677 Who’s the Cruelest?

Nan Hua walked into the area right when Madam Qu said that. She looked at Madam Qu from a distance and felt that these women only knew how to pin the blame on others without trying to find out the truth first. As long as they gained the first advantage of accusation, they wanted to control the entire conversation.

"Concubine Mother is very smart. I wonder what does Concubine Mother think that Concubine Mu had given this humble one in order to help her?" Nan Hua asked as she stepped forward. Her black obsidian eyes were staring straight towards Madam Qu's direction.

That clear and deep gaze seemed to be able to see any layer of falsehood, causing one to fall in fear just from the sight of that gaze.

"How could I know? That's something between you and Concubine Mu." Madam Qu snapped.

Concubine Mu sneered. "You sure think highly of me, Madam Qu. I didn't know that you feel that my family is so rich that they can afford me having to bribe the main daughter of a prominent family."

Madam Qu was stunned.

While Concubine Mu surname was Mu, she was unrelated to the powerful Mu Family in Fei Yang Kingdom. In fact, Concubine Mu's family was so poor that they basically sold their daughter in order to be able to live. Concubine Mu was sold to Nan Shu Cheng's Residence for several taels of silvers.

It was actually a known fact for many people here. After all, Madam Qu had used it to mock Concubine Mu in the past.

"You…"

"You should do more of the investigation before saying anything else. I would like to hear more of your thoughts regarding this matter, Madam Qu."

As the two women continued to debate, Concubine Mu kept on pressing Madam Qu. With her valiant stance, there was no need for Nan Hua to say anything else. She simply stayed at the back and watched the show.

The other concubines were also silent. They didn't want to get involved and possibly be beaten.

"Enough! Stop fighting!" Nan Shu Cheng's veins bulged. He was already feeling so impatient because of these women's antics these past few days. Now, they even killed someone in his residence.

"That's…"

"I…"

"Clean up the mess and let the steward do the investigation. I don't want to hear you talk about this at all." Nan Shu Cheng then looked at Madam Qu. "You're still grounded and from now on, you don't have to come to the night dinner."

"But I…"

"You too."

Concubine Mu curtsied. The corner of her lips curled up to form an almost imperceptible smile. While Madam Qu treasured this time very much, she didn't really want to bother dressing up so much just to have dinner together.

For her, this was a really good punishment.

"Yes, Master."

Nan Shu Cheng looked at the obedient Concubine Mu and felt that she was more pleasing to the eyes than his current legal wife. He waved his hand. "Cease all of this nonsense and continue to eat."

"Yes."

At the back, Nan Hou Xiang's hand clenched to form a fist. He looked at his father then at his mother before lowering his head. Any kind of open scheme would only result in more dissatisfaction from his father towards his mother.

He couldn't do anything again to help her.

The dinner atmosphere turned somewhat strange. When it was finally over, almost everyone heaved a sigh of relief. Only Madam Qu's face was so dark that it might be possible to paint with the color from her face.

"Mother, let's go back." Nan Hou Xiang looked at his mother.

"Hou Xiang, I…"

"Mother, let's go back."

Hearing the stern tone, Madam Qu flinched. She raised her head and looked at her son, who was now staring in her direction with solemn gaze. Even though she had been the one educating her son, the gaze he gave to her looked somewhat strange to her.

Knowing that it wouldn't do her any good to stay here and vent her anger to the concubines, Madam Qu relented. No matter how unwilling she was within her heart, she chose not to say anything and followed her son to go back.

Nan Hua also stood up and turned around to leave.

Concubine Mei saw the reaction from Nan Hua and turned to look at Nan Xin. "Have you done what I asked you to do?"

"It's not going too well." Nan Xin evaded her mother's gaze. She knew very well that it would be impossible for her to get close to Nan Hua genuinely. When they were in the library, she had made a blunder because she naturally couldn't stand Nan Hua's presence.

Now, it seemed that the attitude from Nan Hua was instead growing colder.

Concubine Mei furrowed her eyebrows but didn't press the matter. She could see that Nan Hua was a very cold person. Getting close to her would be difficult unless one could attract her attention.

And it would be too much of a hassle for them.

Concubine Mu walked not far behind Nan Hua. She looked at the young girl's small yet firm back and the corner of her lips curled up to form a smile. "Thank you for your words, Young Miss Nan."

Nan Hua stopped and turned to look at Concubine Mu. There was no word nor gesture from her that seemed to be answering the thanks.

However, Concubine Mu didn't seem to be bothered. She merely smiled and said in a low voice, "Who do you think is the cruelest person? It's the person who will not bat an eyelid when the person closest to them is murdered, right?"

The gaze from Nan Hua didn't change. She curtsied towards Concubine Mu before leaving.

Watching the girl's back slowly disappearing into the distance, Concubine Mu sighed but said nothing. They were not close to each other and this was just one of the few interactions they had with each other.

Smart people didn't need many words to convey the meaning they wanted to give.