Those present were shocked by Mu Jinyuan’s ruthless demeanor.
Qionghua, however, clapped in approval. Mu Jinyuan had always been too soft-hearted; even her personal maid dared to commit such vile acts. It was necessary to give the people at Mu Mansion a taste of their own medicine.
Mu Jinyuan immediately had all the other servants in her courtyard sold off, keeping only the maid who had reported Chunxing. If even Chunxing could betray her, it seemed there was no one in the household she could trust—what use were they?
Mu Jinyuan left with Qionghua. She did not actually intend to seek refuge at the State Protector Estate; it was simply that some things were inconvenient to do within Mu Mansion.
Once inside Qionghua’s carriage, Mu Jinyuan spoke up immediately: "Aunt, bring Chunxing here."
"Rest assured, my people have already taken her to my villa on the outskirts of the city," Qionghua said, patting the back of Mu Jinyuan’s hand to reassure her.
In her urgency, Mu Jinyuan had forgotten: when she was young, she had admired her aunt’s dashing martial arts skills and wanted to apprentice under her, but her mother had forbidden it, believing it unseemly for a young lady to handle blades and weapons. However, she had still read many manuals on martial arts that Qionghua possessed, making her quite familiar with human anatomy. The strike she had just delivered, though it looked like a killing blow, had actually avoided Chunxing’s vital organs.
The people at Mu Mansion might not have seen through the ruse, but it could not escape Qionghua’s eyes.
Mu Jinxia was clearly trying to silence Chunxing, which meant Chunxing must know a hidden secret. Mu Jinyuan needed to know why Mu Jinxia would treat her this way and what her ultimate goal was. It was clear that in her previous life, Mu Jinxia had helped Zhou Zi’an ruin her reputation, but after she was taken away, she had no idea what had happened to her mother and the State Protector Estate to cause them to meet such a miserable end. She had to uncover the truth to prevent it all from happening again.
Upon arriving at the villa, Qionghua did not accompany Mu Jinyuan to see Chunxing, choosing instead to take some fish food and feed the fish.
Although the blade had missed vital organs, Chunxing had lost so much blood that she was now on the brink of death.
"Miss... I was wrong..." Chunxing’s eyes were filled with remorse.
"Do you want to live?" Mu Jinyuan walked closer, looking down at Chunxing with disdain. She felt truly stupid for how she had acted in her past life. Her sincerity had been fed to the dogs!
"Miss, are you willing to forgive me?" A desperate desire to live flared in Chunxing’s eyes.
"That depends on whether you have any value in staying alive." Mu Jinyuan sat beside Chunxing with a meaningful look, one hand covering the girl’s wound.
"Miss, I will tell you everything," Chunxing pleaded, terrified of dying. "Mu Jinxia’s mother, Wan Niang, was never Father’s younger sister. She was a mistress he kept in his hometown before he married Madam."
Mu Jinyuan’s eyes froze.
When she was seven or eight, Mu Jinxia and her two children had entered Mu Mansion. She remembered her mother saying that the man Wan Niang had married had climbed the social ladder and taken a lady from a wealthy family as his wife, casting Wan Niang and her two children out into the streets, leaving them with no choice but to return to their maternal home. Her father had even allowed the two children to take the Mu surname. Since then, she had gained a younger sister, Mu Jinxia, and an older brother, Mu Yuheng. Her mother had said they were pitiful and encouraged her and Brother Yunyuan to be tolerant and kind to them. She had taken those words to heart, giving them all her best things. She never imagined that she and her mother had been kept in the dark by her father.
"That is not the most important thing," Chunxing coughed up a mouthful of blood and continued. "Young Master Yunyuan is not Madam’s biological son. During the birth, Father had Mother Xu swap the babies. The Mu Yunheng that Wan Niang brought into the mansion is actually your biological brother."
"Do you know what you are saying?" Mu Jinyuan was struck dumb by the shock.
"Mother Xu is my distant aunt. I heard all of this from her. It is absolutely true!" Chunxing swore.
Mother Xu was a veteran servant who had served the Old Madam and was also her father’s wet nurse, in charge of all the servants in Mu Mansion. If that were the case, the Old Madam must have known, and they had conspired together to bully them.
