Twenty-Fifth Murder

  The night is getting colder.

  About thirty or more men emerged from the dark, all of them tall and large in stature, wearing black clothes. On a night without stars or moon, if they hadn't approached with lanterns, it's likely that no one would have noticed that so many people had passed by.

  The crowd fumbled and searched, counting in groups of a few people on the main street, until they flashed to an alley next to a large mansion. Separated by a wall, you can faintly hear the sound of changing shifts and patrolling at night in the mansion, but it's already midnight, when people are most tired, so this sound is only half as loud as usual, and it stops soon.

  A faint "thud" sound, as if something had been thrown onto the high wall of the courtyard. Although the sound was small, in the dead of night when all sounds were hushed, it still startled everyone present.

  "Hey Wang, take it easy!"

  Since the incident of twisting someone's arm to make a steamed bun spread, in Taizi Nei Cao, Wang Yuan has had a new nickname. However, he doesn't seem to mind it at all and responds calmly whenever someone calls him by that name.

  "What's going on... what's happening next? Where is Wang Xiao?"

  "Here... be quiet for a moment. In a while, Wang Yuan, you lead your men to scout ahead first, Ren Shang and the selected archers will stay on the wall and rooftop to control the situation, then comes the rearguard, I and Xiao Ye several people, covering both wings of Wang Yuan, clearing up the reinforcements from the Fan Mansion."

  A group of about a dozen military officers, plus another dozen carefully selected inner guards, along with the crown prince, all wearing night-traveling clothes personally designed by Zhu Ciyan, and armed with hooks, clubs, short knives, formed a small bandit gang.

  Among them, Wang Yuan and Li Gong, two military officers with combat experience, as well as several Beijing garrison officers and soldiers who had been dispatched to Henan to participate in the war.

  But Wang Xiao, this upright and proper military officer, had actually done his fair share of strong-arm tactics. Looking at him now, directing with such confidence and fluency, it seemed he hadn't just done it once or twice as he claimed...

  In short... Shanxi businessman Fan Yongdou is in trouble!

  "Little master, shall we begin?"

  Before climbing over the wall, even a rough and bold person like Wang Yuan would wipe away the cold sweat on his forehead and quietly ask for instructions from Zhu Ciyan.

  "Go ahead." Zhu Ciwen smiled, revealing a mouthful of white teeth in the dark night.

  "The Shanxi merchants are lawless and have lost all sense of morality. They cannot be eliminated by just means... I am the son of Heaven, acting on His behalf, what can't I do?" In the dark of night, Zhu Ciyan also used his full strength, waved his hand, and in an extremely cold voice, commanded the crowd: "Among you, Wang Yuan and a few others have seen blood, killed people, Ren Shang is good at shooting, but he has only shot at straw targets. Tonight, I, as the Crown Prince of the Great Ming Dynasty, order you to eliminate the lawless merchants, spare women, children, and the elderly, kill all the rest, did you hear me?"

  Li Gong gripped the short knife in his hand tightly and said in a low voice: "Yes, I will obey Your Highness's edict!"

  Ren Shang nodded and said: "Traitorous scum who sells out his ancestors, I will kill him without any mercy."

  Wang Yuan said in a low and angry tone: "Those who betray their country need to know that apart from the heavens watching, there is also my axe in Wang's hand!"

  "Your Highness can rest assured, since we have come, our minds are already made up."

  "Kill!"

  In the midst of the bloody and brutal cries of killing, Zhu Ciyan looked around, a hot and excited emotion surged up in his heart.

  The sky was cold and the earth was frozen, with a piercing wind blowing straight at them. But being together with these hot-blooded men, watching as they prepared to commit murder and robbery, was truly fraught with danger. Yet that thrill of excitement and sense of release made him want to tear open his chest and let out a loud roar into the cold wind, just to feel satisfied.

  This is an era where one would be willing to exist.

  The moon is dark and the wind is strong, kill with pleasure!

  It wasn't until now that Zhu Cibei truly understood that he was not born to be a mediocre person, all the gentle and courteous stuff, one step at a time, scheming and then acting, forget it, this time I'm not going to play by the rules... because I... want to survive!

  Chongzhen 17th year, March 19th, still waiting for Laozi to single-handedly defy the heavens!

  ……

  ……

  Wang Yuan was the first to climb up along the rope ladder and began to move like a ghost on the wall of the courtyard.

  The Fan family is extremely wealthy and powerful, although their business roots are in Shanxi Province, with branches in Zhangjiakou. In the capital city, they specialize in hoarding and selling grain, and Fan Yongdou's public identity is that of a grain merchant from Shanxi Province. Along with several other major grain merchants, they control tens of millions of dan (a unit of measurement) of grain, which can fluctuate up or down. It can be said that the price of grain among the people is controlled by this group of wealthy Shanxi businessmen working together.

  When the government collects taxes, the people have no grain. These merchants then buy at a low price. The Ming dynasty did not stop this behavior and had no measures such as constant warehouses, so the people who had no money to pay taxes could only be slaughtered by the merchants. When the people's families finished eating their stored grain and there was a gap between the old and new harvests, these big grain merchants would then raise prices and make a lot of black-hearted silver.

  Xiang Fanjia, this kind of super-rich businessman, from grain merchant to cloth merchant, and then to pawnshop, money house, is really a one-stop service, not sucking the marrow out of the bones of ordinary people until they are drained dry, will not be finished.

  In addition to the large sum of silver earned from trading with Jian Nu, although Beijing is not their base and they don't live there for long, they still managed to build a grand mansion. In the past few days, Zhu Ciyan intentionally or unintentionally sent people to inquire about it, and Li Gong mobilized his friends in the Jin Yiwei to investigate, so they basically figured out everything about Fan Yongdou's mansion, from the layout of the courtyard to the deployment of guards, which led to tonight's action.

