Chapter 26 Fire
Youlouzi Street was brightly lit by torches and lanterns.
Thousands of guards surrounded the two coffin shops, Yi Lu Ping An and Fu Yin Hou Ren, and thousands of underground ghosts surrounded them, completely blocking the nearby streets and alleys.
Trained falcons flew silently in the sky, and ferocious hunting dogs growled softly beside the strong men on the ground.
On the tops of tall buildings everywhere, there were sharp-eyed archers looking around.
With a shout, a group of guards armed with hammers, iron whips and large shields broke open the shop doors and rushed into the two coffin shops.
Soon, the skinny old man who had just bought a coffin in the coffin shop and two men in white were escorted out by the guards.
The skinny old man's face turned slightly blue, and he jumped up and down, roaring and cursing loudly.
"I am the steward of the Prince of Dongqi. I belong to the Prince of Dongqi!"
"What are you doing? What are you doing?"
"Why are you arresting me? Why are you arresting me?"
"Someone, help! The eunuchs of the Shougong Warden are causing trouble for the princes. These bastards of the Shougong Warden are going to attack the princes!"
The faces of all the guards present, from the general onwards, all the captains, strong men, guards, and even the underground ghosts on the periphery, turned ugly.
Immediately, a red-robed general and a group of subordinates surrounded them.
Two men in white put their hands on the hilts of their swords and looked coldly at the guards who were surrounding them. One of them said in a cold voice, "We are the sword guards of Haojian Palace."
The two men did not move, their swords clanged and vibrated in their scabbards, and the fierce sword intent swept in all directions. Within a ten-foot radius, everyone felt a chill on their faces.
Standing next to Lu Yi, Lu Tianxing's brother-in-law, Luo Qingzhou, the eight-star general of the Guard Palace Supervisor, waved his hand and snorted coldly.
The red-robed general who had led his men to surround the place stopped when he heard the voice. He looked at the two men in white with fear and said coldly to the skinny old man, "Shut up. The actions of the palace guards have nothing to do with you. Just stand aside."
After hearing these words, the skinny old man, who had been frightened, immediately became energetic.
He straightened his back, pointed at the red-robed general, and said arrogantly: "In that case, there are three coffins in the shop that we ordered. Don't... break them."
The skinny old man's eyes rolled around, and no one knew what he was thinking.
Luo Qingzhou glanced at him, snorted coldly again, and then looked at Lu Yi who was standing beside him and silently practicing Cang Hai Jin Yuan Gang to dispel the terrible cold air that had invaded his arm.
"You, Lu Yi?" Luo Qingzhou asked with a smile.
"I'm Lu Yu." Lu Yu smiled and bowed to Luo Qingzhou.
"Hmm." Luo Qingzhou nodded. "I see your features and stature, I think you look familiar. Especially your burly appearance. Eighteen years ago, no, let's say nineteen years ago, there was a Yulin Zhonglang in the Yulin Army of Gaojing, named 'Lu Xiu'. Who was he?"
Upon hearing this, Lu Yi quickly stood up straight and respectfully clasped his fists towards Luo Qingzhou: "That is my grandfather. It's just..."
Luo Qingzhou laughed. He patted Lu Yi's shoulder and said with a smile, "Then we are serious family members. I was born in the Yulin Army. I was fortunate enough to serve as a lieutenant under Lu Zhonglang."
"Oh, back then, Lu Zhonglang was full of strength and had a gold-engraved spear. He was the best spear among the 'three swords', 'three axes', and 'six flying spears' of the Haojing Yulin Army. Tsk tsk. In the internal competition of the Yulin Army, he rode a horse and used a spear, and challenged 54 generals of the Yulin Army. He was awarded the flying tiger robe and dragon scale armor by the emperor. His reputation was so great, tsk tsk!"
Luo Qingzhou said to Lu Yi with a smile on his face: "Since he is the young master of Lu Zhonglang's family, he is truly one of our own. From now on, if you have any problems in the Guardian Palace, come to me directly."
Luo Qingzhou patted Lu Yi's shoulder gently again, appearing particularly affectionate.
Lu Yi was stunned for a long while, then he smiled dryly and said, "I will follow the general's words, but I didn't expect that my grandfather had never heard of these things."
Luo Qingzhou shook his head and said with emotion: "No wonder, after all, hey, let's not talk about what happened back then. Anyway, let's interact more and get closer in the future."
The guards, captains and strong men standing nearby were so jealous that their eyes turned red.
Especially the three black scorpion brothers who had just joined the Palace Guard Prison with Lu Yi today, they stared at Lu Yi intently. Their gazes were like knives, as if they wanted to dig a piece of flesh out of him.
Everyone has one head and two hands, so why did the three brothers have to struggle hard to climb up from the bottom of the prison, while Lu Yi suddenly caught the eyes of their boss's boss?
"The bastard from a noble family!" At this moment, countless people were cursing in their hearts.
Footsteps were heard. Just as Luo Qingzhou was deliberately chatting with Lu Yi, two shopkeepers from the two coffin shops, along with a dozen waiters, more than a hundred craftsmen, laborers, and a group of servants, all with expressionless faces, were escorted out by the guards.
"They?" Luo Qingzhou asked Lu Yi softly.
"I can guarantee that they are related to that ghost sedan chair." Lu Yi also replied softly.
The shopkeepers of the two families were now wailing in a dry and weak voice at the top of their lungs.
"My Lords, what have we done wrong?"
"We have always followed the rules and we abide by the law."
