The First Madam's Recollections

Xu Xi was about to retort, she suddenly heard an announcement: "Congratulations, host, your Wisdom Points has increased by 50."

Xu Xi was taken aback and asked the system, "What's going on?" Why was the system inexplicably giving her points? Could it be that the system had a change of heart?

"I... I don't know." The system seemed a little confused as well.

Xu Xi's Wisdom Points wasn't determined by it; it had its own set of evaluation criteria. Otherwise, it would have simply given Xu Xi a high score, immediately replenishing its energy and repairing the faulty parts. Why would it need to be coerced by Xu Xi and beg her to give it more points?

It quickly went to see what was going on.

"It's an exam! It's an exam!" the system exclaimed excitedly. "Host, because you came in first place in the Four Books and Five Classics exam this morning, the system is rewarding you with fifty Wisdom Points."

Xu Xi's eyes lit up. "Really?"

Her eyes darted around. "Does that mean I get points as a reward if I get first place in an exam?"

"Yes." The system seemed to have discovered a new continent, excitedly doing somersaults. "The higher the ranking, the more points you get; the higher the level of the exam you participate in, the more points you get."

"Then why didn't I receive any points as a reward for my last entrance exam? Did you pocket my points?"

The system jumped three feet high. "Nonsense! I only just found out that the exam has points, otherwise I would have told you to take the exam a long time ago, why would I wait until now?"

Xu Xi thought about it and agreed.

Although this system is a bit erratic, given its thirst for points, it wouldn't have waited until now to tell her if it knew about this channel.

"Alright, I'll trust you this once."

The system scoffed, "I suspect it's because there was no ranking in the last entrance exam. The academy simply eliminated those who didn't pass, and the rest were publicly admitted. The reason your name is at the top is because you were the first to enter the exam. Without a ranking, you naturally wouldn't get any points."

Xu Xi nodded. "That makes sense."

"Host, hurry up and level up your skills so you can participate in the academy's various competitions. Once you get a ranking in the competition, your score will skyrocket, and 20,000 points is not a dream. Agility Pill are waiting for you!" the system shouted hoarsely.

Although the system's voice was a bit noisy, Xu Xi, unusually, didn't continue to argue with it.

Let's not even talk about the Agility Pill. With these fifty points, I can practice a few more calligraphy exercises tonight and quickly reach 150. If I practice again tomorrow during class, I'll basically have 200 points. Short-term goal achieved.

In an instant, Xu Xi's motivation to rack up points increased even more.

Upon returning to the Marquis's residence, Xu Xi, as usual, immediately went to pay her respects to the Old Madam, only to find the First Madam there as well. Seeing the complicated look in the First Madam's eyes, Xu Xi knew that the Old Madam had already shared her suspicions with the First Madam.

"Did you send someone to investigate what I mentioned yesterday?" Xu Xi couldn't help but ask.

It would be best if the old lady could get to the bottom of this matter; then she wouldn't need to work so hard to accumulate points. She had dropped such a bombshell last night; she didn't believe the old lady and the first wife could resist investigating this matter immediately.

The old lady and the first lady exchanged a glance, waved for the servants to leave, but remained silent.

Xu Xi left last night, the old lady immediately sent someone to summon the first wife. The two of them spent the whole night reminiscing about what had happened, and the more they thought about it, the more likely it was that Xu Xi's guess was true. Because of this, neither of them could sleep last night.

Seeing Xu Xi's eyes, which so closely resembled those of the Marquis, Lady Zhu's mind became even more chaotic. Originally, she didn't intend to mention the matter to the old lady until the matter was fully investigated. But facing Xu Xi, she couldn't help but speak up.

"I investigated." Her voice trembled slightly. "The Marquis's mansion was in complete chaos at the time, and manpower was needed everywhere. I sent out all my capable people, leaving only one nanny and one maid. The reason I kept them was that while they were loyal, they lacked ability. I thought that even if something happened to me and they couldn't handle things properly, they could at least help call for help. Anyway, they were both in the mansion, so they would come as soon as they were called."

"Later, the second wife went into labor. It was her first child, and the delivery was very difficult. When I went to see her, she had also gone into labor. Because there wasn't enough time to call another midwife and we didn't have enough people, I moved into the room next to the second wife's so that it would be easier for the midwife to come and take care of her."

"After settling me in, my maid went to call for help, while the old woman stayed by my side. When the contractions came, I couldn't care about anything else. I just heard the old woman talking in my ear, but I couldn't understand what she was saying. The only feeling I had was pain. After the baby was born, I fainted. When I woke up, the old woman congratulated me, saying that I had given birth to a son."

She raised her head and carefully examined Xu Xi: "If I had given birth to a daughter, and the Second Madam had given birth to a son or two sons, I might have suspected that she had switched the babies. After all, it would be advantageous for the Second Madam if the First Madam didn't have a son. But the baby presented to me was a son, while she had twins. I didn't suspect anything at all."

"What about that old woman? Is she still alive?" Xu Xi asked. Could she have died suddenly like the old nanny who served Lady Wei?

"Alive." Lady Zhu nodded. "Her son took her out of the mansion. I sent someone to ask her today; she's seventy years old, senile, and her speech is incoherent."

If this old woman had died for no apparent reason, she wouldn't have been completely unsuspecting. But the old woman was alive and well, only now she was confused.

She immediately shook her head. "Even if she's not senile, she probably won't get anything out of her. This old woman is someone I brought from my maiden home. She's indeed very loyal, but she's not careful enough, a bit muddle-headed, and not very clever. If Lady Wei really does something under her nose, she probably won't even notice."

"What happened to the midwife who delivered the baby?" Xu Xi asked again.

"I asked around, and it turns out the midwife moved after she went home. I asked her neighbors, but nobody knew where she moved to."

If it weren't for this suspicious point, both the old lady and the first lady would have thought that Xu Xi was exaggerating and fabricating lies to gain the first lady's favor and to find an excuse for disobeying her biological mother.

Remembering something, Xu Xi asked again, "She must have had a travel permit when she left, right? Did anyone go to the yamen to check?"

"I checked, but I couldn't find it." Lady Zhu shook her head.

Having been housewives for so many years, they understand these things quite well.

"Who else was there besides them at that time?"

"Besides the old woman and the midwife, the only people around me were from Lady Wei. But among her people, besides the deceased nanny, there were two maids. However, the maids didn't go into the delivery room; they only helped outside by boiling water and delivering things. Both of them were already married; one died in childbirth, and the other married a minor steward on Lady Wei's estate. I was worried about alerting them, so I didn't send anyone to interrogate the maid."