Perhaps the heavens had heard Wu Zhixuan’s silent prayers, for just as they were struggling to figure out how to handle Mu Wan, there was a sudden knock at the door.
Wu Zhixuan, as if finally finding something to do, quickly asked, “Who is it?”
Before she could move, Li Yining, who was closest to the door, had already opened it. Standing at the entrance was Mu Rou, exuding an air of grace and composure. She seemed slightly taken aback by the door opening so quickly but immediately swept her gaze across the room. She noted that Wu Zhixuan sat in the place of honor with Mu Wan seated close to her, while the other two young ladies had been relegated to the sides. It was obvious that Mu Wan was being treated as a guest of honor.
Lowering her eyelids to hide the mirth in her eyes, Mu Rou bowed gracefully to the group. “This commoner daughter, Mu Rou, the fiancée of Compiler Li1, has come to pay her respects upon learning that my elder sister, Mu Wan, is here.”
She then directed a deep bow toward Mu Wan, emphasizing the word ‘sister’ with an edge in her tone. “Greetings, Eldest Sister.”
Wu Zhixuan found the situation perplexing and turned to Mu Wan. “She’s your sister?”
Mu Wan smiled coldly at Mu Rou. “Second Sister, didn’t you already greet me earlier? Why chase me all the way to this private room? I’ve told you, Xuanniang and her friends do not see status when making friends, because they value mutual affinity. Just because they’re friends with me doesn’t mean they’ll want to be friends with you. Why do you insist on pushing your way in?”
Mu Rou’s head snapped up. She hadn’t expected Mu Wan to so calmly and directly discredit her. She quickly glanced at Wu Zhixuan and the others, expecting them to be angry at Mu Wan for deceiving them. After all, how could they not be furious to discover they’d been tricked by the mere daughter of a merchant?
But to her shock, Wu Zhixuan and the others seemed to only care about Mu Wan’s ‘blunt expose’ of her intention to ingrain into their circle. Their faces simultaneously showed displeasure.
Of course they knew who Mu Rou was. The story of Li Tanhua falling for his fiancée’s younger sister and demanding to break off his engagement to marry her had been one of the capital’s juiciest scandals before Mu Wan’s engagement to Marquis Zhenbei. Even they had enthusiastically shared the gossip among them.
At first, most people had pitied Li Yichen for being tied to a supposed good-for-nothing fiancée and thought the cultured and refined Second Miss Mu was the better match. But those with more experience, like the older married women, could see the truth at a glance. Even if Mu Wan was truly a good-for-nothing, her stepmother and stepsister were unlikely to be any better. This was confirmed when Mu Wan gracefully stepped aside, and Li Yichen publicly admitted that he had sought to annul his engagement because he had fallen to his fiancée’s sister, proving the initial speculations correct.
The truth was apparent: the half-sister born of the stepmother had set her sights on her elder sister’s promising fiancé and resorted to underhanded means to steal him. Once the truth came to light, anyone with a shred of rationality no longer had any good impression of this mother-daughter pair.
Though Mu Wan’s subsequent engagement to Marquis Zhenbei had shifted public focus back onto her, effectively burying the gossip about Li Yichen and Mu Rou, the lack of flame didn’t mean people had forgotten.
For Wu Zhixuan, her dislike for Mu Rou ran even deeper. The slander against Mu Wan had dragged Wu Zhixuan’s uncle’s name into it, and the ensuing scandal that led to Mu Rou and Li Yichen’s engagement had been widely interpreted as her being innocently implicated by Wu Zhixuan’s accident. However, as the orchestrator of that so-called accident, Wu Zhixuan didn’t believe Mu Rou was innocent, but unfortunately, she lacked evidence to prove otherwise.
Because her plot against Xie Heng failed, which triggered a series of turmoil in the family, Wu Zhixuan’s attention shifted to Mu Wan, leaving Mu Rou, who she deemed irrelevant, in the past. Yet here Mu Rou was, shamelessly trying to ingratiate herself into their circle. Why should she treat her politely?
“Sorry, we don’t like hanging out with vixens,” Wu Zhixuan sneered.
Mu Rou’s face turned pale. She couldn’t understand why Wu Zhixuan and the others were reacting this way. In disbelief, she turned to look at Mu Wan. ’What had she done this time?!’
“Wait, did you say you’re the Second Miss of the Mu family?” Zhang Jinru suddenly spoke up.
Mu Rou’s spirits lifted, and she nodded quickly. “Yes, that’s right. Mu Wan is my elder sister.” Had they finally realized?
Zhang Jinru continued, “I’ve heard the Second Miss of the Mu family is cultured and graceful, as delicate as a willow. Why don’t you show us your talents?” As she spoke, she exchanged a knowing glance with Wu Zhixuan.
