There was a thunderclap on the river and a burst of fireworks followed. Even though it was daytime, it was still as beautiful as a flower. Immediately after, countless flags were raised behind the trees on the outskirts of the river and battle cries shook the sky.
In Hibiscus Garden, this building was the tallest. It was three stories high, and they were standing on the highest floor, looking down at their surroundings. The people in Hibiscus Garden were startled and looked around, but they could only hear the battle cries and couldn't see anyone. But they could clearly see from upstairs that many soldiers and horses had suddenly appeared outside the forest; they were the imperial court's officers and soldiers.
Banners fluttered in the wind, swords and spears flashed in the air. One by one, the cavalrymen rode to and fro, surrounding the entire Hibiscus Garden. Amidst the dust and smoke, dozens of elite cavalrymen galloped towards the Hibiscus Garden from the north and south entrances. Who could stop these cavalrymen?
When the scions of the aristocratic families who were scattered around the perimeter saw the soldiers charging towards them, they hesitated and didn't dare to step forward to stop them because they didn't have any intention of rebelling. In addition, their short weapons couldn't block the long spears and halberds of the cavalrymen, so they were immediately scattered.
The people upstairs turned pale with fright!
What Yang Fan threw out was a firecracker.
Firecrackers were also known as fireworks in later generations. They were invented by Li Zhi from Liuyang. He was born in the fourth year of Wude in the Tang dynasty and was later revered as the founder of firecrackers. At present, firecrackers were only popular in the Hunan and Chu regions, but they were also sold in the two capitals and Dafu. Yang Fan now had a bunch of firecrackers that were bought by Maqiao.
Maqiao accidentally lit firecrackers on the Ding Ding Street in Luoyang, causing a fire during the Shangyuan Festival. This incident was still fresh in his memory. When he was strolling in Chang 'an and Xi' an city, he accidentally saw these firecrackers and bought two bundles. Thinking that children liked excitement, he completely forgot that even if his child was born, how could a child who was less than one year old like this kind of loud and shocking thing?
When Yang Fan learned that Princess Taiping had just attended Dugu Ningke's banquet and that he was invited by Dugu Yu, he had some doubts in his heart, so he made some preparations. He had tested this kind of thing in the Gongsun mansion, and it was inevitable that one out of ten would fail. He was worried that it would fail this time, so he hid another one in his right sleeve. Seeing this one explode loudly, he was immediately relieved.
The horses were whistling, the men were shouting. The distance of several dozen zhang was covered in a flash by a fast horse. In an instant, the Furong Tower was surrounded by a group of officers and soldiers. People were shouting and horses neighing, iron hooves were trampling on the ground, long spears were leaping in the air, the momentum was terrifying.
The corner of Yang Fan's mouth curved with a hint of disdain. He looked at the pale-faced Lu Zhongjia, then at the bewildered Lu Binzhi, and said with a cold smile, "Look at you grandfather and grandson. You two act so majestic, as if the life and death of everyone in the world is in your hands. You don't care about the Emperor, you don't care about the common people, when have you ever cared about anyone else? Millennium family? The great aristocratic families that had been passed down for thousands of years were only there because they had a deep foundation and a long history. It didn't mean that they could be the ancestors of the world! You! "
Yang Fan poked Lu Zhongjia's nose with a finger, "You are high up above, with no one in your eyes, looking at the common people like ants. Do you really think that you can control the whole world? My army is just downstairs. Your private soldiers are highly skilled in martial arts, and their weapons are exquisite. Do you have the guts to fight against the elite soldiers on the battlefield? Hmm? "
How would Lu Zhongjia dare? As long as he fought, he would immediately become a traitor. Moreover, with the martial arts of the pugilistic world, he might not be a match for the killing formation of the soldiers.
"You can, you can, or you can!"
Yang Fan's finger poked from Lu Zhongjia's nose to Lu Binzhi, then swept his gaze over the panicking guards under him, and commented with disdain, "Ignorant arrogance!"
Li Mubai could no longer care about his ancient Han and Jin style, and asked anxiously, "Yang Langzhong, what do you want?"
Yang Fan said in a clear voice, "Killing an official is equivalent to rebelling! The lad of the Lu family gathered people and hid soldiers, intending to kill an official of the imperial court. This is a crime punishable by death! "
"Crossbows and bows are weapons prohibited by the common people. Hiding them is equivalent to rebelling. Not only are these people hiding crossbows, they are not privately made crossbows, but military crossbows. Where did the military crossbows come from? For commoners to hide military crossbows, if not for rebelling, then for what? This is another crime punishable by death! "
Yang Fan turned to Great Elder Li, and said word by word, "This Yang does not want to do anything. Since I am enforcing the law for the country, I will naturally act according to the law! Those who have committed two crimes punishable by death naturally deserve to die! "
When these words came out, everyone was shocked. Lu Zhongjia shouted angrily, "Yang Fan! You are too arrogant. You dare to oppose the Lu family? "
Yang Fan slowly turned around, his eyebrows slightly raised, and he sneered, "Who said that I want to oppose the Lu family? Great Elder Lu, when this case spreads to the world, even you, perhaps the person with the highest seniority in the Lu family, will definitely be abandoned by the family. Do you believe me? "
Yang Fan slowly took two steps forward, facing Lu Zhongjia, his figure like a mountain. Great Elder Lu, who had been insufferably arrogant just now, was trembling with a hunched body.
