After fifteen years of cultivation, he finally reached the pinnacle of the first rank!

Chapter 167 Siege
The two sides exchanged a few pleasantries, and then Murong Hong sat down.

In fact, the members of the Murong family had already arrived and were just waiting for Li Musheng and others to arrive before they could start having breakfast.

As the head of Shengzhou's number one martial arts family, Murong Hong has three sons and one daughter.

Murong Xiaoya, the youngest daughter, sat in a corner on one side of the long table, with her two brothers sitting next to her.

She was socially anxious, and when she saw Li Musheng and others coming, her eyes were always on them.

However, she certainly didn't dare to greet him in front of so many people in the hall.

The people of the Murong family were very well-mannered when having breakfast. They didn't talk while eating, but just ate in silence. The hall seemed very quiet.

After finishing breakfast, when the family members had left one after another, Murong Hong began to talk about business.

"I heard Xiaoya tell me everything that happened in the city yesterday. Thank you, Your Highness, and Lord Hu for your help. Otherwise, if Xiaoya had fallen into the hands of the Baili family, the consequences would have been disastrous."

Murong Hong spoke slowly, looking at Li Musheng and Hu Ruian who were sitting across the wooden table.

Hearing this, Murong Xiaoya, who was sitting at the corner of the table, looked over here.

As she traveled along, she naturally learned more or less about many secrets of Hu Ruian and his group.

Before returning home, Hu Ruian had told her that a series of confidential matters about Tianjin Guard must not be leaked to the outside world.

Therefore, when she mentioned what happened on the road and the situation of Li Musheng and others to her father and family, she naturally did not tell them everything.

For example, in her opinion, Li Musheng's cultivation was so terrifying and amazing, but he was completely unknown before.

He was convinced in his heart that the other party must be the biggest support and trump card in Tianjin Guard's plan to wipe out Luoshen Peak.

The fact that she knew such a top-secret thing also showed that Li Musheng and others trusted her, so it was naturally impossible for her to leak this matter to the Murong family.

"Master Murong, you are too serious. I like to speak frankly. I believe Master Murong should understand what I mean."

Hu Ruian narrowed his eyes slightly, but looked at Murong Hong in front of him and spoke.

His implication was obvious. He came here because of the Shengzhou matter and the matters instructed by Commander Fu Qiwen.

Hearing this, Murong Hong didn't seem surprised, nodded slightly, and said:
"Brother Qiwen has sent me a letter explaining the situation. Before Lord Hu came, I also sent people to investigate the cause."

As he spoke, Murong Hong turned his head to glance at his second son Murong Zhen beside him, who then took out a piece of letter from his sleeve.

Then he stood up and passed it to Hu Ruian along the yellow pear wood table in front of him.

"This is a letter that I secretly intercepted and sent by Zhu Zi, the governor of Shengzhou. After Lord Hu reads it, he will understand some of the truth."

Murong Hong gestured to Hu Ruian to open the letter, and Hu Ruian glanced at Li Musheng next to him and immediately asked for his opinion.

However, Li Musheng waved his hand, obviously not interested in this matter. He just drank his morning tea and let him handle it on his own.

Seeing this, Hu Ruian took the letter, opened it, took a quick glance at it, and immediately frowned.

"A governor of a state secretly informed Luoshen Peak, reporting every transfer order and movement of the Tianjin Guards of Shengzhou in detail?"

Hu Ruian's face looked a little ugly. Before coming to Shengzhou, all he knew was that Zhu Ziming and Mei Yan had close private contacts with Luoshen Peak.

But he didn't expect that the real situation was much more serious than he imagined. Now that Zhu Ziming had leaked such an important secret, he was almost a traitor to the court.

There is another more important matter, which is the affairs of Tianjin Guard. As the governor of a state, Zhu Ziming has no right to participate in it.

But judging from the content of the letter, the other party knew almost everything about Tianjin Guard, and this obviously involved Mei Yan, the commander of Tianjin Guard.

This also means that Mei Yan may have betrayed the court.

However, Hu Ruian was not in a hurry to make a conclusion. After all, Mei Yan's sister was the current Queen of Dali, and the entire Mei family had its roots in the imperial capital.

No matter from which perspective, the other party had no reason to betray the Dali court.

"This is what my Murong family knows about the governor, Zhu Ziming. As for the commander of the Tianjin Guard, I have also sent people to investigate."

