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

The housekeeper handed me the letter with trembling hands. There was no signature on the envelope, only the words "Miss Bai's Personal Letter." My heart skipped a beat. Who would send me a letter at this critical moment? Could it be the mastermind behind this?

Trembling, I opened the envelope. Inside was a thin piece of paper with a line of beautiful handwriting: "If you want to find out the truth, you can contact Lawyer Fang. Waiting for good news."

Lawyer Fang? I've never heard of this name. Zhan Yu took the letter and frowned: "It seems that someone is helping us in secret."

The situation was urgent, so we didn't have time to think too much and immediately asked the housekeeper to arrange a car to go to the address provided in the letter.

My heart was in my throat the entire time. Those men in black were clearly coming for me. Who sent them? What was their motive? Was it the Bai family's inheritance? Ever since I married into the Zhan family, I've been bombarded with threats, both overt and covert. I knew this wealthy family was a turbulent place, and I had to be cautious at every turn.

The car stopped in front of an inconspicuous office building, and we followed the instructions in the letter and found Lawyer Fang's office.

When we opened the door, we saw an elegant middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses sitting at his desk, flipping through documents. He raised his head, his gaze resting on us for a moment, then slowly said, "Ms. Bai, Mr. Zhan, please take a seat."

His voice was steady and powerful, carrying a certain persuasive force. I took a deep breath and tried to remain calm. "Hello, Lawyer Fang, we..."

Before I could finish, Lawyer Fang raised his hand to interrupt me: "I know why you are here. I know some unknown secrets about the Zhan family inheritance."

His words resonated like thunder in my ears. I was stunned. Could this letter really be a ray of hope?

Zhan Yu was also a little surprised. He took a step forward and asked in a deep voice, "Lawyer Fang, what do you mean by this?"

Lawyer Fang put down the documents in his hand, crossed his fingers and placed them on the table, his eyes deep: "Mr. Zhan's will may not be as simple as it seems."

My heartbeat suddenly accelerated. Could there be something else hidden in Grandpa's will? I couldn't wait to ask, "Lawyer Fang, what do you know? Please tell us!"

Lawyer Fang looked at us with a meaningful smile on his face. "Ms. Bai, Mr. Zhan, there are some things that I need some time to sort out. However, I can assure you that I will do my best to help you find out the truth."

He pulled a file bag out of a drawer and handed it to us: "There's some information in here that might be helpful to you."

I took the briefcase and it felt heavy, as if it held hope.

Lawyer Fang stood up, walked to the window, looked at the flashing neon lights in the distance, and said slowly: "The waters of the Zhan family are deeper than you can imagine..." He paused and added, "Some secrets, once revealed, may overturn everything."

He turned around, his eyes fell on us, and his tone was meaningful: "Are you ready?"

I tightly gripped the file bag in my hand, exchanged a glance with Zhan Yu, and then nodded firmly... Lawyer Fang walked to the bookshelf and reached out to take down a book.

Lawyer Fang did not open the book directly, but put it back on the bookshelf and took out a brown paper bag from the safe behind him. He poured the contents of the bag onto the table: some yellowed photos and a few handwritten letters.

"These are some of Mr. Zhan's personal letters and photos." Lawyer Fang pointed to the yellowed papers and said, "I have carefully studied these materials and found that Mr. Zhan attached great importance to the family ancestral hall. He often mentioned some details of the ancestral hall in his letters, and even described some secret rooms in the ancestral hall."

I quickly leaned forward and carefully examined the letters and photos. Most of the photos showed scenes of the ancestral temple, with its carved beams and painted buildings, a simple and solemn appearance. I noticed that in one photo, there seemed to be a shadow behind the ancestral temple plaque, which looked like some kind of mechanism.

"Look here," I said, pointing to the photo. "Is there something behind this plaque?"

Lawyer Fang and Zhan Yu also came over to take a closer look. Zhan Yu pondered for a moment and said, "It's indeed a bit strange. The shape of this shadow looks like a hidden compartment."

Lawyer Fang nodded. "According to the description in Mr. Zhan's letter, there is indeed a secret room in the ancestral hall, which contains some important family documents and treasures." His eyes became sharp. "I suspect that Mr. Zhan's true will is hidden in this secret room."

My heart skipped a beat. If it was really as Lawyer Fang said, then if we found this secret room, we could uncover Grandpa's true intentions and let those with ulterior motives fail!

