At the gates of Jing High School, two military green special vehicles were parked one behind the other, with a large black car parked in the middle.
From this formation, anyone walking could guess that the car in the middle must be that of someone with a special identity.
After a while, the principal led Class 3's homeroom teacher and Yun Xi out of the school in a hurry.
It was during class time, and they didn't want to disturb other classmates. Yun Xi didn't have any idea who was looking for her, and even the principal was alarmed.
In the black car, Special Assistant Lin kept staring at the entrance of the school. When he saw these three people coming out, he reported to Mu Chongli, who was looking at documents behind him, "Sir, the people have come outside of the building."
After speaking, he pushed open the door and got out of the car. He stood up tall and straightened his dark green suit before he walked forward. "Principal Zhao, I will take her now. I will bring her back to you safely afterwards."
Principal Zhao nodded politely and turned to look at Yun Xi. "Yun Xi, some higher-up has said that he wants to see you, so go with Special Assistant Lin. They will bring you back shortly, so don't worry."
Yun Xi guessed that they were talking about Young Marshal Mu's father, the person who had previously been in charge of the Mu Clan. She wouldn't have been able to go to see him even if she had wanted to. Since this important person had humbled himself to seek out Yun Xi personally, something important must have occurred.
Yun Xi raised her eyes and glanced at the young Special Assistant in front of her. She couldn't help but size him up. This person's position couldn't be less than Feng Rui and Qi Yuan's positions.
This person who really wanted to see her was probably either a big boss or someone with a prominent status.
She tilted her head and glanced at the army green vehicles guarding the black car. Every person in both of the vehicles was wearing a suit, so it was obvious that the person who wanted to see her was a special person.
She had already guessed who she was going to see, and she'd known that there would be a day like this ever since she'd met Mr Mu during the first aid treatment she'd carried out for Madame Si.
After all, the identity and background of anyone close to Mu Feichi needed to be verified to prevent anyone from approaching him with ulterior motives.
And she was no exception, especially since Mu Feichi made a lot of exceptions for her.
Like his father, he was probably worried about her ordinary background and the fact that she was very young.
Mu Feichi hadn't expected that as soon as he'd left town his father would seek out Yun Xi.
Special Assistant Lin turned his head to look at Yun Xi, and nodded politely, "Miss Yun, my Master wants to see you."
Yun Xi nodded, then turned around and looked at Teacher Xu. She smiled and nodded her head. "Teacher Xu, I want to ask for a day off. I will be back to class if there's time."
"Okay! Be careful!"
Special Assistant Lin opened the car door and waited. Yun Xi bent down and got in the car. She raised her eyes to look at the man in formal attire sitting opposite her.
The car was a bullet-proof commercial vehicle with two rows of seats facing each other, so she was now facing Mu Chongli, who had bold brows and deep eyes.
Special Assistant Lin raised the divider in the car, and the back-seat compartment suddenly became a closed-off space.
The car started slowly. Yun Xi took a deep breath, clasped her hands on her knees, and politely said, "Mr Mu, hello."
Her calm, composed tone suddenly tore through the stiff atmosphere in the car.
Mu Chongli put down the file in his hand and looked at the girl who was sitting opposite him.
She was wearing a khaki wool coat, and her long hair was tied into a ponytail. On her calm little face, her clear eyes were pure and innocent. She didn't show the slightest discomfort or even panic because of his appearance.
Obviously, she looked like a little girl, but her clear eyes appeared so unfathomable that he couldn't read her.
In other words, her eyes were perfectly pure and clear. There wasn't any contamination or adulteration of the adult world in them.
He had seen all kinds of people during the process of climbing to where he was today. At her age, it was remarkable that she could still be so calm when she was in front of him. There weren't many people who were neither obsequious nor fearful.
She was the first one he'd ever met.
Mu Chongli had always been curious about what kind of girl his precious son would be attracted to.
It wasn't until she had completed an operation that many doctors in the hospital wouldn't do for Madame Si that he realized that he needed to get to know this little girl.
In terms of beauty, at such a young age, she hadn't really grown up yet. Puberty does wonders for women, so she had infinite potential in the future.
Jingdu didn't have any shortage of women who were more beautiful and more age-appropriate for Mu Feichi.
To be the madame of the Mu family's patriarch...simply having beauty was perhaps enough.
But to be Mu Feichi's wife, simply having beauty was far from enough.
