Mai Xia watched Mu An Xiao, who was stunned by her actions, and then looked at Mu Hua, who was smiling gleefully. She coldly said, "You are disrespecting Madam. Be careful, I'll beat you to death." She pointed at Mu An Xiao.
Immediately, Mu An Xiao raised her hand to cover her cheek, slowly stood up, and looked at Mai Xia, who was glaring at her fiercely, saying, "You want to beat me to death."
"Asking the obvious. Your mother wants to beat you to death," Mu Hua said smugly.
Mu An Xiao gasped and said, "This is none of your business. Shut up." She turned and glared at Mu Hua.
Mu Hua completely disregarded Mu An Xiao and said, "You almost got all of us killed. Now..."
"You are also about to enter the palace," Mu An Xiao interrupted, turning to face Mu Hua. "I advise you to watch your tongue, lest you have to beg me for help later." She took her hand away from her cheek.
Mu Hua's eyes sank. "That's what I should be saying to you."
"The one who causes the most trouble in this entire manor seems to be you," Mu An Xiao provoked Mu Hua intentionally.
Mu Hua narrowed her eyes. "Speaking of trouble, you're the expert, because... you're a wild girl."
Mai Xia's heart sank upon hearing Mu Hua's words. "Fourth Miss, speaking like that is perhaps inappropriate."
Mu An Xiao's heart sank. She hadn't expected Mu Xiao's mother (Mai Xia) to speak up for her, so her heart sank, and she turned to look at Mai Xia.
Mu Hua pushed Mu An Xiao aside and looked at Mai Xia, asking, "What? Am I wrong?"
Mai Xia took a deep breath and said, "Mu Xiao is my daughter. Moreover, in a sense, she is also your elder sister. Speaking like this is perhaps inappropriate."
"How is it inappropriate? If I remember correctly, before," Mu Hua stepped forward, "when my mother called her a wild girl, you agreed. Why... were you acting in front of my mother?"
Mu An Xiao looked at Mai Xia in disbelief, remaining silent.
Conversely, Mai Xia continued to look at Mu Hua and said, "That was when she first arrived, and I wasn't sure if she was my daughter. Those words were just spoken carelessly. As for later, I was indeed acting. I didn't expect," she said, "that you would remember my words so well."
"Of course."
"It seems," Mai Xia said with a forced smile, "that you care about me quite a bit."
Mu Hua was speechless.
Mu An Xiao watched Mai Xia render Mu Hua speechless and then considered her words. Mu An Xiao couldn't help but ask, "Do you believe I am your daughter now?"
"..." Mai Xia looked at Mu An Xiao.
Mu An Xiao, seeing Mai Xia's silence, began to feel inexplicably nervous. This was a tension she hadn't experienced in a year.
At this moment, she began to worry that Mai Xia would expose her in front of Mu Hua.
In short, the feeling was very strange.
"..." Mai Xia was also silent.
Then, Mu Hua glanced at both Mu An Xiao and Mai Xia, saying indignantly, "I can't believe you two mother and daughter would gang up on me. Fine, I'm going to tell my mother."
"...Fourth Miss." Mai Xia called out softly.
Mu Hua thought Mai Xia was frightened by her actions and showed a smug smile. "What? Scared?"
"Madam is currently in the Master's room. I just want to advise you not to act impulsively," Mai Xia smiled, "lest you be punished."
"..." Mu Hua's expression stiffened. "You're not afraid?"
"What is there to be afraid of? My daughter may be without manners, but..." Mai Xia said seriously, "she is also a meritorious subject."
"Meritorious?" Mu Hua sneered. "You are truly good at finding excuses for your daughter. You..."
"The one who escaped to be with Young Master Qiu was the Third Miss. Today," Mai Xia interrupted, still serious, "if Mu Xiao hadn't told the truth, the entire Mu manor would have been in crisis."
"What... crisis? What crisis could there be? Don't talk nonsense," Mu Hua said, trying to reassure herself, her tone dropping.
Mai Xia: "That matter would be more terrifying than deceiving the emperor."
"More terrifying..." Mu Hua was not intimidated by Mai Xia's words at all. Instead, she sneered, "I think *you* are terrifying. You acted so well in front of my mother."
"..." Mai Xia lowered her eyes.
"You just wait for me," Mu Hua pointed at Mai Xia and turned to leave.
Mu An Xiao stood in place, staring blankly at Mai Xia, who remained silent opposite her. A sudden inspiration struck her, and she said, "You told Madam about Third Miss."
"..." Mai Xia looked up at Mu An Xiao.
