The Return of the Seventh Young Lady-Chapter 145 - 144

Chapter 144

"You..."

Mu Luofei clenched her teeth to suppress her anger. She had used the wrong approach, allowing her enemy to turn the tables on her so painfully!

While Mu Qingxuan was caressing her right cheek, she couldn’t help but feel surprised. She glanced at Mu Luofei’s cheek, subtly inspecting it.

"You were right to reprimand me, Sister. I was at fault..."

Mu Luofei bit her lip and lowered her head in a show of contrition, her eyes brimming with tears, making her look pitiful.

"It’s good that you recognize your mistake. I was only harsh with you out of concern." Mu Qingxuan stepped back and displayed a kind smile, like a genuinely well-meaning elder sister.

"But I don’t think what Eldest Young Miss Mu did was right at all. No matter how wrong her younger sister was, it shouldn’t have come to physical punishment,"

A cold voice interrupted from behind them. Mu Qingxuan turned to see two women standing there, not knowing for how long. If she was not mistaken, they were Wan Ningtong and Jiao Fangniang, close friends of the now-executed eldest young miss of the Su family.

Mu Qingxuan met the cold, openly hostile gaze of Wan Ningtong with confusion. She was sure she had never offended Young Miss Wan before, so why was she acting like an enemy?

"Is Young Miss Wan criticizing me for overreacting?" Mu Qingxuan asked calmly.

"If that’s how you see it, then yes. I couldn’t stand the injustice anymore. True, your younger sister was wrong, but she acted out of ignorance. As her elder sister, a scolding would have sufficed. Was it necessary to resort to violence? I wonder if you used personal reasons to justify your actions,"

Wan Ningtong said unhurriedly, her words filled with reason and difficult to refute. She was subtly accusing Mu Qingxuan of overstepping and using personal reasons to bully her sister. This made the onlookers cast a suspicious look at Mu Qingxuan before looking at the pitiful and seemingly victimized Mu Luofei.

From her words and demeanor, Mu Qingxuan now had no doubts about Wan Ningtong’s enmity. A mysterious smile appeared on her lips.

Even if she didn’t go looking for trouble, it seemed to find her...

She wondered what had gotten into Young Miss Wan. But if the other party played dirty, she wouldn’t hesitate to respond in kind!

"Since Young Miss Wan said I, as the ’elder sister,’ went too far in reprimanding my ’younger sister,’ you must understand that this is a family matter. Does ’an outsider’ need to intervene in how a sister disciplines her sibling?" Mu Qingxuan responded casually, showing no signs of distress.

As long as someone was not so foolish, her words were a clear rebuke to Wan Ningtong for meddling in other’s family affairs despite being an outsider!

Wan Ningtong’s gaze intensified slightly, but she maintained her calm demeanor. "It’s true that this is a family matter of the Mu family, and I couldn’t interfere. But I hope Eldest Young Miss Mu realizes that this is the Imperial Academy, a place for scholars, not your Mu family manor where brute force can prevail over wisdom..."

The two women stared at each other for a while, neither backing down. Their expressions were calm and indifferent, making it hard for onlookers to guess their thoughts. The atmosphere grew tense, leaving the bystanders uneasy.

While Mu Qingxuan and Wan Ningtong faced off, no one noticed the gleeful satisfaction in Mu Luofei’s eyes.

Earlier, when Mu Luofei deliberately approached Mu Qingxuan to cause trouble, she actually wanted to bring up the fact that Mu Qingxuan had received the millennium jade hairpin, bestowed by the Emperor during the hairpin ceremony, hoping Wan Ningtong, who was following not far behind, would hear this!

Back when Mu Luofei was living in the inner palace, she often encountered Young Miss Wan when summoned by the Empress Dowager. Later, she learned that Wan Ningtong was the woman the Empress Dowager had in mind to become the future empress in the current reign, waiting only for the right time to proceed.

If suddenly some other women were to attract the Emperor’s attention before her, and even threaten the future empress’s position, how could Young Miss Wan not be displeased?

Just as Mu Luofei had predicted when she mentioned the millennium jade hairpin for Wan Ningtong to hear accidentally once again, it only further emphasized her displeasure. In the end, Wan Ningtong openly displayed hostility towards Mu Qingxuan.

