Chapter 62: Murder and Arson on Lantern Festival (V)

"Please, sir, save my life."

Huo Qiu knelt on the ground and kowtowed continuously.

"You are not someone sent by His Royal Highness Prince Liang?"

"My dear, I am Huo Qiu from the Fire Bull Gang, and the leader Huo Mang is my cousin."

"Hmm? Interesting. Why did you come to me for help? Aren't you working for King Liang?"

"My cousin Huo Mang and more than a dozen of his gang members were killed last night, and the house where we often gathered was also burned down. Please save my life, sir."

Li Yuanhui actually already had the answer in his mind, but he still underestimated the ruthlessness of King Liang's attack. After listening to Huo Qiu's words, his face became more solemn.

King Liang was so ruthless that he killed more than a dozen people.

A big fire burned everything out. It seems that he was very worried about this matter being leaked. Was he afraid that the rumor would reach the emperor's ears and affect his impression of him?
Then the matter cannot be resolved by simply letting Zhang Jian and others leave Chang'an as soon as possible.

Should I ask King Wu Murong Yang for help?

This thought popped up in Li Yuanhui's mind, but he was a little hesitant.

What will be the result if Murong Yang gets involved in this matter?

I'm afraid it will make things more complicated, right?
King Wu Murong Yang was originally a direct competitor of King Liang Murong Zhan. After getting the dirty news about Murong Zhan, he had only one choice, which was not to keep quiet but to make a big deal out of it.

But if this matter gets out of hand, it will definitely not be good for the Li family.

Murong Yang would use those who knew the truth, including Li Yuanhui, as pawns to deal with Murong Zan.

But Emperor Murong Ying doesn't care about the life or death of these people, not even Li Yuanhui's life or death.

It is very likely that Murong Ying can maintain the situation in which the King of Wu and the King of Liang compete for the throne. Crown Prince Murong Chang has too shallow a foundation, and he certainly would not want to see any of his sons dominate the family.

So they will definitely want to cover up the matter, and then everyone will be accused of a crime and silenced.

There will be no problem with the Li family, but it’s hard to say about Li Yuanhui himself.

Will the emperor care about his life or death or his son's reputation and the stability of the court?

We must not let Murong Yang know that asking him for help is equivalent to handing him a knife, and it would be hard to say who would be stabbed by the knife.

As for his fiancée, forget it. Telling her would be the same as telling Murong Yang. Li Yuanhui really didn't dare to bet on what Murong Jiayin would choose.

Just as Li Yuanhui was thinking, Tan'er came in and said to him, "Silang, Xiaoliu from the gate came to say that Zhang Jian from Jiangdu who came a few days ago brought a monk and asked to see you."

"Tell him to invite the person to my place, and you go and call Lao Liu."

"it is good."

Tan'er turned and left. Li Yuanhui looked at Huo Qiu who was still kneeling with his head on the ground, his body trembling slightly.

"Stand up and talk. Whatever I ask, you will answer it. I don't know whether I can survive or not. After all, I am in a difficult situation now."

After hearing this, Huo Qiu also stood up, his forehead was red from knocking his head. He was a very smart man and could hear the embarrassment in Li Yuanhui's tone. After all, the other party was a prince.

This Li Langjun could have thrown him out, or had him taken away and sent to King Liang, but Li Langjun didn't do so, which means that there might be a chance for things to turn around.

Zhang Jianrujing and Liu Xuanji arrived soon. Zhang Jian bowed to Li Yuanhui and said, "I have been a burden to you for yesterday's incident. Please tell me the truth and tell me whether this matter is important to you. I will never be an unjust person."

Monk Rujing also nodded and said, "Yesterday, we didn't know Mr. Lang's identity. It was Mr. Lang and I who took action together. It had nothing to do with Mr. Lang. We can't let him take the blame for us."

Li Yuanhui smiled bitterly and shook his head. "Since you two have said so much, I won't hide it from you. The person yesterday was His Royal Highness Prince Liang. I thought that since you all left, he wouldn't be able to do anything to me, but maybe I was overthinking it. Your name is Huo Qiu, right? Tell me what happened last night."

