Chapter 56: Unable to Offend

  Shen Huan was suddenly frightened. If something happened to Ying Yue Xue, the only thing she could think of was the Yuan family. She had spoken up for the Zhao family in public and at home, and now this situation had arisen. How could Shen Huan not be anxious?

  Without time to think much, she lifted her skirt and rushed towards the door, but at the moment of lifting her foot, she heard some movement coming from the room behind her. Shen Huan's heartbeat paused for a moment, then slowly turned around, suppressing the fear in her heart, and tiptoed back to the door of the room that had just been searched and found no one.

  She took a peek through the door crack, still no one was there, she finally let out a sigh of relief, turned around and hastily left the door, rushing to the government office. Since Shadow Moon Snow had gone missing, besides going to the government office, she didn't have anywhere else to go to find someone to help her.

  But what she didn't expect was... When she ran to the government office panting, Yingyue Xue was standing in front of the gate, lowering her head and talking to a woman. Shen Han saw this scene and couldn't turn around, she... was fine?

  When the woman left, Yingyue Xue seemed to be going in again. Shen Huan immediately stepped forward a few steps and opened his mouth: "A Xue..."

  Yingyue Xue turned around, and the first thing that caught her eye was Shen Huan's puzzled gaze. She couldn't help but slightly furrow her brow, and made a hand gesture towards her. Shen Huan then entered the yamen, while Yingyue Xue returned to her lodgings to wait.

  "What's wrong?"

  Before long, Yingyue Xue pushed open the courtyard door and walked in. Without any excessive greetings or inquiries, she directly approached Shen Han, her mouth uttering only three words to express her puzzlement.

  "Are you okay?"

  Yingyue Xue looked at Shen Huan's tense appearance, and the doubts in her heart were even greater. She couldn't help but ask back: "Shouldn't this be a question for me to ask?"

  "I came to your house looking for you, as soon as I entered the kitchen was a mess, and you weren't home, I thought you..."

  "Hmph, didn't you think I'd be in trouble?"

  Shen Han didn't expect her concern to be met with nonchalance, and she immediately felt depressed: "Can't you see? Your courtyard gate is half-closed, and you're not even there, but I'm stuck in the middle. How can I not worry?"

  As for Shen Huan's complaint, Yingyue Xue didn't say anything, only explaining: "Just now the noodles were cooked and I hadn't had time to eat them yet, something came up at the yamen so I went over."

  "Now I don't need you to tell me, Ah Xue, actually I came to ask you something."

  "What's wrong?"

  Shen Huan came to find Ying Yueshan for two reasons: one was that she felt a bit strange being alone with Hu Youxuan at home, and the other was that she really had something to ask Ying Yueshan, but what she wanted to ask wasn't about things, it was about a person... Mu Siyao.

  She is a government official, although this is only a small town's sesame officer county order, but after all, it is the imperial court's person, and Yueliang Xue is also eating public food, which is stronger than her own poor old hundred surnames.

  "Do you know Imperial Physician Mu Baiyu?"

  Yingyue's eyebrows furrowed slightly as she nodded.

  "What's wrong? Suddenly care about this person?"

  "What kind of person is he, and how much do you know about him?"

  "This guy... is a favorite of the emperor, how much can I understand? But he's really been in the spotlight in recent years, and there are many rumors about him."

  "What did you say?"

  Yingyue Xue had basically told Shen Huan everything she knew about Mu Baiyu, but Shen Huan remained silent with a serious expression, which made Yingyue Xue somewhat worried: "What's wrong? What happened?"

  "What kind of people does he have at home?"

  "How did you become interested in Mu Taishi?"

  Shen Han listened to Ying Yue Xue's address to Mu Baiyu, which was quite respectful. For the time being, he didn't think much about it and just said: "You tell me what you know first, I'll talk to you later."

  Upon hearing this, Yingyue Xue stopped asking questions and said directly: "Mu Baiyou has a wife and a concubine, two sons and one daughter. The eldest son Mu Lin is already married and works at the Imperial Hospital like Mu Taishi. The second son Mu Siyao doesn't have much going on either, just hanging out as a reader by the Crown Prince's side, but I've heard he has a good relationship with the Crown Prince... If you ask me, this Mu family probably relies on him for many things..."

  When she heard Yingyue Xue mention Mu Si Yao, Shen Han listened carefully. She had originally asked Yingyue Xue these questions in order to gather information about this man whom she couldn't understand at all. However, when Yingyue Xue actually mentioned Mu Si Yao...

  "Never thought Ah Xue you would also gossip"

  "What's the gossip?"

  "Hmm... just curious about their household matters."

  "Hmm, they're no ordinary family, with even the slightest rumor spreading from the capital to here in no time. I couldn't help but be curious."

  Because of Shen Huan's reminder, Yue Xue's gossiping mindset became even more severe. She immediately spilled out all her speculations about this Second Young Master and the rumors from outside: "He is the illegitimate son of Dr. Mu's concubine, and that concubine died in childbirth. Think about it, how could Madame possibly treat him with a true heart? But Dr. Mu is a perceptive person, so he found a wet nurse for him and sent them together to Old Master Mu's place."

