Xiao Shuning was noncommittal about what Mu Jinyuan had said and withdrew her hand. "I'm a bit tired."
Mu Jinyuan realized that her mother had not taken a single word to heart, and instead seemed somewhat annoyed with her.
So be it. It would be difficult to change her mother's mindset overnight.
She retreated to the courtyard to watch the servants tidy things up. At the same time, she secretly pondered how to administer a strong dose of medicine to make her mother see the true colors of the people in this Mu Mansion, especially her father.
The only reason her mother could swallow her pride and endure in this household was entirely out of lingering affection for her father.
As the sun began to set, Mu Bingwen walked back with his hands behind his back, humming a little tune, looking to be in quite a good mood.
Yet just as he stepped one foot into the mansion, Yinzhu, the personal maid who served Mu Jinxia, intercepted him with an anxious expression. "Master, please go quickly to the Side Courtyard. Miss and Aunt Wan are being bullied beyond recognition."
"Who is bullying them?" Mu Bingwen's expression instantly turned stern.
Yinzhu pressed her lips together, looking as though she had grievances too bitter to voice.
Mu Bingwen hurried toward the Side Courtyard.
As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, he saw that Wan Niang's hair was disheveled, her cheeks were swollen high on both sides, and she was as pale as a ghost—a truly alarming sight.
Mu Jinxia was sobbing into Wan Niang's embrace, a sight that instantly wrung Mu Bingwen's heart with heartache.
"Who hit you? Why are you in the Side Courtyard? What on earth happened?"
"Master, you're finally back! I thought I'd never see you again..." Tears burst from the corners of Wan Niang's eyes as she threw her arms around Mu Bingwen's waist.
Mu Jinxia wiped roughly at her cheeks and began, "Dad, Mu Jinyuan said the Yongning Marquis Estate is coming to discuss a marriage alliance in the next couple of days. With sweet words, she persuaded Grandmother to let them bring a group of overbearing servants from the State Protector Estate, and without another word, they chased us out of Zhuqing Courtyard and into the Side Courtyard."
"She even said that Zhuqing Courtyard was built by the State Protector Estate for Xiao Shuning, and that everything inside belongs to her Xiao family dowry. She claimed that if we touched or took anything, it would be considered theft, and threatened to have government officials come and arrest us."
"To protect Father, my mother reasoned with those overbearing servants, pointing out that since Xiao Shuning married into the Mu family, her possessions belong to Father as well. Who would have thought they would beat Mother, declaring that the Mu family owes its entire standing today to the Xiao family, and that not even you, Father, are someone they take seriously?"
Upon hearing this, Mu Bingwen flew into a rage. "This household is not yet at the point where people from the State Protector Estate call the shots!"
"Dad, don't be angry. I was just speaking casually. Mother and I don't ask for much; as long as your official career is smooth and prosperous, suffering a little grievance is nothing. After all, we inevitably have to rely on the assistance of the State Protector Estate..." Mu Jinxia's eyes were as red as a rabbit's.
It made Mu Bingwen's heart ache to look at them. He already felt he owed these two something for not being able to let them live in the light of day.
If he were to mistreat them even in the most basic necessities of food, clothing, and shelter, he truly would be unworthy of being a husband and a father.
"I am going to ask Xiao Shuning what on earth she means by this!" Mu Bingwen flicked his sleeve and strode off.
Seeing that Mu Bingwen had walked far away, Wan Niang gloated as the corners of her mouth tugged upward. "Let's see if Mu Jinyuan and her mother can still afford to act so high and mighty after this."
Mu Jinxia exchanged a look with her mother, smiling with triumphant success in their hearts. She beckoned to Yinzhu and murmured a few words.
Yinzhu acknowledged the command and left.
Back in Zhuqing Courtyard, under Mammy Liu's direction, the inventory of Xiao Shuning's dowry had been completely checked.
Just as Mu Jinyuan had anticipated, more than half of the jewelry and precious ornaments were missing, and many of the account books for the shops bestowed as dowry by the State Protector Estate were blurred and unclear—virtually muddled accounts.
