Chapter 15: The Mu Family in Chaos

“Ling’er, will you come back tomorrow? After all, you’re my auspicious bride, here to take care of me. No one will suspect anything.”

Mu Ling smiled and nodded, “In a bit, can you lend me Lang Yi? I want to give the Mu Family a surprise.”

“Of course! I still have my hidden guards; they are just as capable as Lang Yi. If you’re going to that wolf den, you should bring more hidden guards, or I won’t feel secure.”

Mu Ling waved her hand, replying mysteriously, “No need; it’s inconvenient to bring others. Besides, I’m not planning to fight, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

Jun Mohan didn’t press further. Ever since he learned that the little girl had a magical space, he had felt much more at ease. At least when danger arose, she could hide in the space.

As for why she wanted to take Lang Yi to the Mu Family, he could guess part of it. Taking only Lang Yi meant it was related to the space, and given her mysterious demeanor, he didn’t need to think hard to know she was likely going to “steal” something using the space.

However, Jun Mohan never expected that even though he had guessed right, he would still be shocked when Lang Yi returned to tell him.

Because…

When Mu Ling left the Mu Family with Lang Yi, the entire marquis’s residence, aside from the few who were still sleeping soundly, had nothing left, not even a fire stick.

“Your Highness, your Crown Princess is terrifying. Do you know what the Marquis’s residence looks like now?”

Lang Yi had a look of schadenfreude, gesturing as he narrated everything he had just witnessed, “Your Highness, let me tell you this: now in the entire marquis’s residence, aside from those lying on the ground and snoring, there’s nothing left but the walls. The Crown Princess swept away their dogs. Haha, I really want to see when they wake up and realize the entire residence has nothing left to wear. Haha, luckily, the Marquis is on leave; otherwise, he would have to go to court naked.”

Jun Mohan raised the corners of his mouth. It seemed he needed to help the little girl add more fuel to the fire!

“Lang Yi, you should…” Jun Mohan whispered in Lang Yi’s ear. The more Lang Yi listened, the wider his eyes became. Their Crown Prince and Crown Princess… were a perfect match! They were both so merciless. However, he truly admired such a Crown Princess!

Meanwhile, when Mu Ling returned to the General’s Residence, Xiao He hurried over with a worried expression, first giving her a once-over before sighing in relief, “Miss, you didn’t come back for a day and a night, I was so worried. In the future, you should take me with you when you go out, so I won’t have to worry at home.”

Miss… didn’t expect she would hug her.

“Xiao He, I’ll go to Grandfather soon and ask him to take you as a granddaughter. I don’t want you to be my maid anymore; I want us to be sisters.”

In her previous life, when she was just brought to the General’s Residence by her grandfather, her mother, Su San, would come to make a scene from time to time, and her intentions were clear: she didn’t want her grandfather to care for her and especially didn’t want her to stay in the General’s Residence.

At that time, she longed for familial affection and motherly love. Every time she heard Su San was coming, she thought about going to see her. However, she couldn’t even get close to Su San; she would be beaten mercilessly…

Once, when Su San was about to beat her with a fire stick again, no one expected Xiao He to stand up for her. She argued with Su San, hoping to awaken her motherly love, but how could a selfish person like her ever comply?

That time, not only did Su San beat her mercilessly, but she also injured Xiao He badly. It was only when Grandfather returned that he stopped Su San. From that day on, Grandfather forbade Su San from coming to the General’s Residence.

The entire imperial capital gossiped about her being a disaster star, and everyone avoided her, but Xiao He was always there, smiling and accompanying her. During that time, Xiao He was the only one who treated her well, aside from her grandfather and two uncles.

Because she treated her well, after returning to the marquis’s residence, it didn’t take long for Mu Fuxing to torment Xiao He to death. Mu Fuxing had even come to her face to say how miserable Xiao He had died, how her eyeballs had been gouged out by her elder brother, how her legs were chopped off by her younger brother, and how she had been violated by both her brothers on the very first night of her abduction…

In the end, Mu Fuxing told her that the reason she had to kill Xiao He and make her death so miserable was that… she wouldn’t allow anyone to be good to her.

