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

Lawyer Fang's words were like a flash of lightning, piercing the fog that had enveloped my mind. The library! Why hadn't I thought of that? That ancient building, long considered a symbol of the Zhan family's history, houses countless precious ancient books and documents, and is also one of the family's most mysterious places.

"Let's go to the library without further ado!" Zhan Yu made a prompt decision, turned the car around and drove towards the library.

Along the way, Attorney Fang explained in detail the layout and history of the library, as well as his hypothesis about the key's hiding place. His analysis suggested the key was hidden in a secret compartment on the west side of the second floor. The compartment had a unique opening method, requiring a specific token.

The library is located deep within the Zhan family's old house. It's a quiet place with few people coming and going. To avoid the eyes of the Song branch, we chose a secluded path and quietly approached the library.

Zhan Yu walked in front, vigilantly observing his surroundings. Lawyer Fang followed closely behind, clutching the ancient parchment map, glancing down from time to time. I walked last, feeling a mixture of nervousness and excitement, as if I were on a thrilling treasure hunt.

The door to the library was tightly closed and covered in dust, indicating that no one had visited it for a long time. Zhan Yu pulled a key from his pocket, inserted it into the lock, and turned it gently. With a "click", the heavy wooden door slowly opened.

A musty smell wafted towards me, mixed with the unique scent of ancient books. The library was dimly lit, its tall shelves filled with densely packed books, and the air was filled with a mysterious and solemn atmosphere.

Following Attorney Fang's instructions, we went to the west side of the second floor. The light here was dimmer, and the books on the shelves were older, some even in tatters.

"It's right here." Lawyer Fang pointed to an inconspicuous bookshelf and said.

We carefully examined the bookshelf and found nothing unusual. Lawyer Fang checked the parchment map again, confirmed the location, and began tapping gently on the bookshelf, searching for the entrance to the secret compartment.

"Dong, Dong, Dong..." The dull knocking sounds echoed in the silent library, and my heart beat along with them.

Finally, when he knocked on the bottom board of the bookshelf, a hollow echo sounded. Lawyer Fang smiled with joy, "Found it!"

He carefully removed the wooden board, revealing a secret compartment hidden behind the bookshelf. The compartment was small and empty, with only a sophisticated combination lock lying quietly there.

Inexplicably, a chill rose from the soles of my feet. Zhan Yu took a step forward, carefully observing the combination lock, and said in a deep voice: "It seems that the real challenge has just begun."

The combination lock has six digits, and it seems that a numeric password is required to open it. But what could this password be?

"Could it be related to my family?" I muttered to myself, my mind drifting back to the huge family tree in my grandfather's study. The Zhan family had been merchants for generations, and the tree detailed the birth and death dates and life stories of every ancestor.

"It's possible." Zhan Yu nodded in agreement. "Lawyer Fang, how much do you know about our family's history?"

Lawyer Fang pushed his glasses up and pondered for a moment before saying, "The Zhan family has a long and profound history. Although I've done some research, it's only the tip of the iceberg. However, I believe that if I search carefully, I'll definitely find clues to unlock the code."

The three of us split up, carefully leafing through the books surrounding the secret compartment, hoping to find some clues related to the code. As time ticked by, the library became so quiet that only the sound of our pages could be heard, and my anxiety grew.

Suddenly, Zhan Yu let out a low cry: "Got it!"

I hurried over and saw that he was holding a yellowed, thread-bound book. On the pages, in beautiful, tiny calligraphy, was written a passage: "... My ancestor's name was Zhan Qiming. He was born on the seventh day of the seventh month of the thirty-seventh year of the Jiajing reign and died on the twenty-third day of the twelfth month of the fortieth year of the Wanli reign..."

"July 7th... December 23rd..." I muttered to myself, and a thought occurred to me, "Could it be their birth and death anniversaries?"

Zhan Yu's eyes lit up, and he immediately converted the two dates into Arabic numerals and entered them into the combination lock. However, the combination lock did not budge, clearly our guess was wrong.

Just when we were at a loss, we suddenly heard light footsteps downstairs, followed by the sound of breaking porcelain.

"Who's there?!" Zhan Yu shouted.

I was startled, realizing someone had broken into the library. Who could it be? Could it be someone from the Song branch?

"Yu'er, are you in there?" A sharp voice came from downstairs, with a hint of panic and artificial worry. It was Mo's confidant!

How could she be here? My heart was filled with alarm bells, and a sense of foreboding came over me.

"Hurry, let's hide!" Zhan Yu made a quick decision and pulled Lawyer Fang and me to hide behind a row of bookshelves.

Mo Qinxin hurried up, carrying a dim oil lamp. She muttered softly as she walked, "Strange! I clearly heard some noise here, but why is there no one here? Did I hear it wrong?"

As she spoke, she had already walked to the bookshelf where we were hiding. I held my breath, not daring to breathe, for fear of being discovered by her.

"Oh!" Mo Qinxin suddenly exclaimed, and the oil lamp in his hand fell to the ground with a crisp "bang" sound. The lamp oil splashed everywhere and instantly ignited the scattered papers on the ground.

"It's on fire! Someone come! Someone come quickly!" Mo Qinxin screamed, but there was a hint of imperceptible pride in his voice.

I immediately understood that she had done all this on purpose! She had deliberately created a commotion to attract the guards, and then she wanted to trap us here!

"Oh no, let's go!" Zhan Yu whispered, his face terribly gloomy.

However, it was too late. The sound of hurried footsteps came from the stairs, accompanied by the guards' shouts: "What's going on? Where's the fire?"

Mo Qinxin looked at us, a sinister smile on his lips. "Zhanyu, why are you in the library? Could it be..." The fire grew bigger and bigger, and the smoke billowed, choking me to tears. Mo Qinxin took the opportunity to point at us and screamed, "Come on! Catch them! They stole the family's property and tried to set fire to the library!"