Previously, she had always thought the Old Madam’s cold eyes and sharp tongue toward her mother were because her mother had been in the wrong. Her mother, Xiao Shuning, was the legitimate daughter of the State Protector Estate and was supposed to enter the palace as a concubine, but she had been young, playful, and fond of travel. She had somehow conceived a child with a man while she was away. Losing one’s virtue before marriage was a grave sin, and being pregnant was even more disgraceful, especially with the father’s whereabouts unknown. As her pregnancy progressed, her mother had given up and followed her grandfather’s arrangements to marry Mu Bingwen, who was only a scholar at the time.
All these years, her father had treated her mother well and had raised Mu Yunyuan, who was not his biological son, as his own, cultivating him as his legitimate heir. The Old Madam, however, had always disliked her mother because of the scandal, acting sarcastically at every turn while doting on Mu Yunyuan. Mu Jinyuan had never understood why, but now it all made perfect sense.
She had once thought her father was a true gentleman—after all, few men could truly be indifferent to the fact that their wife had a child by another man, let alone pour effort into raising the boy. It turned out it was because he had already swapped in his own son and had been keeping his mistress and her children inside the mansion all along.
How laughable that she and her mother had known nothing. No wonder Mu Jinxia called her stupid! An entire family had been living under their roof for years, and they surely had laughed at the mother and daughter behind their backs.
"Miss, I’ve told you everything. Please save me, I don’t want to die..." Chunxing’s face was ashen.
Mu Jinyuan gently wiped away a tear that had slipped from her eye. "It’s too late."
Chunxing’s pupils suddenly dilated. Her body convulsed violently a few times, then went still.
Chunxing was only the beginning. Next, she would make everyone who had deceived her pay the price. If she hadn't been reborn, she never would have had the chance to uncover such harrowing truths.
She spent the night in a daze, haunted by nightmares.
Mu Jinxia had failed to ruin Mu Jinyuan’s reputation as she had hoped, so she immediately sent someone to Wanning Temple to deliver a message.
The next morning, the group who had gone to pay respects to the Buddha hurried back to Mu Mansion. As soon as Mu Jinxia saw the Old Madam and Wan Niang return, she rushed toward them, her eyes red and her voice thick with sobs.
"Grandmother, Mother, older sister Yuan was taken away and her reputation has been ruined! Xia’er is so scared. You’ve finally returned."
"Don’t be afraid, Grandmother is here for you," the Old Madam said, hugging Mu Jinxia tenderly. Both Mu Jinyuan and Mu Jinxia were her biological granddaughters, but compared to the cold, noble Mu Jinyuan—who resembled the Xiao Shuning that had first married into the Mu family—she preferred the docile and thoughtful Mu Jinxia.
"Where is that troublemaker, Mu Jinyuan?"
She looked around and didn't see Mu Jinyuan anywhere. How increasingly unruly she had become—not even coming out to welcome her home!
"Xiao Shuning, is this how you raised your daughter? She has no basic breeding! Running out to attract bees and butterflies, ruining our Mu family’s reputation!" Unable to see Mu Jinyuan, the Old Madam vented her anger on Xiao Shuning.
Xiao Shuning, dressed in a light cyan dress, slowly bowed to the Old Madam. Every gesture revealed an elegant temperament, yet her face betrayed a look of fear. In contrast, Wan Niang, standing beside her, was dressed in golden finery, the gold hairpins on her head so bright they seemed capable of blinding someone. She held her chin slightly high, the corners of her eyes tilted up, exuding an air of sour malice.
However, the Old Madam simply detested the way Xiao Shuning carried herself. Yet, every time she saw the legitimate daughter of the State Protector Estate forced to bow before her, she couldn't help but feel a swell of satisfaction.
"Mother, Yuan’er was framed," Xiao Shuning frowned. She had received Qionghua’s letter and already knew the truth of the matter.
"You dare to talk back? Kneel!" The Old Madam’s face turned sharp.
Xiao Shuning’s legs bent out of habit, but they were firmly caught by a pair of hands.