He was a man from the Mu family. He carried the entire Mu family on his shoulders and faced the threat of death at all times.
His woman couldn't be his weakness, nor could she be his burden.
Only if they were evenly matched and rose above the herd could she stand by his side. Otherwise, she would only become an existence that dragged him down.
And his stupid son had chosen her...
The reason for his determination was ridiculous in the eyes of him, his father.
Accompany him to a battlefield?
How could she, a girl with a scalpel, accompany him?
Even if she became a doctor, she would only be able to work behind the scenes. If she didn't have enough abilities, she could still become a weakness for him.
Therefore, while Mu Feichi was away, Mu Chongli wanted to see how capable this woman, who had a marriage contract with the Jiang family, had also been a lifesaver of the Chen family, a target of the Han family, and the Su family's enemy was.
She alone could influence the four major families. This advantage allowed her to control the situation, but could also easily become her Achilles' heel.
It all depended on whether she was just a pretty vase or someone with actual substance.
Knowing how to balance the power dynamic between the prominent families in Jingdu was a skill that the madame of a clan's ruler should know.
If she was empty-headed, then even if Mu Feichi objected, he would stop him in the end.
Mu Chongli withdrew his gaze. His sharp eyes still filled with curiosity and criticism, he said, "Miss Yun, you don't seem to be surprised to see me. Since you aren't, can you guess why I have come to see you?"
Yun Xi shook her head slightly. She really didn't know what Mu Chongli was looking for, but she knew it must be related to his son.
If it weren't for Mu Feichi, she wouldn't have the opportunity to have any contact with such a big shot.
"My son admires you very much."
Yun Xi smiled. Mu Chongli got straight to the point, so she didn't need to be evasive either.
"In your eyes, I'm afraid that Young Marshal Mu's appreciation for me isn't enough to move you."
"Yes! You're very smart." Mu Chongli nodded. "From what I know about my kid, he's probably granted you the position of Madame Mu, am I right?"
Yun Xi didn't deny it and nodded.
Mu Chongli felt a little uneasy. That rascal had actually done so.
"Well, what do you think? Do you think you're capable and qualified enough to sit in that position?"
Her eyes gleaming with determination and calm, Yun Xi shook her head.
"Young Marshal Mu deserves a better woman than I am. With his status, he needs someone who can stand by his side and be evenly matched with him, not a little girl like me, who has no power, no distinguished background, and is even dragged down by bad relatives. What's more, my relationship with Young Marshal Mu isn't the kind of relationship you think it is."
"Whether it is or not, he's adamant that you're his one and only. I know my son, and no one can change his mind."
Yun Xi also felt a little helpless. After several months of getting along, she understood Mu Feichi and naturally understood that no one could change his mind.
"So, I'll give you the chance to either persuade him to give up on you or use your strength to allow me to acknowledge you."
Yun Xi froze, and her clear eyes appeared confused. "I'm sorry, I don't understand what you mean."
"We're now driving to the training ground. If you can rely on your strength to get out, I won't interfere in this matter between you and my son."
Yun Xi had long been accustomed to being pushed to do things beyond her abilities.
However, this person who was forcing her to do these things was the boss of the Mu family, Mu Feichi's father, and she didn't know how to deal with it.
The corny plot of a president falling in love with an ordinary girl was happening to her. In these plots, it was usually the mother of the wealthy family who came out to do everything possible to prevent a woman like her from being together with her son.
Now...the father had come forward, and, without further ado, was going to throw her directly onto the training ground, telling her to come out relying on her own strength.
She did not feel happy, instead...she felt somewhat distressed.
Yun Xi blinked and raised her eyes to look at the man sitting opposite her, who appeared intimidating and as if he was acting only in consideration of the grand scheme of things. She could tell that he actually loved his son very much. It was just that his way of expressing his love wasn't very pleasing.
After hesitating for a moment, Yun Xi said, "Sir, may I ask you a question?"
"You may ask whatever you want. The person in front of you right now isn't a member of the Mu family, but a father."
Mu Feichi was the son of his favourite woman and his most beloved eldest son. Since he couldn't change his decision, then he would respect his choice.
As a father, what he had to do wasn't to separate them by any means, but to fulfil his desires as much as possible.
Since he'd chosen this little girl, she must be able and qualified enough to stand beside him.
Even if she wasn't, she must be trained to do so.
In fact, when he'd seen this girl just now, he'd felt a little relieved.