Mu Luofei watched the scene unfold with amusement. Even though she could not openly act against Mu Qingxuan now, if she could incite more enemies against her, why wouldn’t she?

Meng Liting and Jiao Fangniang, seeing that the situation was not looking good, quickly stepped in to stop their friend.

“Alright, stop arguing. Let’s just let the past go,” Meng Liting said to her friend, and also glanced at Wan Ningtong as if to say the same.

“Right, right. Lunchtime is almost over. If we don’t hurry to eat lunch, we’ll be late!” Jiao Fangniang pretended to be serious before linking arms with her friend and pulling her away.

With both sides stepping in to stop the argument, they eventually parted ways. Once the situation calmed down, the young misses who were nearby approached Mu Luofei to ask how she was and then took her to the doctor to check her condition.

After Jiao Fangniang had pulled her friend away to a distance, she couldn’t help but ask with curiosity, “I don’t understand. Why are you suddenly hostile towards Eldest Young Miss Mu? There wasn’t any issue before.”

“There was no issue then, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t one now,” Wan Ningtong replied indifferently, leaving Jiao Fangniang even more puzzled. “What do you mean? Did Eldest Young Miss Mu do something to offend you?”

Wan Ningtong lowered her eyes slightly, hiding the coldness in them. “She merely touched something she shouldn’t have and is reaching for something that isn’t hers.”

Jiao Fangniang, hearing this, became even more confused. Up until now, she still couldn’t understand why her friend suddenly became enemies with Eldest Young Miss Mu. As for Jiao Fangniang, she had quite a favorable opinion of Mu Qingxuan due to the time when Master Mu saved her life, and Mu Qingxuan had taken good care of her afterward.

Now that her friend was openly hostile to Mu Qingxuan, Jiao Fangniang felt quite troubled...

On Mu Qingxuan’s side, when they reached a corner of the cafeteria where there were fewer people, Meng Liting turned to her friend and asked in surprise, “Did you have some kind of problem with Young Miss Wan?”

"I didn’t,"

Mu Qingxuan replied truthfully. She had never thought of getting involved with Wan Ningtong. Even she didn’t understand why the other woman was picking a fight with her.

"That’s strange then. Usually, Wan Ningtong is calm and composed, and she rarely gets involved with others, especially not with other women. I’ve never heard of her having issues with anyone before." Meng Liting rested her chin on her hand as she pondered. Suddenly, a thought struck her. "Could it be..."

Mu Qingxuan looked at her friend in confusion. As Meng Liting observed the woman before her, she became more confident in her guess. "I’ve heard people say that the Empress Dowager intends for Wan Ningtong to be the next empress. Her Majesty had even summoned Wan Ningtong to be trained rigorously in palace rules and etiquette since she was young. They said it was to prepare her for the role."

"I think it must be because of the Emperor’s gifts and the millennium jade hairpin he gave you. Wan Ningtong probably sees you as a rival now. After all, she has been preparing to be a future empress for many years. If her dreams were suddenly dashed, it wouldn’t be pleasant."

The future empress?

Mu Qingxuan’s eyes deepened instantly. She hadn’t expected that Young Miss Wan was being groomed to be the future empress. From what Meng Liting said, it was clear that this was why Wan Ningtong had shown such a hostile attitude.

It seemed that Wan Ningtong was the Empress Dowager’s pawn placed beside the Emperor.

But whether the Emperor would accept her or not remained to be seen...

A feeling of inexplicable frustration surged within Mu Qingxuan. She wasn’t sure if it was because Wan Ningtong had picked a fight with her or for some other reason.

Zhuiping Residence

Inside the quarters, Mu Yingying was sitting behind her desk, reading daily reports intently. Her posture was straight and dignified, her small face expressionless. Her big, round eyes meticulously scanned the characters on the paper without haste.

Previously, when she had ordered an investigation into Shin Wang’s financial routes, she also instructed her people to examine the financial routes and assets of the Empress Dowager. She hadn’t expected that this information would come in handy so soon.

Hadn’t the Empress Dowager recently flaunted her wealth?

