Being a second wife is difficult: I'm busy raising children in the Earl's mansion.

After Fang left last night, Jiang Wan lay in bed for a long time, the same sentence swirling in her mind.

—"What's uncovered isn't necessarily a good thing."

What kind of matter would make Madam Fang make a special trip to deliver this message? She knew Madam Fang well; she never spoke lightly, but when she did, she always had her reasons.

Jiang Wan had just drifted off to sleep when it was barely dawn, but she was woken up by Qing He's knocking on the door.

Qinghe lowered her voice: "Madam, someone from the old lady's side has arrived."

Jiang Wan opened her eyes; the sky outside the window was still gray.

She responded and sat up, rubbing her temples a couple of times. Qinghe had already brought in water to help her wash up and change.

"Who came from the old lady's side?" Jiang Wan asked.

"Miss Chunlan came in person." Qinghe handed over a handkerchief. "She didn't seem to have anything special about her expression. She just said that the old lady wants to see you."

Jiang Wan nodded, wearing a slightly worn lotus-root colored jacket, her hair simply tied into a round bun, and adorned with a plain silver hairpin.

There's no need to dress up too elaborately when visiting the old lady. She doesn't like those ostentatious displays and always knows how to keep things in check.

Songhetang is not far from her new courtyard; you can get there by passing through two moon gates.

The morning breeze, carrying the dampness of dew, felt a little cool on my face.

Jiang Wan walked slowly and encountered two cleaning women talking under the eaves. When they saw her coming, they stopped talking and greeted her with a smile.

Jiang Wan agreed, without stopping.

Upon entering Songhe Hall, the old lady was sitting on a couch by the window, trimming her nails with a pair of silver scissors in her hand.

There was no one else in the room, not even Chunlan. There was a cup of tea on the tea table, but it wasn't steaming, as if it had been sitting there for a while.

Hearing footsteps, the old lady looked up at her, put down the scissors, and moved to the side.

"You've arrived," the old lady said calmly. "Please sit down."

Jiang Wan sat down to her left without speaking. The old lady wouldn't call someone over so early in the morning for no reason. If she did, it must be something important to say.

The old lady picked up the cup of cold tea, took a sip, frowned, and put it down again: "Did Fang go to your place yesterday?"

Jiang Wan nodded: "I went, and I even brought a plate of chestnut cake. I said it's a new recipe I learned in the kitchen."

The old lady chuckled, but her voice was cold: "She certainly has long ears."

Jiang Wan didn't respond.

The news reached the old lady's ears almost immediately after Fang left, which showed that Songhetang had more spies than she had imagined.

But the old lady's words didn't seem like she was blaming Fang; they were more like stating something she already knew.

The old lady pushed away the cold tea beside her, and Chunlan came in to replace it with a hot one.

The old lady picked up the bowl to warm her hands and slowly began, "Have you heard the gossip circulating in the manor these past few days?"

Jiang Wan shook her head: "I haven't had time for that yet."

"That's true." The old lady glanced at her. "You're busy choosing maids for Wan'er and managing the courtyard. These are all proper jobs, unlike some people who have nothing better to do than fuss over trivial matters."

She spoke in a casual tone, and Jiang Wan couldn't tell whether she was referring to the Fang family or someone else.

That's how the old lady always speaks; she never speaks directly when she needs to be tactful, and she doesn't beat around the bush when she needs to be direct.

Now that we've started, the rest will naturally follow.

Sure enough, the old lady took a sip of tea and continued unhurriedly, "Some people are saying that I am digging up old grievances about Mrs. Gu, and that Mrs. Gu died mysteriously back then, and that someone in the backyard did something wrong."

"What's ridiculous is that some people say she handled several accounts with problems, that she embezzled money and emptied the Marquis's mansion, and they make it sound like the truth."

Jiang Wan's heart skipped a beat.

Both she and the old lady knew that there was something fishy about Mrs. Gu's death, but most of the things that people in the mansion were spreading were baseless, and some were even ridiculously absurd and could not stand up to scrutiny.

But the rumors had already reached the old lady's ears, and they were more detailed than she had imagined, with even the details being quite vivid.

This suggests that the person who relayed this message wasn't just making casual conversation, but rather was subtly guiding the conversation in a certain direction.

Jiang Wan didn't rush to reply. She first went over the meaning in her mind before asking, "How long has the old lady known about this?"

"It's been three to five days." The old lady put down her teacup. "At first, it was just something people talked about in a small circle, but in the last two days, even Old Chen, who guards the back door, heard about it. Yesterday, she even came to ask Chunlan if the old lady was going to bring up old grievances."

Jiang Wan didn't speak, but was calculating in her mind. Three to five days would be exactly two days after the old lady started going through the old files.

In other words, someone was watching the old lady's movements, and reacted very quickly; almost as soon as there was any movement, the people below would get up as well.

The old lady seemed to see through her thoughts and chuckled, "No need to investigate. People who spread such rumors aren't necessarily looking to cause trouble."

"Some people enjoy watching the drama unfold, while others try to profit from the chaos. If you investigate them one by one, it actually makes the whole thing seem more real."