His son's taste wasn't that bad. This girl had a sense of calmness and assurance that ordinary girls didn't have. Even when confronting a person in a high position like him, she had no sense of fear and even appeared tough instead.
She had an extraordinary sense of gentleness and wisdom.
Such a girl couldn't be stupid, and it could even be said that she was so smart that she knew how to hide her cunningness.
"If Young Marshal Mu's mother was still here, would she be the one sitting in front of me planning for her son's future?"
She'd received no maternal love ever since she had been a child, and she had never enjoyed the warmth of maternal love in her two lives.
She'd also seldom heard Mu Feichi talk about his mother. From what she'd understood, in those cheesy dramas that involved wealthy families, a mother would do whatever it took for the sake of her son's future.
What's more, Mu Feichi had dual identities: a man and a person in power.
Upon the mention of his deceased wife, Mu Chongli's eyes gradually became gentle, with a kind of tenderness that even Yun Xi felt she couldn't describe.
In his sharp eyes, there was the soft gleam of masculine passion. Even with time, it hadn't lost its strength.
His love had solidified over time and finally grown into a red-hot passion in the bottom of his heart. It was intense and passionate.
"If...if she were alive, it would still be me sitting in front of you. She had only one request for her future daughter-in-law, which was to take care of her son in her place. Our family is already deeply established in Jingdu, so there's no need to sacrifice our children's lifelong happiness anymore."
Mentioning this, Mu Chongli closed his eyes slightly. "I personally sent him down this road and made him who he is now, so the woman who should be standing next to him is destined to be an extraordinary person. Even if he has his sights set on you, if you fail to meet my requirements, I will do whatever it takes to train you or to ruin you. To become strong or to be trampled on, the right to choose is in your hands."
Yun Xi took a deep breath and didn't know what to say to this well-meaning father, Chongli.
He didn't care about her status, her family, or her background, but had only one requirement, that is, for her to become a strong person evenly matched with his son.
However, he seemed to have forgotten to ask her opinion.
The fact that she really wasn't in that kind of relationship with his son aside, if there had been something and they really had been in that kind of relationship, it would be normal for him to make such a request.
But they weren't.
"Sir, what if I don't agree?" Yun Xi asked boldly.
Although she also wanted to become stronger and empower the Yun family, she wanted to rely on her own efforts.
Although the Mu family's intervention could save her a lot of time and energy, allowing her to take fewer detours, she really didn't want to do it that way.
After her rebirth, apart from changing her destiny, she also wanted to enjoy life.
To stand next to Mu Feichi, she probably needed not only courage but also a little luck.
She was certain that her background, her greedy father and her vulgar mother, were destined to drag her down. They could even hurt the Mu family.
Even if she could afford to suffer this humiliation, what about the Mu family?
She would become Mu Feichi's weakness, a smear that couldn't be erased.
Mu Chongli glanced at her. His calm, stern face changed slightly. It seemed as if he wasn't giving her any choice at all.
"I'm not giving you any choice about whether you want to do it or not. Either you become stronger, or I will destroy you."
Mu Chongli's current stance was clearly that of a bandit. He was threatening her.
To put it simply, it was for the sake of their future. It was necessary that she would be qualified enough to be worthy of him.
To put it more bluntly, he was saying that his son had fallen in love with her so she had to do it no matter what.
Like father, like son. Mu Feichi and his father both behaved in the same overbearing way and were similarly unreasonable.
Yun Xi knew that whatever she said was pointless, so she didn't plan to speak anymore.
She was now in his hands, and there was probably no way to escape. The two cars before and after their car were filled with strong bodyguards. She wouldn't be able to outrun these cars. There was no need to ask for more trouble for herself.
After driving out of the city, the car parked in a spacious barrier-free area, and a helicopter landed on flat ground.
The men in the two cars that had been protecting their car got out and circled their car.
Chief of Staff Lin, who was in the passenger seat, got out of the car and opened the door of the back seat. Mu Chongli got out of the car and Yun Xi followed.
Outside the car, two heavily armed men with camouflage paint on their faces stood silently holding a set of camouflage uniforms and boots. They saluted Mu Chongli.
Mu Chongli turned his head and glanced at Yun Xi, then said without changing his facial expression, "Go into the car to change. People can't see inside the car. I'll give you five minutes. Go!"
Yun Xi sighed slightly. Even though she was condemning him in her heart, she could only obediently grab the combat uniform and rush into the car.
