Steward Zhao wanted to keep the fortune Master Wang had gone to such lengths to seize all for himself, and he must have made ample preparations. After all, Steward Zhao had previously told the four new Players that he had delivered Meat Soup to the servants' quarters. In other words, to achieve his goal, Steward Zhao had likely drugged everyone else in the estate before drugging Master Wang.
What Steward Zhao had not expected was that the villagers, who also had their eyes on Master Wang's fortune, would be so impatient that they brought the Brides to his door overnight. Judging by their words and actions, the villagers might refrain from going too far until Master Wang decided which Bride to keep. Once he made his choice, however, the villagers from the other two villages would probably do something even more rash than Steward Zhao.
In short, Steward Zhao was an old man with little ability to resist those rioting villagers. He could only let the three Brides into the estate before the mob forced its way inside.
What Steward Zhao had expected even less was that, with three unfamiliar Brides inside the estate and a crowd of menacing villagers outside, the most important person of all-Master Wang-would vanish from the Back Courtyard without a trace.
The Old Steward in the vision searched the Front Courtyard and Back Courtyard alone, but found nothing. He wanted to search the other courtyards, yet feared alerting the three Brides inside them. Panic and anxiety consumed him.
Then Steward Zhao saw a Bride emerge from the courtyard to the east.
Before the Bride from the Eastern Courtyard appeared, the Players standing behind the East Courtyard "Bride" had felt as though they were watching a movie that had little to do with them. But as