The Villain's Counterattack

There was a knock on the door, and with Murong Fu's "Come in", Old Madam Murong walked in with a tray in her hand. On the tray was a bowl of soup that was steaming, obviously freshly made, but it didn't have much aroma.

"Why didn't Fu'er do the morning lessons today, but instead came to the study room that he usually dislikes the most?" Chanhe Villa is the Murong family's old nest, and Madam Murong is the hostess here, the absolute ruler. The Murong family has been a single-line heir for five generations. She values ​​her son's safety more than anything else. There are several second-rate masters guarding him secretly all year round. She naturally knows clearly that her son entered the study room early in the morning and did not come out for a long time.

My husband is both civil and military, and has a great reputation and wide friends in the world. However, my son is not so satisfied and looks down on literary matters. This is probably related to my husband's education. He praised the great achievements of his ancestors too much, and my son was obsessed with the heroic figures of his ancestors riding horses and roaming the world. So he was immersed in it, not realizing that times have changed and the situation hundreds of years ago is very different from today.

While it's true that establishing a nation through military might in troubled times is not wrong, ultimately, it must be governed through civility. Winning the hearts of the people requires more than just martial arts prowess. Consider our ancestor Murong Longcheng, a gifted warrior who challenged martial arts masters before reaching adulthood. He later developed the unique skill "Dou Zhuan Xing Yi," which enabled him to dominate the martial arts world and become unrivaled. However, he could only watch helplessly as Khitan Khan Yelü Abaoji established the Liao Dynasty and Later Zhou general Zhao Kuangyin established the Song Dynasty. While he possessed unrivaled martial arts skills, he ultimately achieved nothing and died in depression.

It is not uncommon for top masters to establish a country. Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin reached the pinnacle of martial arts, and left behind "Taizu Changquan" and "Taizu Gunfa", which are only the most basic parts of his martial arts, but still quite impressive, showing his true skills in the ordinary.

There is also Duan Siping, who was born into a family of scholars and officials and was very famous. Although his family was in decline, he received a complete family education of officials, which cultivated his talent for governing the country and his literary and military strategies. Because his family was in decline, he tasted the suffering of the people, which laid a good foundation for his future rule.

Duan Siping possessed unfathomable martial arts skills. Initially serving as a military officer, he rose through the ranks to become the Jiedushi of Tonghai, a powerful general in charge of a region. During the Nanzhao uprising, the people suffered greatly, and he seized power and founded the Dali Kingdom. His training ultimately crystallized into several unique techniques: "One Finger of Sun," "Six Meridians Divine Sword," and "Withered and Flourishing Zen."

It is said that the route taken by Duan Siping was indeed more reasonable than that of his ancestors, and it was no accident that he was able to succeed. However, his ancestor Murong Longcheng did not encounter such an opportunity, or perhaps the nomadic thinking in his bones restricted his behavior, and he was overall inferior in terms of literary and military strategies.

My silly son was originally influenced by my husband and felt that he had gone astray, but he never thought that he would gain a lot from reading historical books. It seems that my education is still very meaningful.

He was born in a hermit sect of the Han family in the Central Plains, and his master was his mother-in-law. His sect could not be said to have a long history, but it was rich in heritage. Although he was only the third generation, it was unfathomable and extremely secretive. Even his name was not to be revealed to outsiders, otherwise they would be killed to silence them.

Even her husband vaguely knew about the existence of the sect, but she herself had never joined it. She married him half because she loved him, and the other half because she could not disobey her master's orders. She had not originally planned to tell her son about this, and even pushed her stupid brother out to marry that second-hand Li Qingluo for her son.

The reason was very simple. As a bystander, she knew clearly Li Qingluo's background and that she was more noble than herself in the sect.

It's just strange. I am in this hidden sect. It is very powerful, but for some reason, all the disciples cannot find good marriages and have good results. Many of them even suffer from emotional pain. Even my master could not escape this disaster and passed away sadly.

It is still the same for me. Just like my master, my lover passed away early, and I have to raise an only son alone. My martial arts skills are obviously not as good as my master's. I am afraid that this generation of the Murong family will be much worse than before.

That's why he sacrificed his own stupid brother and won over his love-sick junior sister Li Qingluo. However, this girl lost her father shortly after she was born. She had countless martial arts secrets, but they were not top-notch. She was also deceived by the playboy Duan from Dali and became pregnant before marriage.

The playboy from the Dali Duan family was also a blind man. He only saw Li Qingluo's pretty face, but did not take her martial arts skills seriously at all. This was certainly because Li Qingluo had no personal teachings from her parents, which led to her lack of martial arts skills, and also because the "Xiao Wuxiang Gong" was profound and mysterious, which outsiders could not understand.

