as an onlooker, saw Li Yifu's malicious intentions clearly.

However, what good does seeing clearly do?

Li Shi and Li Yifu were deeply affectionate as siblings.

If Wang Mama were to say this now, wouldn't that be like putting eye drops in Li Yifu's eyes? Her young lady would not only not think she was being loyal, but would think she couldn't bear to see their sibling relationship improve.

But this matter, she couldn't ignore it.

If her young lady again quarrels with the patriarch and is confined to Wenxi Hall, then as someone close to the young lady, she would certainly be implicated.

At her age, she can't bear this!

In the end, Wang Mama made up her mind to listen to what the current Li Clan patriarch actually wanted to do.

Li Yifu never imagined that Wang Mama, once a home-born servant of the Li Clan and Li Shi's most capable aide, now harbored different thoughts.

He laid out his plans to Li Shi one by one.

Sister, your third son's eldest daughter married into the Xie Clan of Jingcheng—that's a top-tier family in Dayong besides the imperial family.

And she is the principal wife of that well-known young master of the Xie Clan.

With her help, finding a good match for our Li Clan's daughters in Jingcheng shouldn't be difficult!

This...

After hearing Li Yifu's words, Li Shi understood what this brother was asking for, and her face turned quite ugly.

If it were another granddaughter, Li Shi might still have the face to meddle.

But this matter involves Shen Yunyao.

When Shen Yunyao's engagement to the Zheng Clan was tangled, and the Zheng Clan wanted to break off the engagement while still preserving their reputation, she, as the grandmother, chose compromise, preparing to sacrifice this granddaughter to appease Zheng Wangshi's anger.

If Shen Yunyao hadn't known about this situation, Li Shi could still have put on a thick-skinned face and done something.

But her eldest son sold her out!

Even if Shen Shen didn't spell everything out, but originally she was like an elder ancestor in the mansion, suddenly being confined to Wenxi Hall, and Shen Shen's attitude toward the Zheng Clan turning hardline already explains a lot.

For other matters, Li Shi could pretend ignorance while knowing the truth, after all she is a grandmother.

But this is a deadly feud!

Sister, you won't even refuse to help with this, will you?

Li Yifu saw Li Shi's difficulty and instantly his face fell.

To achieve this goal, he had put in a lot of thought, thinking it would come easily, but never imagined it would fail.

Could it be that this matter has ended up aiming high but getting low?

Really let his Li Clan's daughter become a concubine for that Xie Clan young master?

Well, being a concubine to the Xie Clan's legitimate young master isn't disgraceful.

But the Li Clan and the Shen Clan are connected by marriage!

The Shen Clan's daughter is the principal wife, while his Li Clan's daughter can only be a concubine; this makes Li Yifu feel uneasy, as if a fire burns in his heart.

Eldest Young Master, you're really making things difficult for the young lady!

Wang Mama saw Li Shi's predicament and quickly spoke up from the side to explain.

Her address to Li Yifu as Eldest Young Master and to Li Shi as Young Lady shows she is also formerly of the Li Clan.

In what circumstances, saying what words, this is important.

Li Yifu heard Wang Mama's words, his expression eased a bit, and he said: "Then you go ahead and say, what's the situation?"

Eldest Young Master, the young lady's days in the Shen Clan haven't been good; you should have seen that when you came before!

This is true.

If it weren't for Li Yifu's arrival, Li Shi would still be under house arrest in Wenxi Hall, and she wouldn't even be able to know about the big and small happenings in the Shen Clan.

The reason is precisely because of the Seventh Young Lady!

This matter, speaking of it, is complicated!

Old servant, I won't go into detail; I can only say that although the young lady is the grandmother of the Seventh Young Lady, the Seventh Young Lady's parents do not like her.

Thus the young lady also lost some of her affection for the Seventh Young Lady.

If you have the young lady do this, the Seventh Young Lady may not necessarily obey her!

The truth of the matter, Wang Mama naturally couldn't tell Li Yifu outright, but she still gave him a reason he couldn't help but believe.

Li Yifu hearing this, instantly went dumbfounded.

Really dumbfounded!

He had thought of many possibilities beforehand, mentally working out numerous feasible strategies.

Unexpectedly, a crucial link in all his plans went awry.

His older sister not only couldn't help at all, but might even drag him down.

"Sis, you're so clueless!"

After hearing Wang Mama's words, Li Yifu looked at Li Shi, his face full of anguish: "That seventh girl hasn't won her parents' favor; now is the time for you, her grandmother, to step in."

"Do you mean, the Shen family lacks this little thing?"

"If you had just been a bit kinder to that seventh girl back then, wouldn't you be reaping huge profits now?"

"……"

Li Shi felt a fire burning inside after being scolded like that by Li Yifu.

As a grandmother, she couldn't foresee the future—why should she have to curry favor with any grandson or granddaughter?

"Sis, it's not too late to mend the fence after losing the sheep!"

"The seventh girl is about to marry; now is the time for you, her grandmother, to act. Listen to me: prepare more dowry for her and show her more concern!"

"Stop!"

"Don't say more!"

Li Shi abruptly cut off Li Yifu's words: "I know what to do about this."

"Besides, I'm her grandmother—by emotion and reason, she ought to respect me!"

"What does it matter if she marries well?"

"Could it be that once she marries, she can stop acknowledging me as her grandmother?"

How could Li Shi possibly lower herself before Shen Yunyao?

Does she not care about face?

"Sis, you promised to help me!"

Seeing Li Shi refuse to follow his lead, Li Yifu's face instantly turned cold.

Li Shi gave a cold snort and said, "I agreed to help you, but I can't do what you're asking me to do."

Face has always been important to Li Shi.

Originally, she refused to break off the engagement with the Zheng family for the sake of face.

Later, she wanted to use Shen Yunyao's life to annul the engagement with the Shen family, also for face.

Now, to let her sacrifice her own face to satisfy this brother's request?

Impossible!

She has maintained her dignity all her life.

She absolutely cannot lose this face in her old age.

At this moment, Li Shi completely forgot that during her house arrest at Wenxi Hall, she had already lost all face.

(End of chapter)