The Villain's Counterattack

Sichuan and Shu are full of mountains and forests, especially in the southwest. Even though Murong Fu and his companions were riding their horses at full speed without any slackness, they still arrived at Rongjing County at sunset. However, they encountered some obstacles when they reached the city gate.

"How dare you, yamen runners, stop me from entering the city!" The guard looked at the dozen or so soldiers guarding the gate in front of him, who were guarding the city gate tightly and strictly forbidding anyone from entering or leaving. Even the wealthy families in the city were no exception. No matter how much they cursed at the gate, they did not open the fence.

The leading soldier, looking at Murong Fu and his group, felt that something was amiss. Hearing the guard's attire as if he were an adult, he became even more distressed. However, he still insisted, "A bloody incident has occurred in the city. The Li and Yan families have been brutally slaughtered. To prevent the thieves from escaping, Captain Cao has ordered a three-day lockdown. No one is allowed to enter or leave!"

The guard wanted to say something, but Murong Fu waved him off. He stepped forward and briefly showed the gatekeeper his official seal. "I am Murong Fu, the new magistrate of Rongjing County, appointed by the emperor. Transportation in Sichuan is difficult, and we have been riding fast and exhausted. It's still late, so we want to enter the city as soon as possible. I wonder if you can find someone in charge to let us in. After all, to find the murderer, we only need to prohibit people from leaving the city, not restrict people from entering."

When the soldier saw the official seal, he immediately knelt on the ground. It should be noted that the Song Dynasty valued civil officials over military officials, and the status of civil officials was still very high. Even in this frontier area, where locals dominated, people at the bottom still did not dare to disrespect the nominal boss.

As the saying goes, a scholar cannot explain his reason clearly when he meets a soldier, but the same is true in reverse. When a soldier meets a scholar, he also cannot explain his reason clearly. However, no matter whether they are civil or military, when a person of lower status meets a person of higher status, they must obey regardless of whether they can explain their reason clearly or not.

Murong Fu revealed his identity, and his reasons were very convincing. Naturally, the soldiers couldn't refuse, as otherwise, they would surely be held accountable in the future. Furthermore, the magistrate's words were clear: he had ridden his horse furiously to take up his post, which was why he had achieved such honor in such a short time. Now that sunset was approaching, if he couldn't enter the city, he would have to sleep outside. Just imagine how furious he would be. If he really refused to let him in, he would inevitably be held accountable in the future.

Fortunately, the new magistrate was quite reasonable and did not let them go immediately. He just reported to the person in charge, which was not too difficult. Moreover, from the aura of this group of people, it can be basically judged that most of them are masters of martial arts and are by no means comparable to ordinary soldiers.

Murong Fu had already prepared himself to be turned away. After all, the two most powerful and wealthy families in Rongjing County had been purged. Although the Qianhua tribe had hundreds of people, due to time constraints, the things they could take away were limited. Now the county town was probably in chaos. The fight for the two families' inheritance must have been a mess.

The so-called prohibition of entry and exit is probably not for the purpose of finding the murderer, but more for the inheritance of the two families.

The sound of horse hooves could be heard, and a group of more than ten people came riding horses. When they arrived in front of the city gate, they all reined in their horses and dismounted. The leader was a heroic young man who was a little younger than Murong Fu. He was dressed in military uniform, with a sword on his waist and a long spear hanging from his horse. He dismounted with excitement on his face and ran straight towards Murong Fu.

"But is it Young Master Murong Fu, who is known as the Qiao Feng of the North and the Murong of the South, who is here in person?" The heroic young man had a look of admiration on his face, which made the dozen or so cavalry guards behind him frown.

"I'm just a favor from the people of Jianghu, and it's just the legacy of my ancestors." Murong Fu waved his hand and performed the official etiquette. "I'm Murong Fu, a newly minted Jinshi, and newly appointed Magistrate of Rongjing County. However, it seems I've come at a bad time."

The dashing young man performed the formalities of a military officer and announced loudly, "Military Lieutenant Cao Yi greets Magistrate Murong! Your arrival couldn't be more timely. The tragedy in Rongjing County is strange, and I'm afraid there's something else going on. I need your judgment."

