Chapter 2: Our Family Has Been Set Up!

Jiang Muyu smiled as she saw off the group of police officers and the sullen scoundrel Zhao Jiaxuan.

She opened her phone to find messages from fans asking what had happened and whether she would still livestream today.

The most frequent messages came from Brother Wang of AAA Building Materials, a kind young girl who had been watching the original owner's streams. Though she hadn’t spent much money, she was a loyal, long-term supporter.

Ignoring others in the livestream chat, Jiang Muyu replied only to this young girl, assuring her she was fine but might not livestream anymore.

Turning off her phone, Jiang Muyu stretched lazily. She needed to find a way to leave this girl’s body.

She tore off the scant clothing barely covering her modesty and rifled through the original owner’s wardrobe. Good—pajamas were the most conservative option.

Glancing at the time, it wasn’t too late. She decided to go home and check on her elder brother’s brood.

At the apartment complex entrance, she hailed a taxi. When she gave the driver the address, she noticed his gaze felt strange—perhaps the cartoon pajamas were just too eye-catching.

But when she arrived home, she was stopped at the gate.

“Who are you looking for? Do you have an appointment?” a security guard in rumpled clothes blocked her path, scrutinizing her several times.

Jiang Muyu wanted to explain her identity, but then remembered she had been dead for over a hundred years, and this man wouldn’t know her.

“I… I’m looking for my child. I don’t know his name,” she said hesitantly.

The guard laughed, “Little girl, are you out of your mind?”

Jiang Muyu was speechless. In her current state, she did look a bit crazy.

“Oh~” the guard suddenly seemed to realize something, elongating his tone, “I get it now. You saw this place and want to climb the social ladder, right? I knew women like you... ugh!”

Jiang Muyu didn’t hold back—she swiftly knocked out the man filled with filthy thoughts.

Who had hired this guy? If the family saw him, they’d surely laugh themselves silly at the Jiang family.

But the deeper she went inside, the more uneasy she felt.

She was certain she hadn’t taken a wrong turn. The main gate was of her own design, and the decorations on the wall were items she had personally brought back. So why was the courtyard so neglected?

It was unclear how long it had been since anyone tended it. Weeds grew rampant, and not a single decent flower remained.

She hadn’t seen a single person since entering. From the gate looking inside, only a few rooms had sporadic lights on.

Could it be that her family had fallen into ruin?

“Who are you?” a voice sounded behind her. Jiang Muyu turned to see an elderly man in his seventies.

He approached shakily and looked her over. “Miss, who are you looking for?”

His face seemed familiar, but she couldn’t place it. After a moment’s thought, she asked, “Who manages the Jiang family now? Is Jiang Zhi Ning still around?”

The old man?

Hu Feng stared at the young woman in front of him. She looked barely over twenty. How could she possibly know the late old master?

“The old master passed away ten years ago. Now the Jiang family is managed by the old master’s second grandson, Jiang Muqing.”

Gone...

Jiang Muyu felt dazed. Of course, nearly a hundred years had passed. When she left, Jiang Zhi Ning was just a baby. Even if he lived to a hundred, he wouldn’t remember her.

“How many children did Jiang Zhi Ning have? Where are they? How did a younger generation come to run the family?” she pressed.

Before Hu Feng could answer, a crashing noise came from the second floor.

“Miss, it’s late. If you have matters, please come back tomorrow!” he urged, then hurried upstairs.

Jiang Muyu quickly followed.

She hadn’t noticed earlier, but the room upstairs was a mess. A rancid smell permeated the air.

“Get out! Get out of here!” a furious shout was followed by the sound of things smashing.

Hu Feng’s eyes reddened as he tried to reason, “Second Young Master, you need to take your medicine. How can you get better if you don’t...”

“How can my legs ever heal? There’s no hope... no hope...”

Jiang Muyu saw a gaunt young man sitting on the bed, throwing objects around. Though emaciated to the bone, his facial features bore a striking resemblance to her eldest brother.

He only stopped after destroying everything within reach. Jiang Muyu’s gaze fell on his weak legs.

What had happened here?

Hu Feng was angry to see Jiang Muqing in such a state and demanded, “Miss, please leave.”

But Jiang Muyu refused. She stepped over the debris, lifted the blanket covering his legs.

“What are you doing?!” Jiang Muqing tried to resist but was too late. His muscle-wasted, pale legs were exposed under the light.

His injuries laid bare, his eyes bloodshot, he struggled to push her away.

“Get out! All of you, get out!”

