Zongwu: Aspiring to be the mastermind behind the scenes

Chapter 276 Temperament and Disposition, the Pu Family of Maritime Merchants
As dawn broke, the many martial artists who had escaped from the Haikou docks gradually returned to the manor.

These people were all very unhappy, and many of them, who were short-tempered, started cursing loudly right there in the manor.

Those with better tempers didn't hold back either, approaching the Wang family's head steward and demanding to withdraw from the alliance.

The people in the manor then realized that they had been ambushed outside, and the key point was that after being ambushed, Murong Fu actually ran away on his own.

Although, given the circumstances at the time, Murong Fu did not actually do anything wrong.

But often, what is right and what is moral are opposites.

In the martial arts world, morality comes first, and then everything else.

Murong Fu was furious when he heard the cursing, his face turning red with anger. He still hadn't received any news of Feng Bo'e, which made him even angrier.

He quickly convened a meeting of all the families and said frankly, "I, Murong Fu, had important matters to attend to, but upon hearing that the Sun Moon Sect was causing trouble in Jiangnan, I abandoned my duties and rushed back to Jiangnan."

He had intended to lead the alliance to drive out the Sun Moon Cult. But he never expected there to be bad people within the alliance!

Everyone was stunned.

Murong Fu had already drawn his sword and charged towards the person in charge sent by the Pu family, a flash of sword light passing by.

Heads on the ground!

Blood splattered on Murong Fu's snow-white clothes.

Murong Fu roared, "I have found out that the Pu family is colluding with the Sun Moon Cult. They even communicated with Dongfang Bubai yesterday when he arrived, setting this trap to harm the heroes of our alliance!"

Everyone was so frightened that their faces turned pale and they dared not utter a word.

Murong Fu then ordered the purge of the Pu family members within the alliance and reported the results.

Upon hearing the news, Yi Jifeng exclaimed in surprise, "Murong Fu really did kill the Pu family! Haha, I never thought the famous Murong Fu of the South would be so foolish!"

Jin Jiu said, "Whether he's stupid or smart, from the moment he fell into the trap, he was determined to kill everyone in the Pu family."

Yi Jifeng was taken aback: "What do you mean? It's one thing if he's stupid, but why would someone smart like him still want to kill members of the Pu family?"

Jin Jiu said, "Whenever something is done wrong, there must be an explanation and a reason. This time, Murong Fu fell into the trap of the Sun Moon Sect and suffered heavy losses. The reason for all of this is the intelligence sent by the Pu family."

If Murong Fu were a fool, he would naturally retaliate against the Pu family. But if he were a wise man, he would also kill the Pu family members, because someone needs to take the blame and bear the responsibility for this matter.

This person couldn't possibly be Murong Fu, nor could he be one of Murong Fu's retainers. Therefore, it could only be the Pu family!

"Is that so?" Yi Jifeng found it hard to accept this result.

"Otherwise, why didn't Murong Fu's three great generals stop him? Is Murong Fu a fool, and are his three great generals all fools as well?"

Jin Jiu laughed and said, "So, this was already destined the moment he fell into the trap. If he hadn't wanted to kill, I'm afraid his three chief generals would have urged him to!"

"It's so dark..." Yi Jifeng exclaimed sincerely.

Jin Jiu countered, "Yi Jifeng, tell me, if you were in Murong Fu's current situation, how would you resolve this matter?"

"This……"

Yi Jifeng immediately fell into deep thought.

As Jinjiu said, such a crushing defeat must have someone to take the blame and be held accountable.

It's either yourself or someone else.

If I were to take on this role myself, my reputation would inevitably suffer greatly, and it might even directly affect the reputation of my family.

Yi Jifeng didn't care about his own reputation, but if it involved the Famous Sword Manor...

"I'll probably... end up like him..."

Yi Jifeng uttered those words with some difficulty.

He had previously looked down on Murong Fu, but now, having put himself in the same situation, he could only come up with the same way to deal with it.

This means that he was actually the same kind of person as Murong Fu.

Thinking about it that way, it becomes hard to accept.

Jin Jiu remained noncommittal, then turned to Dongfang Bubai and asked, "What if it were you?"

Dongfang Bubai snorted coldly and said, "Since it was my mistake, I will not blame others. I will bear this sin myself and then do my best to wash away the shame."

Yi Jifeng retorted, "That's because the Eastern Cult Leader can make absolute decisions within the Sun Moon Cult, and nothing can affect his authority, while Murong Fu..."

"So what about Murong Fu? How different is his situation in Jiangnan from mine in the Sun Moon Cult?" Dongfang Bubai retorted.

Yi Jifeng paused for a moment.

