Prince Li You of the Great Tang Dynasty begs the noble families to their deaths!

This Fan A-Liu was one of Zhao Hongliang's subordinates.

On the day the attack was launched, this man was sent by Zhao Hongliang to inform the monk Yuanjue. As a result, by a twist of fate, he escaped the calamity.

"How could a perfectly healthy person just disappear like that? This whole thing is strange."

"It wasn't just my brothers; their families vanished overnight, as if they'd been taken away by the King of Hell. Elder, do you really believe that there are immortals, Buddhas, ghosts, and monsters in this world...?"

"I am a Buddhist practitioner. Buddhas are everywhere in this world, and everyone can become a Buddha. Do you understand?"

"I understand, I understand. You mean, it was the Buddhas who took Brother Zhao away?"

Monk Yuanjue glared fiercely at Fan A-liu, who immediately shut his mouth and dared not say another word.

"Let me sort this out. You first set your sights on Huang's Woodworking Shop's recipe, planning to kidnap Boss Huang. But that night, you didn't get the recipe, and your men disappeared, didn't you?"

"That's right, exactly."

"And when did their family members disappear?"

"Uh... wait a minute, their family... shouldn't have disappeared for another two days!"

How did you know?

"I... this..."

"Why are you stammering? Just spit it out."

"I...I'm having an affair with Liao Jiuying's wife, so...so I know."

It turned out that after his brother left, Fan A-Liu had a conversation with his sister-in-law.

After the exchange, Liao Jiuying's wife was "tricked" into joining Huang Chao's army under Li You's command. She then reunited with Liao Jiuying, and the whole family helped Li You build the stronghold, giving their lives a new meaning.

While fiddling with his prayer beads, the monk Yuanjue slowly said, "So, it must be a group of people who first took Zhao Hongliang away, and then kidnapped his family. Strange, which bastard did this, and why? No, no, no, that's not right, these people should already be dead!"

"Elder... is it possible that Boss Huang was behind this?"

"Boss Huang...you just said this person is from out of town and just arrived?"

"Judging from his accent, he must be from the north."

"I've used the charcoal from Boss Huang's shop before; it certainly burns very well. Fan A-Liu, what kind of junk did you guys produce back then?"

"Elder, we only took action because of their charcoal-making recipe!"

"What, you think you're right?"

"this……"

Monk Yuanjue sighed.

Zhao Hongliang and his fifty-odd men had always been the henchmen of Monk Yuanjue.

They did a lot of things for Yuanjue, both openly and secretly, and also secretly killed many people.

Now that we've lost those fifty-odd people, some of our work is becoming more difficult.

Especially the shops within a radius of several miles around the temple, whose monthly protection fees to Zhao Hongliang have been uncollected for several days now.

These shops are actually the property of Yunju Temple. The shop owners have to pay rent to the temple every month, and after paying the rent, they have to pay protection money to Zhao Hongliang in order to ensure peace and tranquility.

The rent was 300 coins per month, and the protection fee was 700 coins per month, totaling 1000 coins. Many shops had their stores smashed by Zhao Hongliang because they couldn't pay this fee; it was truly a Tang Dynasty version of the "kill line."

"Fan A-Liu, Zhao Hongliang is gone now. Quickly gather another group of people and collect the temple's tax payments from those shops. As for Huang's Carpentry Shop, keep a close eye on it. If there's anything fishy, ​​inform me immediately. We're not after a day or two to get revenge; we need to find the victim first. I'll think about this matter some more."

"Okay, I'll get right on it!"

After Fan Ali left, Yuanjue stood up and stretched.

Then, after clapping his hands, several young monks emerged from under the eaves, carrying a sedan chair.

Yuanjue sat in the sedan chair, exited the temple through the back door, then boarded a horse-drawn carriage and headed to the next destination.

He was an extremely busy man, meeting with all sorts of gods and Buddhas every day and arranging all sorts of matters, big and small, in Xiangzhou City.

Jing Song, who was lying on the roof tiles of the Ksitigarbha Hall to spy on the entire temple, saw this scene and immediately followed.

……

A few days later, Zhou Chuji opened the shop door and directed his employees to start doing business.

These men were naturally Zhou Chuji's personal guards.

The beggars and refugees recruited from Xiangzhou City were first sent to work on the mountain. Those placed in the city had to be Huang Chao's soldiers to prevent leaks and unnecessary trouble.

After about an hour of business, a dozen or so idlers started collecting money from each shop, one by one, starting from the first shop at the street corner. Their attitude was arrogant and domineering, as if they were the emperor himself.

Zhou Chuji found it strange and quickly asked the tavern owner next to him.

"Brother Zhang, who are these people?"

