No one expected the dark secret of the Mu family's past to be unearthed so suddenly and so violently.
Overnight, the internet exploded. The trending topics were countless. Not just the medical community—virtually the entire public was shaken by the news: over twenty years ago, the prestigious Mu family of Shen City, a medical dynasty a century old, had once killed a patient.
Mu Yaning frowned, staring at the phone in He Sixin's hand.
"It was bound to happen sooner or later. Mom was right. This isn't something we can bury just by hiding and dodging. As long as it still exists, there's always a risk it'll resurface."
"If we want Mu's Acupuncture to move forward, we can't avoid the Zhang family. Otherwise, we need to resolve this completely. But… how do we do that?"
Mu Yaning shook her head. "I'm out of options. He Sixin, go inform Mu Side and Shu Lanzhou. Let them handle it. Your father was right. I've done all I can—it's time to let go."
"No matter how unwilling I am, this is the path the Mu family and our acupuncture legacy must walk. Grandma was right too—better to face a storm than fade into silence."
"What do you think, He Xin?"
He Xin let out a chuckle. "You're absolutely right. I'm glad you've finally stepped out of that shadow. Freeing yourself from the burden of the Mu family is a good thing. You've been exhausted all these years."
"Exactly!" He Sixin nodded hurriedly. "You've been tired, and so have Dad and I. Always worried that something might go wrong with Mu family medicine—as if the sky would fall if it did."
"Now that you can let go, it's wonderful. Mom, don't worry. Shu Lanzhou and Mu Side aren't easy to mess with. They'll take care of this."
"All the effort you've poured in all these years—it won't go to waste."
As soon as He Sixin finished, she turned to call Mu Side.
That's when she found out they were already at the police station. She didn't even need to explain—the situation online was already on their radar and they'd started taking action.
The moment the posts hit the internet the previous night, Shu Lanzhou and Mu Side had filed a report.
Mu Side had asked Ke Beichen to trace the poster—it wasn't the Zhang family. The IP address wasn't even located in Shen City.
According to Mu Side's investigation, the Zhang family members were either in Shen City or overseas. There were no other known connections in different cities.
The posts claimed that Mu's acupuncture was a fraudulent practice incapable of healing—that the incident from over twenty years ago was the ultimate proof.
The post directly referenced the old case, and anyone reading it would've felt a chill down their spine. But after discussing it, Shu Lanzhou and Mu Side made a bold decision.
One that also gained the full support of Mu Rongxie. He called an emergency meeting that night, and the Mu Group's senior executives unanimously agreed—Mu Side would take full charge of the crisis.
They decided not to suppress the trending post. They let the other side spend money to push it to the top. Their only action was to immediately report it to the authorities.
Back then, the case had been formally recorded with the police, as it had been reported by the Zhang family. Now that it resurfaced, it was clear someone was deliberately targeting the Mu family.
After a night of investigation, the police apprehended the poster early the next morning.
Shu Lanzhou and Mu Side had waited all night at the station. When they saw Xiao Anning being escorted in by the police, they weren't the least bit surprised.
"I knew it," Shu Lanzhou said coldly. "The Zhangs knew too much about me. Waiting for me at the hospital? Clearly, you were the one behind them!"
Xiao Anning looked at her, his gaze icy. "How did you know it was me?"
He had just escaped Shen City—he never expected that his journal had been left at the research center.
After seeing the news, he realized the police had searched the center. Han Weicheng had fallen into a coma, and he had become a wanted man.
The thought of how his life had ended up like this filled him with burning hatred toward the Mu family and Shu Lanzhou.
It was then that the Zhangs contacted him.
He'd known Zhang Chengyou for years and knew how deep their grudge against the Mus ran. They'd long dreamed of destroying them.
But the Zhangs were a mess. Most of their ventures abroad had failed. Even after all these years, while they still had assets, they were nothing compared to the Mu family.
Especially after Zhang Chengyou's brothers got out of prison—his life grew harder by the day.
Later, Xiao Anning suggested Zhang invest in the research center. He promised he could help. Once it grew powerful, they could go head-to-head with the Mu family.
Zhang Chengyou poured all his overseas funds into the center. Later, following Han Weicheng's advice, they set up a counterfeit factory to frame the Mu Group.
Now, Zhang Chengyou had been taken away by the police. The money from the fake goods had all gone to compensate the victims, and the research center had collapsed. With nowhere else to turn, the Zhang family came to Xiao Anning.
Xiao Anning knew Shu Lanzhou was Mu Yaning's disciple and the chosen inheritor of Mu acupuncture. Since the practice had been tainted once before—why not make it happen again?
If the Zhangs could pull off their stunt, he wouldn't need to do a thing. The misinformed public would tear the Mu legacy apart.
But who could have predicted Zhang Zecai, the idiot, would actually fall ill at that exact moment—giving Shu Lanzhou the perfect stage to showcase her acupuncture?
And now, the video of her saving lives was going viral. The reputation of Mu's acupuncture was soaring. Xiao Anning burned with rage, especially as Madam Zhang kept pressuring him.
That's when he thought of the incident from twenty years ago.
He figured if he exposed it, the Mus would be forced to suppress it, then turn to the Zhangs to negotiate.
If that happened, the Zhangs would gain the upper hand. Whether it was hush money or dropping the charges, they'd be calling the shots.
And if he was lucky, they might even get his wanted status revoked.
Xiao Anning had it all planned out—just waiting for the Mu family to come crawling.
But instead of a visit from the Mus, it was the police who showed up.
Not only had the Mu family refused to reach out to the Zhangs, they hadn't even tried to suppress the trending post. They just let it escalate, let people argue and gossip. How dare they?
Shu Lanzhou stared at Xiao Anning.
"It was simple. As far as we know, the Zhangs just returned to the country—they don't understand Mu's acupuncture, let alone me."
"You, on the other hand, like your mentor, have always looked down on us. If the Zhangs had help, you were the most likely suspect."
"And then we matched the poster's IP with the last city you were seen in. The police had already tracked your location. They just couldn't pinpoint your exact spot—until you helpfully gave them one."
Xiao Anning let out a cold laugh.
"You think you've won, catching me? The internet wasn't even this developed twenty years ago, and it still exposed the Mu family's ugly face."
"A century-old medical legacy brought to its knees for decades. Now the whole world knows what kind of people you are. Let's see how you keep deceiving the public—how you plan to recover from this."
"Haha… Shu Lanzhou, Han Weicheng used to be your mentor. Maybe he was unfair—but he did teach you. And what did you do to him in return?"
"You ungrateful wretch. You're worse than a dog. You'll face your own karma…"
"I don't know about my karma," Shu Lanzhou said coldly, her expression unmoved. "But yours has clearly arrived."
That indifference in her eyes drove Xiao Anning into a rage.
He was dragged away by the officers.
But even as he left, he turned his twisted face back toward them.
"Shu Lanzhou, just wait. One day, the Mu family will throw you away like a rag—just like they tossed Han Weicheng aside!"
"They can't fix this. If they want to protect the Mu name, they'll need a scapegoat. That'll be you. You're just a tool."
"A damn tool! What are you even proud of?"