"Sister, didn't you say you were innocent? Then how did your undergarments end up in his hands? If nothing happened between you..." Mu Jinxia's mouth hung open in horror. "Why does he know so clearly about the red mole on your waist?"
In an instant, Mu Jinyuan became the target of public criticism.
The implications of a woman's intimate belongings in the possession of a man needed no further explanation.
"Unbearable! Utterly disgraceful!" Mu Bingwen leaned back in rage, raising his hand to strike Mu Jinyuan for bringing such shame upon the Mu family.
Mu Jinxia stepped in just in time to stop Mu Bingwen, shielding Mu Jinyuan with her own body. "Uncle, don't be angry. Sister was just momentarily confused and committed such an unfilial act."
"Sister, hurry and apologize to Father!" On the surface, Mu Jinxia looked desperately worried for Mu Jinyuan, but the triumphant smile in her eyes was impossible to conceal.
Fortunately, she had prepared for this long ago. With such an intimate matter held firmly in Zhou Zi'an's hands, no matter how much Mu Jinyuan protested, not a single soul would believe she was innocent.
Mu Jinyuan was about to fall from a high-ranking noble lady down into the mud, and Mu Jinxia could not suppress her inward glee.
Apologize?
Wouldn't apologizing mean admitting guilt?
The cold malice in Mu Jinyuan's eyes deepened. If she had not been reborn, she never would have realized what a vicious schemer her dear younger sister truly was!
In her past life, she had simply wept amidst Zhou Zi'an's false accusations and her father's scolding, blindly accepting her fate to be betrothed to Zhou Zi'an without offering the slightest resistance.
Yet this also allowed her to see the true colors of those around her.
Collecting herself, she let her gaze sweep past Chunxing beside her and surveyed the room. In a calm voice, she declared, "I want a body inspection!"
"Do you even know what an inspection means?" Mu Bingwen pointed straight at Mu Jinyuan's forehead, barking with fury.
According to the customs of the dynasty, unmarried women had to undergo a physical inspection before marriage to ensure their chastity. If found impure, they would be expelled from the family and banished to Hanguang Temple to kneel and repent day after day, living a life worse than dogs or pigs.
"Naturally, I know." Mu Jinyuan curved her lips into a smile and turned to look at Zhou Zi'an. "Have you thought this through? Once the inspection proves my innocence, your false accusations against me will shatter completely. You deliberately abducted me, attempted to force me, and tried to ruin my purity. According to the laws of this dynasty, even having ten heads wouldn't be enough for you to lose!"
Hearing this, Zhou Zi'an's expression shifted, but he stubbornly dug his heels in and refused to back down from his claims against Mu Jinyuan.
Besides, Mu Jinxia had promised him that as long as he dragged Mu Jinyuan down with him, not only would he get a beauty for nothing, but he would also receive countless riches.
"There is no turning back once the bow is drawn, Sister. You must think carefully. Scholar Zhou may not be as noble in status as the Heir of Marquis Yongning's Estate, but he comes from a humble background and studies diligently—he is already a scholar. Life by his side will not be too difficult for you. Furthermore, Uncle and Aunt will certainly not stand by and watch you suffer wrongs; they will help support you. That is still far better than being sent to Hanguang Temple to suffer. I've heard that women sent there lose their minds within days..."
Watching Mu Jinxia put on such a hypocritical display right in front of her, Mu Jinyuan felt nothing but nausea.
"Sister Xia seems to understand Zhou Zi'an so thoroughly. Why don't you marry him instead?"
In her past life, her mother had always taught her to respect her elders and care for the young. Moreover, Mu Jinxia and her mother and brother were in a pitiful situation to begin with, so she had truly treated Mu Jinxia like a younger sister, letting her pick whatever she wanted to wear and eat.
Only after her rebirth did she discover that Mu Jinxia had been treating her like an absolute fool!
"Sister... you..." Mu Jinxia knitted her brows in grievance, casting a pitiful glance toward Mu Bingwen as she whimpered, "Uncle..."
She looked as though she had suffered the greatest injustice in the world.
"Ungrateful wretch!" Mu Bingwen completely lost his patience with Mu Jinyuan. "Since this is the path you chose yourself, you will bear whatever consequences come with it!"
