Chapter 34

At that moment, a crowd appeared out of nowhere, pouring in all at once.
"Oh my God, what’s happening?"
"Isn’t that the Mu family’s eldest miss? I’ve heard of her beauty, but why is she in a man’s room at this hour? And she’s half undressed!"
"Out so late at night, you people... sigh, morals really have gone downhill."
Everyone gaped and pointed, whispering all sorts of things, filled with the excited glee of onlookers.
What could be more thrilling than catching someone in bed?
Oh, though it hadn’t quite come to that yet, her outer coat was half undone. Tsk tsk, is this the model of a demure noble lady?
Faced with this sudden turn of events, Mu Jinyao's mind went blank. She trembled all over as a tidal wave of fear crashed over her.
It's over, completely over, she’s going to be dragged through the mud.
Her shaking hands couldn’t hold her clothes; she swayed and felt faint, on the verge of passing out.
Du Shaoxuan’s brows tightened, his face darkening, he was about to lose his temper.
Mu Wanqing frowned faintly, pulled Du Shaoxuan’s hand down, then stepped forward with composure, picked up the coat and draped it over Mu Jinyao, straightening her clothes.
Mu Wanqing looked perfectly calm and spoke casually, "Cousin, this dress is awful, the fabric’s so flimsy I barely tugged and it came apart. It’s not my fault. Why don’t you ask your mother to make you a new gown? There’s frugality, and then there’s this..."
She smoothed things over as if nothing had happened, leaning toward her cousin’s ear and whispering low, "Calm down. Don’t panic."
But Mu Jinyao had never faced anything like this; mortified, she couldn’t steady herself.
Seeing that Mu Jinyao was still too frightened to speak, Mu Wanqing gave a silent sigh and pinched her arm gently.
What to do? She had to smooth things over.
"Cousin, the soap I asked you to make today is excellent. I really like it, thank you for bringing it."
She turned to Du Shaoxuan with a bright smile. "Mister Du, do you like the parting gift I brought?"
Du Shaoxuan looked at her for a long moment. She really was kind and generous.
But kind, honest people are so easily hurt.
He grew even more worried, what to do?
To save face for her, he complied and produced a wooden box. When he opened it, eight soaps in different colors were revealed to everyone.
"Not bad. I like them."
Mu Wanqing pursed her lips; at least for the moment, the scene had been smoothed over.
Whether anyone else believed it or not didn’t matter, she at least believed it.
"That’s good. It’s getting late, we should head back and rest. You should get to bed early, too."
She took Mu Jinyao by the arm and began to leave. Then, as if just noticing the crowd gawking, she exclaimed, "Hm? Why is everyone still awake at this hour? You’re blocking my way, move aside!"
She spoke as if it were perfectly natural, breezy and confident, truly like someone who had come only to deliver a gift.
The crowd instinctively opened a path.
Mu Wanqing breathed a quiet sigh of relief and hurried Mu Jinyao along, who was still dazed. The more they moved, the more composed Mu Wanqing appeared.
If I don’t show shame, then the shame falls on them.
If I believe it’s the truth, then that’s that, no arguing!
Seeing this, Du Shaoxuan’s eyes flickered with a faint smile.
She’s a clever little thing.
Just as they were about to leave successfully, members of the Mu family’s main branch rushed over and blocked their way.
Mu Wanqing cursed under her breath, why had they come now, of all times?
Old Madam Mu snapped angrily, "Mu Wanqing, why are you and your cousin out here so late? Jinyao is not like you, she’s an upright, innocent girl."
The implication being that Mu Wanqing was not innocent, not respectable, an accusation thrown at her the moment she arrived.
Mu Wanqing snorted and shoved Mu Jinyao toward her. "Take her away, take her away."
She acted according to her conscience; she didn’t expect gratitude from the main branch, she just didn’t want Mu Jinyao’s life ruined.
It’s hard for a young woman to get by, help when you can.
Old Madam Mu, fuming, grabbed Mu Jinyao and peppered her with questions.
Mu Jinyao’s mind was a jumble; she couldn’t answer. "Don’t ask, just help me back to my room," she pleaded.
