The Mouse as Bridesmaid to the Cat (Please Recommend and Collect!)

Chapter 40: The Mouse as Bridesmaid to the Cat (Please Recommend and Collect!)

Murong Fu's age had always been a mystery.

After the Battle of Yanmen Pass, Murong Bo had faked his death and gone into hiding. In Murong Fu's later recollections, he had tested his father's pulse and breath more than once, then personally laid him to rest and buried him.

Even if people in the martial world matured early, Murong Fu must have been nearly ten at the time. The Four Great Retainers had also recalled that they began assisting him when they were in their teens, which confirmed it beyond doubt.

That meant that by the time the main story unfolded, Murong Fu was already a forty-year-old boy.

And yet Qiao Feng had once mistaken Duan Yu for Murong Fu, while Duan Yu had said Murong Fu was only a few years older than him.

By that reckoning, thirty years later, Murong Fu would be only in his twenties.

Could his current age somehow be negative?

Now, in Canhe Villa on the western outskirts of Gusu City, Huang Shang had met this boy with a negative age.

He was not yet ten, his brows slightly furrowed with an air of premature maturity. His handsome features and upright bearing could not dispel the gloom weighing on him.

At that moment, he was even serving tea in person, greeting them with the manners due to an elder. He had no idea that the guest before him was his supposedly dead father.

Murong Bo's alias, Murong Xing, had stirred a sense of kinship in Murong Fu, so that part was understandable.

But Huang Shang's appraising gaze made Murong Fu deeply displeased.

If this had happened two years ago, who would have dared look at him like that?

Alas, the world was fickle.

When Murong Bo was alive, Gusu Murong had been one of the martial world's top clans. The instant Murong Bo died, the clan began to decline.

If the Four Manors that had once relied on them hadn't remained loyal, standing by their side and protecting them, the clan might already have been destroyed.

The Murong clan's inherited martial arts were a treasure that brought disaster to its keeper.

They had invited Huang Shang and his companion inside because Murong Bo had shown them a token proving that he had been a friend of Murong Fu's late father.

His father had specifically told him that whoever held that token was his closest friend, and that meeting him was like meeting his own father.

Murong Fu was naturally suspicious, but he didn't dare disobey.

Gusu Murong could no longer afford to offend anyone who might offer them help.

But Huang Shang's next words made Murong Fu explode. "Your nephew certainly has a fine appearance and bearing. It would be a terrible waste for him to serve as my page."

Murong Fu nearly thought he'd misheard.

A page?

What a joke!

Murong Fu sprang to his feet, his delicate hand gripping the scabbard.

In his eyes, these two were no old friends of his father. They were enemies of Gusu Murong, here to humiliate him.

People of the martial world could be killed, but never insulted!

"Sit down!"

Murong Bo barked coldly, but Murong Fu ignored him.

Knowing that the token alone would no longer suffice, Murong Bo moved his lips and sent his words directly into Murong Fu's ear. "I'm your father!"

At the sound of that familiar voice, Murong Fu trembled all over and stared at him in disbelief.

The two looked into each other's eyes. Murong Bo no longer hid his identity and sent over a familiar current of inner energy.

That worked better than a thousand words. Meeting his father's gaze, Murong Fu knew beyond a doubt. Tears instantly streamed down his face.

Just as he was overwhelmed with joy, an ill-timed voice rang out. Huang Shang remarked with a sigh, "Why is this child so excited he's crying?"

Murong Fu nearly choked on his breath and broke into a violent coughing fit.

Murong Bo was a little embarrassed too. Afraid Huang Shang might grow suspicious, he hurriedly said, "My worthy younger brother is learned and cares for all under heaven. His future is boundless. My old friend recently passed away, leaving only this son behind. I don't want him to sink into the martial world. I hope you'll take him with you and guide him onto the right path."

Along the way, Murong Bo had dropped hints, hoping Huang Shang would take Murong Fu as his disciple.

But Huang Shang had declined, saying his learning was too limited and that he couldn't afford to mislead a student.

Murong Bo was truly ruthless. Seeing that Huang Shang had no one at his side to serve him, he simply demoted his own son to a page.

The bond between master and disciple was undoubtedly close—one was a teacher for a day, a father for life. But could anyone be closer than the page who attended you day and night?

Even Murong Fu aside, Huang Shang had been taken aback the first time he heard it.

Murong Bo was a ruthless man!

Clearly, Murong Bo had made up his mind. He chose his words carefully, knowing Huang Shang had little regard for people of the martial world, and deliberately brought up Murong Fu's background.

