met free Chapter 1978: Replicating the Great Fire of the Mu Family?
Chapter 1978: Replicating the Great Fire of the Mu Family?
Li Xiangnan's words were like a stone thrown into a stagnant lake, stirring up a thousand ripples.
Everyone in the room froze.
Wang Defa's mouth was open, and he didn't even notice the cigarette ash falling onto his pants.
Guo Qian frowned, subconsciously touching the pistol holster at his waist.
Song Ziming also held his waist, where his soft sword was hidden.
Everyone subconsciously moved closer to things they felt safe with, which shows how wary they were of these ten companies collaborating to replicate the product!
Song Yi took a deep breath, her voice trembling, and said, "Xiang Nan, are you saying... that they were really involved in the fire at the Mu family's residence back then, and that it wasn't an accident?"
“It’s certainly not an accident!” Li Xiangnan said with certainty. “At least not entirely!”
He walked to the wall, where a yellowed map of Yanjing city hung. He pointed to the location of the Mu family's old residence on Nanchizi Street.
“We found the files on the Mu family’s ancestral home fire in the basement of the Public Security Bureau. In the autumn of 1940, the Mu family’s ancestral home caught fire, killing nineteen people and leaving them unrecognizable!”
Li Xiangnan's voice was exceptionally clear in the silence: "The official conclusion in the case file is that the electrical wires were old and the fire was caused by accident! But Grandpa, you said before that the Mu family's old house was converted from the former Prince's Mansion of the previous dynasty. All the electrical wires used back then were imported German flame-retardant wires, and they would be specially inspected once a year! And that summer, Grandma mentioned in her letter that the Mu family had only had one inspection!"
Li Dequan's hand trembled slightly. He tapped his old pipe on the table and finally lit it: "Huanying did mention this in his letter back then. At the time, I thought it was just a routine matter. Now that I think about it, I never expected to be able to see the clues!"
Song Ziming recalled, "Brother Nan, I remember that the main case file did not give a specific source of the fire, but the police officers who handled the case investigated privately and posted their opinion on the supplementary file, saying that there were three sources of fire at the Mu family's house at the same time!"
“Three sources of fire!” Li Xiangnan turned to look at everyone. “If it were an accident, how could three unconnected sources of fire catch fire at the same time? There’s only one possibility—”
"Someone set the fire!" Guo Qian said in a deep voice.
"And it was multiple people setting fires at the same time!" Li Xiangnan added, "The Mu family's mansion is huge, with ruins spanning an entire area. You've all been there, so you have a concept of what that's impossible for one person! It also requires someone to keep watch on the outside, someone to set fires inside, someone to help cut off firefighting routes, and someone to delay the arrival of the fire brigade. It's a meticulously planned operation!"
The room became even quieter.
The snow outside the window was falling harder, and the snowflakes were hitting the windowpane, making a soft, rustling sound.
Song Yi suddenly asked, "What was happening in Yanjing in the autumn of 1940...?"
This question surprised everyone.
Li Dequan's cloudy eyes suddenly brightened, and he slapped his thigh hard.
“I remember now. Back then, I sent Huanying back to the capital. After she arrived, she wrote to me saying that the patriarch of the Shangguan family was celebrating his fiftieth birthday with a grand banquet! Many wealthy and influential families in the capital went, including the Yu and Jiang families! Huanying heard that Yu Jingran had gone and wanted to go too, but my father-in-law gave her a sharp reprimand, which made her unhappy. She complained to me in her letter!”
Li Xiangnan's eyes lit up: "So, the Mu family didn't go?"
Li Dequan frowned: "They probably didn't go. Let me think..."
He immediately fell into deep thought, trying hard to recall the contents of the letter Mu Huanying had written to him decades ago.
Half a century has passed. If it weren't for Li Dequan's deep affection for Mu Huanying, he probably wouldn't have remembered the love story that was buried by carriages and postmen in those years.
“I remember now. Huanying mentioned something back then. My father-in-law pretended to be sick and didn't attend, but only sent someone to deliver a gift! I was quite surprised at the time. The Shangguan family and the Mu family are old friends, both belonging to the top five families. They shouldn't be absent from such a grand birthday banquet!”
"Pretending to be ill!" Li Xiangnan said thoughtfully, "I'm afraid he's not actually sick, but rather he sensed danger! That birthday celebration was just a pretext!"
He walked back to the table and, imitating Song Yi, dipped his finger in the tea and drew a circle on the table: "If I were my great-grandfather, in the autumn of 1940, I would have realized that the Shangguan family, along with several other families, was going to take action against the Mu family. The reason might have been interests, power, or more likely, something recorded in that ledger!"
Li Xiangnan drew several inward arrows outside the circle: "What should I do now? Fight them head-on? Although my Mu family is strong, the Shangguan family is stronger than me. They also want to unite the ten families of Yanjing. My Mu family alone is absolutely no match for them! This is called beating a master with a flurry of punches!"
"So..." Song Yi murmured, "The only option is to escape!"
“It’s not an escape,” Li Xiangnan said with a sudden realization, “it’s a clever escape! Use a big fire to burn down the ancestral home, sacrificing nineteen lives—at least superficially—to eliminate the core members of the Mu family! Then have them secretly relocate, change their names, and wait for the right opportunity!”
At this point, he took a deep breath: "When Zimo and I first received the case file, we were really puzzled as to why the Mu family would choose to slip away unnoticed. We didn't understand it at the time! Now..."
He looked at Song Yi: "After you brought me the news about my elder brother, and learned about the strength of these ten families in Yanjing, I finally understand the Mu family's predicament! It's truly a case of a novice beating a master!"
He wrote the words "fake death" on the desktop, deeply saddened.
Wang Defa couldn't help but ask, "Then why burn so many people to death? Couldn't they have just left quietly?"
Everyone gasped in surprise, agreeing that the fat man's question was correct.
If we just leave, we won't lose the old house or pay the price of lives. Wouldn't it be a more carefree way to just walk away and let the sky fly free?
"cannot!"
At this moment, Li Dequan suddenly spoke, the old man's voice hoarse and heavy: "The Mu family is one of the top five families, a large and deeply rooted family with many branches and leaves. If only core members have quietly disappeared, the Shangguan family will never let it go! They will investigate to the end, they will turn Yanjing upside down! They will even search for the Mu family members throughout the country!"
He looked at everyone and said, "Otherwise, why do you think he has been keeping an eye on the Li family for so many years?"
Everyone was stunned; the Shangguan family was indeed crazy and persistent enough.
The old man paused, then continued, "Only a great fire, a devastating fire, burning away all evidence, all clues, all the greed of outsiders, and the ledgers, can make those investigating give up! And..."
"And what?" Song Yi pressed.
Li Xiangnan looked at his grandson with a complicated expression: "Moreover, that fire was very likely not just started by the Mu family!"
These words shocked everyone.
However, Li Xiangnan had already had this idea before, and nodded, saying, "I know, Grandpa, it must be one of the ten families in Yanjing who wanted to harm the Mu family..."
"No!" Li Dequan continued to shake his head.
Li Xiangnan was taken aback and asked in confusion, "Grandpa, what do you mean?"
Li Dequan narrowed his eyes: "What I mean is, that fire back then might have been a tacit agreement between the Shangguan family and the Mu family! A deal!"
"???"