Chapter 9: Harming Others and Yourself
Mu Xiang left very quickly with Wei Hanqiao.
Only Su Biqing, the Third Madam Luo Ningyu, Mu Xiarou and the few physicians were left inside Mu Lingzhu’s bedroom
Luo Ningyu and Mu Xiarou had been standing in the corner the entire time without speaking. At this point, only after Mu Xiang and Wei Hanqiao had left, did Luo Ningyu dare to speak timidly.
“Elder sister, our Mu family has always been great and learned. At this time we don’t even know who would dare to harm Second Young Master and Fourth Young Miss. They really don’t treasure their lives.” Luo Ningyu said.
Hearing this, Mu Xiarou who was standing beside Luo Ningyu, immediately whimpered as two streams of tears flowed, “That’s right, Fourth Sister is such a good person, how could someone do something to her, forcing her to lose first place? If I dare to say this, Xiarou really wishes she could suffer on behalf of Fourth Sister.”
“Enough, you two should go back first. I can take care of things here.” Su Biqing could not be bothered to entertain the pretentious mother-daughter duo and immediately asked them to leave.
Luo Ningyu nodded as she took Mu Xiarou and left.
When the two of them left, Si Biqing turned towards the physicians and asked in a cold voice, “Can you diagnose the cause?”
“Fourth Young Miss has been sprinkled with the powder of the Fishtail Sunflower Fruit [1]. The Fishtail Sunflower Fruit is very powerful because once it comes into contact with moisture from the body, it will result in an itch. This is the reason why Fourth Young Miss has scratched her face and neck until they bled.”
“What?” Su Biqing’s eyebrows knitted together as she recalled the events that took place just now.
“The powder has pretty much dissipated by now; Fourth Young Miss just needs to drink some soothing medication and she will be alright. The other physicians also do not need to worry too much.” The physician advised.
Su Biqing nodded her head slightly with eyes suffused with suspicion.
In another area, inside the Poplar Pavilion.
Wei Hanqiao looked at the Mu Yiyang unconscious on the couch and sobbed, “Husband, you definitely have to seek justice on behalf of Yiyang!”
At this point, Mu Xiang was already extremely angry. Two of his children had actually been harmed, causing rage to build up in his chest with nowhere to vent.
“Li Ping, where did you discover Second Young Master?” Mu Xiang focused on the family servant who had reported the accident.
The family servant, who had been called by name, was shocked, but he quickly lowered his head to reply, “When this lowly one was walking past the Ascending Blossoms Pavilion, I saw Second Young Master lying outside the door. This lowly one thought that Second Young Master was drunk and tried to wake him a few times but Second Young Master did not reply to this lowly one. This lowly one then knew that something was amiss.”
“Ascending Blossoms Pavilion? Is that not where the Third Young Miss lives?” Wen Hanqiao had caught onto what Li Ping had informed them and looked at Mu Xiang inquiringly.
In hearing the three words Ascending Blossoms Pavilion, Mu Xiang’s eyebrows crumpled together but he said subconsciously, “It shouldn’t have anything to do with this girl, she doesn’t have the ability.”
“That’s true.” Wen Hanqiao immediately cleared all suspicions she had of Mu Yunjin. That girl only knew how to be bullied by her son, how would she be able to do this to him?
After a short period of time, Mu Xiang made a decision. He stretched forth a hand to beckon to a guard, “Go and get the people who partic.i.p.ated in the Literary Compet.i.tion today and bring them all back to our manor, I want to interrogate them one by one.”
“Yes, Master.”
……
The next day, Mu Yunjin slept all the way until noon. When she had awoken, she surveyed her surroundings before sitting up.
“Zi Xiang.” Mu Yunjin called for her.
“Your servant is present.” Zi Xiang pushed open the door to enter. Seeing that Mu Yunjin had awakened, she smiled and said, “This servant guessed that Miss had just awakened and so has already prepared water for you to wash your face.”
Mu Yunjin nodded her head and got off the bed. She wiped her face before saying to Zi Xiang, “Has the situation in the manor been settled?”
Zi Xiang knew at once what Mu Yunjin was referring to so there was only a short pause before saying softly, “The Master has already reported this matter to the palace, declaring that he wants to interrogate every person who partic.i.p.ated in the Literary Compet.i.tion, and the emperor has agreed.”
