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

When my fingertips touched the bottom of the incense burner, a strange sticky feeling made my heart tighten.

I calmly withdrew my hand and looked carefully, and found that there seemed to be something filling the carved patterns on the bottom of the incense burner.

I scratched it gently with my fingernails and picked out a trace of dark red powder.

This color, this touch... I have a bad feeling in my heart.

"Mr. Xu, please take a look at this incense burner." I handed the incense burner to Mr. Xu, the priest, as calmly as possible.

Old Priest Xu took the incense burner, looked at it carefully for a moment, and his expression became solemn.

"This is... cinnabar mixed with some kind of spice. When burned, it produces a drowsy gas."

I gasped. It seemed my hunch was right. Someone wanted to tamper with the sacrifice!

Han family!

I can't think of anyone else who would do this except them.

I clenched my fists, my nails digging deep into my flesh.

"Madam, this matter is of great importance. We must report it to the head of the family as soon as possible." Old Priest Xu looked worried.

I nodded, forcing myself to calm down. "Don't alert them yet. Let's continue checking the other items."

During the subsequent inspection, we found the same dark red powder in several candles.

It seems that the other party's goal is not just to disrupt the sacrifice.

When I returned to the Zhan family, I immediately instructed the maid Luo to put away the incense burner and candles that had problems, and prepare to discuss it after Zhan Yu came back.

But before I could catch my breath, my mother-in-law came over angrily.

"What's wrong with these sacrificial costumes you prepared? They are too fancy and not in line with tradition at all! Do you want to make the Zhan family a laughing stock of the entire family?" The mother-in-law's sharp voice echoed in the hall, attracting the attention of many servants.

My face felt hot, as if I had been slapped.

I took a deep breath, trying to suppress the anger in my heart. "Mother, I drew these clothes based on records in ancient books..."

"Ancient books? What ancient books? I think you are just trying to be different! Change it immediately! The sacrifice is about to begin, and you still make such a mistake. You are really more likely to cause trouble than to help!" My mother-in-law interrupted me mercilessly, her tone extremely harsh.

I bit my lips tightly, trying to hold back the tears that were about to burst out.

Time is running out, I must resolve this matter as soon as possible and never let the Han family's conspiracy succeed!

I turned around and was about to tell maid Luo to prepare new clothes, but I heard a familiar voice... "Mother, these clothes are..." Zhan Yu appeared in the hall at some point.

Zhan Yu walked over to me, gently held my hand, and gave me a reassuring look.

"Mother, these costumes were designed based on the ancient records provided by the old priest Xu. It's not my daughter-in-law's attempt to be unconventional." His tone was gentle, but with unquestionable firmness.

My mother-in-law was obviously stunned. She didn't expect Zhan Yu to suddenly appear and speak for me.

She opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she just snorted coldly and walked away.

I looked at Zhan Yu gratefully, and he gave me a gentle smile, as if to say, "Don't worry, I'm here."

The crisis was temporarily resolved, and I immediately pulled Zhan Yu back to the room and told him about the incense burner and candles.

After hearing this, Zhan Yu's expression became serious.

"The Han family is so audacious! It seems they want to use this sacrifice as an opportunity to completely overthrow us."

"That's right, we must find a way to stop them as soon as possible." I said anxiously.

Zhan Yu pondered for a moment, and a gleam of light flashed in his eyes.

"Don't worry, I have a plan." He whispered his plan in my ear.

After listening to this, I felt relieved. Zhan Yu's plan was bold yet thorough. As long as it was implemented properly, the Han family would be wiped out.

In order to check every detail of the sacrificial process and ensure that everything is foolproof, I came to the ancient sacrificial heritage site of the Zhan family.

Records and documents of sacrifices from past dynasties are stored here, and the air is filled with an ancient and mysterious atmosphere.

I was carefully flipping through the yellowed scrolls when suddenly a loud noise broke the silence.

Someone from the Han family!

I looked up and saw Han Li, the head of the Han family, walking into view with a few followers.

They were all arrogant, with disdain and provocation in their eyes.

"Hey, isn't this Madam Zhan? What? Are you secretly learning the sacrificial procedures here? Are you afraid of making a fool of yourself during the sacrifice?" Han Li said sarcastically, and his followers also laughed at him.

I looked at them coldly, anger welling up in my heart. "Master Han, this doesn't seem like the right place for you."

