For the past two days, Madam Ning had been in a terrible mood. Firstly, her most cherished son, Ning Yuncheng, had deceived her, leaving her somewhat unable to accept such a blow. Secondly, she had always been a person who valued her reputation, but now, not only was her speech slurred, but half of her body seemed unresponsive. For Madam Ning, who had lived a life of considerable decorum, this outcome was naturally a heavy shock, and thus, her mood had been poor since waking up.

Ning Yunhuan visited her at the hospital in the morning and stayed with her for half the day. As noon approached, Lan Lingyan called to ask her out for lunch. Just as Ning Yunhuan hung up and was about to put her phone away, it rang again.

The display showed a string of asterisks. Having experienced the situation with Gu Yingxi before, and knowing a little about the airs and graces of people with significant status, Ning Yunhuan didn't find it strange. She merely wondered who might be calling, but wasn't overly surprised, reasoning that since her son was with the Lin family, it might be them calling. She picked up the call.

Unexpectedly, it wasn't someone from the Lin family, but rather someone connected to them—Madam Mu from the Mu family, whose in-laws were connected to the Lins, whom she had met once before.

“Miss Ning, this is Tian Yuxin. I am Mu Jinyan’s mother; we met once before. Do you remember?” For anyone who knew the name Tian Yuxin, its significance was immediately clear, but considering Ning Yunhuan's background, Tian Yuxin felt the need to elaborate a bit more. After stating her identity, she cut straight to the chase:

“I mentioned a Miss Gu to you before, Miss Ning, you should remember her, correct? I recall you saying that she seemed to have some connection with your elder brother.”

Of course, Ning Yunhuan remembered Tian Yuxin. She was the mother of one of the male leads, a character who had appeared in the novel. Moreover, her ending in the book wasn't good. She disapproved of Gu Yingxi’s habit of juggling several men, nor did she approve of her status, deeming her completely unworthy of her son. Therefore, she had tried everything to break up Gu Yingxi and Mu Jinyan, using her position and status to make things difficult for Gu Yingxi repeatedly, even trying to arrange harm for her several times.

But Gu Yingxi was the female protagonist, and the very definition of the protagonist was that she was practically unkillable. Tian Yuxin's machinations had never succeeded, and instead, they had only angered her son. Both the Mu Jinyan in the novel and the one Ning Yunhuan had witnessed firsthand in her previous life were ruthless, cunning figures who would stop at nothing to achieve their goals.

In the previous life, under the premise that his elder brother took painstaking care of and doted on him, the former Mu Jinyan had struck when his brother was off guard, successfully eliminating him, completely disregarding fraternal affection. He showed no gratitude for the many favors Mu Jinzhi had extended while he was pretending to be foolish, ultimately imprisoning his brother for the better part of his life. Such a man, who disregarded the ties of brotherhood, had only one weakness: Gu Yingxi!

He seemed to have poured all his emotions into Gu Yingxi. Under these circumstances, anyone daring to trouble Gu Yingxi was sure to face unstoppable fury. Ning Yunhuan remembered Tian Yuxin’s fate in the previous life: after angering her son Mu Jinyan, who couldn't bear to see his beloved constantly bullied by his mother, Mu Jinyan ruthlessly disposed of her. He fabricated proof that she suffered from mental illness, claiming publicly that she had a psychological disorder, and had her confined to a sanitarium!

Rumor had it that Tian Yuxin genuinely went mad. With her elder son suppressed and her husband confined to semi-retirement, forced to hand over power to Mu Jinyan, she ultimately couldn't endure the shock. A perfectly sane woman suddenly reduced to a lunatic, over time, even the clearest mind would break. Before entering the lab, Ning Yunhuan had heard people mock that Tian Yuxin had finally gone mad and committed suicide by swallowing stones!

In the scenes Ning Yunhuan had witnessed in her past life, Tian Yuxin’s plight was far from the worst; there were countless others who suffered more. For instance, she herself was one of those who suffered misfortune because of Gu Yingxi. In her previous life, the only person who had a relatively adversarial relationship with Gu Yingxi and managed to survive reasonably well was the seemingly saintly Li Panpan.

Everyone else was either dead or driven mad, and those who lived were left with endless torment. Although Li Panpan survived in the former life, Ning Yunhuan didn't think she was living particularly well either.

For an established family like the Li family, if they didn't submit to the female lead, they were bound to be removed as obstacles. Especially with a ruthless backer like Mu Jinyan behind Gu Yingxi, Ning Yunhuan could easily imagine the Li family’s fate, even if she hadn't witnessed it firsthand in the previous life.

Ning Yunhuan’s thoughts drifted from Madam Mu Tian Yuxin back to the scenes of her previous life, causing her to freeze for a moment. She didn't know what Tian Yuxin had said on the other end of the line, but after she zoned out for a moment, Tian Yuxin's increasingly impatient and angry voice broke through:

“Miss Ning, did you hear me?” Tian Yuxin was extremely displeased at this moment. After their first meeting at the Lin residence, she had already been somewhat irritated because of the incident where her son was pushed down by Ning Yunhuan. Although Ning Yunhuan had insisted that Mu Jinyan had tripped and fallen on his own rather than being pushed by her, facing her own son against an irrelevant outsider, Tian Yuxin naturally chose to believe her son!