Speaking of which, Murong Fu is indeed a powerful figure in Jiangnan. The Murong family has a long history, and the four great generals under his command represent four families and forces. The Wang family is related to him by marriage, and various families, large and small, have profit-related connections with the Murong family.

The matter at hand may seem very serious, but in reality, it only damages the reputation of the Murong family, without harming their substantial interests.

In comparison, the impact of this incident was not as serious as the fact that he killed members of the Pu family.

If Murong Fu's situation is the same as Yi Jifeng's, then what he did was probably not wrong.

Because Yi Jifeng had no other concerns, no background or connections, he only had the name of Mingjian Villa to rely on.

This is the only thing Mingjian Manor currently possesses, so it naturally cannot be damaged.

But Murong Fu and Yi Jifeng are ultimately different, and their situations are somewhat similar to those of Dongfang Bubai.

In other words, he made Yi Jifeng's decision with the backing of Dongfang Bubai.

Therefore, it is naturally wrong.

"Don't always ask us, what if it were you?"

Dongfang Bubai looked at Jinjiu: "What would you do?"

"I?"

Jin Jiu thought for a moment and said, "I will probably admit my mistake and then take action against the Pu family, but I will not kill them. I will just detain them and then unite with other families in the alliance to attack the Pu family together, forcing them to contribute money and effort to deal with the Sun Moon Cult."

"This……"

Dongfang Bubai thought that if this method were followed, then this setback might actually become an opportunity for Murong Fu.

This could completely drag the Pu family down with them.

As long as the Pu family wants to continue doing business in Jiangnan, they will have to offer a pledge of allegiance because of this matter.

Although the Alliance and the Sun Moon Cult are evenly matched, and the Alliance is even at a disadvantage, this does not mean that the many families in the Alliance are no match for the Sun Moon Cult.

Ultimately, they didn't use their full strength at all.

Families like the Zhu, Wang, and Pu families have businesses all over the world, and the people they have sent to Jiangnan to join the alliance are actually only a small fraction of their numbers.

They wanted to drive out the Sun Moon Cult, but they didn't want to put in the effort themselves. That's why they formed this alliance, using the name of the alliance to recruit martial artists from all over the world to serve them.

However, their own side did not use too many resources and manpower.

In addition, each family has its own selfish desires. For example, the Zhu family actually wants to seize Jiangnan and expand their business in the region.

The Wang family, for example, wanted to consolidate their own territory.

Therefore, when the alliance was led by the Zhu family, the Zhu family contributed the most, while the Wang family did not contribute much. Now that Murong Fu is the leader of the alliance, it should be the Wang family's turn to make decisions.

However, firstly, the time was too short, and secondly, the Wang family was very disappointed with Murong Fu. They would be lucky if he didn't withdraw the resources they had invested, let alone put in any effort.

Apart from these two major families, most other families are opportunists.

It's understandable for them to put in some effort for their business in Jiangnan, but their true purpose lies elsewhere, not in the future, so naturally they won't give it their all.

If a bargain is presented to them, they will seize it without hesitation.

Previously, when the alliance was led by Yi Jifeng and headed by the Zhu family, the Zhu family encroached on the interests of Jiangnan, and these other families followed suit, occupying a few pieces of territory to varying degrees.

Now that Yi Jifeng has been driven away and the Zhu family head has been killed, these families have hurriedly expressed their sincerity to the Wang and Murong families and returned some gifts.

Think about it, even families like the Zhu and Wang families, who hold dominant power in the alliance, wouldn't offer their full support to the alliance, let alone others.

While the alliance was engaged in a fierce battle with the Sun Moon Cult in the Jiangnan region, the businesses of the various families in other places were not affected in the slightest.

They even managed to make a few money from the opportunity.

But if Murong Fu does as Zhou Ming says, then the situation will be different.

As opportunists, they can swallow the Wang family's profits, and naturally they can swallow the Pu family's profits as well.

Furthermore, with the Murong family leading the way...

If the Pu family is not satisfied, then the Murong family can completely condemn the Pu family for their secret collusion with the Sun Moon Cult.

Leveraging the influence of the Murong family, they joined forces with other families to target the Pu family in Jiangnan and even throughout the entire Song Dynasty.

However, if the Pu family backs down, they will have to spend more resources and manpower to help the Murong family deal with the Sun Moon Cult.

"You bastard, you really are ruthless..."

Dongfang Bubai had also thought of this, and said with a hint of fear in his tone.

The three people's answers are enough to reveal their personalities.

Yi Jifeng is somewhat intelligent, but Mingjian Manor is his greatest weakness.

Dongfang Bubai is domineering and always seeks revenge.