“Miss, what’s wrong?” Xiao He’s timid voice pulled Mu Ling’s thoughts back from her previous life.

“Xiao He, I’m fine; I just missed you. By the way, where are Grandfather and the uncles? Are they resting?”

Xiao He nodded, asking in confusion, “Does Miss need to find the old general? Do you want to…”

Mu Ling glanced at her grandfather’s courtyard and shook her head, “Forget it; I’ll pay my respects to him tomorrow morning.”

“Miss, are you hungry? I can make you a bowl of noodles.”

“Xiao He, from now on you’re my sister. You’re not allowed to refer to yourself as a maid in front of me; otherwise, I won’t want you anymore.”

“But Miss…”

Mu Ling patted her head and smiled, interrupting her, “There are no ‘buts.’ Remember, if you call yourself a maid again, I won’t want you.”

“Then… okay, Miss. How is the Crown Prince? Is he okay?” Since yesterday, when the Miss went to the Eastern Palace, she had been praying that the Crown Prince would recover, at least not to have the Miss be labeled as a “disaster star” right after entering the Eastern Palace…

“Don’t worry; the Crown Prince is very well and nothing will happen to him.”

“Really?! That’s great! Hmph! I’ll see who dares to wrong the Miss in the future.” The sisters held hands and returned to their courtyard, chatting and laughing.

The next day, just as dawn broke, a series of sharp screams echoed from the Mu Family, so piercing that nearly half the street could hear it. The birds in the trees were startled and flew in all directions, and the dogs in the neighboring houses barked in fright…

Many people curiously rushed to the marquis’s residence, peering through the doors to see what could have caused such terrifying screams from within.

The first to scream was a maid named Xiao Cui in the old lady’s courtyard. She was on the early shift and was supposed to boil water for the old lady’s morning wash. But when she opened her eyes…

She felt as if she hadn’t woken up yet and must still be dreaming, otherwise… Forget the fact that she was lying on the ground; there was nothing left in this room… Besides the few companions who were still snoring on the ground, there wasn’t even a blade of grass left.

Xiao Cui pinched herself hard; it hurt! So it wasn’t a dream? Then she screamed, and with her scream, the cries of others followed, as she woke everyone up…

The other maids were somewhat better off, as they at least still wore some clothes; in the marquis’s residence, the servants could only strip down to their outer garments while sleeping, always on standby.

The worst off were Marquis Mu and his concubine, Mu Fuxing’s biological mother, Concubine Lan. The two had spent the night before entangled in passion and must have been quite satisfied; after finishing, they hadn’t put on any underclothes and had directly fallen asleep together, completely naked.

When they opened their eyes, they were stunned, lying on the cold ground, and the room echoed with emptiness…

The old lady and Su San were still dressed, but they too couldn’t accept the sight before them.

What was this… had they been robbed? Even if they had been robbed, it shouldn’t have included their clothes!

“Someone! Someone!” Marquis Mu shouted hoarsely after a long moment of realization, desperately calling out to the door.

A young servant hurried over, but upon seeing the two completely naked people, he was startled. How could the madam be completely bare?!

“Turn around! If you look again… I’ll gouge your eyes out!”

The young servant immediately turned around, “My lord, I… I saw nothing.”

“Forget it, tell me what happened in the residence! And where are the guards?”

The young servant replied, “My lord, aside from the people lying on the ground, everything else in the residence is gone…”

Marquis Mu felt like he was going insane. He shouted in exasperation, “What?! What do you mean everything is gone? Go, go, go, summon the guards to me!”

Concubine Lan trembled in fear, “My lord, in this state, how can you let the guards in?”

“Go, let the guards report at the door!”

The young servant sighed in relief and dashed out. As he stepped outside, he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. That was too terrifying! He thought he would surely die today, especially since he had seen the madam naked. But thankfully, his life was spared! He should thank that little thief; if they hadn’t been robbed so cleanly, the lord wouldn’t have had time to punish him, and he wouldn’t have been able to save his life.