The duel between the Wu brothers was becoming more and more heated. Both of them were using the "Yue Maiden Swordplay". This skill belonged to Han Xiaoying of the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan. The two had practiced and trained this swordplay countless times over the years but this time, it was not a sparring session; it was a life and death duel where one mistake would be fatal.
Yang Guo watched them for a while and thought, "Uncle Guo's martial arts reign supreme but it appears that his students have not absorbed these skills. With the Wu brother's martial arts talents plainly ordinary, I don't think they have learned even twenty percent of Uncle Guo's martial arts." He suddenly laughed out loud and slowly walked out.
The Wu Brothers leapt back in shock and pointed their swords in the direction of the laugh. When they saw that it was Yang Guo, they both shouted at the same time, "What are you doing here?"
Yang Guo laughed, "What are you doing here?"
Wu Xiuwen gave a laugh and said, "We both felt bored tonight so we've come out here to practice our swordplay."
Yang Guo thought, "Little Wu is pretty alert, he's acting as if nothing was happening." He chuckled, "Practicing so hard that you don't have a care for your life? How hard working you two are."
Wu Dunru yelled, "Go, this is none of your business."
Yang Guo chuckled, "If you guys were really just working hard practicing, of course it wouldn't be my business. But between every stance you are unleashing, you are filled of thoughts for my sister Fu, if this is none of my business then whose business is it?"
Yang Guo's words of 'my sister Fu' pierced the brothers' hearts, leaving their bodies shaking and swords quivering.
Wu Xiuwen roared, "What the hell are you saying?"
Yang Guo said, "Isn't Sister Fu Uncle and Auntie Guo's daughter? Don't the parents arrange a marriage? Uncle Guo betrothed her to me a long time ago; you guys know about this but yet here you are, fighting over my fiancée, what kind of person do you take me for?"
His tone was becoming more and more serious as he said this and he left the brothers speechless. They both knew that Guo Jing had always wanted to marry his daughter to him but Huang Rong and Guo Fu had always disliked Yang Guo. When the two's thoughts were revealed by Yang Guo, they could only glance at each other and didn't know how to reply.
Wu Xiuwen was again alert in urgent times and chuckled, "Huh, betrothed? Only you would say a thing like that! Has there been an agreement between the matchmakers? Has the engagement been stamped down on paper?"
Yang Guo replied, "Okay, so both of you brothers have had the permission of your parents and the agreement from your matchmakers I take it."
Custom was extremely important during this time; marriages must have the agreement of parents and the matchmakers. The two brothers had assumed that after one of them loses, only the winner will go back to Guo Fu leaving with her with no choice. She'll definitely agree to the proposal leaving just the task of convincing the Guo couple to agree. They were not prepared for this meddling from Yang Guo.
Wu Xiuwen took a second to think before replying, "It might be true that Master wants to betroth sister Fu to you. But Master wife has planned to betroth her to one of us. The three of us are in the same boat, none of us can truly say their claim is right, it looks like sister Fu's future is going to be complicated."
Yang Guo laughed at the sky.
Wu Xiuwen snapped when he saw that Yang Guo was laughing loudly non-stop without saying anything and said, "What are you laughing at? Are my words wrong?"
Yang Guo laughed, "Wrong, so wrong. Uncle Guo loves me, Auntie Guo loves me even more, how can you two compete with me?"
Wu Xiuwen said, "Huh, who's going to believe your words?"
Yang Guo laughed, "Why should I lie? Auntie Guo long ago agreed to this marriage, otherwise, why would I risk my life to save them if they weren't my in-laws? It's all because of sister Fu. Tell me, has your Master wife ever promised you they'll betroth their daughter to you?"
The two brothers looked at each other with alarm, their Master wife has indeed not said a single word about this matter, not even hinted that she'll say something about it; could it be that she has indeed agreed to betroth her daughter to this punk? The two brothers were having a duel to the death with each other; but with this sudden appearance of a common enemy, they both moved closer towards one another.
Yang Guo had heard their conversation with Guo Fu earlier on and wanted to make the two jealous so he smiled, "Sister Fu said to me; 'Those two brothers are annoying me to death', and she couldn't discourage you guys so she said that she liked both of you. Tell me, is there a virtuous girl who'll say she loves two people at once? My sister Fu is more than virtuous, so of course she'd never do a thing like this. Let me make it clear for you; when she says that she likes both of you, she's actually saying that she doesn't like either." He then impersonated Guo Fu's voice on that night and said, "Little brother Wu, you've told me a thousand times, a million times how you feel about me, I already know. Don't you know how hard it is for me? You are always weird like this, what do you want to say to me?"
The brothers faces turned red. Those words were said by each of them to Guo Fu with no one else around; if she didn't tell Yang Guo, how would he know about it? The two of them felt their hearts' breaking, both thinking that Guo Fu has refused all along to agree to marry them because of this.
When Yang Guo saw their faces, he knew that his plan had worked, he put on a serious face and said, "Look, sister Fu is my fiancée, we're going to stay married for years to come, we'll have sons, daughters, grand children and all…" At this point, a long quiet sigh came from behind; it was Xiao Longnu's voice.
Yang Guo called out, "Gu Gu!" But there was no reply; he immediately thought that Li Mochou had made this sigh and that person cannot meet the Wu family at all so he said loudly, "If you two continue to act like this, people will only laugh at you. In respect of my in-laws, I'll forget about this matter. You two better go back to Xiangyang and help my in-laws guard the city." He was actually calling the Guo couple his in-laws.
The Wu brothers were now despondent and were now holding each other's arms.
Wu Xiuwen said gloomily, "Fine, brother Yang, I wish you and apprentice sister Fu… a long and prosperous life. We'll leave this place for somewhere else; we'll disappear from the world." The two of them turned to leave.
Yang Guo was feeling pleased with himself; the two brothers were still as angry as ever at him but now they'll hate Guo Fu. The two brothers' relationship will now be stronger than ever after this; their father's wishes will at least be fulfilled.
Wu Santong was listening from the bushes and when he heard that Yang Guo had convinced his sons to stop fighting, he was overwhelmed with delight; as he saw his sons walking away, he couldn't stop himself from calling out, "Wen'er, Ru'er, let's leave together."