Chapter 61 Murder and Arson on Lantern Festival (Part )

Huo Mang, leader of the Fire Bull Gang, was originally a butcher who made his fortune by stealing and selling beef.

The laws of Dayan were the same as those of the previous dynasty. It was forbidden to slaughter oxen privately. Even if the ox was sick and dying, it had to be reported to the government before it could be slaughtered.

Therefore, the price of beef has always been very high. Huo Mang made his fortune by selling beef, and he also recruited a group of ruffians to work for him. "Huo" and "Huo" have the same pronunciation, and they sold beef, so they were called the Fire Bull Gang.

The specific process is: the scoundrels of the Fire Buffalo Gang secretly cut off the tongues of the working oxen, and then wait until the oxen die before buying them at a low price. Beef, a popular commodity, is never in short supply, so they basically do whatever they can to get it in the most unethical way possible.

But because of this he became the largest beef dealer in Chang'an West Market.

Huo Mang had a younger sister who was pretty and was favored by Zhou Ling, a judge of the Dali Temple under the Liang Wang. Zhou Ling was also a man of the Liang Wang. So through her cheap brother-in-law, she also had a relationship with the Liang Wang Mansion.

And the fact was just as Li Yuanhui had expected. Tonight, Murong Zan fell in love with Na Jiliang's wife, Du, on the street and immediately had evil intentions.

So he asked his confidant to go and see Huo Mang, the leader of the Huoniu Gang. These people from the Huoniu Gang roamed around the city all day long and were well-informed, so they were just the right people to help him collect news and beauties.

It was only because he took people to find the Kira family that things happened later.

Almost every time Murong Zan did something like this, he would let these gangsters clean up the mess. If the Jingzhao Prefecture pursued them closely, he would pull a few of them out to take the blame.

In fact, none of the members of the Fire Bull Gang knew his identity, only the gang leader Huo Mang knew.

And what happened today made Huo Mang secretly angry. After all, he made a mistake in doing things for the noble, which made the noble not satisfied.

I was really planning to go vent my anger on my new lover, but then Pu Bu Gu came.

Pu Bu Gu was a Xianbei man who was skilled in riding and shooting and had great courage. He was the confidant of King Liang.

When Huo Mangde saw Pubugu coming, he immediately brought his gang to the courtyard to greet him, but Pubugu brought several large jars of wine and two roasted whole lambs.

"Boss Huo, it's a festival, this is the wine given to you by the noble."

When Huo Mang heard that the nobleman was giving him wine, he was flattered and said, "It's all because of our poor performance today that we still need the nobleman to give us wine. It's really embarrassing for us. Thank you, nobleman."

Pu Bu Gu smiled and said, "Boss Huo, you don't have to be polite. The nobleman relies on you very much. Today's incident was also caused by someone, and it has nothing to do with you. The nobleman specifically told me to tell you not to mind it. After watching the lanterns tomorrow, I will accompany the nobleman to Changxingfang. I didn't have enough fun today, but this time you must not make any mistakes."

"General, rest assured, I will do a great job this time."

Huo Mang patted his chest and said proudly.

Pu Bu Gu smiled and said, "Okay, I'll take my leave now."

"Will the General not stay for a drink?"

"No, Your Excellency has something else for me to do, another day."

"Okay, I'll take the general there."

Huo Mang sent away Pu Bu Gu and his group who came to deliver wine and meat, and then he ate and drank with a dozen or so gang members without suspecting anything.

But after drinking this wine, I feel a little dizzy?

An hour later, the members of the Fire Bull Gang, who had originally gathered together to drink, were lying in a courtyard in Chongrenfang, each of them having at least two bloody holes on their bodies caused by knives or guns.

Gang leader Huo Mang lay on the ground and muttered, "Why. Why."

Then, his companion Pu Bu Gu, who had accompanied him to "do business" with him a few hours ago, stabbed him in the back with the sword in his hand, and he died.

"No one is left alive, right?"

"I've checked. Almost all the members of the Fire Bull Gang are here. Let's set fire to them. The king hates things that are done in a sloppy manner, just like today. If this gang had controlled the petty official, or had just killed him with a knife, there wouldn't be any problems later."

Before everyone left Huo Mang's house, they set a fire, which was very big.

