After seeing Aunt Yang walk away, Mu Jin returned to her courtyard. She placed the porridge and dishes in the tea room and asked the maid who brews tea to keep them warm.

He made an excuse that his youngest son was not feeling well and asked for a day off. After packing up, he went home.

Even minor stewards like them lived in the back street of the Marquis's mansion, but in individual small courtyards.

It wasn't as big as the courtyard where Wang Yan's family used to live; it was about half the size, but each family had their own courtyard.

When Nan Chen saw her return, he came up to her and took the bundle she was carrying.

Mu Jin smiled and went over to see the brother and sister who were squatting in the yard, pinching ants.

Her mother-in-law had a vegetable garden in the yard, and was squatting there picking vegetables when she heard the noise. She half-stood up to look.

"Jin's back! Let's have mutton stew for lunch. I'll pick some vegetables."

"Oh, Mother, I'll come over and help you."

"No, no, I'm all better now," Grandma Mu Jin said as she stood up.

Seeing that no help was needed, Mu Jin gestured for Nan Chen to go to the main room; she had something to say.

……………………………………………………

The next day, Wu, the old nanny who served the second wife, was ordered to bring the second master some tonic soup. Mu Jin came out to receive it.

"The second madam said that the novels Nan Chen sent over were very good, and asked him to find two more when he had time, and send over more when he had more."

Mu Jin lowered her head and nodded, indicating that she understood.

That afternoon, the second master summoned Gu Ting to discuss how to resolve this troublesome matter.

Jiang Lanling probably doesn't have the account books; they were all torn up by Uncle Yang back then.

They then used Yangmei and her brother's two children to scare her, and the woman didn't even keep a single piece of paper in her hand at that time.

However, it's hard to say for sure. Aunt Yang might be afraid of Jiang Lanling, but Gu Xiao doesn't think she's anything to fear.

But keeping her around is like having a ticking time bomb; it could explode at any moment.

After a secret discussion in the house, the father and son concluded that both Jiang and Uncle Yang had to be eliminated.

However, we need to use a reasonable method that appears flawless.

Gu Xiao instructed his son, "Isn't their family getting a daughter who's about to get married? Don't they usually go up the mountain to pray for blessings before the betrothal ceremony?"

"Find a few men to pose as bandits and ambush them on the road; let's go all in."

"That's a good idea, but where can we find the manpower?"

Gu Ting was somewhat at a loss. Unlike the Marquis, they didn't have their own guards, and their household servants wouldn't listen to them and do such a thing.

Moreover, even if they could use the servants of the Marquis's mansion to kill the Yang family, the risk would be too great, and they would easily expose their actions.

Gu Xiao pondered for a while, "The person who partnered with me to lend money at interest rates back then was Scarface, the gambling den in the south of the city."

Go find him and tell him that the Marquis has noticed something amiss. Ask him to help us clean up the mess.

Gu Ting nodded, and after looking at his father for a few moments, he finally spoke up, "Father, let's stop after this!"

"The accumulated rain will eventually make a boat; if this continues, even if we eliminate ten members of the Yang family..."

Gu Xiao raised his hand to interrupt him, "My son is right. After all these years, it's time to stop and get out of this mess."

Let's just give up on that. His main concern is that he's now interested in the shipping business of the Second Master's family, which is the same idea he had with Yang.

Gu Ting could tell that he really wanted to give up, so he withdrew all the words he wanted to use to advise his father.

While the two were talking, the servants kept their distance, and neither Mu Jinnan nor Chen heard what they were saying.

However, seeing the confident look on the Third Young Master's face after he came out, it was clear that the two of them must have come up with some despicable and harmful plan.

Nan Chen kept a copy of the accounts he handled back then, and it was delivered to the main courtyard yesterday.

But the message that came from the second wife this morning indicated that it wasn't enough; she also wanted to collect the debts from the past two years.

Nan Chen knew that after he was dismissed, Yang's wife kept the accounts for the first few years. Yang's uncle lied to her, saying that he went to the countryside to collect wild delicacies.

But after Sister Yang exposed them, the Second Master never let anyone else handle the account books for the past few years; he always had Gu Ting personally go up to calculate and verify them.

To obtain records from these past few years would be an incredibly difficult task.

Nan Chen braced himself and wondered where the master would keep this record.

But back then, his status in the study was about the same as Wang Xing's.

She could only tidy up and air out the books, and would never let him know where the hidden compartment was.

Later, he was given important responsibilities, but he was not as capable of managing all of the Second Master's affairs as Nan Chu, the master's personal servant.

So he was really at a loss. Mu Jin and he searched the entire outer courtyard study, but they couldn't find a trace of it.

The situation had reached a stalemate, and Mu Jin couldn't help but feel a little anxious, but she had to suppress her frustration.

Just then, Granny Zhou was sent over by Concubine Yang, even though she had heard that Gu Ting had come to see the master.

However, Aunt Yang remembered that Gu Ting had been severely scolded when he went to her uncle's house last time, so she had some doubts about his ability to handle things.

So they wanted to ask Granny Zhou to come and give them a heads-up, in case Gu Ting made any mistakes this time, they would have nowhere to turn to cry.

Mu Jin came out impatiently to receive the soup and porridge that Granny Zhou brought.

"The Second Madam instructed that the Second Master's meals have been carefully prepared by the main kitchen, and even these sent over may not be enough for him to eat!"

With a smile, Granny Zhou relayed everything that Aunt Yang wanted to convey.

As he was leaving, he turned around, slapped his head as if he had just remembered something, and added, "..."

"By the way, I ran into Zhou Chuan, who serves the Third Young Master, on my way here. He said that the book 'Huainan Honglie' on the bookshelf in the study has gone missing."

This old servant is afraid that the Third Young Master will need it urgently, so the layout of the study here is not much different from that of the Third Young Master's.

Could you perhaps ask Steward Nanchen to help us see if we have this book? After all, Zhou Chuan won't be back for another half a day after he goes to buy it.

Mu Jin was secretly delighted and glanced at Granny Zhou. "Wait a moment, I'll go ask her for you."

Before long, he came out again and reported to Granny Zhou.

"Nan Chen said it's hard to find, so why don't we wait for Zhou Chuan to buy it? If Zhou Chuan is fast, he might already be at the bookstore by now."

Granny Zhou nodded and went back without paying much attention.

Granny Wu came again in the afternoon to bring more porridge; she seemed genuinely anxious.

After delivering the porridge, I informed my second wife that I would be going home for the day.

On the way back, they stopped by the home of Lin Mu, the servant of the Third Young Master, whose injuries had not yet healed.

These days, it seems to be getting a bit inflamed. Granny Wu took a look and sighed with emotion.

After chatting with Lin Mu's parents, he even offered his mother a folk remedy: to heat some liquor and apply it to the wound, saying it might work.

Lin's parents were naturally moved to tears, and Granny Wu even said she would bring them a small jar of fine wine later.

When Lin Mu saw Granny Wu, his eyelids twitched. Although he didn't know why she had come, he was certain that it wasn't anything good.

So he closed his eyes and pretended to be dead. Seeing this, Granny Wu didn't insist and wouldn't make things difficult for him now. She would come back tomorrow.

I came today to get a feel for his home situation and see where to start.