Chapter 9

Mu Yixuan was young, but she inherited Mu Jiurong’s intelligence. She was wise and clever as a child, her mind meticulous. However, under her family’s pampering, she couldn’t put her talent to use. But seeing how Mu Family’s servants had treated Mu Yiqi and Mu Yixuan, they all knew that compared to the noble young master, they needed to treat the young miss with more care.

In the past life, Mu Yixuan trusted Xu Qingli completely because she had saved her twice. Once was when she was three years old and just went to nursery school. Someone wanted to kidnap her and Xu Qingli did everything she could to save her. The other time was when she was nine years old. A sports car out of control had crashed into her. Xu Qingli had pushed her out of the way, saving her, but she was heavily injured.

No one would be suspicious of someone that saved themselves with their own life. Otherwise, with Mu Yixuan’s sensitive and meticulous thoughts, she wouldn’t trust Xu Qingli that easily. Truth proved that she trusted the wrong person.

When Mu Yixi entered the Mu Family, Mu Yixuan was already quite trusting towards Xu Qingli and she also relied on her a lot. This was probably due to the kidnapping incident a year ago.

This time was a bit strange. Mu Yixuan was too young back then, so she didn’t realize just how important the fact that Xu Qingli saved her was. However, Xu Qingli was her nanny and had been taking care of her. Therefore, Mu Yixuan subconsciously wanted to be close to her. However, Mu Yixuan’s instinct made her quite suspicious of the ‘perfect’ Xu Qingli. Xu Qingli and Mu Yixuan got along well the most and she also understood her. Therefore, she unintentionally found out some things that others didn’t.

Mu Family’s children had started learning when they were six years old. Before that, they wouldn’t be restricted and could live a worry-free period of life. Mu Yixun was only four years old right now. She was innocent and didn’t know any worry. She lived each day happily. She usually returned from nursery school around 5pm. It was a while before dinner, so she played the entire time. However, girls were more quiet. She sometimes watched cartoons and sometimes played with her dolls. Sometimes, she drew and Xu Qingli would occasionally come draw with her too. Ever since Mu Yixi came, Mu Yixuan enjoyed being with him. Children all like having companions, especially when the new big brother also very liked her.

Children were extremely sensitive. Although Xu Qingli would also play with her, she had to be patient when it came to playing dolls with a four years old. After all, she wasn’t her daughter anyway, so she wasn’t happy with playing with her. The atmosphere was different from when Mrs. Mu played with her. Mu Yixuan felt that and subconsciously didn’t want to play with Xu Qingli anymore. She had deep and reserved thoughts. In the end, she wasn’t a mother, so she didn’t pay attention to these details. Mu Yixuan was still close to her. She could sigh in relief from not having to play this childish game anymore though.

Mu Yixuan was different. Mu Yixuan needed to work hard to catch up. Even when Mu Yixuan came, he couldn’t play with her. But as long as he played with her, he was very patient. He wasn’t like Mu Yiqi who disliked Mu Yixuan’s games because they were for girls. He wasn’t like Xu Qingli either, always letting her have her ways. When they played dolls, Mu Yixi said that he was a boy, so he wanted the boy doll. Additionally, Mu Yixi assumed the roles of father, uncle, brother, or something or the sort, taking on the responsibility of protecting the girls. He was completely different from the playful, mischievous, or stupid boys in class. Mu Yixuan thought that he was as strong and reliable as her daddy.

Even when he couldn’t play with her, he would occasionally glance at her from doing homework. The care and concern in his eyes couldn’t be hidden.

Even more, Mu Yixi would secretly give her pastries! Mu Yixuan was a fan of sweets and loved the pastries that the cook made at home. However, Mrs. Mu didn’t let her eat too much. Mu Yixi was sensible and obedient, not acting cute and spoiled to get her way. However, she craved sweets. When she saw Mu Yixi’s pastries, her eyes were glued to them. Mu Yixi noticed this. Therefore, whenever she came, he would give her half a piece or more whenever no one noticed. He secretly saved it for her and it wasn’t much. However, it eased her craving. Mu Yixuan always thought that the pastries he gave her were extremely yummy. There was a time when Mu Yixuan came to secretly eat pastries and then Xu Qingli came. In a moment of desperation, Mu Yixuan hid under Mu Yixi’s desk. After Xu Qingli left, she crawled out with a flushed face. She made eye contact with Mu Yixi and the two laughed together. The pastries became Mu Yixuan and Mu Yixi’s secret. The two siblings’ relationship improved greatly.

After she spent a long time with Mu Yixi, Mu Yixuan noticed some details.

There were several times when Mu Yixuan noticed that Mu Yixi’s glass of milk was cold. It was a habit of Mu Family’s children to drink milk. But before drinking it, it must be warmed up. The milk that Mu Yixuan drank at home was always slightly warm. She and Mu Yiqi never drinked milk that wasn’t warmed. In the beginning, Mu Yixuan didn’t place this in her heart. Whenever she came home, she would come to Mu Yixi’s room. Xu Qingli would always eagerly bring warmed up glasses of milk for them. But if she came to secretly eat pastries, Mu Yixi’s milk was always untouched. When she touched it, it was cold. Mu Yixuan couldn’t help but ask Mu Yixi about it. However, Mu Yixi stuttered and attempted to cover up. After he was shook back and forth by Mu Yixuan, he said that he didn’t dare to drink cold milk because he was scared of getting a tummy ache.

Xu Qingli gave Mu Yixi a lot of homework at once. Mu Yixi would spend the entire afternoon working on it and Xu Qingli normally wouldn’t stay in the room. Either she went out or she went to do her own thing by the balcony. Mu Yixuan saw Xu Qingli on a call talking in a low voice by the balcony.

