Chapter 11: Unmasking Their True Faces

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Li Mumu listened from the side, barely able to contain her laughter at the absurdity of the words. According to her, once a girl marries, she might as well sever ties with her own parents?

Unable to hold back, she said, “Aunt, if we’re no longer family, do grandpa and grandma still feed us? And besides, Aunt, once you’re married off, you’re like water poured out—no longer part of our family. What should we do then?”

Gu Yurou, a young lady raised in refinement and well-versed in classic texts since childhood, had previously dismissed her unreasonable and foolish sister-in-law. But hearing her younger daughter’s words, she surprisingly felt it fitting to retort.

“You...” Li Rong shot Li Mumu a resentful glare.

Li Mumu was unafraid; in fact, she smiled with a small, gleeful grin.

“Sister-in-law, I’m only doing this for your own good. Would you really let the children go hungry?” Li Rong urged again.

Gu Yurou shook her head. “I am their mother, but I am also a daughter to my parents. I cannot only care for my own children and forget those who gave birth to me. Besides, the children say they are not hungry. Rongrong, please stop persuading me.”

Li Rong snorted in frustration. Seeing that Gu Yurou was unmoved, she ran off to complain to Li Yuan. Judging by her frantic gestures and flying saliva, she was surely saying nothing kind.

Li Yuan frowned, displeased as he glanced in their direction. But with the guards watching closely, he did not approach.

As night fell, Zhang Xiang ordered everyone to stop and prepare for sleep.

The Li family, accustomed to luxury and eating four to five meals a day, were all stomachs grumbling with hunger—how could they possibly sleep?

Moreover, out here in the wild, with the sky as a blanket and the ground as a bed, who could tell when snakes, insects, or rodents might appear?

The Li family’s main household of three gathered together. Zhao Shi had only borne one daughter, Li Fengzhu. Afterwards, due to a weakened body, she never conceived again, earning the disdain of the matriarch and fading into insignificance within the family.

“I never get any benefits, but all the misfortune falls on me. I truly am cursed,” Zhao Shi complained, looking sorrowfully at her daughter, as radiant as a flower.

Li Sheng shot her a glance. “Enough. What’s the use of saying this now?”

“Why shouldn’t I say it?” Zhao Shi’s voice was louder than usual, as if harboring long-held grievances. Usually meek, she now spoke with surprising volume. “I want to say it, Third Brother. This entire household’s troubles come from you. If I had known, we’d have stayed in the countryside.”

Li Mumu was speechless. Indeed, this elder aunt was oppressed by the matriarch in the novel, but she had also enjoyed the luxuries of the capital. In short, she was an ungrateful wretch.

She pulled her hand free from Li Sheng’s and declared, “Even if you block me, I will speak. They don’t even give us enough to eat. What good fortune ever comes to our family? Third Brother, if not you, then who’s to blame?”

Sun Shi glanced at her but said nothing. Usually the most adept at flattering the matriarch and gossiping behind backs, bullying her two sisters-in-law, her silence now implied agreement.

Seeing her unconscious son, she sighed deeply.

“Third Uncle, I’m hungry. I want meat buns,” Li Fenghua, the eldest daughter of the second household, also cried out.

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Faced with the family’s complaints, Li Yuan, usually proud, could no longer maintain his composure.

“I understand. I’ll find a solution immediately.”

His “solution” meant approaching Gu Yurou, who was in the midst of dressing their eldest son’s wounds.

Ignoring the bruises covering his son, his mind was preoccupied with urging his wife to beg others for food.

Li Mumu thought to herself, “Go ahead, make a fuss. As long as I’m here, I won’t let Mother be blinded by love.”

“Father, are you here to see Big Brother?” she asked.

Recalling his eldest son’s defiance, a trace of disgust flashed in Li Yuan’s eyes. “He disobeyed me and defied my orders. In the army, such a man should be dragged out and executed.”

Li Mumu feigned fear, causing Gu Yurou to quickly pull her into her arms. “This is not your army.”

“Oh? Father isn’t the great general anymore?” Li Mumu exclaimed.

Li Yuan’s face instantly turned a deep purplish red, much to Li Mumu’s delight.

“Yurou, you heard what everyone just said, didn’t you? Would you really let me become the villain?” Li Yuan’s tone softened, as if recalling something.

Gu Yurou was not yet thirty; her hearing and sight were sharp. She heard everything clearly, but she knew full well that there was barely any food—her parents had not dared eat either, and now they were hungry. How could she have the face to go back and ask for more?

Besides, was it her fault if she became the villain?

At that moment, a shout came from the Gu family’s side. “There’s a snake! How can there be a snake? Yu’er, come here to Father quickly!”

“Father... I... I think I’ve been bitten by a snake?”

“What?” Gu Yurou’s expression changed drastically.

Li Mumu took a deep breath; what was meant to happen would happen.

“Be careful, all of you. Li Yuan, go get the medicine,” Gu Yurou ordered.

Li Yuan nodded and turned to leave but was suddenly pulled back by Lin Siyuan.

Li Mumu watched from afar, needing no eavesdropping to guess their conversation.

The Gu family, unable to find the antidote, was anxious. Gu Mingtang rushed over, “Where’s the medicine? The antidote you gave us during the day?”

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Li Yuan came over slowly, regret etched on his face. “Second Brother...”

“Where’s the medicine? Brother-in-law, bring it quickly! Yu’er was bitten by a snake too—there’s no time to waste!” Gu Mingtang’s voice trembled, tears threatening to fall.

“Second Brother... I’m truly sorry. The medicine... the medicine has been lost.”

“What?” The elderly Madame Gu fainted on the spot, and others hurried to tend to her.

“The medicine... it’s really lost.”

Even bearing his heavy shackles, the elderly Gu patriarch appeared in an instant. “So many pills, and not a single one left?”

Even one pill could save his grandson’s life.

Li Yuan bowed his head. “We traveled so far, and I don’t know where it was lost. Perhaps we should think of another way.”

Gu Jian glared at his son-in-law, teeth clenched in anger. “You... you’ve caused Yu’er’s death.”

Gu Mingtang did not dare delay and hurried back, the couple competing to suck out the venom from their son.

At that moment, Li Mumu suddenly shouted, “I know where it’s lost!”

“You found it? Mumu? Give it to Grandpa quickly!” Gu Jian looked at his young granddaughter with excitement.

Li Mumu shook her head, and just as disappointment began to show on the faces around her, she pointed at Lin Siyuan. “Mumu didn’t find it, but Aunt Lin did.”

“That’s... that’s nonsense! I didn’t,” Lin Siyuan’s voice lacked conviction.

“You did. You told Father that there would be many more poisonous snakes in the future. You were afraid something would happen to your baby, so you hid the antidote on you, just in case.”

Li Mumu looked at everyone solemnly. “Father said you and the baby are the most important. We listened to you.”

In an instant, the air grew so cold it seemed it could freeze into ice.