Before the voice had even faded, a young woman in bright red had already stormed in from outside.
This was none other than Mu Qing’s cousin—the only daughter of her late aunt—the eldest daughter of the Yan family, Yan Hong.
The moment she saw her cousin, who was only three months younger than her, Mu Qing couldn’t help but feel a headache coming on.
Especially at such a critical moment when she was doing everything she could to hold her ground against the original novel’s Dragon-AoTian male lead, the sudden intrusion of this “walking disaster” cousin was something she truly felt she could no longer handle.
Mu Qing instinctively turned her head toward the window and took a deep breath, trying to cushion the blow. But just as she did so, she happened to notice that at the very moment her cousin entered the room, Young Master Liu’s expression shifted ever so slightly.
Mu Qing immediately perked up—what’s this? Don’t tell me this Dragon-AoTian brother has some history with her ridiculous cousin?
That would be… quite something.
Thinking about the unstoppable charm that Dragon-AoTian exuded, it wasn’t entirely impossible. Mu Qing quickly threw aside her initial irritation at seeing her cousin and silently paid closer attention to the situation unfolding before her.
Sure enough, her cousin from the Yan family lived up to expectations—once again leaving everyone dumbfounded.
Though her words were directed toward Mu Qing, the moment she entered, she went straight into the arms of Mu Qing’s mother, Madam Bai.
While throwing herself forward, she snuggled against Madam Bai’s shoulder and affectionately cooed:
“Auntie, have you been well? Hong’er hasn’t come to pay respects in so long—have you missed me?”
And of course, Madam Bai fell for it completely, immediately pulling her into a hug, holding her hand with affection, stroking it tenderly as she said lovingly, “Hong’er’s here! Auntie missed you too. Was it cold on the road? Come, sit and tell me everything.”
At a glance, this might have seemed cute if it were a scene between toddlers.
But her cousin was about to turn eighteen this month and had long since left childhood behind. The problem was, she had grown tall and big—pulling this childlike act with her grown-up frame looked utterly bizarre.
Add in her deliberately childish voice, and the whole thing became a total car crash of secondhand embarrassment—enough to make Mu Qing want to dig herself a four-courtyard compound just to hide in.
What was worse was that this entire performance was basically something her cousin reenacted every time she visited.
Back when Mu Qing still stayed home to keep her mother company, she had witnessed this act many times and had been forcefully subjected to it up close. No matter how many times she saw it, it still made her cringe and grit her teeth.
Mu Qing turned her head away in silence, just as she was considering whether to remind her cousin that there were guests present today and she ought to be more mindful of her appearance. Unexpectedly, someone else beat her to it with a sharp retort:
“Didn’t Cousin Hong just visit yesterday? How does that count as ‘so long’?”
“And Mother, your words are mistaken. It’s already May. Everyone’s dressed in summer silks. How could the road be cold?”
It was her little brother.
Of course it was her little brother.
Even when roasting people, he did it with such structure and academic flair—it was truly impressive.
What a scholar prodigy. All the years she’d spent doting on him hadn’t been in vain.
Mu Qing did her best to stifle a laugh. Though she failed to keep her lips from curling upward, she still managed to step in before her mother or cousin could respond, quickly defending her dear little brother:
“Ah Jiang does make a fair point, but your Cousin Hong is still a guest, and Mother is her elder. Why don’t you go back and keep chatting with your brother-in-law about the academy instead?”
As she spoke, she gave her husband a subtle look. He paused for a moment, then helplessly nodded, gave a light cough, and said something quietly to her little brother—successfully diverting the child’s attention.
Mu Qing breathed a sigh of relief. Having a husband really did make things different. Especially a husband this tactful—he could read her cues with just a glance and respond accordingly. With him holding the rear line, she could now fully focus on dealing with her cousin.
She had to—this Cousin Hong was utterly unruly and had a tendency to resort to dramatic antics. Mu Qing worried that her inexperienced little brother would get trampled if left to spar with her alone.