  Time waits for no man, and I won't resort to such extreme measures. If I had the money, I'd do what Zhu Ciwen wants me to do, but that's absolutely impossible!

  Within the system, it's impossible to make a move, the crown prince has no right to interfere with foreign affairs. These days, after several attempts at persuasion and probing, the final result is nothing but a failure!

  Then, I can only go myself...

  Though thousands of miles away, I will go...

  The place where the crowd was climbing was exactly at the junction of the inner and outer courtyards. The outer house had many stewards, servants, and household slaves. Although it was not allowed for wealthy families in the capital to keep armor and hold weapons, nor were they allowed to train their servants, but during the end times, rules became lax. A super merchant like the Fan family would have at least several dozen or even hundreds of guards. Most of these people were in the outer courtyard, and some were on patrol around the mansion with lanterns. Just as Zhu Cuiyun and others arrived, they had just passed by a night patrol team, which is why they were able to arrive safely.

  Wang Yuan was the first to land on the ground in the inner courtyard, and behind him was Li Gong. At the gate of the courtyard, there were two men guarding the door, leaning against the wall and keeping watch. As soon as they landed, they rushed forward quickly, taking advantage of the weak light from the lanterns not far away. The two men pounced like tigers, almost simultaneously stretching out their hands to cover the mouths of the men who were dozing off with their heads lowered.

  Zhu Ciwen had just climbed over the wall when he saw Wang Yuan's right hand raised high, the dagger shining brightly in the moonlight. Almost without any hesitation, it was thrust into the throat of the guard at the Fan residence.

  In the darkness, the color of blood was particularly striking. The man struggled desperately, but Wang Yuan held him down tightly. A tall and sturdy man was seen struggling in Wang Yuan's arms, half a minute later, he went limp and fell asleep, his two legs twitched for a while before finally becoming still.

  Whether in past life or present, Zhu Ciwen had never seen a murder before. At first, he thought it was just like watching a play, but only when those legs suddenly stopped moving did he feel a sudden palpitation, and his forehead, palms, and back were all covered with cold sweat that burst out suddenly.

  This feeling is probably only understood by those who have experienced it personally.

  "This guy is really struggling... " Zhu Ciyan muttered: "So am I..."

  He lightly jumped down the wall, and on the other side, Li Gong also put the people in his arms on the ground, and they had already chosen their deputies to be brave and meticulous. At this moment, they were covering up and moving forward, and each of them held a shiny dagger in their hand!

  "Two people, one group, pounce!"

  When Zhu Ciren and others arrived, the front door of the main hall of the Hou Mansion, as well as the alleys on both sides, were guarded by more than a dozen patrolling guards. In the dark night, there were only a few lanterns that had not been extinguished to provide lighting. Wang Yuan and others took advantage of this faint light to charge forward fiercely. By the time the night watchmen at the Fan Mansion discovered something was amiss, they had already been killed with a single slash to the throat!

  It started with just two military officers who had seen blood and killed people taking action, but soon everyone rushed forward, stabbing with short knives or chopping with small axes. The dull sound of blades entering flesh could be heard, accompanied by one or two brief cries. By the time they had cleared all the guards from the inner courtyard to the surrounding courtyards, everyone's body was stained with blood. Even those imperial guards who had never seen blood before now had sharp eyes and a murderous intent.

  The best warriors are indeed forged only in blood and fire!

  "There's a thief..."

  A noise of one or two sounds startled the night watchman in the west wing of the main hall of the rear residence. After a few coughs, someone came out with a lantern. As soon as he came out, he saw more than ten big men looking over at him, their eyes gleaming with a faint green light. The man was shocked and wanted to shout loudly, but just as he let out a short cry, there was a "hum" sound in front of everyone, and an arrow flew swiftly past the man's neck!

  The triangular arrowhead shone with a cold, cruel light in the faint glow, still bearing a hint of blood red, several drops of blood beads.

  "Let the tiger go, good arrow!"

  Such a divine shot, everyone couldn't help but praise, Ren Shang was squatting on the wall of the courtyard, and really looked like a bloodthirsty tiger.

  Although the shooting was quick, the movement and noise had already been made, and there were voices in the main hall and on both sides of the wing rooms. Someone was striking a flint to make fire, and the sound of lighting lamps could be heard everywhere in the main hall and wing rooms.

  "Wang Yuan, Zhuo Men, Li Gong, you few follow me into the main hall, the rest of you, kill all the people in the side rooms, don't let them call out!"

  At this point, Wang Yuan didn't care about anything else, and with a loud shout, he rushed up the stone steps of the main hall. With his right shoulder, he forcefully crashed into the tightly closed door, causing it to swing open crookedly. Just then, a maidservant came out from inside, born beautiful and lovely, but with a frightened face. She was about to cry out when Wang Yuan didn't even look at her, striking her on the head with one blow, stabbing straight into her throat, and it was all over.

  "Don't..."

  Zhu Ciwen just wanted to say a word of caution against indiscriminate killing of innocent people, but before he could even finish his sentence, he was already shaking his head in bitter laughter.

  They killed their way in, entering the warm pavilion on the east side, and killed two more people. They burst open the door to find the room already brightly lit, with a middle-aged man wearing only his undergarments holding a candle and calmly walking towards them. Suddenly, he was face to face with the fierce Wang Yuan, whose sword was still dripping with fresh blood. The middle-aged man showed no fear, but instead furrowed his brow and said: "Where did this good fellow come from to seek fortune at my, Fan's, place? How much silver or gold do you want? It's all very convenient... Don't kill anyone else, okay?"