Chapter 80

Murong Yunshu calmly watched those people approaching them slowly, while feeling extremely helpless. She was just a little wealthier than the average person, and she didn’t even eat the meat of the monk Tang Seng who had the ability to live forever and never grew old. How come so many unknown people want to come to find fault with her one by one?

“Miss Murong, my Lord has requested the pleasure of seeing you,” said the man in black, who seemed to lead the group.

Murong Yunshu did not ask who the other party’s lord really was, as she stepped forward and bluntly refused, “I am not available right now. Let him wait until tomorrow after dawn and when the sun rises to deliver an invitation to Murong Mansion first. Then, will I consider whether I want to see him or not.”

The man in black was stunned. Did she really think they were here to ‘ask’ her? Stunned, he stated, “My Lord wants to see you right now.”

Murong Yunshu wrinkled her brows, “Must I go see him?”

“You must.”

Murong Yunshu conceded, “Okay. Go back, and call him. I will make an exception and wait for him here for a minute.”

The man in black was stunned once again. Was she really stupid or just acting dumb? Couldn’t she see that they were here to ‘kidnap someone’?

“Big Brother, don’t talk nonsense with her. Just take her away.” Someone in the group was getting impatient.

At these words, the whole crowd erupted. The onlookers on either side began to whisper.

“Where did these people come from?”

“I don’t know. But since they dare to offend the people of Murong Mansion, their background must not be small.”

“I heard that the new Guye[+]son-in-law [used by wife’s family] of the Murong Mansion is a great demon. Could they be here to seek revenge?”

“What new Guye[+]son-in-law [used by wife’s family]? They haven’t held any wedding yet.”

“They’re already engaged. Isn’t it only a matter of time before they get married?”

“It’s impossible to say. Wasn’t she also previously betrothed to the young master of the Mingjian Mountain Villa? Just the way it was before……”

“Shhh! Don’t you want to live? How dare you mention that.”

Murong Yunshu smiled faintly, as she put aside other people’s comments as if she had not heard it[+]Chinese idiom : pay no attention, and said indifferently to the eighteen people, “Since you are in Jinling, you should first inquire about who you can and cannot offend, lest you offend the wrong people and cut off your own way out.”

At these words, the faces of the eighteen men changed abruptly and they were poised to strike.

Chu Changge, on the other hand, was smiling, “Madam, you are being too direct.”

Murong Yunshu also smiled. She tilted her head as she looked into his eyes, and earnestly said, “When you reach my age, you will understand that there are many things where you don’t need to be subtle.”

“…I’m afraid I won’t have that chance.” Chu Changge said in a serious and very sorrowful tone. He had long since passed her age…

Murong Yunshu originally wanted to tease him, but unexpectedly he made her chuckle instead. Their good mood that had been spoiled by the arrival of a few horses and people, was immediately restored.

When Murong Yunshu smiled, Chu Changge’s mood became brighter. This made his desire to kill other people not as strong as before. “I don’t want to kill anyone today, so you guys can go.” Chu Changge said in a particularly magnanimous manner.

“Humph! What a big mouth! Murong Yunshu, our Lord does not want to make things difficult for you. If you know how to show great regards to our Lord, come with us. Otherwise, don’t blame us for being ungracious!” The man in black said.

Murong Yunshu sighed and murmured, “For such a young man, is it worth the trouble to make your own life this difficult?”

Before the man in black could even think clearly about what she meant by this statement, he saw a Jiuqu[+]jiu=nine, qu=can either be crooked or song/melody Linglong[+]exquisite Chain flying in the air like a flying dragon in a rage. He only felt something wavering in front of his eyes, when he started to lose his balance and fell off his horse. He was hit hard by the chain while he was in mid-air and flew three metres away. His internal organs seemed to shatter in an instant, and a fierce rush of hot blood gushed out of his body as he vomited them on the ground. Something passed him by and a bunch of his true qi[+]vital energy were thrown into disorder.

“Big Brother!” The other seventeen people jumped off their horses and surrounded him. With a mixed feeling of anxiousness and irritation, they asked after him, “Big Brother, how are you?”

“I’m fine.” The man in black wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. He raised his eyes to the person who had personally gone against him, and asked, “Who are you, Your Excellency?”

West Guardian laughed coldly and mocked, “You don’t even know who I am, and yet you dare to speak shamelessly in front of our sect master?”

