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

The candlelight flickered gently in the breeze, casting flickering light on the gilded Buddha face. The shadow of the base completely enveloped the unidentified hard object, which remained firmly embedded in the dust of the floor tiles, motionless.

The two old women on duty exchanged a glance. The older one steadied herself, instructed her companion to guard the Buddhist hall, and then wrapped the object in a coarse linen cloth, tucked it into her bosom, and hurried toward the east courtyard.

Jiang Wan now manages most of the daily affairs of the mansion. The old lady is getting old and it is inconvenient for her to do everything herself. If anything unusual happens in places like the Buddhist hall or ancestral hall, the servants will report it to Jiang Wan first, as is customary.

However, the final decision still rests with the old lady.

The old woman walked through several covered walkways, where servants swept and cleaned. She deliberately quickened her pace, not wanting to be stopped and questioned by others.

As she stepped into the east courtyard, Qinghe was carrying a cup of tea across the corridor, as if she were taking it inside. Seeing her solemn expression, she immediately stepped aside to lead her inside.

Inside, a charcoal brazier burned gently, its warmth enveloping her. Jiang Wan was hunched over a low table, organizing her year-end shopping list, her pen hovering over the paper. Hearing footsteps, she looked up.

"Madam, something strange has happened at the Buddhist temple."

The old woman bowed her head and unfolded the layers of cloth wrapped around her. A broken piece of jade lay quietly on the coarse linen, its edges covered with old incense ash, and a cool aura emanated from the fabric.

Jiang Wan put down her pen, her fingertips avoiding the floating dust, and gently pinched the edge of the jade piece.

The jade is warm, smooth, and translucent, unlike ordinary materials sold in the market.

The patterns extend along the broken section, the carved vine-like rhombus pattern is clearly outlined, and the flower core contains tiny seal characters.

Jiang Wan flipped the broken jade over, revealing half a stroke of a character at the broken edge. Looking at that half-character, her heart skipped a beat—

This is half of the character "顾".

Things belonging to the Gu family.

A few days ago, during the renovation of the old courtyard, a layer of soil mixed with musk was unearthed under the floor tiles. Before she could figure it out, this half of a jade pendant appeared in the Buddhist hall, with the Gu family's mark engraved on it.

These two things are like two threads, intertwined, pointing to the same place.

She thought of Lianxin again—

If Lianxin was indeed sent by the Gu family, then it makes perfect sense that she gained Mrs. Gu's trust in just a few months.

But if she was just following orders, why would she secretly leave behind the dregs of the medicine and entrust the items to Dr. Li?

Her hiding the dregs of medicine indicates that she did it not willingly.

She left the mansion hastily and returned to her hometown, where she died of illness less than half a year later, as if she had been silenced.

That half of the jade pendant might have been a token given to her by the Gu family, or it might have been a handle she left behind.

Whatever it may be, Lianxin at least tried to keep something in reserve.

It's quite obvious who has the other half, but there's no evidence.

At least for now, we can be certain that Lianxin didn't come looking for us on her own.

Her thoughts returned, her face remaining impassive. She slowly withdrew her fingers, tightly wrapping the broken jade again, and turned to look at the old woman waiting beside her, her tone slightly softer than before.

"This matter must not be mentioned to any third party. Go back to the Buddhist hall and clean as usual. Do not move the base of the Buddha statue. Just pretend you have never seen this thing."

After she finished speaking, she turned her head and gestured for Qinghe to fetch a purse and hand it to the old woman. She then added, "The end of the year is approaching. You've done a good job today, so take this money and buy a pot of hot wine to warm yourself up."

The old woman took the purse, bowed repeatedly to express her gratitude, and promised again and again that she would not utter a single word about it before clutching the purse and bowing as she left the courtyard.

After the door closed, Jiang Wan turned to look at Qinghe beside her.

The two had been together since childhood. Qinghe was calm and composed and could keep secrets. However, such a long-standing matter involving human lives could not be leaked out. If it were to reach the Gu family's ears, they would definitely destroy all evidence in advance.

"What happened in the Buddhist hall just now is something only the two of us need to know. No servant in the manor, including Qiutang, Xiaoman, and the others, is allowed to utter a single word about it."

Jiang Wan spoke calmly, but a cold glint was hidden in her eyes. "The Gu family harbors malicious intentions. If they find out that the token has appeared in the world, they will definitely take action in secret. At that time, all our clues will be completely cut off."

Qinghe nodded emphatically, locked the door tightly, and then walked to the window to lower the curtain to block out any noise from outside.

