The Fourth Young Madam’s reaction was naturally within Seventh Miss’s expectations.

Hearing that the Fifth Young Madam had left Seventh Miss a letter, this young noble lady who hadn’t been home at the time immediately changed expression—a mix of shock, excitement, and threads of curiosity radiating from the corners of her eyes and brows.

She softly asked Seventh Miss, “What did Fifth Sister-in-law write to you? Does everyone in the household know about this?”

To avoid making the Fourth Young Madam overly anxious, the Fourth Young Master might indeed not have told her about this letter. As someone hearing of this matter for the first time, the Fourth Young Madam’s reaction could be considered quite reasonable.

Seventh Miss looked around left and right. Seeing no one in the room, she lowered her voice. “The letter involved Fourth Sister-in-law… So although everyone in the household knows about it, I haven’t dared take the letter out.”

The Fourth Young Madam’s eyes immediately widened, her eyebrows raised. “What!”

She displayed great anger, slapping the table. “That Lady Zhang wants to scheme against our Fourth Branch even in death. We must have committed sins in a past life to have such a sister-in-law!”

However, beneath this anger, there was also a hint of guilt. She glanced at Seventh Miss and said softly, “Does the letter mention that matter with the bed attendant?”

For young madams in the household to use methods to manipulate and dismiss a bed attendant was actually something the young noble ladies understood among themselves. When the Fourth Young Madam straightforwardly told Seventh Miss about this matter back then, she probably had the thought that ‘Seventh Miss would definitely understand her.’ Also, because this matter ultimately had no physical evidence, she had spoken without restraint, telling Seventh Miss all the details of the Zhangjiakou incident.

But if the Fifth Young Madam’s final letter mentioned this matter, the significance would be entirely different. Verbal statements had no proof, but written words served as evidence. If the Fifth Young Madam clarified in the letter the source and effects of that poison and pointed out several people who handled this matter, then everything would be different. As long as the coffin was exhumed for autopsy privately and the two sides matched, the Fourth Branch couple would definitely become estranged. Although the Fourth Young Madam had children to protect her, after the child was born, her troubles would be severe.

Seventh Miss pursed her lips, glanced at the Fourth Young Madam again, then reached into her bosom and took out a letter.

Seeing the Fourth Young Madam move to receive it, she shifted her body sideways, dodging the Fourth Young Madam’s motion, and smiled. “Let me read it to Fourth Sister-in-law instead.”

The Fourth Young Madam understood clearly: Seventh Miss feared that if she took it and saw anything unfavorable to the Fourth Branch, she would either tear it up or burn it on the spot…

She withdrew her hand and smiled awkwardly. “Fine, you read it. I want to see what unpleasant words Lady Zhang wants to pin on me before dying!”

Seventh Miss cleared her throat and said softly, “The polite words at the beginning—I’ll skip those. Fifth Sister-in-law started by talking about Hexian.”

“Hexian is my only flesh and blood. I can no longer care for her.” Seventh Miss continued slowly. “However, I know with your temperament, though you may not necessarily torment Hexian, over the next decade or so you definitely won’t give her much care either. But Grandmother is advanced in years—whether she can even live to see Hexian marry is hard to say. I can exchange one matter for your care of Hexian.”

She paused, then showed some embarrassment. “Fourth Sister-in-law, these are all Fifth Sister-in-law’s words—I know among the brothers in the manor, Fourth Brother has the highest military merit and has recently posed the greatest threat to Sixth Brother. However, with this matter as leverage, if it’s revealed about Jingrong in the future, the Fourth Branch will absolutely not be a threat to your Sixth Branch anymore. Several years ago, I did something unseemly for Fourth Sister-in-law…”

She slowly laid out several details of the Zhangjiakou incident. The Fourth Young Madam’s expression grew darker as she listened—these details matched exactly what she had told Seventh Miss, showing that the Fifth Young Madam had no intention of deceiving Seventh Miss. She truly wanted to exchange the Fourth Branch’s leverage for Hexian’s safety.

“With this matter, as long as you tell Mother-in-law at the appropriate time, she will naturally make a big fuss about it. Thus, while the Fourth Branch loses all face, Fourth Sister-in-law will likely lose favor. The Fourth Branch will be internally unstable from then on. Fourth Brother will probably become disheartened and apply for external transfer, leaving Fourth Sister-in-law in the capital.” As Seventh Miss read, she watched the Fourth Young Madam’s expression.

A sinister light was already faintly emanating from the Fourth Young Madam’s eyes. Her expression was gloomy as she gave Seventh Miss a dangerous look, then her gaze fell on a corner of the room.

