Chapter 117: Birthday Party
The uninvited arrival of the Donghu Gang made the peaceful atmosphere in the Pan Mansion suddenly become extremely solemn.

The guests in the hall either stepped heavily with held their breath, covered their faces in dismay, or were hesitant and uncertain about what to do. Some of the timid ones were already tongue-tied and sobbing.

Li Lao Hu had done all sorts of evil things and was notorious. Everyone in Yingchuan was terrified when they heard him. He stood in the hall and, without saying much, was enough to make the guests feel uneasy.

Pan Chuba was not actually afraid of Li Lao Hu and the Donghu Gang. Once a person reached his age, nothing in the world could scare him. It was just that due to his current status and the Pan family's business in Yingchuan, Pan Chuba had to be courteous to them.

Sending gifts for commemoration on the birthday is not only bad luck, but also a great insult. Pan Chuba could tolerate it, but his descendants could not.

"Congratulations?" Pan Wen glared at Li Lao Hu and said in a deep voice, "You are all in mourning, as if you have lost your parents. Can this be considered congratulations?"

"Who are you?"

As the chief escort of Longwei Escort Agency, He Hu has been in the underworld for many years and has seen all kinds of thieves and bullies. Today, he saw at a glance that Li Lao Hu was not a good person, and he was not someone that a gentleman like Pan Wen could handle. Since he was the son-in-law of the Pan family, he naturally could not sit idly by.

Although He Hu and Pan Feng had been married for many years, he had visited his mother's home only a few times. Therefore, he knew little about the Donghu Gang, which was based in Yingchuan, and he did not know Li Lao Hu's identity.

Li Lao Hu's face was livid, and he looked so gloomy that he almost wanted to drip water. He stared at He Hu coldly, looked him up and down with an unfriendly look, and asked, "Strange face, haven't seen you before?"

"This is Pan's brother-in-law, the chief escort of Jiazhou Longwei Escort Agency, He Hu." Pan Wen replied.

Hearing this, Li Lao Hu frowned slightly and said meaningfully: "The chief escort of Longwei Escort Agency... sounds like he has a great background, but it's a pity that Jiazhou is too far away from Yingchuan. As the chief escort, you can't control the things here."

"Who are you?" He Hu sneered, "You are so arrogant! Aren't you afraid of slipping your tongue?"

"The leader of the East Lake Gang, Li Lao Hu."

"Donghu Gang?" He Hu sneered at this and said contemptuously, "A bunch of rabble dare to call themselves a gang? It's ridiculous!" After that, he didn't wait for Li Lao Hu to reply, and suddenly stepped forward to face him, eye to eye, their eyes intertwined, and a chill burst out. He Hu said faintly: "Looking at your posture today, it doesn't look like a birthday celebration, but a funeral! You are a tiger, and I happen to be a tiger too. Have you ever heard of a saying? It's called 'There can't be two tigers in one mountain'? You and I are two tigers, and now we are under the same roof. Don't you think it's a bit crowded? Today is my father-in-law's birthday. I don't want to say anything extra. If you know what's good for you, take your men and these messy things and get out of here!"

He Hu's domineering attitude was honed through years of escorting. To be in an escort agency one must have courage, means, and connections. Therefore, in front of a local bully like Li Lao Hu, He Hu is not afraid at all, but on the contrary is full of confidence.

Facing He Hu's order to expel him, the corners of Li Lao Hu's mouth twitched slightly. He stared at He Hu with a cold gaze, and said word by word: "What a good saying, 'There can't be two tigers in one mountain', it's so painful! But you must not forget, what kind of mountain is this mountain in front of you? What kind of tiger am I? I don't know what it is outside Yingchuan, but in Yingchuan, let alone a tiger like you, even if you come as a dragon, you have to lie down and coil up obediently! If Chief Escort He feels that this place is crowded, you can find a cool place to take a breath. As for where the door is? I don't think I need to point it out to you, right?"

"you……"

"Don't be angry!" Before He Hu could refute, Pan Chuba spoke first, "Let Boss Li finish what he is saying first. I really want to see how Boss Li is going to congratulate me."

