Nangong Muyan's face turned pale as she staggered back a step.
The maid behind her also looked panic-stricken, suddenly lifting her head to glance at Nangong Ya, then at Nangong Muyan, before lowering her gaze and wringing her hands forcefully.
"Husband! What are you saying?" Luo Siyi's anxious voice came from behind.
Nangong Ya ignored her, stepping forward to stare at Nangong Muyan as he continued, "After I left for Jiangnan, you tricked your mother into leaving as well, then took Ling to the villa in the suburbs, didn't you?"
"You beat her, broke her limbs, burned her face with a hot iron, and forced her to drink a potion to make her mute. Then you had Ma Steward find human traffickers to sell her far away from the Capital City, isn't that right?"
"You also colluded with Ling's maid Dongmei to spread rumors that she had eloped with someone. You made sure this gossip spread like wildfire throughout the Capital City before I returned, didn't you?"
As Nangong Ya spoke, he grew increasingly angry and heartbroken. Seeing the panic on Nangong Muyan's face, he knew he hadn't wrongly accused her in the slightest.
His own daughter was a vicious woman!
"Father—" Nangong Muyan struggled to defend herself, but in the next instant, a resounding slap landed on her face without mercy.
This slap made Jiang Ning's heart skip a beat, for no other reason than Nangong Muyan's face always reminded her of that woman. She simply couldn't imagine that woman being slapped.
The force of an enraged man was not something a sheltered young lady like Nangong Muyan could withstand. She was knocked to the ground by the slap, half of her face swelling up instantly, blood seeping from the corner of her mouth. Her gaze was blank, clearly stunned by the blow.
"Yan'er!" Luo Siyi, who had been too shocked by Nangong Ya's earlier revelations to react, finally came to her senses at this slap. She cried out and quickly moved to Nangong Muyan's side, crouching down to help her up.
"My lady, don't move," Nangong Ya forcefully pulled Luo Siyi to her feet, shielding her behind him. Without turning back, he said, "Nangong Muyan has deceived her parents and brutally harmed her sister. Her thoughts are so malicious that if I don't teach her a proper lesson, I'll be failing Ling and disgracing the ancestors of the Nangong Family!"
"Husband, could there be a mistake? Might you have misunderstood something?" Luo Siyi tugged at Nangong Ya's sleeve, her eyes brimming with tears, looking utterly pitiful. The sight made Nangong Ya's heart ache.
"My lady, I wish it were a mistake, but the evidence is irrefutable," Nangong Ya softened his voice, gently wiping away the tears on Luo Siyi's face.
Luo Siyi cried even harder, looking at her daughter sprawled on the ground, then at her husband before her. She could do nothing but weep.
Nangong Ya then turned his gaze to the trembling maid, Xiao Qing, standing to the side. Before he could speak, the maid herself fell to her knees with a thud, her head bowed so low it nearly touched her chest, her forehead beaded with cold sweat.
"You're her personal maid. You know everything, don't you?" Nangong Ya questioned.
Xiao Qing shook like a sieve, her mouth opening and closing, but unable to utter a single word.
But what this reaction meant, everyone knew all too well.
Nangong Ya had little patience for a mere maid. "Jin Yao, take her away. Deal with her the same way as Ma Steward and Dongmei."
Xiao Qing looked up in terror, crying out, "My lord, it was all the young miss's orders, everything was—"
Before she could finish, Jin Yao gagged her mouth and dragged her away.
Only the family of three remained in the room, with nothing but Luo Siyi's soft sobs breaking the silence.
Nangong Muyan struggled to her feet on her own, half of her face swollen high, a crimson bloodstain at the corner of her mouth.
"Hah! I did it all, so what? Are you going to beat me to death for that bastard child?" Now that things had come to this point, what was there left to deny?
Nangong Muyan looked at Nangong Ya, her eyes full of defiance.
"You!" Nangong Ya's breath caught in his throat, enraged by her nonchalant tone. He raised his hand high, poised to strike again.
