135

There's a fire.

Looking at the column of smoke rising in the distance, Ning Fu sneered.

He actually guessed wrong. The person who planned all this wanted more than just a feud between the Lu and Ye families.

Two prominent families were assassinated one after another, and a fire broke out in the city. If some people spread rumors that the straw raincoat thieves had entered the city to burn, kill and loot, it would probably immediately cause unrest among the people.

Countless wealthy people are fleeing, and the city gates are no longer safe. When the straw raincoat bandits really lead their troops to attack, who can still defend the Tingzhou government?

All his calculations came to nothing, and there was no possibility of a comeback.

We can't stay in this place anymore!

Ning Fu immediately came up with a plan. He turned to look at Young Master Ye, who had just come to his senses, and said sternly, "Young Master Ye, I'm afraid this is a riot by bandits. They're going to cause trouble in the city. Please return home as soon as possible and ask your father to be on guard!"

Ye Huaiyan naturally saw the thick smoke in the distance. When he heard Ning Fu say this, his face turned pale and he said anxiously, "What about the Lu family..."

Ning Fu said, "Since both families were attacked, I think only the Lu family can guess who the real culprit is."

This was naturally just a perfunctory remark. If he was planning something, he would definitely leave some traces to prevent the Ye family from escaping.

After all, Ye Huaiyan was not even hurt, but a key figure in the Lu family really died.

Besides, Ye Dan had dealt with rebellions in the clan before, so the news that some people in the Ye family opposed the alliance could not be hidden.

If things really get out of hand, there's no way they'll end.

With Ning Fu's promise, Ye Huaiyan immediately felt relieved and hurriedly said, "Thank you, Mr. Ning, for your guidance! Ah, Mr. Ning is injured, why don't you come back with me?"

Ning Fu wanted to smile, but a sudden twitch on his cheek made the smile become a little distorted. "My people are going to track down the assassin, so they will have to stay here for a while."

Looking at the slightly ferocious face, Ye Huaiyan closed his mouth.

A ruthless character like Ning Fu would never let go after suffering a loss. However, half of this was due to his poor protection. Ye Huaiyan could only smile and say, "That kid will go first. These few people are quite skilled. You can use them as you like."

As he spoke, Ye Huaiyan picked out a few from the guards and kept them.

It's said to be protection, but it also means to be on guard against Ning Fu's secret tricks. After all, he is a famous ghost scholar, and we have to be on guard against him.

Feeling that the arrangements were safe, Ye Huaiyan did not stay any longer and hurried away under the protection of a group of people.

Ning Fu didn't take this little thought to heart at all and turned his head to look into the distance again.

To him, Tingzhou City was no longer important, and whether the Lu and Ye families formed an alliance or not was also irrelevant. What he was concerned about was the origin and identity of the group of assassins.

Those are not members of the Suoyi Gang. The Suoyi Gang came here to disrupt Tingzhou City. Even if they didn't kill Ye Huaiyan, they should have targeted him.

But the group of people just now wanted to kill him. Ning Fu asked himself if he had any connection with the Suoyi Gang. Who would know his identity and want to get rid of him?

Ning Fu curled his lips into a sneer. Apart from the imperial court, the only people in this world who hated him to death were probably the people who occupied the South China Sea. The Red Flag Gang should have sent people to Tingzhou a long time ago.

No wonder the assassin acted so boldly. He had carefully analyzed every battle of the Red Flag Gang since its rise, and the young gang leader was indeed a decisive and resolute person.

Wait, the assassin who attacked us before was also short in stature. Could it be the gang leader himself?

As soon as this thought came to his mind, Ning Fu shook his head.

The assassin's eyes were not like those of a young man. Instead, they revealed something that even he could not understand.

We still have to catch the person and give him a thorough trial.

Just as he was thinking about it, the group of men who had captured the assassin hurried back. Seeing the appearance of everyone, Ning Fu frowned and asked, "Did they lose him?"

Seeing his military advisor's anger, the team leader quickly said, "We lost the assassin's trail in a back alley. I'm afraid he climbed over the wall into the courtyard, making it difficult to track him down."

Ning Fu said coldly: "Where is it? Take me to see it."

The little leader couldn't help but advise: "Military Advisor, the city is on fire. Should we find a place first..."

Before he could finish his words, he was stared back into his stomach by the blood-stained snake eyes. The little leader didn't dare to say a word and obediently led his men back the way they came.

The city is now in chaos. When a group of men with knives walk on the street, no one dares to approach them.

Arriving at the destination smoothly, Ning Fu stared at the alley for a long time, and suddenly said, "Lift the cover of the canal!"

The young leader was startled and hurriedly did as he was told. When he lifted the stone slab, he was shocked: "The assassins changed their clothes and escaped!"

There was a pile of clothes in the canal. What else could it be? The assassin must have changed his clothes and escaped.

But this group of people moved too quickly. Could it be that they had someone to support them?

Ning Fu snorted softly, "Did you see any vehicles when you came? There were about ten people surrounding them, not just horses or cattle."

The small leader thought hard for a long time before he said awkwardly, "There really isn't a similar carriage. But there was a family of women passing by, with a few servants following their carriage."

Ning Fuyi raised his eyebrows: "How do you know there are women in the car?"

"I saw it. The woman in the car lifted the curtain. She looked pretty good..." The little leader suddenly stopped talking. Wait, isn't this what the military advisor said?

Ning Fu ignored him, but lowered his head. Without the folding fan in his hand, his fingertips twitched slightly, and he suddenly laughed: "It's actually a girl."

