The Villain's Counterattack

This time, the leaders of the Beggar Gang truly understood how terrifying Murong Fu was.

In terms of martial arts, this guy defeated everyone except Qiao Feng with his Sky-Flipping Palm and Dragon City Sword. In terms of talent, except for Ma Dayuan who was more capable, everyone else including Qiao Feng was inferior to him. In terms of talent, no one combined could be his match. In terms of appearance, well, there is no need to discuss this, he cannot afford it.

Finally, it comes to wealth. Murong Fu is the young master of the Murong family. Gusu College is his property. How can he be the richest invisible man in the entire Gusu city? People in the Beggar Gang know that the Murong family has controlled at least 70% of the profitable businesses in Gusu city, and has even organized caravans to provide unlimited support to the northern border.

Finally, when it comes to breadth of mind, except for Qiao Feng, they are no match for him. You have to know that most of them are twice as old as this kid, and some are even twice as old. How could they lose so miserably?

But in terms of heroism, they found that they were much stronger than Murong Fu. This kid came from a wealthy family and indeed valued himself and the family behind him more. He could serve the country and the people without affecting his family, but once his family was really involved, he would choose to keep himself out of it.

"Those who are loyal are often butchers, and those who are unfaithful are often scholars." Murong Fu did not elaborate on this, but said as a matter of course: "Prosperity is to benefit the world, poverty is to improve oneself. This is the education that scholars receive, so they often use this to evade their responsibilities."

Murong Fu's open-mindedness and straightforwardness impressed the Beggars' Sect. Although his seemingly cowardly actions were despised, he at least made it clear that while being born into a prominent family and enjoying the benefits it brought, one must also consider the family, and shouldering the family's burdens meant not being too willful. It's easy to say and do something for the benefit of the country, but it's difficult to consider those around you and those behind you.

It is said that Murong Fu fought a fierce battle with Qiao Feng for three hundred rounds without a clear winner. He could rarely last more than twenty moves against other people, which made the leaders of the Beggar Gang have a deeper understanding of his martial arts, especially that this kid's swordsmanship was a little too powerful.

The top leaders of the Beggar Gang generally support the agreement that Qiao Feng of the North and Murong of the South will compete every three years, but they only require that they be present and the results of the competition be kept confidential.

Murong Fu readily agreed to this request. "That's exactly what I was trying to say. Qiao Feng's martial arts are incomparable to those inherited by my Murong family, and the resources he possesses are even more incomparable to mine. Yet, even so, he was able to fight me to a draw. This proves that his aptitude is still superior to mine. If I slack off even a little in the future, I will undoubtedly lose to him, and telling others about it would be embarrassing. Therefore, I advise you to keep your mouths shut, or else I'll cause you trouble in the future."

"What trouble are you talking about? Haha." Murong Fu sneered, "Even though you're all high-ranking members of the Beggars' Sect, each of you has some family business. What if I open a similar shop right next to yours, offering high-quality goods at a reasonable price?"

The leaders of the Beggars' Sect: They are really afraid of this revenge. They can't afford to provoke them! They can't afford to provoke them!

Two days later, Murong Fu left in high spirits and headed straight for Yanziwu in Taihu Lake, leaving behind a ten-thousand-word letter that was regarded as a classic by the top leaders of the Gao Gang and widely circulated among the upper echelons. However, some of the items in the letter made a small group of people very unhappy.

Five days later, Zhuge Xiu and Cao Yi arrived in Gusu and were taken to Chanhe Manor from Gusu Academy. Cao Yi went to Yanziwu, and Zhuge Xiu was sent to Madam Murong for training.

Ten days later, Madam Murong adopted Zhuge Xiu as her adopted daughter and summoned the five major estate owners and relatives and friends to hold a grand wedding. She became the legitimate daughter of the Murong family, and her name was still Zhuge Xiu.

It happened to be Madam Murong's birthday. Deng Baichuan, the owner of Qingyun Manor, Gong Yeqian, the owner of Chixia Manor, Bao Bu Tong, the owner of Jinfeng Manor, Feng Bo'e, the owner of Xuanshuang Manor, and Wang Erlang, the owner of Mantuo Manor, attended the birthday banquet with their families. They witnessed the whole process of Zhuge Xiu becoming the old lady's disciple, and congratulated him one after another without any objection.

It is said that over the past ten years, Madam Murong's majesty has grown. In the past, she was only strict with Murong Fu, and her younger brother Wang Erlang was even more in awe of her. But now, who in the entire Gusu Murong family is not afraid of her?

As for which one is more respected or feared, it is hard to say. I guess it is more respect and love. After all, more than 90% of the development and growth of the Gusu Murong family in the past ten years were led, planned and arranged by her, at least on the surface.