After all, her mother’s affection for her cousin was second only to what she had for Mu Qing herself. Even her little brother often had to stand aside. That might’ve been one reason why he was always so quick to blow up whenever anything involved this Cousin Hong.
Her little brother was her treasure. His aspirations should be poetry and distant stars—not petty drama within the household. As the elder sister, Mu Qing would handle all that.
Truth be told, if she were to really take her cousin seriously as a rival, Mu Qing felt she could take her down in less than a round—no effort needed. She’d be reduced to tears and sent running.
But she didn’t.
First, because while her cousin had plenty of flaws, she wasn’t truly evil. Her feelings for her mother, though exaggerated, weren’t entirely fake either.
Second, and more importantly, because of her mother.
This Cousin Hong’s mother—Mu Qing’s aunt, Yan Baishi—had been Madam Bai’s only sister.
As the beloved youngest daughter of the wealthy Bai family, Mu Qing’s aunt had married into the equally wealthy Yan family, only to die in childbirth during her second year of marriage, leaving behind her daughter, Yan Hong.
Later, her uncle remarried and had three sons, gradually sidelining Yan Hong, the daughter left behind by his first wife.
Madam Bai, mourning her sister deeply, would cry just thinking about it. Fearing her niece would be mistreated in the Yan household, she often brought her to the Mu residence for extended visits.
And that stepmother of Yan Hong’s was no innocent—deeply scheming, she pretended to care for her stepdaughter while secretly indulging her unchecked behavior, deliberately raising her to be willful and overbearing. Over the years, she had completely ruined the girl.
Madam Bai, having grown up pampered herself, saw nothing wrong with this and, feeling pity for the motherless child, only doted on her more. Though not quite to the extent of her love for her own daughter, she treated Yan Hong almost as if she were her own flesh and blood.
To Yan Hong, Madam Bai was her mother.
Though outwardly cheerful and straightforward, Madam Bai had a soft heart and complex emotions. If Mu Qing were to truly fall out with her cousin, even if her mother said nothing, she’d certainly be heartbroken in private.
So Mu Qing had always taken the path of least resistance. As long as her cousin didn’t cross a line, she would let her be—treating it as a form of daily charity.
When her little brother was born and grew older, he began to understand things and started “protecting” her. Only then did Mu Qing realize that in the family’s eyes, her passive endurance had been seen as graciousness toward her cousin.
As the Mu family’s beloved eldest daughter, this already amounted to suffering injustice.
But no one could bring themselves to fault Yan Hong, and Madam Bai, knowing this well, simply redoubled her love for Mu Qing to make up for it.
Only her little brother, Mu Jiang, had always been unable to stand this whiny cousin and would regularly roast her to defend his sister’s honor.
Mu Qing used to find his reactions adorable—a brief reprieve from his usual scholarly solemnity, revealing a bit of youthful fire. So she rarely interfered, letting the two squabble to give him a taste of earthly drama.
But today, with Dragon-AoTian present, she had to stay sharp and even break her usual rule by stepping in to stop their verbal sparring, afraid it might accidentally trigger a plot event.
Unfortunately, the more you fear something, the more it comes to pass.
After being called out by her little brother, Miss Yan Hong, her eyebrows arched in anger, was clearly ready to throw a full tantrum.
But despite her usual brazenness, there were times when she showed a surprising sensitivity.
The single phrase Mu Qing had just uttered—”husband”—immediately caught her attention. She swallowed her anger and asked, suppressing her temper:
“Brother-in-law? What brother-in-law? Cousin, when did you get married?!”
Mu Qing blinked, then walked up with a smile, took her husband’s hand, and introduced him once again with deliberate formality.
Seeing her husband’s stunning looks, Yan Hong was momentarily stunned.
Once Mu Qing had finished the introduction, she finally came back to her senses—only to squeal in delight and grab Madam Bai’s arm, shaking it excitedly as she cried:
“Oh my goodness, Auntie! Since Cousin already has someone she loves, then… doesn’t that mean Young Master Liu can marry me now?!”