"Sigh, it's Zhao Hongliang's men who skim 700 coins from us every month. You're new here, so you don't know."

"700 coins? That's a lot?"

"Doing business in Xiangzhou is like this everywhere, and the price is always the same. As long as you pay 700 cash, everything will be fine. If you don't pay... you can't do business at all, and you might even face the risk of your family being ruined."

"That ruthless?"

"Well, you could say that!"

Zhou Chuji understood the crux of the matter and ordered his soldiers to prepare the allowance. However, he was thinking to himself, "Zhao Hongliang and his henchmen have already been lured to the mountain stronghold by Huang Chao's army. How come they have reappeared?"

Meanwhile, Old Man Lu, who ran a fortune-telling shop, quickly ran to Zhou Chuji's side: "Boss Huang, business is bad this month, and I really can't scrape together 700 coins. Could you lend me 300 coins to tide me over?"

"Old Lu, your divination is completely inaccurate. People are causing trouble for you every day. Isn't it annoying? I advise you to stop divination and go back to retire."

"Boss Huang, you just don't understand. My fortune in this life lies on this very street. Right now, it's just that I'm facing a bit of bad luck due to the influence of Tai Sui, but once July is over, my luck will definitely improve!"

Zhou Chuji smiled, took out 300 coins, and handed them to Old Man Lu.

Before long, Fan A-Liu received a message at the entrance of Huang's Wood Shop.

"Is your shop newly opened?"

"Good, here's 700 coins. Keep it safe."

"Does your family sell charcoal?"

"Yes, if you're interested, you can buy some to try. I guarantee it will work well."

"What if it doesn't work?"

Zhou Chuji glanced at the other person.

Judging from their appearance, they don't seem to have any good intentions!

"My family specializes in making this. Would we sell you something that doesn't fit? Please wait a moment, sir."

Zhou Chuji gave his subordinate a wink, and the latter understood. He took out a piece of charcoal, broke it into pieces, put it in the brazier, and lit the kindling with flint. Soon the charcoal was ignited without a trace of smoke.

Fan A-Liu narrowed his eyes.

Well, you're really something! Your charcoal is indeed very useful, but it's ruined our business! My brother's fate is currently unknown!

"Boss Huang's charcoal is excellent, so his business must be very good."

"Sir, this is probably the first time we've met. How did you know I'm Boss Huang?"

"Doesn't your signboard say 'Huang's Woodworking Shop'?"

"Oh, I didn't expect you to be literate, sir. That's quite rare."

"Stop your nonsense! Since you sell a lot, you should pay more. Give Grandpa another 700 coins!"

Zhou Chuji's expression changed slightly: "Sir, isn't this inappropriate?"

Fan Ali sneered, "Whether it's suitable or not is up to me. Are you going to pay or not?"

Several Huang Chao soldiers standing nearby clenched their fists so tightly that they cracked, seeing Fan Ali repeatedly making things difficult for them.

They were just waiting for Zhou Chuji's order to beat this scoundrel to a pulp.

Zhou Chuji laughed heartily, then took out another 700 coins and handed them to Fan Ali.

"Is that enough now?"

"Hmph, you're smart enough to know what's good for you. I'll take good care of you from now on... Old man Lu, what the hell are you standing there for? The money? Hand it over now!"

"Oh, alright, alright, they're all here, they're all here... Oops, no, no, Little Six, I see your forehead is dark and your complexion is gloomy, I'm afraid something bad is about to happen, you must be careful lately! It's best not to go out, especially at night..."

"Old man Lu, are you asking for a beating?"

"No, Liu Zi, I absolutely didn't say that... Ah, it's okay, it's okay, I misread it, you've been having good luck lately."

……

A "卜肆" was a shop in ancient times that offered divination and fortune telling.

Ancient people were far more superstitious than modern people, so divination was very popular and had a large market.

Old Lu is actually a very capable person; he just sometimes has a lapse in judgment and his calculations are inaccurate.

Most of the time, the calculations are quite accurate.

So, two days later, Fan Ali disappeared mysteriously.

It is said that the last person to see him, Fan Aliu, did so at night.

What's even stranger is that Fan A-Liu and his dozen or so newly recruited brothers all disappeared at the same time.

Not only Fan Ali and his brothers, but their entire families also disappeared.

When the news spread, everyone said that Old Man Lu's predictions were accurate and accurate, that he had brought down a tyrant like Fan Ali.

Lu Laotou's fortune-telling business suddenly boomed, and he quickly paid back the 300 coins he owed Zhou Chuji.

Old Lu himself found this rather strange.

"My luck was supposed to turn around after July, how come it happened earlier? Sigh, life is truly unpredictable..."