She had bestowed numerous gifts upon Mu Luofei, humiliating her sister in front of everyone. If Mu Yingying didn’t repay the Empress Dowager in kind, she would feel quite guilty...

Moreover, this was an opportunity to weaken the opposing side and aid her brother. After learning that Mu Gongzhen had joined the Emperor’s faction, it was inevitable that they would align with the Emperor. Consequently, a civil war with the Empress Dowager seemed unavoidable.

Since they couldn’t avoid it, it was advantageous to strike first!

Previously, they had managed to eliminate many officials loyal to the Empress Dowager. It was likely that the other side was preparing a counterattack. Although Mu Yingying wasn’t well-versed in politics, she excelled at weakening her enemies, especially when it came to financial matters.

It could not be denied that everything involved money, whether it was waging war, building power, or even living a daily life. Money was an essential reinforcement. Otherwise, why would there have been marriage alliances with wealthy families throughout the dynasties and reigns of the past?

One could say that money was the path to power!

Now, the Empress Dowager had suffered losses due to the Emperor’s actions. If she didn’t want to be at a disadvantage, she must quickly find new pawns to use. Finding and fostering these new pawns to compete in the royal court required significant investment and effort.

However, if one day the enemy encountered financial problems, wouldn’t that lead to numerous subsequent issues?

Mu Yingying displayed a sly smile and tapped the table three times, signaling for the hidden shadow guard to appear immediately. In an instant, a man in black appeared before her, kneeling and awaiting orders.

"Currently, the Empress Dowager holds considerable assets, especially several businesses in the capital and other cities. However, the primary source of her wealth comes from the tea trade established by her ancestral family. They have large tea plantations used for trade and export to the neighboring regions. This is a major source of income. If problems arise in these tea plantations, the impact would be significant,"

Mu Yingying said in a measured tone, making her intention clear to the shadow guard. "Do you want me to send someone to destroy those tea plantations?"

"Yes, but ensure our people act discreetly to make it look like a natural disaster. They must not leave any evidence that could lead back to us," Mu Yingying instructed firmly.

This was like slowly poisoning the enemy, with the toxin gradually accumulating in their body. By the time they realized, the damage would be irreparable. Starting with the tea plantations, the primary source of the Empress Dowager’s ancestral wealth, they would then target her various businesses one by one.

By the time the Empress Dowager noticed, her financial routes would have been cut off at the root, making recovery difficult...

"In addition, send another group to buy up the herbs from all major suppliers, both in the capital and outside. I want to control the herbal trade, no matter the cost, we must monopolize this trade."

Mu Yingying added. The reason behind this was that one of the Empress Dowager’s significant sources of income, second to the tea trade, was the Zhufeng Medicine Hall, the renowned top-tier medical hall in the capital, recognized throughout the region.

Not only that, Zhufeng Medicine Hall also had over a hundred branches in various cities. It was a large business that made a substantial and stable income, monopolizing this type of trade. However, few knew that the Empress Dowager was the real power behind Zhufeng Medicine Hall.

Mu Yingying had spent considerable time uncovering this information, partly thanks to the current Emperor who provided clues to her brother, from whom she obtained the clues, and then she sent her people to further investigate.

Given that Zhufeng Medicine Hall treated people, they naturally needed a large supply of herbs to treat numerous patients. Hence, Mu Yingying wanted to control the herbal trade. This plan required significant capital, but that was not an issue for Mu Yingying!

Once the Empress Dowager’s ancestral tea plantations were destroyed, her primary source of income would be compromised. Mu Yingying would then gradually increase the price of herbs sold to Zhufeng Medicine Hall, avoiding causing suspicions, raising their costs and reducing their profits.

Since Zhufeng Medicine Hall was a place to treat people who had monopolized this trade for so long, they wouldn’t easily relinquish it. Even with rising herb prices, they would have no choice but to continue purchasing.

In the long term, as costs increased and financial problems arose, the Empress Dowager would have to spend more than she earned, digging into her saving. This financial imbalance would eventually lead to significant issues, preventing her from carrying out her plans smoothly.

This would create an easy opportunity for attack, resulting in the desired outcome of Mu Yingying’s slow and calculated poisoning of her enemy...

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