Mu Xing hurriedly kowtowed, trying to shift the blame back onto himself, but Bai Yan changed the subject and said, "But the root cause of A Xuan's adventure this time is not me, but your parents."
Mu Xing's heart skipped a beat, and she abruptly looked up at Bai Yan. Madam Mu, who had been wiping away tears, laughed angrily, "Blame us? Did we force Ah Xuan to jump off the building? Did we send you there to corrupt Ah Xuan?!"
Mu Xing said anxiously, "Mother! I haven't been led astray, and Shu Wan isn't either..."
"Shut up, Ah Xuan!" Madam Mu frowned and looked at Bai Yan: "Miss Bai, you don't need to beat around the bush or try to make us feel guilty. Let me tell you, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have had to put Ah Xuan under house arrest! You're the one who put her at risk of her life, you're the one who made her bear the unbearable public opinion, and you're the one who made her abandon her family!"
“I admit that I was the one who forced her to face all of this, but if you are willing to accept it, does Ah Xuan still need to face these things?” Bai Yan said seriously.
“Auntie! I absolutely did not ask you to understand the feelings between Ah Xuan and me. You are perfectly free to not accept it. I know how much you love your daughter as parents, and I understand your concerns, worries, and pain. I just, as a woman who also loves Ah Xuan, hope, I beg! I beg you to give Ah Xuan a chance, and give me a chance!”
“Miss Bai,” Mu Yiqian began, “Miss Bai, as A-Xuan’s father, please forgive my boldness, but A-Xuan’s mother and I are very clear about your identity. A-Xuan is still young and doesn’t understand many things, but as an elder, I have some understanding of this society and your kind of ‘group’. We really can’t believe your so-called ‘feelings’.”
Clenching her hands tightly, Bai Yan said urgently, "I know, I know my identity... so I don't expect you to accept me without any reservations right away. I just want an opportunity, an opportunity to prove to you that Ah Xuan can be happy with me too."
"But we don't have time to witness your childish love jokes, and neither does Ah Xuan!" Madam Mu looked at Bai Yan, trying to calm herself down. "Miss Bai, you've always hoped we would understand, and I hope you can understand as well. Ah Xuan's father and I are not young anymore. Our only wish now is for Ah Xuan to be able to live a peaceful and happy life, instead of being burdened by public opinion and societal judgment because of a momentary impulse!"
Before Bai Yan could react, Aunt Mu, who was sitting to the side, interjected, "Miss Bai, it's not just Ah Xuan; you can't afford to waste time either, can you? I think you understand yourself. Even if we give you a chance, can you guarantee that you and Ah Xuan will last? Five or ten years—the passion will eventually fade. By then, our Mu family can protect Ah Xuan without any reservations, but what about you? How many five or ten years do you have to squander, how many opportunities do you have to try?"
Words that pierce the heart are like wind and frost, swords and blades, and piercing gazes can almost penetrate flesh.
After a whole night of anxious trekking, Bai Yan was exhausted, and her knees trembled uncontrollably as she knelt on the ground. Gritting her teeth, she was about to speak when suddenly a hand grasped her trembling fingertips.
"Dad, Mom, Uncle, Aunt." Holding Bai Yan's hand and looking directly at her relatives, Mu Xing said, word by word, "I have been naughty since I was a child and have done many absurd and ridiculous things, causing you a lot of trouble. But this time, it is not because I am playing around, nor because it is interesting. Shu Wan is my inseparable lover! I know that life is long and everything is unknown. So I dare not make an empty promise of growing old together."
Mu Xing turned to look at Bai Yan. Bai Yan smiled at her with red eyes, and Mu Xing couldn't help but smile as well.
"But I'm willing to try, even if it takes five or ten years. Life is so long yet so short. At least for now, I love her, and I know she loves me too. I really don't want to give up on the real her in front of me because of those unknown and possible hardships."
"So, if, if Mom and Dad, you are not even willing to give us a chance, then..." After a pause, Mu Xing lowered her head and finally shed tears, "Your daughter only wishes to remain unmarried for life, to show my resolve."
After saying this, she bowed deeply and kowtowed heavily.