In Tian Yuxin’s view, if it weren't for Ning Yunhuan's marriage to Lan Lingyan, in the past, given Ning Yunhuan’s background, countless people would have been eager to curry favor with her—she wouldn't have given her a second glance. But this time, if it weren't for the Lin family's sake, why would she personally call her?

And now, Ning Yunhuan was daydreaming while she was on the call, which only intensified Tian Yuxin’s annoyance. She didn't even want to waste more words on her and directly stated:

“I expect you to keep Gu Yingxi in check and ensure she never appears at the Mu residence again, or don't blame me for disregarding my relationship with your uncle!” With that, Tian Yuxin quickly hung up the phone.

Only after hearing the dial tone on the other end did Ning Yunhuan manage a slight curl of her lips. She didn't know why Madam Mu suddenly decided to call her, but as for Tian Yuxin telling her to keep Gu Yingxi in check, Ning Yunhuan simply ignored it.

It was easy to guess that Madam Mu, just like in the previous life, was starting to take a dislike to Gu Yingxi. She couldn’t tell if it was because of something Ning Yunhuan had said earlier that made her wary of Gu Yingxi, or if Gu Yingxi had done something to displease her. But the very fact that Tian Yuxin was demanding she control Gu Yingxi made Ning Yunhuan laugh.

She wasn't Gu Yingxi's mother, yet Madam Mu was calling to demand she manage her, all while adopting a condescending tone, as if she were granting a favor or showing deference to someone. Ning Yunhuan couldn't imagine where Tian Yuxin got the idea that she would protect Gu Yingxi!

Not letting the phone call spoil her mood, Ning Yunhuan mentioned the incident to Lan Lingyan over lunch, finding it amusing. At the end, she remarked:

“What does Gu Yingxi have to do with me? Why should I bother controlling her?”

Lan Lingyan noted that while Ning Yunhuan’s chin was delicate, her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes sparkled when she spoke, making her face appear even cuter and more captivating. As she listened, Lan Lingyan served some of Ning Yunhuan's favorite dishes into her bowl before finally picking up her own chopsticks and saying lightly:

“Gu Yingxi visited the Mu family this morning.”

Because of Lan Lingyan’s words, Ning Yunhuan, who had been eating happily, couldn’t help but choke, spitting out a mouthful of food with a 'pfft,' instantly messing up the table. Lan Lingyan pressed the bell to summon a waiter while moving to sit beside Ning Yunhuan, patting her back and handing her water, frowning slightly:

“Is such a trivial matter worth making such a fuss over?”

Although the Mu family held a higher status, Mu Jinyan had rescued Gu Yingxi, and she had stayed at the Mu residence for a period. Therefore, it wasn't particularly difficult for her to gain entry to the heavily guarded Mu manor.

Ning Yunhuan was indeed surprised by this fact, but she quickly understood. After coughing a few times, she drank the rest of the water, finally feeling a bit better. Wiping her tears, she waited for the waiter to clean up the table before coughing twice more:

“Why did Gu Yingxi go to the Mu family? No wonder Madam Mu called me.”

Before, Tian Yuxin’s call had been out of the blue, and Ning Yunhuan had only speculated that Gu Yingxi might have done something. Now, hearing Lan Lingyan, it seemed she actually had done something.

“She went to make an offer,” Lan Lingyan said, the corner of her mouth twitching, a rare flicker of cold light in her eyes. “She proposed that the Mu family take responsibility for all matters concerning the Gu family’s livelihood and Gu Xian’s surgery, in exchange for which she would marry Mu Jinyan as part of the deal!”

When Gu Yingxi approached the Mu family, Mu Mingli was having tea and chatting with the wives of her husband's colleagues in the garden. As soon as Gu Yingxi arrived, she presented this transaction, turning the Mu family into a laughingstock in political circles in less than half a day!

Mu Jinyan, the second young master of the Mu family, was indeed pretending to be foolish, but people strongly believed in the reputation of foolishness he had cultivated. Even if everyone knew Mu Jinyan was mentally challenged, they might mock him behind his back or even subtly bully him, but given the Mu family’s standing, no one would point this out to his face.

Unless it was someone like Lin Maoshan, whose status and influence were so high that he could completely suppress Mu Shaohua both professionally and personally, the Mu family, despite their grievances, would have to swallow their pride.

But who was Gu Yingxi? Never mind that she couldn't compare to Lin Maoshan now; even comparing her to a servant in the Lin family would be an exaggeration before the appearance of those several weighty men later on. Yet, someone of such low status and poor standing dared to approach the Mu family and declare, 'You pay me, and I’ll marry your son!'

This clearly showed that Gu Yingxi fundamentally looked down on Mu Jinyan, viewing him as an idiot, and felt she would be losing out by marrying him. This was more insulting to Mu Jinyan than directly calling him a fool!