Being a second wife is difficult

As Granny Ding stepped across the threshold, a sliver of hope remained in her heart.

She saw the old lady sitting at the head of the table, Jiang Wan sitting on a chair next to her, and there was no one else in the room. Granny Gui had also retreated outside the curtain.

The commotion wasn't large, and it didn't seem like a major conflict was about to erupt. She thought that perhaps Jiang Wan had genuinely spoken up for her in front of the old lady, and that the old lady, being sentimental, wanted to keep the matter quiet and discuss it privately.

She stepped forward and bowed respectfully: "This old servant greets the old lady and the madam."

But this idea was quickly shattered.

The old woman stared at her for a long time, but did not tell her to get up. Finally, she only uttered two words: "Kneel down."

Ding Mama's knees buckled, and she knelt down on the ground with a thud.

The cracking sound was painful even to her own ears, but what truly chilled her to the bone was the old lady's attitude towards her.

She knelt there, her mind racing, and all her hopes shattered at that moment.

She wasn't stupid. The old lady's attitude—not even bothering to call her by her name—clearly meant that today's reconciliation wasn't what she had imagined, but rather a final reckoning.

"This old servant..." she began, trying to say something conciliatory to smooth things over, but before she could finish, the old lady interrupted her.

The old lady's voice wasn't loud, but it felt like a stone, sinking heavily into Granny Ding's heart: "I haven't even let you speak yet."

The room fell silent for a moment. Jiang Wan sat down next to the old lady, her gaze fixed on Granny Ding, without saying a word.

Before Ding Mama could react, the old lady continued, "Ding Mama, you've been with me for so many years, and I've always thought you were a person who knew your place. But these past few days, I've heard about an old story, come across a name, and also learned some good news."

She paused, her gaze falling on Granny Ding's lowered head. "Do you remember Lianxin, that girl?"

Granny Ding was taken aback.

She hadn't expected the old lady to mention a name. From the moment she knelt down until now, countless thoughts had crossed her mind, wondering if the old lady might ask about the account books, personnel transfers, or even the Fang family.

She hadn't heard anyone call her Lianxin for a long time, and it even felt a little unfamiliar. After all, there were too many maids coming and going in the mansion, and she had accumulated a thick stack of personnel records. A cleaning maid who had been transferred in three years ago shouldn't have left any impression on her.

But this name is special because that girl rose through the ranks too quickly.

Lianxin was transferred to Mrs. Gu's courtyard three years ago as a cleaning maid, and within two months she became Mrs. Gu's personal maid.

At the time, she thought this girl was capable and could win the master's favor, but she was unlucky. Less than three months after she was transferred there, the master passed away.

After a moment's pause, Granny Ding spoke, her voice slightly hoarse and tentative: "Is the old lady asking about... the maid named Lianxin from the late Madam's courtyard?"

Seeing the old lady nod, she continued, "This old servant remembers this person. That maid was transferred to Madam Gu's courtyard to do odd jobs, but Madam Gu really valued her and she rose very quickly. At the time, this old servant thought she was a person with great potential, but later..."

The old woman continued speaking, her tone flat, as if she were talking about something that didn't concern her much: "She died later, less than half a year after returning to her hometown of Qingzhou. They said she died of a sudden illness."

Granny Ding was taken aback, as if she hadn't expected the old lady to say that.

She opened her mouth, then stammered, "This old servant...this old servant knows nothing about this. After she left the manor, this old servant hasn't paid any attention to anything related to her."

The old lady looked at her but didn't reply. Instead, she turned to Jiang Wan and said, "Give her a look at the booklet."

Jiang Wan opened the ledger on the table and pushed it in front of Granny Ding. Turning to the page with the folded corner, the old lady's voice was not loud, but every word was clear. She asked, "Does the ledger record that Lianxin was someone you transferred into Madam Gu's courtyard?"

Granny Ding glanced at the booklet, then looked up at the old lady, her lips moving as if she were thinking about the most appropriate way to phrase it.

"It's true that this old servant handled it." She paused for a moment. "That girl is clever. When she was transferred here, she said she wanted to find a job in the mansion. This old servant saw that she was quite capable, so I assigned her to do some odd jobs in Madam Gu's courtyard. I didn't expect that she would be favored by Madam Gu and rise so quickly."

"That's all?" The old lady finally looked up at her.

Granny Ding felt a chill run down her spine from that gaze and quickly kowtowed: "That's all, Madam. This old servant has said everything I need to say. I really don't know anything else."

The old lady paused for a moment, then spoke again: "The others."

The two words were spoken in a flat tone, yet they made the hairs on the back of Granny Ding's neck stand on end.

Jiang Wan spoke up at the right moment, her tone gentler than the old lady's: "Granny Ding, I have a question."

"Why did you transfer Lianxin to Mrs. Gu's room back then? There are so many courtyards in the mansion, did you assign them randomly, or was there some other reason?"

She didn't finish her sentence, but everyone present understood what she meant.

She was asking Granny Ding whether transferring Lianxin to Madam Gu's room was intentional or just a random decision.

Everyone in the manor knows that Madam Gu's courtyard is a good place. The maids in her room are more respectable than those in the other courtyards. For a cleaning maid to enter such a place, either the master must have specifically requested her, or someone must have gone to great lengths to get her in.