Mu An Xiao's gaze flickered. "If you don't want to say, then don't."
"..." Mai Xia sighed, glanced to both sides, then stepped in front of Mu An Xiao and said, "You are not my Xiao'er."
"..." Mu An Xiao turned her body, feeling awkward.
Mai Xia: "Who are you? Can you reveal it?"
"I am your daughter," Mu An Xiao said calmly.
Mai Xia smiled faintly. "Don't lie to me. My daughter has a mole on her neck, but..." She glanced at Mu An Xiao's neck, "you don't."
Upon hearing this, Mu An Xiao's expression stiffened. She raised her hand and gently touched her neck, asking, "When did you find out?" She felt there was no need to hide anymore.
Mai Xia: "From the very first day you arrived."
"..." Mu An Xiao's eyes widened.
Mai Xia looked at Mu An Xiao's astonished expression and her lips curved slightly. "Don't be surprised. I was never looking for my daughter. This was all Madam's idea."
"Madam?" Mu An Xiao repeated, cautiously glancing at Mai Xia's expression, and then asked, "Since you know I'm not your daughter, why didn't you expose me?"
"You were brought by a celestial being."
"Just because of that?"
"Yes," Mai Xia nodded, thought for a moment, and asked, "I've always had a question I wanted to ask you. Can you answer me now?"
"You ask," Mu An Xiao felt nervous.
Mai Xia pursed her lips. "My daughter... where is she?"
"You want to find her?"
"..." Mai Xia shook her head. "No, I just want to know if she's doing well. Honestly, you have Xiao'er's resemblance, so I wondered... did Xiao'er teach you these things?"
Mu An Xiao had never deliberately interacted with Mai Xia. In her eyes, Mai Xia was just a woman bullied by Madam. She even thought Mai Xia didn't care about her daughter at all. She also thought that in Mai Xia's eyes, she herself was the most important, and everything else was irrelevant to her.
Therefore, when Mu An Xiao heard Mai Xia say this, she couldn't help but be surprised.
"You still remember your daughter?" she couldn't help but ask.
Mai Xia's eyes sank. "Yes, she is my daughter, of course, I remember her. Now... can you tell me," her eyes were full of expectation, "if she is doing well?"
"..." Mu An Xiao looked at Mai Xia's expectant eyes and then thought of reality. She hesitated and said, "She is doing very well." She didn't want to crush Mai Xia, so she said it like that.
"What did she tell you?" Mai Xia asked.
Mu An Xiao: "She said to let me see if her mother was doing well. She said she doesn't want to come back. I am here to take care of you on her behalf."
"..." Mai Xia's eyes welled up with tears.
Mu An Xiao felt sad along with her, but considering the reality, she didn't want to overwhelm her all at once, so she deliberately remained silent, just watching Mai Xia.
Then, Mai Xia recovered, holding back her tears, and asked, "Does she know the Mu manor is looking for her?"
"Yes."
"Can you take me to see her?" Mai Xia suddenly asked.
Mu An Xiao's expression stiffened, and she started to babble, "Forget it. I'll tell you the truth. She is now a disciple of a celestial being."
"Disciple?"
"Yes, I am also her senior sister. She is currently traveling with my master, so," Mu An Xiao gave a dry laugh, "I don't know where they are."
"She cultivates immortality?"
"Yes, she was quite ill at the time. My master saved her, and afterwards," Mu An Xiao said, "she became my master's disciple."
"Is that so." Mai Xia breathed a sigh of relief.
Subsequently, Mu An Xiao went over Mai Xia's words in her mind and asked, "By the way, why was Madam suddenly looking for Mu Xiao?"
"She wants to kill my daughter."
"Kill?"
"Yes," Mai Xia met Mu An Xiao's eyes. "Have you noticed... that there is only Madam in this manor, and no other concubines?"
Mu An Xiao frowned. "What do you mean?" She suddenly felt a chill.
"Those concubines were all driven out by Madam. As for their children," Mai Xia's eyes sank, "none of them lived past fifteen."
"..." Mu An Xiao was stunned and suddenly realized... it seemed to be exactly like that.
"Do you know why this is happening?"
"Why?" Mu An Xiao asked cautiously.
"Because," Mai Xia said seriously, "everyone has a different personality. She feared that the children of other concubines would overshadow her own child. So, she killed those children to prevent future troubles. My daughter was one of them."
All along, Mu An Xiao had thought Mai Xia knew nothing.
Unexpectedly, she received this information from Mai Xia.