"Don't worry, Madam. I never gossip. This matter is kept to myself and I will never reveal a word of it."

Jiang Wan got up and walked to the dressing table. She opened the locked camphor wood box at the bottom, which was lined with soft velvet and contained several of her personal items.

She carefully placed the cloth containing the broken jade in the deepest part of the box, locked it, and put the copper key into her inner pocket.

At this moment, in the second residence of the Gu family in Qingzhou, thousands of miles away, the candlelight was dim in the closed study.

The steward stood before his master with his hands at his sides, holding a secret letter in his hand with messy handwriting. It was a message sent overnight by an informant planted in the Yongchang Marquis's mansion.

"According to past practice, the household will begin its year-end cleaning in a few days. In previous years, the old lady was not in good health, and the servants mostly did a perfunctory job."

"I secretly instigated my men several times, taking advantage of their laziness and slackness, and the gaps in their shirking of duties, to secretly search for the whereabouts of that thing, but we still couldn't find that half of the jade pendant."

"Now that the new wife is in charge, Wang Fu's side has fallen, and a new steward named Uncle Xu has come to manage the outer courtyard. He is known for being meticulous, so I'm afraid we can no longer get away with things like we used to in previous years."

"If that half of the jade pendant is really found, it might bring up old stories, and then it will be too late to say anything."

"I will do my best to keep an eye on things. If I am discovered, I will be able to intercept the item before it reaches the old lady. However, there are more and more eyes and ears in the mansion, so I dare not act rashly. Please give me your instructions, sir."

The second master of the Gu family gripped the letter tightly, his knuckles clenching slightly, his face clouded with layers of gloom.

He orchestrated the entire scheme to assassinate the Gu family and send Lianxin into the Earl's mansion to lie low.

Originally, it was thought that once Lianxin died, burying half of the jade pendant under the Buddha would eliminate future troubles forever. However, now that the new mistress of the Marquis's Mansion, Jiang Wan, holds all the power to manage the mansion, many noble families in the capital gossip about her and praise her for her meticulousness and watertight management of the household affairs. It is likely that the secrets of the mansion from years ago will not escape her notice.

He lowered his eyes and stared at the dense handwriting on the page, a mocking glint flashing in his eyes. Old stories that had been buried for many years surged up in his heart one by one.

Outsiders only knew that he took over the Gu family as a matter of course and that his elder brother's death was predetermined, but only he himself knew that the life of the eldest patriarch of the Gu family had long been lost in his hands.

Back then, Lianxin's mother, Sun Liuxin, was the personal maid who had been by her elder brother's side since he was young. She served him diligently for many years and was deeply trusted.

As she grew older, people in the household began to respectfully address her as Granny Sun.

Gu Shi grew up in the Gu family from a young age, watching Granny Sun serve her father every day and watching Lianxin grow up together. Both generations were her father's and brothers' former servants. This deep-rooted connection became the most secure cover for the whole scheme later on.

Gu's biggest weakness in life was that she valued old feelings too much and trusted old friends too much.

That's why that move back then went so smoothly.

He had always been unwilling to be subordinate to others. His elder brother was kind and gentle, and had been in charge of the clan for many years. He was always polite and respectful, and his reputation in the clan was stable. Unless there was an earth-shattering change, he would have been relegated to a secondary position for the rest of his life and would never have a chance to rise above others.

At that time, he climbed up to the Wang family, gaining the most secure backing in the court, and with advisors by his side to strategize and guide him, he could no longer suppress his desire to seize power.

On that dark night, following his advisors' plan, he personally ended his elder brother's life, eliminating all his close attendants on the spot. He intended to also silence Lianxin, the only one who had witnessed the whole thing, to prevent future troubles.

But his staff stopped him.

He still remembers the phrase "the former servants of the mansion are familiar with the inside story, keeping them is useful" clearly to this day.

At that time, Lianxin was just a young girl, and she was so frightened that she trembled all over. However, she was very good at judging the situation. She immediately knelt down and kowtowed, insisting that she had not seen any strange phenomena and was willing to submit to the emperor.

Such a wise and pragmatic person is indeed rare.

At the time, he felt he had the situation under control, and since she knew the inside story of his elder brother's former subordinates, he went along with it and spared her life, keeping the secret of his brother's murder completely hidden.

Taking advantage of the sudden death of his elder brother, he rightfully took over all the clan's power, becoming all-powerful and suppressing all dissenting voices within the clan.

However, in the years that followed, the political situation gradually changed.