Their years of tacit understanding allowed Wu Zhixuan to immediately grasp her intention. Right—if they simply sent Mu Rou away, they’d be left alone with Mu Wan, which would be unbearably awkward! Without missing a beat, she changed her tone. “In that case, why not stay and join us?”
Liu Rui quickly chimed in, “What talents does the Second Miss Mu have? Chess? Too boring. Poetry? Also dull. How about playing the zither? I think there’s one we can borrow around here.” She gestured for a servant girl to fetch an instrument.
Hearing herself being treated like a street performer, Mu Rou drew a sharp breath and replied calmly, “I merely came to greet my elder sister. Liulang is still waiting for me, so I’ll take my leave now.”
Wu Zhixuan immediately countered, “Then why not invite Liulang to join us? Qilang is here too. Let the brothers have fun together.”
Li Yining jumped up enthusiastically. “I’ll go call Sixth Brother.”
Mu Rou panicked and blurted out, “No!” She had come to expose Mu Wan’s lies and had deliberately sent Li Yichen away beforehand. For reasons she couldn’t explain, she didn’t want Li Yichen to see Mu Wan’s current appearance.
But it was too late. Having walked into this situation herself, things were no longer under her control.
Wu Zhixuan, growing impatient, snapped, “No what? Sit down! Qilang, go call your cousin brother.”
Seeing that Li Yining was about to call Li Yichen, Mu Rou could no longer hold back. She quickly bowed and said, “It’s not that Mu Rou is unwilling, but this situation is truly inappropriate. Although Eldest Sister has forgiven Liulang, he did wrong her first…”
Wu Zhixuan and the others suddenly remembered this detail and instinctively glanced at Mu Wan—if she didn’t want to see Li Yichen, it would indeed be inappropriate to summon him. But almost instantly, Wu Zhixuan realized what she was thinking and suddenly froze: ‘Why am I even considering Mu Wan’s feelings?!’
Apparently, Wu Zhixuan wasn’t the only one with this thought. Seeing the way Liu Rui and Zhang Jinru glanced at Mu Wan, she knew the two girls were also reluctant to make things awkward for Mu Wan.
Hitting Mu Wan where it hurt, however, seemed to have turned into a habit for Mu Rou, who couldn’t resist adding, “Besides, the competition for the glass cup is about to begin. Surely all the ladies here will want to join their fathers, brothers, or fiancés on the stage. As for Eldest Sister, the Marquis must be coming to join you… right?” As she said this, her gaze suddenly fell on the peony at Mu Wan’s waist.
Mu Wan’s attire was vibrant, and the peony pinned at her waist blended seamlessly with her outfit, so it hadn’t caught her attention before. But now Mu Rou noticed that another man in the room was also wearing the same kind of peony.
Following Mu Rou’s shocked gaze, everyone else looked at the peony on Mushuang’s waist and collectively gasped. Right, how could they forget! Because of the earlier shock and subsequent awkwardness, they had overlooked one glaring issue—Mu Wan, who was engaged to Marquis Zhenbei, had spent the entire afternoon with another man!
What kind of audacity was this?!
Mu Rou hadn’t expected such a golden opportunity to present itself, and her shock quickly turned into delight. “Eldest Sister, what is the meaning of this? Who is he? Does the Marquis… does the Marquis know?”
Everyone tensed up, but Mu Wan showed no sign of panic at ‘being caught cheating on her fiancé.’ She leaned lazily against her chair, glancing at Mu Rou with disdain. “How could the Marquis know if Second Sister doesn’t tell him? Are you planning to report it? Or…” Her gaze swept over Wu Zhixuan and the others. “Do you think Miss Wu and the others will report it? After all, they’ve been playing with us all afternoon.”
Wu Zhixuan and the others: “…” ‘What does this have to do with us?! Why is she making it sound like we were her accomplices?!’
‘But if this gets back to Xie Heng…’
Wu Zhixuan quietly scooted a little farther away from Mu Wan.
Mu Wan seemed oblivious to her retreat and continued staring at Mu Rou, smiling without the slightest hint of fear. “Or does Second Sister believe the Marquis will come?”
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Translator’s Note:
We had a small emergency, so sorry for the missing update last week >_<
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Thanks for the chapter,
Hope everything goes well for you after the emergency.
LMAO I think the other girls are cute and Mu Wan letting them squirm a little is a hilarious and deserved bit of teasing. Let them learn that gossip doesn’t represent everything – such a fun trope to turn on its head. Let’s see how it gooooes
Glad to see you back ! We missed youuu 🤗
Thank you for the update !
Mu Rou’s mouth seriously… always in her sister’s business, trying to trap her
she still don’t understand karma is out to get her 😅