At the mention of Mu Zhaozhao, Qi Ruobing’s eyes flared with murderous rage. Gritting her teeth, she spat, “That little bitch—I truly underestimated her. She’s been hiding her claws all these years! She’s definitely the one who ruined me like this.”
She then recounted everything that had happened the previous night to Mu Yunxing, word for word.
Hearing this, Mu Yunxing’s eyes widened in sheer shock. “Could Mu Zhaozhao really do something like that? Since when did she get so scheming?”
She refused to believe it. Mu Zhaozhao was supposed to be a useless, pretty face. How could trash suddenly turn into treasure?
Qi Ruobing narrowed her swollen eyes and said viciously, “Besides her, I can’t think of anyone else who could have stolen those gold bars. Ever since she came back, our luck has turned completely rotten. She’s changed.”
“Mom, the priority right now is getting you out of this mental hospital,” Mu Yunxing analyzed. “If you stay here too long, even a sane person will go mad.”
Qi Ruobing nodded in agreement. “But without those eleven boxes of gold bars, your father won’t let this drop.”
Mu Yunxing hesitated before saying, “Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll use my personal savings first to exchange for eleven boxes of gold bars. It should be enough to hand over to Dad for now so we can avoid more fighting. I can always save up money again later.”
She simply wanted to protect her parents’ marriage; like any daughter, she wished for her parents to stay together forever.
Qi Ruobing pressed her lips together, looking as if she wanted to say something, but held back. She gently caressed Mu Yunxing’s hair with maternal affection. “Good child. Mom is relying on you.”
Mu Yunxing smiled and promised, “It’s okay, Mom. Just wait for me. At the latest, I’ll exchange for the gold bars tomorrow, give them to Dad, and come bring you home.”
By the time Mu Yunxing rushed back to the old Mu estate and burst into her bedroom, a blood-curdling scream suddenly erupted.
“Aaaah—!”
In her own room, Mu Zhaozhao heard it crystal clear, a faint smirk curling at the corner of her lips.
It seemed Mu Yunxing had planned to use her secret stash to rescue Qi Ruobing. Too bad her personal vault had already vanished into thin air.
Mu Shangyu hadn’t returned all night, and there was no telling where he was. Though Mu Zhaozhao guessed he was likely hiding in one of his other secret pleasure dens.
Not three seconds later, Mu Yunxing slammed her fists frantically against Mu Zhaozhao’s door, screaming, “Mu Zhaozhao, you bitch! Did you steal my jewelry and money?!”
She was going out of her mind with rage.
Mu Zhaozhao calmly opened the door, letting out a lazy yawn. “Mu Yunxing, what kind of episode are you throwing in the middle of the night? Who took your money?”
“Stop acting with me, Mu Zhaozhao! See if I don’t beat you to death!” Mu Yunxing raised her hand to strike.
Mu Zhaozhao didn’t even lift a hand; she merely fixed her with a cold, piercing glare.
The look sent a jolt through Mu Yunxing, snapping her back to reality. Mu Zhaozhao had looked at her with that exact same gaze yesterday right before dislocating her arm. Feeling a phantom wave of agonizing pain, she swallowed hard and froze her raised left hand mid-air.
“Heh~ I thought you really lacked a brain and wanted a matching set of broken arms,” Mu Zhaozhao sneered.
“What are you acting so smug for, Mu Zhaozhao?” Mu Yunxing’s temples throbbed with fury. “No matter how capable you think you are, you’re nothing more than an orphaned dog raised by our family. I suggest you give me back what you took right now.”
Slap! Slap!
Mu Zhaozhao swung her hand, leaving Mu Yunxing’s head ringing violently.
Clutching her stinging cheek, it took Mu Yunxing a long moment to process what had just happened. “Mu Zhaozhao, how dare you slap me?!”
“No, I’m swatting a dog! Consider it a wake-up call for barking in my face. Try using your brain to remember who this family actually belongs to! The three of you are the dogs I keep. Every piece of property in the Mu family belongs to me, Mu Zhaozhao. So stop barking at me!”
Mu Zhaozhao’s entire aura radiated like a grim reaper straight out of hell.
Terrified, Mu Yunxing involuntarily stepped back, her finger trembling as she pointed at her. “You… aren’t you afraid I’ll tell my dad how you’re bullying me?”
Mu Zhaozhao let out a mocking laugh. “Oh, go ahead and tell him. Do you still think I’m six years old playing house with you?”
Unwilling to back down, Mu Yunxing pressed on, “I’m not wasting my breath with you, Mu Zhaozhao. You hand over my money and jewelry today, or else!”
Mu Zhaozhao crossed her arms with a meaningful look. “I’m not the only person living in this house. Why are you so sure I took it? For all I know, it could have been Auntie—doesn’t she have two freeloading younger brothers to feed? Or maybe it was Uncle? He has mistress number three and mistress number four outside, not to mention rumored illegitimate sons and daughters. Why on earth would he leave any money for you?”
Hearing this, Mu Yunxing’s eyes turned red as she shook her head. “Impossible! You’re lying! My parents love each other—you’re making things up to slander them!”
Mu Zhaozhao covered her lips with a delicate hand and yawned. “I can’t be bothered to waste my breath on you. Why don’t you go check for yourself and see if I’m lying?”
With that, she slammed the door shut in her face.
From the original host’s memories, Mu Zhaozhao knew that Mu Shangyu was indeed messing around outside. The original host had once bumped into him shopping with a strange woman who was holding a year-old child. Back then, she had been terrified by what she saw and hadn’t dared to tell a soul.
As for whether Mu Shangyu had a fourth mistress, that was pure speculation on Mu Zhaozhao’s part—designed specifically to throw Mu Yunxing into paranoia.
Letting their family suspect each other in a dog-eat-dog war was the plan.
Sure enough, Mu Yunxing began suspecting her father, suspecting her mother, and even doubting her own life choices. She had saved up all that wealth to live a comfortable life with Song Zhoubai in the future. Now that it had vanished without a trace, she didn’t even know who had taken it.
The next morning, before dawn had fully broken, Mu Yunxing rushed anxiously to the mental hospital to find Qi Ruobing.
The moment she walked through the door, she broke down in tears, spilling everything about how all her money had been stolen.
At the end, she couldn’t help but add, “Mom… promise me you didn’t secretly give it to Grandpa, Grandma, and my uncles?”
She knew all too well how parasitic that extended family in the countryside could be.
Qi Ruobing’s face paled in shock. “Yunxing, how could you think that of your own mother?! You’re my daughter! Who else would I favor over you? How could I steal your private savings to give to them?”
Wiping away her tears, Mu Yunxing said guiltily, “Mom, I’m sorry… but so much wealth just vanished from home, and I hid it so well. Only you and Dad could have known about it, which is why I guessed that way. Please don’t blame me.”
“Mom… do you think it could be Dad? I heard Mu Zhaozhao say he might have someone outside…” She cut herself off mid-sentence.
Wouldn’t saying this drive a wedge into her parents’ marriage? She couldn’t trust a word coming out of that bitch Mu Zhaozhao’s mouth!
She repeated this to herself over and over, but once a seed of suspicion was planted in her heart, she couldn’t stop mulling it over.
A strange, unreadable glint flashed across Qi Ruobing’s eyes. After a moment’s hesitation, she instructed Mu Yunxing: “Go back and find your father. Tell him that if he doesn’t want the secret from sixteen years ago exposed to the public, he better bring me home from this mental hospital immediately!”