ragginovel Chapter 590 Hot Pot (Part 1)
Chapter 590 Hot Pot (Part 1)
Chapter 590 Hot Pot (Part 1)
As the saying goes, two flowers bloom, each telling its own story.
Now that things have come to a temporary end on Shuangxie's side, we'll leave aside for now how they dealt with the demonic blade, how they discussed the plan to rescue Yue Youque with Feng Manlou, and so on.
Having said that, we need to digress a bit and talk about another character from the previous text.
As for his story, it all started in Guangping Prefecture (now Handan City, Hebei Province), where the Murong family's main base is now located.
However, after the "Contest of Heroes" incident a few months ago, the Murong family not only won the right to host the next Young Heroes Tournament on the surface, but also secretly... Murong Shu and his son Murong Xiao unexpectedly obtained the real Silkworm Seeking Ring. It can be said that they gained the biggest advantage both on and off the surface.
However, it is unknown whether things will decline after they have reached their peak, or whether joy will turn to sorrow. Just one month after Murong Shu and his son obtained the Silkworm-Seeking Ring, Murong Shu, the current head of the Murong family who was in the prime of his life, suddenly "died of illness" overnight.
The news caused an uproar throughout the martial arts world, and all sorts of rumors started circulating.
However... because the claim of "illness" was released by the Murong family themselves, and the entire family maintained a consistent story on it, no matter what conspiracy theories emerged from the outside world, they remained mere speculation.
After all, the family members have no objection to the result, so what can you outsiders with no stake in it say?
Well, there are some people who, although they are "outsiders," have "interests" in the Murong family. They will definitely have to react to this matter.
Tonight, four big shots gathered at a small shop hidden deep in the city's alleys and enjoyed hot pot together.
"Hey, what are you looking at? Eat first." Guohua, who said this, was in his early fifties, of medium build, with a square face. At this moment, he was all smiles, his bulbous nose was upturned, his blade-like eyebrows were curved, and his eyes were almost squeezed out by his eye bags.
"Hey~ Mr. Murong is gone, I have to keep an eye on the woods to see what's going on." The man known as "Black Noble" wasn't actually that dark-skinned, but his brows were filled with the fierce aura of a street thug; he was around fifty years old, thinner than Guo Hua, and his hair was already gray.
At this moment, Hei Gui was flipping through some letters in his hand. These were all intelligence gathered by his subordinates recently regarding the movements of various sects in the area after Murong Shu's death.
His words immediately drew a burst of undisguised laughter from the other three people present.
It was as if simply mentioning the death of Murong Shu was enough to make everyone at the table so happy that they lost control of their expressions.
"Hey, Wen Zheng, did you do this?" Hei Gui was clearly no pushover either. Seeing that the atmosphere had reached this point, he immediately turned his gaze to Wen Zheng, the youngest and least senior among the four people present, and asked this very dangerous question in a joking tone.
As soon as he finished speaking, Wen Zheng's smile vanished. Then, while casually adding food to his bowl, he replied with a very serious expression and seemingly casual tone, "I'm a big mouth. If I did it, I would have told everyone in the street by now."
After answering that question, the kid didn't forget to shift the blame. The next second, he pointed to the other two people at the table and said to Hei Gui, "Why don't you ask Guo Hua Gan Di?"
"Oh~ why are you asking me this?" Guohua replied with a joking expression. "Everyone knows that I went to Dongchang Prefecture to discuss business the day the Murong family had their accident. By the time I got the news, the whole city knew about it."
After he finished speaking, Gan Di, the oldest and strongest of the four, also spoke up: "Alright, you guys stop joking around. I, Gan Di, am putting this out there today. Whether Murong Shu really died suddenly from an illness or was killed and his family sent out a fake message to cover things up, it has nothing to do with me. If his family insists on suspecting me, I'm not afraid."
As Gan Di spoke, he stretched out one hand and counted on his fingers, "Hey, just look at those young members of the Murong family. The eldest son is all talk and no action, the youngest son is cunning and stingy, and there's a daughter who only causes trouble for her father... Only the second son is decent, but unfortunately he's a cripple." He paused, "If any of them dare to give me a hard time, I'll deal with them anytime."
As they were chatting, several underlings walked in from outside and passed notes to their respective bosses.
The notes all contained the same message: the four families' lookouts outside had all discovered that "the Murong family is heading this way."
"Hmph... Good thing they came." After reading the note, Gan Di casually threw it into the charcoal fire under the hot pot and burned it. "Some things need to be said face to face. Now that they're here, it saves us the trouble of making another trip."
Seeing Gan Di's arrogant attitude, Wen Zheng seemed to feel the time was right. So he put on his seemingly casual demeanor again, picking up food as he said, "Well... I'm the youngest here, so I'll say what I don't like first..." He paused for two seconds, looking around, "Starting this month, I won't be paying that '30%' from the Murong family." He then gestured with his chopsticks towards the men around him, "What do you three think?"
The words were left on the table, but no one answered.
