The Villainous Classmate is My Lucky Star Chapter 142
Translated by Pure (ko-fi)
Chapter 142 The Senior Ministers and Generals Watched with Relish (1)
On the afternoon of Songhai Academy's last day of class before its holiday, a very famous theater troupe arrived in Chaoge. The people of Chaoge loved to watch theater plays, and there were many theater buildings locally. It was a common thing to do before tea and after dinner. This particular theater troupe was nomadic– they could sing wherever they went, and sometimes they made a living as performers on the street.
This group of people booked the entirety of a relatively famous theater building. They then publicized that there was no need to buy tickets to watch the theater in front of the building, so that everyone in the whole city was quickly made aware of this troupe.
As soon as Wen Yantong woke up at her house, Mu Yang came to her door.
She remembered that during the morning vacation, Mu Yang had specially come to see her off, telling her to be careful on the way back to Chang'an, but this farewell was now meaningless.
Mu Yang entered her residence cheekily, and asked the servants to make a pot of hot tea for him with the best tea available.
Wen Yantong entered the main hall with a yawn, "Why are you looking for me in such a hurry?"
Mu Yang took a sip of his tea and answered, "I heard that a group of well-known foreign theater troupe just entered Chaoge. They have booked the entire Jiaren Building on Qiying Street. There will be three performances in the afternoon."
Wen Yantong was stunned for a moment, and suddenly became more awake as she asked with a frown, "When did they arrive in Chaoge?"
"Just today." Mu Yang said, "Would you like to take a look?"
Wen Yantong agreed without much hesitation, and then questioned, "Why did you come to find me? Where's the Little Marquis?"
"Brother Xi entered the imperial palace. If he had time later, he’ll also bring Brother Qianyuan with him. That's why I came to find you." Mu Yang replied.
Wen Yantong looked at him suspiciously, then snorted softly, "I think you just want me to call Fu Zixian for you."
Mu Yang didn't feel embarrassed after being exposed, instead he laughed out loud, "You know me well!"
"Am I that easy to use?" Wen Yantong was dumbfounded by his honesty.
Mu Yang thought about it and answered seriously, "You are quite useful in this manner. Last time I went to find him by myself, I couldn’t catch a glimpse of Fu Zixian’s face. Instead, I was greeted by his multiple brothers, sisters, and whatnot. When I went back home, I was then beaten and scolded by my dad."
After listening to his miserable story, Wen Yantong did not feel right whining anymore.
The relationship between the Mu family and the Fu family was very special. In fact, Mu Yuan and Fu Sheng had known each other since they were younger, one could almost say they were fated. In the past, Mu Yuan was a mountain bandit who made a living by robbing wealthy people passing by. He practiced martial arts since he was a child, and he was very familiar with the terrain of the mountain. The government tried several times to suppress the bandits there, but it always ended in failure.
Later, the government sent people into the mountains to negotiate with him, intending to offer amnesty and bestow him the title of a high-ranking military officer.
The next day, Mu Yuan tied up the negotiators and threw them out of the mountain, and asked them to relay four words: There is no family!
In Mu Yuan's words, robbing and raiding was a business passed down from generation to generation, and he could not cut this off. It was impossible for him to work for the government even if he died of poverty and starvation.
Mu Yuan's brain circuit was really one of a kind. Most would normally never regard bandits as businessmen, even more so– considered it as a family tradition.
When Mu Yuan turned twenty-two years old, his father passed, leaving him to become the head bandit of the mountain. Seeing that there were hundreds of crying men who could neither feed or clothe themselves, Mu Yuan knew they could have a hard time passing the next winters, so he decided to do something big.
He led the strong men to standby the official road outside Chaoge City. Most of these official roads were traveled on by people from the government to deliver letters, or for officials to enter and leave Chaoge, so the bandits had always ignored this road.
But Mu Yuan had no other choice, so he decided to rob the incoming officials with his broadsword in hand.
