The male supporting character was actually myself.

Forget about this family business. No one will take it from me unless I die!

Now that you have a recipe, you've become selfish.

I'm afraid that in another two years, once you've made more money, you'll become unruly and want this old geezer of mine to die sooner so you can inherit the Xue family business!

Think beautiful!

Keep dreaming...

Master Xue became more and more agitated as he spoke, and soon his words became increasingly incoherent and he even started cursing.

"Young master, don't be angry. Master has been in a bad mood since early this morning." Concubine Yunniang heard the cursing and mustered up her courage to come in and whispered, "Why don't you go back first, and I'll try to persuade Master properly."

The little white cat clung tightly to its host's collar, huddled behind the neck, trembling. "Host, is the old man going crazy?"

What triggered him?

"Just because you didn't tell him the exact recipe for the soap?"

"Madam, has Master been like this since this morning?" Jiang Chen asked in a deep voice.

Meanwhile, Master Xue was pacing back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, sometimes cursing and sometimes muttering to himself.

Yunniang was still young and had never encountered such a situation before. Her voice trembled as she said, "It was still dark when the master suddenly sat up in bed."

I thought he was having a nightmare.

To everyone's surprise, the master put on a coat and sent a maid to fetch the steward of the backyard.

They talked for a while in the front hall.

When the master returned, he looked restless and uneasy.

I asked him, but he wouldn't say anything. Later, he became very agitated and kept pacing back and forth. After breakfast, I went for a walk, and when I came back, I had a gloomy face.

Although I occasionally talk to myself after resting, I haven't had such a strong reaction.

"I don't know why the master suddenly became so angry after seeing the young master!"

"Please take good care of Master, Madam. If anything seems amiss, send someone to fetch me immediately. Tell me right away, no matter when." After giving these instructions, Jiang Chen came out of the room with a solemn expression.

The little white cat quickly jumped onto his shoulder and perched there. "Master host, has the old man suffered some kind of shock and gone insane?"

“No, his Alzheimer’s disease just worsened earlier.” Jiang Chen walked quickly around the corridor to the backyard and explained in a low voice, “It seems that it is very likely that the hint I gave him by the Taoist priest took effect earlier.”

The old man was a shrewd person.

A careful examination will reveal that the trees and the white mist obscuring the view are allusions to Lin Mubai.

In addition, recently, he has been the only one who has gone to great lengths to enter the Xue family mansion, even at the cost of selling himself into slavery.

So after the old man figured it out, he immediately summoned the steward of the backyard for questioning, and then most likely intended to do something detrimental to the protagonist.

The incident happened suddenly, and the script update was meant to adjust the plot, making his condition worse earlier.

In this way, the pursuit of the protagonist will cease; and by exploiting the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease—such as impaired mental function, paranoia, and suspiciousness—one can do things that benefit Lin Mubai.

"Huh?" The little white cat was clearly taken aback by this turn of events, and it took it a while before it reacted and its eyes lit up. "So the old man was very dissatisfied with you just now, could it be that he was provoked by someone?"

"Whether my guess is right or not, we'll find out by asking the steward of the backyard."

The steward in the backyard was busy dealing with a dispute among several servants when he saw the young master approaching and hurriedly bowed.

"I have some questions for you," Jiang Chen said, getting straight to the point.

The other party hurriedly dismissed the servants and respectfully awaited the young master's instructions.

“At dawn this morning, the master did indeed summon me for questioning,” the steward replied truthfully. “The master inquired in detail about Mu Bai’s affairs, since he was the one who arranged his living arrangements and tutoring when he came in as a slave that day.”

I briefly explained it to the old man.

First, there was the matter of Mu Bai's divorce from Madam Lin, and the master asked about the reason.

I answered truthfully: Mu Bai's personality changed drastically; he neglected his wife and children, and even took it upon himself to sell them into slavery. Therefore, his wife no longer wanted to live with him.

Furthermore, his behavior after entering the manor was foolish, disobedient, and unsociable.

Last night, one of the night watchmen told me that Mu Bai was acting a bit strange, hiding in a corner and laughing to himself, which was quite creepy.

That's all.

The master's face turned very bad after hearing this. I thought I was going to get rid of him.

But after thinking about it, the master dismissed me.

Sure enough, my sense of crisis was very accurate!

The little white cat's fur stood on end. "It's likely that when the script started being updated, the old man had already figured out how to deal with the protagonist! Unfortunately, he didn't have time to make a move before the plot took its toll."

"Keep a close eye on Mu Bai and don't let him step out of the backyard." After giving these instructions, Jiang Chen went straight to the study to summon the study manager and the pageboy Han Hong.

“I’ve been watching Mu Bai all day and haven’t dared to leave his side for even a moment!” the study steward said earnestly. “Aside from regular instruction, he hasn’t met with anyone alone.”

Even at lunchtime, he kept his distance from the other servants. I heard that last night Mu Bai was grinning foolishly for a long time, ignoring everyone who tried to talk to him.

The servants were all a little afraid of him.