  Shen Han was slightly surprised, in her subconscious mind, someone like Mu Siyao must have grown up with pampering and indulgence from a young age, otherwise how could she possibly be wandering around here every day without doing anything proper? (Mu Siyao: How do you know I don't have a proper job, huh?)

  But unexpectedly, he not only didn't grow up like that, but was also born to a concubine. Even if you haven't seen it with your own eyes, how many times have you seen this on TV? A child born to a concubine, and not even the eldest son, whose mother died after giving birth, can such a child be favored?

  Shen Han hadn't finished speaking when Ying Yue Xue's voice continued to come: "Speaking of this old gentleman, he is another protector of the Mu family, a scholar who upholds morality, has profound attainments, and does not get involved in conflicts with those in power. Among the older officials in the imperial court, there are few who do not respect him, and...the dignity of the deceased is something that cannot be offended."

  "What? He's dead... Mao Zedong..."

  "When Mu Ziyao was seven years old, he died and then stayed at home. Once the emperor had a banquet and brought his two sons over, the crown prince was very close to Mu Ziyao, so he became the crown prince's reader by mistake, with a low official rank but an object of flattery for the crown prince's party in the court."

  Shen Han couldn't help but furrow her brow, it seemed that previously she had thought his misfortune was just her own misconception. Looking at someone like him, where did he have even a bit of misfortune?

  "It's just that this family doesn't say anything and still doesn't think so, but once they speak, it's really true that ordinary people in the imperial court don't dare to offend them."

  Upon hearing this, Shen Huan also nodded in agreement. A renowned imperial physician and a red favorite by the prince's side, they had both the emperor and the crown prince under their control. Who would dare to offend them? These people with power probably have a smoother journey when going out than others.

  "Now that things have come to this, who would still dare to offend?"

  Thinking of this, Shen Huan couldn't help but worry about her own future. Mu Siyao, please don't appear in front of me again, we're not even living in the same circle to begin with.

  "Not just that, but also Mu Taishi's younger brother, although he doesn't like to study medicine like him, is a military general, the Great General of the Nation"

  Upon hearing this, Shen Han couldn't help but feel a surge of anger. She downed the full cup of water in one gulp and slammed the cup down, exclaiming: "Is there still any justice in this world? If even one member of the family were to move out, it would be an unforgivable offense!"

  "There's no way, actually it's also enviable, the old master of the Mu family is respected, but his respect comes from his integrity, but Mu Yu and Mu Jiang are different, they have reached where they are today with their own real abilities, if you really can't accept it then so be it."

  Shen Huan looked at the radiance on Ying Yue Xue's face and knew that if she were in modern times, she would probably be a career-minded female executive. She couldn't help but smile and tease: "I think your skills are quite good too, no need to be inferior to Dr. Mu Yu."

  "What a joke, I'm just an autopsy expert."

  "Who's joking? Does the capital city really not need a coroner? Honestly, Ah Xue, haven't you ever thought of utilizing your skills to develop yourself?"

  Shen Huan's words made Yueyue Xue pause for a moment, she pursed her lips and walked into the kitchen, scooped up the noodles that had gone bad in the pot, put them in a bowl and took it outside, pouring it into the bowl in front of Mao Mao's nest. She then turned around and walked back into the kitchen, Shen Huan silently following her in and out, without continuing any other topic. In fact, she knew that Yueyue Xue was just weighing things in her heart.

  "I've thought about it, but even in a small town like this, you need connections to get things done. In the capital city, I don't have anyone backing me up and I don't know anyone personally. It's better for me to just stay here, at least it's stable."

  "That's what they say, but..."

  "You haven't told me why you're suddenly interested in the Mu family?"

  Yingyue Xue interrupted Shen Huan's words and didn't continue the topic. Although Shen Huan wasn't quite clear why she chose to retreat, her thoughts were still drawn to this topic: "Actually... I should be considered as knowing Mu Siyao."

  "Is it Mu Siyao? The second son of Doctor Mu?"

  Shen Han nodded, and the expression on her face also became serious, making Yue Xue a little worried. Although others might think that knowing someone with such status and background was a good thing, she didn't think so. Sometimes... these things wouldn't become a bridge to help you, but rather the root of trouble.

  "How did you know him?"

  "Hmm... actually, strictly speaking, we don't really know each other"

  Shen Huan told Ying Yue Xue about her encounters with Mu Si Yao, and she was surprised to hear that Shen Huan couldn't understand what his purpose was or why he suddenly appeared and kept helping in secret.

  "For now, since I can't figure out what his goal is, let's just put everything else aside and deal with the Yuan family matters first."

  Shen Han nodded slightly, actually she just wanted to ask about some news of the Mu family, but didn't expect to know so much. Perhaps these messages were not difficult for others, but for her, Yueyue Xue's unconditional telling made Shen Han feel very at ease.

  "By the way, speaking of the Yuan family, someone has already come to cancel the childbirth arrangement with my mother-in-law today. If this continues, the consequences will be unthinkable. I don't know anything and was thinking of learning childbirth skills from my mother-in-law. If everyone is afraid to ask my mother-in-law for help with childbirth, our family will really struggle to make ends meet. There's nothing more important than having a livelihood and food on the table."

  Yingyue Xue fell silent for a while, and could only silently pat her shoulder: "Don't think too much, when the boat reaches the bridgehead it will naturally go straight, there will always be a way to solve it".