Chapter 11

The members of the Mu family's second branch all went pale and glared at the Steward.
They actually threatened to kill her! It seems the Chengs are no good.
Even Madam Qian changed her mind, forcing the marriage through wouldn't guarantee her daughter's safety.
Only Mu Wanqing herself remained unflustered. "This plan could work..."
Everyone was stunned. Did she know what she was saying?
Mu Wanqing calmly analyzed, "But there are difficulties in execution. Even though I'm an exiled criminal, I'm still a subject of Da Qi, His Majesty's subject. The Chengs can't murder me at will. If they settle things by killing, do they intend to challenge Da Qi's laws?"
The Steward had only meant to frighten her, a young miss like her would be the easiest to hoodwink.
But now, who was frightening whom? Where did she get such confidence?
Mu Wanqing's mouth curved into an inscrutable smile. "Besides, I've already arranged with a storyteller. If no letter from me arrives within a year, it will be taken as proof I've been murdered, poisoned by the Chengs. Then he'll spread the tale and make sure the whole capital knows."
She showed a faint, demure smile. "This is my parting gift; I hope everyone in the Cheng family will enjoy it."
The Steward's composure crumbled. Good God, she was ruthless.
Smiling so sweetly yet acting so viciously, one misstep and she'd wipe out your whole family.
If she did this, the Chengs would have no standing in the capital; no one would want to marry into that house.
If you can kill your fiancée, you can kill your wife, would you then look after your in-laws?
Marriage binds two families together, who would entrust their daughter to a man like that?
Anyone who called her ordinary and timid, step forward and eat your words!
Damn, rumors can be deadly.
The steward was silent for a moment, then made a quick decision, patting himself down and producing a few silver notes and a handful of loose coins.
"I only have this much silver on me."
Mu Wanqing took a look: two ten-tael bills and a little over two taels in loose change, and she casually tossed them back to the steward.
"The Chengs are that poor? Your young master is only worth twenty-two taels? Hmm, from now on we'll call him Cheng-Twenty-Two."
The second steward's mouth twitched; when it came to sharpness, she outshone him.
When it came to being cutting-tongued, she was even worse!
"So what do you want to do?"
Mu Wanqing rolled her eyes a few times and put on a look of pity. "I'm the kindest person you could meet, I can't stand to see others suffer. You're a servant and it's not easy for you, so I won't make things hard... "
She was clearly planning to take advantage of them, but she phrased it so prettily.
The steward had a bad feeling and didn't want to hear any more; he hurriedly cut in, "Thank you, Third Miss Mu, you truly are a great person."
Mu Wanqing was completely unfazed and lazily continued, "Fine, take this mule cart in exchange. It's shabby, but what can I say, I'm a beautiful, kind little fairy. It's not my style to make a servant suffer, so I'll take on a little inconvenience myself."
She was really gilding her own face with that line.
The steward had gone numb; he deeply suspected she'd had her eye on the mule cart all along. "How are we supposed to get back?"
Don't be fooled by the plain mule cart, it was his personal conveyance, and he'd put a lot of thought into outfitting it.
Mu Wanqing feigned surprise. "Is that the sort of thing a little fairy should be worrying about?"
Steward: ...
A snort, the crowd burst out laughing. It was hilarious.
The steward realized there was no advantage to be had arguing with Mu Wanqing; if force wouldn't work, he'd try gentle persuasion. "Are you the one who can decide this?"
Mu Wanqing gave a slight nod. "Yes."
The steward instinctively looked to Second Master Mu. Second Master Mu sighed softly, "If it's come to this, so be it."
You can't make a forced bargain sweet.
The steward never expected Second Master Mu to be so hands-off. "Hey, you're supposed to be the head of the household!" he protested. "Fine, make the exchange."
Mu Wanqing tilted her head slightly and a glint flashed in her eye. "Oh, by the way, your threats earlier caused me great emotional harm, so..."
She paused. "I'll allow you to keep only your undergarments, strip."
The scene erupted; only a criminal would be treated like that.
It wasn't very injurious, but the humiliation was intense.
The steward wondered if his ears were playing tricks on him. "You... what did you say?"
"Only your undergarments, and take off your shoes too." Mu Wanqing wore an expression of pure innocence, but her words were ruthless. "This is your repayment for trying to kill me, what people call instant karma."
Any grudge she held, she settled on the spot. She never left things overnight.
Besides, she'd set her sights on their clothing.
The driver wore plain blue hemp, and so did the steward, though the steward's was the best, soft and comfortable fabric.
Bear in mind, Second Master Mu only had the one set of clothes, with nothing to change into.
And Mu Ziang had grabbed four outer coats during the ransacking; the brothers were similar in build, so they could alternate, but those coats wouldn't fit Second Master Mu.
