Mrs. Huang took the ginseng back to the side yard where she lived. Looking at her son's sallow face under the dim light, she couldn't help but sigh deeply.

Old man Huang at the side couldn't help but whispered: "Why? There's no ginseng at Chen Xu's wife's place?"

Mrs. Huang shook her head and took out the ginseng that Wanxiang had given her earlier from her bosom: "I'm afraid I won't be able to get it in the future!"

Old Man Huang asked hurriedly: "What happened?"

"It's okay." Mrs. Huang's expression was a little bitter, "I took so many things from her, it's time to pay it back!"

Old Huang was terrified when he heard this: "How can we pay it back?" He looked at the bare house and said, "We have sold everything that should be sold. How can we pay it back?"

Mrs. Huang didn't say anything, but just told her husband: "You keep this well. If you use it carefully, it can last for a year. But who can say for sure what will happen after a year!" There was some spirit in her voice.

Early the next morning, people lined up again to distribute porridge.

"You know how to please the people in the inner courtyard." A daughter-in-law was dissatisfied, "People in the inner courtyard go to the porridge distribution and get a subsidy of 30 cents a day, but we work for nothing!"

Mrs. Huang was startled when she heard this: "Who said that?"

"The Madam herself nodded her approval." The daughter-in-law brushed her temples, "You also know that my aunt's eldest sister-in-law works in the Madam's courtyard. This is what my aunt said herself."

When the others heard this, they were all shocked.

"We are all doing the same job, why do they have thirty cents while we don't?"

"That's right. It's like this every year. After the prominent mothers from each household show off at the porridge stand, it's our turn to distribute porridge. Don't you see how severe the snowstorm is this year?"

Seeing the situation was a bit chaotic, Mrs. Huang winked at the two daughters-in-law she was close to. One of them immediately shouted, "Alright, alright. What's the point of saying this? We are from the outer courtyard, not as noble as the inner courtyard. If you have the guts, ask someone to transfer you to the inner courtyard! What's the point of saying this here?"

It immediately suppressed the voices of others.

Seeing that no one was talking, Mrs. Huang smiled and said, "I don't want to do it either. But there's nothing we can do about it. If you want to blame someone, just blame me for being incompetent." Then she sighed helplessly, "If anyone wants to go higher, I won't stand in their way."

The wives looked at each other and were silent.

"Okay, okay. Let's all go back to our work!" The daughter-in-law, who was in love with Mrs. Huang, stepped forward to help, and everyone dispersed in embarrassment.

Mrs. Huang winked at the two daughters-in-law, and the three of them went to the patio behind the kitchen, one after the other.

"You two should go and distribute the porridge as well." Mrs. Huang's voice was a little low, "See if there are any flaws?"

The two daughters-in-law were startled and exchanged glances.

"Sister Huang, this, this is not a good idea..." One of them hesitated, "Even if something goes wrong, we won't be able to get away with it."

"Yes!" another laughed, "We don't care. We are doing our job wherever we are. But it's different for my sister. She worked hard to become the manager of the outer courtyard kitchen. She is well-known in the mansion. There's no need for her to get involved in this matter..."

Mrs. Huang knew it. But if there was a second way, she would not have accepted Wanxiang's gift... What's the point of saying this now!

She had no choice but to walk all the way to the end. Pointing to the east, she whispered, "I am just following orders. Just do your job and don't worry about anything else. Even if something goes wrong, it's not our turn to take the blame. Besides, flies don't bite eggs without cracks. If everything is clean, who can do anything to anyone?"

The daughter-in-law couldn't help but laugh, "There's no such thing as a clean situation. Back then, when the former Marquis' wife was in charge, she also traded brown rice for polished rice. What's more, the third wife is in charge?"

Mrs. Huang laughed and said, "That's right. We are just telling the truth."

The daughter-in-law nodded: "Don't worry. I will report to you if anything happens."

Mrs. Huang felt relieved.

At night, the daughter-in-law sneaked into Mrs. Huang's room in the dark.

"It's not brown rice, it's moldy rice."

Mrs. Huang was delighted.

"You can see it clearly!"

"It's crystal clear." The daughter-in-law whispered, "The top is polished rice, and the bottom is moldy. It's obvious that someone has tampered with it."

“Is it a lot?”

"There are more than thirty bags."

Mrs. Huang thought for a moment and said, "Don't make it public for now. Since they have this intention, they must have a backup plan. Let's talk about it when it's too late for them to change it."

The daughter-in-law understood, and the two of them whispered a few words before leaving.

* * * * * *

A few days later, Wanxiang's incident happened - she was late in harvesting the vegetables, and each room did not have hot meals until the beginning of the next day.

The old lady looked at the third lady deeply and said nothing.

With so many people in the family, there must be conflicts, but to have the conflicts escalate to this extent... As the third wife of the housekeeper, although she did not lose face, her ability to manage the household was already deeply questioned. She could no longer stand there, and her face turned red and white as she went to the kitchen.

From a distance, Wanxiang's wailing could be heard: "...You are just bullying me because I have no one to rely on and you are thinking about my job... I went to the toilet and the person who delivered the food left... You are accusing me like this... I will not live anymore! If you have the guts, go confront the lady. I am not a soft persimmon that you can bully as much as you want..."

Gan Laoquan had already found a few wives to wait for the Third Madam to come, ready to talk about Wanxiang's faults. When they saw the Third Madam, they all came out to greet her attentively.