However, with the rise of Murong Fu, power was gradually transferred to his hands, and Old Lady Murong gradually gave up power. Although everyone's attitude towards her remained the same, it could be seen that the majesty on her face was gradually turning into kindness. I don't know if it was an illusion, but I always felt that she became younger after her son came to power.

Old Madam Murong: Ever since I started practicing Tai Chi Magical Skill, my appearance has not changed much. After practicing Small Wuxiang Skill, I became a little younger. In order to maintain my dignity, I had to put on some old-fashioned makeup. Now that my son has taken the throne, I can return to normal.

The presidents of other academies and the noble families in Gusu City sent gifts, but the host family was not allowed to go to Chanhe Manor. Nowadays, the entire Taihu Lake is basically under the control of the Murong family. Even the fishermen are under their command. As for the pirates, they no longer exist. Well, there is a secret navy, but it is not known to outsiders.

Old Madam Murong shoulders the responsibility of the entire Murong family. She has been in the spotlight for the past ten years. Her extraordinary demeanor and heroic appearance, as well as the style of a superior and her charm, have fascinated many middle-aged and elderly people. Whenever she goes out, there are many onlookers and visitors. Every year, she receives a lot of birthday gifts, but she never allows outsiders to enter Chanhe Manor.

A servant came outside to report that Deputy Leader Ma of the Beggar Gang had sent someone to deliver gifts to Gusu College and a banquet had been arranged.

Someone else reported that the governor of Suzhou had sent someone to deliver a birthday gift. The gift was quite valuable and included twenty maids.

"Since it's not a birthday party, we should just have a lively party at Gusu College as usual. I'm just a woman and now I've retired. Fu'er is in charge of the family, so it's not convenient for me to show up in public." In order to make her intention clear, Madam Murong didn't want to have too much contact with outside men. So every year on her birthday, she asked her brother to hold a banquet at Gusu College to entertain guests, and she didn't show up in person. Even so, the presidents of academies and the noble families of Gusu City still flocked to her.

It's simple. Reciprocity is the norm. If you give a gift, the Murong family won't let you go back empty-handed. After all, it's rude for the host to avoid you.

"The Beggar Gang was provoked by Fu'er, so let him deal with it on his own. As for the Gusu prefect, give him a method to seal fruits in return. If he is determined to make a fortune, Gongye Qian, you can take his goods and sell them on the grassland. You will surely make a lot of money, at least one hundred thousand taels of silver in dividends every year." Old Madam Murong mentioned one hundred thousand taels every year. The newly arrived Zhuge Yi and Cao Yi were shocked when they heard it and looked at each other.

When Madam Murong announced that she had adopted Zhuge Xiu as her adopted daughter, Zhuge Xiu, dressed in her best attire like a lady from a noble family, walked out slowly. Everyone praised her highly, and Zhuge Yi stepped forward and presented her with twelve volumes of ancient books, most of which were Taoist classics, including fragments of the Taiping Jing.

"At the end of the Han Dynasty, there was a Taoist named Zhang Jue, the founder of the Taiping Dao. He spread his teachings throughout the world with the Taiping Jing. When the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out, the whole country joined in the fight against it, and many of the Taiping Jings fell into the hands of aristocratic families. After Zhang Jue's defeat, the imperial court banned the Taiping Jing, and it was rarely circulated outside the country. However, the aristocratic families would not give it up for nothing, and they treasured it."

"The Taiping Jing, also known as the Taiping Qingling Book, has been treasured by the Zhuge family and has never been shown to anyone. Today I present it to the old lady. I wish the old lady good fortune and a long life." Zhuge Yi's gift stunned everyone, especially Murong Fu. Seeing that the twelve volumes of the collection were precious, most of them were classics that were said to have been lost, and there were also legendary inheritances such as the Taiping Jing's talismans for curing diseases and the Yellow Turban Warrior's cultivation method, no one could surpass them, let alone the Murong family, even in the entire martial arts world.

Old Madam Murong said yes repeatedly, and Murong Fu showed a bright smile on his face. This sister is really worth it!

Elsewhere, Zhuge Xiu and the lovely Wang Yuyan were whispering to each other. Wang Yuyan was struggling with how to address Zhuge Xiu. Logically, Madam Murong's adopted daughter was older than she was, so she should call her "sister." However, she was in love with her cousin Murong Fu, and the two families had already agreed on an engagement. They only needed to wait until she was old enough to get married. Now...

"Then we'll discuss this separately. You're younger than me, so you can call me sister. I'm the second daughter of the Murong family, and I'm younger than the eldest brother, so I can call you sister-in-law. But I can only change this after you marry me. Now you're my cousin Yuyan."