Chapter 162: The Bai Family |
Hearing this, the old man in the crimson robe gave a gentle nod, his voice carrying a slight weight, saying, "This person had been concealing their strength. Their true martial Dao cultivation is absolutely not to be taken lightly."
Murong Feng's eyes shifted slightly, and he looked at the dead Bai Liwei and the old serving woman. A look of satisfaction spread unexpectedly across his face, saying, "The Bai family has well and truly dropped the stone on its own foot. The losses cannot be called anything but severe. A Heaven-Human expert and two half-step Heaven-Human experts, all gone just like that."
"And Bai Liwei, Bai Changfeng's beloved second son, is dead as well. I would dearly love to see the Bai family's face when they learn of this."
...
After dealing with Bai Liwei and the others who had blocked their path and leaving the scene, Hu Rui'an's group met with no further obstruction and traveled freely the rest of the way.
About one incense stick's worth of time later, with Murong Xiaoya's guidance, they finally arrived at the Murong family estate in the provincial city.
The Murong family, as Sheng Province's foremost martial arts lineage, lived up to its reputation. The main gate towered over the entrance, more than three zhang high.
The bronze gate leaves stood wide open. Two intricately carved xuanite guardian beasts flanked the entrance, their eyes inlaid with shining pearls, and the protective walls on either side swept outward like wings.
After Wu Shang announced their identities, the estate's steward and a young nobleman in a fine robe, tall and of outstanding bearing, came out in person to receive them.
Hearing this, the young nobleman in his white-as-snow robe with a warm and affable countenance gave a gentle nod, looked Murong Xiaoya over with an expression full of indulgent fondness, and nodded with a smile, saying, "Little sister grows more beautiful with every passing year. We have not seen each other for over a year."
The moment those words fell, a flush rose in Murong Xiaoya's cheeks and she lowered her head in slight embarrassment.
Seeing this, Murong Zhen laughed warmly a few times, then gently patted Murong Xiaoya on the head, saying, "I am only teasing you. Father and Mother know you are back, and I cannot imagine how happy they must be. Go in and see them."
Murong Xiaoya gave a nod and started toward the estate.
But partway there, she seemed to remember something and turned quickly to look back at Hu Rui'an and the others.
Murong Zhen had clearly read her thoughts, and waved a hand, saying, "Do not worry, little sister. I will take good care of Commissioner Hu and the others."
Only after hearing this did Murong Xiaoya turn away again and hurry off into the estate.
At this point, Murong Zhen turned and together with the estate steward came to receive Hu Rui'an and the others. His smile remained, but it was noticeably less warm than it had been with Murong Xiaoya.
After exchanging greetings with Hu Rui'an and exchanging a few conventional pleasantries, Murong Zhen had the steward show the group to the courtyard that had been arranged for them, then quickly took his leave, making it quite clear that his welcome of Hu Rui'an and the others was anything but enthusiastic.
Hu Rui'an took all of this in with a thoughtful expression, then looked at Li Musheng beside him, who seemed utterly unbothered by it all, and said with a furrowed brow, "Your Highness, the Murong family head has made no indication of wishing to see me. It seems the matter that Commander Fu spoke of is not something they are particularly eager to assist with."
Hearing this, Li Musheng looked the courtyard the Murong family had arranged for them over. Blossoming walls, a lotus pond reflecting the trees, the surroundings were quite peaceful and pleasant.
Then he glanced at Hu Rui'an, shook his head, and said, "Do not bring these trivial matters to me, Commissioner Hu. There is nothing I can do about them anyway. The journey has been dull enough. Resting here for two days actually sounds perfectly fine."
Hearing this, Hu Rui'an's face immediately fell.
He had long since guessed that this prince would not be inclined to take charge of things, and had harbored only the faintest thread of hope. That thread had clearly just been cut.
With that thought, Hu Rui'an had no choice but to agree and quietly began planning how to handle the matter of Deputy Commander Mei Yan and the others himself.
At this point, Li Musheng thought for a moment, then reached out and patted Hu Rui'an on the shoulder, saying, "Rest easy, Commissioner Hu. I did promise Commander Fu I would lend a hand with some minor things, so in your dealings in Sheng Province, you are entirely welcome to act in my name."
"Furthermore, if you encounter a problem you genuinely cannot resolve, you may also bring it to me. Though of course whether I actually help or not will depend on the situation."
The moment those words fell, Hu Rui'an was briefly surprised, but his heart was flooded with relief, and he quickly said, "Many thanks, Your Highness. This subordinate will do everything in his power to handle the Sheng Province business properly."
Though Li Musheng had not promised to help unconditionally, having this much from him was far more reassuring than nothing.
At the very least, with the Eighth Prince's identity and standing behind him, his ability to act in Sheng Province would be considerably more convenient.
