Chapter 251 Where’s the Daughter
The sky was gradually getting darker. Master Lu was sitting by the dining table enjoying his dinner.
He raised his eyes nonchalantly and glanced at the butler, “Any news on Mu Xue?”
“I got something.”
The butler scanned the area reluctantly, then leaned in, lowering his voice, “Mu Xue got into a car accident over ten years ago and was hospitalized. We thought she had left City A, but that’s not true. She had always been around. We focussed our search on different institutional units but never thought about the hospital.”
After a brief pause, the butler continued, “Mu Xue lived in comatose all these years, which is why we never found any expenses or travel records on her. We had been going in the wrong direction all this while, so it wasn’t a surprise that our efforts were in vain.”
Master Lu took a sip of the snow fungus and lotus soup before raising his head to peer at the butler fiercely.
“Stop explaining why we fail to find anything about Mu Xue. I don’t care about these, it’s all in the past. Does she have any family members? Where is my daughter?”
The butler let out a troubled expression.
“Speak!”
Master Lu bellowed at the butler angrily along with his furious glare.
After some moment, the butler said, “Perhaps Madam Mu Xue’s daughter had disappeared, or she’s passed away. We can’t find any trace of Madam Mu Xue’s daughter.”
Following that, the butler mopped the sweat on his forehead with the corner of his sleeves.
It was apparent to him that Master Lu was enraged from the grimness of his face!
“Not a thing about her? Dead? Disappeared?”
“Yes.”
“Sure?”
“Yes.”
Master Lu interrogated the butler, hoping to get a different answer, but to no avail.
His flurry of questions started vehemently, but he quickly let his low spirits get the best of him at the sound of the butler’s confirmation.
Even the delectable snow fungus and lotus soup tasted bland to him. Master Lu stood to his feet and started making his way towards the stairs.
“True enough, in hindsight, the Shi Family was furious at the time. Although Shi Chu was no longer at home, she is a member of the Shi Family after all. How could Mu Xue and her daughter get away? After years of being bedridden, it’s not hard to imagine that our daughter…” Has fallen victim into her hand.
Master Lu mumbled in soliloquy but could not bring himself to finish the sentence.
All he could do was heave a lamenting sigh before heading up the stairs.
From the back, he looked remorseful and miserable.
He regretted the fact that he was not brave enough all those years ago. If he had confronted ‘them’, he could have changed Mu Xue’s course and his daughter’s fate.
In this instance, Madam Liu brought out a freshly braised pig trotter from the kitchen. She placed the bowl on the dining table and glanced at Master Lu.
He looked heart-wrenchingly disheartened.
Then, she diverted his attention to the butler. She seemed to have put the two and two together but felt obligated to ask Master Lu at least take a bite.
“Master, have some braised pig trotter.” She said in a slightly raised voice in Master Lu’s direction.
“Nah, I’m tired.”
Master Lu’s voice was not sonorous like usual.
“Why is he tired? Wasn’t he doing fine just moments ago? What did you say to him?”
Madam Liu first asked as her gaze was fixed on Master Lu, then directed the latter question at the butler with a disgruntled expression. “Speak, what did you say to master?”
“I-I… Didn’t say anything. All I did was tell the truth about Madam Mu Xue.”
The butler responded while giving Madam Liu a look, beckoning her to stop dwelling on the topic.
But the butler’s gesture appeared to have flown over her head.
Upon hearing his reply, she smacked her thigh resentfully, “You! Why would pour salt on his unhealed wound?”
Madam Liu gazed at Master Lu tactfully as she spoke, “Master, don’t listen to the butler, let me tell you what, there’s nothing to worry about. Everything will be fine.”
“Some days ago, I just saw Mu…”
“Madam Liu, is something burnt in the kitchen? Please check it out.”
Madam Liu wanted to press on, but the butler drew her away.
She went into the kitchen doubtfully, sniffing the air like a bloodhound trying to hunt down a deer.
She searched the area thoroughly but could not find anything burnt.
While she was distracted by the search, the butler stormed into the kitchen and snapped at Madam Liu, “You troubler-maker! How dare you call me out for poking at his wounds?”
“Are you any better?”
“Didn’t master tell you to look into Madam Mu Xue’s daughter? Why did you tell him that you couldn’t find anything? Isn’t that more depressing for master?”
Madam Liu glared at the butler peevishly as she muttered under her breath.
“What do you suppose I tell master?”
Seeing that Madam Liu was relentlessly pushing him, the butler snapped in retaliation.
“Tell him the truth, why must you lie to master?!”
“How am I supposed to break the news to him? Tell him that Mu Zhi is Madam Mu Xue’s daughter? That master’s son and daughter are getting married in seventy-two hours?!”
The butler was at a loss! He bellowed at Madam Liu in response to Madam Liu’s irritating pursuit.
At this stage, there was nothing he could do which would salvage the situation. Every option seemed to be wrong.
Lying about it wasn’t an option, neither was telling the truth.
However, after listening to his words, Madam Liu did not look too surprised. She insisted, “You must tell him the truth.”
“What truth?”
While Madam Liu and the butler was butting heads, a third voice suddenly arose.
Both of them instantly zipped their mouths with a start, turning their gazes at the entrance of the kitchen. Lo and behold, Master Lu was staring at them with a domineering stance.
“Tell me what you need to say. I’ve noticed that there’s something you’re keeping from me by the look of your face earlier!”
Master Lu was not impressed. But due to his old age, he appeared to have lacked conviction as he articulated his words.
The butler chuckled awkwardly, then said, Nothing at all, it… It’s just some trivial matters. There’s nothing that concerns you, master.”
“What trivial matters?”
Master Lu now seemed adamant to get to the root of what the butler was trying to hide.
In the end, Madam Liu suddenly shook off the butler. She dashed towards Master Lu and bowed at him from the waist, saying, “Master, the butler is keeping it a secret from you because he’s afraid that you’d be upset. But I don’t think we should hide it from you any longer as I’ve recently noticed that Mu Xiaomu’s intelligence is far from normal!”
Master Lu was astonished at what Madam Liu blurted out.
Madam Liu did not call upon Mu Xiaomu to test her intelligence. She continued, “I’ve been feeling nostalgic for Madam Shi Chu in the past days. In my dreams about her, she told me that she is unhappy because someone she despises is among us. It bothered me for days until some days ago I peripherally heard Mu Xiaomu said that her grandma’s name is Mu Xue!”
