The peasant girl has a private space, and her husband is handsome.

Finally, it was time to search the second wife's family.

The second room also consists of three bright and spacious rooms.

Just like the main room, we slept on wooden beds with mattresses and blankets.

Only the third room had no bed; instead, it was a bed made of stacked stones with straw as a mattress. If you turned over at night, the straw would rustle.

In comparison, Su Qianqian really didn't understand why the old lady was so cruel and stingy towards the third branch of the family.

My father is rather delicate-looking, and doesn't seem to resemble either of the eldest or second eldest sons of the Su family.

But she secretly asked the old people in the village, and they all said that her father was the biological son of the Su family.

No one knows exactly what happened, but Su Qianqian felt that her father couldn't possibly be her grandmother's biological son. No one would mistreat their own son like that.

Su Qianqian was tired and too lazy to bother anymore. She went into the first room of the second house, lifted the mattress on the bed, and said loudly, "Oh, there's silver here too."

The second son's wife was completely bewildered. How could this be? How could there be silver in the second son's house?

She never stole the old lady's money, and the other members of the second branch of the family were all timid and wouldn't dare to steal money even if they had a hundred lives.

"It wasn't me, it must have been that brat Qianqian who framed me. She deliberately hid the silver in my room under the guise of searching things—"

Su Qianqian showed her empty hands. "Second Aunt, don't forget, I had Er Ya search me before I entered the house, and I didn't bring anything with me. How could I possibly frame you?"

No one would have guessed that she had a secret space.

Er Ya also said, "Qian Meimei entered the house empty-handed, so she had no chance to frame him."

The old lady looked at her son with a face full of disappointment, poking her second son's daughter-in-law's forehead with her hand, too angry to even speak.

"Second son's wife, do you think I'm stupid? Although I hate that brat from the third wife's side, she was searched before entering the house and didn't bring anything. How could she frame the second wife's side?"

The second son's wife quickly changed her tune, saying to the old lady, "Mother, it's also possible that the eldest son's family framed us—"

The old lady was heartbroken. She usually doted on her first and second wives, but she never expected that they would both be eyeing her savings for her funeral. Not only did they covet it, but they also stole it, leaving her with not a single penny.

That money is saved for her medical treatment when she gets old; no one can take it away.

People get sick easily when they get old, and if they don't have money for treatment, they might die from the illness. She didn't want to die.

"Eldest son's wife and second son's wife, you two kneel in the yard and don't go back to your rooms to sleep tonight. You'll stay kneeling until tomorrow morning."

As for her eldest and second sons, as well as her grandchildren, the old lady couldn't bear to punish them.

The old lady punished the first and second wives, but she didn't forget the third wife either.

After she hid the silver again, she said to Su Bing, "Go and chop a few more bundles of firewood. Sell them in town tomorrow, and use the money to buy me some jujube cakes to calm my nerves."

Su Bing obediently turned around and left.

Su Qianqian stopped her father at the gate: "Dad, you can't go. You're so tired from working that your back is bent over. Can't you take a break?"

The sun has already set, and you're still going to chop wood? Are you planning to offer yourself as food for jackals and tigers?

The simple-minded father still listened to his daughter. "Okay, Dad will listen to our Qianqian. Dad won't go."

Thinking that his daughter said his back was bent, he wondered if she was disgusted by him? That would never do.

Su Bing quickly stood up straighter, even straighter, leaning against a bald tree to correct his posture, not wanting to be a father disliked by his own daughter.

Su Qianqian looked towards the village entrance; her brother, Su Ping'an, had gone to the county town to sell firewood and hadn't returned yet.

My silly and honest brother didn't even think to secretly buy some food to fill his stomach. I wonder if he'll faint from hunger on the way.

Just then, my brother came back.

Su Ping'an's steps were unsteady, clearly indicating that he was both tired and hungry.

Su Qianqian was helpless. The three family members were all incredibly stupid and had no spirit of resistance whatsoever. They desperately needed to be saved.

Especially the eldest brother, who, despite his limp, works from morning till night and can't stop at all.

Su Ping'an was carrying a small cloth bag. As soon as he entered the fenced courtyard, the old lady snatched the bag from his hand.

"Why did you only buy so little food? That cripple is really useless."

The old woman weighed the cloth bag in her hand and continued to complain, "This is at most half a pound of mixed grains. You cripple, you must have chopped too little firewood and been lazy, so you only exchanged this little bit of mixed grains."

Su Ping'an explained honestly, "Grandma, there's a famine everywhere, and the price of grain has gone up, so two big bundles of firewood only got us a little over half a pound of grain."

Su Qianqian couldn't help but roll her eyes. It was already quite impressive that the third branch of the family could earn half a pound of mixed grains. The first and second branches of the family hadn't earned a single grain of rice and were just eating rice for free every day.

