The ancient war between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law in a wealthy family

"We...can't fight head-on." I took a deep breath and tried to suppress the emotions churning in my heart.

Zhan Yu frowned slightly and looked at me worriedly: "But, are we just going to let Second Uncle bully us like this?"

I shook my head, my eyes determined. "Of course not. We must outsmart them."

I stood up and walked to the window, gazing at the gradually darkening sky in the distance. My thoughts gradually became clearer. Since the Second Master dared to so brazenly seize Grandpa's inheritance, he must have something to rely on. We are currently outnumbered, and a head-on confrontation would only put us at a disadvantage.

"Have you forgotten? The Zhan family has a special team responsible for investigations." I turned to look at Zhan Yu, with a glimmer of hope in my eyes.

Zhan Yu suddenly realized: "You mean... let the family detective investigate Second Uncle?"

I nodded. "That's right! Second Uncle has held an important position in the family business over the years, so there's no guarantee he won't do something illegal. As long as we find something to hold against him, we don't have to worry about him not complying!"

Zhan Yu looked at me with admiration, his eyes full of tenderness: "You are very thoughtful. I will find someone to arrange it right away."

"Wait!" I called out to him. "This has to be done in secret. No word can get out. It's best to find someone you trust."

"I understand." Zhan Yu nodded solemnly, "I'll go find Uncle Liu right away. He's an old subordinate of Grandpa's and is trustworthy."

After arranging the investigation, I wasn't idle. I knew the detective's findings alone wouldn't be enough to convince the family elders. After all, words alone wouldn't be enough, and the Second Master would surely try to defend himself.

I pulled out my phone and began contacting the family members I'd previously visited. Most of them were close friends of my grandfather, and they'd all spoken highly of me and Zhan Yu. I believed that if they were willing to testify for us, we could expose the Second Master's true colors.

"Hello, Uncle Zhang? I'm Zhan Yu's wife..."

"Auntie Li, long time no see. How are you? ... Well, I've been having some troubles lately..."

Time passed minute by minute, and I kept making phone calls, patiently explaining the ins and outs of the matter to each person and gaining their support.

Zhan Yu has been busy in the study, sorting out his grandfather's documents and materials, hoping to find some clues.

It was late at night, and Zhan Yu and I hadn't rested yet. Suddenly, there was a knock on the study door, and Uncle Liu walked in with a serious look on his face, holding a document bag in his hand.

"How is it? Any news?" I asked impatiently.

Uncle Liu looked at Zhan Yu and me and said slowly: "Things... are more complicated than we imagined..."

Uncle Liu's words were like a thunderclap, exploding in Zhan Yu and I's ears. I quickly asked, "Uncle Liu, what's going on? Please tell me!"

Uncle Liu took a deep breath and handed me the document bag in his hand: "Young Madam, please take a look at it yourself."

I couldn't wait to open the file bag and pull out the documents. Zhan Yu also came over and read through them carefully with me. The contents of the documents made Zhan Yu and I more and more shocked. It turned out that the second master had relied on his position in the family business to do many shameful things behind the scenes over the years! He used his position to secretly transfer projects from the family business to his own company, making huge profits from them. Even more abominable, he also falsified the accounts to cover up his corruption perfectly!

"This...this beast!" Zhan Yu was so angry that he was shaking all over and said with gritted teeth, "How can he be worthy of the trust that grandpa has placed in him!"

I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down. Now is not the time to be angry. What we need to do is use this evidence to make the Second Master pay the price he deserves!

"Uncle Liu, is this evidence conclusive?" I raised my head and asked seriously.

"Absolutely true." Uncle Liu nodded affirmatively. "These were all found by our people after going through untold hardships. They are absolutely reliable."

"Okay!" A gleam of light flashed in my eyes. "With these evidences, we can expose the true face of the Second Master!"

Zhan Yu and I immediately took the evidence and drove to the residence of our Third Uncle, a highly respected elder in the family known for his fairness and strictness. The entire journey was filled with a mixture of trepidation and anticipation. I was nervous because I didn't know how Third Uncle would view this matter; yet I was excited because I believed he would definitely seek justice for us.

After meeting my third uncle, I suppressed my excitement and told him everything about the whole story and what the second master had done. After hearing my story, my third uncle's face turned very serious. He took the document bag I handed him and carefully read the evidence inside.

As time went by, Third Uncle's face grew uglier and uglier. He slammed the file bag shut, slammed it heavily on the table, and angrily said, "Outrageous! This is truly outrageous!"

I was delighted, knowing that our plan was halfway successful. I quickly struck while the iron was hot: "Third Uncle, you must make the decision for us!"

