Chapter 10

After this event, Xu Qingli made sure to be careful and cautious. However, this left a mark in the sensitive Mrs. Mu and Mu Yixuan’s hearts at the same time.

Mrs. Mu judged Xu Qingli wrongly, leading Mu Yixi to suffer as a result. Instead, she decided to take care of Mu Yixi personally. Detecting how the female owner of the family had treated the young master kindly and even Xu Qingli had been reprimanded, the other servants didn’t dare to neglect at all.

Likewise, Mu Yixuan treated Mu Yixi very nicely too. She always called him big bro whether in front of or behind everyone. She was like his little tail.

Because of the females’ attitude in Mu Family, Mu Yixi’s status became important.

On a certain morning, Mu Yixi was just resting after he finished studying. Aunt Wang brought him over to see the guests in the living room on the floor below. She said it was Mrs. Mu’s order.

Before he reached the first floor, he heard a female voice say calmly, “...He isn’t someone you guys should bring out in public. Only you treat him like your legitimate son. Who knows whether he will accept your kind favor in the future? Be careful of raising a thankless wretch…” She said this all high and mightily, seemingly advising Mrs. Mu, but was actually taking pleasure in her misfortune.

“Ruizhen!” Mrs. Mu interrupted her words surprisingly, disregarding her manners. “He’s my child. I don’t like hearing these words. I hope you won’t say that again in the future.”

Mu Yixi slightly narrowed his eyes.

When they arrived at the living room, Aunt Wang carried Mu Yixi to Mrs. Mu’s side. Mu Yixi’s legs were mostly recovered. A family doctor would come everyday to help him do physical therapy. However, he needed someone to help him up and down the stairs. Even more, he couldn’t walk for too long.

Mu Yixi longingly called Mrs. Mu ‘mother’ as he sat next to her. He looked down and pretended to be shy. However, from the corner of his eyes, he saw the woman sitting across Mrs. Mu.

The other party was a noble woman wearing glamorous clothes, and exquisite makeup. Her detailed eyebrows made her look harsh. She seemed to be only a few years older than Mrs. Mu. Right now, she was looking down upon him with a disdainful gaze. A strange and complex smile floated on her lips.

This made Mu Yixi think of Xu Qingli right away because their attitudes were quite similar.

Speaking of, Mu Jiurong didn’t just have flings with one woman. Even more, these women weren’t that easy to deal with either.

The woman in front of him was Zhong Ruizhen, the eldest young miss of the Zhong Family. She was also one of Mu Jiurong’s candidates for marriage. She always liked Mu Jiurong, but because of Fang Zhen’s existence, the title of ‘Mrs. Mu’ slid past her shoulder.

Later on, she married Mu Jiurong’s distant older cousin, Feng Kuan. Because the Mu and Feng Family were close business partners, Zhong Ruizhen and Mrs. Mu frequently met as well. Mainly, Zhong Ruizhen came to visit Mrs. Mu. Zhong Ruizhen gave birth to a son, Feng Kun, for the Feng Family.

Unlike Xu Qingli who still wanted to become Mrs. Mu, she just wanted to take pleasure in Mrs. Mu’s misfortune. As long as Mrs. Mu was unhappy and didn’t live well, she was happy and delighted. Of course, she hid her thoughts deeply in her heart. She normally just acted friendly with Mrs. Mu as well.

In his past life, Mu Yixi didn’t like him. Although she treated him quite well, he thought that she was just a sharp and unkind person in general. He didn’t think that she held malicious intentions towards Mrs. Mu, up until her son, Feng Kun, became Mu Yixuan’s fiance. She instigated Feng Kun to cheat on Mu Yixuan. After Mu Yixuan got pregnant, she was ridiculed and laughed out. The Feng Family didn’t admit her child.

Zhong Ruizhen smiled and said to Mu Yixuan, “You can choose whether to give birth to your child or not. After all, Fang Zhen’s grandson is just an illegitimate son.”

Because of this, Mu Yixuan went to abort her child. During the process, she lost a lot of blood and her uterus had to be cut off. She narrowly escaped death, but she lost the chance to become a mother ever since.