Time was the key. With a group of well-trained men and even a big shot waiting for her, she dared not play a rogue in front of them.
She quickly changed into the camouflage uniform and got out of the car. As soon as Yun Xi stood upright, the two men standing in front of her painted a layer of paint on her face.
Mu Chongli turned around and glanced briefly at the smallest combat uniform that had been specially prepared for her. When she wore it, she appeared somewhat flamboyant and heroic.
"Hunter or prey, you choose."
Yun Xi frowned slightly and raised her eyes to meet Mu Chongli's sharp eyes. "Sir, I want to know how many opponents I have."
Mu Chongli snorted softly. His deep, thick voice sounded cold and merciless as he said, "If you were on the battlefield now, would your enemy tell you how many people he has?"
Got it! She'd asked a stupid question.
Whether she would be a hunter hunting prey hidden in the dark, or a prey being hunted by hunters hidden in the dark, her strength would determine her choice.
Because she didn't know how many enemies she had, Yun Xi gritted her teeth and said, "I want to be a hunter!"
Whether she was a hunter or prey, she must be in a vigilant state at all times.
She was certain that her opponents were a group of well-trained men. They were better at hiding in the jungle and better at hunting than she was.
As long as she couldn't see through their disguises and couldn't kill them, she, the hunter, would always be passive.
Sure enough, as soon as she chose, Mu Chongli reminded her, "You're a hunter for only 12 hours. If you can't kill the prey within 12 hours, then the prey will counterattack."
The meaning of his words was very simple. If she couldn't kill the prey within the stipulated amount of time, then she would become the target of the prey and be killed by her opponents.
Yun Xi took a deep breath, raised her hand, and took the backpack that Mu Chongli was handing over to her. Her entire mind was blank.
She didn't know how to use this stuff at all. Even hitting a target was an issue, so it was useless to give this thing to her.
As soon as she got it, she knew she looked scared.
"It's all empty shells here. That rascal should have taught you how to fire a gun, right?"
"If I say no, would you believe it, sir?"
"I'd believe it." Mu Chongli nodded. "So, listen, I don't ask much of you. As long as I can hit the prey, you'll be fine. Xiao Lin, send her to Zone D."
Special Assistant Lin froze, and then he raised his eyes and looked at Mu Chongli, "Sir, isn't Zone D a little too dangerous for her? If Young Marshal Mu knew..."
"He's in a foreign country now, so what if he finds out?" Mu Chongli turned his head, and his sharp eyes fell on Yun Xi.
"If you can't even get out of Zone D, you won't qualify to become my daughter-in-law!"
"..." Yun Xi was really at her wits' end at this moment.
She hadn't even agreed to become his daughter-in-law, okay?
But now, everything she said was pointless.
...
In the command meeting room in Country F...
Mu Feichi was commanding the team members to lie in hiding in the command room when he received a call from one of his subordinates. The person on the other end reported that Yun Xi had been taken away by Mu Chongli. His facial expression instantly changed.
After hanging up, he turned to Grey Wolf, who was typing on his keyboard, and said, "In five minutes, hack the Red Command Room!"
"..." Grey Wolf was stunned. All the other people in the room looked at him in shock when they'd heard what he had said.
Li Zilan walked over and looked at him quizzically, "Isn't the Red Command Room...Mr. Mu's command room? What's happened?"
He wouldn't hack his father's command room out of the blue at this juncture.
Moreover, the firewall of the Red Command Room wasn't ordinary, so five minutes wasn't going to be enough to hack into it.
"Boss, five minutes isn't enough time." Grey Wolf looked helpless.
The Red Command Room had a special-level firewall. Even though he was an advanced hacker, it took time to hack into. Plus, if they did so, it would be tantamount to breaking the law.
"I'll do it then."
Mu Feichi glanced at him coldly, turned around, and walked to his seat, and turned on the computer to do it himself.
"What the h*ll is going on? What did your father do to you now?"
His expression cold, Mu Feichi's eyes fell on the laptop's blue screen. "He took Yun Xi away!"
Li Zilan froze. "Maybe he took Yun Xi away just to ask her some questions. What are you so nervous about?"
"I never thought it would be a good idea for him to go look for her. Why not look for her when I was around?"
But he went to look for her when Mu Feichi was out of the country. Wasn't his purpose obvious enough?
If it was just to say a few words, why did he deliberately do it when he wasn't there?