Chapter 43

A figure flew in. A long whip cracked down toward Eldest Master Mu, who was gesturing and shouting; the whip landed square on his face. He clutched his jaw and howled in pain.
Wherever the long whip struck, screams followed. The Mu descendants all took lashes, no one escaped. Each of them crouched on the ground, clutching their heads and begging for mercy.
In short order, the situation was brought under control.
Officer Zeng held the whip, his face as cold as deep water. He'd been gone one night and chaos had erupted like this.
"Are you trying to start a rebellion? I see itchy skins that need a good lashing."
Old Madam Mu looked at her injured kin, both furious and ashamed. "Officer Zeng, this is an internal family matter, it's none of your business... ah!"
Officer Zeng struck her a blow with the whip; she screamed and writhed. "Old crone, who are you talking to? Huh?"
He didn't care how old she was, getting him into trouble was intolerable.
The swagger that had built up in Old Madam Mu was shattered by a single lash. She finally remembered fear. Lashing others didn't sting as much, having the whip fall on herself was an agony that felt like dying.
"I was wrong, I was truly wrong, but this all started with Mu Wanqing. She has been gone for days, won't you do something? Notify the authorities and have her captured..."
She deliberately shifted the blame onto Mu Wanqing.
A carriage came to a halt before her. Officer Zeng put away his whip and hurried forward, bowing respectfully as he stood.
Everyone froze, who was riding in that carriage?
A slender hand slipped out, lifting the curtain to reveal a face carved like jade.
It was Mu Wanqing! She had finally returned!
She wore an autumn-scented, arrow-sleeved robe, a jade coronet on her head, and a beaded necklace at her throat, every inch the pampered young heir of a wealthy house.
The crowd erupted. So this was where Officer Zeng had gone all night, off to fetch Mu Wanqing? Preposterous.
But the most outrageous thing was yet to come.
Madam Qian’s eyes went red with emotion. “Wanqing, you’re back, where are your father and elder brother?”
Mu Wanqing’s gaze swept over them. Seeing her mother’s battered state, a coldness keyed into her eyes, a flash of anger. “Mother, I’m back. They’re in the carriage behind.”
She sprang down from the carriage with practised ease. Officer Zeng steadied her with a perfunctory hand. “Mind your step.”
Others were still dumbfounded, but the normally detached head of the Fang household sucked in a sharp breath, something felt wrong.
Old Madam Mu’s eyes were bloodshot; old grievances and fresh wounds surged up inside her. She lunged forward to strike. “Mu Wanqing.”
Before she could reach her, Officer Zeng kicked her aside. Her face slammed into the ground; pain seared through her.
She tasted blood and spat out two teeth.
She was stunned, she only had a few teeth left!
Another carriage pulled up and Second Master Mu and his son leapt down, rushing to their family’s side.
The husband and wife, parents and children, after days apart, had tears in their eyes from the relief of reunion.
Second Master Mu looked at his wife’s face and winced with pain.
Mu Zicheng could hardly believe his eyes, his mother and younger brother with hair dishevelled and clothes torn, clearly the worse for a struggle.
“Mother, who did this to you?”
He had assumed that with official protection they'd be well taken care of.
Madam Qian’s eyes were rimmed in red; tears streamed down her face as she clung to her husband and children. “You’re back, that’s what matters. I’m fine.”
Seeing her family safe at last, her heart finally settled; she wanted nothing more.
The beatings didn’t matter, she didn’t want to make a fuss about it.
Mu Wanqing walked forward slowly, a murderous calm in her expression. Anyone who harmed her mother had really invited death.
“Who struck my mother? Step forward.”
Her presence was overwhelming; even Old Madam Mu dared not move. Then the little maid from Sixth Aunt’s household piped up indignantly, “She bullied Second Uncle’s wife.”
The plump little hand pointed at Old Madam Mu, and she instinctively turned away.
Mu Wanqing snorted coldly. “You bullied my family while I was gone, such courage?”
Family was her inviolable line; anyone who crossed it was courting their own doom.
Old Madam Mu had plotted and schemed, but she had never expected Mu Wanqing to return at such a crucial moment.
With things come to this, she threw caution to the wind, she didn’t believe Mu Wanqing would dare to do anything to her.
“You ran off with some street ruffian, you wanton little, ”
Mu Wanqing snatched the whip from Officer Zeng’s hand and struck without hesitation. “Crack.”
She was no expert; her aim faltered, and the lash glanced toward Old Madam Mu’s eye.
Old Madam Mu screamed as if her soul had left her, instinctively covering her face. “How dare you hit me?”
Mu Wanqing waved her right hand, the weapon was awkward in her grip. “A bit tiring, that’s all.”
“No need for you to handle it yourself. Allow me.” Officer Zeng bowed slightly and reached for the whip.
Mu Wanqing placed the whip in his hand. “I’ve always been a proper, genteel sort, but I believe in an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, Officer Zeng, see to it.”
“Yes.” Officer Zeng answered with utmost respect, then swung the whip without mercy.
It was his weapon; his control was perfect, where he aimed, it struck.
For a time all that could be heard were Old Madam Mu’s hysterical screams, her cries of pain, her pleas for mercy, an endless sound.
Each lash landed on Old Madam Mu’s flesh and on the hearts of those watching.
It was a display of force, a warning.
If you caused trouble on his turf, this would be your fate.
Before long Old Madam Mu was drenched in blood. Some Mu family members stepped forward to stop it and were themselves whipped, scattering in all directions.
Officer Zeng had gone ruthless. “Bring out the shackles and lock them on, don’t remove them until we reach the border.”