Only Madam Qian had no fresh clothes, but that didn't matter, she could get some soon enough.
Everyone gaped; that move was audacious.
The steward's face fell. "I was only trying to scare you, I didn't really..."
"Anyway, I've been hurt and I need to vent this, or it'll make me sick if I keep it inside," Mu Wanqing said with righteous certainty. "I won't let myself be wronged, so I'll just inconvenience the two of you instead."
Look at that, such selfish words from her mouth, as if they were undeniable truth.
When the steward confirmed she wasn't joking, he stared up at the sky in a daze, utterly exhausted.
He struggled for a while, then looked at the driver. "Strip together!"
He had a feeling that if they refused, something worse would be waiting for them.
The driver felt even more aggrieved, he hadn't done anything and yet was being dragged into it. What could he do?
Odd things happen every year; this year there seemed to be more than usual.
The two of them were reduced to a single undergarment each, barefoot and disheveled, looking like they'd been robbed and shivering in the gusty autumn wind.
How on earth could they go home like that?
Mu Ziang and his brother hugged all the loot to their chests, grins tugging at their mouths, well played.
Besides the clothes and shoes, there was a jade pendant, anti-moth pills in a sachet, and plenty of other little treasures.
Mu Wanqing was delighted: with one hand she handed over the mule cart, with the other she handed over the marriage contract, the deal sealed plainly.
Everyone else went green with envy, ahhh, a mule cart!
The main branch of the Mu family was the most annoyed. To think one could break an engagement like that, if they'd known when Jinyao annulled the engagement, they should have taken more for themselves.
Normally, the Marquis of Dingyuan was wealthy and would have been more generous.
Now, it was too late for regrets.
Mu Zicheng admired her to no end. "Sister, did you always know a day like this would come?"
The scene at the house search was chaotic; everyone else trembled in fear, but only Mu Wanqing calmly began to scheme.
At the time he thought she was odd, nearly dead and still thinking about the marriage contract and the spices.
It turned out Mu Wanqing was farsighted and deeply strategic.
Mu Wanqing pursed her lips and smiled. "I just thought the marriage contract was important; keeping it on me was the safest place."
Mu Ziang came over and whispered, "Sister, when did you have someone speak to the storyteller? How come I didn't know?"
Mu Wanqing smiled without answering.
The Mu brothers exchanged a look; Mu Ziang still felt puzzled, but Mu Zicheng understood instantly.
It was a bluff!
To tell a lie as if it were the truth, that's a skill in itself.
Mu Ziang looked at his brother and then at his sister, and felt a little like the dullest child in the family.
There was a faint sadness.
But emotions come quickly and they pass just as quickly.
“Why didn’t the Yu family show up? Are they really going to abandon their own daughter? I could use a change of things too.”
The Yu family’s second daughter was his fiancée, but they had never met, there was no affection between them.
Under the circumstances, breaking the engagement was actually the best outcome, good for both sides.
Mu Wanqing’s eyes flicked as she called the second steward over. “Please, stay a moment.”
The steward clutched at his collar, looking uncomfortable and half-spirited. “Anything else?” he asked.
He cursed his own blind eyes for offending the ruthless Third Miss Mu, now she was plainly taking her revenge.
The thought of having to trudge back to the city in nothing but undergarments and bare feet made him sick to his core. He wanted to die.
Mu Wanqing smiled. “Joy shared is joy doubled. A good thing like breaking an engagement shouldn’t be for the Chengs alone, right?”
No one here was an idiot. At once the steward brightened. “Please instruct me.”
Of course, one family breaking an engagement looks bad, but if everyone does it, it gets lost in the crowd and doesn’t stand out.
Mu Wanqing hesitated a fraction, then said, “Please pass word to the Yu family: out of pity for how hard life can be for young women, and for the sake of their second daughter’s future, we are willing, if painfully, to break the engagement. However, we hope they will send some consolation gifts, so that neither side owes the other anything and this matter can be closed.”
It was clearly a transaction, but she’d dressed it up as settling fate, very classy, and it sounded tender.
What a talent.
The steward fell silent for a moment, suddenly wondering if his mistress’s plan to break the engagement was really wrong.
Marrying such a clear-eyed, clever girl into the Cheng family would solve thirty years’ worth of troubles for them.
Still, it wasn’t his decision to make.
“We of the Mu household are reasonable, only six items,” Mu Wanqing said, not bargaining over sentiment or money but listing them plainly. “One carriage, two sets of bedding, ten lengths of white silk, ten bolts of cloth, one hundred jin of rice, one hundred jin of flour.”
These were the most urgently needed supplies.
People exchanged odd glances, skepticism foremost, would it work?
They’d been reduced to outlaws; why would anyone give them face? There were plenty of ways to seize things by force.
They thought the second branch had lost more than they would gain this time.
But was that really the case?