Xu Qingli would correct Mu Yixi’s homework. However, there were a few questions that she corrected wrong. Even Mu Yixuan could tell. There was no way that Xu Qingli could solve elementary school questions wrong. The only solution was that she was careless in her corrections.

Mu Yixuan found this to lose her face. She and Mu Yixi were pretty good friends. But after all, Mu Yixi hadn’t been here for a long time. She was unable to treat him as a very important relative. However, at least she treated him as a very important guest. Xu Qingli’s difference in treatment made it seem like Mu Yixuan had invited a companion home as a guest. The servant brought out two trays of pastries. The better quality one was for her while the worse one was for her companion. In Mu Yixuan’s family education, this was very disrespectful.

If Xu Qingli was a normal servant, she would’ve put on an attitude already. But in her heart, Xu Qingli held some status. Mu Yixuan reluctantly held this in. There was no way she could directly tell Mu Yixi about this either. That would only put him in a difficult situation. He felt conflicted before Mu Yixuan secretly told Mrs. Mu about it.

The four years old girl couldn’t speak clearly. However, the information exposed surprised Mrs. Mu. She specially made time to visit Mu Yixi a few times. Most of the time, however, was when Xu Qingli wasn’t there. It was then from Mu Yixuan that she found out the truth.

Mrs. Mu didn’t find it surprising that servants would neglect Mu Yixi. After all, an unknown little boy with a similar face as her actual son, Mu Yiqi, would definitely cause discussions and gossip. Although Mrs. Mu said that they needed to treat Mu Yixi the way they do with Mu Yiqi, they thought Mrs. Mu was just saying this for the sake of saying this. Who knew if she actually meant it. What if they really listened to her and Mrs. Mu decided to settle accounts with them later on? Everyone had their own plans in their heart. They obviously wouldn’t follow their master’s directions just because they received their money.

To the servants, they needed to carefully take care of their masters. It was obviously easier to take care of fewer of them. But it depended on Mrs. Mu’s attitude the most. Inevitably, it required some probing to see if Mrs. Mu really treated Mu Yixi as her son. At first, the probing wouldn’t be too excessive. But if Mrs. Mu didn’t care, they’d definitely become more and more excessive until it reached Mrs. Mu’s bottom line. Everyone would know how to treat this new elder master then.

Mrs. Mu originally planned on punishing an individual to serve as an example for others. However, Xu Qingli’s suggestion of tutoring Mu Yixi led Mrs. Mu to be quite shocked. Xu Qingli was a smart woman who played her duty, caring for her daughter meticulously. She had quite a good impression of her. Mrs. Mu thought that Xu Qingli probably saw through her plans and didn’t want her to break the peaceful atmosphere with the servants, so she stood up. After all, Xu Qingli had a higher status than the servants in the Mu Family. If she accepted Mu Yixi, the servants that were testing the waters would have to be somewhat apprehensive.

Due to this, Mrs. Mu had placed high hopes for her. Who knew that Xu Qingli treated Mu Yixi like the normal servants. She had mistaken her intentions, thinking that she knew about her thoughts. It seems like Xu Qingli didn’t care for Mu Yixuan that much either. It was only because Mu Yixuan was the legal young miss of the Mu Family. After knowing this, Mrs. Mu’s attitude didn’t change that much but her expectation for Xu Qingli had lowered a bit.  

Clearly, it wasn’t good enough to have Xu Qingli be Mu Yixuan’s nanny and Mu Yixi’s tutor. Mrs. Mu made a decision right then and hired a new tutor.

The new tutor’s last name was Ji. She was a woman in her thirties with a gentle personality. Mu Yixi wasn’t against her, so Mrs. Mu gave her the position.

Seeing the new tutor, Xu Qingli knew that it wasn’t good for her. However, Mrs. Mu said in a good tone, “You need to take care of Xiao Xuan and study, and even tutor Xiao Xi. It’s my lack of consideration that put you in this difficult position. I’ll have Teacher Ji handle Xiao Xi’s teaching. Troubling you with Xiao Xi.”

What else could Xu Qingli say? She could only clench her teeth and nod. She even apologized for not doing her best.

The new tutor came for the day and then left. After she left, Xu Qing found Mu Yixi and interrogated him, wanting to see if he complained. However, Mu Yixi knew nothing. He only said that Mrs. Mu came in once when he was working on homework. She stayed for a while to look at his homework. Xu Qingli looked carefully at his homework and found the issue right away. She had carelessly corrected his homework which wasn’t even at the elementary school level. Mrs. Mu probably thought that she didn’t pay attention to this and that she had neglected Mu Yixi, thus hiring a new tutor.

Xu Qingli couldn’t help but feel vexed. She didn’t think that she had put down her guard to this point. Thankfully, this was no big deal. Otherwise, who knew what the consequences would be? She started to reflect on herself, being alert.

Plus, Mrs. Mu actually really paid attention to this illegitimate son...

She wanted to incite Mu Yixi to argue with the new tutor. After all, she thought that she had controlled Mu Yixi. But from the start, Mu Yixi had already accepted the tutor. If they started fighting, she might be implicated. Plus, Mu Yixi was stupid. Who knew if he might unintentionally reveal something.

Recalling how useless Mu Yixi was and how easily coaxed he was, Xu Qingli thought that it was fine to let him do what he wanted. If she was willing in the future, she could easily coax him back. After all, with Mu Yixi’s status, it was easy to drive a wedge.