Li Man'er's words left Xiao Qiniang feeling deeply ashamed, yet she had no retort. She could only turn away with a grim expression, not uttering a single word. Li Man'er stood in the corridor for a long while before saying, "Go back to sleep. Things should be quiet for a few days now."
Liu Ya said with worry, "Miss, this can't go on forever! I truly wish the Marquis would recover soon."
Li Man'er understood her meaning. Liu Ya felt that Li Shu was her pillar of support. Once Li Shu recovered and regained control of the military, no one would dare to treat her with such disrespect as they do now.
"Go to sleep!" Relying on others is not as good as relying on oneself, Li Man'er felt that Li Shu was unreliable.
Liu Ya quickly said, "Miss, hurry inside, it's too cold outside."
The mistress and servant returned to their respective rooms. Whether Liu Ya slept soundly, Li Man'er was completely devoid of sleep.
Her maternal uncle, missing for many years, had actually been in the northern desert all along. When did he fall into the Xiao family's hands? Why did the Xiao family abuse him and imprison him in a stone chamber?
From the words of the medicine deliverer, it seemed the Xiao family wanted her maternal uncle to conspire with them, but what they were plotting was not revealed.
It seemed that to know the truth, she had to personally question Ning Daocheng.
Li Man'er was a bit impatient, wanting to immediately enter the space to ask Ning Daocheng what had happened. However, she reconsidered, thinking it might not be possible.
Ning Daocheng was an extremely intelligent person. Even now, with his blindness and crippled limbs, he would likely not be easy to deal with. If he were to ask where they were hiding, how would she explain?
She couldn't leave the northern desert now, and finding a reliable way to appease Ning Daocheng was very difficult. Perhaps it was best to let him stay in the space for now?
He could live well in the space without eating or drinking, and wouldn't even sense the passage of day and night. Once things stabilized, she could release him and claim he had just been rescued. That might be believable.
Li Man'er's head ached from thinking, so she stopped. It wasn't the right time anyway, and she couldn't see him.
Li Man'er pulled up her quilt, closed her eyes, and tried to sleep, but she couldn't.
The Xiao family, Ning Daocheng, and the elusive Qi Yihan, what were they plotting in the northern desert? Was this scheme orchestrated by the Emperor or the Xiao family?
Li Man'er sighed, feeling a pang of envy for the original owner at this moment.
If the original owner were still alive, despite the reputation of being uneducated and arrogant, she wouldn't have to live like this, worrying about everything and working herself to exhaustion.
It was too tiring.
And she hadn't even seen any benefits yet!
If it weren't for the need to seek justice for the original owner and her birth mother, why would she endure this hardship?
It was all about karma. By occupying someone else's body, she had to repay a debt of gratitude for their very existence.
Li Man'er suddenly sat up from the quilt, remembering something.
When Madam Ning was still unmarried, she once accompanied her mother, the original owner's maternal grandmother, Madam Su, to Mount Jiayan to pray. There, she met an old hermit who said Madam Ning was a person of great destiny and gave her an unassuming stone, calling it the Buddhist treasure "Jie Zi Xu Mi" (mustard seed in a Sumeru mountain), and told her to keep it safe.
This was not a secret in the Ning family. Although Ning Daocheng was a few years younger than Madam Ning, he knew about it. The family treated it as a joke, and Madam Ning herself didn't take it to heart. The original owner, at the age of ten, heard it as a humorous anecdote from the Ning family while staying with them.
If she could turn the fake into the real, why would Ning Daocheng doubt her?
The world was vast and full of wonders.
Besides, she had her space, and that mad monk's stone had long since been lost by Madam Ning.
With this thought, Li Man'er felt a sense of relief. She felt a natural closeness and trust towards Ning Daocheng, more than she did for all the members of the Li family combined.
Li Man'er carefully planned her words and immediately entered the space.
She brought Ning Daocheng into the room and used her mind to control the space, waking him up.
Ning Daocheng woke up and slowly sat up, unsure of his whereabouts.
He didn't call out for Man'er and wasn't sure if he was truly free. Fearing he might bring trouble to Li Man'er, he tilted his head slightly and asked, "Is anyone there?"
"Little Uncle, you're awake, that's wonderful." Li Man'er stepped forward and took Ning Daocheng's hand. "Little Uncle, it's Man'er."
Ning Daocheng still didn't quite believe it. "Are you really Man'er?"
Li Man'er took out the little mouse again. "You carved this for me with your own hands. Do you remember?"
This time, Ning Daocheng carefully touched the little mouse. His hands were crippled, but he could still trace the lines on the jade mouse. He smiled and said, "Yes, I remember. Where are we now?"
"Little Uncle, I've rescued you from the dungeon, and we are safe now." Li Man'er said, "Little Uncle, your eyes, and your hands..."
Ning Daocheng smiled. "Are they particularly unsightly?"
"No, Uncle, you're still as radiant as ever..." Li Man'er's voice lowered. "I just can't believe that someone as brilliant as my uncle would be disheveled and emaciated, chained in a secret chamber. To have his hands and feet crippled, his eyes blinded. If I hadn't seen the floral birthmark on your arm, Man'er truly wouldn't have believed it."
Ning Daocheng remembered the scene in the secret passage where she had rolled up his sleeve. He smiled with understanding. So, Man'er was afraid of mistaking him and had been eager to see the birthmark on his arm.
"Man'er, where exactly are we? Is it convenient to talk here?"
"Don't worry, Uncle, we are as safe as can be. No one can find us." Li Man'er eagerly asked, "Little Uncle, why did the Xiao family treat you like this? We haven't heard any news of you all these years. They all thought you... Do you know how worried the family was?"
Ning Daocheng sighed. "This is a long story, Man'er. Has your father also come to the northern desert?"
"Yes, he was tricked by the Xiao family and poisoned. I'm here to cure him."
Cure poison?
Ning Daocheng smiled weakly. "Child, you only read a few medical books back then..." He paused, as if he had thought of something crucial. "Have you had any fortuitous encounters these past few years?"
Otherwise, Li Shu's poison was something beyond the capabilities of a young girl like her to treat.
Li Man'er thought to herself, what is coming will come.
"Little Uncle, do you remember the joke you told me back then?"
"A joke? Which one?" He had told many.
"About that stone of my mother's."
Ning Daocheng understood. "You mean the stone the mad monk from Mount Jiayan gave your sister?"
"Yes."
Ning Daocheng's brows furrowed, his breathing becoming slightly unstable. "No one took that stone seriously. Even your sister only kept it for a while before losing it somewhere."
He stopped speaking at this point, as if he already knew something, yet also as if nothing he said was quite right.