Although Longwei Escort Agency has some influence, it is far away in Jiazhou. Although Donghu Gang is a motley crowd, it has the advantage of time and place, and has a large number of people and power, which is enough to call the wind and rain. He Hu still understands the principle of being out of reach.

Under the puzzled gazes of the crowd, Li Laohu waved his hand without even turning his head, and eight disciples of the Donghu Gang actually worked together to carry a large coffin into the lobby.

"Mr. Pan, I'm here today to wish you a happy birthday and to congratulate you." Li Laohu glanced coldly at He Hu, then turned to Pan Chuba and said.

"It's my birthday, and Boss Li is carrying a coffin to congratulate me?" Pan Chuba replied calmly, "Forgive me for being stupid and not understanding Boss Li's meaning."

Li Lao Hu did not answer directly, but changed the subject and said loudly: "Everyone present here is a good witness. From today on, Pan Huai's ship merchants no longer have to pay a penny to the East Lake Gang. Whether it is annual tribute or share of money, the East Lake Gang will not accept it."

When these words were spoken, everyone was secretly shocked.

As we all know, the main source of income for the Donghu Gang is the annual tribute from the major businesses in Yingchuan. As the richest man in Yingchuan, Pan Huai, the ship merchant, is particularly important for his annual tribute. Now, Li Lao Hu is going to throw away this piece of fat meat in vain with just one sentence. Who can believe it?
"How could such a good thing happen in the world?" Pan Chuba smiled faintly, without any emotion in his tone.

"That's why I just said that I came here to congratulate your Pan family today." Li Lao Hu looked around expressionlessly and said in a cold voice: "Listen to me! From today on, the East Lake Gang will officially join the Pan Huai Ship Merchants. For all profits and losses, the East Lake Gang and the Pan family will share... 50-50."

"hiss!"

As soon as these words came out, the whole audience was in an uproar. Only Ding Cui's eyes suddenly showed a hint of pride, but she concealed it very well, and the smile was fleeting, and no one noticed it.

Although Pan Chuba knew that Li Lao Hu had bad intentions, he never expected that he would make such a shameless request. His face immediately darkened and he questioned, "Pan Huai Ship Merchants is the result of decades of hard work of this old man. Gang Leader Li just said something casually and wants to take half of it. Do you still have the law? Do you still have rules? This is too much."

"You're going too far?" Li Lao Hu looked at Pan Chuba fiercely, then pointed at the coffin beside him and said coldly, "Why don't you take a look at the contents of the coffin first, and then make a conclusion."

Pan Chuba frowned, thinking to himself: "What does Li Lao Hu mean by this? Could it be that the coffin is filled with gold and silver treasures, and he wants to bribe me?" Thinking of this, he smiled coldly, shook his head and said: "No matter how much money Boss Li is willing to pay, I will never give Pan Huai Shipping Merchants to you..." "Bang!"

"what!"

Before Pan Chuba finished speaking, Li Lao Hu suddenly opened the lid of the coffin. Instantly, a strong smell of blood escaped and filled the hall, making people nauseous. When everyone looked into the coffin, someone screamed in fear.

This was because lying straight in the coffin was a dead body covered in blood and wounds. It was Li Bao who died tragically in the alley in the west of the city last night.

"Mr. Pan, do you think my request is too much now?" Li Lao Hu seemed extremely furious when facing Li Bao's corpse. As soon as he opened his mouth, his facial features were twisted into a ball.

"Boss Li, what do you mean?" Pan Chuba suppressed his anger and asked, "I don't know the person in the coffin, why did you bring him here?"

"You don't know him, but someone here knows him!" Li Lao Hu's hateful eyes slowly swept through the hall, finally landing on Liu Xunyi, Lin Fangda and Luo Ningyu, and angrily said, "Isn't the life of my sworn brother worth half of your Pan family's assets?"

The more Pan Chuba listened, the more confused he became. He followed Li Lao Hu's gaze and looked at Liu Xunyi and the other two with a suspicious look on his face. He was stunned for a moment. After a moment of silence, he asked Li Lao Hu again: "Forgive my stupidity, but what does the unfortunate death of your sworn brother have to do with my Pan family?"