Her eyes instantly reddened, and Bai Yan, suppressing the stinging pain in her nose, followed Mu Xing and kowtowed heavily.
Silence fell, and when she spoke again, Madam Mu's voice trembled: "Ah Xuan, are you threatening your parents?"
Mu Xing didn't look up, and said in a muffled voice, "I only wish for my parents' blessing."
Madam Mu, heartbroken and desperate, leaned against her husband's shoulder, trembling. Mu Yiqian's chest heaved violently. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly heard someone cough on the stairs. He looked up and immediately stood up in fright: "Mother!"
Upon hearing this, everyone was startled and immediately stood up and turned around. Sure enough, they saw the old lady, who should have been resting long ago, standing on the stairs, looking down at the living room. Mu Xing hurriedly got up to help her, but because she had been kneeling for so long, she almost fell onto the coffee table when she stood up, which startled Bai Yan, who quickly helped her up.
"Cough, cough, don't bother." With Jingye's help, the old lady slowly walked down the stairs, saying, "What's going on? Kneeling and crying in the middle of the night, I thought something had happened, so I came down to see."
Hastily wiping away her tears, Madam Mu went over to support the old lady: "Mother, it's nothing, it's just... it's just that Ah Xuan wanted to run out to play in the middle of the night, and I saw her and I'm scolding her."
"Oh, really?" the old lady said indifferently. "It was me who told Jingye to let her go out to play. As the old saying goes, to catch a thief, catch the king. If you want to scold her and make her kneel, then you might as well scold me instead."
"...Mother, what are you saying? We're just disciplining the child," Madam Mu explained awkwardly.
Pointing at Bai Yan, the old lady said again, "Look at this poor child, and you're still scolding her!"
Upon hearing this, Mu Xing turned his head and noticed that Bai Yan was wearing her clothes, which hung loosely on her petite frame. She had just been climbing walls and cutting vines, so her clothes were filthy and her face was covered in graffiti, making her look truly pitiful.
In her haste and panic, Bai Yan hadn't paid attention, but upon hearing the old lady's words, she immediately realized that her appearance must be quite unseemly, and her face flushed with embarrassment.
The old lady was still muttering, "What could be so important that you have to say it now!"
Mu Yiqian, who had been silent all along, finally couldn't help but say, "Mother, we're talking about serious matters. You should rest now. Jingye, help the old lady..."
Before he could finish speaking, the old lady interrupted Mu Yiqian, saying, "Let's get down to business? What business is it that I shouldn't hear? Fine, so I'm someone who can't manage things now, am I?"
Mu Yiqian was so angry that he spoke rashly. He did not expect the old lady to be so angry. He immediately knelt down and said, "Your son would not dare!" Aunt Mu and the others also dared not say anything more.
After looking at everyone in the hall, the old lady took a few quick breaths and slowly said, "You all think I'm senile, and you don't want to tell me anything. I know you're afraid I'll worry. But there are some things that, even though I'm old, I can still see clearly!"
"Back then, I was out of my mind and followed you to the point of driving Fu Xue to her death. Now I can't just stand by and watch you drive my granddaughter to her death!"
Chapter Ninety-Two
"mother!"
"What…"
The cries of pain from the elders of the Mu family almost drowned out Mu Xing's voice.
Uncle Mu, who had remained silent all along, finally couldn't help but say, "Mother! Now is really not the time to talk about this!"
"...What do you mean?" Mu Xing felt like he was about to faint. "What does Grandma mean?"
What does it mean that the aunt was driven to death by the parents?
"Ah Xuan, Ah Xuan?" Bai Yan, barely able to support Mu Xing, hurriedly called out to her.
Ignoring the children's shocked cries, the old lady insisted, "Fuqian, Yiqian! We've already made a mistake once. Do we have to make another one to wake you up? Haven't you felt any guilt or pain all these years?!"
The old lady's eyes gradually reddened, and Jingye quickly helped her sit down.
"Watching Ah Xuan run down so happily, I couldn't help but think of that year, that year... how I jumped from the third floor with snow in my arms, and how... how I brought the Feng family's daughter back... such heavy snow! How did she find the Feng family's daughter's... body? I can't even bear to think about it..."