"We pay taxes every month, and not a penny is missed."
"We have given all the benefits we should give to you gentlemen, and we have given them all according to the rules."
Several strong men rushed forward, raised their big palms, and slapped the two men. With a "crackling" sound, the two shopkeepers were beaten so hard that they were dizzy and blood oozed from the corners of their mouths.
There was a loud clattering noise coming from the two coffin shops; the guards were searching inch by inch inside.
Not far away, a captain came running with a group of subordinates.
The captain ran up to Luo Qingzhou and said in a horrified voice, "Sir, everyone on the Rongsheng, from the shopkeeper to the waiter, to the jewelry masters and servants, are all dead. Their bodies are all shrunken and they have died."
Rongshenghao is the gold shop where the phoenix sedan just rushed out to attack Lu Yi and Lao He.
Lu Yi instructed Luo Qingzhou to bring people here to surround the two coffin shops, and left a team to investigate the gold shop.
After listening to the captain's report, Luo Qingzhou, with his hands behind his back, walked up to the two shopkeepers who were swaying and had red and swollen cheeks.
After looking the two shopkeepers up and down, Luo Qingzhou said softly, "There's something fishy going on with you!"
The two shopkeepers cried out in unison: "Sir, we are innocent, we did nothing!"
Luo Qingzhou shook his head and said in a deep voice: "No, you have a ghost. All the honest and upright people in Gaojing are as surprised as if they have seen a ghost when they see our brothers who guard the palace."
"I don't see any fear in your eyes."
Luo Qingzhou said in a deep voice: "You have support and confidence, you are not afraid of us."
"If it was just you two shopkeepers who acted like this, I might think that you two coffin shops have the support of high-ranking officials from the imperial court. Or maybe you are well-informed and have seen many high-ranking officials and nobles, so you don't take a mere palace guard general seriously."
"But you two shopkeepers can ignore me, but your waiters, craftsmen, laborers, even these servants and maids are so calm and indifferent. There must be something fishy going on."
The bodies of the two shopkeepers stopped shaking.
Their expressions also returned to calm.
They stared at Luo Qingzhou intently. Manager An of the Safe Journey laughed dryly and said, "So, not being afraid of you is a sin? Oh, why should we be afraid?"
Luo Qingzhou clapped his hands suddenly and laughed loudly, "Oh, oh, oh, the truth is revealed, isn't it? Tianxing, you should be more down-to-earth in the future. Look, Brother Lu Yi has just joined the Guardian Palace, and he was able to expose the person. You have been guarding these two streets and one alley for several years, so how come you didn't realize that these two shopkeepers are such great people?"
Lu Tianxing looked at his brother-in-law with an embarrassed look on his face.
He looked at Lu Yu standing beside him, and smiled dryly: "General, please understand, these two coffin shops are both time-honored brands in Fengtiaofang that have been around for more than 200 years. Who would have thought that they have something fishy going on?"
Luo Qingzhou laughed loudly. He pointed at the owners of the two coffin shops in front of him and said coldly, "Catch them and send them to the secret prison. Wait and see..."
The shopkeeper of Fuyin's descendants chuckled: "You eunuchs without balls have a very sharp nose. Ever since I killed a few of your lackeys before the New Year, I thought you might find out about us."
"But I didn't expect you guys to actually figure it out."
"What a pity! We have carefully managed these two shops for so many years. How many great things have we accomplished?"
Luo Qingzhou's eyes narrowed. "Big deal? What big deal? You run a coffin shop, what big deal can you do?"
Shopkeeper An, who had a safe journey, laughed out loud: "You won't have the chance to know. Ha, ha, ha!"
Luo Qingzhou no longer had a smile on his face. He shouted sternly: "Come here, arrest him, send him back to the secret prison and torture him severely. I want..."
High up in the sky, an archer who was patrolling with a powerful bow suddenly yelled at the top of his lungs, "General, there are flames in the direction of Sijifang, there are flames, there are several flames, the wind is strong, the fire is spreading!"
Luo Qingzhou and his subordinates' faces suddenly changed.
They all flew into the air, landed on the roofs of the roadside, and looked in the direction of Sijifang.
Sijifang is right next to the two streets and one alley where Lu Tianxing is on duty, less than three miles away from here.
At this moment, there was already fire everywhere, and the flames had turned half of the sky red.
The cold wind blew up the light snow, pushing the fire to spread everywhere. From afar, there was a roar of deafening noise, the whistles of the patrolling soldiers, and the gongs of the night watchmen who were on duty day and night.
Luo Qingzhou was suddenly thrown into disarray.
Lu Tianxing is only a three-star warrior, and he is responsible for guarding only a small area of these two streets and one alley.
Luo Qingzhou is an eight-star general. The entire Fengtiaofang, as well as several surrounding towns, are all under his jurisdiction.
Not to mention that Fengtiaofang is a first-class market town, the surrounding markets are all second-class markets, and all of them are inhabited by high-ranking officials, celebrities and wise men.
Take Sijifang as an example.
If anything happens to those hostages of the princes inside, Luo Qingzhou will not be able to chop off enough heads even if he has a hundred!
"Go, put out the fire, save lives!"
Luo Qingzhou screamed at the top of his lungs: "Send someone to ask the prison officer for help. Ask the palace guards to send people to help suppress the rebellion!"
Before he finished speaking, everyone in the two coffin shops, from the shopkeeper down, simultaneously pulled out thumb-sized bullets from their waists and started throwing them around in all directions.
