The Zhang family launched a massive online smear campaign against the Mu family, spreading malicious rumors and inciting netizens who didn't know the truth to dox and harass members of the Mu family. As a result, many of them had to leave their original workplaces.
At one point, the Mu family's personal safety was at serious risk. The family was forced to scatter and go into hiding, and the Mu Family's Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, a direct subsidiary, had to shut down.
Even at the most difficult time, the old Mr. Mu insisted that no one in the family retaliate against the Zhangs.
He said, "Old Mr. Zhang has passed. Let his family vent their anger."
But this "venting" lasted for years and showed no sign of stopping. Eventually, the second young master of the Mu family couldn't endure it anymore. He confronted the Zhangs, hoping to settle the grudge once and for all.
Unexpectedly, he was beaten brutally by the Zhang family members.
He was left barely breathing, and only survived thanks to a passerby who called the police and got him rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment.
Only after the Zhangs were arrested did the farce finally come to an end.
Even so, the Mu family never once considered revenge. The second young master spent years recovering from his injuries, and after he regained his health, he helped pivot the Mu enterprise into a different line of business.
Gradually, life for the Mu family returned to normal.
But the incident had already dealt a devastating blow to Mu's medical legacy. The Mu family's medical ventures nearly ceased to exist, and Old Mr. Mu lost his apprentice. At one point, the Mu Family Acupuncture Technique had no successor—until Mu Yanning met Shu Lanzhou.
Shu Lanzhou displayed astounding medical talent and took on the responsibility of inheriting and carrying forward the Mu Family's technique. She wanted to use it to treat and save lives. Was that wrong?
Wu Xiuli was stunned as she read this.
This wasn't what Zhang Chengyou had told her at all. He had said that Old Mr. Zhang had been killed by Old Mr. Mu—that there had never been any police reports or decisions of non-liability.
He hadn't mentioned anything about the Zhang family going to prison. On the contrary, he said his brothers were framed one by one by the Mu family and sent to jail. There had been no talk of beatings.
Wu Xiuli clenched her phone tightly and kept scrolling.
Next was a video showing Shu Lanzhou saving Zhang Zhecai, with a caption that read:
"The Mu Family's acupuncture technique has never been a tool for harm—it exists to heal and to save."
"Just like a surgical scalpel, it's not a weapon meant to kill."
Below the video were results from a joint research project between Mu Yanning and He Xin, showing the effectiveness of acupuncture in modern surgery.
At the end, a statement from the Mu family's official site read:
"We've never wanted to overly promote our techniques or occupy public resources needlessly.
For what happened over twenty years ago, both the Mu family and our medical legacy have borne more than enough.
We've chosen not to explain out of respect for the deceased.
The dead deserve dignity—we don't want the past turned into a circus.
The Mu family and its doctors only wish to carry out honest research and practice medicine with integrity, using our ancestral knowledge to save lives and make a real contribution to the field."
"We hope more people will recognize acupuncture for what it truly is—and that more patients can be helped through it."
"But if this goodwill and patience are continually met with malicious attacks and escalation—then neither the Mu family nor our institution will tolerate it any longer."
"We'll meet in court. Let the law speak for us."
The site also listed several cases: the incident at the research center, counterfeit medicine investigations, the Zhang family's false injury scams, and the arrest of Xiao Anning for spreading rumors online.
All signs pointed to one thing—this was all an elaborate scheme, carefully orchestrated by those with ulterior motives.
Wu Xiuli's legs gave out, and she collapsed onto the hospital bed.
"How… how could this be? Why is this happening? The Mu family… they didn't back down. They're not afraid!"
"Of course they're not afraid," said Zhang Zhecai, taking the phone back. "They never did anything wrong. Whether it was twenty years ago or today, they've always stood tall."
"Old Mr. Mu tolerated all of this out of respect for past ties. But my uncles were the ones who cut those ties—they ruined themselves and dragged my father down with them."
Zhang Zhecai let out a cold laugh.
"If I remember correctly, when Grandpa died, my dad wasn't even an adult yet. He was just a kid."
"It was those uncles of mine who twisted him as he grew."
He sighed.
"We were doing fine overseas as a family of three. But when those guys got out of prison, my dad came back. That's when everything started to fall apart."
"They really thought they could blackmail the Mu family into giving them a way out. What a joke. And I actually believed their lies—thought there was no one decent in the Mu family. That's why I got involved in their schemes."
Zhang Zhecai sneered. "Alright, enough. Stop reading. Go get the discharge papers—we need to leave."
"No. We can't leave like this!" Wu Xiuli threw the phone aside.
"I don't believe your father lied to me. The Mu family must be the ones lying! That stuff online—it's all fake. It has to be fake!"
"Listen to me, son. Get a checkup. You must be injured. Otherwise, how else could you have fainted? That woman must've done something to you—"
Mother and son began arguing again. A nurse came in to mediate but was shoved by the frantic Wu Xiuli. Her head struck the metal bedframe, and she started bleeding on the spot.
The other nurses called the police. Wu Xiuli was taken away, and only then did the Zhang mother and son finally leave the hospital.
Meanwhile, Shu Lanzhou didn't have a chance to check her phone until after finishing the acupuncture session.
Before picking up her phone, she glanced at Han Weicheng lying in the hospital bed.
"Huanhuan, do you think what happened to Old Mr. Zhang back then… could it really not have been an accident?"
"Senior?" Zhao Huanhuan nervously glanced around, then pulled at Shu Lanzhou's sleeve. "What are you saying? Do you suspect Old Mr. Mu's technique? Or are you thinking—"
Shu Lanzhou lightly tapped her on the head.
"What nonsense are you spouting? Old Mr. Mu's skills are way above mine. Grandma told me he always took great care of his hands—he kept them sensitive to the needle's feel, even in his fifties and sixties he could hold a needle steady."
"And I've seen Old Mr. Zhang's case file. I've also studied the needle method Old Mr. Mu used back then. It was a slow-needle technique—many points, a bit complex, but not especially difficult."
"With all his years of experience, there shouldn't have been an accident. Unless…" She looked again at Han Weicheng. "It wasn't an accident—it was deliberate?"
Zhao Huanhuan gasped. "W-What do you mean? Are you saying Old Mr. Mu wanted to—"
She didn't get to finish before Shu Lanzhou interrupted her.
"Don't be ridiculous."
Shu Lanzhou rubbed her head.
"Too much coursework lately? Is your brain fried? How could you even think something like that?"
Zhao Huanhuan pouted, aggrieved.
"Hey! That's not fair. You're the one who said maybe it wasn't an accident—maybe someone did it on purpose. What else was I supposed to think?"
Shu Lanzhou smiled faintly.
"My bad, I didn't explain clearly. Grandma told me that Old Mr. Mu wasn't alone when he was treating Old Mr. Zhang. He had an apprentice with him. That apprentice… was Han Weicheng."
"Ah…" Zhao Huanhuan's eyes widened, and she whipped her head around to stare at the man in the bed.
"If it was that scumbag… then maybe. But I've got a question—why would he do it? What would he get out of it?"
"Did he have a grudge against the Mu family?"
"No, wait—by your logic, Han Weicheng was Old Mr. Mu's apprentice, not just a student. He was chosen as the successor, wasn't he?"
"Why would someone throw all that away? Why sabotage the Mu family? That'd be like cutting off his own future…"
Zhao Huanhuan was full of questions—completely unable to make sense of it all.