"What is your name?" Mu Jinyuan asked, her sharp gaze softening.
"I was born lowly and have no name, Miss. Before I was sold, my family just called me 'Big Girl'."
Mother Xu caught the girl's timid, cowering expression and couldn't help but let out a mocking snort. Mu Jinyuan was truly too soft-hearted, just like her mother. She really didn't know what use this little maid—whose waist wasn't even as thick as her own arm—could possibly be. Then again, if that mother and daughter weren't so soft-hearted, they wouldn't have been deceived by the Old Madame and the rest of the family for so many years.
"Qiqi. That is your name." Mu Jinyuan had been reborn on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. This would serve as a constant reminder of the suffering she endured in her previous life.
"Qiqi..." the thin, small maid murmured the name a few times. A glimmer of light slowly emerged in her dull eyes. "I have a name!"
Mother Xu curled her lip and gave a reluctant bow to Mu Jinyuan. "Eldest Miss, you sold off all the servants in the courtyard yesterday. Since there is no one suitable to replace them yet, I fear you and the Madam will have to suffer for a few days."
With that, she turned and left, her walk swaying with extreme smugness. Having sold off the servants, the young miss, who couldn't carry a load or do any heavy work, would likely struggle to even get a meal with her spineless mother. In a couple of days, let’s see if she still has the energy to put on airs!
Mu Jinyuan sneered. She regretted not putting a little more force into that slap earlier. She knew perfectly well what Mother Xu was thinking. The woman was relying on the fact that she managed the assignment of servants in the estate, hoping to use that to force Mu Jinyuan to bow.
In her dreams! When she sold those servants, she hadn't intended to use anyone else from this household. Not a single person here was worthy of her trust.
Over at the Zhuqing Courtyard, Mu Jinxia was finding fault with everything, shattering several gold and silver ornaments. "Mother, did you see how sanctimonious Mu Jinyuan looked? Saying it was all for the good of the Mu family, and calling me an outsider! What right does she have? Even Grandmother took her side this time!"
Mu Jinxia’s chest tightened with rage. As far as she could remember, this was the first time Grandmother had ever given her a cold look!
"I am clearly the one who..." Before Mu Jinxia could finish, a single look from Wan Niang silenced her. Wan Niang waved her hand, dismissing the maids until only the two of them remained.
"Mother, when will this sneaking around end? Father clearly loves you most. I should be the legitimate daughter of the estate, yet the Xiao woman occupies the wife's position, and I am forced to call Father 'Uncle'!" Mu Jinxia felt deeply aggrieved. She wanted to live openly and honestly; she did not want to spend every day living under the pitying gazes of Mu Jinyuan and Madam Xiao.
"And who is to blame but you? We had it all planned out. We used the Old Madame's temple visit to get Madam Xiao out of the way, and you were supposed to ruin Mu Jinyuan’s reputation and get her sent out of the capital. I was then going to whisper in your father's ear, have him say a few kind words to Madam Xiao, and get you adopted into her name so you could marry into the Yongning Marquis Estate in a proper manner. Who knew you couldn't even handle a single girl like Mu Jinyuan!"
Mu Jinyuan had always been a mere shell, weak and easily bullied. As long as Zhou Zi'an kept the pressure on her, she should have been terrified. No one expected her to suddenly go mad.
"Mu Jinyuan was like a different person yesterday. She didn't even blink when she stabbed Chunxing with that blade. Thinking about it still gives me the chills..." Mu Jinxia couldn't help but shudder. She couldn't understand where things had gone wrong.
"Perhaps she was stimulated by extreme shock?" Wan Niang recalled Mu Jinyuan’s sharp-tongued demeanor earlier that day; she did indeed seem different.
"I don't care! You moved Brother to Father’s side, and he gets to enjoy everything the estate has to offer, while I have to live in the shadows. I must marry into the Yongning Marquis Estate!" Mu Jinxia pouted, looking quite petulant.
"Why are you so anxious? You are my own flesh and blood; do you really think I wouldn't plan for you?" Wan Niang reached out and tapped Mu Jinxia’s forehead.
"Mother, do you have a plan?" Seeing that her mother seemed confident, the frustration in Mu Jinxia's heart dissipated by more than half.
...
By midday, Xiao Shuning had been waiting for a while for someone to serve the meal, and she glanced outside several times. "Why have the servants become so lazy?"
Mother Yu, who had served Xiao Shuning since childhood, wanted to say something but held her tongue, silently heading to the kitchen to see what was happening. Over the years, the Mu family had never shown Xiao Shuning a pleasant face, and the servants followed the Old Madame's lead, naturally neglecting her. Initially, she couldn't bear to see Xiao Shuning suffer and wanted to discipline the staff, but she was always stopped.
"After all, I was pregnant before marriage, which was a disgrace to the Mu family. Furthermore, they are willing to let me keep Yuanyuan and treat him as their own. My enduring this is nothing," Xiao Shuning would always say. Although the Old Madame used her premarital pregnancy as a constant excuse to manipulate her, Mu Bingwen was considerate. After giving birth to Mu Jinyuan, Xiao Shuning’s health had declined, making it difficult for her to conceive again. Not being able to bear a son for Mu Bingwen had always been a thorn in her side.
Once, she had even heard herself say, "Master, let me select a few girls of clean background for you. See if any take your fancy and bring them into the house to continue your family line."
Mu Bingwen had torn the portraits she showed him to shreds. "I will never take a concubine in this life. Even if you cannot bear more children, I will treat Yunyuan as my own son." Because of this, Mu Bingwen had even had a huge argument with the Old Madame. In the end, the Old Madame compromised and actually came to love Young Master Yunyuan as if he were her own grandson.
The only person she treated poorly was Xiao Shuning, which was understandable; no one likes seeing their son marry a woman who had lost her purity, only to have to raise someone else’s son. Over time, she, like Xiao Shuning, had just gotten used to muddling through.
Lost in thought, Mother Yu arrived at the kitchen. It was cold and empty, the pots and bowls overturned—not a soul to be found. Oh no, she had forgotten that the Eldest Miss had dismissed the servants in the courtyard. It wasn't that the meal was late; it was that there was no one to cook it.
Because Xiao Shuning and the Old Madame were on bad terms, they had been dining separately in their own courtyard for years. It seemed she would have to go to the main kitchen. But when she arrived, she was met with a cold shoulder. The manager, Mother Xu, gave her a nasty look.
"The Madam comes from the State Protector Estate; naturally, she isn't used to our kitchen's food, so we haven't prepared anything. There are some leftovers; I don't know if the Madam can stomach them?"
With that, she shoved two bowls of dry, overnight rice at Mother Yu, topped with a plate of greens that had two flies hovering over them.
"How dare you treat the Madam like this!" Mother Yu couldn't contain her rage; they were trying to fob her off with food that had been sitting out who knew how long.
"If you don't eat it, I'll feed it to the dogs!" The manager pushed Mother Yu aside, not caring about her in the slightest.
Furious, Mother Yu recalled Xiao Shuning’s usual instructions and was forced to swallow her humiliation, heading back in a huff. As soon as she entered the courtyard, she collided head-on with Mu Jinyuan.
"Eldest Miss, are you alright? It’s all my fault, I was so furious I lost my senses!" Mother Yu didn't even care about herself and rushed to help Mu Jinyuan up.