Aunt Mu thought it was her daughter who had arrived and opened the door. However, the visitor was a hotel breakfast service staff.
The server placed the breakfast on the table but did not leave. After fumbling through his pockets, he took out a small camera and presented it to them.
"To the two of you, a lady asked me to give this to you. She said that after watching this video, you will make a different decision."
Mr. and Mrs. Mu were both bewildered. The server then opened the camera and played the recording for them before quietly withdrawing.
The couple held the camera and watched its contents.
On the vast ocean, they saw their daughter, her arms bound behind her back, forced to kneel before a woman on the deck.
The woman lifted Mu Linjing's chin, her face filled with disdain. "Someone like you wants to seduce my son? Let me tell you, I, Wen Yulan, would rather die than let Yichen marry you."
Mu Linjing, stubborn as ever, fiercely turned her face away, dodging the woman's hand. "What, are you going to kill me? If I really die, do you think Yichen won't investigate the truth? If he finds out you couldn't tolerate me, will he still recognize you as his mother?"
Hearing this, the woman, enraged, slapped Mu Linjing hard. "If it weren't for you, this vixen, our mother and son wouldn't have reached this point. Don't worry, he will never find out about me. As for you, you'll disappear without a trace, dead or alive. Look at this vast ocean, what are your chances of survival?"
Mu Linjing became a little anxious. "What do you want to do? If I die, Zhan Yichen won't love anyone else. Give up hope!"
The woman straightened up abruptly. "My son can marry any woman, but not you!"
She turned around, her expression ferocious. "Hurry up and get rid of her."
A young woman appeared behind the two, about Mu Linjing's age. The moment she appeared, she kicked Mu Linjing directly off the ship.
The video ended here. After watching it, Aunt Mu's face turned pale. It turned out her daughter hadn't fallen into the water accidentally.
The couple finally understood why they always beat around the bush when asked about the cause of the incident. They also finally understood why, the first time they mentioned Zhan Yichen's mother to the Zhan family, their expressions had turned so strange.
At first, they thought it was some secret of a wealthy family that shouldn't be probed too deeply. Little did they know, they were the only ones who had been kept in the dark.
Parents naturally love their daughters dearly and could not possibly allow their daughter to marry such a family. They said there were many troubles in wealthy families, and they had agreed because they saw the Zhan family's harmonious relationships and their considerate treatment of their daughter.
Who would have known that the Zhan family had a mother-in-law who would try to kill their daughter?
They didn't understand why their daughter, despite facing such a life-threatening situation, was still willing to marry Zhan Yichen. They simply attributed it to her being foolish.
However, as parents, they were not foolish. How could they watch their daughter walk down such a path?
Uncle Mu immediately made a decision. "No, this engagement cannot proceed. The Zhan family has gone too far. If Jing'er marries into their family, let alone happiness, her life could be threatened."
Alas, the hearts of parents across the world. Seeing their daughter's past suffering, they had completely forgotten all the good things the Zhan family had done for them recently. Even if they remembered a little, they had naturally attributed it to compensation born of guilt, rather than genuine affection.
At this moment, the Zhan family, in their eyes, had become a dragon's pool and a tiger's den where they devoured people without spitting out bones. How dared they marry their daughter off?
The two immediately went to Mu Linjing's room. Wei Yumeng and Qiao Ningzhi were applying makeup to Mu Linjing. The three of them were excitedly anticipating their engagement day, even thinking about having children and celebrating their full moon banquet. The atmosphere was lively when Uncle Mu and Aunt Mu frantically knocked on the door.
Logically speaking, they wouldn't knock so urgently for something not very important. Mu Linjing knew her parents understood this principle, and that they would only behave so impolitely if something had happened.
Moreover, judging by their expressions, they had something to discuss. So, she asked Wei Yumeng and the others to wait in the living room while she spoke to them.
"Mom, Dad, what happened? Why are you in such a hurry?"
The worst she could imagine was her maternal uncle's family coming over if they heard the news. Although she didn't want to see those leeches, if they did come, she wouldn't turn them away. It would just mean setting up an extra table. Besides, they had already bled them quite a bit. What was a little more?
However, seeing her parents' unusually solemn expressions, she felt even more uncomfortable. She hadn't expected her daughter to be so deeply infatuated. Aunt Mu couldn't bring herself to speak and gestured for her husband to do so.
Uncle Mu got straight to the point. "Jing'er, Zhan Yichen's mother is named Wen Yulan, isn't she?"
Her parents suddenly bringing up this person, and knowing Wen Yulan's name accurately, immediately gave Mu Linjing a bad premonition.
"Dad, why are you suddenly asking this? Yichen's mother is ill and cannot attend today."
Just as she was about to try and gloss over it with some playful remark, her father waved his hand, interrupting her. "Tell me again, in front of your mother and me, why did you fall into the water back then?"
Mu Linjing knew that with such a question, they must have found out something. She probably couldn't hide it anymore and could only remain silent.
Seeing her head bowed and unwilling to speak, Uncle Mu sighed heavily. "Jing'er, you are being foolish. No matter how good or important a man is, is he more important than your own life? Are you willing to risk your life for a man?"
Faced with her father's stern reprimand, she knew it wasn't unreasonable but still couldn't help but defend Zhan Yichen. "Dad, Yichen is different from his mother. He is very kind, and he treats me very well. You've seen all this!"
Uncle Mu raised his hand. "Don't say any more. I cannot let my daughter marry into such a family. As a child, you should at least be there to take care of us in our old age. If you marry into the Zhan family and something unfortunate happens, your mother and I will have to send our black-haired child to an early grave."
After watching the video, Uncle Mu and Aunt Mu felt that death was constantly lurking around their daughter. Normally, they wouldn't say such ominous things on such a happy occasion. But now that they had decided to break the engagement, this day no longer counted as a good day.
Hearing her father speak so gravely, Mu Linjing couldn't help but retort, "Dad, Mom, the Zhan family has already punished Yichen's mother for this incident and given me justice. Everyone else in the Zhan family treats me very well. We can't hate the entire Zhan family because of one person."