Subtle Manipulations: Villainess Taking Over The World

"Ruo'er the guests are almost here, you should hurry up and dress now."

Looking up at her mother Su Ruoyan smiled gently, "I understand mother, can you help me put on my dress?"

Yu Xialan elatedly smiled at seeing her daughter show a rare moment of childishness. Though Su Ruoyan was much better than she was before Yu Xialan was still sad that her daughter was suddenly so m.a.t.u.r.e, lacking the childishness that she had before.

Both Yu Xialan and Su Ruochen had hesitated at the idea of throwing Su Ruoyan a birthday party after she just recovered from her illness. If she became upset during the party wouldn't she just regress to how she was before? But, their worries were put to waste as Su Ruoyan told them adamantly that she was perfectly fine with having a birthday party.

Picking up the dress that she had personally designed for her daughter, Yu Xialan undid the delicate silk ribbons and slid it onto Su Ruoyan's body. She smiled when she saw how cute Su Ruoyan looked in the dress. She had made the dress over the course of 2 months by hand, and seeing her daughter in it made her overwhelmingly happy.

Su Ruoyan, on the other hand, was feeling a multitude of different emotions.

The story would finally be starting, after months of preparation. It was time for her to meet the male lead and her future lover. The game stage was set, all that was left was to press start. In this game of life and death, she must not fail in any way possible. This world was just as ruthless as her previous world. Remembering the tragic end of Su Ruoyan only made her clasp her small hands into a fist, her nails digging into her palm, the pain anchoring her to reality.

Mu Fan Xie just you wait, I'll make it so you wish you were dead.

Chun Lian you white lotus, I'll ruin you as you ruined me.

Wu Qianli you old hag, I'll destroy everything you worked for and let you watch as it crumbles around you.

.

.

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Mu Zhao Yun...in this life I will make it up to you....

Mu Zhao Yun rarely attended banquets. In his 6 years of life, it could be said that he only attended 3 of them. One was his grandmother's birthday banquet, the other was his father's birthday banquet, and this one was his third banquet.

Mrs. Mu— or mother when father was around— didn't let him attend. She always made up excuses whenever father asked her why he couldn't attend, things like he was sick, or he didn't want to go. It was only because his father forced her to bring him today that he could go, something about how Mr. Su was a very important person and not showing up with his entire family might offend Mr. Su.

Mu Zhao Yun never understood why Mrs. Mu didn't treat him the same way she treated his older brother. Mrs. Mu always gave Mu Fan Xie whatever he wanted when he asked for it. She laughed and smiled at him, she scolded and did things that mothers would do towards their child.

But, when it came to Mu Zhao Yun she always wore a gaze that he was all too familiar with. A gaze filled with thinly veiled disgust and contempt, as if he was worth less than the dirt at the bottom of her shoes. A gaze that appeared in the eyes of most of the people that Mu Zhao Yun met. Once when he was a bit younger than now he used to do anything to have Mrs. Mu show him just even the tiniest of motherly affections. He tried to do what Mu Fan Xie did to get praised.

If Mu Fan Xie mastered playing a difficult song, Mu Zhao Yun would practice till his hands cramped and bruise in order to do the same.

If Mu Fan Xie was practicing calligraphy, Mu Zhao Yun would be practice all night long until his hands were black with ink.

If Mu Zhao Yun was doing 2nd-year primary math, Mu Zhao Yun would bring around a math textbook and read all day studying studiously.

Anything that Mu Fan Xie did Mu Zhao Yun would strive to do better. But, his efforts only made Mrs. Mu hate him more. Every time he showed off how he could also play a difficult song on the piano, write in cursive script, or do anything that was better than Mu Fan Xie, the look on Mrs. Mu's face only got darker and darker.

It wasn't until one day, during one of the rare dinners that his father was present that he tried telling his father that investing in a particular industry was a bad idea. Mrs. Mu had stopped him midway before he was about to explain to his father his reasoning, and told his father how cute he was repeating what his older brother had said. He wasn't given another chance to tell his father about his thoughts throughout the rest of dinner.