Murong Hong took Hu Ruian's reaction into consideration and continued:
"But ever since the haunted incident at Tianjin Guard, Mei Yan has basically not been seen again, and the Mei Mansion has rarely interacted with people outside the state capital. Therefore, we have yet to find any concrete evidence of their connection with Luoshen Peak."

Hearing this, Hu Ruian was silent for a moment, then put away the letter in his hand and said:

"I went to the Mei Mansion last night. I heard that Mei Yan was seriously injured due to the haunted incident, so the affairs of Shengzhou Tianjin Guard were handed over to his son."

Murong Hong nodded slightly and said:
"I have also heard about this matter, but the Mei Mansion has been too cautious recently, almost leaving nothing unnoticed. Whether this is true or not, my Murong family is unable to ascertain."

As he spoke, he slowly shook his head and said:
"I believe Lord Hu can also see that the current situation of our Murong family is not very good. At present, many martial arts families in the state capital have shown a tendency to unite and try to wipe our Murong family out from the martial arts world."

"Even though I want to help Brother Qiwen, I'm currently too weak to do so. The amount I can offer is extremely limited."

After saying this, Hu Ruian looked at Murong Hong, who seemed to be speaking sincerely.

The current situation of the Murong family seems to be indeed like this, and he is not in a position to say too much about it.

And now he has another important thing to do, which is to get rid of Zhu Ziming in time.

The Shengzhou incident was naturally not only related to Zhu Ziming, but there were too many things to do right now and he had no idea what to do with anything else. The only thing he could directly deal with was the one concerning Zhu Ziming.

With the letter in hand, coupled with the commander's order and His Royal Highness the Eighth Prince Li Musheng, he would have no problem executing him first and reporting to the emperor later.

Of course, Hu Ruian also understood that dealing with Zhu Ziming was secondary. The key was to get more useful clues from him.

Thinking in his heart, Hu Ruian looked at Li Musheng who was sitting next to him.

As soon as he noticed his gaze, Li Musheng, who was drinking tea, raised his eyebrows. Knowing that the other party must be up to no good, he simply pretended not to see it.

Seeing that Li Musheng ignored him, Hu Ruian hesitated for a while and then gave up in disappointment.

At this time, Murong Hong, who had seen all of Hu Ruian's attitude towards Li Musheng, narrowed his eyes slightly, but suddenly bowed and said:

"Your Highness, the Eighth Prince, must be visiting Shengzhou for the first time. Why not let Xiaoya accompany His Highness around the city today and experience the customs and practices that are different from those in the imperial capital?"

Hearing this, before Li Musheng could speak, Hu Ruian's eyes lit up and he said:
"Your Highness, I've been free these past two days, so it's nice to go for a stroll. After all, I don't know when I'll have the chance to come here again."

Li Musheng glanced at the other person, thought about it for a moment, but didn't say much, just nodded slightly.

Although they spent most of their time on the road during this trip to Luoshen Peak, Li Musheng actually had the intention of traveling around and exploring the world along the way. Of course, he didn't expose Hu Ruian's little trick.

The other party wanted him to leave Murong Mansion, probably because he didn't dare to leave his side, but he also wanted to deal with Zhu Ziming's affairs.

At this time, seeing that Li Musheng agreed, Murong Hong turned around and waved to Murong Xiaoya in the corner.

Seeing this, Murong Xiaoya walked over obediently.

Murong Hong gave the other party a few instructions and asked Murong Zhen to find several masters in the mansion to accompany him.

But at this moment, a burst of hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the hall.

Then, a soldier walked quickly into the hall and reported anxiously:

"Master, we just received news that Baili Changfeng has suddenly united with the three major families in the city and sent thousands of soldiers towards us. It seems they intend to encircle and annihilate the Murong family."

Upon hearing this, Murong Hong's face suddenly darkened, and Murong Zhen and others around him also changed their expressions.

"Father, as far as I know, Han Chuiyuan has no plans to go to war with the Murong family in the near future. Now that Baili Changfeng has suddenly taken action, it is very likely because of Baili Wei's death."

Murong Feng spoke with a twinkling look in his eyes. Murong Hong glanced at him, but thought for a moment before ordering:

"Immediately mobilize your soldiers to guard the various locations in the mansion. However, without my order, do not leave the mansion to engage the enemy."

Then, he looked at Murong Zhen and said:

"Zhen'er, pass on my order immediately. Everyone in the mansion is on standby from now on. If things get out of control, we will have no choice but to take action in advance."