A quick search of his memory brought back an incident. During their private conversation in Hibiscus Garden, on their way out, he'd seen a maid searching for something. Because she'd disturbed them, Ye Huaiyan had asked a few questions. The person who answered was Xiao's maid. But whose family was the little girl who followed her, head bowed and silent? Why had she not searched earlier or later, but had blocked their path?

In an instant, those cold eyes came to mind again. They were indeed not the eyes of a young man, but if they were those of a woman, would she have such eyes?

The poisonous hatred in his chest suddenly turned into curiosity at this moment, making Ning Fu want to laugh out loud.

"Interesting, interesting." He said twice, and suddenly raised his head, "Kill those burdens."

The order came too suddenly and was too vague. Before Ye's guards could react, they were chopped down by the Changjing Gang's men.

After killing all the Ye family members, the little leader whispered, "Military Advisor, are we going to get rid of the Ye family?"

"A discarded pawn is useless." Ning Fu snorted coldly, "Let's find a place first. I need to find out some things."

Anyway, his real purpose has been achieved. After suffering such a huge loss, Lu has to use his tricks and borrow the navy regardless of Ye's request or not.

Falling out with the Ye family is not a bad thing. We can bypass the Qingfeng Gang and attack the Chiqi Gang directly.

But before taking action, he had to find out the identity of the woman who tried to assassinate him.

He had to find a way to repay the "favor" of this knife...

The smile on his lips grew wider, dragging down the bloody scar, making it look a bit hideous.

…

At this moment, the city gate was already crowded with people. The first people to know the news were merchants, and carts and cars had almost blocked the road.

The captain guarding the city was furious and shouted at the crowd, "The city gates are closing, wait! Stop pushing! If you keep pushing, I'll put you all in jail!"

However, these scoldings were of no use, as a team of strong servants pushed through the crowd, came to the door, and handed something over.

"A distinguished guest of the Xiao family?" The captain was surprised when he took the seal. He looked up at the carriages behind him. In the blink of an eye, another gold leaf was stuffed into his palm.

What are you still hesitating about? He ordered his men to push the crowd aside to make way for the cars, and the captain opened the door and let them pass.

There was no search, not even a pretense. This was Xiao's guest, so why bother? Seeing the curtains lifted and the beautiful woman inside nodding slightly at him, the captain couldn't help but smile back. Then he remembered that he seemed to have forgotten to announce his name.

Alas, what a pity!

As the convoy marched out of the city gate, Sun Yuanrang finally breathed a sigh of relief. The group of people, like hundreds of merchants fleeing the city, carried their luggage, boarded the ship and set sail.

The two salt ships sailed out of the port smoothly and escaped from the city that was burning.

…

Standing on the terrace in the courtyard, looking at the flames, Xiao Lin's expression was not very good. After a long while, he finally asked, "Has Madam Jiang left the city?"

This had clearly been reported, but the steward didn't dare delay and immediately said, "They just left. I heard the ships have left the port."

"That's a good trick..." Xiao Lin sighed deeply, the feeling in his heart was really indescribable.

At this point, how could he not know that Madam Jiang and the Suoyi Gang had some connections? If he had just followed his instructions, the assassination of the Lu family's son would have been successful. But as it turned out, both sides launched an assassination attempt and set an entire street on fire. Although the Xiao family was not seriously affected, chaos in the city was inevitable.

The two most powerful families in Tingzhou were assassinated at the same time, and one of them actually died. Who wouldn't be terrified and feel threatened? The crowds leaving the city were unstoppable.

"Master, what should we do now?" the steward asked carefully.

"Tell everyone to pack their bags and leave the city tomorrow." With such a big commotion, it's probably only a matter of time before the straw raincoat bandits attack the city. The Xiao family also has a manor, so why should they stay in the city and defend it to the death? Anyway, with this commotion, the Lu and Ye families will definitely not be able to form an alliance. He has already achieved his wish and doesn't care about anything else.

However, the background of the Jiang family in Miancheng is probably even deeper than he thought. When Mrs. Jiang sends someone again, he will have to be careful.

It would be a good thing if I could get close to a wealthy man on the sea.

Thinking of this, Xiao Lin's mood barely improved. He stopped looking at the fire and turned around to arrange matters in the mansion.

Like the Xiao family, countless wealthy families in Tingzhou were packing their bags, planning to flee at night.

But there was one person who was calmly deploying personnel and collecting information.

"Jiang from Miancheng?" Ning Fu had changed into a snow-white gown and held a brand new folding fan, returning to his usual demeanor. Unfortunately, he had a scarf wrapped around his face, which made him look rather ridiculous.

But at this time, no one dared to laugh.

The small leader below hurriedly said, "They are using the Jiang family's name. I heard their name is Jiang Yue Niang. They signed a grain transport contract with the Xiao family."

"Transporting grain?" Ning Fu shook his head. "They're really prepared for a rainy day. It seems his identity might not be real."

The Red Flag Gang's food supply depends on Lu Jian, and Lu Jian's base is in Hepu. This is to prevent the Long Whale Gang from cutting off the food supply and disrupting their supply.

Ning Fu was completely certain this time that the other party must have been sent by the Red Flag Gang. However, he did not expect that the leader was actually a woman. He didn't know whether she was the sister or concubine of the young gang leader.

But identity was not important. Ning Fu laughed and said, "It's rude not to reciprocate. I must find an opportunity to meet this Madam Jiang again."

There was nothing sinister about that smile; instead, it was full of contentment and contained a certain amount of genuine anticipation.

The little leader immediately lowered his head and dared not say another word.