At three quarters past the hour of Mao, just as the morning light gilded the eaves of the general's mansion, Chuntao staggered into Shen Weiwan's courtyard holding a basin of water, her hair on her temples soaked with cold sweat.

"Miss! This is bad!" She lowered her voice and slammed the basin onto the table, splashing water that soaked the account book. "Lü'e from Liu's room was just sneaking around under your window. I pretended to drop my handkerchief, and she took a peek before leaving!"

Chen Weiwan was circling the account book with a cinnabar pen when she heard the words. The tip of her pen paused, and the ink smudged across the entry "Liu spent three hundred taels of silver to buy rouge." She rubbed the ink stain on her fingertips against the morning light, and a hint of "provoking a beating" curved her lips. "I've been setting the hook for three days, and finally a fish has taken the bait."

Chuntao leaned over to the table, her eyes sparkling as she gazed at the fake account book spread out. The book, bound in blue cloth and made overnight by Shen Weiwan, contained the following in tiny calligraphy: "In the third year of the Tianqi reign, the general buried three thousand taels of gold in the west wing as a precaution." Next to it was a distorted treasure map, its endpoint marked by an old locust tree.

"Miss, if Liu sees this..." Chuntao rubbed her hands, wishing she could stuff the account book right under Liu's nose right now.

"That's why I want her to 'accidentally' see it." Shen Weiwan closed the account book and used wax to stamp a faint General's Mansion seal on the cover. "Go, put this account book on the road leading to the Liu family courtyard, right in the pile of fallen leaves, remember to leave half a corner exposed."

Chuntao obeyed the order and left, feeling as if she had found a rabbit in her heart. She had just dropped the account book under the sycamore tree at the Chuihua Gate when she turned and saw Liu's personal maid, Lu'e, approaching with a handkerchief in her hand. Her sharp eyes caught sight of the blue cloth corner hidden in the pile of fallen leaves.

"What is that?" Lu'e looked around warily. Seeing no one around, she quickly squatted down and picked up the account book. She couldn't read, but she recognized the General's Mansion seal on the cover. She hurriedly put it in her arms and trotted into Liu's courtyard.

At this moment, Liu was applying yellow flowers in front of the bronze mirror. When she heard Lu'e's breathless report, her nails dug a hole in her rouge: "What did you say? Did Chen Weiwan's account book fall to the ground?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Lu'e pulled out the account book as if presenting a treasure. "There's even the seal of the General's Mansion on the cover!"

Liu snatched the account book and was stunned the moment she opened it. The page that recorded "Gold Buried in the West Wing" was written in great detail. The treasure map next to it, though crude, showed the old locust tree in her yard that was so large it took three people to hug it.

"Three thousand taels of gold..." Liu murmured to herself, her fingertips rubbing against the paper, as if she had already touched the golden yellow. "No wonder that little bitch Shen Weiwan was so determined to guard the storehouse. It turns out she had hidden such a huge fortune!"

Lu'e whispered, "Madam, could this be..."

"Shut up!" Liu slammed the account book shut, the gold-inlaid jade armor scraping against the cover. "Before he died, the general loved that girl the most. So why would he hide his private money from me?" She weighed the account book, her mind calculating rapidly. "Wait until I dig out the gold, and see what else she can use to fight me!"

Just after the afternoon, Shen Weiwan received a tip-off from the old housekeeper. She was checking the silk purchases against the real account book when she heard the news, dropping her pen into the inkstone and laughing so hard her shoulders shook. "You've taken the bait. Don't forget the 'surprise' I prepared for you."

The old butler stroked his beard, his eyes gleaming. "Don't worry, Miss. The dry well in the west wing has long been filled with rotten eggs. We're just waiting for Liu to come and 'hunt for treasure.'"

As night fell, the west wing of the general's mansion was shrouded in silence. Liu, dressed in coarse cloth and accompanied by two burly maids, tiptoed to the old locust tree, hoe in hand.

"Madam, will this...work?" An old woman looked at the dark dry well and felt scared.

"Stop talking nonsense!" Liu glared at her, picked up her hoe and started digging under the tree. "If you dig up any money, you'll definitely get a share!"

As soon as the hoe hit the ground, there was a "puff" sound, and a strong stench hit her face. Liu frowned and dug twice with the hoe, but suddenly she felt her feet go empty and she fell into the dry well with a scream!

"Madam!" The women were terrified. Holding lanterns, they came closer to see Liu covered in yellow egg liquid and her hair and face were caked with stinking, rotten vegetable leaves. There was no gold in the dry well, only rotten eggs and rotten vegetable leaves half a man's height!

"Who... who did it!" Liu jumped in the well, but accidentally slipped and sat down on the rotten vegetable leaves with a "plop", and the stinky water splashed all over her face.

At this moment, Shen Weiwan came with Chuntao and a group of servants holding lanterns. Seeing the scene in the well, she deliberately covered her mouth and exclaimed: "Oh, aunt! How did you fall into the well?"

Liu looked up and saw Shen Weiwan's half-smiled face. She immediately understood something and trembled with anger: "Shen Weiwan! You plotted against me!"

"Aunt, what are you talking about?" Shen Weiwan pretended to be surprised. "I heard the noise and rushed over, thinking you were digging for treasure." She pointed to the fake account book still in Liu's hand, "What are you holding in your hand? Could it be..."

The old butler coughed at the right moment and stepped forward. "My dear Miss, I just heard some noise over here. I came over to see Madam Liu digging the ground with this account book." He pulled the fake account book from Madam Liu's hand and shone it against the lantern. "My dear Miss, this account book seems to be..."

"It's mine!" Liu hurriedly tried to grab it, but Shen Weiwan gave her a look, and Chuntao immediately stepped forward to block it.

"Aunt," Shen Weiwan took the account book and ran her fingertips over the entry "Gold Buried in the West Wing Courtyard." "You took my account book and dug the ground in the West Wing Courtyard in the middle of the night. Could it be..." She deliberately dragged out her voice, "Could it be that you thought there was really gold here?"

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