Chapter 35: Mu Wang Mansion

"Madam Wang, I'm sorry. I was too arrogant, and my dereliction of duty led to Elder Wang's death!"

In the Wang family hall, Zhuo Qingfeng, already overwhelmed with grief, still managed to force himself to conclude the arrangements. His first act, however, was to apologize to Wang Yuanbao's wife.

Madam Wang and Wang Yuanbao were a classic older husband-younger wife pairing. Wang Yuanbao had lost his first wife years ago and only remarried in his forties, taking the current Madam Wang as his bride when she was just seventeen or eighteen. Now, over a decade later, Wang Yuanbao was in his sixties, while Madam Wang was barely thirty, in the prime of her beauty. She knelt on the ground, weeping bitterly, her tears falling like pear blossoms in the rain.

Zhuo Qingfeng remained silent, filled with remorse.

Indeed, this incident was a result of his negligence. Despite several days of pre-emptive deployment and assistance from numerous martial arts experts, the Silver Fox still managed to carry out the assassination successfully. He had to bear the blame for this dereliction of duty.

Currently,

Wang Yuanbao's death had the most profound impact on Madam Wang.

As Madam Wang and Wang Yuanbao were a second marriage, and Wang Yuanbao's sons were older than she was, her husband's death left her without any support, making her future extremely difficult.

At this moment, in the hall,

Madam Wang lay prostrate on Wang Yuanbao's body, crying heartbrokenly, almost to the point of collapse.

After a long while,

Madam Wang was finally helped by a maid to a chair, her eyes vacant and her expression numb.

"My deepest apologies, Madam Wang," Zhuo Qingfeng stepped forward again, offering his sincerest regrets. "Please rest assured, I will do everything in my power to apprehend the culprit. Not only will I avenge Elder Wang, but I will also avenge my over a dozen colleagues from the Six Doors. However, in this situation, my dereliction of duty led to such a tragedy. I am truly sorry!"

Slumped in the chair, Madam Wang replied numbly, "I don't blame you, Lord Zhuo. I know you've done your best. The Six Doors have also lost so many people, and the martial arts friends my husband invited to help have also sacrificed themselves. Everyone did their utmost. On behalf of my husband, I thank you all."

Madam Wang's understanding nature deepened Zhuo Qingfeng's remorse. Even Gu Mo, Old Man Bai, and the Scholar, the three Blade Catchers, felt a strong sense of embarrassment.

"Lord Zhuo, esteemed heroes,"

Madam Wang wiped away her tears, then suddenly stood up and said, "There's something I wish to entrust to all of you."

With that, Madam Wang knelt directly on the ground.

"Madam Wang, what are you doing?"

Zhuo Qingfeng quickly helped Madam Wang to her feet.

Old Man Bai and the Scholar, the two Blade Catchers, quickly added, "Madam Wang, please speak freely. If it's about avenging Elder Wang, you don't need to say more. As long as we have the chance, we will definitely kill the Silver Fox!"

"Yes, yes, we will certainly bring the Silver Fox to justice."

Both men spoke cautiously, not making overly confident promises. Given the current situation, the Silver Fox's swordsmanship was beyond imagination. Although they were both Gold-ranked Blade Catchers, they weren't fearless; based on the Silver Fox's displayed strength, neither of them would have a chance of survival if they encountered him alone.

However, under these circumstances, they couldn't afford to show cowardice, or they would lose face in the martial arts world. Therefore, both expressed their willingness to seek revenge but refrained from specifying how or when.

However, Madam Wang shook her head slightly and said, "I'm not asking you to prioritize avenging my husband, though revenge is certainly desired. Afterward, my Wang family will increase the bounty to ten thousand taels. But for now, I need to discuss something else."

As she spoke, Madam Wang looked around at everyone and continued, "In fact, my husband had a premonition that he might not escape this calamity. So, two days ago, he instructed me that if he truly didn't survive, I should reveal the reason for his assassination by the Silver Fox in front of all of you."

As Madam Wang spoke,

Everyone's expressions grew serious, realizing that what Madam Wang was about to say was undoubtedly a matter of immense importance.

Madam Wang pondered for a moment, then said, "I wonder if any of you have heard of the Mu Manor? Over a hundred years ago, it dominated the martial arts world of Yunzhou."

Zhuo Qingfeng replied, "I have. Prince Mu was Emperor Dezhao's brother. After Emperor Dezhao ascended the throne, Prince Mu was granted land in Pingyang County, Yunzhou. However, Prince Mu later participated in a rebellion and his entire clan was exterminated, causing the Mu Manor to vanish from the world. Is that the Mu Manor you are referring to, Madam Wang?"

Madam Wang nodded. "Indeed, it is that very Mu Manor. What I am about to tell you is directly related to it.

Over a hundred years ago, the Mu Manor was eradicated for its involvement in a rebellion. However, before its downfall, Prince Mu had a premonition. He summoned his three most trusted guards and gave each of them a token.

These tokens were, in fact, pieces of a treasure map, detailing the location of Prince Mu's hidden fortune. Prince Mu informed his three guards that only by combining all three tokens could the treasure's whereabouts be revealed.

He instructed the three guards to change their names, go into hiding within the martial arts world, and await a summons from a future descendant of Prince Mu. He warned them to pass this secret down through generations, making it a sacred mission for all their successors to wait for the Mu family's descendant. Once found, they were to combine the three tokens and retrieve Prince Mu's hidden treasure to fund a rebellion."

Upon hearing this, everyone present began to form suspicions.

Madam Wang continued, "My husband's ancestor was one of Prince Mu's three guards. However, by the time it reached my husband, he was the fourth generation, long disconnected from the original Mu Manor. Furthermore, the current Emperor is wise and benevolent, so my husband naturally didn't take that ancestral instruction to heart.

However, three months ago, my husband received a letter from Qingyang Commandery. The sender claimed to be a descendant of one of the three guards and stated that he had received a summons from the Mu Manor.

My husband arranged to meet this person, whose status was quite significant. He was a renowned martial arts expert in Qingyang Commandery named Zhao Hai, with a large family and a harmonious home. He explicitly stated his unwillingness to rebel with any so-called Mu family descendant, his lack of interest in the purported treasure, and his strong desire to avoid conflict in Yunzhou.

However, Zhao Hai didn't know what the Mu family descendant's true intentions were. So, he handed his family's portion of the treasure token to my husband, saying that if he could negotiate successfully with the Mu family descendant, all would be well. But if negotiations failed, he might die, and if he did, he asked my husband to figure something out.

A month later, my husband received news that Zhao Hai had died. At that point, my husband knew that the Mu family descendant would undoubtedly come for him next. Sure enough, not long after, our family received a letter from the Mu family descendant, demanding that my husband bring the token and meet him. Remembering Zhao Hai's fate, my husband did not go to the meeting. And soon after that, he received a death notice from the assassin, the Silver Fox!"