"What? I can't come to the Zhan family's inheritance site?" Han Li looked at me provocatively, "I heard that Young Madam Zhan is proficient in ancient books, why don't we have a competition to see who knows the sacrificial process better?" A sinister smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and a vicious light flashed in his eyes.

I know he is here to cause trouble on purpose.

I took a deep breath and was about to fight back...

"Han Li, what are you doing!" A majestic voice suddenly sounded.

The appearance of the Qin family elders made the originally arrogant Han Li instantly like a deflated ball.

The arrogance on his face disappeared completely, replaced by a hint of panic and fear.

"Qin... Elder Qin, I... I just came to take a look." He explained stutteringly, his eyes flickering, not daring to look directly into Elder Qin's majestic gaze.

His followers also fell silent, and the laughter from before disappeared without a trace, as if it had never appeared.

They lowered their heads, wishing they could find a crack in the ground to crawl into, for fear of being noticed by Elder Qin.

Elder Qin snorted coldly, his sharp eyes sweeping over Han Li and his followers behind him. His tone was filled with a thinly veiled warning: "The sacrificial heritage site is not a place for you to make noise as you please. Han Li, as the head of the Han family, you should put the rules first! If you do it again, I will not let you off lightly!"

Han Li's face turned pale as he nodded repeatedly in agreement, not daring to say another word. He left dejectedly with his followers.

Looking at their fleeing backs, I couldn't help but feel a sense of relief.

After the crisis was resolved, I continued to study the scroll, hoping to find more details about the sacrifice.

At this time, the old priest Xu came over. He stroked his long beard and said to me kindly, "Young Madam, the matter of sacrifice is of great significance and cannot be sloppy in the slightest."

Seeing how seriously I was studying, he nodded with satisfaction, and then began to explain in detail some tips on sacrifices, such as how to adjust the time of sacrifices according to the astrology, how to use specific spells to enhance the effect of sacrifices, and how to deal with emergencies, etc.

Master Xu’s explanation was easy to understand and gave me a deeper understanding of sacrifice and made me more confident.

I feel well prepared for any possible conspiracy.

After putting the scroll away, I walked out of the inheritance site and took a deep breath. Night had already fallen, and the Zhan family courtyard was brightly lit. In the distance, I saw a furtive figure...

Night fell on the Zhan family's home. The lights in the courtyard were like swaying ghost lights, stretching the shadows of the trees into long shadows.

I took a deep breath and prepared to go back to my room to rest, but I inadvertently caught a glimpse of a sneaky figure passing by.

I recognized that figure. It was Han Li's cousin, Han Tao.

He sneaked into a remote courtyard, which was the place where the Zhan family had secret gatherings and few people went there.

An uneasy premonition came over me.

Han Li suffered a setback in front of Elder Qin during the day, and there was no way he would just give up.

He chose to hold a secret gathering at this time, he must be plotting something.

I hesitated for a moment and decided to follow quietly to see what was going on.

I walked lightly, following the shadows in the corner, trying not to make any noise.

The door of the courtyard was ajar. I carefully pushed it open a crack. In the dim light, I saw a lot of people gathered inside. In addition to Han Tao, there were several members of the Han family, and even several members of the Zhan family's branch.

They sat around a round table in a solemn atmosphere, with a sinister look on everyone's face.

"Elder Qin is not easy to deal with," a deep voice sounded. I recognized it as Han Tao. "We need to come up with a foolproof plan."

"Hmph, what about Elder Qin? Can he really cover up everything?" Another shrill voice retorted, "As long as we..."

I didn't hear the rest of the conversation because at that moment, a rough voice interrupted them: "Is everyone here? Let's get started."

My heart skipped a beat. This voice was very familiar to me. It was Zhan Tiancheng, the elder of the side branch of the Zhan family.

He has always been dissatisfied with Zhan Yu inheriting the position of head of the family. Could it be that... he is colluding with the Han family?

I didn't dare stay any longer, so I turned around and left quietly.

The collusion between the Han family and some members of the Zhan family's side branches means that a bigger conspiracy is brewing, and the target of this conspiracy is likely to be tomorrow's sacrificial ceremony.

I must tell Zhan Yu about this as soon as possible.

Walking quickly towards Zhan Yu's study, I saw servant Luo walking in with tea. I grabbed him and said in a low voice, "Quick, go inform the young master. I have something urgent to talk to him about!"