At this time, someone in the crowd of onlookers whispered, “His weapon looks a lot like what the storyteller’s described as the ‘World Strangest Hero, Liu Chengfeng’s Jiuqu[+]jiu=nine, qu=can either be crooked or song/melody Linglong[+]exquisite Chain’.”

Another person responded, “Impossible. Just look at his age. I’m afraid he wasn’t even born when Liu Chengfeng was running around the jianghu[+]lit. rivers and lakes—people wandering from place to place and living by their wits, e.g. fortune-tellers, quack doctors, itinerant entertainers, etc. , considered as a social group.”

Upon hearing this comment, the man in black was surprised, “Could Your Excellency be the descendant of Senior Liu?”

West Guardian raised his eyebrows as he said, “For the sake of you calling my master as a ‘senior’, I will let you off.” After saying that, he looked at the remaining seventeen people and said, “You are no match for me even if you fight me all together. So if you want to live, get lost immediately.”

Everyone nodded like they were pestle pounding garlic, “Yes, yes…”

All the eighteen people on the eighteen horses immediately bolted away.

Soon, the street became lively again.

Chu Changge glanced at East Guardian, who gave a nod as he understood but decided not to say it out loud[+]Chinese idiom : have a tacit understanding. East Guardian then gave another look at the three people North, South and West, before they quietly trailed after those eighteen people.

*

That night, the four men South, East, North and West discovered the mastermind behind the scenes was the orphan son of the late Emperor――King Sheng――whose fiefdom was none other than the northwest wasteland, Yan Province.

Although Yan Province was one of the Nine Great Provinces, it was only a small island. Originally, it was inhabited by uncivilised people. It was only after King Sheng was exiled to Yan Province by the current Emperor that the island gradually became civilised.

Since they were the people of King Sheng, it was not surprising that they would turn a blind eye to Chu Changge’s presence. As the saying went, those who did not know have no fear. They had lived on the island for a long time, so of course they did not know the ups and downs of the Central Plains in recent years, and naturally they do not know how powerful Chu Changge was.

“Even the always low-profile King Sheng has come to Jinling. It seems that Jinling City is about to get lively.” Murong Yunshu said with a meaningful smile. In the past, she would have wondered why this King Sheng would come to her for no reason. However, after experiencing so many things, she knew without guessing that King Sheng’s trip this time must have been for the power behind her, the Murong Mansion.

North Guardian said, “After the death of the late Emperor twenty years ago, the present Empress Dowager violated the ancestral system by abolishing the eight-year-old Crown Prince, the current King Sheng, and made the late Emperor’s younger brother, the current Emperor, the Emperor instead. King Sheng has been covering his light while nurturing his power in the dark[+]Chinese idiom : to conceal one’s strengths and bide one’s time for twenty years. Now he has sneaked into Jinling with the determination to take back the throne.”

Murong Yunshu rubbed her brow and said wanly, “I’m afraid that he is not the only one who has his eyes on the Dragon Throne inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony.” For an Emperor, how much of a failure did one have to fall to the point where a group of kings would rebel together…

At this time, Chu Changge, who has been silent all the time, suddenly asked with a serious expression, “Who do you want to be the Emperor?”

Murong Yunshu was taken aback. Was this the kind of thing she could wish for?

Chu Changge added, “Whoever you like, I’ll leave him behind, while all the others will be killed. Then, nothing like this will happen again.”

“…” This person really had the style of a leader.

“The Leader has a point. In any case, no matter if it is King Liang, King Sheng or any other king, there can only be one Emperor in the end, and the rest will have to die. It’s the same if they die sooner or later. This is also to avoid exhausting the people and drain the treasury[+]Chinese idiom : wasting manpower and resources. The fight will only plunge people into an abyss of misery[+]Chinese idiom : people are in a terrible situation.” North Guardian said.

The other three South, East and West nodded their heads and said in unison, “Lil North has a point.” It was too complicated to hook the hearts while opposing the eave[+]Chinese idiom : fight and scheme against each other. It was much easier to just straight kill the people involved.

Murong Yunshu’s face was full of black lines. Sure enough, if the upper beam was not straight, the lower beam would be crooked[+]Chinese idiom : subordinates imitate their superiors’ vices. The mindset of the people in the Mojiao Sect in political awareness…was still at the level of those who just came out of their mother’s womb. If killing a few people could unify the world, then, the Emperor did not need to learn any Imperial skills. He should just practice martial arts…no, he should not practice any martial arts. Even if he practiced until the end of his life, he wouldn’t be able to catch up with a certain Chu. It was best for him to abdicate and let the virtuous one become the next Emperor.

