After dark, the mansion of Hu Mingzong, a famous great merchant in Jeju City, was brightly lit and guests kept visiting him because today was his fiftieth birthday.

Although the officials in the city came to congratulate him in person due to their bad status, they ordered their subordinates to give their wishes. As for other businessmen, they were all present. There were dozens of banquets in the front yard of the Hu family, and hundreds of guests gathered together to celebrate his birthday. For this reason, the Hu family even specially invited a famous opera troupe in Shandong to perform a grand drama for three days. It was really lively.

However, in addition to this lively and joyful birthday scene, in the study room of the Hu family's third courtyard, the birthday star Hu Mingzong could not see a hint of joy on his face. Instead, he frowned deeply and looked at the men with a strong body and fierce face in front of him, saying: "Brother Cao and others would not be late for the New Year and the Festival in the past, and they would not be late for my birthday today. Why did it come today but not yet? Did they encounter any changes on the road?"

No one would have thought that Hu Mingzong, a famous merchant in Jeju City, always likes to repair bridges and roads and do good deeds. When encountering disasters, he would spend a lot of money to help the local poor. He was the leader of the horse thief who had been causing trouble in Jeju for many years and had at least hundreds of innocent lives. And today, in addition to those who came to celebrate his birthday, there were actually many of his accomplices and bandits.

Just when someone wanted to comfort him not to worry too much, a man with a scar on his face said, "Boss Hu, earlier today, I was walking with Brother Cao and the other three, and split up in Qingdian Town, which is only twenty miles away. They planned to go find some good things to pay their birthday to you after they had played hard, but was it delayed?"

"It's not enough to spend so much time even if you want to find a fat sheep. And it's already this time. Could it be that they really encountered some hard ideas?" A man with white face and slightly bearded frowned and said, "We have our eyes and ears in Qingdian Town, maybe..."

Before he could finish his words, a knock on the door suddenly came from outside the closed door: "Master, there is a brother named Chen Dong who is anxious to see you, saying that something big happened."

"Boss, Chen Dong is our eyes and ears in Qingdian Town. I'm afraid that Cao Laosi and the others have made some mistakes there." The man immediately made a guess, and there was no need for him to say anything. Hu Mingzong had already spoken immediately: "Let him come in and speak!" As the door opened, more than ten pairs of eyes immediately fell on the black and thin man who looked completely farmer in the door.

Chen Dong was glared by these people, his heart trembled, and his body trembled for a while, and then he hurriedly bowed: "I have seen Boss Hu... Boss, Brother Cao and others lost their hands during the day, and they fell into the hands of the people in the government. Now they are still imprisoned in Qingdian Town. I heard that he will be escorted to the city early tomorrow morning."

"What?" Even though it was expected, after hearing this report, the men changed their faces. The white-faced man asked anxiously: "What's going on? We haven't heard of the mobilization of troops in the Jeju Prefecture these two days, or did the official troops from other places just happen to meet them?"

"If you go back to the military advisor, Brother Cao and others were taken down by several passing officials. They were not local officials of our Jeju Prefecture." Chen Dong immediately told everything he knew. Although he was not in the tavern at that time, he still knew about Sun Tu and others' arrest of Cao Xinxiong and the other two.

After listening to his story, everyone showed an incredible expression, and the impatient one even said loudly: "This is impossible! There are only four or five government eagles claws, among which there is a girl. How could they be able to take down Brother Cao's Sierra? Forget others, how could they be arrested with Brother Cao's martial arts? Tell me honestly, how many hundred official troops are in the town now?"

"Just... there are only six or seven passers-by at most, and there are only three or five people from the government here. I dare not hide anything about this matter." Chen Dong was a little nervous when he asked, and quickly explained.

Seeing that he was going to say something else, the white-faced military advisor had already set off: "Forget it, Lao Qi, don't worry, it seems that he is telling the truth. Boss, Cao Lao Si and the others have indeed encountered tough tricks this time. After all, they can also have powerful roles in the government. He is just unlucky."

Emperor Hu Mingzong had recovered his calmness at this time. He heard this and nodded with a dark face and said, "Bai Lao Er is right. Chen Dong and I will not lie to me in such a big matter for many years. Er Er, what do you think we should do next?"

Before Bai Kuan, who was their think tank, responded, two brothers shouted in a hurry: "Boss, what else can I think about? Our brothers will naturally be saved when they fall into the hands of the government."

