Li Fuyou saw the state of Old Master Li and was not yet satisfied, "Was there something you wanted to say? Too bad! You can’t speak anymore! Haha!"
"The fault lies only in your own cruelty, but this is for the best. It spares me the trouble of driving my elder brother out of this house."
"Oh, and once you die, I will also throw the first wife out into the streets!"
Old Master Li listened to his second son’s shocking words, full of regret, but it was too late. He struggled in vain, growing weaker and weaker, until at last he couldn’t even close his eyes and thus departed from this world with eyes wide open, never to see again.
"Someone help—my father is dying!"
When Li Fuyou saw his father had stopped breathing, a ferocious smile appeared on his face, and he shouted loudly for the servants who had been waiting outside to hurry into the room.
Seeing that the old master had drawn his last breath, all the servants knelt down and wept, unable to compose themselves. They then heard the chilling and ominous warning from the second young master, "Nobody is to speak of today’s events, or you will meet the same fate."
The servants, terrified, trembled uncontrollably, quickly nodding their agreement and began to prepare for Old Master Li’s funeral.
And so, in the absence of Lady Li, the Li Residence underwent a complete transformation, changing hands in her absence.
Meanwhile, Lady Li was using the silver she had gotten from selling her jewelry, trying to find someone to save her son. Not daring to go against Old Master Li’s wishes, she secretly sought out connections on her own.
"Madam Wang, you must help me, my sister. He is my only son."
"Lady Li, it’s not that I don’t want to help, but the County Magistrate has just taken office and I haven’t established a good relationship with him yet! If it were the previous magistrate, it would be much easier to take care of this, wouldn’t it?"
After reaching out to many well-known ladies, she was met with the same response. Eventually, she had no choice but to return home, disheartened, only to see white mourning banners at the gate. She rushed into the courtyard like a madwoman.
"Old Master, Old Master." As soon as she entered the courtyard, she saw the coffin and hurriedly pried off its lid, only to find Old Master Li lying inside.
"Old Master, Old Master, how could you leave us , what are my son and I to do now!" Lady Li clung to the coffin, her cries heart-wrenching.
"Sister, what can you do? Naturally, you and your son must leave together!" It was then that a woman, supported by Li Fuyou, came out—it was Li Fuyou’s mother.
Seeing this, Lady Li seemed to understand everything, and she screamed at them, "You will not die well, you will not die well, it must be you, it definitely must be you!"
"Someone, take off whatever valuables she has on her!"
Several maidservants came forward and snatched away the silver from Lady Li’s hands, "Xiaohong, you!" Lady Li pointed at one of the maidservants—a personal maid Xiaohong was to her.
"Madam, I am sorry!" Tears shimmered in Xiaohong’s eyes, but she had no choice, as she too needed to survive.
"You lot, throw her out."
After the silver was seized, Li Fuyou’s mother spoke again.
No matter how much Lady Li screamed and wept, it was to no avail. She was discarded from the Li Residence like trash.
The Lady Li outside the great doors sobbed without end. With her husband gone and her son beyond help, accustomed to a life of luxury, she had no courage to endure hardship. The more she thought, the less she felt she could go on, and so she gathered all her strength and charged with ferocity at the great door of the Li Residence.
At this moment, Li Fugui in the prison cell was still unaware that within a single day, both his father and mother had passed away, leaving him an orphan, without father or mother.