As for gin, it is ruthless and vicious, and enjoys scheming against others.

In his eyes, everything seemed to be something that could be calculated and exploited.

Yi Jifeng couldn't help but move a few steps away from the gin and asked, "What should we do next?"

Jin Jiu laughed and said, "No need to do anything, just wait!"

In the days that followed, rumors began to circulate throughout Jiangnan that the Pu family had colluded with the Sun Moon Cult to frame various prominent families in the region.

It was clearly the Murong family's immense power that made the move.

However, Murong Fu was not happy about this, because he knew that outsiders might be misled by these rumors, but those within the alliance knew the truth.

Moreover, this behavior is despised by many.

More and more martial artists are leaving the alliance. Even though the Murong family increased salaries in time to curb this trend, the number of alliance martial artists has still decreased by one-third.

What angered Murong Fu even more was that these people, even as they were leaving, insisted on visiting Yi Jifeng before they left.

Even he himself had to visit Yi Jifeng to thank him for his intervention in front of Dongfang Bubai, saving the alliance.

However, Murong Fu couldn't bring himself to do it, so in the end he only asked his subordinate Deng Baichuan to express his gratitude on his behalf.

At the same time, he frantically sent out people to investigate Dongfang Bubai, hoping to salvage his reputation by defeating Dongfang Bubai.

This brings us to another purpose of Dongfang Bubai and Yi Jifeng working together in this scene.

That is, Murong Fu greatly underestimated Dongfang Bubai's strength.

That night, Yi Jifeng used his four swords combined to force Dongfang Bubai to retreat on his own. In Murong Fu's mind, Dongfang Bubai's strength must only be that of an ordinary grandmaster.

This is exactly what Jinjiu wanted Murong Fu to believe.

Murong Fu was clearly completely fooled. He didn't think he could lose to Dongfang Bubai at all. On the contrary, he had more confidence in his own strength and therefore did not ask for help from outside.

He even believed that as long as he could find Dongfang Bubai, he would surely be able to defeat him and restore his reputation.

Unfortunately, Dongfang Bubai disappeared again, and no trace of him could be found even after searching the entire city.

Meanwhile, the news had already reached the south.

Inside the Pu family's old residence.

"Murong Fu!"

A middle-aged man clenched his fist, slammed it on the table, and roared, "You dare kill my son! I'll kill you!"

The Pu family is divided into five branches, with the eldest branch being the direct line. The head of the branch is the family head and is in charge of the Pu family's main maritime fleet.

The remaining four branches were responsible for the Pu family's businesses in various parts of the Song Kingdom. The most prosperous and stable area, which was also the core of the Pu family, was the South, which was managed by the second branch.

The other branches of the family were in charge of the businesses in the east, west, and north, respectively.

The middle-aged man in front of us is the head of the second branch of the family.

He was in charge of the business in the south of the Song state, so he lived directly in the old house.

Previously, the head of the family represented the Pu family in joining the Jiangnan Merchants Alliance, but the first alliance failed.

The heads of the various families were not idle either. Apart from the Zhu and Wang families, the heads of the other families had temporarily left Jiangnan to handle their own affairs.

Later, the Zhu family rebuilt the alliance, with Yi Jifeng as the leader.

However, this alliance was undoubtedly centered around the Zhu family. When the other families saw that they wouldn't make much money from it, they could only pick up scraps from behind the Zhu family's backs. Therefore, none of them went in person, but only sent their subordinates.

The person sent by the Pu family was from the second branch of the family.

The second branch of the family controlled the entire southern business, and the Jiangnan region, especially Suzhou, accounted for a large portion of the profits in the southern business. So they simply sent their son to join the alliance.

Unexpectedly, this action sent her son to his death!
Although he had more than ten sons, the one entrusted with important responsibilities and sent to Jiangnan to participate in the alliance was clearly the best among his sons, who had the potential to become the leader of the second branch of the family in the future.

The second wife was naturally deeply grieved by the death of her son.

Especially since his death was solely to take the blame for the mistakes made by that junior, Murong Fu!

This grudge must be avenged.

but!

It was clearly impossible for his second branch of the family to take revenge on the renowned Murong family on their own.

This matter will likely require the intervention of the family head.

Huh?
If the head of the family clashes with the Murong family, causing heavy losses to the eldest branch, wouldn't that be an opportunity for my second branch?
Thinking of this, the grief in the second wife's heart lessened a bit, and she walked out of the room with a mournful face.

"Father! My poor son, your grandson has been murdered! You must do justice for me!"

Not long after, a pigeon flew out of the Pu family's old house and headed towards the boundless sea in the east.

(End of this chapter)