3921

Chapter 3921 4.1521 Human Hearts

Qiao Mu nodded expressionlessly. "So, they were actually entangled after that, right up until my mother passed away? Mu Qingya was married into the family, and they were always together, weren't they?"

Chen Shang nodded awkwardly, then added, "Qingya is just a woman with a tough fate. Her strength was no match for your father's."

"Even if the doors were locked..." This statement wasn't easy to hear.

The dignified Mu family head, acting like a petty man sneaking into a woman's chambers at night—that would be a huge loss of face and reputation no matter how it was said.

"Heh," Qiao Mu scoffed coldly.

"First Madam's miscarried younger daughter, if she were still alive, would be about one year younger than Young Mistress, perhaps fifteen years old now."

Qiao Mu's eyes were cold, and she gave a faint, cold laugh. "Just a pair of wretched people."

Chen Shang was startled. In her heart, she felt that Mu Qingya was somewhat wronged and wanted to defend her, but upon meeting Qiao Mu's icy, snow-like face, she found herself unable to speak.

"So, that means Mu Qingya was already pregnant when she married in? And had a miscarriage not long after getting married?"

Counting the time, it should be so. After all, that scoundrel Mu Jingfeng officially married Mu Qingya not long after her mother passed away, didn't he?

"Mm, a lot happened that first year," Chen Shang nodded. "Sigh, Young Mistress, First Madam truly is a woman with a bitter fate."

"This old servant still remembers, the Second Young Lady was almost full-term, when she suddenly went into unexpected labor and gave birth to a stillborn baby."

Chen Shang shook her head and said, "It was truly pitiful for First Madam. She was genuinely severely weakened at the time. Yet, after only a few days of rest, she bravely forced herself to handle the Mu family's affairs."

"Is there no one else in the entire Mu family besides her, Mu Qingya?" Qiao Mu said coldly.

"Madam, although you and Mother have high cultivation, when it comes to controlling human hearts..." Qiao Mu sighed, leaving the sentence unfinished.

Chen Shang was startled, instinctively glancing at her Young Mistress.

Could the little Crown Princess be thinking too much?

Human hearts?

Qiao Mu reached for a handkerchief, wrapped four exquisite pastries, and said expressionlessly, "Let's go. Let's go see them in the Mu family's rat hole."

Chen Shang: ...

It felt like her Young Mistress was growing even more disdainful of the Mu family.

The hour was still early, and a gentle morning breeze blew.

Qiao Mu and Chen Shang, along with Li Ye and the idle Xiaoye, set off together for the Mu family's Winter Moon Mountain Forest.

On the Mu family's mountain path, bloodstains remained, but the guards had all withdrawn.

They didn't encounter anyone as they ascended the mountain.

Only when they reached the empty mountain gate did Qiao Mu stop.

The black-framed, red-lettered plaque that had originally hung in the center of the Mu family's wide mountain gate lay shattered on the ground, broken into two pieces.

It looked somewhat desolate.

Qiao Mu stepped onto the plaque, walking in with an expressionless face.

Everyone: ...

Chen Shang lightly coughed, showing good foresight by leading the way. She guided them to a secluded small courtyard, pointing to a dry well in the center of the courtyard. "There's a passage below here."

"However, the Mu family has quite a few secret passages. This old servant truly doesn't know if we'll find them easily."

"Of course, there wouldn't be just one rat hole," Qiao Mu sneered, then turned to the Purple Forest Guards behind her. "Dig it up."