At this moment, looking at Mai Xia, she couldn't help but feel that Mai Xia already knew that Mu Xiao was dead. So, she cautiously asked, "Mu Xiao isn't dead, so how could she be one of them?"
Mai Xia: "My daughter was lucky. She was only framed and got lost."
"How did Madam know my daughter wasn't dead?" Mu An Xiao wanted to get the full story.
"Before you returned, someone sent this news into the Mu manor, and then," Mai Xia's eyes sank, "Madam, using my longing for my daughter, began to search for my daughter."
"Is that so," Mu An Xiao said calmly, and after thinking for a moment, she asked, "If I were your biological daughter, would you still be so indifferent to me?"
"If you were my daughter, I wouldn't pay you any attention," Mai Xia said abruptly.
Mu An Xiao frowned. "Why?"
"Because," Mai Xia choked back a sob, "I cannot pay attention. If I did, she would be finished."
"..." Mu An Xiao suddenly felt that Madam here was truly terrifying.
Mai Xia, seeing Mu An Xiao remain silent, continued, "She said that the better I treated my daughter, the more she would torment my daughter. Speaking of which," she sniffled, "I'm truly sorry to you."
Upon hearing this, Mu An Xiao raised her hand, touched the side of her face that Mai Xia had slapped hard, and said with a smile, "It's okay, my face has been hit many times, it doesn't hurt."
"I'm not talking about that," Mai Xia said calmly.
Mu An Xiao awkwardly lowered her hand. "You're not talking about that? I thought you were."
Mai Xia, seeing Mu An Xiao's indifferent expression, felt her heart sink. "Speaking of which, it's all my fault. Three months ago, Madam asked me how you were, so I praised you a couple of times. The Master was present then. Who knew," she said, "from then on, she started trying to take your life in every way."
"She can't stand other children being better than her own child, is that what you mean?" Mu An Xiao hit the nail on the head.
Mai Xia nodded.
"But the facts prove that other people's children are indeed better than hers," Mu An Xiao said calmly.
Mai Xia sighed. "Actually, she is also pitiable. As Madam, she has no sons."
"..." Mu An Xiao's eyes lit up. "Hmm, it seems as you said, she really doesn't have sons."
"I remember the first concubine gave birth to a son. That child was very intelligent, but when he was ten years old, he suddenly fell into the water and drowned."
"She did it?"
Mai Xia nodded.
Mu An Xiao's expression froze. "How many children did she harm?"
"Four. Fortunately, my daughter is resilient," Mai Xia said calmly.
Mu An Xiao thought to herself: 'Including Mu Xiao, it should be five.' Thinking this, she asked, "What about those concubines?"
"They were all driven out. Honestly," Mai Xia said, "at first, I thought she only killed boys. It wasn't until the second one that I realized she was jealous of others having sons, and secondly, jealous of others' daughters being better than her own daughter. Because of this, I always kept Xiao'er from being too outstanding. Who knew that in the end, she would still be framed. But thankfully, my Xiao'er is still alive."
"..." Mu An Xiao's eyes sank.
Then, Mai Xia was silent for a few seconds and turned to walk towards the woodshed.
Mu An Xiao was puzzled by this.
At the same time, Feng Qi Shi stopped behind a tree not far away.
Immediately after, Mu An Xiao sensed footsteps, turned her head, and met Feng Qi Shi's gaze. "..." She frowned.
Feng Qi Shi pointed towards the woodshed.
Mu An Xiao was startled. Following Feng Qi Shi's finger, she looked back and saw Mai Xia emerge from the woodshed in a hurry, carrying a bundle.
The next second, Mu An Xiao walked in front of Mai Xia and asked, "What are you doing?"
"You came back for my daughter," Mai Xia said, handing the bundle to Mu An Xiao. "So, let's go."
Mu An Xiao frowned. "You want me to leave?"
"Yes, let's go. Just now," Mai Xia glanced at Mu An Xiao's face, "I'm sorry."
Hearing Mai Xia's sincere apology, Mu An Xiao's body stiffened, and she realized, "Just now... you did it on purpose."
Mai Xia dodged her gaze and continued to hand over the bundle.
Mu An Xiao was inclined to step back and said, "You've told me so many truths, you can't leave out this one, can you?"
Mai Xia heard Mu An Xiao's words and nodded slightly. "Yes, only this way can I make Mu Hua angry, and only this way can she be more determined to find her mother. You..." She met Mu An Xiao's eyes. "Go now, be a good girl."
Mu An Xiao: "..." She deliberately remained silent, staring down at the bundle.