After dinner, Mrs. Mu came into his room and told him the words that would forever be ingrained into his mind.

"Mu Zhao Yun you bastard!," she had held his small wrists in a death grip as she spoke to him in a menacing tone, "It was only through my kindness that trash like you could enter the Mu household. In the end, you're just like your s.l.u.t of a mother, trying to steal away Fan Xie's father from him!"

At that time Mrs. Mu had started pinching his arms with her nails, but he was too petrified by the immense hatred in her tone to care.

"Mu Zhao Yun remember this, no matter how hard you try you will never beat my son." A drop of blood slid down his pale arm from where her sharp nail had pierced his skin, "You a bastard by blood will never inherit anything from the Mu household. Anything that Fan Xie wants will never be yours, anything that Fan Xie has will never be yours, no matter how smart or talented you are you will never beat my Fan Xie at anything! In the end, your bastard blood has already decided your future."

With those words, she had left him in his room, with droplets of blood dripping down his arm as if reminding him that what just happened was not a dream.

After that day he stopped trying to one-up Mu Fan Xie. At that time he did not know what the word "bastard" had meant. It was only after searching it up in one of the library dictionaries that he understood. Mrs. Mu was not his real mother, his mother was someone that father wasn't married to. Mu Fan Xie was only his half-brother.

Coming to the realization made the 5-year-old Mu Zhao Yun want to cry. It was no wonder that no one in the Mu household treated him kindly, it was because he wasn't a Mu at all. He wasn't part of the family whether he carried the name or not came to nothing when the fact that he was a bastard came to light.

So as he stared at his older brother with his ever-present cold face, he could not help but sigh. Even though he was only a bit older than 6, the experience had gone through made him much more m.a.t.u.r.e than any 6 years old.

"You shouldn't sigh so early into the party, it's only gonna get worse from here."

Mu Zhao Yun turned around to see the prettiest girl he had ever seen in his life— the fact that she was the only girl he had seen before mattered little. The girl had a pretty face but it was her eyes that seemed to encapture him. Her eyes were soft and full of spirit, it was like the world and all of its mysteries were held in her gentle eyes.

Seeing as he didn't answer her Su Ruoyan spoke again, "My name is Su Ruoyan what's yours?"

Mu Zhao Yun snapped out of his daze at her words and narrowed his eyes, "Mu Zhao Yun."

His words were cautious and slightly cold, he had expected to see contempt or disgust in her eyes, but instead, only a slight look of surprise flickered through them before she smiled wryly. He had been prepared to suffer some form of contempt from her, but the lack of it made him suddenly lose focus.

"It's nice to meet you Mu Zhao Yun, let's be friends."

Her words were said with childish innocence and he was instantly enraptured by her soft gaze, a rising blush appeared on his cheeks. She looked to be around his age, and from her name, he could guess that she was the main attraction of this party. Su Ruoyan was someone who was dearly loved by her family, someone whose situation was the complete polar opposite of his. But, even though he shielded his heart with iron and steel, deep inside he was still a six-year-old child who craved for company. Su Ruoyan's smile reminded him of warm sunlight, and even though he promised he would no longer open his heart for anyone, at that moment a slight crack was open for her to enter.

"Okay."

He did not say anything else other than that one word and turned around right after, his ears turning a delicate red. But, Su Ruoyan's smile grew even warmer. She understood his coldness towards her was very normal, after all, according to the books Mu Zhao Yun didn't have the best of childhoods. Mu Zhao Yun caring enough to respond to her was already a blessing.

"How old are you?" She asked him as she sat in the empty seat next to him.

"Six." He answered not daring to look at her again, in fear of embarrassing himself in front of her.

Su Ruoyan smiled, "Since you're older than me, I'll call you Yun Ge from now on."

He did not reply to her and she did not continue to speak, both of them sitting next to each other 10 cm separating them. Both minds sharing the same thoughts, "I hope he/she likes me."