After settling in at the Murong estate, Hu Rui'an took Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong with him and set out at once, moving without pause to begin executing the plan as previously arranged.
The Murong family's attitude was still somewhat ambiguous, and Hu Rui'an did not rush to see them right away. Instead, he went first to the Tianjin Guards branch office in the provincial city.
He intended to start by meeting with Mei Yan, the Queen Consort's younger brother and the Sheng Province Deputy Commander, and begin by getting to the bottom of why, ever since the Tianjin Guards headquarters had sent orders for all provincial units to advance covertly toward Lan Province, the Sheng Province Tianjin Guards unit alone had given no response from beginning to end.
...
At the same time, in a study inside the Murong estate, the doors and windows were shut tight. Every window was covered with black cloth, not allowing even the faintest point of light to enter from outside.
Inside the darkened room, only a single lamp burned. The lamp body was cast in black iron in the shape of a kneeling figure offering up a gift, the tray raised high by both arms filled with a layer of deep-red lamp oil.
The wick was a segment of blood-red spinal bone, and even the flame's center burned a vivid crimson. The outer edge of the flame pulsed like a gently beating heart, staining the air throughout the room a deep, bloody red.
Murong Feng stood to one side of the lamp. Across from him was a red pear-wood writing desk, and seated in the armchair behind the desk was a shadowy figure, face turned away from the lamp and hidden entirely in darkness, impossible to make out.
"Second Uncle, just now when I went to escort little sister back into the city, the Bai family ambushed us..."
Murong Feng raised his hands slightly in a bow toward the figure in the darkness, then proceeded to recount everything that had happened during the whole exchange.
After hearing Murong Feng out, the shadowy figure in the darkness was quiet for a moment, then spoke in a hoarse voice, saying, "For someone to kill Bai Liwei Xue with a single pointing of a finger means that Hu Rui'an's martial Dao cultivation clearly does not match what we know of him. Either he has been deliberately concealing his strength, or there is another hidden expert among them or behind them."
As he spoke, the figure in the darkness suddenly asked, "Have you told your father about this?"
Hearing this, Murong Feng shook his head, saying, "After Elder Shi and I parted ways, I came to see Second Uncle at the first opportunity. As for Father, little sister will most likely have told him by now."
As he said this, Murong Feng paused briefly, then continued, "The Bai family has clearly decided to make themselves the first to stick their neck out and stand on the opposing side from the Murong family. The other families in the city will likely take similar action before long."
"Even so, Hu Rui'an and his group unexpectedly dealt the Bai family a significant blow. They killed even Bai Liwei Xue and Bai Liwei, so perhaps the other factions in the city may be somewhat more cautious because of it."
The figure in the darkness said nothing, and after a while spoke, saying, "With Bai Changfeng having lost a beloved son, he will likely do everything in his power to incite the other families to act in order to take revenge on the Murong family. Things are not going to get any better for us."
"Furthermore, Hu Rui'an has come here with the purpose of dealing with Mei Yan and Zhu Ziming. If this matter is not handled well, it could even draw more enemies toward the Murong family."
Hearing this, Murong Feng furrowed his brow slightly, but quickly let out a cold laugh and said, "It makes no difference. Before long, the Murong family will have absorbed every family in the provincial city and become the sole undisputed martial arts lineage of Sheng Province. This is the inevitable direction of events, and not even Mei Yan and Zhu Ziming can stop it."
The shadowy figure in the darkness let out a quiet sigh and shook its head, saying, "That is not something you can decide on your own. Without your father's agreement, all of this is nothing but wishful thinking."
The moment those words fell, the blood-red lamp flame swayed, casting Murong Feng's face in a crimson flush as though soaked in fresh blood, while his pupils glittered with a blood-red gleam in the flickering light.
After a brief silence, Murong Feng said calmly, "Second Uncle need not worry. Father will agree."
With that, he raised his hands in a parting bow and turned to take his leave.
But just at that moment, the figure behind the writing desk gave a casual wave, and a red wooden box wrapped in True Qi drifted through the air to hover before Murong Feng, accompanied by a voice saying, "Feng'er, do not forget to take the Sparrow Flame Pill."
Murong Feng hesitated briefly, but still reached out and took the wooden box, putting it away inside his sleeve.
Having done all of this, he turned his head for one last look at the shadowy figure in the darkness behind him, then said, "Second Uncle, the Sparrow Flame Pill is enough for those of us who need it. There is no need to give it to little sister."
The figure in the darkness was silent for a moment, then gave a nod, saying in a hoarse voice, "I promise you."
Upon hearing this, Murong Feng turned away and walked out of the study shrouded in its black cloth without looking back.
...
The Bai family estate in the provincial city of Sheng Province.
In a hall hung with a landscape scroll and furnished with a bronze-cast octagonal table, a middle-aged man in a dark robe sat in the head seat. On either side of the octagonal table sat an old man and a woman.
