Chapter 147 Old General Mu Angrily Punishes His Slag Son [2]
Zi You gritted her teeth and knelt in front of Mu YingRui. “Father, daughter doesn’t know what daughter did wrong, for you to hate daughter so much. You still have the mark from the slap on your face. Look at daughter’s hand and see if it’s that big. If you think that daughter shouldn’t be in this world, you can kill daughter. Daughter will have no complaints. But……
“But……. Why do you put the sin of disrespect on daughter’s head? Daughter is here. If you want to kill, please do so…… But…… Please don’t let grandfather be sad. He is getting old. He cannot…… He cannot stand the torture…….”
In the end, Zi You’s tears fell like rain. Her body trembled and she kowtowed desperately to Mu YingRui. Her plaintive, weak, sad, and helpless appearance made Old General Mu and Mu YingYi’s hearts ached.
Old General Mu looked indignantly at Mu YingRui and w.a.n.g Yiping. He asked, with a tone of blame, “What did You’er do that you can’t tolerate her? You try to harm her again and again. You really make people turn cold! Forget it. YingYi is right. You, this animal, are not worth it for me to kill you.
“Leave You’er behind. From now on, you take your wives and concubines and immediately, right now, scram out of the General’s Manor. Henceforth, you are no longer my son. Everything you do has nothing to do with me. I will remove you from the genealogy records tomorrow. You’er, don’t kowtow to him anymore. He doesn’t deserve it!”
Old General Mu pulled Zi You to leave.
Mu YingRui was really panicked this time! His officialdom would end if he was expelled from the General’s Manor and removed from the genealogy records.
No matter how the Emperor was secretly, he had always maintained an image of a filial son.
He had publicly declared many times that, “Our Great Yan rules the world with filial piety. Any unfilial or disobedient person, once verified, will never be an official in the court of Great Yan.”
If he learned that Mu YingRui was expelled from the house and removed from the genealogy records by his father because he wanted to scheme against his daughter the day before New Year’s Eve, he would soon become the country’s laughingstock. He would become a street rat whom everyone would shout and beat at.
Then he would be stripped of his official t.i.tle and become a commoner. He was a fourth-rank prefectural magistrate not because of his ability, but because of his father. Otherwise, with his third-from-last results in the imperial examination, could he smoothly rise to be a prefectural magistrate?
Although Mu YingRui was a scoundrel and lecher, he was self-aware.
At this point, he could no longer pretend. When Old General Mu rushed in with a sword, he saw Mu YingYi trying desperately to stop him, so he knew that he wouldn’t die. He immediately pretended to be heavily injured and bedridden. He wailed and complained about Zi You. “There is actually a daughter dares to hit her father in this world? Father, look at the injuries on my face. Ask clearly about the matter. It’s not too late to kill me then.”
Old General Mu originally really wanted to stab him with one swordstrike. But Mu YingYi saw that his rogue-like behavior was just like local hoodlums. He couldn’t help but say, disheartened, “Father, your sword is used to kill enemies. This rogue b*stard doesn’t deserve to die under your sword. It will dirty your sword.”
Old General Mu looked at Mu YingRui and really didn’t have the heart to kill him anymore. He thought that killing him would really defile his Longyin Sword.
Those who died under his Longyin Sword might have been enemies, but they were steadfast soldiers. So now, he didn’t have the heart to kill Mu YingRui. Old General Mu was disheartened to the extreme.
Mu YingRui crawled out and didn’t even put his shoes on to run and catch up with his father. An adult man cried until tears filled his face. “Father, if son is wrong, you can scold or kill son. Son will not dare to have a complaint. But son doesn’t want to leave the General’s Manor. Son lost his mother at the age of fourteen. Son doesn’t want to have no father too.”
Although Mu YingRui was scared, he did not forget that his mother was his father’s weakness. Every time Old General Mu was angry, as long as he pulled out his mother, Old General Mu would let him off. This proved effective every time.
Zi You’s grandmother was actually Old General Mu’s shimei [younger martial sister]. Dongfang Biyun was a military family’s descendant too. Her father Dongfang Xiaojian was Great Yan’s second-rank military governor and Longxi County Commander Shen Liang’s sworn brother.
Later, Shen Liang was falsely accused of treason and his whole family was executed. Dongfang Xiaojian was disheartened. He resigned and went back to his hometown. He met the poor, but honest and talented Old General Mu: Mu Junyuan. He accepted him as his disciple.
Later on, Old General Mu became the top military scorer in the imperial examination. Many famous and n.o.ble ladies wanted to marry him, but he had always liked Dongfang Biyun. Only, Old General Mu was a soldier, so he could not always stay by his wife’s side.
Dongfang Biyun had two young sons, managed the household, served her parents-in-law, and also worried about her husband stationed thousands of miles away at the border. She was excessively tired and worried and slowly got a disease. She finally pa.s.sed away when Mu YingRui was fourteen years old and Mu YingYi was twelve years old.