"But the ancestral hall is now controlled by the Song branch. How can we get in?" I asked worriedly. Ever since my grandfather passed away, the Song branch has occupied the ancestral hall for various reasons and won't let us get close.

Lawyer Fang pondered for a moment and said, "Let's go to the ancestral temple first to see the situation and then make plans."

We immediately set off for the ancestral temple. It was located on a hill outside the city, a tranquil setting with towering ancient trees. However, when we arrived at the entrance, we found it heavily guarded by members of the Song branch. Several black-clad bodyguards stood guard at the entrance, vigilantly watching anyone passing by.

My heart sank. It seemed that entering the ancestral temple would not be easy. We hid in the woods not far away and observed the situation in the ancestral temple.

"It seems that forcing our way in won't work." Zhan Yu whispered, "These people are well-trained. It will be difficult for us to break through their defenses."

I bit my lip anxiously. Are we just going to give up like this? No, I won't give up! Grandpa's will must be hidden in the ancestral hall. I must find it!

Lawyer Fang glanced at the surroundings of the ancestral hall, then pointed to a bamboo forest behind it and said, "Perhaps we can go in from there."

I looked in the direction of Lawyer Fang's finger. The bamboo forest was lush and dense, blocking out the sun, and it was indeed a good cover.

"But, could there be spies in the bamboo forest?" I asked worriedly.

Lawyer Fang shook his head: "We can't be sure yet. We need to investigate first."

Just as we were about to head to the bamboo forest, a black car slowly drove up and stopped at the entrance of the ancestral hall. The car door opened, and a tall man in a suit and tie stepped out.

It's Song Zijian! The representative of the Song family's side branch and our biggest rival! Why is he here? Could he also know the secret of the ancestral hall?

Song Zijian walked to the door of the ancestral hall, said a few words to the guard, and then walked straight in. My heart sank suddenly, and an ominous premonition came over me... Lawyer Fang suddenly grabbed my arm and whispered, "Go!"

Lawyer Fang pulled me to a more secluded place, and only after Song Zijian's figure disappeared behind the gate of the ancestral hall did he lower his voice and say, "It seems that we have to act earlier." His tone was serious and determined.

I took a deep breath, suppressed the turmoil in my heart, and nodded. There was no time to lose. We had to find Grandpa's real will before Song Zijian did.

We quickly formulated a plan: Zhan Yu would come forward to distract the guards at the door, while Lawyer Fang and I would take the opportunity to go around the bamboo forest to the back of the ancestral temple and find a way to enter.

Zhan Yu agreed without hesitation. He patted my shoulder and said in a firm tone: "Don't worry, I will lead them away. Be careful." After that, he turned and walked towards the gate of the ancestral temple.

After watching Zhan Yu leave, Lawyer Fang and I immediately set off for the bamboo forest. The forest was even deeper than I'd imagined. Sunlight filtered through the layers of bamboo leaves, casting dappled shadows on the ground.

Lawyer Fang seemed quite familiar with the terrain. He led me through the bamboo forest with ease, avoiding areas with obvious signs of human intervention. After walking for about an incense stick of time, we arrived at a mottled blue brick wall. This wall was clearly quite old, with the paint peeling in many places, revealing the gray-brown bricks underneath.

"This should be the back wall of the ancestral hall." Lawyer Fang pointed to a dog hole half a man's height in the corner of the wall and said, "We can go in from here."

I stared at the narrow hole in surprise, a little bit unbelievable: "Going in here? This is too..."

"There's no time to lose," Lawyer Fang interrupted me. He bent down first and crawled through the dog hole. "Come in quickly."

I gritted my teeth and went in.

The interior of the ancestral hall was even darker and damper than I'd imagined, with a faint musty smell in the air. In the dim light, I saw some scattered debris on the ground and spider webs in the corners. It was obvious that no one had been here for a long time.

"Watch your step." Lawyer Fang's voice rang in my ears. I don't know when a wooden stick appeared in his hand, and he was probing something on the ground.

I immediately became alert and cautiously followed Lawyer Fang. We walked through a long, narrow corridor and arrived at a heavy wooden door. The door was intricately carved with patterns and looked very ancient.

Lawyer Fang reached out and pushed the wooden door, but found it didn't budge. "It looks like this door is locked," he said.

I was about to go forward to help, but he grabbed me. "Don't move!" he whispered. "There might be a trap on this door!"