Huo Qiu nodded and said, "Yesterday, His Royal Highness the Prince of Liang sent someone to find my brother, Huo Mang, the leader of the Fire Bull Gang, and asked him to find a house for a few heroes to live in. When the heroes entered the Yoshira family, I was standing guard by the wall, so I knew everything. After the nobleman left, my brother asked me to follow them and get some information. I watched them go to the inn, and then followed Li Langjun back home. When we got back, we found that the house was on fire."

"In the past, King Liang often asked us to find beautiful women for him, and we had to do it in front of their husbands. Afterwards, we would either let the brothers in the gang take the blame, or give them some money to keep their mouths shut. If the situation got serious, no one in the gang knew his identity except my brother and me. I also tried to persuade my brother, but he said that it was easy to get on the boat, but it was hard to get off."

"I only raped the woman and never did anything else. But if I am killed for this, it is what I deserve."

Huo Qiu felt a little discouraged at the end. King Liang had done such a terrible thing, and at least a dozen families had suffered. The core members of their Huo Niu Gang were all accomplices. Even if others had killed people to silence them, it was not unfair. However, the culprit did not get any punishment. He always felt that things should not be like this.

After listening to it, several people were silent.

Seeing this, Li Yuanhui reached out his hand and tapped the table gently, then said: "Everyone, it's obvious that this matter is not something you can bear, let alone say that we share the difficulties together. It's meaningless, so you should leave as soon as possible and stay far away. I have the support of my family, so even if King Liang wants to touch me, he will have to spend some time to think."

Zhang Jian waved his hand and said, "My dear, please stop talking. I understand what the King of Liang said yesterday. He said that you know the importance of things. It was nothing more than a hint that you should kill people to silence them. If I leave, won't all these things fall on your head?"

Li Yuanhui said, "So what? You guys don't want to escape, do you want me to kill you and explain to him? Just because you don't want to be an unjust person, can I, Li Si, do such an unjust thing?"

Monk Rujing said, "Why don't we kill that damned King Liang and leave? That way, you don't have to worry."

"Be careful with your words. How can we kill the princes and emperors in Chang'an, the imperial capital?" Li Si immediately shook his head and rejected it.

Killing the prince? What a joke! The whole clan will be exterminated.

Monk Rujing said, "Don't worry, my dear. Let me and Brother Zhang handle this matter. It won't involve you."

Li Si shook his head again and said, "Master Rujing, it's not a matter of being involved or not. If there was still a chance under the circumstances yesterday, today is the Lantern Festival, and the princes will all go to the palace to see the emperor and accompany him to enjoy the lanterns. There will definitely be a lot of people following him when he goes out today, so there is no chance. You should listen to me and leave quickly. Go back to Yangzhou. The sky is high and the emperor is far away. The hand of King Liang is not that long. Brother Liu doesn't have to worry. When the time comes, I will smooth the relationship and let you go to Bingzhou with my father. As a general of the Tiger Guards and a lieutenant of the emperor's wife, King Liang can't easily attack me."

Zhang Jian said, "It's easy to dodge an open attack, but hard to guard against an arrow from the dark. There's a reason why you can be a thief for a thousand days, but there's no reason why you can't guard against thieves for a thousand days. It would have been better to kill him on the spot yesterday to avoid the trouble today."

At this time, Liu Xuanji, who had been silent, said, "Silang, I think what the monk said makes some sense."

Li Yuanhui immediately laughed in anger: "Brother Liu, why are you joining in the fun? They don't know that you have been in the army for quite some time. As a prince, you have at least a dozen guards when you travel. How can Brother Zhang and Monk Rujing do it? Are they going to break into the palace while the King of Liang is looking at the lights at the Vermillion Bird Gate?"

Liu Xuanji shook his head and asked Huo Qiu, who was shaking like a sieve, "My dear brother, you know the character of King Liang. Is he the kind of person who will do whatever it takes to get what he wants?"

Huo Qiu's voice trembled a little: "Indeed, it is true. As long as he likes someone, he will not stop until he gets the person he wants."

Liu Xuanji nodded upon hearing this, and then looked at the others: "In this way, things will be simple. We must succeed before we stop. He will definitely go to the official's house tonight, and we can wait for him there."

Zhang Jian and Rujing looked at each other, and then looked at Li Yuanhui with everyone else.

Before Li Yuanhui could react, the door was suddenly kicked open and a man stood at the door and said:

"How dare you to plot treason? Why don't you surrender and take me to Jingzhao Prefecture to answer for your crimes!"

(End of this chapter)