Yang Fan slowly said, "Because, if they do not abandon you, your entire family will fall into eternal damnation! That's right, the Emperor cannot be enemies with all the aristocratic families, but to eradicate a family is as easy as turning one's hand! Also, I can guarantee that if the Emperor has a sufficient reason, an excuse that can shut everyone's mouths, she will definitely cherish this rare opportunity. The Lu family will no longer exist! "
Lu Zhongjia's body trembled, and his lips moved twice. Suddenly, he roared somewhat crazily, "You cannot do this! You … don't forget, you have a relationship with our aristocratic families. If my Lu family suffers a calamity, don't even think about having a good ending. "
Yang Fan lightly patted the old man's shoulder, causing the old man's body to tremble. Yang Fan said with a smile that was not a smile, "Great Elder Lu, you really have gone senile. Just now, I was still an outsider, and I was even threatened by you two grandfather and grandson. How did it become in the blink of an eye that I have a close relationship with you?"
Lu Zhongjia involuntarily took two steps back.
Yang Fan bent down slightly and stared into Lu Zhongjia's eyes. Pointing at the tip of his nose, he asked, "Do you believe that I am one of your people? Do you know how many grand families, powerful ministers, and even members of the royal family, Lai Junchen, Zhou Xing, and Qiu Shenji, when they were in power, did they punish them? If you believe that you can bite back at the Emperor, do you think they can still enjoy such glory for so long? "
"We … we …"
Yang Fan smiled and nodded lightly. "That's right! You have evidence. Even if there is no material evidence, there are witnesses. However … "
Yang Fan's eyes slowly narrowed. His gaze was like two sharp knives that pierced out of his eyes. "Do you really have evidence? Who do you think will stand up to testify for you? Boling Cui, Qinghe Cui, Longxi Li, Zhao Jun Li, Xingyang Zheng, or Taiyuan Wang? Do you think they are afraid that the Emperor doesn't know that the noble families are working together to do something under her nose? Haha, hahaha … "
Yang Fan burst into laughter. His laughter was as unbridled and unbridled as Lu Binzhi's laughter just now.
But he had the right to laugh because the person who could decide the life and death of a person with a word was him.
As long as he wanted, he could destroy a thousand-year-old noble family right now!
Evidence?
Where would he have any evidence!
If the Lu family dared to bite the other noble families, they would immediately be abandoned by all the noble families. Even if he had evidence, it would not exist. Even if he really did have evidence, the Emperor and the noble families who were not willing to escalate the conflict to the point of death would tacitly ignore it together and destroy it. At that time, not only would the Emperor want to kill off the Lu family, but the other noble families would also kick them when they were down and make it so that the Lu family would never be able to reincarnate.
The Emperor could not kill the Lu family, and a change of dynasty could not destroy the Lu family. But if the other noble families all viewed the Lu family as an enemy, then the Lu family would really be uprooted. Lu Zhongjia had always understood this. He just wanted to scare Yang Fan. But this youth really did not seem to care about the Lu family, a large noble family that could easily crush people into powder, in his eyes.
Lu Zhongjia's face was pale. He took another three steps back, his back completely bent. His pleading gaze could only look toward Li Mubai.
Li Mubai sighed inwardly. "If you knew this would happen, why did you do it in the beginning?" Thinking about it again, what did he say in the past, today, the change from arrogance to deference, all kinds of sudden changes, it was just today, the change in an instant.
Li Mubai could only give a bitter laugh. Kicking off his wooden clogs, he walked in front of Yang Fan and said in a low voice, "Little husband, where it is possible to let people off, one should forgive them. What I said earlier definitely counts now. If you take a step back, the world will be clear. Why fight until both sides are injured?"
With old Great Grandfather Li's age, identity, reputation, and status, even if he went to court to see the Emperor, he did not need to pay his respects. The Emperor would even have to bestow him a seat. But now, his words to Yang Fan were almost begging in a low voice, but Yang Fan remained unmoved.
Yang Fan turned and walked back to his seat. Sitting down cross-legged, he looked at his nose and calmly said, "Junior will say the same thing as before, I want an explanation!"
When he heard old Great Grandfather Li say those words in a low voice, Dugu Yu almost wanted to nod on behalf of Yang Fan. Now that he heard him say this, Dugu Yu was extremely anxious. Just as he was about to open his mouth to persuade him, he suddenly saw his little sister being supported by the boat maiden and shaking her head. Dugu Yu's heart skipped a beat and he swallowed the words that were about to come out of his mouth.
"Bang, bang!"
The stairs gave off a uniform roar, like a war drum, heavily pounding on the bottom of everyone's hearts. Three imperial guards in full armor, one in front and two behind, with their hands on the hilts of their swords, walked up the stairs with a murderous look. With armor weighing dozens of kilograms, coupled with their burly bodies, they did not need to deliberately stomp their feet, but the sound of their footsteps was already very shocking.
The three of them stepped up the stairs, their eyes sweeping around with dignity, and fixed on Yang Fan who was sitting cross-legged.
The person in the middle cupped his fists and said, "This general has rushed here under orders and awaits the imperial envoy's orders!"
This person was fully armored, the top of his helmet red like blood, the round shoulder guards on his chest shimmering, and the shoulder guards on his shoulders, because of the action of cupping his fists, were like a fierce tiger yawning, lazily opening its bloody mouth like a sacrificial bowl. His face was covered by a black leather mask that looked like black iron, revealing only a pair of heroic eyes.
Yang Fan raised his eyelids to glance at him, then lowered his eyes and couldn't help but raise them again.
He knew that this was Maqiao, but he did not expect that the usually frivolous Maqiao would actually be so murderous when he became serious. He couldn't help but look at him again, then lowered his eyelids and gently waved his hand.
Maqiao and the other two retreated to the side, their military boots landing on the ground at the same time. With a "crack", they stood there like wooden stakes.
Yang Fan's "soldiers are at the gates", and he only wanted an explanation!
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