The cousin's family is extremely wealthy; she deserves to be a concubine.

Even if it was a marriage alliance between two families, why did this rare book have to wait so many years before being sent to the Meng family as part of their dowry?

What are the Meng family after?

Could it be that the Meng family also has something to hide in this book?

Hua Sirong pulled out the few pages that Jun had written earlier, and looked at each one filled with notes, falling into deep thought.

As the note stated, this book is of almost no value.

After discovering the secret of the book, she immediately called for Wang Mama and, taking advantage of the opportunity to leave the mansion, went to inquire about some of its contents for her.

Of course, Wang Mama was just a liaison to pass on information; the one who actually helped Hua Sirong was the shopkeeper of the West Market.

Such confidential matters should not have been entrusted to the manager, with whom I have had little contact.

However, after she gave the two gold shops to the Shen family, she received a letter from Manager Ning of Xishan, who said that she could absolutely trust the manager of the shops in the west of the city.

Hua Sirong trusts her father, and therefore trusts Manager Ning.

Because she trusted Manager Ning, she also trusted the people Manager Ning trusted.

However, being cautious by nature, she didn't reveal everything. Instead, she selected a few inconspicuous people and asked the shopkeeper of the West Market to test the waters first.

Information was collected quickly, but the results were not satisfactory.

Hua Sirong also felt like her trump card had been stolen.

Later, to confirm her suspicions, she encouraged Chunyan to sneak out of the mansion with a maid she was on good terms with, and to inquire about the secrets written on the papers.

Because Chunyan doesn't need to dig deep, she only needs to know the general situation of the parties involved or their families, which are things that everyone in the capital knows, so it doesn't attract attention.

But Hua Sirong was utterly disappointed with the book she was holding.

At one point, she considered destroying it.

If it weren't for Jiang Huaiji's theft of the book, it would probably have been burned to ashes long ago.

Hua Sirong found a piece of Xuan paper and listed out the possible guesses one by one on it.

She first wrote a line: the original is in the palace, and the copy is in the Marquis's residence.

That explains why the few pages of thin paper she deciphered were worthless.

But why did the old Marquis leave behind a copy for the Marquis's residence?

Is this a deliberate deception to lure people in?

So, is the Meng family the fish that the old Marquis caught? But what is his purpose?

On his deathbed, even his own son, Lord He, was unaware of the truth!

It's so weird.

Hua Sirong wrote another line on the paper: "The original is in the Marquis's residence, and the copy is in the Imperial Palace."

Upon seeing this line of text, Hua Sirong suddenly widened her eyes. She put down her brush, picked up the book, and stared into thought as she looked at the words on it.

Suddenly, a bold guess flashed through her mind...

Perhaps the old Marquis deceived everyone.

Even the late emperor was no exception.

The text she deciphered came from the original text of the book.

Therefore, as long as the content of the copy and the unique copy are the same, the information they can decipher is also the same.

So, does it matter whether what is handed to those in power is a copy or a unique copy?

As long as the other party can obtain the information he wants, that's fine.

Perhaps the old Marquis had the same idea, so he used a copy to fool the late emperor, while the real, unique copy actually remained in the Marquis's residence.

Unfortunately, due to Meng Silang and Xiangcao's shady dealings, the original manuscript ended up in the hands of Hua Sirong.

But what's the reason?

If the marriage agreement between the He and Meng families continues, this book will follow the second daughter to marry into the Meng family after the new year. What is Lord He after?

There's no point in dwelling on things you can't understand.

Hua Sirong decided to think about it later.

She closed the book again and hid it on the bookshelf.

However, those few pages of handwritten paper, which she had previously kept in a book and preserved very well, were now taken out separately and carried with her.

After she returned to her room, she took out the items from her bosom and threw them into the charcoal brazier, waiting for them to turn to ashes.

Fortunately, she didn't wake up Wang's mother. Hua Sirong climbed back onto the already cold bed with a relieved expression, lay down, and fell asleep.

-----

As the year draws to a close, Hua Sirong thought she could smoothly transition into the new year.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. Somehow, news of He Zhizhang keeping a mistress reached Yuan Tiaotiao's ears.

Yuan Tiaotiao is not a magnanimous person, but she is good at assessing situations.

Before Shen could react, she went ahead to the outer residence that He Zhizhang had prepared, intending to bring the person back to the mansion.

It's better than having the men never home, making their Mixiangyuan a laughing stock in front of outsiders.

He Zhizhang's mistress was not a pure person to begin with. Her nickname was Feiyan. After He Zhizhang redeemed her, she changed her name to Feihua.

So be it, it's not a flower; Feiyan didn't care.

Anyway, none of them are her original names.

Fei Hua was incredibly fortunate to be able to serve only one man, a handsome young man at that.

As for the idea of ​​following He Zhizhang into the mansion as a concubine, Fei Hua had never considered it.

She had never considered this before bearing children for He Zhizhang.

However, with the New Year just around the corner, they knew that their benefactor would be very busy during this time and would not be coming to the outer residence again.

Fei Hua, feeling somewhat free, took the little girl out for a half-day stroll in the market.

When they returned to the mansion, they found the gate open and an old woman guarding outside.

Fei Hua reacted extremely quickly. She immediately disregarded what she was carrying and ran into the crowd.

But that old woman was no pushover either. Seeing that she was suspicious, she immediately grabbed her and pinned her down.

In an instant, Fei Hua and her servant were brought to Yuan Tiaotiao, who was already waiting in the main room.

The main gate behind them was also closed, keeping all the neighbors who wanted to see the commotion outside.

Although Fei Hua had never experienced a wife catching her husband cheating, she had spent several years in that kind of place and, while she hadn't seen it herself, she had heard a lot about it.

Therefore, even when the old woman slammed her to the ground, she simply knelt obediently and refused to utter a single word.

However, a trickle of water slowly flowed from between the legs of the little maid who served her.

As the sound of the teacup falling onto the coffee table rang out, Fei Hua thought to herself, 'It's here.'

“Raise your head.” Yuan Tiaotiao’s clear voice rang out from the head of the table.

Fei Hua, like a docile kitten, gently raised her head, but dared not look directly at Yuan Tiaotiao.

When Yuan Tiaotiao first looked at this face, she was stunned for a moment.

After a long pause, she finally spoke, "What's your name?"

Fei Hua sensed the atmosphere was a bit awkward, and without thinking, she said her former flower name, "Fei Yan".

Yuan Tiaotiao stared at Feiyan's face for a long time before she came back to her senses when Dujuan coughed beside her.

Yuan Tiaotiao gently stroked her not-so-protruding belly before raising a faint smile and saying, "I am the wife of the heir of the Muqing Marquis's mansion."

"You also serve my young master. It's unreasonable for a beautiful young lady like you to be with him and not even get a proper title."

Feiyan (now called Feiyan) was trembling with fear and almost prostrated herself at Yuan Tiaotiao's feet, not daring to utter a sound.