Chapter 265 Disposal
Hearing Tao'er say this, Mu Xi knew that she still had some affection for the original owner from growing up together, so she softened her tone a bit: "Then what happened next?"
Tao'er suddenly hesitated, as if there was something she couldn't say.
Cao Pan'er tightened the knife, leaving a thin cut on her chin: "Stop dawdling, I don't have time to waste with you late at night."
Tao'er was startled and replied, "After I followed the young master back to Moyang City, Madam Gao did come looking for me, but I didn't reveal anything. However, later, my uncle gambled and incurred a large debt that he couldn't repay, and Madam Gao helped him pay it off. Afterwards, they didn't ask me to do anything, as long as I turned a blind eye. As for the fake death medicine, it wasn't me who poisoned him; I didn't expect it either."
"You didn't expect it, but later when I was seriously injured and encountered that old witch Han, it must have been you who caused the trouble. You even pretended to have abdominal pain and diarrhea to cause her trouble, and you probably also drugged Bao Fan, right?" Once Mu Xi thought about it, she could connect everything.
No wonder she couldn't find a single clue even after racking her brains back then; she was simply blind to what was right under her nose.
Tao'er remained silent and tacitly agreed.
Mu Xi said bitterly, "Because of the encounter with the old witch Han that night, I had no choice but to kill her in a moment of desperation. As a result, Pan'er's mother stepped forward to take the blame for me in order to save Pan'er. I never thought that the root of all this was you. But it seems that you haven't gotten any benefit from doing this. Why is that?"
"Why?" Tao'er suddenly murmured, her peach blossom eyes lowering, but she did not answer.
Cao Pan'er suddenly sneered from the side: "Hehe, even if you don't say it, I can guess a bit. You probably like the Second Young Master and want to climb up the social ladder, which is why you went to such lengths and didn't hesitate to betray your former master, right?"
Um?
This was something Mu Xi hadn't expected.
Even if she was slow to realize it, once Cao Pan'er pointed it out, she felt it was highly likely.
Tao'er was stung by Cao Pan'er's sarcastic tone: "So what if I like the Second Young Master? I should have been a young lady of the Jun family, and I should have been a match for someone as talented and handsome as the Second Young Master. Who would have thought that only she didn't know how to cherish me?"
When she mentioned the word "she," Tao'er glanced at Mu Xi, her jealousy and hatred no longer concealed.
Now Mu Xi finally understood completely: "You like Mu Xun and want to be with him openly, but you can't directly expose my identity because that would only offend the entire Jun family and Mu Xun. You may not care about me, but you care about Mu Xun... Hmm... Thinking about it this way, the benefit that Madam Gao promised you must have been to deceive you by saying that she would help you regain your status as a young lady of the Jun family, right?"
"So what if it is...?" Tao'er was completely exposed, so she had no choice but to admit it.
"Not so much, hehe... I should thank you. Although Gao tricked you and you don't have the blood of the Jun family at all, I still thank you for your thoughtfulness. Otherwise, I would have been betrayed by you long ago and wouldn't be here today." Mu Xi was truly shocked after thinking about it.
Upon hearing this, Tao'er was first stunned, then simply refused to believe it: "Why do you say I am not of the Jun family bloodline? I clearly am, and I am clearly worthy of the Second Young Master."
Mu Xi was quite certain: "I can't give you any evidence, after all, your birth mother and father are both gone, and the Marquis is no longer alive. Apart from your gambling uncle, I'm afraid no one can prove anything. But you should think carefully. Based on your understanding of the Marquis over the years, if you are truly his bloodline, he would never let you be relegated to a lowly status. He would have a hundred ways to better settle you down."
Upon hearing these words, Tao'er stared wide-eyed and remained motionless.
Mu Xi added, "Based on my speculation, when the Marquis sold you into his household as a maid, he never treated you poorly. It was probably to take care of the orphans of his subordinates, nothing more."
Peach's face broke down.
Over the years, she had never thought about it from this perspective, but upon closer reflection, given how much the Mu family and Jin Fangjun Mu Zhen valued status and lineage, he indeed shouldn't...
Mu Xi already knew everything she needed to know, and with a final sigh, she said, "Alas... I'm afraid you're still dreaming of 'restoring your identity,' misled by the Gao mother and son. Their whereabouts and future are unknown, and the Jin Fangjun Mansion no longer exists. Even if you were... you'd end up like me. What else could you do?"
"I...I..." Tao'er opened her mouth, seemingly forced to face reality, then as if waking from a dream, she looked up at Mu Xi and suddenly struggled, "Your Highness...Your Highness...For the sake of my service to Your Highness since I was a child, I have never done anything to wrong Your Highness. Your Highness just said that as long as I am willing to confess, you can let me go."
"I did say that, but I let you go. What about Zhelan, who died unjustly? Didn't she grow up with you and we were like sisters?" Mu Xi's eyes turned icy cold again.
Tao'er struggled in her death throes: "Ze Lan? Ze Lan... Ze Lan was just an accident. That night, I was talking privately with one of the Third Young Master's men when Ze Lan overheard me. Even if she heard, I didn't intend to kill her. But who would have thought that after hearing it, she would run to you and be... It was an accident..."
Mu Xi no longer needed to ask Zhe Lan what she had overheard that night, but thinking of how Zhe Lan had shielded her before her death and the words she had left unsaid, she felt a great pain in her heart: "So it turns out that Zhe Lan's two 'escape...escape...' before she died were not telling me to escape, but to tell me that you, Xu Tao, had betrayed me."
When Tao'er faced Mu Xi's unfathomable and icy eyes, she couldn't utter a sound when she tried to beg for mercy.
Mu Xi slowly rose from the bench, turned around and brought back the cup of poisoned wine, handing it to Tao'er.
The last glimmer of hope in Tao'er's eyes vanished completely. She collapsed to the ground like a limp rag, sobbing and pleading, "Your Highness, please spare me! Please spare me! For the sake of our lifelong bond... Waaah..."
Mu Xiqiu's bright eyes remained frozen with vain thoughts. He pinched Tao'er's chin with his left hand, raised his wine cup with his right hand, and steadily poured a cup of wine into Tao'er's mouth. Then he let go and took a step back.
Cao Pan'er was more experienced than Mu Xi, and quickly covered Tao'er's mouth and nose tightly with a cloth to prevent her from calling out or spitting out.
Tao'er was choked so badly that her soul almost left her body, and her bound body struggled violently like a fish out of water.
"Ugh... Ugh..." However, all the struggles were in vain, just whimpers.
Before long, bright red blood gushed from his nasal cavity.
Blood gushed out until it completely stained the cloth in Cao Pan'er's hand, at which point her body lost all strength and shriveled up like a deflated balloon.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