That's all. I even followed him to the outhouse to make sure he was alone!

Jiang Chen asked with a serious expression, "Which outhouse did he go to? How many times? For how long?"

"It's...it's the one in the northeast corner of the backyard. He went there five times in one day, and except for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea after breakfast and lunch, he came out very quickly the other times."

Han Hong's pupils suddenly contracted. "Master, jump over the wall in the northeast corner of the backyard, go through a bamboo grove, and you'll find Lanfang Garden!"

Jiang Chen realized that something was wrong and asked the study manager to leave first. Han Hong said nervously, "Master, not long after breakfast this morning, the master went to Lanfang Garden."

I stayed there for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

There were flowers and plants all over there with no obstructions, so I didn't rush in.

The old man went to the ancestral hall at noon, and later went to Lan Fong Yuen!

This time, I came out in less than the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, and then stayed in my room without going anywhere else.

"The ancestral hall?" Jiang Chen picked up his teacup, took a sip, slammed it down, and stood up abruptly. "Something terrible has happened!"

Chapter Twenty-Three: I'm sorry, Young Master Xue

Master Xue has calmed down after being comforted by his concubine Yunniang.

The little white cat hopped into the house and looked around.

A moment later, it strolled back and jumped onto its host's shoulder, handing over a simple yet beautiful key with a unique design. "Host, wasn't I great?"

"Xiaobai is the best!" Jiang Chen said insincerely.

They climbed over the wall from the back garden and entered the Xue Family Ancestral Hall.

As the only legitimate son of the Xue family, the original owner naturally knew about his family's secrets.

The Xue Family Ancestral Hall was designed with a secret room from the very beginning of its construction.

Inside are the Xue family's most important treasures, including a family heirloom—a white jade thumb ring symbolizing the Xue family's power!

It is said that the Xue family ancestors made great contributions to the conquest of the country for a certain emperor, and the emperor bestowed his thumb ring upon the Xue family as a sign of favor.

From then on, every new head of the Xue family had to wear a thumb ring to truly gain the approval of the previous head.

"The gist of it is that the thumb ring is like the emperor's jade seal or various tokens of martial arts sects—a symbol of status." The little white cat scratched its head with its paw, looking at the empty wooden box in the secret room, with only a wooden tray inside.

The thumb ring that was placed on it had long since disappeared.

After checking, Jiang Chen discovered that in addition to the family heirloom thumb ring, two seals for transferring power and several small but priceless antiques were missing.

"The old man has been doubly brainwashed by the plot and the protagonist's halo. He's going to bypass me and give the Xue family's power to Lin Mubai."

Jiang Chen sneered, "If I hadn't noticed beforehand, he could have openly inherited the family fortune by taking all sorts of tokens after the old man suddenly died."

After all, in many business dealings, the agreement is based on the tokens of trust rather than the person.

Moreover, with the old man dead, there's no one to corroborate the story, and even if the matter goes to the government court, it will be difficult to appease the main character.

The plot might even give him a chance to use his special ability, allowing Lin Mubai to soar into the sky with a mighty leap.

The little white cat stared in disbelief for a long while before asking, "Then... what should we do, Master?"

"Of course, we'll take advantage of the script not having time to be updated and launch a series of counterattacks!"

"Huh?" The fluffy little dumpling tilted its head, unable to figure out what to do.

Jiang Chen left the secret room, casually put the key into the system space, and whispered a few words of advice.

The little white cat listened and nodded, then hopped and skipped away from the ancestral hall.

As the lanterns were lit, the entire Xue residence looked no different from usual.

Lin Mubai wolfed down his dinner, feeling exceptionally relaxed.

Actually, the Xue family treated their servants quite well. In today's environment, being able to provide their servants with meat for a meal every day is quite generous.

However, as a member of the transmigrated army and with a system by my side, I am naturally among the first to take off!

The thought of becoming incredibly wealthy and even becoming emperor in the future is wonderful.

How can I stay here and remain a lowly servant forever?

The thought of the small package he had hidden under the dormitory bed made Lin Mubai tremble with excitement.

He could only keep telling himself to stay calm!

They'll play it safe and wait for the senile old man to die so they can jump out and fight for the inheritance!

When luck comes your way, there's really nothing you can do to stop it.

In the morning, I was just curious and climbed up the wall to look outside. I saw Master Xue crying and laughing in a daze.

One look at him and you could immediately tell that the old man had severe Alzheimer's disease.

He speaks incoherently and doesn't seem to have a good brain.

He immediately jumped over the wall, thinking he could take advantage of the old man's confusion to trip him up and steal some luck points.

Unexpectedly, after just a few casual remarks, Old Man Xue started cursing his sick son for being unfilial. Although his words were incoherent, it was clear that there was a rift between father and son.

On a whim, he used his daughter as a starting point and pulled out various tricks he had seen in the news, such as "pig butchering scam" and "PUA," and quickly fooled the old man, who was suffering from dementia, couldn't distinguish right from wrong, and didn't like his son deep down.