The old lady's heart was practically set on the Pacific Ocean.

"Grandma, half a pound of grain is only worth a dozen or so coins. It's not worth getting so worked up. But you have over a hundred taels of silver in your hands. Hurry back to your room and keep an eye on it. Make sure you don't lose it again."

She returned the money to the old lady today in order to frame the first and second wives, exacerbate the internal conflicts within the Su family, and pave the way for the future division of the family property. She will take it back later.

The dowry given to the Gu family must not be given to this wicked old woman.

The old lady got angry when the topic of the lost silver came up, and she remembered the theft of silver by the eldest and second wives.

You can guard against anything, but it's hard to guard against a thief within your own family.

The first and second wives are really a handful.

From now on, the first and second wives can no longer be allowed to enter her room at will.

The old woman was upset and angrily raised her cane, hitting her two daughters-in-law kneeling in the yard a few more times.

None of them are easy to deal with. I have to go back inside and guard them properly. We can't let so much silver be stolen again.

Grandma Su didn't care whether her grandson was hungry or not, and simply carried the mixed grains back to her own room.

No one can steal her food, and no one can steal her money.

Su Qianqian saw her older brother limp to the bare elm tree, sit down, close his eyes, and collapse into a puddle of mud from exhaustion. She sighed inwardly at his lack of ambition.

"Brother, a sesame seed cake costs one coin. Can't you buy one for yourself?"

Su Ping'an struggled to get up from the stool and waved to his younger sister and brother, calling them to go back to the woodshed together.

As soon as I entered the woodshed, I closed the door.

Then he took out an oil paper package from his pocket, carefully opened it, and inside was a golden-yellow sesame seed cake.

He broke a sesame seed cake in two and handed it to his younger sister and brother, saying, "I'm not stupid. I bought a sesame seed cake for you and Xiaobao."

Su Qianqian felt a stinging sensation in her nose, and her vision blurred.

This older brother is such a fool. He's starving to death himself, but all he thinks about is his younger sister and brother.

This is what it feels like to be poor but happy!

I'm so annoying.

Su Qianqian took out an egg from her spatial storage, peeled off the shell, and stuffed it directly into her older brother's mouth, giving him no chance to refuse.

After Su Pingan swallowed one egg, they stuffed another one into his mouth.

They also took out a bag of the pastries that had been taken from the old lady's cupboard and gave them to Su Pingan and Xiao Bao.

The Meng family mansion in Qinghe County was more lively than usual.

Meng Baozhu has recovered and happily went to the storeroom to select many gifts, including jewelry and ornaments.

Although Meng Baozhu's father, Meng Zilang, was a merchant, he also came from the Meng family of the capital. The Meng family of the capital was one of the five great families of the Great Qi Dynasty, with deep roots and a powerful clan.

Meng Zilang disliked being an official and preferred doing business. Not wanting his wife to be mistreated by the elders of the Meng family, and also liking the beautiful scenery of Qinghe County, he decided to stay there.

So there are still quite a few good things in the warehouse.

Meng Baozhu selected a bunch of ornate items and, with two maids, had just left the storeroom when she ran into Wang Mama.

"Aunt Wang, will Sister Su like these gifts?"

Madam Wang felt that, judging from Miss Su's attire, it would be more practical to send some food and money, but she didn't want to spoil the young lady's mood for choosing a gift.

The young lady is kind-hearted and simply wants to choose the best gift for Miss Su from the bottom of her heart.

"Don't worry, Miss, Miss Su will definitely like the gift you chose. However, Young Master has sent a letter saying that he is already in Qinghe County and should be arriving at the Meng residence soon."

The young master that Madam Wang mentioned was Gong Yu, the heir of the Marquis of Guiping's mansion. He was truly a gentleman of unparalleled beauty, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that his appearance was one in a million.

Meng Baozhu's mother was Gong Yu's aunt.

Although the two families lived far apart, they had a very good relationship. Gong Yu was the only son in his family and had no sisters, so he treated his cousin Meng Baozhu as his own sister.

Gong Yu is twenty-two years old this year. Despite his young age, he is already serving His Majesty as the Inspector General of Jiangnan, overseeing local officials in various parts of Jiangnan.

This is not only because of his childhood friendship with His Majesty, but also because of his outstanding abilities.

On this journey, I passed by Qinghe County and heard that a capable person had appeared there, who had killed Li Laoda, a major criminal of the imperial court known as the Deadly Flying Knife. So I couldn't help but want to come and see for myself.

The deadly flying knife Li was a wanted criminal who had been on the imperial court's wanted list for more than ten years, ranking first on the wanted list. Yet he was killed in Qinghe County, which shows that Qinghe County produced a very remarkable talent.