Old General Mu’s parents were still alive then and advised him to remarry. But Old General Mu was worried that his sons would suffer, so he did not remarry.
Perhaps because Mu YingRui was the eldest son and grandson and more lively and cuter than the quiet Mu YingYi, whether it was Old General Mu’s parents or his wife, they were particularly fond of Mu YingRui and spoiled him.
Later, when Old General Mu returned from the border, he wanted his two sons to practice martial arts. The result was that after four hours of practicing the horse stance every day, Mu YingYi could withstand it, but Mu YingRui tearfully complained to his grandfather, grandmother, and mother. “Grandfather, grandmother, mother, I don’t want to practice martial arts. I want to be a scholar and take the imperial examination. I want to be the top scorer in the imperial examination and be a prime minister.”
Old General Mu’s parents and wife went to plead on his behalf. His parents used the family card. “Martial arts is too painful. Let’s not talk about anything else, but you are stationed at the border all year long. Have you ever thought about the pain in your parents’ and wife’s hearts? We don’t want to experience the pain of separation again.”
Dongfang Biyun’s a.n.a.lysis was very objective. “Husband, Great Yan values martial arts. But one general in the household has already made the Emperor vigilant. If husband, YingYi, and YingRui become generals, then our fu will make the Emperor even more uneasy. Let’s let YingRui learn the civil arts. One scholar and one martial artist? Isn’t that very good?”
In this way, Mu YingRui studied the civil arts. But the child who looked very clever was spoiled rotten. He was a person who sought pleasure and could not stand suffering. As a result, his imperial examinations did not go smoothly. He placed third when he was thirteen years old. He merely pa.s.sed the imperial examination at the age of seventeen, with a bad ranking. But at this time, Mu YingYi was a fifth-rank general of a thousand soldiers.
That year, Old General Mu and Mu YingYi went to pacify the Nanjiang rebellion and brought Dier back. Because Mu YingYi and Nee Liu were engaged since they were children, there was no other way. Dier could only listen to Old General Mu’s suggestion and marry Mu YingRui.
But the marriage was indeed a tragedy. Dier wasn’t happy and Mu YingYi didn’t feel good either. In fact, his feelings for Nee Liu weren’t deep, but because of his moral code, he had to marry Nee Liu. Otherwise, if he cancelled the engagement, Nee Liu’s life would be ruined.
Nee Liu didn’t do anything wrong, so he could not destroy her life. Seeing that Dier was not happy, he finally married Nee Liu when he was twenty years old. That was why Mu YingYi’s eldest son was four years younger than Zi You. A loveless marriage led to three people’s misfortune. Mu YingYi was very respectful to Nee Liu to the point where even Nee Liu could not pick out any fault. But the person Mu YingYi really loved was Dier.
When he was bitten by the poisonous snake and was p.r.o.nounced to death, Dier saved him with her spiritual power. When he opened his eyes and saw a fairy-like girl with clear amethyst eyes, his heart immediately jumped. When he learned that the fairy-like girl saved his life, Mu YingYi’s heart immediately fell.
The reason why the rebellion suppression went particularly smoothly was attributed to Dier. They had spent more than two months together. Their feelings had grown.
After Dier and Mu YingRui’s marriage failed, she didn’t leave, mainly because of Zi You. Another reason was because she wanted to stay by Old General Mu and Mu YingYi’s side.
Old General Mu and Mu YingYi were both soldiers. Swords were ruthless on the battlefield. Any accident could happen. She wasn’t rea.s.sured. But if she was there, no matter who wanted to kill them, before their souls were shattered, she could still save them from the King of h.e.l.l’s hands.
The righteous and loyal Dier, for her daughter, Old General Mu, and Mu YingYi, endured loneliness and grievances and stayed in the General’s Manor for more than ten and a half years, until her mother G.o.ddess Mari brought her back to India.
Originally, she wanted to bring Zi You with her. But she looked at the sobbing and iron-blooded Old General Mu, who didn’t even cry when his son was bitten by a poisonous snake, and begging her to leave You’er behind. Dier couldn’t bear to refuse.
And Mu YingYi also said, “Can you not take You’er away? Don’t worry. I will treat her like my own daughter. Leave her behind, okay? Even if I am selfish, please leave her behind. Give me something to remember.”
He hadn’t finished speaking, but Mu YingYi had bowed his head and didn’t want Dier to see his tears overflowing.
But how could Dier not know the pain that was in his heart? Facing the man she truly loved, Dier gritted her teeth and left her daughter behind. She returned to the Indian Divine Realm alone.
Old General Mu was afraid that outsiders would know Dier’s true ident.i.ty and bring countless troubles to his granddaughter. In desperation, he could only announce that Dier had died. He buried an empty coffin in the Mu family’s ancestral grave. He strictly ordered Mu YingRui to observe mourning. He could remarry only after three years later.
But after only one year and ten months, Mu YingRui had entangled with w.a.n.g Yiping. Old General Mu was furious, so he did not let him marry w.a.n.g Yiping immediately. Instead, he had him wait until the three years of mourning were over.