Chapter 98 Arrangement

The next morning, Mu Xi got up very early, or to be more precise, she had a lot of nightmares all night and hardly slept at all.

Yesterday, when I asked Mu Xun my last question, she didn't get an answer.

It wasn't that I didn't dare to press for answers, but seeing the hint of hesitation in Mu Xun's eyes, I already knew the answer.

Since you have your "strategy," don't blame her for having her own "climb over the wall."

After breakfast, Mu Xi and Mu Xun went together to pay their respects to Jin Fangjun and Mu Zhen, mainly to find out what their scumbag father's next plan was.

Jin Fangjun Muzhen had dark circles under his eyes on his dark face, clearly indicating that he hadn't slept well all night, and he still looked listless.

Seeing that Mu Xi had arrived early, he smiled with satisfaction: "Xi'er is so thoughtful."

"It's good that my father is well." Mu Xi silently reminded herself to maintain a peaceful atmosphere.

Mu Zhen then turned his gaze to Mu Xun's face: "You should start working on the things I instructed you to do yesterday today."

"Yes," Mu Xun readily agreed.

Mu Xi seized the opportunity to ask, "What is it? Is it related to taking on the construction of Qifeng Terrace yesterday? I don't know anything about construction, but I've been worrying about it all night."

Mu Zhen's face darkened: "The matter of Qifeng Terrace turned out to be a false alarm. I didn't expect that the King would use this excuse to scare someone as naive as you when he couldn't find the purse. You don't need to worry about this matter. I will have Xun'er ask Yan Shu to help with the arrangements."

Although King Yu was cunning, Mu Xi took the opportunity to play along and continued to feign innocence: "Isn't this inappropriate? After all, it's a matter concerning our Jin Fangjun Mansion."

Mu Zhen then said, "I plan to celebrate my forty-five and a half birthday this year, which happens to be in September. I will invite many relatives and friends to attend. Your uncle will also be there, and he will bring his two daughters. One of the daughters' identities is reserved for you."

Forty-five years old?

If not mentioned, Mu Xi always assumed that Jin Fangjun Mu Zhen looked to be sixty-five years old.

But that's not the point. The point is that the "alt account" identity she dislikes is being forcibly put online.

The original owner's maternal uncle, Marquis Shen Lun of Yong State, originally had only one legitimate daughter, Shen Pingting, who was said to be beautiful and exceptionally intelligent.

However, because the original owner had been disguised as a boy since childhood, her birth mother, Princess Yunying Shen Ying, had to plan for her daughter's future. When the original owner was about three years old, she asked her brother Shen Lun to arrange for her to have a daughter's identity.

So Shen Lun fabricated a story that his concubine was pregnant and gave birth to a daughter. However, because the daughter's birth chart was incompatible with his, he could not keep her at home if he wanted to save her life. "Without a choice," he sent her to a Taoist temple in Fuzhou Prefecture, not far from Xihua Mountain, to be raised until she came of age and could not see her parents again.

This non-existent concubine's daughter from the Yong State Marquis's mansion was named Shen Zhixi, and was only sixteen years old, a beautiful young woman in her prime.

In order to make the act more convincing, the Taoist temple always had a nanny and two orphaned girls who had been bought. One of them acted as a stand-in, and the other as a maid, pretending to raise them.

Previously, after drinking the fake death potion, the original owner's plan was to go to the Taoist temple in Fuzhou Prefecture to "reunite" with the identity of Shen Zhixi, and from then on become the illegitimate daughter of the Marquis of Yong, changing her name and surname and recognizing her maternal uncle as her biological father.

Let alone the concubine's daughter of the Marquis of Yongguo, even the legitimate daughter, Mu Xi wouldn't look down on her now.

However, since her scumbag father wanted to do it again, Mu Xi couldn't object directly in her current situation. Instead, she asked, "How do I change my identity? Do you mean I have to drink the fake death potion again?"

Mu Zhen replied, "Now that your uncle has come, there's no need to do it the same way as last time. My body is no longer capable of this, and this birthday banquet will probably be the last one. Therefore, we must achieve two goals: one is to change your status, and the other is to pave the way for Xun'er's next step. Only when both of these things are accomplished can I close my eyes in peace."

Mu Xi focused only on the question that concerned her most: "So what if my uncle comes? How exactly are you going to arrange for me to change my identity? It's a matter of life and death; a living person can't just disappear into thin air, can he?"

"You'll need to cooperate a bit then," Mu Zhen said, having already made up his mind.

Mu Xi's heart was filled with a bad premonition: "How am I supposed to cooperate?"

Mu Zhen said, “At the birthday banquet, according to tradition, you three sons will first perform a sword dance to celebrate the birthday. Just add a ‘fire dance’ segment during the performance, and then ‘accidentally’ set the stage on fire. Don’t worry about actually getting burned; your uncle is the best at this. The stage will be built according to your uncle’s design soon, and you can follow his arrangements afterward. When the time comes, you can pretend to be burned beyond recognition and easily escape, exchanging your face for your uncle’s daughter. As for Mu Chong… let him lose an arm or a leg.”

"Huh?" Mu Xi wasn't surprised by the arrangements made for her, but she hadn't expected that Mu Chong would be involved.

However, upon reflection, it became clear that the reason for breaking Mu Chong's arms and legs without endangering his life was to pave the way for Mu Xun.

Mu Zhen added at the end: "Therefore, you don't need to worry about building the Qifeng Terrace. Just leave it to your subordinates. After the birthday banquet, you can get away. As for this matter... let it just fade away."

"Yes, I understand," Mu Xi replied verbally.

Since the birthday banquet can pave the way for Mu Xun, why can't she use it in the same way?

Mu Zhen seemed surprised that Mu Xi was so compliant this time, and couldn't help but take another look before remembering something: "By the way, what about Cao Pan'er? What do you plan to do with her?"

"I was just about to discuss this with Father. What does Father intend to do?" Mu Xi had already made up her mind, and this question was naturally a test.

Caught off guard, Mu Zhen also found himself in a dilemma: "Sigh, now that she knows about you, the safest way is naturally to silence her. But what you said makes sense; a sudden death or disappearance would only attract attention. However, letting her go out alone is also extremely dangerous. If she had gone to the manor, none of this would have happened. Now..."

It seems that the scumbag father isn't so heartless as to insist on Cao Pan'er's death.

Regarding the matter of her alleged connections with remnants of the previous dynasty, Mu Xi decided last night not to inquire further, as it was not directly related to her goals.

But upon closer examination of the scumbag father's attitude towards the Cao family mother and daughter throughout the entire affair, Cao Pan'er's words are probably true.

Having already agreed to Cao Pan'er's request, she took the opportunity to say, "Since she already knows my secret and everyone knows she is the Crown Prince's person, she should stay by my side to keep things under wraps."

"This..." Mu Zhen had other concerns, "The West Courtyard might have some reservations. Besides, after the birthday banquet, you can leave easily, but what will she do then?"

That is indeed a problem.

According to the original plan, if the identity change was successful, those around the original owner, such as Tao'er and Zhelan, who knew the secret, could continue to follow Mu Xun, while Doctor Luo would retire successfully.

Now that Cao Pan'er has joined the group, along with Bao Fan, things are becoming increasingly difficult to manage.