Old Madam Mu’s eyes flickered.
Madam Mu’s expression was tortured, no amount of planning had prepared her for this. Man proposes, God disposes.
How would this end?
"No, we can’t let them leave with things unexplained. This must be cleared up."
If they left like this, her daughter’s reputation would be all but ruined; a thin cover-up won’t do. Someone must be held responsible.
"Mother." Mu Jinyao’s eyes were red as she frantically shook her head.
Madam Mu steeled herself and shot her daughter a look. "Jinyao, don’t be afraid. Tell us straight, what happened? Speak up boldly; we will stand up for you."
Her words were loaded; she was strongly implying that her daughter should clear herself so the family could be blameless.
Mu Jinyao was at the verge of collapse, her head throbbing.
It wasn’t that she didn’t understand her mother’s meaning, what could she do? Falsely accuse Mu Wanqing of harming her?
Or seize the moment to cling to the man in front of her?
"Mother, my head, it hurts. I think I’m ill. Please help me back to my room."
Madam Mu was angry and annoyed, her daughter was usually sharp and capable; how could she fail at this crucial moment?
She fixed him with a stern look. "May I ask, sir, why was my daughter in your room at this late hour? What did you do to her?"
She was determined to trap the noble young gentleman, if the opening wasn’t perfect, any opportunity would do.
Young men are weak-willed, she thought, and Jinyao was a rare beauty, what man could resist?
Du Shaoxuan’s face grew cold. He said coolly, "This is my room."
He said only that, but it could be read in a hundred different ways.
Late at night, a young, beautiful girl slipping into a man’s room, what that implied needed no explanation.
Madam Mu hadn’t expected him to be so unyielding at such a young age. Her expression shifted. “That’s not what I mean. My daughter has always been modest and proper, careful with her words and conduct, scrupulously obedient to rules. Now that something like this has happened, how could parents not seek an explanation?”
Eldest Master Mu clambered out of bed a step too late, dishevelled and hair loose as he hurried over. “Exactly that, young master, you owe us an explanation.”
“Explanation?” Du Shaoxuan looked over with cold eyes. He snapped his fingers and a few Wuyi Guards appeared from nowhere, long swords leveled at the Mu family.
The air in the room tightened in an instant.
Eldest Master Mu stared at the blades, trembling, sweat pouring down his face, and spoke cautiously, “Please don’t misunderstand. I only worry about a daughter’s reputation, it’s precious, and wanted to make things clear. We mean no accusation against you, young master.”
Du Shaoxuan gazed at the unkempt man with the scraggly beard, this was the former Minister of Revenue? Not a shred of an official’s dignity. “Is that so?”
Seeing his attitude, Madam Mu nearly lost her mind; with events at this point she could only make one last play. “Young master, my daughter shared a room with you late at night; her honor is ruined. I beg you to take her as your wife. Otherwise she has no future.”
“I’ll kneel to you.” She fell to her knees before Du Shaoxuan with a thud.
For her daughter’s future she had cast aside all pride.
“Mother.” Mu Jinyao’s tears fell in a rush, moved and heartbroken at once.
The mood in the room was strange; everyone stared at Du Shaoxuan with hungry eyes.
“Why not just take her? Miss Mu is a famed beauty, a talented lady from the capital, surely it wouldn’t shame you, young master.”
“Yes, yes. A man can never have too many women; to have such a beauty at your side is a source of pride.”
Mu Wanqing frowned slightly, this was moral coercion, she wondered whether he would fall for it.
But then Du Shaoxuan said, “Your daughter’s chastity is precious, must I give up my own reputation for it?”
The room erupted in shocked whispers.
“What?” Madam Mu thought she’d misheard; what on earth was he saying?
Why would a grown man care about his own ‘purity’?
“My reputation is far more precious; I will not allow it to be tarnished. If you persist, ” Du Shaoxuan, short of patience, cut in, “Bring my name plaque; summon the local magistrate at once.”
He left them no face at all.
The Mu family went pale. Madam Mu closed her eyes, grief-stricken, her plan had utterly failed.
