The Return of the Seventh Young Lady-Chapter 37 - 36

Chapter 36

After the doctor came to examine and treat Mu Cui Ming’s condition, it turned out that the wound on his forehead was not very severe. However, due to the strong impact, he might feel a bit dizzy and would need to rest for about three to five days to fully recover.

After the doctor left, Lan concubine and Xie concubine, both took turns taking care of Mu Cui Ming. They ordered the servants to brew the medicine prescribed by the doctor before they assisted in caring for their husband, ensuring he could rest and recover.

On the walkway connecting the central kitchen to Mu Patriarch’s residence, a servant was walking with a tray holding a medicine bowl. Mu Qingxuan, happening to pass by, stopped the servant.

"Is this medicine for Father?"

Mu Qingxuan asked in a calm voice. The servant bowed respectfully and replied, "Yes, Miss."

"In that case, give it to me. I was planning to visit Father anyway. I’ll take it to him," Mu Qingxuan said with a mysterious smile, extending her hand to take the tray from the servant before turning to walk towards her father’s residence.

As she walked, her eyes gleamed coldly, pondering something in her mind.

Should she make the medicine cause paralysis?

No!

That would be too easy. Her father still needed to live a good life, to witness the downfall of Bai Lijun and her two daughters, to await his own end. Paralysis now would be too lenient!

Should she make the medicine cause muteness?

No!

That would be too cumbersome. She still wanted her father to have a future, to become a great aristocrat as he wished, before experiencing ultimate suffering!

Right now, she couldn’t take any extreme measures on her father because the real deal was still awaiting. She still wanted her father to witness his future slowly collapsing with his own eyes!

This time, she only wanted to repay her father a little.

The time for staying in Qingyun City was scheduled for three months; there was plenty of time before she needed to return to the capital. If her father needed to rest for a month, it would not be too damaging...

Deciding on which potion to use, Mu Qingxuan’s eyes sparkled menacingly, her lips curling into a subtle smile.

She continued her walk, soon arriving at Mu Patriarch’s residence. She entered silently, scanning the servants briefly before moving to a secluded corner unnoticed.

Her delicate hand retrieved a celadon-colored vial, uncorked it, and poured a fine powder into one of the medicine bowls, then stirred it into the herbal concoction.

Mu Qingxuan’s drug, once mixed with the liquid medicine, became colorless and odorless, indistinguishable to anyone.

After concealing the vial back in her pouch, Mu Qingxuan carried the tray out from the hidden spot and approached a nearby servant.

"This is the medicine prepared in the kitchen as instructed. Please deliver it to the room."

"Won’t the Young Miss enter as well?" the servant asked, puzzled why Mu Qingxuan, who personally brought the medicine, wouldn’t deliver it herself.

Mu Qingxuan smiled and replied, "I just happened to pass by and volunteered to deliver it. However, I’m not feeling well and would like to rest soon. I’ll visit Father later. Please deliver this on my behalf."

"Understood,"

The servant replied, still somewhat perplexed, before taking the tray into the room.

Mu Qingxuan watched her go, then turned and left the residence promptly, her beautiful face revealing a mysterious smile.

At the same time inside the room, Mu Cui Ming, whose forehead was bandaged, was sitting propped against the bed headrest, his eyes slightly dazed.

"Here is your medicine," a servant entered the room holding a tray with a bowl of medicine, announcing respectfully to Lan concubine and Xie concubine.

Xie concubine, who was closest to the maid, walked over to receive the medicine bowl and then turned to administer it to Mu Patriarch on the bed. "Your medicine, master. After you take it, you can rest."

Mu Cui Ming nodded appreciatively, opening his mouth to take the medicine the woman spoon-fed him. After finishing it, Xie concubine smiled softly and used a cloth to wipe the corners of his mouth tenderly.

Lan concubine, standing not too far away, glared at Xie concubine. That sly vixen had outshone her again!

Mu Cui Ming felt the gentle care from the beautiful concubine, raising his hand to touch her hand lightly as a gesture of thanks. Xie concubine then modestly bowed her head, blushing, and whispered,

"Please rest well, master."

"Thank you all for taking care of me,"

Mu Cui Ming said gently. He nodded at the other attentive concubine, Lan concubine, who was delighted by his acknowledgment.

Soon, Mu Cui Ming drifted into sleep. Lan concubine and Xie concubine then left to return to their respective quarters. The punitive actions against the mother and her two daughters hadn’t spread to Mu Patriarch’s residence yet.

However, the next morning, a maid came to inform Mu Patriarch about the punishment Elder Mu Furen had assigned to the mother and her two children. Mu Cui Ming was shocked, initially planning to plead with his mother for leniency. However, he fell seriously ill that night, worsening to the point of bed confinement.

Suffering as if chronically ill, a month passed, yet Mu Cui Ming’s condition didn’t improve. He remained weak, feverish, and in pain every night, barely able to leave his bed or even rise from it.

His once robust frame alarmingly thinned. Elder Mu Furen, who knew of his ailment from the first day, invited all the renowned doctors, but they all concluded that Mu Patriarch’s relentless workload and stress had weakened him.