Following her line of sight, Seventh Miss discovered it was a side of the hall’s display shelf, which seemed to hold a brass bronze goat statue… The Fourth Young Madam’s eyes lingered on it briefly before turning away to look at a large vase on the other side…

This person’s personality was truly direct enough.

Of course, the Fifth Young Madam hadn’t actually written down the Fourth Young Madam’s leverage truthfully, but there wasn’t much falsehood in these words either. Many details were things the Fourth Young Madam had mentioned to Seventh Miss at the time. If this story were exposed this way, not only would the Fourth Branch lose face in the manor, but the relationship between the Fourth Young Madam and Fourth Young Master would probably never again have the current depth of affection.

For the Fourth Young Madam, this threat was naturally more serious and real than any loss of hope for the heir apparent position. The Seventh Miss before her eyes had also transformed in an instant from a like-minded sister-in-law into a dangerous enemy.

Facing an enemy, her reaction was actually to look for a weapon… This person’s thinking was not only linear but also crude, carrying strong primitive characteristics: you might harm me, so I’ll harm you first.

Seventh Miss had gained some measure of understanding in her heart. She continued reading.

“Not only that, there’s another matter. Though I have no solid evidence, I must tell you privately. I have always most hated taking the blame and being made a scapegoat for others. At that time, I had no intention of killing Yang Shanli. What I mixed into her medicine was only wang bu liu xing. The dose of saffron was—”

Seventh Miss suddenly stopped. She almost widened her eyes, scrutinizing the Fourth Young Madam’s expression.

On the Fourth Young Madam’s face, shock first flashed by, then she relaxed. She seemed to have thought of the words ‘no solid evidence’ and revealed a contemptuous smile, biting down heavily on her words. “Don’t tell me Lady Zhang is going to fabricate lies and pin the whole thing on me!”

Seventh Miss revealed a noncommittal smile. She said softly, “Fifth Sister-in-law wrote it like this: That day I left Leshan Residence early, intending to visit Yang Shanli at Mingde Hall first before returning to Leshan Residence to handle household affairs. Unexpectedly, just reaching the entrance, I saw from afar Fourth Sister-in-law slipping out of the small medicine-brewing room. She looked left and right, saw no one had noticed, then walked away with her personal maid, a triumphant smile on her face. Because I stood far away and hid quickly, Fourth Sister-in-law didn’t see me and just walked away…”

The Fourth Young Madam’s expression first became grave, then she couldn’t help but laugh heartily. “Look at this, look at this! This Lady Zhang is truly full of nonsense! I did visit Sixth Sister-in-law that day, but I didn’t bring a single maid! Where’s this personal maid from!”

Seventh Miss’s heart skipped a beat—she had no more doubts.

To trick the truth out of someone, the best and most simple method was mixing truth with falsehood—using truths you already knew combined with deliberately fabricated false details to trick the other party into making corrections.

Just looking at how in that fabricated statement just now, the Fourth Young Madam didn’t first correct ‘I never went to the medicine-brewing room’ or ‘I didn’t look around,’ but instead first corrected ‘I didn’t bring a maid’—one could see that the Fourth Young Madam’s subconscious had already admitted that she had done those two things, so naturally there was no need for correction.

The Fourth Young Madam herself probably found it difficult to understand these psychological details. She laughed and said this, then showed an angry expression. “Lady Zhang is truly slandering! According to her way of saying things, I could also write that I saw her come out of Mingde Hall when no one was around, and Nanny Hu who brewed the medicine left the small room to run to the privy. She then slipped inside, and moments later slipped out—but unexpectedly, I saw everything from a distance. Framing each other this way—is it interesting?”

Seventh Miss’s eyes deepened another shade.

Nanny Hu who brewed the medicine had indeed gone to the privy—this she herself testified without error. However, it hadn’t spread throughout the manor.

How did the Fourth Young Madam know Nanny Hu had gone to the privy? Even if she had heard some rumors, how did she incorporate this detail into her story in an instant, recreating such a scene so perfectly?

The Fourth Young Madam was not someone with quick thinking and meticulous mind…

“Exactly,” she echoed the Fourth Young Madam impassively. “Without any solid evidence, slandering others is simply too easy.”

The Fourth Young Madam scrutinized Seventh Miss’s expression carefully. Seeing that her face indeed showed some skepticism, she smiled with relief. “Hearing you say this, I thought you believed it! I was thinking to myself, you surely wouldn’t be fooled by Fifth Sister-in-law into creating discord between our two branches, right?”

Seventh Miss smiled slightly. She grasped the Fourth Young Madam’s hand and winked at her. “Fourth Sister-in-law, if I’m going to give you a favor, I must deliver it into your hands.”

