Siheyuan: Game of Red Dust

Chapter 299 A Brief Talk on Murong Fu

Soon, under the leadership of Mrs. Wang, Yunque and the maids from Mantuo Villa arrived at the Langhuan Jade Cave.

As soon as she arrived, she ran into a beautiful young woman. Madam Wang quickly called out, "Yuyan, why are you here reading again? Is that kid Murong Fu looking for you again? Didn't I tell you not to bother with him anymore?"

Wang Yuyan was startled and saw that it was her mother and hurried over to greet her.

"Mother, no, I was just bored and came to Langhuan Jade Cave to read a book to relieve my boredom."

Wang Yuyan quickly explained to Mrs. Wang that her mother had a great prejudice against her cousin Murong Fu, and it might be because her mother and her aunt were not on good terms!
Wang Yuyan couldn't think of any other reason. In fact, it was not like that. Although Li Qingluo's martial arts were not good, her vision was still good. Except for Duan Zhengchun, he could see at a glance that Murong Fu was a selfish, self-righteous and unrealistic person.

Murong Fu, as Li Qingluo had said, was only interested in Wang Yuyan's secret martial arts manuals, which he sought out in the Langhuan Jade Cave. The martial arts manuals in the Langhuan Jade Cave didn't exactly belong to the Wang family, but rather to Li Qingluo's father, Wuyazi. Wuyazi, the leader of the Xiaoyao Sect, amassed a vast collection of martial arts skills, all hidden in the Langhuan Blessed Land on Wuliang Mountain in Dali, where he and Li Qiushui lived in seclusion. Following the assassination of Wuyazi by his disciple Ding Chunqiu, Li Qiushui journeyed to become the princess of Western Xia. The books in the Langhuan Jade Cave remained in Wuliang Mountain until Li Qingluo, having grown up, moved them from the southwestern Wuliang Mountain to the Wang family's residence in Gusu, south of the Yangtze River.

Murong Fu had long known the value of the collection within the Langhuan Jade Cave and had always wanted to read through its martial arts manuals, but Li Qingluo refused. Perhaps Murong Fu's motives for falling in love with Wang Yuyan were impure from the outset, and his feelings for his cousin were simply a result of his appreciation for Wang Yuyan's pure heart and her unwavering devotion to him, which he felt over time.

It was precisely because of his impure motives that, after Li Qingluo's attempt to take Wang Yuyan away failed, Murong Fu explained to his retainers, who believed he was harboring romantic feelings, "My aunt hates me to the core. When Mother was alive, she argued with her constantly. I simply assumed there couldn't be two tigers in one mountain. She and Mother were strong-willed and didn't get along, so she took her anger out on me. But after Mother's death, I treated her with courtesy and occasionally helped Mantuo Villa, yet my aunt still treated me with the same wariness as a thief." It seemed that simply using soft tactics wouldn't work for the Langhuan Jade Cave's collection of books. Instead of persuading my aunt, it was better to start with Miss Yuyan. While my aunt had a tough personality, my cousin was gentle and kind. If I could win her trust, the Wang family's collection of books would belong to my Murong family. Murong Fu knew about the collection, but so did his father, Murong Bo. After faking his own death, Murong Bo had secretly entered the Langhuan Jade Cave to read through all the martial arts manuals. Because of her extremely advanced martial arts skills, Li Qingluo never noticed that anyone had sneaked into the Langhuan Jade Cave to read the secret books.

Murong Fu was young, yet he thought he was someone important just because others praised him. He was truly arrogant. Murong Fu was incredibly confident in himself. Because of his decent martial arts skills, people in the martial arts world put his name alongside Qiao Feng's, calling them "Qiao Feng of the North, Murong of the South." He truly believed he was the best of the best, even feeling it was unfair to have his name after Qiao Feng. Later, when he first met Qiao Feng at the Shaolin Temple, he was defeated in a duel, suddenly losing his status as Qiao Feng's equal, and became a laughing stock.

But Murong Fu, fiercely competitive, refused to give in. He ignored the dissuasion of Wang Yuyan and the others and insisted on going to Juxian Manor to confront Qiao Feng. Besides winning over his supporters, he also wanted to fight him once more, prove his strength before the other heroes, and redeem his dignity. After all, when he was mistakenly accused of murdering Ma Dayuan and Master Xuanbei, he had gone to Shaolin to confront them. While there, he had received guidance from a black-clad master, which had significantly improved his martial arts skills. He had only lost by a single move last time; he was sure he could win back at Juxian Manor.

But there's a gap between ideal and reality. At Juxian Manor, Qiao Feng wasn't as polite as he'd been at Shaolin Temple. Since Murong Fu, despite his past support, insisted on joining forces with all the other heroes to kill him, there was no argument; he had to meet the attack with his strongest weapons. Consequently, Murong Fu suffered an even more crushing defeat than at Shaolin. If his retainers hadn't stepped forward to hold him up, he would have been thrown flat on his face.

However, even after such a terrible defeat, Murong Fu still believed that he was someone important, and from time to time he would show up at martial arts gatherings to showcase his so-called strength. But every time he did, he was met with a complete failure.

Although Li Qingluo's martial arts skills were not high and she rarely traveled in the martial arts world, she could not have predicted the various jokes that Murong Fu would make later. She only stayed around Mantuo Villa. However, she knew Murong Fu too well. She saw through Murong Fu from his arrogance and unreasonableness towards elders such as the Yellow-browed Monk when he was a child, and from his constant talk about what he would do when he became the emperor. It was for a reason that she always disliked him.

Li Qingluo has always believed that the so-called grand cause of the Murong family to restore the State of Yan is ridiculous. Not only did she sneer at it in front of Wang Yuyan, but when she went to Yanziwu to ask Murong Fu for people, she also expressed the same view bluntly, and scolded Deng Baichuan and the other four ministers for being as obsessed as Murong Fu. The State of Yan had been destroyed for hundreds of years, but they still followed the Murong family and shouted about restoring the country all day long. It was simply wishful thinking.

Despite being repeatedly ridiculed by his aunt Li Qingluo, Murong Fu's determination to restore his country has never diminished. Facing his aunt's insults, he became stubborn and said, "Aunt, even if you hate me, please don't talk about the restoration of Dayan. My Murong family has a century-old foundation and will not allow anyone to slander it. Whether the restoration of the country succeeds or not is not something that others need to comment on."

Murong Fu's expression was remarkably composed, his face calm and his heart trembling, a testament to his inner strength. Not to mention that Yan had been destroyed for centuries, few knew it even existed. Given the prevailing circumstances and the Murong family's situation, restoring the state was a joke. As Murong Fu had analyzed, they had written to Liao, but the Liao ignored them (he was merely the grandson of a Yan dynasty that had been destroyed for centuries, with little money but no troops or supplies, only a few retainers and servants. After Murong Bo's "death," the Murong family had declined, so it was natural for them to ignore him). Cooperation with Liao was hopeless. With the Duan clan in Dali, and his ongoing conflict with his future successor, Duan Yu (he had repeatedly insulted Duan Yu and threatened to kill his sworn brother, Qiao Feng), cooperation was impossible. The only two possible partners were Tubo and Xixia, but unfortunately, he lacked leverage.

(End of this chapter)