Who would have imagined this man so cold and ruthless that he would refuse a beauty delivered straight to his door?
Could he be hiding some ailment?
Eldest Master Mu broke into a cold sweat; things were dire enough, and if the magistrate got involved they might not survive it. “Young master, please, don’t, look at the Mu family’s standing, spare us this once.”
He turned his eyes and added, “Think of it as doing it for Mu Wanqing’s sake…”
He knew Mu Wanwan had spent the entire day preparing food for Du Shaoxuan.
Mu Wanqing bristled. “Wait, did I lend you my good name?”
Eldest Master Mu shot her a fierce glare. What were you making a scene for at a time like this? “We are family.”
Mu Wanqing’s gaze fell on Old Madam Mu. “Give it a rest. When there’s trouble we’re family; when there isn’t, it’s always Mu Wanqing the monster.”
Old Madam Mu’s face went stiff, how did the girl know the insults whispered behind her back?
Madam Mu was beside herself, panic compounding with every thought. “Young master, please, be merciful, take my daughter, or I will…” She bit her cheek and deliberately said, “Strangle her.”
It was only a tactic, but it provoked an extreme reaction from Mu Jinyao; her eyes went wild. She believed the words, she truly saw death as her only way out.
“You needn’t dirty your hands, I’ll do it myself.” Mu Jinyao’s face went deathly pale as a thousand thoughts converged. She hurled herself at a pillar with a sickening thud.
Her body went limp and collapsed; blood gushed like a fountain. Her eyes shut tight, she lay utterly still.
The sight was so dreadful the world seemed to fall silent.
Madam Mu’s mind went blank. She screamed and threw herself over her daughter, clutching the bleeding forehead; the blood quickly stained her hands red.
“Jinyao, Jinyao, don’t scare your mother, wake up! Why were you so foolish?”
Mu Wanqing hadn’t expected this either. She crouched and checked for breath; the body was still warm.
She let out a quiet breath of relief. “Stop crying and help, go fetch the physician!”
“Who has something to stop the bleeding?”
Du Shaoxuan gave a signal. One of his men stepped forward. “Clear a space. I can do a simple dressing.”
After a flurry of emergency care the bleeding was staunched, but she never regained consciousness.
The physician examined her pulse and looked grave. “The injuries are severe, her life is in danger. If she wakes by morning there may be hope.”
Madam Mu went frantic, eyes bloodshot, and clung to the Physician’s arm like a drowning person clutching a last straw. “Physician, I beg you, please save my daughter. She cannot die! Prescribe whatever medicine, no matter how costly.”
The physician sighed without a word, pitying the heartache of parents everywhere. “I’ll prepare a course of medicine. Force it down her if you must.”
That night, many would be kept awake.
No matter how fierce their disputes had been before, everyone set aside their grievances when a life hung in the balance; all prayed Mu Jinyao would survive.
Many came to pay their respects and offer a few comforting words.
The second household was no exception; the family peered at the scene from the doorway but were pushed back by the crowd.
Back in their rooms, everyone felt heavy with sorrow. How could this have happened?
That night, Madam Qian held Mu Wanqing tightly. “No matter what, don’t seek death, understand?”
Mu Wanqing felt her fear and returned the embrace gently. “I won’t. Only the living have hope. Mother, don’t worry, I am not her.”
“Ah.” Madam Qian sighed long and low. “That child’s fate is cruel.”
No one slept well that night; Mu Wanqing only drifted off in a daze at dawn.
…
“She’s awake, Mu Jinyao is awake.”
Mu Wanqing jerked awake from her sleep, scrambled out of bed, hastily got dressed and ran out without even washing up.
The entrance to the main chamber was packed with the women of the clan, three deep inside and three deep outside. When Mu Wanqing arrived, they instinctively made a path for her.
“Mu Jinyao, are you all right?” Mu Wanqing pushed through and went to the bedside.
Mu Jinyao lay on the bed with her eyes open, her face frighteningly pale, her gaze dazed and confused as if something weighed on her mind.
Her eyes swept over and she stared blankly. “You are… Third Sister? How are you still alive?”
Mu Wanqing froze, something about that didn’t feel right.