I gasped in fright, and when I looked carefully, I found a barely perceptible silver light in the crack of the door.

"Be careful!" Lawyer Fang suddenly pulled me back and swung the wooden stick in his hand, smashing it hard at the silver light.

With a whoosh, a sharp arrow shot out from the crack in the door and hit the opposite wall.

I stared at the arrow in shock, a chill running down my spine. If it weren't for Lawyer Fang's quick reaction, I'd probably be...

"It seems we were right. This place is indeed full of traps." Lawyer Fang's expression turned serious. "We must be more careful."

We groped our way along the wall, encountering several traps along the way, but fortunately, Lawyer Fang cleverly deflected them all. Finally, we reached a wall covered in murals. Lawyer Fang carefully examined the designs on the murals and suddenly reached out to press down on a protruding brick.

There was a slight "click" sound, and the wall slowly opened to both sides, revealing a pitch-black passage.

"Looks like we found it," said Lawyer Fang. "The secret room is inside."

I was filled with excitement and quickly followed Lawyer Fang into the corridor. The corridor was very narrow, only wide enough for one person to pass through. Dim oil lamps were lit at intervals on the wall, stretching our shadows out and out.

After walking for about a quarter of an hour, the view suddenly opened up and we came to a spacious stone chamber. In the center of the chamber stood a stone table, on which sat an antique wooden box.

"That should be..." I pointed at the wooden box, too excited to speak.

Lawyer Fang nodded, walked quickly to the stone table, and opened the wooden box. However, the box was empty except for a neatly folded piece of parchment.

Lawyer Fang picked up the parchment, unfolded it, and his expression suddenly became serious: "Not good, this is just a map."

My heart sank. "Map? What map?"

Lawyer Fang pointed at the pattern on the parchment and said in a deep voice, "This is a map of the ancestral temple. It shows a place..." He paused and continued word by word, "The real entrance to the secret room, and the key to open it."

My heart was lifted again. We went through so much trouble and finally found the entrance to the dark room, only to discover that a special key was needed to open it.

"How could this happen?" I felt powerless. Did we put in so much effort, but in the end it was all in vain?

Lawyer Fang's face was solemn, his brow furrowed as he stared at the map on the parchment, seemingly lost in thought. "Don't lose heart," he said gravely. "At least we now know that Grandpa's true will is indeed hidden in this ancestral temple, and he's meticulously protected it. This proves how important this will was to him, and it only strengthens our resolve to find it."

There was a firmness in his words, which rekindled my hope. I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down. "Lawyer Fang, you're right. We can't give up!" I pointed to the spot marked on the map where the key was and asked, "Where could this key be hidden?"

Lawyer Fang didn't answer directly, but pointed to an inconspicuous corner of the map, where a strange symbol was painted in cinnabar. "Do you remember the screen wall in the ancestral hall with the family tree engraved on it when we came in?" he asked.

I tried hard to recall. The screen wall of the ancestral hall was so old that the words engraved on it were blurred, but I vaguely remembered that there seemed to be some strange symbols engraved in the corner of that screen wall.

"Could it be..." My heart moved, and I vaguely guessed something.

"That's right," Lawyer Fang confirmed my guess. "If I'm not mistaken, the key should be hidden behind that screen wall!"

We immediately returned the same way we'd come. The ancestral hall was still dark and damp, but my mood was completely different from when I came. Every step I took was filled with strength, because I knew we were getting closer and closer to the truth.

After returning to the ancestral hall, we headed straight for the screen wall inscribed with the family tree. Lawyer Fang carefully examined each symbol on the screen wall, matching them one by one with the markings on the map. Finally, he found the strange symbol painted in cinnabar in the lower right corner of the screen wall.

He reached out and pressed lightly on the symbol. With a slight "click", a floor tile under the screen wall actually sank down, revealing a pitch-black hole.

"Found it!" I couldn't hide my excitement and hurried forward to check.

The entrance to the cave was pitch black, and I couldn't see anything, but a faint scent of sandalwood wafted out. I had smelled this scent in my grandfather's study before; it was the scent of his favorite spice.

"It seems that we are only one step away from the truth..." Lawyer Fang said, pulling out a flashlight from his pocket and preparing to turn it on when suddenly, a burst of hurried footsteps came from outside the ancestral hall, accompanied by a familiar voice:

"Search for me! Find them for me!"