While the Fu sisters were discussing matters, Madam Wu was walking out, accompanied by Zhenzhu.

With a slightly flickering gaze, she asked Zhenzhu, “Madam Shen is the third eldest, while your mistress is the ninth, yet they only differ by about ten years in age. Are they full sisters or cousins?”

Madam Wu was a frequent visitor, and since Fu Tingyun hadn’t tried to conceal anything, Zhenzhu never suspected that Madam Wu was merely testing her. Without suspicion, she smiled and said, “Madam Shen and our mistress are cousins!”

“I see!” Madam Wu’s heart was pounding wildly, though her face remained calm and unperturbed. “I was just thinking that Madam Shen and your mistress don’t look very similar!” She sighed and continued, “Now that the Elder Madam of the Fu family has passed away, will your mistress have to return to Huayin with Fifth Master Fu?”

Zhenzhu wouldn’t engage in such gossip about her mistress behind her back.

She merely smiled and escorted Madam Wu to the ornamental gate.

Madam Wu was very excited.

Zhenzhu hadn’t denied it.

This meant that Fu Tingyun was indeed Official Fu’s daughter, the ninth young lady of the Fu family.

Instead of going home, she went straight to Madam Ji’s residence.

“I have something to tell you,” she whispered mysteriously in Madam Ji’s ear. “It turns out that Madam Shen and Madam Zhao are cousins. Madam Shen is the third eldest, and Madam Zhao is the ninth.” As she spoke, she covered her smile with her sleeve. “Now, Official Shen is going to prosper!”

Madam Ji was smiling reservedly when her smile froze on her face, and her almond eyes grew wider: “What did you say? Madam Zhao is the ninth? Then wouldn’t that make Madam Zhao the ninth young lady of the Fu family?” At this point, she couldn’t help shaking her head. “No, no! It should be a branch family.”

Madam Wu’s eyes brightened as she smiled and said, “Not a branch family, but cousins within three degrees of kinship.”

Madam Ji’s expression suddenly became very strange, and her subsequent words were irrelevant and distracted.

Having obtained what she wanted, Madam Wu smiled with satisfaction and took her leave.

Madam Ji, however, remained restless in her room all afternoon. As soon as she heard that Official Ji had finished his court duties, she hurriedly rushed to the ornamental gate.

Official Ji’s expression was somewhat grave. Without waiting for Madam Ji to speak, he said, “Let’s go back to our room first, I have something to tell you.”

Madam Ji felt a chill in her heart and quickly followed Official Ji into the inner chamber, dismissing the servants inside.

“Madam Zhao and Madam Shen are cousins within three degrees of kinship,” as soon as the door closed, Official Ji said with a stern face. “The Lang Zhong Fu of the Ministry of Personnel is Madam Zhao’s birth father…”

“So it’s true!” Madam Ji listened, feeling somewhat dazed. “I thought so. Initially, Madam Yu chose the ninth young lady of the Fu family because of her robust health, good for childbearing, and the Fu family, being a prestigious family from Huayin, would certainly pay attention to health maintenance. How could she have just disappeared…”

Seeing that Madam Ji, though appearing disbelieving upon hearing his words, did not seem surprised, Official Ji urgently asked, “Did you already hear about this?”

Madam Ji quickly gathered her thoughts and told her husband about Madam Wu’s visit.

As Official Ji listened, his expression changed: “It seems that quite a few people know about this!” After a pause, he added, “Hao Jianfeng seems to know about this too.”

“Even so, it’s a thing of the past. Now they’re married and living well, they shouldn’t dwell on past matters, right?” Seeing the worry on her husband’s brow, Madam Ji, reluctant to add to his concerns, said insincerely, “Besides, we don’t know what happened back then. Perhaps it was just a misunderstanding!”

Official Ji didn’t speak but paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back.

Madam Ji didn’t dare to disturb him and watched him worriedly from the side.

After a long while, Official Ji finally stopped. He looked at Madam Ji with a sharp gaze: “According to Hao Jianfeng, back then, it was because Miss Fu encountered refugees and got separated from her servants. The Fu family claimed she had died to preserve their reputation. But from Hao Jianfeng’s tone, he didn’t believe it. When I asked further, he just used this story to brush me off. I suspect there’s something hidden here. Try to find out more about what happened back then.”

Madam Ji hesitated a bit: “But this is the Yu family’s private matter…”

“How can you be so confused!” Official Ji said. “Who is Zhao Ling? He’s just a commander-in-chief who’s enjoyed imperial favor and won a few battles due to luck. Yet he was able to snatch a position that Grand Secretary Yu had set aside and planned for his son in advance. Think about it—how much resentment must Zhao Ling have toward the Yu family to do something so brazen, so disrespectful, so insulting? I fear this is not the end, but the beginning. We might all get dragged into it eventually. Today, Hao Jianfeng told me something,” he explained how Zhao Ling had treated Sixth Elder Master Zhao and Eighth Master Zhao. “…At such a young age, just because he suffered mistreatment from his elders as a child, he ran away from home. Now that he’s prestigious, he’s supporting a branch family to replace the main family, disregarding the ancestral hall, the ancestors, the family business—aren’t you afraid if such a person has his eye on you?”

Madam Ji’s face had already turned pale when Official Ji was talking about how Zhao Ling dealt with Sixth Elder Master Zhao and Eighth Master Zhao. Upon hearing his question, she was even more terrified and quickly said, “What if the Yu family wronged the Zhao family?”

This was exactly what Official Ji was most worried about.