"What the old lady means is..."

"The more you take rumors seriously, the more they seem like rumors."

The old lady picked up the scissors and trimmed her nails a couple more times, her movements unhurried. "The things that need to be investigated still need to be investigated, but you can't let people know you're investigating. On the surface, you need to be busy with other things."

Jiang Wan understood.

The old lady didn't not want to investigate; she just didn't want it to become public knowledge.

Those accounts that need to be addressed should naturally be addressed, but doing so in public is a low-class approach.

"I understand," Jiang Wan nodded. "Don't worry, Grandma."

The old lady glanced at her, seemingly somewhat satisfied with her straightforward answer.

She put down the scissors, got up and went into the inner room. A moment later, she took out a thin wooden box and placed it in front of Jiang Wan.

"These are the old files I had sorted out these past few days. They include Mrs. Gu's dowry list when she entered the family, the list of her maids, the monthly allowances for each household, and details of the people who served her. Everything you can find is in there."

Jiang Wan took the box but didn't open it immediately. The box was very light, but the contents inside were obviously not light.

The fact that the old lady gave her this item shows that she trusted her enough.

"Take it back and look at it slowly." The old lady sat back on the tatami. "If there's anything you don't understand, come and ask me again. Be careful when you look at it, and don't let anyone who shouldn't see it see it."

Jiang Wan agreed, put the box into her sleeve, and got up to take her leave.

After leaving Songhe Hall, Jiang Wan did not take the corridor on the main courtyard side, but instead walked around the back wall for a while.

This road is sparsely populated. Usually, only kitchen staff who make purchases and charcoal delivery workers walk along it. At this time, it is the break after breakfast is prepared, and there are hardly any people walking around.

As she walked to the back door of the kitchen, she smelled a sweet, warm scent wafting out from under the door.

Through the half-open door, white steam billowed from the stove. Granny Zhou was bending over, looking at the steamer with her back to the door. Beside her was a bamboo tray with several rows of unsteamed dough pieces stacked inside.

Granny Zhou had been in the Earl's mansion for nearly twenty years. She had come with the old lady from her maiden home as part of her dowry, and later she took charge of the kitchen, a position she held for decades.

This person never utters an extra word in her speech or actions, but she certainly knows more about the affairs of the household than anyone else.

Jiang Wan had dealt with her a few times and knew that Granny Zhou was a perceptive person who only spoke to those she should, and kept her mouth shut like a clam shell when it came to things she shouldn't say.

Jiang Wan reached out and pushed the door open.

The door hinges creaked slightly. Hearing the noise, Granny Zhou turned around. Seeing it was her, she was taken aback at first, then a smile spread across her face: "Madam, what brings you here?"

Jiang Wan walked into the kitchen, her gaze falling on the steamer: "We came from the old lady's side, so let's take a shortcut back."

Upon hearing this, Granny Zhou did not ask any further questions. She simply smiled and lifted a corner of the steamer lid, letting out billowing steam and revealing several pale blue pastries inside.

She used bamboo tongs to pick out a piece and placed it in a white porcelain dish, handing it over: "Madam, you've come at the perfect time. This old servant has been pondering the cakes for the Winter Solstice these past few days, and after several attempts, I finally managed to make a batch that looks presentable. Madam, please try them and give me your feedback."

Jiang Wan took it and glanced down at it.

The pastries were small and so thin they were translucent, and you could vaguely see tiny mung bean particles embedded inside.

She took a bite, and the soft, chewy texture of the glutinous rice flour and the sweet flavor of the mung beans slowly rose to her senses—not greasy, just right.

"Granny Zhou has excellent cooking skills." Jiang Wan ate the remaining half. "Grandma will probably like this at the Winter Solstice banquet."

She asked again, "Granny Zhou, what's the name of this pastry?"

Granny Zhou replied with a smile, "It hasn't been given a proper name yet. If Madam thinks it's good, she can bestow a name upon it."

Jiang Wan thought for a moment and said, "Let's call it 'Jade Cake'."

He added, "The crystal is placed on a jade plate, which only accentuates its translucent appearance."

Upon hearing this, Granny Zhou's smile deepened, and she repeated "jade cake" twice, as if she really liked it.

He then talked to Jiang Wan for a while about the ratio of glutinous rice flour and lotus root starch, how much water to add, and how long to steam it so that it wouldn't stick to her teeth.

Jiang Wan listened from the side, occasionally offering a few words of response.

The two stood by the stove and chatted for a few minutes, as if they were just casually visiting each other.

Halfway through the conversation, Granny Zhou, wiping the edge of the steamer with her hands, suddenly lowered her voice slightly: "Madam, this old servant saw Wang Fu in the storeroom yesterday."

Jiang Wan paused, her fingers still holding the pastry. "Wang Fu? Why did he go to the storeroom?"

"They said they were going to find something," said Granny Zhou, casually placing the cleaned steamer aside.

"This old servant didn't ask any more questions, but I noticed he was holding several old books, which looked like account books from a few years ago."