"Of course I know to save them, but the question now is how to save people!" Hu Mingzong glared at the two brothers with anger, then looked at Bai Kuan and said, "Will they wait until they bring the people to the city before taking action, or to rob them in front of them? If it were the latter, would we go to Qingdian Town to grab people, or set up an ambush halfway?"

As the leader of this group of horse thieves, Hu Mingzong could not be a reckless person, and his thoughts were naturally more detailed than other brothers. As a think tank military advisor, he saw things more profoundly. He only thought for a moment and said, "We can't wait for Cao Laosi and others to rescue him after entering the city. One way we can't guarantee that they will definitely come to the capital city, maybe they are just talking. After all, Chen Dong said that they also have an official background, and those who took us might take people to their state and city yamen to ask for me. Secondly, even if they really took people to the capital city, we would not have a great chance, and it might even bring trouble to the boss."

After pausing, he said again: "As for interception on the road, there is also a problem. They will not follow our expectations, whether it is time or route. There is only one official road from Qingdian Town to Fucheng, but there are several mountain roads. Once they choose to take the small road, it will be difficult to save people. Therefore, while they stay in Qingdian Town overnight, killing them to save people is the best choice."

The brothers immediately agreed: "The military advisor's words are the most reasonable. Boss, we will set out now. This time we not only need to rescue the fourth brother and the others, but also to slaughter Qingdian Town to let the people of the government know how powerful we are!"

Hu Mingzong looked at Bai Kuan, and after seeing him nodding, he slapped the coffee table and said, "Just do this. We have been so peaceful these days that the government dared to attack our brothers. It is time for them to know how powerful we are." As he said that, he stood up and wanted to take people out.

But then Bai Kuan got up and stopped him: "Brother, let's wait. There are so many guests in the mansion now. It will only make people suspicious if you take people out like this. It would be better to wait until the second anniversary of the emperor disperse, and it will be not too late for us to leave the city again. In this way, when we arrived in Qingdian Town, it was the third and fourth anniversary, and it was also the time when they were most vulnerable, and it would be easier to succeed."

"Okay, let's do as you wish. You all will be patient for a while and go to the front to fill your stomach. Remember to drink less. I sent the guests away and then left the city to save people around the second day." Hu Mingzong waved his hand and ordered. The men were most convinced, and immediately agreed, then they all dispersed and ran to the front yard to find food.

Only Bai Kuan, who turned around, still had a strange look on his face. He was always a little uneasy, and always felt that it was a bit too smooth for Chen Dong to come to the city from Qingdian Town so easily. Didn’t the other party know Cao Xinxiong and the others’ true identity? But for a moment, he couldn’t explain this concern to others, so he could only rely on his hopes, so he thought too much.

Hu Mingzong was still not patient enough. After only one update, he had already made an excuse to send all the people in the city who came here to celebrate his birthday. Before the second update, he and more than 20 brothers changed into more combat-friendly uniforms, brought bows, arrows, swords and guns and other weapons, pulled horses and came out of the side door of his house, quietly left Jeju Prefecture City, and then galloped all the way to Qingdian Town twenty miles away.

Half an hour later, the group had arrived in front of Qingdian Town. Under the faint light of the stars and moons, they saw the town completely shrouded in darkness. Everyone's eyes flashed with murderous intent, and there was no need for Hu Mingzong to issue orders. These people had already taken the bow and arrow, and then squeezed the horse's belly with both legs. With just two legs, they had already controlled the horse's horse to rush forward at high speed, and blew into this completely unguarded town like a gust of wind.

While they rushed in from the east end of the town, the leading horse thieves had already pulled the bows without hesitation and shot arrows into the houses on both sides through the window. Whether it was ambushing the government troops or only ordinary people, they had only one idea, that was, to kill everyone.

More than 20 horse thieves were rushing forward under the leadership of Hu Mingzong, and constantly shooting arrows into the houses and shops on both sides of the road. But what surprised them was that after the arrows were shot in, there was no unexpected scream or scream inside, and no one was so scared that they fled out. This made the horse thieves who had already pressed their hands on their waist knife and felt powerful and had nowhere to do it.

Seeing this, Bai Kuan felt more and more uneasy. Just when he wanted to remind everyone to pay attention to something, the brother who rushed to the front turned around suddenly pointed to a blank space at the turn in front of the right and shouted: "What is that... it's the fourth brother and the others!"

Everyone followed closely and turned around and happened to see a bonfire lit there. There were three tied people struggling and wriggling there next to the fire. Although their mouths were tied to cover most of their faces, they still recognized their identities at a glance - it was Cao Xinxiong and the other three!

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Chapter completed!