"She has left the Capital City, and we donât know where she is now."
Mu Shaoling heard the same words from Mu Huaen, but he didnât believe it at all. He knew Ye Haoyangâs character better than anyone; the child was extremely protective. Huaen was hurt, how could he let Huarong go? He refused to believe the story about leaving the Capital City; itâs very likely that sheâs already...
"Didnât you have someone follow her?"
"No."
Mu Shaolingâs face grew even grimmer.
"Nonsense!" he slammed his palm on the table, his gaze piercingly fixed on Ye Haoyang, "Ye Haoyang, let me ask you again, where is Mu Huarong? My Mu Family will never tolerate anyone ruthless and malicious, but even if she were to die, it would be by my own hand with the parting drug."
"Uncle Mu, sheâs already gone. Iâve told you many times, but I still say the same thing. She has legs of her ownâhow could I keep an eye on her?"
After a pause, he continued, "Besides, even if sheâs really in the Capital City, could you truly feed her the parting drug? Back then, when Yubing put poison on a dogâs teeth and injured Chengcheng, you didnât feed her the parting drug either; she was just confined to the estate."
"You..."
Mu Shaoling found himself at a loss for words.
After a while, he spoke, "Can Yubing and Huarong be the same?"
Mu Yubing was the daughter born to Concubine Tong. Later, Concubine Tong was sent back to her family, but this child was their blood and continued to grow up in the Mu Familyâs harem.
Perhaps, without a biological mother to guide her, her temperament grew increasingly isolated and sinister. At merely eleven or twelve years old, sheâd apply poison on a dogâs teeth and use embroidery needles to provoke it into biting passersby.
Back then, Mu Niancheng fell victim to her plot. Luckily, the Mu Family was renowned for medicine; Mu Shaolingâs medical skills were exceptional, and he was able to promptly administer an antidote.
Once Mu Niancheng had recovered, Mu Yubing was sent away to the estate.
But who would have known that the child had such a fragile fate? Within a month at the estate, a servant forgot to extinguish the lamps before sleeping and ignited a fire that burned her alive.
He recalled that Yubing and Huarong had been close; Huarongâs ruthlessness might certainly have been influenced by her, though it was unclear who influenced whom.
But that wasnât the main point. The crux of the matter was that Yubing wasnât even his daughter. To be precise, she was his sister. Before heâd mistakenly entered Concubine Tongâs room, someone else had gone in, so he was essentially taking the blame for his father. Without being biologically his daughter, how could he bear to act ruthlessly?
"Thereâs no difference; theyâre both surnamed Mu, both your daughters. And Iâm really puzzled, Uncle Mu, why are you so determined to find out where she is? Do you genuinely want her to return, or do you want her back just to give her the parting drug? If you want her back, itâs useless to ask me; even if I knew, I wouldnât tell you. Sheâs so ruthless, how can you ensure she wonât harm Huaen again while staying in the Capital City?"
"Theyâre all your daughters, you care equally for them. But I have only one wife; I know who is dear and who is distant, and you donât need to protect herâIâll handle that myself."
Disregarding the dark look on Mu Shaolingâs face, he continued, "But if you say you want her back for the parting drug, you might as well drop the idea. Whether you can be ruthless is debatable, but Aunt Dongyang certainly wonât agree. If you act firmly, wonât it create a rift with Aunt Dongyang? Hence, Uncle Mu, to prevent any discord between you and Aunt Dongyang, I must ensure I know nothing."