Tears streamed down the old lady's face once again, just as they had every time in the past ten years, meandering down the deep tear tracks left over the years.
Mu Xing was completely stunned.
Mu Fuqian lowered his head in despair, and Mu Yiqian's eyes also reddened. Everyone fell silent, and only the old lady's sobs echoed in the empty living room.
“…How could I forget? How could I forget?” After a long while, Uncle Mu finally spoke.
As if a gaping wound had been torn open, he said very slowly and in a hoarse voice, "I will never forget... Fu Xue... dragging Miss Feng back, right at the door, she told me, 'Brother, she's dead.' How could I forget the look in her eyes..."
Aunt Mu got up and hugged Uncle Mu.
"I regret it, I really regret it... Mother, I really regret it..." It seemed that even a person who was born with a calm and resilient demeanor had finally had the mask that had been worn down by years of beatings to be torn off, and finally had the opportunity to face the emptiness and fear inside.
"If I hadn't pressured Fu Xue like that back then, if we, her family, had given her some support, if we had offered... Miss Feng some protection, Miss Feng wouldn't have been driven to her death, and Fu Xue wouldn't have... Even then, until then, she hadn't forgiven us..."
Noticing that Mu Xing in her arms was trembling, Bai Yan tried her best to comfort her, but to no avail.
With his chest heaving rapidly, Mu Xing felt as if he were about to suffocate and die.
Those unsolvable things and strange experiences in my memory seem to have been explained.
The once oppressive family atmosphere, Aunt Feng's sudden death, and Aunt's simultaneous onset of a serious illness... Aunt's dying wish was to seal the trunks and boxes so they would never be opened again... And all those feelings and undercurrents that she had vaguely sensed but never truly understood...
Mu Xing opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but found himself speechless.
She wanted to know if her aunt and Aunt Feng were like her. She wanted to know how Aunt Feng died. She wanted to know if it was really, really... that her parents, her uncles and aunts, or even her own mischievous and ignorant self... that drove her aunt to her death.
Everything I once firmly believed in shattered in an instant, turning into a hideous, cruel truth.
“Fu Xue, my Fu Xue…” The old lady wiped away her tears, barely managing to pull herself together. She looked at Mu Xing and Bai Yan standing to the side and beckoned. After a moment’s hesitation, Bai Yan took Mu Xing’s hand and walked over: “Grandma.”
Pulling the two of them to sit down, the old lady said to Madam Mu, who was silently shedding tears, "Qingjia, do you remember what Master Lushui said when you consulted him last time?"
Wiping away her tears, Madam Mu said, "The master said at the time, 'Be careful not to repeat the mistakes of those who came before, it's better to change course and start anew. Time flies when you're having fun, but be careful not to act recklessly.' He also said that this calamity was the result of a cause..." Suddenly remembering something, she looked up at the old lady in surprise.
The old lady said, "'Beware of repeating the mistakes of those who came before'... Doesn't this phrase apply perfectly to Ah Xuan's situation? Fu Xue is a good child; even at that time, she never complained or cried to me, but I know that the more she kept quiet, the more heartbroken she became. Because of Miss Feng, Fu Xue resented me for ten years..."
A tear fell heavily onto the carpet, and Mu Yiqian whispered, "For Fu Xue's sake, you've resented us for so many years..."
Looking at her two sons kneeling on the ground, the old lady closed her eyes and sighed, "I've resented you for so many years, but I resent myself even more, I hate myself even more... Fuxue is my daughter! Even I, her mother, couldn't understand her, couldn't protect her, so who else in this world can protect her? It's understandable that she resents me, and my resentment towards you is just me hating my own powerlessness..."
Mu Xing was still lost in thought when Bai Yan quickly reached out and gently patted the old lady to comfort her. The old lady turned to look at her, patted her hand, and said, "Have you forgotten? This child saved Ah Xuan's life! Of course, one thing is one thing, but I can see that this child is well-behaved and sensible, and is a good child. These days are chaotic, and even the best family background can be hard to explain when things go wrong. As long as the person is good, what does it matter if they come from a poor background? Our Mu family is not the kind of family that despises the poor and loves the rich. Why make things difficult for the child like this?"
