Xiao Shuning suppressed the shock in her heart and forced a smile at Mu Bingwen. "Fancy you having free time today, Husband. You should stay and have dinner with us."
Mother Yu, standing nearby, immediately called out for the servants to serve the meal.
"Yuan'er, come sit down too. It has been a long time since our family ate together." Xiao Shuning pulled Mu Jinyuan toward her.
Mu Jinyuan dragged her stool closer to Xiao Shuning, putting as much distance as possible between herself and Mu Bingwen.
This only made Mu Bingwen even more displeased. His face darkened as he reprimanded sternly, "Are you still angry with me? Who told you not to stay properly at home and go to some Spring Banquet instead? You're already betrothed, yet you dressed up flashily and gave people an opening, nearly making the whole family lose face with you. How dare you put on a long face for your own father? Is this the etiquette and discipline you've been taught since childhood?"
"This daughter wouldn't dare," Mu Jinyuan lowered her eyes. "These past two days, my nose hasn't been feeling well. I smelled a rather pungent scent of face powder on Father, which is why I had no choice but to move a bit farther away."
Mu Bingwen was startled inwardly, his expression turning somewhat unnatural.
Could it be that he had picked up the scent just now at Wan Niang's place?
At that moment, Mother Yu and the servants had finished setting out the dishes.
Since people from the State Protector Estate had come, the food was naturally prepared according to Xiao Shuning's preferences.
Hibiscus chicken slices, white-sauced duck in triple broth, top-grade bird's nest, matsutake mushrooms with jade fungus, four-joy shrimp cakes, and two refreshing cold vegetable dishes.
"The dishes are all here, let's eat." Xiao Shuning hurriedly tried to smooth things over, not wanting the father and daughter to be at loggerheads.
There was no family grudge that couldn't be resolved.
Xiao Shuning first picked up a piece of duck meat for Mu Bingwen, and then ladled a bowl of bird's nest for Mu Jinyuan.
Yet Mu Bingwen showed not the slightest intention of touching his chopsticks. The moment he thought of how Wan Niang and her daughter were currently out in the Side Courtyard catching the cold while Xiao Shuning was eating so well, his expression grew even heavier.
"Husband, are these dishes not to your liking?" Xiao Shuning was momentarily at a loss, her chopsticks hanging awkwardly in mid-air.
"Sigh..." Mu Bingwen let out a heavy sigh. "I heard that Wan Niang and Xia'er were driven to the Side Courtyard by you?"
The chopsticks in Xiao Shuning's hand slipped, clattering as they dropped to the floor.
Could it really be just as Yuan'er had said?!
However, in Mu Bingwen's eyes, this only confirmed that Xiao Shuning was deliberately stirring up trouble.
"Father doesn't know this, but Grandmother gave her consent. If people from the Yongning Marquis Estate were to come and see that my mother actually lives in such a dilapidated place, what would they think? My mother is the mistress of the Mu Mansion, after all." Mu Jinyuan quietly kicked Xiao Shuning under the table.
Receiving the signal, Xiao Shuning didn't rush to speak, wanting to see how Mu Bingwen would handle this.
"Since she is the mistress, she should display the bearing of a mistress. How could she let Wan Niang and Xia'er live in the Side Courtyard? If word gets out, won't others say your mother is mistreating her sister-in-law?" Mu Bingwen suppressed his temper and lectured righteously. "That aside, Yuan'er's marriage to the Yongning Marquis Estate is of the utmost importance. Even if you sent them to the Side Courtyard, as the eldest sister-in-law, you should take good care of them and send them more food and daily supplies. Don't become the laughingstock of the household."
The last glimmer of hope in Xiao Shuning's heart died completely. It was truly identical to every word her daughter had predicted.
Mu Bingwen was one step short of explicitly saying she had bullied Wan Niang and her daughter; his every word was siding with that mother and daughter to air their grievances.