“Yes.”
The Mu family wailed and shrieked. Had they never had the shackles removed, had they never known freedom, they wouldn’t have fallen apart like this.
Mu Wanqing watched coldly, her eyes terrifyingly indifferent.
Mu Jinyao’s eyes glistened with moisture; she was distraught, how had the family come to this?
“Stop, if you keep this up someone will die. Third sister, Grandmother was wrong, but she’s been punished. For the sake of her age and frailty, spare her.”
Mu Wanqing’s anger ran deep; the consequences were grave. “How many times is this now? I gave you chances, and you squandered them.”
She had always respected life and shied from bloodshed, but that didn’t excuse their repeated transgressions.
“In the end, I was too soft-hearted, I let you think that wrongdoing had no terrible price. Fine, I’ll change.”
The last words were chilling, carrying the austerity of winter.
Mu Jinyao’s face went pale, what more could she do?
Mu Wanqing raised her voice. “Officer Zeng, spare her a breath. Her constitution is too tough, she won’t die.”
Old Madam Mu lay gasping, her features blurred by pain. “Mu Wanqing, you unfilial, ungrateful beast, you will have your retribution.”
Officer Zeng’s eyes darkened. “Brothers, give her descendants a real whipping, this is what happens to those who have no restraint in their mouths.”
That was plainly vengeance on Mu Wanqing’s behalf.
“If you want someone to blame, blame your ancestor, who let her grow old and useless. If she makes trouble again, punish the whole lot of them.”
Old Madam Mu turned pale, railing at them in her mind, but she dared not say another word.
Mu Wanqing took out the finest medicine to tend Madam Qian's wound; her touch was gentle and painfully careful.
Madam Qian felt a coolness on her face and the pain in the wound had eased, what a remarkable medicine. "Miss Yu's hand was hurt too. Please take a look at her; if she hadn't protected me today, I, "
Fourth Miss Yu's hand had been stepped on several times; her little finger was broken. Mu Wanqing frowned. "I'll splint your finger for now. Go to the next town and see a good physician. Don't worry, no expense will be spared to heal you."
She knew how to separate grievance from gratitude, and she accepted this favor.
Fourth Miss Yu cradled her injured hand, still shaken; she didn't know where she had found the courage to rush in and save someone.
She was the sort of person who hated being dragged into trouble.
Yet she had no regrets.
Over the past month of sharing meals and lodging, Madam Qian had been gentle and kind, looking after her.
People are not trees; who can be entirely without feeling?
Mu Wanqing used a handkerchief and a small stick she had picked up to make a simple splint for Fourth Miss Yu. "Hold on a little while longer, you'll be fine soon."
Her gentleness surprised Fourth Miss Yu.
Mu Wanqing glanced at Mu Ziang, the corner of whose mouth had been rubbed raw, he had already treated the wound.
"Second Brother, you tell us, what exactly happened?"
"It was like this..." Mu Ziang immediately began to talk non-stop about what had just occurred, holding nothing back.
Mu Wanqing's expression grew steadily darker. She strolled over to Eldest Master Mu, who was lying on the ground feigning a corpse, and gave him a little kick.
"Eldest Master Mu, I know you're despicable, but I didn't realize you'd be this vicious, evil truly runs in the blood."
Others might not have seen through his intentions, but she saw them at once, and that made him all the more repulsive.
You all share the Mu name and the same blood. You may dislike them, but you cannot trample your kin's corpses to climb higher.
"Using two lives to pave the way for your Clan Leadercy, hoping to restore your former authority? Clan Leader, are you even fit for that?"
Eldest Master Mu felt deeply humiliated; he had become clan leader long before Mu Wanqing was even born.
He only wanted to take back what he believed was his, what was wrong with that?
For success, anything could be sacrificed.
Why couldn't they obediently be his stepping stones?
"I'm not fit? And you are? A mere brat with yellow hair, always bossing people around, thinking herself important. Officer Zeng, she's so insolent she doesn't even look at you, how can you stand it? She's trying to seize power, to take your authority."
He deliberately stirred trouble, always scheming with ill intent.
He expected Officer Zeng to fly into a rage and break completely with Mu Wanqing; after all, which man doesn't crave power?
Who could have predicted it? Officer Zeng walked up to Mu Wanqing and bowed with utmost respect. "I, Zeng, am willing to be Third Miss's vanguard; we will follow Third Miss Mu's arrangements. Wherever Third Miss points her sword, there our actions shall aim."
He declared his loyalty openly, "Miss, from now on, your will shall be our will."
Everyone stood agape, feeling as if they were dreaming, he... was relinquishing the top spot and letting Mu Wanqing take charge?
No way? Really? From now on, their fate would be in Mu Wanqing's hands?
Eldest Master Mu was beside himself, was he blind, or was this man mad? To submit to a thirteen-year-old girl? "You're insane."
Officer Zeng ignored him and looked to his companions, including Deputy Captain Li who had just returned. "Brothers, from today on, the supreme leader of this troop is Third Miss. Do you all hear me?"
"We hear you." The officers voiced no objection; they recognized Third Miss Mu's ability. Besides, didn't they already know what sort of person their leader was?
For him to be so utterly impressed, surely something earth-shattering and beneficial to them had happened.
Yes, definitely good news, good news for them.
Fortunes can turn in an instant.
Mu Wanqing smiled faintly. Nothing is built without first breaking the old, now is the time.
Those who had made things hard for Madam Qian and her son just now all went pale, trembling with remorse.
The reckoning has come!