Liang Zhen said, “She had three sets of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter servants around her. From this perspective, Nanny Luo was from the first batch—Chuchun—and she was fortunate enough to survive all this time. Of those who entered the household with her, Xia, Qiu, and Dong were killed by the Old Madam in the secret chamber. Of the second batch of three, apart from Nanny Liao, the other two also died. Of the third batch of four, not one remains—some probably died in the secret chamber, others she either released or killed by other means. This first batch should be the group that died when father was born. The second batch should be those who died when Luo Meixiang was born. The third batch should be those from when mother died.”

“It must be correct. If not for having similar thoughts, how could the Earl have immediately changed his mind after coming out of the secret chamber and asked me alone to accompany him to meet Maternal Aunt Zhou?”

As for having Maternal Aunt Zhou persuade Old Madam Liang, Qin Shuying had thought of this at the time. As long as Old Madam Liang remained unconscious and she controlled the household gates, once Maternal Aunt Zhou entered, everything would have to follow her arrangements—she wasn’t afraid of her.

Not long after sending Maternal Aunt Zhou away, Liang Yunshan stripped Luo Meixiang of her household management authority and handed it to Qin Shuying.

At that time, Liang Yunshan gathered Luo Meixiang and her four children along with Liang Zhe’s three family members for a meeting.

Liang Yunshan said that Old Madam Liang was a spy, not the real Old Madam Liang. The real Old Madam Liang had already been killed by this fake one.

He ordered everyone not to reveal this secret, or they would face death.

As for this fake Old Madam Liang, they shouldn’t startle her for now but should place her under house arrest while gradually inducing her to reveal who was behind her.

Luo Meixiang, Liang Yuan, and Liang Qiong were naturally shocked, but Liang Jie personally went to the secret chamber and saw those items. With his explanation, Luo Meixiang, Liang Yuan, and Liang Qiong all believed it somewhat.

They also understood the gravity of the situation.

If Old Madam Liang was truly a spy, then the forces behind her were terrifyingly powerful. If they couldn’t catch everyone in one net, if this came to light later, the Liang family would be seen as harboring spies—even complete extermination would be getting off lightly.

And Luo Meixiang’s origins became a mystery.

Was she Maternal Aunt Zhou’s daughter, the real Old Madam Liang’s daughter, or the fake Old Madam Liang’s daughter?

Luo Meixiang didn’t dare ask.

If she were Maternal Aunt Zhou’s daughter, that would be acceptable.

If she were the real Old Madam Liang’s daughter, then Liang Yunshan would be her biological brother—she didn’t know that Liang Yunshan was Steward Concubine’s son, just as Zhao Wanniang didn’t know Liang Yunshan was Steward Concubine’s son, which was why she found the relationship between Old Madam Liang and Liang Yunshan sordid and disgusting.

If she were the fake Old Madam Liang’s daughter, then she would certainly die!

So she had better be Maternal Aunt Zhou’s daughter. Regardless of truth or falsehood, she absolutely couldn’t have a mother-daughter relationship with Old Madam Liang.

Otherwise…

When Liang Yunshan stripped Luo Meixiang of her household management authority, she didn’t object and didn’t dare object.

She very much wanted to ask Maternal Aunt Zhou, but was also afraid to ask her, afraid of hearing the fact that she was Old Madam Liang’s daughter.

Liang Yuan had fractured both legs and was bedridden again.

Liang Qiong’s collarbone area was bruised and extremely painful, but she couldn’t let a physician examine it and could only take some medicine.

Liang Jie had already been scared witless by the secret chamber affair. When Liang Yunshan said Old Madam Liang was a spy, Liang Jie chose to believe it. Not only did he believe it, but Liang Yuan and Liang Qiong were also convinced by Liang Jie’s account.

Besides the strange Qifeng Dynasty items and eight white bones that Liang Jie mentioned, there was also the three siblings’ long-standing fear of Old Madam Liang.

Old Madam Liang had always been rather cold. Though she worked hard to cultivate Liang Yuan, Liang Jie, and Liang Qiong, she lacked the typical loving nature of a grandmother, so the three had always been somewhat afraid of her.

In the household, Old Madam Liang’s word was law. She wasn’t particularly good to Liang Zhe and Liang Zhen, and the three siblings couldn’t see that Old Madam Liang treated their mother Luo Meixiang particularly well either.

Whenever Luo Meixiang did something that didn’t please her, Old Madam Liang would deliver cold rebukes, saying she was unfit for public appearance. The three siblings had heard this many times since childhood.

If she were Luo Meixiang’s biological mother, this would certainly be hard to accept, since that would also make her Liang Yunshan’s biological mother—such a relationship was something they dared not think about and couldn’t accept.

Therefore, she absolutely couldn’t be Luo Meixiang’s biological mother.

If she were, first, the relationship would be unacceptable, and the three siblings would never be able to hold their heads up again. Second, they felt it unlikely—no biological mother would look down on her own daughter like this or treat her own grandsons so harshly.

If Old Madam Liang was fake, then everything made sense.

Moreover, Liang Yunshan also said, “She’s a fake and feared others discovering her true identity, so she rarely went out visiting. Probably people around her discovered her secret, so she killed all the informed parties—those are the eight white bones in the secret chamber.”

Hearing Liang Yunshan’s explanation, even Qin Shuying, who had originally fabricated the lie that Old Madam Liang was fake, almost began to believe it herself.

If she hadn’t personally concocted this lie, Qin Shuying would have believed that Old Madam Liang was indeed fake.

But it must be said that Old Madam Liang was truly mysterious.

And now, taking the good medicine Liang Yanjun gave her, she temporarily couldn’t stir up any trouble and was sleeping peacefully.

After hearing Qin Shuying’s words, Liang Yunshan arranged household affairs and began searching for traces of Steward Concubine’s life and some people who knew about those times.

Liang Zhen picked up the account book in her hands, rubbed her temples, and pointed behind Songtao Residence. “Shuying, you have so many capable people around you. For such a young lady, you’re not to be underestimated.”

Behind them was Songtao Residence’s small storage room and several unused rooms. Since yesterday afternoon, all the household account books had been moved into those rooms. Qin Shuying had Mi Luo arrange for several senior accountants to come today to sort through all the account books Luo Meixiang had handed over.

Qin Shuying smiled while scanning the roster at ten lines per glance. “Elder Sister flatters me. When I was at the Qin household, my days weren’t much different from yours at the Earl’s household back then. If not for diligence and carefulness, Elder Sister probably wouldn’t even know the three words ‘Qin Shuying’ existed in this world.”

Liang Zhen said, “Shuying is so capable, yet earlier you were giving me credit, saying it was only after my return that you could turn the situation around. In my view, even without me, Shuying could have determined the outcome.”

Qin Shuying smiled and shook her head. “Elder Sister, without you, how could we have known that the person from back then was indeed Prince Liang? This is the most crucial link. Without this thread to connect everything, the whole matter would have fallen apart. Without you, Ziyu wouldn’t have had Liang Yanjun keep watch on the rooftop daily, and we wouldn’t have discovered that secret chamber. Without that secret chamber, the Earl’s attitude would never have changed.”