He pondered for a long time before saying softly, “When greater principles are at stake, we cannot let personal relationships hinder us!”

Despite having some premonition, hearing her husband say this made Madam Ji involuntarily purse her lips, her eyes revealing a trace of helplessness.

…

At this moment, Madam Yu was also feeling quite helpless.

She didn’t know what Yu Jingxiu was trying to do.

How could someone usually so astute not see things?

Grand Secretary Yu had spent a considerable amount of silver to secure the position of Chief Grand Secretary, including public funds, the private silver of the eldest master, and the dowry silver of the third mistress. Now that the position of Chief Grand Secretary hadn’t been obtained, though no one had said anything, the situation had changed. For some matters, they should be more flexible. Otherwise, if they provoked resentment from family members, it would be counterproductive—the Fu family already had few descendants; if the main branch couldn’t unite, there was a risk that, given time, the family genealogy would change hands.

Didn’t he understand the concept of feigning compliance?

When Concubine Wu entered the household, wasn’t he quite good at using this tactic with her? Why was he being so confrontational with the two cousins, making it impossible for others to back down?

And then there was that woman Fan. She always acted as if nothing concerned her and never helped persuade Depu.

At times like these, a person’s true character was revealed.

Had she known it would be like this, even if it meant Depu would hate her, she shouldn’t have agreed to this marriage!

Madam Yu thought of how Fu Tingyun now had one daughter and two sons.

That Zhao Ling was away from home 360 days out of the year, guarding the border, yet she still had one child after another…

For no reason, hatred welled up in her heart.

Mama Shu, seeing Madam Yu’s troubled expression, asked concernedly in a low voice, “Madam, shall I brew you a strong cup of tea?”

“No need.” Madam Yu took a deep breath, feeling somewhat better, and asked, “What do you think Mama Fei meant by those words?”

After breakfast, Mama Fei, who was the First Madam’s attendant, had come over.

She had smiled and paid her respects to the madam, saying, “The two young ladies are of delicate beauty but haven’t caught the young master’s eye, causing difficulty for you, madam. Fortunately, before leaving, both the First Madam and Third Madam had instructed that beauty is in the eye of the beholder—what the two madams find pleasing, you might not; what you find pleasing, the young master might not; and what the young master finds pleasing, the young mistress might not. If they’re not satisfactory, they asked me to bring them back and select a few more appealing ones to send over. As the saying goes, whether rich or poor, taking a wife makes for a good new year. I’m thinking, if I return in the next few days, and once the First Madam and Third Madam have selected new candidates to send over, it would be close to the new year—perfect timing for a new year, new people, new atmosphere. It would bring joy to Grand Secretary Yu, yourself, the young master, and the young mistress. I won’t delay any longer; after the Major Heat, when the weather cools, we’ll set off back to Nanjing.”

Thinking of Mama Fei’s words, Mama Shu smiled and said, “With your abilities, madam, you should rightfully be managing the household affairs of the Yu residence. Yet not only have you never interfered with the household management, but whenever the Third Madam has requested assistance, you’ve helped wholeheartedly. Everyone in the household, from top to bottom, praises you for your virtue. Mama Fei is the First Madam’s attendant and has always been most observant of rules. I don’t think she was implying anything; rather, it seems she truly received instructions from the First Madam and Third Madam before leaving…”

As she spoke, she heard Madam Yu let out a cold “hmph” and say, “There’s no need to comfort me. I can see clearly that Elder Sister-in-law and Sister-in-law won’t rest until they achieve their goal! I think we no longer need to hide it; let’s tell Depu and his wife directly. Doesn’t he favor his Third Aunt the most? Doesn’t he like to discuss everything with his First Aunt? If he doesn’t want to take concubines, let him tell his First Aunt and Third Aunt himself!”

Mama Shu reluctantly acknowledged with a “yes” and went to relay the message to Yu Jingxiu.

Madam Yu then went to Grand Secretary Yu’s study.

Grand Secretary Yu had a guest, so Madam Yu waited in the side room for about the time it takes to burn three incense sticks before the guest was finally escorted out of the courtyard by Yu Huai’an.

Madam Yu curiously asked Grand Secretary Yu, “Who was that?”

“The second son of the Marquis of Xiping,” Grand Secretary Yu said dismissively, then asked about Madam Yu’s purpose for coming. “…Is there something urgent?”

Many people sought audiences with Grand Secretary Yu daily, but for someone to receive such courtesy, and yet be merely the second son of a frontier marquis, Grand Secretary Yu spoke lightly, but it still left a deep impression on Madam Yu. However, with matters pressing on her mind, she didn’t pursue the topic and instead told her husband about Yu Jingxiu’s situation: “…With such stubbornness, what do you think we should do?”

Grand Secretary Yu pondered for a long while before saying, “Then let’s try to send him to the Censorate earlier… Leaving the capital and experiencing different customs and cultures in various places should be beneficial for him.”

“It seems that’s our only option!” Madam Yu nodded glumly.

…

Meanwhile, Madam Wu was having a private conversation with her maidservant: “You guard the side door and be careful. As soon as Madam Zhao leaves, come and inform me.”

The maidservant acknowledged and went to sit on a small stool at the side door, peering through the crack at the entrance of the alley.

By the afternoon, her neck had become stiff, and there was still no movement from the Zhao residence.

Rubbing her neck, she couldn’t help mumbling, “When will this end?”

Before she could finish speaking, she saw a carriage entering Shi Family Alley.

She perked up and quickly pressed her eyes to the crack in the door.