Chapter 59: Murder and Arson on Lantern Festival (Part )

Yoshira, 23 years old, from Wannian County, Chang'an, was smart and kind. Although he was just a minor official in the West Market Office, he lived a good life guarding such a prosperous place as the West Market. He married a beautiful wife, and who wouldn't be envious of his neighbors and colleagues?
He had taken his wife out to see the lanterns during the Lantern Festival, but soon after he got home, a group of thugs broke in and held him outside. One of the young men, dressed elegantly, entered his home and tried to rape his wife.
In desperation, Yoshira broke free from the criminals' grip and tried to run out of the city to seek help from the patrolling Kingo Guards.

Who knew that he would be caught by the villains again just after he walked out of the gate, but at this time several righteous men came to rescue him.

This gave Kira, who was in desperate situation, hope.

"Please, good men, save my wife. I will never forget your kindness."

The young man looked like a minor clerk in a government office, about twenty years old. At this moment, his clothes were torn to tatters and he looked miserable. He knelt on the ground and kowtowed uncontrollably.

Seeing this, Zhang Jian, who was always ready to stand up for the weak, immediately asked him to explain the situation clearly.

"It's too late. My name is Kira. There is a group of strong men in my house right now. Please ask a few heroes to follow me."

Zhang Jian and Monk Rujing didn't know each other originally, but because Rujing and Li Yuanhui had come all the way here and had just helped, he treated them as one of his own.

Both of them were hot-blooded men, so they immediately let Yoshira lead the way. Qi Jun and Liu Xuanji could not go against the trend at this time, so they greeted Li Yuanhui, arrested the murderer and followed the two men.

At this time, Li Yuanhui actually felt that the matter might not be simple, because anyone who dared to do such a thing in Chang'an must be a noble.

The Fire Bull Gang dared to make such a commotion during the Lantern Festival. They should have been wiped out by the Jingzhao Prefecture long ago, right?
But when the time comes, you can't be cowardly.

He is the most senior among these people. He is standing up for injustice, but you just walk away? That's not how it works. Do you still want to be friends with him in the future?
Li Yuanhui followed behind. Anyway, since these brave generals were there, it would definitely not be his turn. Liu Xuanji was the last one to fall and whispered, "Silang, this doesn't look like a simple matter."

Li Yuanhui nodded.

Hao Ping walked quickly and led everyone through the gate. He was anxious and led everyone through the streets and alleys to the gate of a small courtyard.

"This is it."

There was an entrance to the small courtyard. Zhang Jian kicked the door open and saw seven men inside. Although they were all wearing robes of different colors, they all looked like martial artists.

From the main room came the woman's pleading voice and the man's lewd laughter.

"Beauty, just give in to me. Ahahahahaha."

"Please, please let me go."

"Madam!" Kirara was about to rush in.

When these seven or eight men saw someone coming, they immediately treated him as a formidable enemy. One man wanted to stop him but was restrained by Zhang Jian, who pulled him over and chopped him on the back of the head with a knife, causing him to faint.

Qin Bogui and others also threw the people in their hands forward, ready to meet Zhang Jian.

Just as the two sides were about to fight, the man in the house noticed that something seemed to have happened outside. He felt a little disappointed and decided to see who was disturbing his fun.

When I opened the door, the moonlight shone into the courtyard. There were seven or eight big men standing opposite, and a thinner man leaning against the door.

However, because there was no light here, he couldn't see the face clearly, but he still recognized the person by the clothes he was wearing.

"Li Silang? Stop hiding in the back and come forward to answer me."

When Li Yuanhui heard the voice, he thought to himself that something was wrong.

He walked through the crowd and forward. He couldn't see the other person's face clearly in this courtyard, but he had heard this voice before.

"I've met noble people."

The young nobleman smiled and said, "Li Silang, why are you here too? Can we make it a first come first served basis? If you also like the one in the room, how about you come after I'm done? Or you come first and I can come later."