The Third Lady paused, turned around and went to Eleventh Lady: "...Someone has to do the chores at home, and if she is not used, someone else will have to be used. Besides, she has always done a good job. But sometimes people make mistakes, and sometimes they stumble. She refuses to admit her mistake and even shouts that she wants to confront the Lady Dowager. There are so many daughters-in-law and old women in the kitchen, and they know what happened. But if something goes wrong like this, even if I, the housekeeper, will lose face, she was used by your eldest sister, and it won't be glorious either. I hope Fourth Sister-in-law can persuade her." Her tone was a bit stiff and threatening.

Eleventh Lady was quite surprised.

Wanxiang is an elder in the mansion. This is a lose-lose method. She should be very clear about it...

"If Third Sister-in-law hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known about this." She said with a smile, "But, Third Sister-in-law, don't worry. There are so many wives and mothers in the kitchen who can explain what happened. I'll ask someone to call her over and ask her!"

The Third Madam listened to her words with hidden meanings, gentle yet firm, her expression changed slightly, and she stood up coldly: "Then please ask more questions, Fourth Sister-in-law!"

Eleventh Lady smiled and saw her off, and asked Amber to call Wanxiang.

Dongqing wanted to avoid the Fifth Madam and was afraid of getting into trouble, so she didn't go anywhere and did needlework in front of Eleventh Madam every day. Seeing Amber go to call Wanxiang, she couldn't help but whispered: "Madam, Wanxiang has always been rampant in the mansion, and everyone knows it. You don't have to be unhappy because of her and the Third Madam..."

Eleventh Lady shook her head: "She wants to be the head of the family, the longer the better. But the Madam may not think so... Unless it is like this forever, otherwise, it will be useless no matter how careful I am in front of her. Since the conflict between the two is inevitable, I will always offend her. It doesn't matter when I offend her!"

Dongqing thought what she said made sense and nodded repeatedly.

Eleventh Lady was surprised: "Logically, Wanxiang shouldn't be such a reckless person, how could she make such a mistake that she couldn't even pick up the chopsticks!"

Dong Qing thought for a moment and said with a smile, "Even tigers can take naps. Who knows who has done something to them?"

Eleventh Lady thought this was possible.

When Wanxiang arrived, he asked her directly: "This doesn't seem like a mistake you would make?" Wanxiang actually laughed: "The fourth lady really has a keen eye." He then glanced at Dongqing who was serving on the side.

Seeing this, Eleventh Lady had something to say, so she sent the servants away.

Wanxiang immediately stepped forward and whispered in Shiyi Niang's ear: "Madam, I have found a way to bring down the Third Madam."

Eleventh Lady was shocked when she heard this. For some reason, she thought of the porridge distribution...

"You have to have a basis for what you say." She looked at Wanxiang calmly, "Falsely accusing the master is not something you can get away with by just a few strokes of the cane!"

"Madam, don't worry. I am not a person like Wanxiang. How could I do such a groundless thing?" Wanxiang laughed coldly. "The third lady has been planning to make a fortune from the rice used for porridge distribution. At first, it was a mixed bag of good and bad rice. Later, when she saw that nothing was found, she changed it all to brown rice. In the past few days, all the rice delivered was moldy. Now there are seven or eight days of food piled up in the porridge shed. If you bring people to check it now, I will catch the person red-handed. Even if she wants to say that she was careless for a moment, it will not be justified." Her eyes flashed coldly. "She wants to kill all of us without any effort. There is no way!"

Eleventh Lady looked at the resentment in her eyes and was even more shocked by the Third Lady's behavior.

"Moldy rice? Look carefully!"

She had originally guessed that the Third Madam would take advantage of this and replace the good rice with brown rice, but she didn't expect that she would use moldy rice... In her impression, moldy rice can kill people!

Seeing that she didn't seem to believe him, Wanxiang swore, "If I'm talking nonsense, I'll die a miserable death!"

Eleventh Lady took a deep breath and felt a chill on her back.

Wanxiang was originally playing a risky game involving life and death. If she was not absolutely sure, how could she have such courage!

It’s probably true!

"Who else knows about this?" Eleventh Lady's gaze deepened.

Wan Xiang whispered, "Everyone who distributes porridge knows about it. But I am the only one in the inner courtyard who knows about it." As she spoke, her eyes flashed, "Madam, there is no time to lose. You should report it to the Marquis as soon as possible, expose the Third Madam's trick, and make her lose face. Then you can smoothly take over the power of the head of the family!"

Eleventh Lady looked at the slightly excited expression on her face and suddenly understood.

Wanxiang, what a great trick!

She was a person left behind by Yuanniang, and she took up a job in the inner courtyard kitchen, so the Third Madam would definitely not tolerate her. She simply took the initiative - first found the Third Madam's fault, then made a scene to embarrass the Third Madam, and then used herself to expose the matter to Xu Lingyi... In this way, the Third Madam could not protect herself, not only was she rescued, but she could also take the opportunity to shout that it was the Third Madam who wanted to punish her, and even worse, she could say that it was because she knew about the Third Madam's rice exchange that the Third Madam could not tolerate her!

Eleventh Lady's brows were filled with solemnity: "Report it to the Marquis? Wouldn't that make it known to everyone?"

※

Fighting...