The Hong family’s house is located in the east of Liuhe Town. The entire house covers an area of more than 20 acres. They are the most prominent family in Liuhe Town.
Today, the Hong family held a ancestor worship ceremony, which lasted almost the entire day from morning until sunset. At night, when the worship ceremony was over, the entire Hong family was brightly lit, bustling with people, and a grand banquet was held, making it extremely lively.
Even outside Liuhe Town, one can see the brilliant lights in the Hong family's mansion.
In a dining room in the backyard of the Hong family's mansion, the old man of the Hong family, Hong Chengshou, Hong Tao, Hong Tao's father Hong Ding, Hong Tao's third uncle Hong Fan, and Hong Tao's fourth uncle Hong Rong sat together at the same table, eating while waiting for Hong An to come back.
Mr. Hong Chengshou has four sons and two daughters. His two daughters are already married, so his four sons were named "Stability and Prosperity" respectively to symbolize Mr. Hong's expectations for the future of the Hong family.
Hong Tao's uncle Hong An and third uncle Hong Fan usually manage the Hong family's business in Yuntao County, which is adjacent to Qinghe County. The Hong family's business in Yuntao County is not big, but also not small. There are more than 400 acres of land and two oil noodle workshops. This business in Yuntao County was built by Grandpa Hong when he was in charge, relying on the reputation of Hong Tao's grandfather.
Hong Tao's father, Hong Ding, was the head of the Liuhe Town. Although he had no rank or rank, he was also a man who had the final say in Liuhe Town. Hong Tao's fourth uncle, Hong Rong, worked as a clerk in the criminal investigation office of Qinghe County.
Hong Tao's elder aunt and younger aunt, one married to Pingxi County City, and the other married to a wealthy family in another town in Qinghe County. Grandpa Hong had two brothers of this generation, who were Hong Tao's two uncles. When the family was divided with Grandpa Hong, they could not compete with him, so they were separated. Both of them are in Pingxi County City. One opened an inn and the other opened a cloth shop. The uncle who opened the cloth shop had lost all his family property because of his gambling addiction. His wife ran away, and his family fell into poverty. He has not been heard from for many years. The uncle who opened the inn and his family lived a well-off life and were doing well, but it seemed that because he had a disagreement with Grandpa Hong in the past, after the separation, they had less contact with the Hong family in Liuhe Town.
Today, when offering sacrifices to the ancestors, Mr. Hong couldn't help but think of the past of the Hong family. He felt a little emotional and chattered about family matters at the dinner table, expressing his feelings that the current situation of the Hong family was hard-won.
After saying this, Mr. Hong looked at the empty chair beside the table, then looked at the sky outside, and frowned slightly, "Why hasn't Hong An come back yet?"
The room was full of core figures of the Hong family, so everyone could speak their mind. Hong Tao stood out among this generation of the Hong family and was the only one who could still be on the stage. Unlike his cousins, each of them was either mediocre, addicted to alcohol and sex, or unable to endure hardship, and were not good at martial arts. Therefore, Mr. Hong had high hopes for Hong Tao. After the initial test in national martial arts, he could also participate in these confidential matters of the Hong family, and be trained by Mr. Hong as the successor of the Hong family.
"Maybe it will take some time for that person to do his job. After all, Baizhang Mountain is not small. If the blacksmith Yan's son really goes into the forest, I'm afraid it will be difficult to find him for a while. It will take some time to finish the job!" Hong Ding also looked at the sky outside. "If my brother doesn't come back in another two sticks of incense, I will let Manager Yan take people to meet him!"
"Hmm..." Mr. Hong nodded, his face gloomy, "After we do this, those people in Liuhe Town who are waiting to see our Hong family make a fool of themselves can stop for a while. The foundation left to us by our ancestors cannot be lost in our hands. When Hong Tao advances to a warrior in the future, our Hong family's position in Liuhe Town can be maintained for another fifty years."
“Father is right. The 200 mu of land for raising warriors in Liuhe Town is the foundation of our Hong family’s fortune in Liuhe Town. We can’t let outsiders take it away no matter what. That young brat from the Yan family wants to become a warrior, hum... hum... then we can wait until he is reincarnated in the future!” The one who said this with a sneer was Hong Rong. Hong Rong looked four points similar to old man Hong, but his face was longer, his eyes were like slits, and his lips were as thin as paper. He looked like a scheming person.
At the dinner table, Hong Rong was the only person wearing an official uniform. This official uniform was nothing in the Criminal Investigation Office, but in the eyes of ordinary people in Liuhe Town, it had great power. Hong Rong knew very well what this official uniform represented in the eyes of ordinary people in Liuhe Town, so every time Hong Rong returned to Liuhe Town, he would deliberately wear the dark brown official uniform he wore in the County Criminal Investigation Office.