Third Uncle took a deep breath, trying hard to suppress his anger, and looked at me and Zhan Yu with a sharp gaze: "I will take care of this matter! I will call a family meeting immediately and let the second uncle give you an explanation in front of everyone!"

Just as he finished speaking, the door of the study was suddenly pushed open...

The door of the study was suddenly pushed open, and the second master's fat face was full of hypocritical smiles. Behind him was his beloved son Zhan Kai, who was standing there with an impatient look on his face.

"Uncle San, what do you want to talk to me about? You were in such a hurry that Kai'er and I rushed here without even finishing our lunch tea." The second master said this in a pretentious and affectionate manner, while reaching out to pat Uncle San's shoulder, but the latter dodged his hand calmly.

"Humph! You still have the nerve to mention afternoon tea?!" Third Uncle slammed the table, stood up angrily, pointed at Second Master's nose and cursed, "Look at what you've done!"

The smile on the Second Master's face froze. He was stunned for a moment, then pretended to be puzzled and asked, "Third Uncle, what's wrong with you? What did I do to make you so angry?"

"You still want to play dumb?!" Third Uncle slammed the file bag in his hand onto the table. "Take a look for yourself!"

The Second Master glanced guiltily at the file bag, then looked at the sullen Third Uncle and me, and suddenly understood something. He pretended to be calm and picked up the file bag, pretending to flip through it, shaking his head as he read, muttering, "What...what is all this? Why can't I understand it?"

"Don't you understand?" Third Uncle sneered, "I think you know it all! This is all evidence of you embezzling company assets over the years. What else do you have to argue about?!"

The second master's face changed, but he quickly regained his composure. He threw the file bag back on the table and said confidently, "Third Uncle, you can't believe the slander! These are all fake. Someone is deliberately framing me!"

"Framed?" I sneered. "Uncle, you said the evidence was fake. Then tell me, who wanted to frame you? And why did they want to frame you?"

The second master was speechless and stammered, unable to say anything.

"That's enough!" Third Uncle shouted angrily, "I've already investigated this matter thoroughly. There's no need to quibble! I'll call a family meeting immediately, and then you'll explain everything clearly in front of everyone!"

A family meeting was held three days later, with nearly every member of the Zhan family in attendance. I laid bare the evidence of Second Master's years of embezzlement of company funds and how he had exploited his position for personal gain. The evidence was irrefutable, forcing Second Master to deny it. Faced with such irrefutable evidence, he was forced to lower his self-proclaimed noble head.

As expected, the result of the family meeting was that the second master was removed from all his positions in the company and had to undergo investigation and trial by the family.

I noticed that after the meeting, some family members who were usually indifferent to us looked at Zhan Yu and me with a little more scrutiny and... respect? I know this is only temporary, and greater challenges are yet to come.

"Ayu," I looked at Zhan Yu with a firm gaze, "we..."

"I know what you want to say." Zhan Yu held my hand, his eyes gentle but firm, "Let's face it together."

But how can we prevent the next crisis?

After the family meeting, Zhan Yu and I walked side by side in the corridor of the Zhan family mansion. The afterglow of the setting sun made our shadows look particularly long.

"Ayu, look at the looks in those people's eyes..." I tilted my head slightly and looked at the family members passing by us. Their eyes were no longer filled with contempt and hostility as before, but instead were filled with a barely perceptible awe and... flattery?

Zhan Yu gently put his arm around my shoulders, a faint smile on his face: "It seems that our performance this time has impressed them."

I sighed softly and said, "This is only temporary. Second Uncle is just a pawn they pushed out. There are even bigger forces behind the scenes manipulating everything. We still have a long way to go if we want to gain a foothold in this family."

Zhan Yu stopped, turned around, looked me in the eyes with deep eyes, and said firmly: "Don't worry, I will always be by your side, we will face it together."

I nodded, a warm feeling welling up in my heart. Yes, as long as we are united as husband and wife, what difficulties can't be overcome?

To meet the next challenge, Zhan Yu and I decided to take the initiative. We secretly contacted a respected elder in the family. He was upright and had great prestige in the family. We decided to confess everything to him and seek his support.

At the same time, we also began investigating the person behind Second Uncle. I knew that in this family, information was everything. I used the Bai family's connections to gather information in the business community, while Zhan Yu used his connections in the family business to secretly gather evidence.

A few days later, the private detective we hired reported that there seemed to be someone secretly directing Second Uncle, but the other party was very cunning and always contacted through an intermediary, making it difficult to find out his true identity.

"It seems that we have to find a way to catch this big fish." I stroked the teacup in my hand, and a gleam of light flashed in my eyes.

"What do you want to do?" Zhan Yu asked.

I put down my teacup and put on a confident smile: "Since they want to play, then we will play with them..."

My plan slowly formed in my mind, but before I could finish, the study door was flung open...