*

The following day, King Sheng did deliver a bai tie[+]visiting / calling card to Murong Mansion.

Listening to the chief steward’s briefing, Murong Yunshu only said these words, “I’m not going to meet him.”

Without saying another word, the chief steward silently retreated.

“Second Sister, you’re quite a big deal[+]famous or influential person.” Bewitching Fairy Yue walked through the door with a smile.

Hearing the words ‘second sister’, the corner of Murong Yunshu’s temple jumped. She was sure that this old and disrespectful future mother-in-law was doing it on purpose. However, if her mother-in-law wanted to play, how could she, as her daughter-in-law, not cooperate?

Murong Yunshu pursed her lips and then she said, “Eldest Sister, you’re here.”

Bewitching Fairy Yue was stunned for a moment, then she smilingly asked, “Don’t you feel awkward calling me ‘Eldest Sister’?”

Murong Yunshu raised her eyes to look at her and indifferently said, “It’s alright.”

“…since you call me that way, why don’t we light up two sticks of incense to tie our relationship as sworn sisters.” Bewitching Fairy Yue said maliciously.

“Fine.” Murong Yunshu put down the scroll in her hand and said to Lu-er, “Go call Guye[+]son-in-law [used by wife’s family] to come over and let him be a proper witness for me and his mother tying our relationship as sworn sisters.”

“Yes!” Lu-er covered her mouth and snickered as she ran away.

In response to this situation, Bewitching Fairy Yue turned flabbergasted. The ‘four good-for-nothing men’ clearly said that Murong Yunshu was nothing more than a person who had a fluent tongue[+]glib talk. If it came down to it, Murong Yunshu would never dare to hold a sworn ceremony with her. Therefore, she brought up the sisterhood ceremony just now, intending to win a round against Murong Yunshu. But according to this situation, it was not going to end up good…

With her thoughts flying around, Bewitching Fairy Yue decided to gain the initiative by striking the first blow[+]Chinese idiom : to preempt, where the villain sued her victim before she herself was prosecuted[+]well-known phrase : the bad guy is the first to sling accusations, “Do you want to provoke my relationship with Ah Chang?”

Murong Yunshu smilingly replied, “Eldest Sister can’t be serious. Little Sister is only following your wishes in making her future husband suffer a bit. So how can this be considered a provocation? What’s more, it was you who first proposed that you and I should call each other sisters and form a bond of sistership. I was only following your instructions.”

Bewitching Fairy Yue turned speechless. She stared numbly at Murong Yunshu for three seconds before saying, “Fine, let’s just tie our relationship as sworn sisters. It’s not going to be my husband who will die from an excess of anger by then anyway.” The tone of her voice sounded like she had just completely smashed a pot to pieces just because it was cracked[+]Chinese idiom : write oneself off as hopeless after acting recklessly.

Murong Yunshu did not know whether to laugh or cry[+]Chinese idiom : baffled. She wasn’t even married to him yet, and Bewitching Fairy Yue already had the consciousness of the ‘married son is like spilt water[+]from well-known saying : married daughter is like spilt water where a family will lose their responsibility over their married daughter’, where his life and death were now irrelevant?

When Chu Changge rushed over, he just heard his mother’s words. The expression of his handsomely dashing face suddenly turned as dark as charcoal, with the corners of his mouth trembling lightly. He said in an unpleasant voice, “Of course your husband won’t die from an excess of anger. At most he’ll just be too angry to even live!”

Bewitching Fairy Yue was not angry at all. Instead, she said with a smile, “You have come to be a witness for your mother and your wife. Mother is really happy.”

“……” Chu Changge was frustrated. He was at his wits’ end[+]Idiom : not know what to do when he was in the presence of such a mother who was just dying to make trouble.

“If…” Murong Yunshu suddenly smiled and said, “If you sever the mother-child relationship with her, we will not be in this mess. If…” She said after a pause, “If you need a witness, I tackle the difficult job as your witness.”

Chu Changge looked up to the sky and sighed. He was wrong. He was really wrong. He shouldn’t have come and dripped himself in this muddy water[+]involve oneself in a mess…