Murong Fu shook his head slightly and said, "I took office so close to the murder case. Don't I need to avoid suspicion?"

The heroic young man Cao Yi laughed loudly and said, "Your Excellency's actions are all clear to the public, and you have no roots in Rongjing County. The Li and Yan families were massacred by the natives, but it was their own fault. It has nothing to do with you. This is not the place for discussion. Please, sir, move to the government office and get it up and running as soon as possible. Delay will lead to chaos."

It seems that things are not as simple as he imagined. Murong Fu couldn't help but show an interested look.

Under Cao Yi's guidance, Murong Fu and his party entered the county town and soon arrived at the county government office. However, they found along the way that the entire county town had fallen into panic. Soldiers were patrolling from time to time, and the patrolling soldiers' faces did not look arrogant. Instead, they were full of caution and a trace of panic that could not be concealed.

What on earth had that old man done? He had turned a perfectly good county into such a mess. I'd have to ask him about it when he got there in two days. He was quite capable, worthy of being the mysterious old man who dared to make such a request.

Murong Fu moved into the county government office, and his guards immediately took over the defense. They drove all the servants together and started patrolling and defense. The high efficiency and strict arrangements made Cao Yi dizzy.

He is worthy of being his idol. At such a young age, he is able to stir up the situation, causing trouble in the court and in the northern border. He is the head of the Murong family who is both civil and military.

"I was originally a playboy in Kyoto. I rode horses, hunted, walked dogs, and trained hawks every day. Although I didn't do anything messy, I didn't do anything good either. Until one day..." Cao Yi was not a playboy, but a son of a general who couldn't find his goal in life. The suppression of military generals in the Song Dynasty could not be explained in a few words. The Cao family also intended to let the housekeeper relax his vigilance, and thus relaxed some of the children under the door, as long as half of the disciples in each generation achieved something.

Unfortunately, Cao Yi was among them. As an average son in the family, he did not have to bear too many responsibilities. Other sons of noble families set bad examples for him, so he developed the habit of wasting time and enjoying himself. However, since he was born in a family of generals, he had to accept general training and family inheritance to prevent him from going too far astray.

Until one day, they were caught joking too much and were caught by an imperial censor. The sons of powerful and wealthy families were first scolded by him. After being speechless, they became bolder and prepared to teach the meddling imperial censor a lesson, but they were beaten up by the imperial censor instead.

The powerful disciples were quite shocked that he had attacked a scholar, and they argued with him. The Imperial Censor said with a smile, "I practice martial arts. First, to strengthen my body and avoid being a weak and corrupt scholar who is lazy and ignorant. Second, it is to better reason with others, just like now. If I can't defeat you, will you still be willing to reason with me?"

"Since you are asking for advice sincerely, I will tell you a secret that ordinary scholars will never reveal. The truth is only in the hands of those with strong enough fists!" The imperial censor told them very casually that ordinary people would not spread this secret casually, and he would not admit that he had said it afterwards.

Those children of powerful and influential people were shocked when they heard this and asked the source of the words. The imperial censor reported a name: Murong Fu, the patriarch of the Murong family behind Gusu College!

And the name of that imperial censor was: Bao Bu Tong!

"After that, I paid much attention to Mr. Murong, especially his counterattack against those academies, which was extremely ingenious. Not only was he a brilliant writer, but he was also proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. He also possessed powerful martial arts, forcing others to reason with him. From then on, you became my idol, and I continued to study literature and martial arts, hoping to become a strong person like you, someone who forced others to reason with me."

Seeing Cao Yi's admiring look, Murong Fu's heart was filled with rage. He wanted to complain, but he didn't know where to start.

"I once asked my father for permission to study at Gusu Academy, but he hung me up and beat me," Cao Yi said indignantly. "Why can others do this, but I, a member of the Cao family, cannot be both civil and military? Since then, I have worked hard to become a man as accomplished as you, sir."

"and then?"

"Then my family elders expelled me from Kyoto and sent me to this remote place to serve as a pawn."

Murong Fu: Your master is truly wise. It's fine for scholars to practice martial arts, but why would a warrior like you learn literature? Isn't that just looking for excitement? Well, it seems I have no right to criticize him. It was the Murong family who set a bad example for him.