Mu Yixi hated the Mu Family to the core. Seeing how Zhong Ruizhen and Feng Kun abused Mu Yixuan like that, he wanted to beat them up badly. However, Mu Yixuan wouldn’t accept his favor. After all, he had something to do with Feng Kun’s affair…

“Xiao Xi, call her aunty.” Mrs. Mu patted Mu Yixi’s head and said this.

Mu Yixi placed his thoughts away and raised his head shyly.

“Heh. Don’t make it sound like I’m so old. Mu and Feng Family are close friends. Just call me Miss Zhong just like how Yixuan calls me.” Zhong Ruizhen waved her hands and said affectionately as though her look of disdain didn’t exist. She even took out a box of chocolate from her bag. It was imported and written in English. “I specially got this for you. It’s very expensive, ah. Enjoy it.”

The gifts brought for Mu Family’s kids were all exquisite and expensive, definitely can’t be compared to a box of chocolate. Zhong Ruizhen was just bullying him, seeing that he came from an ordinary family. She thought that he was ignorant. He would definitely see the box of chocolate as a rare commodity and become wild with joy, revealing his childish spirit.

Mrs. Mu saw Zhong Ruizhen’s action and she already wore an unhappy expression. However, she didn’t reprimand Zhong Ruizhen in front of Mu Yixi. Mu Yixi was a child, so Mrs. Mu didn’t restrict him that much. If he liked it, he could accept it. As to how he should accept it generously and fittingly, she’d teach him slowly in the future.

However, Mu Yixi was able to do so expertly. He looked up at Mrs. Mu, his eyes clear and bright. There was not a glimpse of desire. He seemed to be asking: should I accept it?

Mrs. Mu was satisfied in her heart. She smiled and nodded. “Your Aunt Zhong gave you this, so just accept it. Remember to thank her.” Zhong Ruizhen liked her close friends to call her “Miss Zhong.” Mrs. Mu didn’t care about this. She would teasingly call her that sometimes. But this was the first time Mu Yixi had seen her, so she shouldn’t be lacking in manner.

Mu Yixi received the box of chocolate and placed it to the side. He said well-behaved, “Thank you, Aunt Zhong.” He only listened to Mrs. Mu’s words, naturally ignoring Zhong Ruizhen.

Zhong Ruizhen smiled faintly before continuing, “Why don’t you open the box and taste it? You must not have eaten this kind of chocolate, have you?”

“No.” Mu Yixi honestly shook his head. “I’ll wait for Xiao Qi and Xiao Xuan to come back before eating it together.”

He said this without hesitation nor did he act ravenous like a child should’ve.

One needed to know that when Zhong Ruizhen told him to eat chocolate, she wanted him to eat it alone and not share it with anyone. It was a slap on Zhong Ruizhen’s face with how Mu Yixi responded.

She stayed silent for a moment before half smiling at Mrs. Mu. “You’ve done a good job teaching him.”

“He just has a nice personality. He just considers his siblings. I told you before that he is a good child.” Mrs. Mu smiled and looked at Mu Yixi.

Mu Yixi happily bounced to her side like a certain cute animal.

“He looks quite similar to Yiqi. If some people don’t know the backstory, they would’ve thought you gave birth to a set of twins.” Zhong Ruizhen couldn’t help but mock.

“It’s all fate.” Mrs. Mu responded calmly. She detected Zhong Ruizhen’s unkind intention. However, because the two families were close in touch, Mrs. Mu just allowed her to say a few words. After all, they’d have to see each other in the future as well. But the moment she overstepped her boundaries, Mrs. Mu won’t just let her have her way. Even more, Zhong Ruizhen was useful to her in other ways.

Seeing that Mrs. Mu got annoyed, Zhong Ruizhen stopped this topic. She was just stepping on Mrs. Mu’s bottom line, but she didn’t dare to overstep it. After all, the Feng Family needed to rely on the Mu Family for a lot of things. She naturally wouldn’t really fall out with Mrs. Mu. If she did, her husband, Feng Kuan, wouldn’t let her go.

“I know you’re kind.” Zhong Ruizhen said, “However, not everyone is like you. There’s a huge ruckus in the Qin Family.”

