By the second watch, she begged for pastries.

****......******

Everyone quieted down and looked at Lady Zhou.

"Mother," only Lian Xiuxiu called out aggrievedly, pointing at Lian Manman with her hand, "She...ouch..."

Lian Xiuxiu hadn’t finished what she was saying when she suddenly cried out and turned back, puzzled, to look at Lady Zhou.

At this moment, Lady Zhou was both embarrassed and angry, but she was more worried, afraid that Lian Xiuxiu would suddenly say something that would force Lian Manman to produce that piece of evidence, so she twisted Lian Xiuxiu’s waist hard.

Indeed, it was she who had gone through the Fourth Household’s rooms to inspect their belongings.

Lately, the Fourth Household was not short of provisions, and that day, they had even bought some land. She hadn’t believed it at first. It was her idea to separate the Fourth Household, and now that they were on their own, they were doing so well, which to Lady Zhou felt like a slap to her face. Lady Zhang, who had been in a critical condition, was now lively and kicking, seemingly more capable than before, which also left her feeling very uncomfortable.

Therefore, when Lian Shouxin and Lady Zhang had invited her to a banquet in town, she had claimed to be unwell and didn’t go. Instead, she took advantage of Old Master Lian and the others going to town to get Lady Zhao and Lian Yeye, who were watching the Fourth Household’s home, out of the way and went there to snoop around. She wanted to know just how much silver the Fourth Household still had hidden away.

Lian Xiuxiu also followed her into the Fourth Household’s room.

Lady Zhou was used to searching Lady Zhang’s things, so as soon as she entered the room, she went straight for Lady Zhang’s chest of drawers. Sure enough, she found several pieces of high-quality fabric and came across a wooden box, which she shook, convinced that it contained silver. Unfortunately, the box was locked.

"Quite a few new possessions, huh...and now you’ve learned to lock them up," Lady Zhou said sarcastically. She was about to put the box and the stack of clothes back in place when she saw out of the corner of her eye that Lian Xiuxiu was holding a bag of snacks.

"Xiuxiu, put down the pastries," Lady Zhou hurriedly interrupted, but it was too late – Lian Xiuxiu had already eaten quite a few, her cheeks puffed out with food.

In Lady Zhou’s heart, anything belonging to her daughters-in-law once they married into her family was hers. She wanted to always be aware of what her daughters-in-law were up to and what they had in their possession. But she was afraid of being called stingy and having people criticize her behind her back, so she always searched clandestinely.

Lady Gu, the eldest daughter-in-law, was shrewd and often lived in town. Plus, being a Scholar’s wife, Lady Zhou had no opportunity to search her belongings, so she let her be. The second daughter-in-law, Lady He, had a greedy appetite and was slovenly, whom Lady Zhou quite disdained. She once found unwashed intimate items in Lady He’s drawer, which disgust her for days, unable to swallow food. Lady Zhao, the third daughter-in-law, had few belongings, but Lady Zhang, the fourth daughter-in-law, often received support from her parental home and kept her chest clean and tidy, so Lady Zhou’s most frequent target was Lady Zhang’s chest, and she was very careful not to leave any mark during her searches.

She never stole from her daughters-in-law; she had ways of getting them to offer their belongings to her voluntarily and took pride in it. When she saw Lian Xiuxiu eating the discovered snacks, she became anxious and accidentally put several of Lian Manman’s and Lian Zhizhi’s small clothes in the wrong place.

"You child, why did you start eating!" Lady Zhou scolded Lian Xiuxiu in a low voice.

"Lian Xiu has money now, shouldn’t he buy things for me to eat? I just ate some, so what?" Lian Xiuxiu grumbled, not convinced.

"Even if you eat, you can’t...eat it now."

Lady Zhou was frustrated that she couldn’t be tough, but she couldn’t bear to really scold her dear eldest daughter and let Lian Xiuxiu put the pastries back where they came from. The two hurried back to the Upper Room. Because of her haste, she didn’t notice that she had let the rolled-up mat fall down when climbing onto the kang bed.

Afterward, Lady Zhou was somewhat uneasy. She worried that after Lady Zhang came back, she would discover Lady Zhou had snooped around, because if Lady Zhang made a fuss about it, Lady Zhou would have nowhere to hide her face.

"Mother, what are we afraid of? If she is stingy with her snacks, she is the one at fault," Lian Xiuxiu said, still envious of Lian Zhizhi and the others for having good food and new clothes.

Lady Zhou was wiser than Lian Xiuxiu, but Lian Xiuxiu’s words struck a chord. Combined with years of habit, after a while of worry, she felt that Lian Xiuxiu was right. She was surer of herself than Lian Xiuxiu, confident that Lady Zhang was soft and would not make a scene even if she did find out about Lady Zhou’s secret searches through her chest. Over the years, each time Lady Zhang discovered her searching, she pretended not to notice and never let a word slip to others.

She estimated this time would be no different; even if Lady Zhang found out, she surely wouldn’t dare say anything.

When Lian Manman brought pastries, she thought it was because Lady Zhang felt guilty and wanted to please her, which made her feel somewhat triumphant. What she didn’t expect was that the pastries Lian Manman brought were the ones Lian Xiuxiu had secretly eaten.