"Go ahead, hit me!" Nangong Muyan jutted out her chin, not backing down but moving forward instead, thrusting her face closer. "Come on, beat me to death if you can!"
"Yan'er!" Luo Siyi cried, rushing forward to pull Nangong Muyan back. "Don't, don't talk to your father like this..."
Nangong Ya's chest heaved rapidly, but the raised hand eventually lowered.
"Why?" Nangong Ya looked at Nangong Muyan and asked, "Is it because of the Prince of Rui? You'd harm your own sister just for a man?"
"The Prince of Rui? Hahaha..." Nangong Muyan suddenly burst into laughter, her eyes full of mockery. "Who cares about him? That was just a lie Ma Steward and I made up. Only fools would believe such nonsense!"
Nangong Ya wanted to ask more, but he saw the daughter he remembered as obedient now looking at him with a twisted face, spitting out words through gritted teeth: "Father, it's all your fault!"
Nangong Ya was stunned, seeing the hatred in Nangong Muyan's eyes, unable to believe these words were coming from the daughter he had always doted on.
Jiang Ning raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised. This drama was turning out to be even more intriguing than she had imagined.
Nangong Muyan continued, "On Mother's birthday, did you think I didn't hear what you said to Jin Yao?"
Nangong Ya's expression became momentarily confused. He only remembered drinking a lot that day. What had he said to Jin Yao?
Nangong Muyan showed no fear, looking straight at Nangong Ya as she poured out the words that had been pent up in her heart for so long: "You said that Nangong Ling was introverted and not good at socializing, so you needed to find her a good family, to ensure she would live comfortably for the rest of her life..."
"Heh..." Nangong Muyan laughed coldly. "I thought that would be the end of it, but then you actually said that this child looked the most like you, that you felt guilty towards her. You said you'd prepare a dowry for her equal to mine, to let her husband's family know that she too was a young lady of the Nangong Family. Hahaha..."
Nangong Muyan's laughter held a hint of desolation. As she laughed, tears began to fall. "But that's not what you said before. You used to say I was your only daughter. Why are you going back on your word now? Why are you considering so much for that bastard child? Don't you know that her very presence in our household is an insult to my mother?"
Nangong Ya's face turned extremely ugly. He had no idea that he himself had caused all of this.
"You think I like the Prince of Rui? Bah! I couldn't care less! But why can't you make decisions about my marriage? Why must I marry a man I don't like and share him with so many other women?"
"You're the legitimate daughter..." Nangong Ya murmured.
How could the legitimate daughter of the Chancellor marry according to her own wishes?
The Emperor was now elderly, and three princes were vying for power. The Prince of Rui was the weakest among them. To maintain a balance of power and stabilize the court, the Emperor had arranged for Nangong Muyan to marry the Prince of Rui. As a subject, how could he utter a single word of refusal?
"Why?" Nangong Muyan screamed hysterically at Nangong Ya. "Why does she get to marry into a good family just because she's a concubine's daughter, while I, the legitimate daughter, have to marry into Prince Rui's Mansion and become a sacrifice in you men's power games?"
Nangong Ya's lips twitched, his heart filled with bitterness. "So you blame me. If you blame me, why didn't you come to take revenge on me? Why did you have to hurt Ling?"
"She deserves to die!" The hatred in Nangong Muyan's eyes was undisguised. "Didn't you say she looks like you? So I destroyed that face! You said you wanted to find her a good family, didn't you? No need to trouble yourself, I, as her sister, personally found one for her. I specifically instructed that she be sold alive to those small villages. I heard that in places where men can't afford to marry, several of them would share one woman. She must be living quite well now, probably already pregnant—"
"Slap!"
A hand struck her face, and Nangong Muyan turned her head, staring blankly at Luo Siyi who had just lowered her hand. She murmured, "Mother, you hit me?"
"Slap!"
Luo Siyi raised her hand again, delivering another slap to Nangong Muyan's face.
Even Jiang Ning, observing this scene, was somewhat dumbfounded.