The reason why people were jealous of Mrs. Mu was because she married a good husband and lived a good life. There were lots of issues within affluent families. Mu Family was a rare proper and noble family domestically. The offsprings were all mature and well versed. They also behaved well. There weren’t many men like Mu Jiurong who just concentrated on their family after they were married. Even more, he never womanized with people. He protected his wife and family from external factors. Mu Family was cohesive and had a strong sense of unity. The family extended for several centuries. Even if it encountered hardships, it quickly recovered. Just by briefly operating the businesses, it was prospering and flourishing greatly.

With Zhong Ruizhen’s methods, her husband, Feng Kuan, had listened to her. However, it was inevitable for them to put on a show outside. They fought and had love debts as well. Don’t mention how hard Zhong Ruizhen worked for her and her son’s profits, but she also did some illegal things. In contrast to Mrs. Mu’s idle state and her husband’s support, who wouldn’t be jealous of her? Both of them were married for business, and both parties didn’t have feelings for each other. Therefore, why did Mrs. Mu get to live a better life than her? Especially when she almost became Mrs. Mu back then.

Of course, Zhong Ruizhen only complained in her heart. She paid attention to the Mu Family, seeing if there was something she could make a laugh about.

An illegitimate son finally popped out, but they claimed he was just an adopted son? Hah. Zhong Ruizhen didn’t believe a single word. However, Mu Yixi was the product of an affair before Mu Jiurong got married. He just didn’t say anything about it, clearly not recognizing him as his son. Mrs. Mu pretended to be kind and caring, bringing him back home. He was cultivated into a well-behaved and gentle child, completely controlled by Mrs. Mu.

Zhong Ruizhen was quite interested by how obedient he was.

If one were to say that the Mu Family was the role model for noble families, then the Qin Family was the opposite.

Qin and Mu Family had around the same background. They had all gone through lots of hardships to achieve this position. Qin Family’s head, Qin Shichang, and Mu Family’s lord, Mu Jingwei, were remarkable figures during that period. However, different from Mu Jingwei’s clean and honest self, Qin Shichang was a womanizer. He had four wives and concubines, as well as nine offspring. In order to fight for the right of inheritance, Qin Family’s siblings all fought madly. In the end, several actually died. There were only three sons and two daughters left. Each of them were ordinary and unremarkable. They had caused quite a bit of trouble towards the lands Qin Shichang had worked hard to obtain. Qin Shichang was only sixty-three this year, and had the majority of power over the Qin Family. He didn’t dare to neglect or let down his guard.

A while ago, Qin Shichang was hospitalized because he suddenly had a heart attack. His most capable third son, Qin Zhenfeng, and second son-in-law, Yan Kai, took this opportunity to fight for power. They unmasked each other’s scandals. Qin Zhenfeng was similar to his father, both were womanizers. It wasn’t strange if there was a break in the news saying that he had a lover and illegitimate son. But it was unexpected if the good husband and father, Yan Kai, also had an ex-wife and son.

Yan Kai’s wife, Qin Zhenxin, Mrs. Mu, and Zhong Ruizhen were all young ladies of note with similar backgrounds. The three had an okay relationship. Different from Mrs. Mu and Zhong Ruizhen, Qin Zhenxin worked in the Qi Family. Her support towards her husband was the reason why Yan Kai could fight Qin Zhenfeng. Once this was exposed, with Qin Zhenxin’s personality, it was a deadly blow to her and Yan Kai’s marriage.

Speaking of, they were in the midst of getting a divorce.

This was Zhong Ruizhen’s advantage. She knew everything in the noble women’s circle. She knew what was going on in all families.

Mrs. Mu naturally wouldn’t mind other people’s businesses. But she knew what she needed to know. After all, she didn’t want to accidentally rip a bandage off someone’s wound or unintentionally offend someone.

Mu Yixi was already getting sleepy just listening to the women’s conversation. Mrs. Mu originally didn’t want him to listen to these random things. But seeing how he leaned against herself in peace and was half-sleeping, clearly not listening to the conversation, she couldn’t bear to tell Aunt Wang to carry him away. Therefore, she let him have his way. Later on, Mu Yixi fell asleep while next to Mrs. Mu. He didn’t even know when he was carried to bed.