After giving all these instructions, Murong Hong looked at Li Musheng and said with a bow:

"Your Highness, things have changed. For your safety, please stay in the mansion for the time being. Once I have dealt with the current matter, I will let my daughter take you to the city for a tour."

After saying that, Murong Hong didn't say anything more and hurriedly said goodbye, leaving the hall with everyone from the Murong family.

However, Hu Ruian's expression changed, and he signaled Shen Anran to quietly pull Murong Xiaoya, who was walking at the end of the group.

"Your Highness, there's no need for us to get involved in the fight between the Murong and Baili families. Why don't we leave the Murong Mansion and take shelter in the city?"

Hu Ruian suggested to Li Musheng without blushing or beating his heart.

Hearing this, Li Musheng glanced at the other person, then patted him on the shoulder and sighed:
"Lord Hu has done his duty conscientiously to complete the mission of Shengzhou."

After that, he walked out of the hall without saying anything else.

Seeing this, Hu Ruian was slightly stunned, and immediately called Shen Anran and others to follow.

As for Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong, he didn't need to call or remind them at all. As soon as Li Musheng left, the two of them stuck to each other like dog-skin plasters.

Murong Xiaoya, who was stopped, lowered her head and followed Shen Anran. After hesitating for a while, she couldn't help but asked timidly:

"Your Highness, do you still need me to take him around the city?"

Shen Anran took her hand and said seriously:
"Xiaoya, your Murong family is in a bad situation right now. You are not as safe staying in the mansion as you are with His Highness. You should come with us."

Hearing this, Murong Xiaoya neither agreed nor refused, but was silently swept along.

Of course, she was not worried about the Murong family.

Although the Murong family is not as prosperous as before, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse.

It is almost impossible for other martial arts families in the city to take down the Murong family in a short time.

As for whether it is dangerous to follow Li Musheng, there is no need to worry about it.

Therefore, she still remembered her father Murong Hong's instructions and followed his instructions to complete her own task first.

After several people left the hall and prepared for a while, they planned to leave Murong Mansion.

However, this time it was Cao Gaoshan's turn to be stunned. His position as groom was taken away by Wu Shang and Cheng Chong.

Now he was the one riding ahead to lead the way.

Inside the carriage, there were four people sitting in a somewhat crowded manner.

Hu Ruian sat on one side with his bloated body, opposite him sat Li Musheng and Shen Anran. Murong Xiaoya was still the same as before, huddled in the corner where she usually stayed.

"Miss Murong, how can you lead us if you stay there? Why don't you come and sit here?"

Li Musheng raised his eyebrows, looked at Murong Xiaoya who was shrinking her neck, then reached out and patted the place beside him.

Hearing this, Murong Xiaoya shook her head subconsciously.

But after thinking about it for a while, she seemed to feel that what Li Musheng said made sense, so she carefully moved her body and sat down next to Li Musheng with a flushed face.

Li Musheng glanced at the uneasy other party and just shook his head. Then, the two coachmen sitting in front of the carriage drove their horses towards the outside of Murong Mansion.

Ever since learning that several martial arts families in the city had joined forces to attack the Murong family, the entire Murong Mansion was on alert. Rows of soldiers were running quickly throughout the mansion, and the figures of many martial arts masters of the Murong family flashed by from time to time.

"The Shengzhou garrison is somewhat unique. It is composed of both the Dali court and local jianghu families. This was also one of the methods used by the court to manage jianghu forces in the past."

"The aristocratic families of Jianghu provide money to support the army. These soldiers obey the orders of the imperial court and serve in the wars between Dali and the surrounding dynasties. However, these aristocratic families also have the right to rule over the soldiers."

In the carriage, Hu Ruian saw the scene outside through the window, and took the initiative to find a topic to explain the situation in Shengzhou to Li Musheng.

"The Murong family is the foremost martial arts family in Shengzhou. At the height of their power, their military investment reached 40%, with the other martial arts families receiving 10% and the Dali court receiving 50%."

"However, with the decline of the Murong family, their influence in the military now only reaches less than 20%. This means that they can only mobilize less than 20% of the Shengzhou garrison."

Hu Ruian said this and glanced at Murong Xiaoya.

After the other person sat next to Li Musheng, he began to lean his head forward and look through the car window to give directions to Cao Gaoshan and others.

When the guards of Murong Mansion saw the other party, they did not stop them and let them out of Murong Mansion.

(End of this chapter)