Exacerbated by the cold winter, resulting in his chronic ailment. It would take quite some time to rest and heal. They prescribed a thrice-daily medicinal regimen so bitter it rendered him unable to taste anything else.

This made him unable to eat any food, further torturing him!

As his illness persisted, Mu Cui Ming endured night after night of headache and fever, forced to ingest the bitter medicines. This ordeal was akin to a living death for him!

Mu Cui Ming could only grit his teeth and pray each night to get through each day quickly...

During that month, Mu Furen’s quarters also faced turmoil. After half a month since the punishment, Mu Qin Shuang was released from the ancestral hall. The three of them reunited, only for another issue to arise promptly.

One morning, all three woke to find alarming red bumps across their faces, erasing any traces of their former beauty.

This event panicked the trio, especially since they all exhibited the same symptoms. All had red bumps on their faces!

Bai Lijun, Mu Luofei, and Mu Qin Shuang couldn’t escape this fate!

For them, beauty was paramount; losing it invoked fear, anxiety, confusion, and panic.

When the news reached Elder Mu Furen, she called for a doctor again. The diagnosis revealed that the condition wasn’t severe but a mere allergic reaction. The shared mother-daughter lineage explained their identical responses.

It could be concluded that the trio had the same allergic reaction, and an investigation traced the cause to the Anguo sweet, a specific pastry containing Sheng Guo leaves.

Bai Lijun immediately remembered that as a child she had experienced similar allergic reactions, though not as severe as now, caused by playing near a Sheng Guo plant.

Once they knew the cause, the three of them, mother and daughters, were not surprised anymore. They followed the doctor’s prescribed treatment, yet they had to live a bitter life, waking up every morning to the horror of their faces still covered in red bumps that wouldn’t fade quickly.

Due to the severity of the allergic reaction, they couldn’t get rid of the marks promptly and had to stay indoors for the entire month, hiding from the outside world, which made them loath to even glance at the mirror.

When they saw their faces reflected in a brass mirror or water, pain and regret immediately overflowed their heart. They had always taken pride in their natural beauty, but now it was gone!

While both major quarters faced distress, the house of Mu Yingying and her two siblings was brimming with joy. The three siblings went out to enjoy themselves.

They spent the entire past month with smiles and happiness radiating from their hearts, showing the immense joy they experienced.

Naturally, this news reached the ears of those who wished them ill. Upon hearing it, the atmosphere in Mu Furen’s house immediately darkened; the mother and her daughters sat down for breakfast with stern faces.

Bang!

Mu Luofei slammed her chopsticks on the table loudly, her face contorted with rage, her eyes blazing with anger. “How dare they live happily while we suffer!”

Bai Lijun did not reprimand her daughter’s lack of manners. She too lost her appetite, putting down her chopsticks and taking a sip of tea instead.

"It’s because of that low-class girl that we’re punished! She provoked me, and now they get to enjoy themselves outside while we are confined here. I won’t accept it!"

Mu Qin Shuang spoke vehemently, vividly recalling her time confined in the ancestral hall - dark, frightening, and filthy. Just a short stay was unbearable, yet she was imprisoned for more than half a month!

It was an intense torment!

"Mother, we shouldn’t let them be happy for too long! We should make them suffer as we do," Mu Luofei suggested seriously.

"I know...don’t worry, their happiness won’t last long," Bai Lijun assured her daughters with a sinister smile.

Seeing her mother’s sinister smile and confident expression, Mu Luofei felt a surge of pleasure, confident that Bai Lijun had a plan.

"What will you do, Mother?"

"In the past days, I’ve heard about kidnappings in Qingyun City, targeting children and young women," Bai Lijun explained with a chilling smile, her swan-like eyes flashed with mischief. "In half a month, the Mu family has a ceremony at the Shi Miao Temple. On our return, we’ll arrange for that wretched girl Mu Yingying to be in a carriage at the end of the procession, alone. If misfortune befalls and she’s kidnapped, it’s none of our concern."

Both Mu Luofei and Mu Qin Shuang’s eyes sparkled at the thought. If that girl was taken, her siblings would be in torment, scrambling to find her!

"And since that girl caused Shuang’er’s punishment, let’s repay her by disappearing forever, shall we?" Bai Lijun proposed, meeting her daughters’ eyes with a smirk.

"Perfect! If the little sister goes missing, her elder brother and sister will be frantically searching for her. I can’t wait to see their distressed faces!" Mu Luofei laughed, her face still marred by the red bumps, twisting into a hideous expression.

"Exactly, that’s why I’ve said they won’t be happy for long. I’ve already arranged for Auntie Yang to contact an intermediary. Once they’ve abducted Mu Yingying, they’ll hand her over to the bandits immediately. By the time anyone tries to find her, the bandits will have already left the city..."

Bai Lijun briefly explained the plan to her daughters, after which they all burst into laughter, delighted at the prospect of their imminent, sweet success. Just the thought of witnessing the upcoming distress of others made the three of them, mother and daughters, thrilled and eager to see the outcome.

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