Madam Mu quickly retorted, "Mother! Of course we're not materialistic! If we're talking about being materialistic, there's no one in Manwenjiang worthy of our affection. We're just worried about Ah Xuan..." She paused, then whispered, "...that she's met the wrong person..."
The old lady said, "Since you're afraid of the child encountering the wrong person, then I'll vouch for him!"
Madam Mu was both amused and exasperated: "Mother! How are you going to vouch for this...?"
"Qingjia," the old lady said sternly, "and all of you, think carefully. Are you afraid that A-Xuan will be unhappy, or are you afraid that A-Xuan will disgrace the clan and be ridiculed by others?"
Madam Mu replied without hesitation, "Of course, I'm afraid that Ah Xuan won't be happy."
The old lady asked again, "Then, does that mean that someone like... Fu Xue can be happy?"
Silence fell upon everyone once again.
Everything from that year is still vivid in my mind: all the arguments, the tears, the breakdowns... the confrontations and accusations against the Feng family... Finally, it all ended in the Feng family's ancestral hall.
Miss Feng was hanged in the ancestral hall, along with Fu Xue's heart and the happiness of the entire Mu family.
Will this happen again?
"clang--"
The enormous clock dutifully chimes the time; its usually subtle and unassuming sound becomes awe-inspiring at this moment.
The old lady coughed and tried to get up, but Bai Yan quickly helped her up.
The old lady said, "You can think about it yourselves. I'm going to rest. Miss Bai, you stay here. A room has been arranged for you, right next to Ah Xuan's..."
Bai Yan quickly responded, and Mu Xing, hearing someone mention his name, stood up in a daze.
Just then, the phone in the living room suddenly rang urgently. Uncle Mu picked up the phone without thinking, and after hearing only one sentence, his face turned pale. If it weren't for the rationality he had cultivated over the years, he would have almost dropped the receiver.
Aunt Mu asked, "How late is it? Whose call was it?"
After clearing his throat with difficulty, Uncle Mu stated the facts he had heard: "The Japanese bombed the railway in Shenyang, and then... Mu Qing was placed under house arrest."
Chapter Ninety-Three
Mu Fuqian's words were like a bolt from the blue, leaving everyone in the house speechless with shock.
"What, what did you say? What happened to Qing'er?" Madam Mu's hard-won composure crumbled instantly. She lunged forward, "Brother, tell me, tell me what happened to Qing'er?! How could he be placed under house arrest for no reason?!"
Not only Madam Mu, but also the old lady, Mu Yiqian, Uncle Mu, and Mu Xing were all thrown into a state of confusion.
This matter shouldn't have been discussed publicly, causing panic. Mu Fuqian had been preoccupied with the snow-covered scene and hadn't thought things through, only belatedly realizing his mistake. Suppressing the grief welling up inside him, Mu Fuqian shouted, "Calm down! We've been through so much over the years, we don't need to panic!"
Calmly, he said, "The call was from Jin Yuan, who works by Qing'er's side. He said he had just returned from Shenyang with Qing'er when they were apprehended at the train station. Qing'er and her secretary were taken away, but he managed to escape in the chaos. He inquired about the situation until midnight and only now has time to call back and report. As for Shenyang, it's probably not a small matter, but he can't say for sure what the specifics are."
After saying that, he added, "It's getting late, so there's no point in saying more. It will only cause more trouble. Mother, Qingjia, you should both go and rest. I'll go and find out some information and get to the bottom of things with Yiqian. We'll have to wait until dawn to make any plans."
The old lady, unusually lucid, agreed, saying, "Fuqian is right. Crying and making a scene here won't help; it will only cause more trouble. Fuqian knows what to do. We can discuss it again tomorrow when we have a clear plan." With that, she had Aunt Mu help Madam Mu up and directed the family to disperse.
They understand the reasoning, but how can they rest easy when their own family members are under house arrest?
Having recovered from her aunt's situation, Mu Xing wanted to stay and see what her uncle and father planned to do, but Bai Yan gently tugged at her sleeve from behind: "Don't go. Uncle Mu just said he wanted to gather information, and he has his own methods. You've never been involved in these things before, so if you stay, it might just be inconvenient."