"Ah!"

  With a scream, 'Xiao Dun'er colpsed to the ground, a dagger lodged in his back. Xue Lian, startled by the sudden turn of events, stumbled backward and fell to the floor.

  "You two shameless wretches! How dare you do such a thing! You have no face to meet the ancestors of the Gong family!" Shen Ma's hands were covered in Little Dun'er's blood, and her face had returned to its serious expression.

  "What have you done?! What have you done?!" The second concubine cried out as she supported the injured 'Xiao Dun'er, shouting at Shen Ma.

  "Hmph! What have I done? I'm avenging the master and the old Madam!" Shen Ma gred fiercely at the two of them, her voice cold and sharp;

  "I've been with the old dy for decades. She treated me like family, but then she suddenly wouldn't let me meet her. I thought it was strange at the time, but I remained loyal to her for all those years and never questioned her. Then, when people started disappearing from the Gong family, I sensed something was off. At first, I truly believed it was the ghost of A-Xiu, and I was so scared that I couldn't sleep at night." As Shen Ma spoke, a fearful look appeared on her face, but it quickly turned cold. "Later, you asked me to help you find Xue Lian, but every one of them ended up dead. I kept wondering—A-Xiu was someone I killed, so why am I still alive, while those innocent people are dead? Then, I realized: it's because I watched the Gong family's young dy, Xue Lian, be born. Only I truly knew the features of the Gong family's young dy, which is why you kept me around to find the real Gong family heiress."

  Shen Ma paused for a moment, then continued, her voice turning sharp. "Although I figured it all out, I still didn't understand why you were so desperate to find the Gong family's young dy. The master secretly sent her away without telling anyone the reason, and now you're secretly searching for her. There must be a huge secret behind this. Now I finally understand—you want to seize the Gong family's fortune!"

  "Old hag, I didn't expect you to figure it out! You're more composed than I thought, pretending all this time!" The second concubine gritted her teeth as she spoke.

  "You all thought that because I watched the Gong family's young dy be born, I would surely know her features, but you're wrong! The Gong family's young dy had no distinct features; she was just like anyone else. The only thing I knew was that after the master sent her away, she was called Xue Lian," Shen Ma replied firmly.

  "So... the first five... none of them were the real one. I... I thought... with your age... you might have forgotten what she looked like for a moment," ‘Xiao Dun'er’ gasped, struggling to speak.

  "I initially thought the old madam didn't want to openly search, so she resorted to this method of marriage to find the right one. But after Xue Lian died, I started to feel something was off. That's when I began to question whether Old Madam Gong was truly who she said she was. But I never imagined you weren't the real Xiao Dun'er," Shen Ma continued, her voice growing more intense. "So I decided to uncover the truth! And that's when..."

  A strange, almost sinister smile spread across Shen Ma's face. "That's when I found someone and had her impersonate the sixth Xue Lian to marry into the Gong family!" She turned to look at Xue Lian, who was lying on the ground.

  Xue Lian appeared calm, no longer showing the fear and terror she had earlier. She slowly stood up and walked over to Shen Ma. She then spoke, "Shen Ma found me and paid me a thousand taels to impersonate Xue Lian and marry into the Gong family to investigate the situation. She told me about the family structure in advance, as well as the secret passage and..." Xue Lian held up a small jade pendant and continued, "The location of this. I pretended to be familiar with everything here, making you all believe I was Xue Lian, so that the truth would eventually be revealed."

  "So it was you all along..." 'Xiao Dun'er' gasped for breath, unable to get another word out, and died.

  "You can't die! You can't die!" The second concubine clung to ''Xiao Dun'er's' lifeless body, crying out in pain.

  Shen Ma shook her head and gazed at the memorial tablet in front of her. Her voice choked with emotion as she spoke, "Master, madam, third concubine, I have uncovered the truth for you. Rest in peace; your spirits can be at ease. I will continue to search for Miss Xue Lian. The Gong family's legacy will not end here... Ah..." Shen Ma's words were abruptly cut off as a loud scream escaped her. The knife in 'Xiaodun'e'Xiao Dun'er′s' back had been driven into Shen Ma's chest. The second concubine gred at Shen Ma coldly, her voice icy as she said, "I want you to die too!"

  With a loud "crack," fresh blood poured from the second concubine's head. She turned her gaze toward Xue Lian, who was holding the memorial tablet she had just used.

  "You..." The second concubine's eyes remained open, but she would never speak again.

  Shen Ma panted heavily, colpsing to the ground. "You... please... save me..."

  Xue Lian remained still, quietly observing Shen Ma.

  "Why... why are you just standing there?" Shen Ma, he urged desperately.

  Xue Lian calmly replied, "I'm just thinking, which is worth more—the thousand taels of silver or the Gong family's fortune?"

  "You..." Shen Ma stared at her with wide eyes.

  Xue Lian smiled, a gentle smile, and with a firm hand, pressed the dagger deeper into Shen Ma's chest.

  A month ter, the seventh Xue Lian married into the Gong family...

  ------- End of the Second Story-------