Chapter 524: Past Events

Chapter 524: Past Events

Yun Mu's eyes welled with disappointment again as she gritted her teeth. "Why? Why does she get to run away again? Even if I'm not her real daughter, does she not even want her own son? She'd rather raise some stranger's kid out there than come home to her own!"

As she shouted these words, Yun Mu's eyes gradually filled with tears.

Growing up, Yun Mu had longed so desperately for her mother. Even knowing she wasn't her real mother, Yun Mu still wanted to see her one more time, to ask why she had faked her death to abandon such a young child.

But she had run away again.

Granny Gu shook her head. "This wasn't Madam's fault. She never knew Young Master Yunzhe was her own child. She always believed her biological son had been killed by the old family head the moment he was born."

"What did you say?" Yun Mu's heart skipped a beat.

Even Yunzhe looked stunned into silence.

Why would the old family head of the Yun family kill his own son?

Just as both of them were lost in confusion, Granny Gu continued, "Actually, the Yun family has always had a tradition: the future mistress must be a carefully selected woman with a special constitution, brought into the Yun family from childhood and raised there. This way, she could be nourished daily with medicine to eventually bear twins with unique constitutions..."

Yun Mu and Yunzhe exchanged glances—twins again?

Granny Gu went on, "Madam was sent to the Yun family at the age of five. The one who brought her here back then was Shangguan Yu. From then on, Madam began training her every word and move to the standards of a future mistress. But though she appeared gentle and obedient, she was a rebel at heart. She had long grown weary of being kept like a caged bird and had always wanted to escape. So, after her engagement to the old family head, she sought out Yun Chengsen, who had once admired and pursued her, and asked him to take her away..."

"But Madam was too naive. She thought Yun Chengsen truly loved her, not realizing he not only wanted her but also the position of head of the Yun family. Yun Chengsen pretended to agree to help her escape, instructing Madam to slip a sleeping drug into the family head's wedding toast. Madam believed it was merely a sleeping drug, but it turned out to be lethal poison! Fortunately, the old family head was treated in time and survived. It was because of this incident that Yun Chengsen was disfigured and stripped of his power by the old family head! And it was also because of this that the old family head gave up on Madam completely..."

"Then why did Father drown his own son?" Yun Mu pressed.

Granny Gu sneered, her eyes filled with hatred. "It was all because of that scheming old fox Shangguan Yu! The old family head had already been resentful over the affair between Madam and Yun Chengsen, and Shangguan Yu deliberately bribed a Yun family servant to use labor-triggering incense in Madam's room, forcing her into premature labor. This made the old family head believe the child was the product of Madam's affair with Yun Chengsen! In a fit of rage, the old family head ordered the child to be drowned the very night he was born! Madam watched helplessly as the old family head drowned her newborn son..."

At this point, Granny Gu glanced at Yunzhe and continued, "So in that moment, Madam gave up—on the old family head and in the entire Yun family. Even when the old family head later brought back a baby girl—the current head of the family—it failed to rekindle any hope in her."

"If Madam had known back then that the old family head had only used a diversion and that the young master hadn't actually died, she would never have been so determined to escape, nor would she have fallen into Shangguan Yu's trap!"

"What bad blood does Shangguan Yu hold against the Yun family?" Yun Mu asked.

Granny Gu scoffed. "That scheming old fox Shangguan Yu played his hand close to the chest! The old family head never realized how deep his schemes ran, even until his death! If I hadn't seen the state Madam is in now, I wouldn't have believed that Shangguan Yu, who always seemed to toe the Yun family line, could harbor such hatred!"

"Everyone thought Shangguan Yu had no children, but he did have a son. His son was the same age as the old family head, and the two were playmates who often spent time together. But back then, the Yun family had many enemies. One day, they ambushed them to kidnap the old family head after school, and they also took Shangguan Yu's son. The Yun family rushed to rescue them, but only managed to save the old family head. It must have been then that Shangguan Yu began to hate the Yun family. Yet all these years, he never showed a hint of it. Because of this incident, the old family head always felt guilty toward Shangguan Yu and sincerely respected him as an elder."

"When he took Madam away, even I thought he genuinely wanted to help her gain freedom! But in truth, he was imprisoning her all along. I never imagined that for all these years, he had been drugging her into submission! Now, without the drugs, Madam has completely lost her mind! Head of the family..."

Granny Gu grabbed Yun Mu's hand again, pleading, "I failed you. I shouldn't have hidden the truth about Madam being alive. But... she truly can't return to the Yun family anymore. She'll go mad!"

"But if I don't find Shangguan Yu and get the truth, I'll die!" Yun Mu said.

"What?" Granny Gu stared at Yun Mu in shock, gripping her hand tightly. "Head of the family, what's wrong? What's happening to you?"

After hearing Granny Gu's account, Yun Mu finally had a rough understanding of the bad blood between the Shanguans and Yuns.

With everything laid bare, Yun Mu didn't even know who she should hate anymore.

After all, she was the one who had stolen someone else's birthright. The rightful heir of the Yun family had lived as a foster son for over twenty years.

So, by all accounts, the one who should hate her more would be Yunzhe.

But now, the one about to die was herself.

Shangguan Yu had lost his only child and wanted the Yun family to die out completely. Unfortunately, he didn’t know that the true descendant of the Yun family was Yunzhe.

Yun Mu tried her best to speak in a calm tone: "I kept it from you earlier because I didn’t want you to worry. Shangguan Yu used Yi Hou to poison me. So now I must find Shangguan Yu and figure out what the antidote is to survive, understand?"

Upon hearing this, Granny Gu collapsed to the ground in shock, cursing furiously: "That backstabbing snake Shangguan Yu! Wiping out the Yun family wasn’t enough—now he’s coming for you, the head of the family! That vile wretch is too despicable!"

"So, can you tell me where Shangguan Yu went now?" Yun Mu asked, lowering her gaze.

Granny Gu wept in regret: "I don’t know! I should have fought him to the death earlier! How dare Shangguan Yu poison you, the head of the family? That bastard has no limits!"

Wearily, Yun Mu sighed and said to Yunzhe: "Forget it, let’s search on our own..."

"No need to look any further!"

At that moment, a voice like ice cut through from outside the door.