The Fourth Young Madam suddenly understood. She smiled. “You truly are a clever little spirit.”

While smiling, Seventh Miss tore the letter in her hands into pieces in just a few moves and threw it into the wastebasket, then poured a cup of tea over it. The soft rice paper immediately dissolved into a muddy mess.

For the Fourth Young Madam, the fact that she would openly read this letter aloud to her naturally meant she had abandoned the idea of using this letter to create difficulties for the Fourth Branch. Otherwise, she could have privately reported to the Duke of Pingguo—why would she deliver the leverage the Fifth Young Madam left into the hands of the person involved?

“Hehe.” Seventh Miss seemed rarely embarrassed. “Even if I wanted to make things difficult for Fourth Sister-in-law, with no solid evidence, what could I do with just a letter? I’ve seen through Fifth Sister-in-law’s calculation—even in death, she wants to create discord between our two branches!”

The Fourth Young Madam didn’t seem to mind at all what Seventh Miss said about ‘no solid evidence, what could you do.’ She laughed heartily. “Exactly! Without solid evidence, even if you spoke up, how would Father and Mother believe it? Lady Zhang’s final move before death—she underestimated you!”

Seventh Miss smiled faintly. She didn’t respond further to the Fourth Young Madam’s words, only lowered her head and took a sip of tea.

As long as one paid attention, the Fourth Young Madam’s words were truly full of flaws everywhere.

However, her confidence indeed came from the lack of solid evidence. Even if she was already certain the saffron was the Fourth Young Madam’s handiwork, it would be difficult to bring this matter into the open and give her the punishment she deserved.

Thinking of this, Seventh Miss’s eyes couldn’t help but narrow again. Suddenly, she felt that maintaining surface harmony with the Fourth Young Madam was also beneficial to herself.

At least she could gain some sense of security, not having to worry that someone would prescribe sterilizing medicine over a minor verbal disagreement.

#

Returning from Shendou Hall, Seventh Miss’s face carried more concerns. Back at Mingde Hall, she leaned against the window, thinking things over, then opened her notebook and began writing and drawing on paper.

Whenever Xu Fengjia was on duty, as a rule he didn’t return for lunch. In mid-afternoon, Madam Xu summoned her to talk.

“I heard that the Duke originally wanted to quietly dispose of the Xiao family, but you said to sell them to the Northeast?” Madam Xu showed some surprise. “The Duke was somewhat puzzled and didn’t know if this was Fourth Sister’s intention…”

Seventh Miss quickly said, “It was Madam who said that rather than letting them die, she’d prefer the Xiao family to be unable to live or die. So I thought of drugging them and selling them to mine in the Northeast…”

Though this spared the Xiao family their lives, it could indeed be considered unable to live or die. Madam Xu’s expression couldn’t help but show some emotion. After thinking for a moment, she said, “This isn’t a major matter. Since Fourth Sister wants it this way, let’s do it this way.”

She asked a few more questions about how the servants in the Fifth Young Madam’s courtyard were being handled. Learning that Little Fuchun and others had all been sent to the manor outside the city, planning to deal with them during this autumn’s release for marriage arrangements to avoid attracting too much attention, Madam Xu nodded with satisfaction and praised Seventh Miss. “When you handle matters, I can rest assured.”

Even though Seventh Miss’s hands were already stained with several lives, speaking of such matters still felt somewhat unnatural. She changed the subject and discussed Yu Ping and Yu An’s marriage arrangements with Madam Xu. After a while, Madam Xu herself asked Seventh Miss, “What exactly happened yesterday at Leshan Residence?”

Seventh Miss understood clearly: the matter at Leshan Residence had ultimately spread.

If the Grand Madam hadn’t intended to feign illness and had kept her conflict with her private, then it would have just been a conflict between the two of them in the back hall. This matter absolutely couldn’t reach a third person’s ears.

But she hadn’t thought through this layer and still wanted to rely on seniority to force Seventh Miss to submit. In the entire matter, she had already revealed her passive position invisibly.

A trace of faint smile appeared at the corners of Seventh Miss’s lips. Not only did she not answer Madam Xu, she instead asked, “I wonder if Father has already received news?”

Madam Xu immediately frowned and carefully examined Seventh Miss several times.

Seeing Seventh Miss’s demeanor calm and composed, she gained some understanding in her heart. Her originally tightly furrowed brows slowly relaxed and unfolded.

Madam Xu then answered impassively, “That depends on whether you want the Duke to know.”

Seventh Miss’s smile also grew wider. She said softly, “This—I naturally want him to know. If the Duke doesn’t ask, there are many things Xiaoqi finds difficult to say.”