Without changing her expression, Mu Jinyuan glanced at her mother, then placed the account books before Mu Bingwen. "Father, these are the account books for the shops managed by Auntie Wan Niang over the years, as well as the detailed inventory of my mother's dowry. My mother cannot bear the accusation of mistreatment, though the funds in the accounts have many shortages."
"Besides, my mother and I lived in the Side Courtyard for seven years, yet Father never seemed to feel wronged for us. Let's not forget that Mother is your true primary wife, and I am your legitimate daughter. Anyone who didn't know better would think Auntie Wan Niang, Sister Jinxia, and Father were the real family."
The hand with which Mu Bingwen was leafing through the account books paused involuntarily. His expression changed instantly as he pointed at Mu Jinyuan and scolded, "Look at the absurd things a legitimate daughter is saying! Wan Niang is your aunt, my own younger sister. How can you describe her like that?"
His own younger sister?
The kind of younger sister he shared a bed with?
Mu Jinyuan looked coldly at the raging Mu Bingwen. "I have already had the ledger of the deficits sent before Grandmother. I believe her Ladyship will make a fair judgment."
"You!" Mu Bingwen was so angry he couldn't utter a complete sentence, and stormed off in a fury.
"Yuan'er, how could you speak to your father like that? Look at how angry you made him!" Xiao Shuning had no chance to ease the tension.
"Mother, do you really think he left because he was angry?" Mu Jinyuan scoffed.
More likely, he was worried that his beloved Wan Niang would be reprimanded by Old Madam.
"Yuan'er, why do I understand you less and less? How could you accurately predict just now that your father would come to demand things for Xia'er and the others?"
Mu Jinyuan took a deep breath. It seemed her mother hadn't taken a single word of her warnings to heart.
"Mother, that's not the point. Don't you find it strange that Father had the scent of face powder on him?"
"Don't talk nonsense!" Abruptly, Xiao Shuning recalled what Mu Jinyuan and Mu Bingwen had just said, and her brow furrowed tightly.
"Mother, think carefully. In the past, whenever we obtained something nice, or during festivals and holidays when grandmother sent us gifts, in less than a day, those items would end up in the hands of Mu Jinxia and her mother. When uncle achieved military merit over the years and received rewards, he never forgot to send us a share, but have we ever kept even one of those things?"
"This..." Xiao Shuning was momentarily choked by Mu Jinyuan's questioning.
It was indeed as Mu Jinyuan said; had she not been reminded, she would have grown entirely accustomed to it.
After all, wealth was a worldly possession.
"Mother, you heard Father just now—he thinks Auntie Wan Niang and the others suffered a grave injustice just by going to the Side Courtyard. But we lived there for several years, yet did he ever say a single word of pity for us? Instead, he thought everything we endured was only natural."
Seeing Xiao Shuning fall silent, Mu Jinyuan knew these words must have sunk into her heart.
She had to guide her step by step, allowing her mother to mentally prepare so she could accept even more cruel truths.
***
Inside Anqing Hall, Wan Niang had been abruptly summoned by Mother Xu. Casting a glance at Old Madam seated on the dais, her brows furrowed menacingly.
"Mother... did you call me here for something?" Wan Niang spoke tremulously, a bad premonition gripping her.
"You still have the face to ask!" Old Madam hurled the deficit ledger sent by Mu Jinyuan right into Wan Niang's face. "I wouldn't have known if I hadn't looked! Relying on those fox-like tricks every day to bewitch my son into giving all the Xiao family's fine things to you—if Mu Jinyuan hadn't audited the accounts, I'm afraid I would have been kept in the dark by you until the day I died!"
When she saw that many of the items listed had come straight from the palace yet had all ended up in Wan Niang's hands, fury flared within her!
To think she didn't even know to show filial respect to her first—they were really spoiling her rotten!
"No, I didn't..." Wan Niang instinctively denied.
The next instant, a fierce gust of wind swept past.