"My lord, please respect yourself. I am sorry for disturbing your pleasure today, but since we have encountered this, we cannot just turn a blind eye. Please forgive me and let this couple go."

Li Yuanhui bowed slightly, lowered his head and saluted with his hands clasped.

Seeing that even Li Silang, the great general of Yehou and Tiger Guards, was so respectful, the others remained silent, secretly thinking that they were going to get into trouble today.

The nobleman sneered twice: "Haha, it's really boring. Okay, I'll give you a favor today, Li Silang. You know the importance of this, right, Li Silang?" "Understood. Please rest assured, nobleman."

"Oh, what a pity, let's go."

The group left in a hurry, and only then did Li Yuanhui stand up.

Zhang Jian said: "Mr. Li"

Li Yuanhui shook his head: "We'll talk about it later."

At this time, Kira ran into the house quickly and saw his wife squatting in the corner with her clothes a little messy but still intact, holding a candlestick, looking terrified. He immediately burst into tears.

"Madam, madam."

When Mrs. Du saw her husband coming back, she finally dropped the candlestick and threw herself into his arms.

The couple cried and felt like they had survived a disaster.

Then Kira reacted, pulled his wife into the courtyard and knelt down in front of the people.

"Thank you very much for your rescue."

The couple kowtowed several times in a row. Zhang Jian hurried forward to pull Jiliang up and said, "No need to do that. We just happened to be passing by."

Yoshira helped his wife up and bowed to the men, saying, "I will never forget your kindness. I have yet to ask for your name."

Li Yuanhui then stepped forward to stop Zhang Jian from signing up: "Don't mind if you see injustice and help others. Your wife is frightened. You should take her back quickly. We have other things to do, so I'll take my leave now."

Kira immediately understood that the other party did not want to reveal his identity, so he nodded.

Li Yuanhui turned around and patted Zhang Jian and Rujing on the shoulders, motioning them to follow him.

Zhang Jian and Monk Rujing nodded at Yoshira, and then they all left together.

After leaving Changxingfang, several people followed Li Yuanhui tacitly and had no intention of looking at the lanterns, including Monk Rujing.

Li Yuanhui asked Zhang Jian and others if there was any place for them to talk.

Zhang Jian said they could go to the inn where they were staying now, which was not far from here.

So Zhang Jian and others led the way, and Li Yuanhui took Monk Rujing with him to the inn and found a spacious house.

Seeing Li Yuanhui's serious expression, everyone thought that things might be getting serious.

"Mr. Li, what is the identity of that person today?" Zhang Jian, who was impatient and quick-witted, asked first.

Li Yuanhui glanced at everyone and said, "Everyone, I have a piece of advice for you. When the city gates open tomorrow morning, you should leave the city immediately and return to your hometowns. Don't go back to Chang'an. As for what happened today, don't mention it anymore."

"Mr. Li, what are you talking about? We were just trying to save someone today, why did it have to be like this? And if we leave, what will happen to you and Brother Liu?"

Zhang Jian was very puzzled as to who that man was that could make the man from Longxi Li family, the son of Duke Tang, and the future imperial consort so embarrassed.

Li Yuanhui smiled bitterly and shook his head. "Don't ask, he probably won't be able to react tonight. You should leave early tomorrow morning. Monk Rujing, you should follow us. Don't go back to Yanfu Temple."

"If you don't tell me, my dear, I will definitely not leave. No matter who that person is, we haven't violated any law."

"Marquis Ye, today's incident has nothing to do with you. We will never leave without knowing why. Please tell me who this person is."

"Okay, everyone. Stop asking. I can't protect you if you stay in Chang'an. You only have two choices. One is to flee far away, and the other is to stay and wait for death. That's all I have to say. Goodbye."

Li Yuanhui bowed to everyone. Seeing this, Liu Xuanji also clasped his fists towards everyone, then left with Li Si.

The remaining seven people looked at the backs of the two people leaving, and were speechless.

(End of this chapter)