"Call Mammy Wang and Mammy Li here!"
Mu Jinxia watched Mu Jinyuan with a worried expression, though she could not fathom what wrong medicine Mu Jinyuan had taken today to act like a completely different person from the one who used to be easily manipulated with just a couple of words.
Even so, she remained entirely confident of her victory. After all, the servants in the estate had long since been whipped into total submission by her and her mother.
No matter how much of a fuss Mu Jinyuan kicked up, she was nothing more than a ruined woman who had lost her chastity.
Before the servants sent to summon the mammies could move, a sharp, fierce woman's voice rang out.
"Are the mangy slaves of the Mu Mansion even worthy of touching Yuan'er's precious skin?"
It was overflowing with authority.
The newcomer was Princess Qionghua. Her features were clear and refined, and the two faint laugh lines at the corners of her eyes could not conceal the heroic spirit between her brows.
In her youth, she had fallen in love at first sight with her uncle, Xiao Pozhou. Back then, it was said that the uncle had not looked favorably upon the princess, believing that members of the imperial family were inevitably arrogant and spoiled; to avoid her, he had taken an army and left for the borderlands.
In a fit of fury, Princess Qionghua had run off to the border herself. To prove she was not delicate or pampered, she had mingled right among the soldiers and beaten back the invading enemy troops.
Ever since then, the two of them had lived in deep devotion, having two children in three years.
"Yuan'er, did you get hurt anywhere?" Princess Qionghua anxiously pulled Mu Jinyuan to her side, looking her up and down with deep concern.
Mu Jinyuan finally let out a breath of relief. After being abducted and risking her life to run back home, her father had not uttered a single word of concern from beginning to end, choosing instead to endlessly blame her for losing her chastity.
His own reputation mattered far more to him than she did.
"I... I'm fine." Mu Jinyuan felt a sudden sting in her nose.
She remembered that when the incident occurred in her past life, it had coincided with her mother and grandmother going to Wanning Temple to offer incense and pay respects to the Buddha. Traveling with them had been her older brother and Mu Jinxia's mother, her aunt Wan Niang.
Before her mother and the others could return, she had already been dragged away from the capital by Zhou Zi'an, and the next time she heard any news of her mother, it was from the vicious words Mu Jinxia spat out on her deathbed.
Thus, she had no choice but to send people to fetch Princess Qionghua, as she was completely isolated and helpless within the estate right now.
Mu Jinyuan said she was fine just to show how sensible she was, but Princess Qionghua was utterly furious with Mu Bingwen. On her way in, she had overheard all the talk about a body inspection.
"Your Highness," Mu Bingwen greeted her with a deep, respectful bow.
Mu Jinxia bowed along with him, though her heart was filled with bitter annoyance. Why on earth did the princess have to show up at a crucial moment like this?
"Yuan'er has suffered an ungodly amount of grievance, yet instead of backing her up, you let a good-for-nothing loiterer wag his tongue and even demand a body inspection? Is that something a real father would do?" Princess Qionghua cast a side-long glance at Mu Bingwen, showing no intention of telling him to rise.
"Uncle did it for Sister's reputation, and the inspection was something Sister herself proposed anyway. Besides, this is a family matter of the Mu family," Mu Jinxia interjected eagerly.
She absolutely could not allow the princess's appearance to ruin her plan.
Princess Qionghua flicked her sleeve, her gaze filled with the absolute dominance of someone in power. "What kind of thing are you, daring to meddle and chatter in front of this Princess?"
"What business does a Mu family matter have with you? Do you really think that because your mother changed her surname to Mu, you are truly a member of the Mu family? If it weren't for Yuan'er's mother being kind-hearted, why would she take in a married-out and discarded younger sister-in-law and keep her in the estate living in luxury?"
Startled by Princess Qionghua, Mu Jinxia shrank back behind Mu Bingwen.
Mu Bingwen was placed in a difficult position. "How does Your Highness suggest this be handled properly?"
"That's simple enough. Since Yuan'er says she is innocent, then she is innocent! Someone, take this scoundrel and beat him to death with clubs on the spot!" Princess Qionghua commanded, raising her hand to signal the imperial guards trailing behind her to seize the man.
"Aunt, you mustn't." Mu Jinyuan gently grasped Princess Qionghua's arm.