The guards looked at each other, clearly skeptical of Mo Qinxin's words. After all, Zhan Yu and I are the legitimate heirs of the Zhan family, while Mo Qinxin is only my mother-in-law's confidant. Logically, she has no right to interfere in family affairs.

"Aunt Mo, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want." I suppressed a cough and said coldly, "Zhan Yu and I are here to investigate family affairs. How did it become stealing? Do you have any evidence?"

"Evidence? Do you still need evidence?" Mo Qinxin sneered, pointing at the books and documents scattered on the ground. "You're hiding here furtively. What else can you say but guilty conscience? Moreover, you're holding the family's confidential documents. Isn't this the best evidence?"

Her words were venomous, each one piercing the heart, causing the guards' expressions to darken. I silently cursed Mo Qinxin's cunning. She was trying to turn the tables and put us to death.

"Everyone, please listen to me." Lawyer Fang, who had been silent until then, suddenly spoke up. He calmly pulled a document from his briefcase and handed it to the leading guard. "This is a family document I found in the ancestral temple. It clearly states that the head of the Zhan family has the right to investigate any family affairs, and no one is allowed to obstruct it."

The guard took the document and examined it carefully, his brow furrowed, as if weighing the pros and cons. Seeing this, Mo's confidant's expression changed slightly, but she quickly regained her composure. She pointed at Lawyer Fang's nose and shrieked, "Who are you? What qualifications do you have to meddle in the affairs of the Zhan family? I think you're also an accomplice. Arrest them all!"

"Let's see who dares!" Zhan Yu stepped forward, protecting me behind him, and swept his sharp eyes over everyone, "I am the head of the Zhan family. It is not your turn as an outsider to point fingers here!"

His voice was deep and commanding, carrying an undeniable aura that shocked everyone present. Even the usually arrogant and domineering Mo Hexin couldn't help but take a half step back, a hint of fear in his eyes.

However, she quickly calmed down and sneered, "Zhan Yu, don't think you can do whatever you want just because you're the head of the family! I'm telling you, no one can touch the things in the library without the old lady's permission!"

Just then, my eyes stumbled upon an ancient painting on the wall. It was a landscape painting, simple in style and profound in meaning. My heart skipped a beat, and I suddenly remembered what my grandfather had said: our ancestors were great fans of calligraphy and painting, and their library contained many precious works of art.

Is it...

I quickly walked over to the ancient painting, carefully examining every detail. Sure enough, in the lower right corner, I spotted a subtle mark. I reached out and gently pressed it, and with a soft click, the painting shifted to the side, revealing a hidden compartment.

"Found it!" I was delighted and quickly turned to look at Zhan Yu, but found that Mo Qinxin was also staring at the secret compartment, with greed flashing in his eyes.

"You..." Before she finished her words, she suddenly rushed towards the secret compartment...

The thick smoke stung my eyes, but I couldn't take my eyes off him as Mo Qinxin rushed towards the secret compartment. She roughly pushed the ancient painting aside, the greed in her eyes almost overflowing.

"Stop!" I shouted and rushed over to stop her.

Mo Qinxin was already prepared. She pushed me back, causing me to stumble a few steps. Zhan Yu quickly supported me and shouted angrily, "Mo Qinxin, how dare you! How dare you lay a hand on my wife!"

"Get out of here!" Mo Qinxin had completely lost her mind at this moment. She shouted frantically, "Everything in here is mine! No one can steal it from me!"

As she spoke, she reached out to pull something out of the secret compartment. However, as soon as her hand touched the edge of the compartment, it triggered the mechanism. With a "click", the compartment suddenly sank, revealing a dark hole.

"Not good!" I was shocked and thought to myself that this is not good.

Sure enough, before I could react, Mo Qinxin let out a scream and fell into the sinking secret compartment.

"Aunt Mo!" I exclaimed and quickly ran to the cave entrance and looked down. I saw Mo Qinxin fell to the bottom of the cave, groaning in pain.

This secret compartment was obviously a secret room leading to the underground. The hole was very deep and I couldn't see the situation below. I was extremely anxious and hurriedly said to Zhan Yu, "Hurry, go save them!"

Zhan Yu didn't think twice and immediately jumped into the hole. I followed him and jumped in too.

The room was pitch black, I couldn't see my hand in front of me. I groped the wall and stumbled forward.

"Zhan Yu? Where are you?" I shouted loudly, my voice echoed in the secret room, but there was no response.

I was getting more and more panicked, and I could only bite the bullet and continue groping forward.

I don't know how long it took, but finally a faint light appeared before my eyes. I was delighted and quickly quickened my pace, running towards the light.

After passing through a long and narrow passage, the view suddenly opens up.

This is a spacious underground secret room with oil lamps lit on the walls, illuminating the entire room.

Zhan Yu was standing in the center of the secret room. Opposite him, Mo Qinxin was slumped on the ground, his face pale and still in shock.

At Zhan Yu's feet, there were some scattered documents and books, which seemed to have fallen from Mo Qinxin.

I quickly ran to Zhan Yu and asked anxiously, "Are you okay? How is Aunt Mo?"

Zhan Yu shook his head, motioning me to rest assured, then bent down to pick up the document on the ground and read it carefully.

Only then did I notice that these documents and books were very old, with yellowed paper and blurred handwriting, and they looked like antiques from a long time ago.

"What is this?" I asked curiously.

Zhan Yu did not answer, but frowned and flipped through the documents in his hand with a serious expression.

After a while, he suddenly raised his head, looked at me with burning eyes, and said in a deep voice: "I think... I found what we are looking for."