“At this moment, all the partic.i.p.ants in the compet.i.tion have been confined inside this manor. Even the champion this year has been brought back and imprisoned in here.”
Mu Yunjin raised her eyebrows, “This has been brought up all the way to the emperor?”
After she said this, Mu Yunjin changed the direction of the conversation, “Looks like they immediately absolved me of any suspicion, how boring.”
Zi Xiang’s mouth twitched. There was a sense of helplessness, but also a sense of rejoicing.
“Miss, you have to follow orders to enter the emperor’s palace tomorrow. Fourth Miss was initially also ordered to go with you, but now that she is injured, it looks like she can’t anymore.” Zi Xiang voiced.
“That’s not necessarily the case.” Mu Yunjin said as she touched her chin. “Now that we’re talking about her injury, wouldn’t you say that, since I’m her blood sister, I should go and visit her?”
When Zi Xiang heard that Mu Yunjin wanted to go to the Pearl Building, her tiny heart started pounding again, “Miss, you definitely cannot do this. Fourth Young Miss has never looked upon you favorably, she has never thought of you as her blood sister. There’s no reason for you to pay her a visit.”
“Even you say that she has never treated me as her sister. Since this is the case, and it’s rare that she’s hurt, how could I let go of this opportunity to throw some stones at her.”
Mu Yunjin was quite excited as she thought about this. After she got up, she walked out of her bedroom.
Zi Xiang was desperately trying to pull her back while Mu Yunjin had no plans of going back on what she had decided to do. She stretched forth her hand and rapped on Zi Xiang’s head, “This girl, can you gain a little more courage or not?”
“Miss…” Zi Xiang pressed her lips together and did not dare to say another word.
“This is enough, wait for me to return.”
After saying this, Mu Yunjin walked out of the Ascending Blossoms Pavilion and walked towards Pearl Building.
……
Inside Pearl Building, Mu Lingzhu was the same as the day before. She had recovered a bit of her vitality but she still had traces of scars on her face, angering her so much that she flung her copper mirror and it broke into three pieces.
Tomorrow would be the day that she had to enter the palace to visit the Imperial Concubine Qin. Who knew whether or not she would be able to meet the Sixth Prince that she had always wished for. How could she visit Sixth Prince with her face looking like this?
“Zhu"er, calm yourself. The physician said that the scars on your face will definitely recover without leaving any trace.” Su Biqing comforted her as she saw that Lingzhu had just awoken and looked gloomy.
“Tomorrow is the day that I have to enter the palace to visit Imperial Concubine Qin. With my face like this, I’m going to have to miss out on such a good opportunity.” Mu Lingzhu was going crazy whenever she thought of how she was unable to enter the palace.
Su Biqing saw how her usually calm daughter had become so impatient and could not help but sigh. Sitting beside Mu Lingzhu’s bed, she stretched forth her hand to hold on to hers, “Zhu"er don’t worry, the things that you are unable to obtain, Yunjin would definitely be unable to.”
“Mother, since this is the case, you should definitely have a way to stop that idiot from entering the palace?” Mu Yunjin looked at Su Biqing as if she had managed to clutch onto a piece of driftwood that would save her life.
Su Biqing heard what she said and smiled secretively. She took out a porcelain bottle from her bosom and said, “The thing in this porcelain bottle is the powder from the Fishtail Sunflower fruit. Since someone has entered the manor today to harm both your Second Brother and you, it would be normal for there to be another victim.”
Su Biqing’s words caused Mu Lingzhu’s eyes to s.h.i.+ne. She had personally experienced the potency of this Fishtail Sunflower yesterday. It was fortunate that her father had saved her in time and nothing overly bad occurred.
Even worse, when this Fishtail Sunflower landed on Mu Yunjin’s body, there would be n.o.body to save her. Her beautiful face would definitely be ruined.
Thinking to this point, Mu Lingzhu was unable to conceal her excitement.
Just as they were thinking about it, a servant girl walked in. Su Biqing and Mu Lingzhu straightened up, “Mistress, Third Young Miss heard about Fourth Young Miss’ situation and is now standing outside the door. She wishes to meet with Fourth Young Miss.”