Yet Jiang Muyu gave him no chance. She quickly knocked him unconscious.

Hu Feng was shocked. “Miss, what are you doing?”

Who was she to break into the Jiang family estate and knock out their second young master? If this were the Jiang family of old, no one would dare treat them so disrespectfully.

Jiang Muyu pinched his legs, relieved to find some hope for recovery.

She covered him again, then picked up shards of a broken porcelain bowl and sniffed near her nose.

“Who prescribed this medicine?”

Hu Feng hesitated, confused by her casual familiarity, but there was something about her that steadied everyone’s nerves.

“It’s from an old friend of the late master, a family of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners. At first, the second young master complied, but after no results, he refused to continue.”

Jiang Muyu frowned. “Who was the old friend? Stop making that medicine. It’s useless and keeps him awake at night. That’s why his temper’s so bad.”

A so-called traditional medicine family that can’t even diagnose properly? They should just shut down.

“It’s useless...” Hu Feng couldn’t believe it. He looked at the broken pieces on the floor, then at Jiang Muqing on the bed, unable to speak.

Jiang Muyu opened the window to ventilate the room and dissipate the medicinal stench.

“Let him sleep this off. I want to know what happened to the Jiang family all these years.”

When she entered the mountains, the Jiang family was a pillar among the great families of Capital City. Now, the courtyard was ruined, people were gone, and the living were maimed...

Faced with such a mess upon waking, Jiang Muyu wished she could just knock herself out again.

She headed to the living room, with Hu Feng trailing behind, instructing a maid to fetch water.

“Miss, may I ask your name?”

“My surname is Jiang. I used to live here,” Jiang Muyu said casually, wary of revealing too much.

“Used to live here?” Hu Feng was confused. He had served the Jiang family for years and had witnessed its slow decline to emptiness.

Yet he couldn’t place this young woman. She was young and mentioned the old master—could she be an illegitimate daughter?

Jiang Muyu ignored his thoughts and stared at a shrine in the living room, frowning deeply. “Who put this here?”

Hu Feng’s face darkened as he looked where she pointed at the statue.

Then Jiang Muyu found a wooden carved sword in the flowerbed, talisman papers inside a painting frame, and strange symbols under an overturned chair...

Scattered all over the table, the clutter was dizzying.

Hu Feng’s hands trembled involuntarily, lips quivering. “The statue was a gift from a friend of the old master after the family’s misfortune, said to bring good luck... but the other things...”

He had never seen them before. Where had they come from?

“Good luck?” Jiang Muyu laughed bitterly. “More like bad luck. Our family’s been set up!”

She had always wondered how such a vast family fortune could be wiped out in just a century. Clearly, someone had deliberately caused this.

“What!”

Hu Feng shuddered in terror, staring at the table’s contents. Who was trying to ruin the Jiang family?

“Miss Jiang, do you understand these things? Can you help the family? Whatever you want, we will try our best to provide.”

Jiang Muyu hadn’t expected the old man to be so loyal. All she wanted was peace, but now that she was unexpectedly alive again, she couldn’t ignore her elder brother’s descendants.

Perhaps this was fate.

“You don’t have to call me Miss Jiang. Just call me Xiaoyu. I can help with the family’s affairs, but I’ll need some time. It’s late now. Tell me everything that’s happened these years.”

Hu Feng relaxed and poured out all he knew.

From decades ago, after her eldest brother’s son Jiang Zhi Ning died, the family business began to plummet.

Factories had accidents, shares dropped sharply, and Jiang Zhi Ning’s two sons—the father of Jiang Muqing and his two uncles—died under mysterious circumstances. The police found no cause, and other younger family members suffered tragedies.

Jiang Muqing lost feeling in his legs from a car accident; doctors found no explanation, and psychologists were helpless.

His elder brother fell into a vegetative state after a night of drinking at a banquet and was still hospitalized.

There was also a mentally troubled younger brother who ran away, and a sister who became withdrawn after losing their parents.

Jiang Muyu inhaled deeply. “Enough.”

They better keep their secrets well hidden. If she uncovered the truth, those responsible would be utterly destroyed.

Hu Feng wiped his tears. “Now the Jiang family is just an empty shell, this old estate. I thought the family’s roots were here, so no matter what, we can’t leave.”

Jiang Muyu handed him a tissue, comforting him, “It’s okay. I’m back now. Everything will get better.”

But first, she needed to find a way to raise some money. The illnesses of Jiang Muqing and his brothers needed treatment, and she couldn’t live in hardship...