Volume One, Chapter 12: The Unfilial Daughter, Mu Wanwan

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Mu Wanwan’s questions came pelting down in rapid succession, making Xiao Ruyan’s temples throb and sending a chill across her scalp.

Stammering, she said, “Y-you… what exactly are you trying to do?”

“Exactly! What do you mean by all that?” Madam Fang demanded angrily, pointing a finger at Mu Wanwan.

She spoke through clenched teeth. “Don’t you dare harm Ruyan! If you ask me, all of this happened because of you. You brought misfortune back to the estate, and Ziling and the others died in your place!”

“That’s right! My Ziling must have died in your place, otherwise how could she have been burned to death in that fire for no reason? Ahhh! Give me back my Ling’er! Give me back my Ling’er!”

Kneeling on the ground, Mammy Gao’s eyes brimmed with tears of hatred. Their depths were blood-red, making her look like a vengeful ghost from the depths of hell.

Mu Wanwan cast a cold glance at Madam Fang and Mammy Gao but said nothing.

She had killed them because they deserved to die.

A-Li was still so young. Anyone who treated him that way deserved death without remorse.

“I’ll ask you one more time. Where is A-Li?” Mu Wanwan fixed her gaze on Madam Fang and enunciated every word.

“As I recall, the Marquis of Wu’an’s estate has been running at a deficit for years. The lavish expenses of this household have always been maintained with my mother’s dowry. Back then, the estate itself promised to treat A-Li and me well.”

She paused, her voice turning icy.

“If I don’t see A-Li today, I will settle every account concerning my mother’s dowry with this estate. I will show no mercy.”

The moment Mu Wanwan finished speaking, Madam Fang panicked. She sprang to her feet and slapped the table beside her.

“Xiao Qingqing, that is enough!”

“Ever since you returned to the estate, which one of these incidents has had nothing to do with you? You want to settle accounts and walk away, leaving this entire mess for the marquis’s estate to deal with? Dream on—”

“Madam Fang!”

Mu Wanwan strode forward, murderous fury radiating from her entire being. Her eyes locked onto the other woman.

“Answer me. Where is A-Li?”

For some inexplicable reason, Madam Fang’s heart trembled, and fear rose within her.

She faltered. “The estate is holding your funeral today, and there are so many guests coming and going. How would I know where he is? He isn’t a three-year-old child. He’s at the age when he’s mischievous and loves to play. Perhaps… perhaps he ran out of the estate on his own. It isn’t impossible…”

“Xiao Qingqing, remember this well. I am your elder and the principal wife of this estate. You will not behave so outrageously in front of me!”

Her words lacked their usual authority.

Madam Fang inwardly seethed. How had those people failed to kill the wretched girl? If Mu Wanwan truly took away her mother’s dowry, wouldn’t the marquis’s estate be reduced to an empty shell?

“Heh. Principal wife? If my birth mother had not died young, would you ever have had the chance to run wild here?”

Grief shadowed Mu Wanwan’s face.

“If you cannot produce A-Li today, then this noble household is too lofty for me to aspire to.”

“You unfilial wretch!”

A stern male voice suddenly rang out.

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Mu Wanwan could not help freezing when she heard it. She turned and followed the sound, only to see a well-dressed middle-aged man approaching.

Ah. So this was her cheap father—the Marquis of Wu’an, Xiao Jinghai.

He was dressed in splendid robes, travel-worn and anxious. The moment he saw her, he raised his hand and slapped Mu Wanwan across the face.

The sharp crack resounded through the courtyard.

“Apologize to your mother!”

Xiao Jinghai rebuked her furiously. “If you continue to be rebellious and unfilial, get out of the Marquis of Wu’an’s estate! I will consider myself to have no such daughter!”

Mu Wanwan’s eyes reddened. Covering her cheek with one hand, she felt wave after wave of desolation.

Only now did she seem to understand why her elder sister, despite being so intelligent, had still been plotted against and robbed of her life.

Whenever she resisted, Xiao Jinghai had likely used their bond of blood to threaten her and crush her spirit.

