It was Guo Xinyue's father, Guo Wei, who personally gave the order for her to go and find Li Wanming today.
At first, Guo Xinyue was extremely reluctant.
Li Wanming was merely the wife of a failed imperial examination candidate. So what if her business was doing well now? Merchants could never compare to their noble and official families. Why should she condescend to go and invite her?
Moreover, she had clashed with Li Wanming more than once. She knew that woman could be quite crazy when provoked, and she felt a vague sense of unease in her heart.
However, since her father had given the order, she didn't dare to disobey. After some hesitation, Guo Xinyue hitched up a carriage and went to wait for Li Wanming at the entrance of Zhaoyu Academy.
When she arrived at Zhaoyu and learned that Li Wanming had been called back by the old matriarch of the Li family, Guo Xinyue felt a slight sense of relief.
The Li family had acted so quickly, which showed that they were more anxious than the Guo family!
It made sense. After all, Sun Miaoqing was just the daughter - in - law of the Guo family. They could simply divorce her with a dismissal letter.
But it was different for the Li family. The Sun family was their real blood - related in - laws!
If the princess were really to get angry, the Li family would surely be implicated.
After thinking this through, Guo Xinyue felt more at ease.
She began to sit in the carriage leisurely, waiting for Li Wanming to return.
On the way, she chatted about all sorts of things while observing Li Wanming's reactions.
To her surprise, Li Wanming remained unmoved. She let Guo Xinyue chat aimlessly without showing the slightest sign of panic on her face.
Guo Xinyue couldn't help but feel a bit worried. She felt that her previous judgment might have been inaccurate.
Maybe... the Li family wasn't that anxious after all?
After they returned to the Guo Mansion, before Guo Xinyue could say much, Li Wanming's expression changed drastically. She retorted sharply and left Guo Xinyue almost speechless!
Guo Xinyue was really angry.
Originally, she had wanted to follow her father's instructions and pretend to be friendly with Li Wanming to probe the Li family's attitude and find out whether the Princess of Chengping would get involved in this matter...
But this bitch Li Wanming was so ungrateful.
She was on the verge of disaster, yet she was still so stubborn...
Guo Xinyue sneered, "Madam Cheng, surely you don't think this matter has nothing to do with your Li family? Sun Miaoqing is, after all, from your Li family. When the princess flies into a rage, I'm afraid all of your Li family will lose their heads!"
Finally, they mentioned the princess...
But why did Guo Xinyue's words sound so awkward?
"What did you say?"
"Whose family's person?"
Li Wanming rubbed her ears and said, "Miss Guo, are you joking?"
"If I remember correctly, Sun Miaoqing is the daughter - in - law your Guo family married. Normally, she should be called Mrs. Guo - Sun now. What does she have to do with the Li family?"
"Even if you don't want her anymore and want to divorce her, she still has the surname Sun, not Li. In any case, this fire won't burn on our Li family."
Guo Xinyue didn't expect her to distance herself so cleanly. She trembled and said, "You... you don't plan to save her?"
Li Wanming widened her eyes. "The Sun family is just the in - laws of my grandmother's younger sister. We don't even worship the same ancestors. Why should I save her?
"Miss Guo, are you out of your mind? Why would I go to great lengths for such a distant relative?
"As for my grandmother, I usually just turn a deaf ear to her words. When an old person throws a tantrum, just leave her alone for a few days and she'll be fine."
As Li Wanming spoke, her expression became more and more calm. She even sipped the tea of the Guo family with a clicking sound.
However, her inner thoughts were completely different.
If she didn't plan to save Sun Miaoqing, she wouldn't have agreed to her mother - in - law or come with Guo Xinyue.
When the princess wanted to kill someone, would she care whether they used to worship the same ancestors?
She would surely take drastic measures and wipe out the entire family, young and old!
But she couldn't tell Guo Xinyue this.
As soon as they met today, Guo Xinyue had put on a high - and - mighty attitude.
On the one hand, it was to put pressure on her. On the other hand, it was to see the bottom cards of the Li and Cheng families and find out how capable Li Wanming was and whether she could ask the powerful nobles in the capital for help.
If she could, that would be great.
The Guo family could resolve the crisis without lifting a finger and would also gain an invisible shield. In the future, the princess would have to think twice before trying to control them.
If she couldn't, it didn't matter either.
They could simply sacrifice the entire Sun family to appease the princess's anger, and their Guo family would still be safe and sound.
On the way here, Li Wanming had gradually figured out what the Guo family was up to.
So if Guo Xinyue wasn't in a hurry, she definitely couldn't be in a hurry either.
If Guo Xinyue was calm, she would be even calmer.
When it came to discussing the matter, if Guo Xinyue said west, she would definitely say east. She must never fall into the other party's trap.
The main thing was not to cooperate!
Only in this way, when the Guo family started to panic, would she have a chance.
Moreover, there was something very strange.
For the Guo family, angering the princess was undoubtedly a huge matter.
But until now, the Guo family had only sent Guo Xinyue to negotiate with her...
Guo Wei, Guo Ziyan, and even Mrs. Guo... All the people in power in the Guo family had never shown up.
This seemed very wrong.
Did Guo Wei think that this matter could be resolved with just a few words from Guo Xinyue?
No.
It couldn't be.
Guo Wei had been in the officialdom for many years. As a person from a humble background who had reached the position of a third - rank official, he couldn't be so careless.
Li Wanming's mind was racing.
She guessed that Guo Wei was observing her.
If she was just a vain person with a good reputation, Guo Wei wouldn't show up. He would let Guo Xinyue dismiss her directly.
If she could handle this matter calmly, Guo Wei would then recognize her as qualified to negotiate with him and show up to meet her.
Thinking of this, Li Wanming felt a bit angry.
At this critical moment, they were still playing these mind games?
Couldn't everyone be more sincere and solve the problem properly?
Her face turned cold. She stood up and said, "If Miss Guo just wants to talk about these useless things, I won't accompany you anymore. It's already past noon, and I haven't had lunch yet..."
"Wait!"
Guo Xinyue quickly grabbed her.
"Oh? Does Miss Guo have anything else to say?"
Li Wanming's gaze swept over, looking like a deep and cold pond in the coldest winter, making people shiver.
Guo Xinyue was startled by her gaze and couldn't say a word.
Li Wanming pulled back her sleeve and walked step by step towards the door. "If there's nothing else, I'll go back first."
She didn't walk very fast, but not very slow either.
Because she didn't really want to leave. Instead, she was showing her attitude to force the head of the Guo family to show up.
Only when the adults showed up could the following matters be discussed properly.
At the same time, she was telling Guo Xinyue that she was not qualified to negotiate with her!