Heaven knows how much silver Old Madam and Wan Niang had pocketed.
Upon seeing so many deficits, Xiao Shuning's mind went blank. "How can so many things be missing?"
After she entered the Mu family, her pregnancy had already begun to show. Mu Bingwen said he was afraid she would be overtired and did not let her manage the household, instead handing her entire dowry over to Old Madam to oversee.
And because her premarital pregnancy back then had stirred up a great deal of gossip in the city, she inevitably faced pointed fingers whenever she went out, so she simply handed the external shops over to Mu Bingwen to manage.
Later, when Wan Niang and the others entered the estate, Mu Bingwen's official position grew higher and higher, leaving him no time to spare, so he discussed with her shifting the shops over to Wan Niang to manage.
At the time, she hadn't given it much thought—after all, they were all one family, and besides, Wan Niang had been cast aside and sent back then, living in a state of gloom day after day.
For a woman to be cast aside by her husband was a matter of monumental proportions, and fearing that Wan Niang might do something desperate and take her own life, she had agreed to let her manage the shops, figuring it would give her something to occupy her mind and distract her.
Never had she imagined it would end up like this...
"Mother, your soft-heartedness only fuels other people's greed." Mu Jinyuan hoped her mother would look at this evidence and finally wake up.
"In any case, these things haven't fallen into outsiders' hands. It's not as serious as you make it sound." Xiao Shuning felt somewhat uncomfortable inside, but she still didn't want to blow the matter out of proportion.
"Is this really the legitimate daughter of the State Protector Estate that I raised from childhood? How did she turn into such a spineless pushover who lets anyone walk all over her?" Mammy Liu remarked sarcastically as she placed the account books on the table.
Xiao Shuning felt no anger at Mammy Liu's actions. Having learned her deportment and etiquette from Mammy Liu since childhood, she naturally held her in deep respect.
She also knew that Mammy Liu's heart ached for her.
Yet she had her own helplessness as well. "Could it really be as Yuan'er says—that we take Wan Niang and the others to court and accuse them of theft? Who would lose face if not the Mu family? I and Yuan'er are also members of the Mu family; our faces would be thoroughly disgraced as well."
Mu Jinyuan laughed silently to herself in bitter amusement. I'm afraid only her mother considered herself part of the Mu family.
"Mother, Father will be coming here shortly to plead on behalf of Wan Niang and the others, and he will even tell you to send the belongings inside this Zhuqing Courtyard over to them. Do you believe me?" Mu Jinyuan said with absolute certainty.
"You child speak as if it were all real. Have you taken up some kind of divination art?" Xiao Shuning naturally didn't take it seriously.
"Then does Mother dare to wager with me? A little later, when Father comes, if he tells you to give the things in Zhuqing Courtyard to Wan Niang and the others, you must not agree."
"Why wouldn't I dare agree to that?" Xiao Shuning felt that Mu Jinyuan had been acting a bit eccentric these past two days.
Yet looking at her expression, she seemed extremely resolute, and her tone was unusually stern.
It seemed she would have to invite a physician to the estate tomorrow to check her pulse and see if she had suffered some fright when she was abducted.
Just as this thought crossed her mind, a flurry of rapid footsteps echoed from the courtyard.
Raising her head once more, she saw that Mu Bingwen had already strode into the room. His lips were pressed into a straight line, and he was heavily suppressing the fury within him, making his breathing appear labored.
"M-Master..." Xiao Shuning glanced in astonishment at Mu Jinyuan. He had actually come.
Completely ignoring her mother's astonishment, Mu Jinyuan stood up, stationed herself to one side, and called out, "Father."
"Why that expression? Afraid I'd come?" Mu Bingwen flicked his robes and sat down.
It seemed everything Mu Jinxia said was true; Xiao Shuning's appearance was clearly that of someone with a guilty conscience.
Yet he had seen plenty of unfamiliar faces in the courtyard just now, most likely people from the State Protector Estate. He could not vent his anger on Xiao Shuning, otherwise, if the Xiao family found out, they would think he was bullying Xiao Shuning.
That would be disastrous for his career advancement.