"Look for yourself!" Li Lao Hu threw a bloodstained bill of lading on the ground and asked, "Master Pan, do you know what this is?"

Pan Chuba was unmoved. Seeing this, Pan Wen, who was standing by, took the initiative to pick up the bill of lading. After watching for a while, Pan Wen couldn't help but take a deep breath. He had recognized the origin of the bill of lading. It was the one Luo Ningyu had used to pick up the goods at the ferry the day before.

Pan Wen hurriedly brought the bill of lading to Pan Chuba and whispered, "Dad, this is the bill of lading from our dock..."

"So what?" Pan Chuba said angrily, "I am Pan Huai, a shipping merchant, and I open my door to do business. I send out more than a hundred bills of lading every day. How can I know who this bill of lading belongs to..."

"It belongs to Miss Luo." Before Pan Chuba could finish his words, Pan Wen leaned forward with an embarrassed look on his face and quickly explained, "It's the white jade Guanyin that Palace Master Luo gave to my father."

Pan Chuba was immediately shocked. He quickly snatched the bill of lading, examined it carefully, then turned to look at Luo Ningyu and the other two, his eyes full of confusion.

"I believe you all know who this bill of lading belongs to," Li Lao Hu said with gritted teeth. "It appeared next to my brother's body last night. As for the rest...do I need to say more?"

"What do you mean?" Pan Wen exclaimed, "You want to frame us for killing your brother?"

"Frame-up? Bullshit!" Li Lao Hu finally couldn't help cursing. "This bill of lading could only appear in two places from the beginning to the end. One is you Pan Huai Shipping Merchants, and the other is the customer who has this bill of lading. Tell me, was it the customer who had it who killed my brother, or was it someone from you Pan Huai Shipping Merchants who killed my brother?"

"This……"

Pan Wen was speechless after being scolded by Li Lao Hu. Li Lao Hu's words were full of meaning. He determined that the murderer of Li Bao was either this or that. Whether it was Pan Huai, the ship merchant, or Luo Ningyu, Pan Wen could not ignore it. Rather than saying anything wrong, it was better to say nothing.

"It's too arbitrary for Boss Li to make a rash conclusion based on just one bill of lading." Pan Chuba defended himself in the calmest tone possible, "There are many possibilities..."

"No way!" Li Lao Hu waved his hand and snorted in anger, "I will only give you two choices now. Either you split the Pan Huai ship business in half to make up for my brother's loss. Or you hand over the murderer to my Donghu Gang for punishment. I will make him pay with his life."

Pan Wen said anxiously: "But we don't know who the murderer is..."

Li Lao Hu's eyes moved, and Liu San immediately understood. He quickly pointed at Liu Xunyi and the other two and shouted, "Boss, it's them. They were the ones who caused trouble at the dock the day before yesterday and held the Second Master hostage in public."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone exclaimed again.

"Li Bao has been in Yingchuan for many years, and has been helping me for a long time. Why didn't he get into trouble earlier or later, but was killed after a dispute with them?" Li Laohu looked at Liu Xunyi and the other two, and said in a bad tone, "Master Pan, the three of them must be very important to the Pan family, right? Otherwise, Pan Wen would never have taken out 1,000 taels of silver to help them out the day before yesterday. Now that my brother has died tragically, I will not cause trouble to your Pan family, nor will I wipe out your entire Pan family. Instead, I will give you two choices. Isn't this a favor to your Pan family? Isn't it a happy event? So today I come to congratulate you, isn't it right?"

"There must be some misunderstanding. The three of them were in my house yesterday..."

"I don't care whether there is any misunderstanding or not." Li Lao Hu waved his hand without giving Pan Chuba a chance to explain, and said bluntly, "Anyway, Li Bao's death cannot be in vain. You must give me and my brothers an explanation for this matter today! Either hand him over, or split Pan Huai's shipping business in half. Do you want money or people? You choose!"

……

　The wages of avarice is death
　　
　
(End of this chapter)