A young man named Huo Qiu saw the Fire Bull Gang gathering and setting fire to their house before he even arrived in the square. He was Huo Mang's cousin and was very smart, so before Huo Mang brought everyone back, he asked Huo Qiu to wait quietly at the gate of Changxing Square to see who was the one who ruined the noble man's good deeds today.

Huo Qiu followed Li Yuanhui, Zhang Jian and others back to the inn, and then followed Li Yuanhui and Liu Xuanji and saw them return to the Li family.

Then he walked back slowly, looking at the lights all the way. He saw the float from Pingkangli passing by the Imperial Street, and Lady Fan San was dancing on the float. How could he miss such a grand sight? So he didn't pay attention to the time at all. When he was about to return to the gathering point, it was already late at night.

Who knew that he could see the fire from such a distance? Huo Qiu, who was usually very smart, immediately realized that something must have happened.

His eldest brother and the brothers in the gang were definitely in danger. And he could not go back to that base, otherwise he would be killed if he was discovered.

The reason why Pu Bugu and others missed Huoqiu was mainly because he usually did not attract attention and was just a lookout.

This also saved him from disaster.

But at this moment he was very nervous and scared, because he knew that his cousin had once let slip to him after drinking that their Fire Bull Gang had been working for King Liang.

And the current situation is obviously related to what happened tonight.

He had been following the group of people who were rescuing people, but there was no movement. But how could that minor official and his wife be so capable of doing this and yet be bullied like this?

The result is already very obvious, it was the order of the "noble person".

So if he wants to stay alive now, he must find someone who can protect him, just like Li Silang today.

Since you can get the nobleman to let the couple go, you can definitely protect him, right?

With a determined heart, Huo Qiu walked back along the same path he had walked back and forth.

By the time he arrived at Li's residence, it was almost dawn. Even though there was no curfew, there were few people on the street.

Looking at the deserted street, Huo Qiu felt particularly frightened. He came to the door of Li's house with trepidation. Just as he was about to go up and knock on the door, he looked at the sky. Would he be beaten out if he went up to knock on the door at this time?
After all, this is the residence of Duke Tang.

It was a bit cold in Huoqiu, so he could only find an empty corner to squat down, his heart pounding.

After waiting for more than an hour for the Li family to open the door, Huo Qiu stepped forward and said to the servant who opened the door: "Big brother, please let me know that I want to see Mr. Li Silang."

"Who are you? Do you want to see my Shiro?"

"I" Huo Qiu was stuck for a moment, but I immediately thought of a way to say it:

"Yesterday, I met Li Silang with the nobleman. Please inform him. It was the nobleman who asked me to come. Li Silang must know about this. Please help me inform him."

The Li family's servant showed a trace of suspicion, but was still worried about delaying Silang's business, so after looking at him again, he nodded: "Okay, then I will go and inform you. If you dare to tease me, look carefully, this is the Li residence!"

Huo Qiu quickly apologized with a smile, "Yes, yes, don't worry, I would never dare to tease you."

"You keep an eye on him. I'll go and report to Shiro."

Li Silang had not gotten up yet. He had drunk a lot of wine with Liu Xuanji last night. He returned to his room and fell asleep without taking off his clothes.

The servant came and could only tell Tan'er what happened.

Tan'er, who was preparing breakfast, heard this and thought about what Silang and Liu Xuanji seemed to have talked about yesterday about a noble person, so she went to wake up Li Yuanhui who was sleeping soundly.

"Silang, there is someone outside who wants to see you. I heard that he was sent by the nobleman you met yesterday."

Li Yuanhui, who was feeling a little lethargic due to a hangover, immediately perked up when he heard these words.

"Bring people here."

Then he got up and washed his face, and asked Tan'er to help him tidy up his clothes.

The place he was brought to, Huoqiu, surprised Li Yuanhui.

He was dressed like a street vendor. Why would the King of Liang send someone like that to see him? I thought he was a eunuch.

Li Yuanhui waved at Tan'er and the others, then glanced at Huo Qiu who was standing there somewhat timidly.

"What does the king want to say to Li?"

Huo Qiu looked back at the closed door, then immediately knelt down and said, "Please, sir, save my life. Please, sir, save my life."

"Hmm? You weren't sent by His Royal Highness Prince Liang?"

(End of this chapter)