Coincidentally, the person sitting in the carriage was the top scorer of the imperial examinations, Fu Sheng. At the age of twenty-five, he received the imperial decree to go to imperial city to take up his assigned post. The trip from his hometown had been safe and sound, but just when he was about to enter Chaoge, he was jumped by bandits.
Mu Yuan took all of their belongings, distributed all their clothes to his brotherns, and even delivered a letter to the imperial government. He threatened them that if they wanted their top scorer back, they would send him a thousand taels of gold, otherwise he would cut off the top scorer’s head.
Never had there been a bandit so courageous, blatantly blackmailing the imperial family like this. The Emperor was furious because of this, and threw several memorials during the next morning court. A crown prince had yet to be elected then, so the Emperor used this opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. He announced to all of his sons in front of all the officials present at court: whoever resolved these bandits and rescued the top scorer safely, would be given the title of crown prince.
In order to kill Mu Yuan, several princes fought fiercely, and an internal strife broke out before any of them reached the mountain.
Meanwhile Mu Yuan was played like fooled by Fu Sheng. He had never studied in his life and was illiterate. Fu Sheng spoke complex sentences, although they were all rhetorics, Mu Yang barely understood his words. For half a month in the mountain, Fu Sheng told him the disadvantages of being a bandit every day. He urged him to take his brotherns down the mountain to do business, that it was an easy way to get rich quickly.
Mu Yuan was completely brainwashed. Seeing that he was wavering, Fu Sheng continued to fuel the flame and added that he was willing to give Mu Yuan's a hundred taels of gold to start his business. He assured this was a forsure method, and that they would never have to worry about making ends meet ever again.
Mu Yuan immediately announced that he would abandon banditry and go into business. He was to bring the top scorer back to Chaoge to fetch the gold, and asked his brothers to wait for him. On the way out the mountain, they happened to meet the little prince who was leading the army to suppress the bandits. And with that, Mu Yuan was destined to never return as a mountain bandit.
Originally, he had a chance to kill Fu Sheng before he was caught, but Mu Yuan was not a cruel person. Knowing that he had already lost, the trajectory of the blade in his hands moved from Fu Sheng’s neck to his right shoulder, piercing through the shoulder blade.
Later, the little prince had Mu Yuan thrown into prison, and sent his subordinate to destroy the mountain bandit’s hideout. The bandits who had been entrenched on the mountain for three generations fled, scattered, and were completely wiped out. And that little prince also successfully established himself as the crown prince.
Mu Yuan spent two years in prison. When he was finally let out, the little prince had already become the Emperor, while he was assigned to the barracks.
Fu Sheng could no longer wield a sword in his life, so as a punishment, Mu Yuan was to serve the imperial family for the rest of his life.
Over the next few decades, Fu Sheng gradually rose from the position of fifth-rank official to the position of prime minister, and Mu Yuan also changed from a mountain bandit to a generalissimo who guarded the frontier region.
Mu Yuan probably held a grudge against Fu Sheng, so he often spoke ill of Fu Sheng. Hence, whenever given the opportunity, he would send a memorial to the Emperor to complain about his misdeeds.
It was said once when Fu Sheng casually mentioned in a conversation that: "General Mu's complexion was indeed darker than most people."
When Mu Yuan caught wind of this matter, he immediately reported it to the Emperor. In the memorial, he called Prime Minister Fu’s words extremely hurtful and that it had caused him three consecutive sleepless nights.
Such incidents were innumerable. Mu Yuan once taught Mu Yang to stay away from the Fu Residence, claiming all of them were demons in disguise. They were full of schemes, and if not careful, they would suffer a lot.
Wen Yantong believed Mu Yuan was also a demon in disguise, a dumb pig demon.
Due to Mu Yuan's obstruction, Mu Yang didn't dare to find Fu Zixian on his own again, so he could only come and ask for Wen Yantong’s help.
Wen Yantong went back to her room to change her clothes before heading out with Mu Yang.