He had forced her sister to bow her head, forced her to endure humiliation, forced her to bear everything alone…

Wonderful. What a heartless biological father.

He made Mu Wanwan feel both chilled and sickened.

“Father, you decided it was my fault without even asking what happened?”

“You returned to the estate without asking how I escaped death. You did not ask whether I was injured, nor did you ever consider whether I had suffered some terrible injustice…”

“Have you never regarded me in your heart as your daughter?”

Mu Wanwan’s voice sounded aggrieved, accusatory, and heartbroken—exactly like that of a dutiful daughter whose heart had been shattered.

“Stop this nonsense! You left the marquis’s estate without a word, stirred up a storm throughout the entire capital, and ruined the estate’s reputation. Now that you have returned, you first showed disrespect to your grandmother, and then you spoke insolently to your mother.”

“Your rebellion and lack of filial piety brought disaster upon the estate, resulting in the fire that killed the servants.”

“Someone take the eldest daughter to the ancestral hall and make her kneel there. Release her only when she realizes her mistake.”

At the marquis’s command, the servants no longer hesitated.

“Eldest Young Lady, please do not make things difficult for us.”

Mu Wanwan turned away with an impassive expression and followed the servants without looking back. Where no one could see, the corners of her lips lifted faintly.

* * *

The principal courtyard of the marquis’s estate, Parasol Perch Courtyard.

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After Madam Fang raised a hand to dismiss the servants, she personally helped Xiao Jinghai out of his outer robes.

“My lord, don’t you feel that girl has become rather sinister since returning to the estate? She always gives me an inexplicable sense of dread.”

At her words, Xiao Jinghai briefly furrowed his brows before smoothing them again.

“Do not be afraid, my lady. With me here, she cannot stir up any great trouble. I have sent people to watch the ancestral hall. I will know the moment anything happens.”

“Originally, I was willing to let her live, provided she stayed away from the estate and stopped entangling herself with the Regent. I had no desire to wipe her out completely. But she insisted on coming back. She cannot blame me now.”

On the day in question, while the Regent was away from the capital, he had imitated the man’s handwriting to trick Xiao Qingqing into leaving the estate. He had then contacted the bandits of Black Wind Stronghold to abduct her, never imagining that she would disappear along the way.

That could only mean she had seen through his scheme and had already begun investigating him in secret alongside the Regent.

How, then, could he possibly let her live?

Xiao Qingqing had to die!

“How does my lord intend to proceed? Is there anything I can do to ease your burden?”

Madam Fang’s fingertips drifted lightly across Xiao Jinghai’s lapel. Her movements were soft and delicate, and her smile seemed to conceal unspoken words. The implication was unmistakable.

The teasing touch made Xiao Jinghai’s heart itch. He immediately swept Madam Fang up into his arms by the waist.

“Hahahaha! My lady, you had better serve your marquis well!”

The passionate delights of the night could not be contained within the garden.

The next morning, Madam Fang rubbed her aching lower back and looked smugly toward the Marquis of Wu’an, who was practicing swordplay in the courtyard.

“Was there any movement at the ancestral hall yesterday?”

As she wiped her hands with a handkerchief, Madam Fang asked, “Did that wretched girl show any remorse?”

“Replying to Your Ladyship, the ancestral hall was very quiet.”

Mammy Zhang answered respectfully. “That shameless little brat is stubborn. I fear she will not yield within three or five days.”

“Your Ladyship worked hard serving the marquis last night, so this old servant ordered the kitchen first thing this morning to prepare bird’s-nest porridge with shredded chicken. It has been waiting for you to awaken.”

Mammy Zhang’s face was filled with ingratiation. When Madam Fang smiled, she personally went to the kitchen to fetch it.

Madam Fang was happily arranging her hair before the mirror when the Marquis of Wu’an entered. She hurriedly rose to greet him, putting on a coy expression.

“My lord, you were terribly rough with me last night.”

The laughter she expected did not come. Madam Fang looked up in bewilderment.

“My lord?”