“Mu Yunjin is here?” Mu Lingzhu was quite astonished. However, glancing at the Fishtail Sunflower powder, she immediately called, “Quickly, let her enter.”
Si Biqing mentally praised what Mu Lingzhu had done, as she stood up and poured the Fishtail Sunflower powder into a silk handkerchief. She wrapped it up and tightly grasped it in her hand.
Mu Yunjin quickly entered Mu Lingzhu’s bedroom. The moment she entered, Mu Yunjin had not even spoken when she heard Mu Lingzhu, who was lying on the bed, say, “Elder Sister, you’ve come.”
The moment she said sister, Mu Yunjin had a sense of foreboding.
“Little Sister, I’ve heard that you’re injured. It shouldn’t be anything serious, right?” Mu Yunjin simply acted along with Mu Lingzhu. Walking to the bedside, she looked at Mu Lingzhu with a face full of worry.
After that, Su Biqing actually took a chair to her, “Yunjin, you should sit. Zhu"er is feeling unhappy. As an elder sister, you should talk with her for a bit.”
Mu Yunjin nodded. No one knew that she had, from the moment she entered the room, noticed Si Biqing tightly clenching her fist.
“Elder sister, look at me. Yesterday I was the victim of some crime.” Mu Lingzhu sat up and moved towards the headboard, intimately holding on to Mu Yunjin’s hand.
Mu Yunjin appeared to be concerned but her eyes reflected with some deep meaning. She started to focus her attention on the Su Biqing who was slowly coming closer behind her.
This mother-daughter pair were so friendly to her today, it would be strange if they had no schemes on hand.
“Ah, it’s such a pity. However, I heard that Father has already started to investigate the situation properly. He should be able to quickly find out who is the one that hurt you.”
“At that time, I will be the first one who will not forgive the perpetrator.” Mu Yunjin smiled as she said this while watching Mu Lingzhu.
Mu Lingzhu smiled as she nodded, her face revealing an indifferent smile. Her gaze appeared to drift, landing behind Mu Yunjin, looking extremely awkward.
She felt that the person behind her had already begun to slowly release her clenched fist, and her hand had also slowly begun to raise up, so Mu Yunjun immediately smirked as her eyes glinted with even more joy.
Just as Si Biqing’s hand was about to reach the top of Mu Yunjin’s head, Mu Yunjin who was initially sitting down started to point at the s.p.a.ce beside Mu Lingzhu and screamed.
“Ah, such a big worm!”
After she screamed, she fearlessly grabbed onto the blanket that was covering Mu Lingzhu and lifted it over her head, flinging the entire blanket over Su Biqing completely.
“Mother!” Mu Lingzhu scream. She looked behind Mu Yunjin and did not know how to react.
“Ah, Mother, are you okay?” Mu Yunjin turned around and pretended as if she wanted to pick up the blanket and sighed lightly, “I just wanted to shake off that big worm, but I didn’t expect that this blanket would be a bit heavy so I lost my balance and accidentally flung it on Mother.”
“Ah ah ah ah ah!” At this moment, before Mu Yunjin could take away the blanket, Su Biqing’s screams came from under the blanket.
Mu Yunjin was shocked and stepped backwards, acting shocked, “Mother, what’s wrong?”
“Mu Yunjin why are you still here, shouldn’t you get lost!” Mu Lingzhu shouted hysterically at Mu Yunjin.
Mu Yunjin shrugged helplessly as she blinked innocently, “Lingzhu, I didn’t intentionally fling the bedsheet on Mother, what are you getting so angry for? I just have to help Mother pick up the blanket that’s all, right?”
“Get lost! Quickly get lost! Men! Quickly chase her out!”
“Forget it, I will leave on my own.” Mu Yunjin heaved a small sigh and pretended that she had been hurt, shuffling slowly out of the room.
The instant after she stepped out of Mu Lingzhu’s room, Su Biqing let out a cry that she had been holding inside for a long time; one that was similar to Mu Lingzhu’s sharp cry...
“Quickly, bring the physician!”
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[1] Sunflower Fish Fruit: From the fishtail palm, the fruit contains a chemical that can cause a stinging sensation
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Translated by Socksrocker
Edited by Ely