The middle-aged man was in his early fifties, his face like something poured from dark iron, with sunken cheeks and a squarish face sharp and angular as though hewn by an axe. He wore a neatly trimmed gray-white short beard, and radiated an air of commanding severity.
The old man appeared to be around seventy, dressed in a dark blue robe with a boxwood tobacco pipe tucked at his waist, his white hair neatly combed and his wrinkles as deep and layered as the rings of an old pine.
The woman was about the same age as the middle-aged man, with a round face, reddish-brown cheeks, crow's feet at her eyes, and slightly loose earlobes. Her gray-white hair was pinned into a round bun with a peach-wood hairpin through it.
"Old Fifth Zhu, Sister Cen, I have already sent my son to wait at the city gate. The moment that Murong boy returns to the city, he will be seized in one move, and we can use him as a bargaining chip against that old scoundrel Murong."
Bai Changfeng looked around at the two people at the table and spoke in a low, firm voice.
Hearing this, the old man of seventy and the round-faced woman exchanged a glance and both gave subtle nods.
The old man Zhu Wu clasped his hands toward Bai Changfeng with a smile, saying, "The Bai family head is decisive and exemplary in leading from the front, refusing to bow before the Murong family's overreach. He is a true model for the rest of us to follow."
The round-faced woman also gave a light nod, saying, "After this matter is resolved, my Cen family will certainly follow the Bai family's lead, doing everything in our power to remove the Murong family's hold over Sheng Province and restore peace and stability to the region."
At this point, Bai Changfeng narrowed his eyes slightly and waved a hand, saying, "Since both of you have come to my house, there is no need to be this reserved. We all know perfectly well what the other wants, so there is no need for high-minded pretexts."
Both Zhu Wu and the round-faced woman Cen Luohua showed a slight shift in expression, and Bai Changfeng continued in an unhurried tone, saying, "General Han made his position clear from the outset, and my Bai family will naturally be the first to charge into battle. As for you, both the Zhu family and the Cen family have been on close terms with the Bai family for generations. I can promise you here and now, as long as you stand together with the Bai family, when the Murong family is divided up in the end, you will both receive a fair share."
The moment those words fell, both Zhu Wu and Cen Luohua's hearts stirred with eager interest, and both were just about to speak, when outside the hall an armored soldier suddenly came rushing in with haste.
"Master, something terrible has happened. The Second Young Master and the others are in trouble."
The armored soldier was breathing unevenly, his expression grave as he made his report.
Hearing this, Bai Changfeng, seated in the head position, immediately furrowed his brow. His gaze swept across the soldier, and a deeply foreboding feeling rose in his heart as he barked sharply, "What has happened?"
"The Second Young Master and Elder Bai Liwei went to capture Murong Feng, but midway through they were..."
The armored soldier, head lowered, glanced up at Bai Changfeng with a fearful expression at this point, as though not daring to continue.
Bai Changfeng snapped to his feet from his chair, his eyes boring into the soldier before him. An aura of terrifying martial Dao force radiated involuntarily from his body, pressing down so heavily that the soldier was trembling from head to toe, as he said, "What happened to Yuanwei and the others? Finish speaking."
The soldier's throat trembled, but he steeled himself and said, "The Second Young Master and the others have all been killed. And what is more... their bodies have been hung on the city gate by the Murong family for all to see."
The moment those words fell, Bai Changfeng's entire face seemed to lock up, and the body standing upright swayed involuntarily.
Zhu Wu and Cen Luohua seated at the octagonal table also had their expressions change. They were clearly shaken by the news the soldier had brought.
From what they knew, Bai Liwei had taken not only a thousand armored soldiers on this operation but also a number of martial world experts, and had clearly made careful preparations and set a proper ambush beforehand.
By all reasoning, even if he could not bring down Murong Feng, he should not have been killed in such a short time.
With that thought, both of them looked toward Bai Changfeng, and at this point Bai Changfeng finally came back to himself from the soldier's words.
In that instant, a torrent of grief and rage consumed him, and murderous intent radiated from his entire being without restraint.
Bai Changfeng's gaze turned cold and forbidding as it settled on the soldier before him, making the soldier feel as though he had plunged into an ice cavern, as he said, "Yuanwei had Bai Liwei Xue protecting him. How exactly did Murong Feng kill them all?"
Hearing this, the soldier dared not conceal anything, and immediately relayed in full every piece of information he had gathered from the common people on the street.
"As far as we know, it was not Murong Feng who acted. The group is of unknown origin, but they appear to have been traveling with the Murong family's youngest daughter. There was an extremely formidable hidden expert among them, and after they killed everyone... they appear to have gone to the Murong estate."
The soldier's voice was trembling as he spoke, while Bai Changfeng's expression grew increasingly unpleasant.