The 200 mu of land for nurturing warriors in Liuhe Town are all excellent irrigated fields by the Liuhe River. This piece of land was awarded to Hong Tao's grandfather when he was promoted to a warrior. According to the regulations of the Han Empire, the land for nurturing warriors is not completely regarded as the asset of the Hong family. The Hong family only has the right to use and benefit from the land. After the death of Hong Tao's grandfather, the Hong family has not produced a warrior for three generations, and the blessing of warriors has been cut off. If someone in Liuhe Town is promoted to a warrior at this time, then the 200 mu of land for nurturing warriors in Liuhe Town will be awarded to the new warrior.
The Yangshitian was originally a project of the Han Empire to encourage good governance among the people. However, it is easier said than done. At this time, asking the Hong family to give up those 200 acres of prime irrigated land would be like cutting flesh from the Hong family. Not only that, because the Yangshitian was tax-free, a lot of land that the Hong family had occupied and acquired in the town over the years were all put under the name of Yangshitian through some means. Once the Hong family lost the title of Yangshitian, Qinghe County would re-clarify the land in Liuhe Town, and the means by which the Hong family had evaded taxes over the years would no longer work. They would have to spend a large sum of money to pay taxes every year. This was completely unacceptable to the Hong family, who had been accustomed to bullying in Liuhe Town.
In addition to raising scholars' fields, if other warrior families appeared in Liuhe Town, according to the regulations of the Han Empire, Hong Tao's father's position as a village head would also be lost.
It is precisely because of this that the Hong family regards the Yan family as a thorn in their side and will never allow any other family in Liuhe Town to produce warriors except the Yan family. As soon as Yan Liqiang shows signs of advancing to a warrior, the Hong family will destroy this trend even if it means spending a lot of money to hire a desperado.
"That Yan Liqiang is a bit strange. I went to Huanglong County a few days ago to inquire about him and the Lu family. There are rumors everywhere in Huanglong County that he got a method of curing drowning people from a god in a dream, which is moxibustion on the navel. He saved the grandson of the old man of the Lu family with this method and established a relationship with the Lu family. Now his reputation in Huanglong County is getting bigger and bigger, and even people in other counties know about his method of saving people. But at this time, the Lu family can only protect him for a while, but not for his whole life!" Hong Fan took a sip of wine and said, shaking his head.
"What kind of god taught me this in a dream? I think Yan Liqiang just got lucky. I don't know where he stole the skills from, but he learned this method and even made such a big name for himself outside..." Hong Tao said maliciously. From childhood to adulthood, he was not happy with Yan Liqiang. Yan Liqiang had a reputation in Huanglong County and was traveling more and more, which made him jealous and crazy.
Several key figures of the Hong family were talking in the house. Suddenly, a panicked voice came from outside, "There's a fire, there's a fire, everyone, go put it out..."
As the servant's voice came, a panic sound was heard outside, and at the same time a fiery red light was reflected in from the doors and windows of the room.
When they heard that the house was on fire, everyone in the room could not sit still all of a sudden. What rich families fear most is fire. No matter how big a house or how much wealth they have, sometimes, a fire can burn it all down.
Old Master Hong was the first to leave the room. He pushed the door open and walked out to the middle of the yard. The others quickly followed him out.
In the yard near the Hong family's firewood room, flames shot up into the sky, thick smoke filled the air, and there was a tendency for the flames to spread.
"Grandpa, it's bad, there's a fire in the woodshed..." The Hong family's steward ran over and said in panic.
"I'm not blind, why do I need you to tell me?" Old Master Hong shouted angrily, "Why is there such a big fire in the woodshed? Who started it? Don't you know that you should take good care of the candles during the memorial service at home today?"
"I... I don't know who made it!" said the housekeeper.
"What are you still standing here for? Go and put out the fire..." Old Master Hong angrily slapped the steward.
“Yes... yes..." The steward lowered his head and was about to turn around and leave. The moment he turned around, he suddenly felt some liquid splashed on his face. The steward reached out and wiped it, and found that the liquid was red, like blood. He looked up curiously and saw that there was an arrow stuck in the mouth of Mr. Hong who was standing in front of him. The arrow was completely embedded in Mr. Hong's mouth, with only a piece of arrow feather sticking out.
Mr. Hong stared with his eyes wide open and fell backwards with his body straight.
Another arrow shot at him, and before he could react, Hong Ding, the chief of Liuhe Town, was pierced through the chest by an arrow. Hong Ding screamed and fell to the ground...
The remaining people of the Hong family finally reacted. Hong Fan screamed in fear and turned around to run into the room.
However, just as Hong Fan turned around and took a step forward, a sharp arrow flew over and pierced directly through his back, killing him on the spot.
Three people from the Hong family were shot dead in the blink of an eye.
Hong Rong fell to the ground, crawling and rolling, and hid behind the flower bed in the yard, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Hurry up, someone's killing someone, someone's killing someone..."
…
(End of this chapter)