That way, it was just like turning a prostitute into a respectable woman. It gave one a peculiar sense of achievement.

"Fa—Uncle! Please forgive your nephew, but I cannot obey!"

Murong Fu couldn't accept it.

He simply couldn't imagine why his father had faked his death.

And why had he changed so much in less than two years?

Murong Bo sent his words into his ear. "My child, I wasted half my life. Only recently did I wake up. If we wish to restore Great Yan, we can only make use of the Great Song court. Huang Shang is the key to the Murong clan's entry into the court. Han Xin endured the humiliation of crawling between someone's legs. Can't you do the same?"

Indeed, the Reincarnator had opened Murong Bo's eyes.

To outsiders, the Murong clan's obsession with restoring their kingdom seemed ridiculous.

Their schemes to stir up trouble in the martial world were even harder to fathom.

But they weren't stupid. They were simply consumed by obsession, and their outlook had been limited by the narrow vision Murong Longcheng passed down to them. That was why they had made one foolish move after another.

Once the Reincarnator had opened Murong Bo's eyes with an outsider's perspective, he realized that hiding in Shaolin Temple for his whole life would never truly restore his kingdom. That was why he had first gone to Kaifeng Prefecture, then headed south to Guangdong and Guangxi to investigate the situation in Jiaozhi, and finally returned to Gusu.

Murong Bo had seen the light. His gaze had shifted beyond the martial world to the far greater realm of the court and the empire, and he couldn't let his son keep making the wrong choices.

But Murong Fu's age and experience kept him from understanding his father's painstaking intentions.

He was still immersed in Gusu Murong's prestige in the martial world, determined to become the brightest star of the younger generation.

Not someone's page!

Besides, Huang Shang looked like a down-at-heel scholar who had traveled a long way. Murong Fu could hardly accept serving such a poor scholar.

As the saying went, no one knew a son better than his father. One look at Murong Fu's expression told Murong Bo what the little brat was thinking. He glared at him and continued his whispered persuasion. "Don't be foolish. This man has a bright future. If you don't stay by his side before he makes his name, then once he's accomplished something, he'll be surrounded by people currying favor. There'll be no place for you."

Whispering wouldn't do forever, so Murong Bo also addressed him aloud. "My worthy nephew loves martial arts. You should serve your country, not show off your strength and fight in the martial world. Scholar Huang is the example you should follow. He struck down the Ming Cult villains in front of the Yong Prefecture Examination Hall!"

That might have been better left unsaid. The moment Murong Fu heard it, his competitive spirit flared. He cupped his hands toward Huang Shang. "Since my uncle thinks so highly of you, you must have astonishing skill. This junior is unworthy, but I'd like to ask you to teach me a thing or two!"

In the martial world, the stronger fighter won.

The scholar before him was impossible to read, and he wasn't very old. Murong Fu didn't believe he had any astonishing skill.

But if he really did have the ability, they could talk afterward.

Clang!

Murong Fu drew his sword, flicked his wrist, and sent seven blossoms of swordlight blooming as he began the family's Longcheng Sword Technique.

In the story, Murong Fu had mastered so many martial arts not only because of the Murong clan's accumulated wealth and the manuals in the Huan Shi Water Pavilion, but also because he'd benefited from Wang Yuyan's knowledge.

Wang Yuyan's mother, Li Qingluo, was the daughter of Wu Yazi and Li Qiushui.

She had been carrying Duan Zhengchun's child when she married into the Wang family, and after that, she moved the martial arts manuals from Langhuan Blessed Land to Mantuo Mountain Villa.

As a result, Murong Fu had access to two great troves of knowledge. He had studied all manner of second- and third-rate martial arts from across the martial world, and had taken the flashy-but-useless path to its fullest.

Now, Li Qingluo was still in Wuliang Mountain, watching her parents tear into each other. Murong Fu was also too young to enter the Huan Shi Water Pavilion. He had trained in nothing but the Longcheng Sword Technique since childhood, which made his style all the more focused.

He moved with his sword, nimble as a swimming dragon. Though he lacked the strength to send his inner energy surging through the air, his sword whistled sharply, and his bearing was heroic. At such a young age, he had already reached a high level of mastery and carried himself like an expert.

Watching this, Murong Bo nodded faintly, a look of satisfaction passing through his eyes.

Huang Shang calmly waited for Murong Fu to finish his moves. Zhuge Pen slipped out from his sleeve, and he wrote two large characters.