If Granny Ding didn't gain anything from this, it's simply unreasonable for her to casually put a newly arrived maid into Madam Gu's room.

Jiang Wan wasn't asking about Lianxin; she was asking what Ding Mama had actually received at the time.

Ding Mama's heart skipped a beat.

She knelt on the ground, her fingers unconsciously clenching the fabric on her knees.

Lianxin is a person who is not arranged in the usual way.

Ordinary maids follow the household's purchasing process, arriving in batches. She then assigns them to appropriate courtyards based on vacancies and the amount of benefits offered.

But Lianxin didn't get in that way. She first went to the gatekeeper, Granny Zhao, who then sent a message to her through someone, saying that someone wanted to work in the mansion and was willing to pay a high price.

Ding Mama hesitated at the time, but seeing that the visitor was generous, she thought that this person was only interested in the wealth and reputation of the Earl's Mansion. She could simply take the money and give this person a cleaning maid position. It wouldn't be a big deal to put him in the Earl's Mansion. It wouldn't have any impact anyway.

Later, after Lianxin entered the mansion, the person who claimed to be her mother sent another sum of money, saying that she had heard that Madam Gu in the mansion had a good temperament and that her courtyard was a respectable place. She wanted to ask Granny Ding to transfer Lianxin to Madam Gu's courtyard to work.

At the time, Granny Ding thought that this family wanted to curry favor with Madam Gu and simply wanted to save face, so she didn't think much of it. She was also cautious at the time, only saying that she would transfer the person to Madam Gu's courtyard, without promising that he would definitely be able to serve her closely.

She's just a cleaning maid; it doesn't matter which courtyard she goes into.

In addition, the money was generous, so she agreed to assign Lianxin to do odd jobs in Madam Gu's courtyard. However, she did not expect that after the girl entered Madam Gu's courtyard, she would be favored by Madam Gu and be promoted to a first-class maid in less than two months.

While pondering these matters, Granny Ding dared not linger on her lips for too long. With her head bowed, she replied, "Old Madam, Madam, this old servant did indeed... did indeed receive some benefits before transferring Lianxin to Madam Gu's courtyard. This old servant was greedy for a moment, thinking that she was just a cleaning maid and wouldn't cause any trouble. This old servant knows her mistake."

As she spoke, Granny Ding kowtowed several more times.

Jiang Wan didn't respond to her question, but instead spoke slowly and deliberately: "Granny Ding, I'm afraid you haven't said everything you said."

"I've been making inquiries these past few days, and it seems that Lianxin didn't enter the household through the proper purchasing channels, right? The household buys a batch of maids from outside every now and then, but Lianxin isn't one of those batches."

"She first went to Granny Zhao, the gatekeeper, and bypassed the purchasing procedures before entering the mansion. Granny Zhao told me that you probably already knew about this, so why didn't you mention it?"

Upon hearing this, Ding Mama broke out in a cold sweat.

She originally thought that by admitting to "accepting the bribe," she could put an end to this old matter, but she didn't expect that Jiang Wan would even find out how she got in.

She knelt on the ground, wanting to say something in her defense, but her throat felt blocked by something, and she couldn't utter a single word.

Jiang Wan didn't wait for her reply and continued, "If you don't believe what I'm saying, Granny Zhao happens to be on duty at the gate today. Why don't you call her over and ask her face to face? She won't keep this a secret for you."

Upon hearing this, Granny Ding knew she could no longer hide the truth, and any sliver of hope she had was completely shattered.

She quickly kowtowed, her forehead hitting the floor tiles, her voice trembling: "This old servant...this old servant did indeed receive a bribe from Lianxin's mother, which is why Granny Zhao brought her into the mansion from outside."

"At the time, I thought she was just a little girl, and it wouldn't be a big deal for her to come to the manor as a servant. She was also clever and hardworking, so I didn't think much of it. I was bewitched, I deserve to die, Madam, Madam, I was wrong..."

After hearing her plea for mercy, the old lady frowned almost imperceptibly. She didn't reply immediately, and the room was quiet for a while. Even Ding Mama's gasps sounded particularly jarring.

After a long silence, the old lady suddenly asked out of the blue, "Granny Ding, how many years have you been with me?"

Ding Mama stiffened, and after a long while, she spoke: "Reporting to the old lady, I entered the manor at the age of nine and started as a maid at the very bottom. I am strong-willed and unwilling to spend my whole life at the bottom, so I climbed up step by step and finally made it."

"When the old lady married into the Earl's Mansion, she was in a hurry and did not bring her own personal maid with her. So the mansion selected a few maids from the existing ones and sent them to work in the old lady's courtyard."

"That's when I was assigned to the old lady's side. Along with Granny Liu, Granny Zhou, and a few others, I became the old lady's personal maid. Later, I accompanied the old lady through all the ups and downs over the years. It's been thirty-four years now."

"Thirty-four years," the old lady sighed. "You've been with me since you were nine, and I've believed you for thirty-four years."

"You embezzle some money and manipulate personnel matters, sending people to different places. I've turned a blind eye to all of this, thinking that you've been with me for half your life and you won't cause any major trouble. Even if you embezzle some money, it won't cause any disaster for the Earl's mansion."

She paused, her gaze suddenly sharpening: "But do you know that Lianxin killed the Gu family?"