The sect's masters often act strangely. Uncle Master Li Qiushui, along with Ding Chunqiu, injured the sect leader, Wuyazi, and then abandoned her daughter to become the Concubine of Xixia, leaving her daughter to be wasted. Perhaps she was too embarrassed to face her daughter, fearing she would be reminded of her husband, so she adopted an out-of-sight, out-of-mind approach. But could she truly let go?

So there was the story of Junior Brother Ding Chunqiu pretending to be Junior Sister Li Qingluo's father. However, they could never have imagined that they saw all of this clearly from the side. After all, their master and mother-in-law was named Li Canghai, and she was the sister of Uncle Senior Brother Li Qiushui.

The Duan clan of Dali were blind, not only buying the casket but also abandoning the beautiful box. It was truly laughable. They looked down on it, yet he wanted this support. Although his master had helped the Murong family establish the Huanshi Water Pavilion, the martial arts there were at least second-rate, but ultimately incomplete. The Langhuan Blessed Land, on the other hand, was different. It had collected almost all the martial arts in the Central Plains, which would be even more helpful to his cause of reviving Dayan.

It's a pity for his silly brother. Although he has second-rate strength and his skills are better than Li Qingluo who doesn't understand her own nobility, he is a beauty-obsessed person and is completely dominated by Li Qingluo. Now he is also targeted by the villain Ding Chunqiu and the playboy of the Duan family.

Murong Fu hurriedly stood up to greet his mother, who looked radiant. He didn't understand what the so-called recuperation mentioned in the mission was. He thought the demon who had issued the mission wouldn't have fabricated something to mislead him, so it must be his poor eyesight that prevented him from seeing clearly. Furthermore, the original novel also reveals that Madam Murong had passed away by the time Ah Zhu and Ah Bi reached adulthood, leading to Ah Zhu's disguise as Madam Murong to tease Jiumozhi.

Old Madam Murong watched him swallow the soup, then nodded with satisfaction. Her son had good aptitude, and with her care, his martial arts skills would certainly not be much different. Although he might not be able to compare to his father, he could still gain a place in the martial arts world. She cast her eyes on the desk and saw the big words on a piece of paper next to it, her eyes lit up.

"A grand plan for nation building! Does my son have a more detailed plan?"

Murong Fu put down his cup and bowl, savoring the taste in his mouth carefully before nodding slightly. "I do have some ideas, but the world is peaceful now, not in chaos. If I start a rebellion, it would be like setting fire in rainy weather, which will ultimately fail. If I take the initiative to provoke chaos, I will inevitably become the target of public criticism, and ruin will be inevitable. It is really not advisable for me to be the vanguard of the king."

Old Madam Murong was stunned when she heard this. It seemed that her husband had taken this road, but in the end he didn't get through. Could this be the reason?

"I have thought about it for a long time, and finally decided on a plan to restore the country, which will take ten years to build the foundation, ten years to erode the land, thirty years to make some achievements, and a hundred years to complete!" Murong Fu couldn't help but feel high-spirited when he said this, and began to confide his thoughts to his mother bit by bit.

"A century-long plan is based on people. Civil officials and military commanders are indispensable for founding a nation, but the grassroots are even more important. Whether it's scholars, farmers, merchants, or soldiers, none of them can be missing. That's why I want to establish Murong Academy to cultivate talents from all schools of thought for my own use. Confucianism is just a facade, ordinary scholars fooling outsiders, but in fact it is to cultivate people of action."

"In addition, we will vigorously promote the Mohist art of mechanical engineering, build ships and sail out to attack Tamra. Using this as a backup base, we will train the Murong family's navy and contain the Korean and Japanese nations at sea. Using experts and merchants, we will secretly erode and control the Korean kingdom. Ten years will be enough to build the foundation, ten years to erode, and twenty years will be enough to achieve something. We will then expand into the Liao territory and the vast grasslands. After thirty years, we can successfully restore our country by using the Korean kingdom as a cover."

"During this time, I plan to follow the example of my ancestors and gather people and horses on the grasslands to form a tribe. I will continue to grow and develop it. When the Great Yan Kingdom is established, I will send troops to attack the Liao Kingdom from two directions and recapture the Great Yan Kingdom's homeland."

"What do you think, mother?" Murong Fu said, his gaze turning to his mother. Her beautiful eyes sparkled, and she nodded in praise. "My son is very talented, and this plan is feasible. But will this academy affect the upper echelons of the Song Dynasty? You must know..."

"That's fine. We can start small and just call it a private school. Slowly integrate into their ranks and grow stronger bit by bit. Once we become one of their own, we can rest easy. Before that, we can control the high-ranking officials of Gusu City as a cover."

Old Madam Murong: How come you, child, can be more thorough and meticulous than an old mother like me?