All four of them put away their smiles and instead exchanged cautious glances with a sly yet tacit understanding.
The silence speaks.
After a brief silence, Hei Gui picked up his glass first: "Come on, cheers!"
The other three also raised their glasses in a toast, and each of them drank their cups heartily, creating a joyful and harmonious scene at the table.
But this joy only lasted for a short while.
Half a quarter of an hour later, the Murong family's group arrived at the entrance of the alley outside the small shop.
The four underlings guarding outside the shop had already received orders not to stop the Murong family. After all, according to the rules, their leaders had not yet officially severed ties with the Murong family, so the Murong family was still their "boss".
Of course, if they turn against each other later, they will definitely swarm forward without hesitation and start slashing at the Murong family members.
beep, beep...
A short while later, one of Guohua's underlings ran in.
"Boss, Young Master Murong... said he'd like to invite you out for a chat."
Guohua didn't even glance at the underling, continuing to devour the hot pot beef in his bowl, and asked with a wide grin, "Which Young Master Murong is this?"
“It’s the second young master, Murong Xiao,” the underling replied, and immediately added, “He also said that it’s not that he’s putting on airs and doesn’t want to come in, but the alley is narrow and the shop entrance is small. He hopes that you, brother, will consider that he is a young man with bad legs and do him a favor.”
Clearly, when Murong Xiao was communicating with this underling, he had already anticipated that the other party might not be able to make an excuse, so he simply included the following part of his message.
"Tsk..." Guohua clicked his tongue, looking quite embarrassed. He then looked up at the other three and said, "Gentlemen... what do you think..."
Wen Zheng was quite cunning; he didn't say anything.
Gan Di and Hei Gui exchanged glances, and finally Gan Di spoke up: "Well... to talk about Ah Xiao, he's usually quite polite to us old guys, and his character is much better than his two brothers. As for his legs... they really are not very agile..."
That's enough for now.
"Okay." Guohua nodded. "Then I'll be right back."
As he spoke, he stood up and beckoned his underling to lead the way.
Go out of the shop, turn a corner, and walk all the way to the alley entrance. It's only a few meters away, just a short walk.
As soon as he stepped out of the alley, Guohua saw Murong Xiao sitting in a wheelchair. There was no one around Xiao, not even the henchmen of the Murong family or the underlings of the "Four Bosses".
This entourage undoubtedly indicates that Ah-Xiao wants to talk to Guo-Hua about something that's best kept quiet...
"What's up, Ah-Xiao?" After shooing away his underling, the straightforward Guo-Hua immediately wanted to get to the point, "Did you come to ask why I haven't received my 30% commission this month yet...?"
“Uncle Guohua,” Murong Xiao interrupted before he could finish, “I know you recently acquired two more gambling dens in Dongchang Prefecture, planning to open two more large gambling houses.” He paused for half a second, then said in a gentle tone, “As for the government, as long as our Murong family intervenes, we can settle things for you immediately. It just depends on whether you are interested in continuing to cooperate with us.”
Guohua hesitated for two seconds, looked at Axiao, raised an eyebrow and said, "Mr. Murong is dead, and I have no interest in anything now."
“Is that so…” Murong Xiao said in a deep voice, “But I heard that on the day you returned from Dongchang Prefecture, you stayed overnight at Suiyu Nunnery in the suburbs and had a long talk with Emperor Gan’s concubine there all night long… You should have already known about my father’s death at that time, right? I don’t think it spoiled your mood at all.”
"You..." Guo Hua's expression immediately changed, but although he was a little anxious, he hadn't lost control. He bit his lower lip slightly, suppressed his anger, and squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth, "Hmph... Do you think Emperor Gan would do this for a woman..."
Murong Xiao knew what he was going to say, so he interrupted him again: "Indeed, if you were only having an affair with one of his concubines, even if Emperor Gan was unhappy, he probably wouldn't break off relations with you over such a small matter. Perhaps... he would even be generous and give the concubine to you."
At this point, Murong Xiao changed the subject again: "But what if, upon learning this news, Emperor Gan becomes enraged and decides to beat that concubine... then do you think that concubine, in order to protect herself, might reveal that Emperor Gan's wife also secretly met with you in a nunnery under the guise of fasting and Buddhist worship?" He lowered his voice slightly, "And what if, just as suddenly, Emperor Gan remembers that his chubby son, whom he has raised for over ten years, was conceived on the exact same day..."
…………
One minute later, inside the small shop.
Guohua walked in dejectedly. He didn't even dare to return to his seat. He just stood at the door, hunched over, and said dejectedly, "I'm sorry, brothers. I... I've already invested a lot in the casino business in Dongchang Prefecture. I can't give up... I'll be leaving now."
After saying that, he turned and left, and his henchmen outside also slunk away with him.
Before the three people inside could stop him, he had already disappeared into the night.
Immediately afterward, before the three of them could react, one of Gan Di's underlings ran in, but he went to Hei Gui's side and said, "Uh... Brother Hei Gui, Young Master Murong said he would like to invite you out for a chat."