Chapter 97: Hidden Secrets in the Fire

Outside, the crowd was bustling and the sound of discussion was endless.

When they saw Su Shengsheng and others working together to carry an unconscious teenager out, everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Even Mr. Liu Sanye and others who had suffered heavy losses at the hands of Su Shengsheng before had a slightly relaxed look on their faces.

Ji Yanli walked out with the support of Yanshu and Qing, looking at Su Shengsheng with concern.

"Ning Jie, Ning Jie..." Su Shengsheng called Ning Jie's name softly, and seeing that he still didn't respond, her brows couldn't help but frown.

Just at this moment, the court's fire-fighting army, which was specifically responsible for extinguishing fires, arrived in time and took over the deployment quickly.

The neighboring shops also remembered Su Shengsheng's kindness in taking the lead in opening the market, and came to help with buckets of water.

If they hadn't been so numerous, the fire would have been difficult to control so quickly.

"Why did Young Master Ning go to the kitchen?" Qing Ning became scared when she saw that Ning Jie couldn't wake up no matter how hard she called him.

The restaurant's kitchen was located at the back, and Ning Jie seldom went there. They were responsible for all his food, clothing, and other expenses.

Therefore, they never thought that Ning Jie would appear in the kitchen, which led to the delay.

Su Shengsheng was extremely anxious when she saw Ning Jie's breathing was steady but he was unconscious.

When Qing's carriage arrived, she immediately ordered people to carry Ning Jie onto the carriage. At the same time, she turned around to help Ji Yanli, who was also weak, and said, "Let's go together."

Yunxiang and Yunyi had checked the kitchen before and found that the stove had been turned off at 10:00 p.m. for dinner, and the fruit tea served was not from the kitchen.

They never expected Ning Jie to appear there, let alone that his figure was blocked by the stove, and he was unconscious and did not respond, which led to no one discovering him.

Seeing that Su Shengsheng was wet and cold, Yunxiang and Yunyi hurriedly handed her their cloaks and said, "Miss, you might catch a cold. Let us follow you."

"You go to the Duke's Mansion to report the news. I'll take the others to the pharmacy first." Su Shengsheng took the cloak and looked at Ning Jie, who still showed no signs of waking up, with a worried look on her face. Seeing that someone had taken over the firefighting, she instructed Zai Qing, "Don't alarm the family yet. We'll talk about everything after I get back."

Having said that, he lowered the curtain.

Just then, a group of cavalry came galloping.

Everyone saw that the leader was actually King Xuanming, and they didn't know how this small fire could alarm him.

Seeing them galloping towards them, they all made way for them.

Xie Xuan saw from afar that Su Shengsheng was helping Ji Yanli get into the carriage and leave. After making sure that she was fine, he pulled the reins.

He looked directly at the fire scene with a cold expression, "Go check it out."

Chu Zhao followed closely behind, dismounted and walked towards Shixiang Tower after receiving the order.

Zai Qing was left behind by Su Shengsheng to clean up the mess. He saw Chu Zhao heading straight for Shixianglou and was about to meet him.

Unexpectedly, he bypassed the front and went straight to the back of the building.

Upon learning that the fire originated from the Su family's Shixianglou, County Magistrate Sang rushed over without even having time to change his official uniform.

Seeing the personal guards of King Xuanming from a distance, he was startled and quickly ordered the sedan bearers to lower the sedan, "Quickly lower the sedan, quickly lower the sedan."

Without waiting for the sedan chair to be pressed down, County Magistrate Sang staggered out.

He was grimacing in pain from years of cold legs, but he couldn't care less at the moment.

County Magistrate Sang hurried to Xie Xuanma and vowed that he would find the arsonist.

Xie Xuan's eyes were sharp as a blade, and he asked, "How can you be so sure that it was a scoundrel who started the fire?"

?

Isn’t it?

County Magistrate Sang was speechless for a moment. He had guessed this from Xie Xuan's unusual reaction.

But if it wasn't a villain, who else could it be?

Everyone in the officialdom knew that the imperial teacher was exiled here, and he had also heard that Xie Xuan had taught the second-generation rich man of the Fan family a lesson.

He only heard about the extension of the delivery date of winter clothes for the soldiers in the army later.

Now that even King Xuanming came here at midnight, how could he not suspect that someone had set the fire on purpose?

The city gates were all closed at this time. Although the palace was only separated from the city gate by a wall, the fact that King Xuanming could come here so quickly was enough to show how much he valued the fire.

Under Xie Xuan's cold gaze, County Magistrate Sang was forced to lower his voice. "This humble official is also wondering, 'No one is asleep yet, and it's winter night, how could such a large fire start?'"

That's exactly what he thought when he heard about the fire, so he rushed over to see it for himself.

After all, he had just spoken when something happened to the Su family. Isn't this a slap in his face?

Sang County Magistrate happened to notice the shopkeepers were there, so he immediately brought them over and said, "You guys have a feud with Shopkeeper Su, and her restaurant caught fire, so you all came to watch the fun?"

Although Mr. Liu Sanye and his companions were well-known among merchants, how could they dare to challenge the government?

Especially since even King Xuanming personally inquired about the matter, how could he dare to hide anything?

"...We have been inside the house the entire time. Miss Su can testify for us. If I had any ill intentions, why would I come here to negotiate peace?"

Several people knelt down together, and Mu Zhi said with a trembling voice, his face covered in cold sweat.

Although the heat wave behind him had not yet subsided, under Xie Xuan's eyes as cold as a cold river, he felt cold all over and unable to move.

The others also felt as if they had experienced a long and bitterly cold winter, their bodies wandering between the scorching heat of oil and fire and the biting cold of ice and snow, sweat pouring down and soaking their clothes.

After they finished speaking, they trembled and humbly buried their heads deep in the dust.

Magistrate Sang had no choice but to step in and ease the situation: "If they really were the arsonists, there's no need to publicize the fact that each of them lost ten thousand taels..."

He did not intend to excuse them in order to cover up the unfairness of his own handling of the matter or to hide the fact that merchants had joined forces to suppress newcomers.

In fact, there are many strange things about this matter.

As they said, before they stepped into the gambling game, no one expected to lose so badly, so how could they set it on fire?

After all, the gold and silver have not changed hands yet, everyone is in the game, and it has not reached the point where everyone is desperate, so how could they kill each other?

What's more, their people did not leave halfway, which was just confirmed by Zai Qing.

"Let them leave their money behind."

When Xie Xuan's eyes swept over Sang County Magistrate, he felt a chill on his head, but he couldn't help but agree: "I will do it immediately, immediately."

Before he could figure out why Xie Xuan issued this insignificant order, he saw General Chu Zhao leading his men over.

Xie Xuan's eyes passed by, and County Magistrate Sang understood what he meant and immediately led his men to retreat to a distance.

Mu Zhi and the others had expressions of grief on their faces, and Mr. Liu Sanye also looked ashen and pale as death.

No wonder the family of this exiled criminal was able to thrive in Tianqian Pass in such a short period of time.

It turns out that the Xuanming King is backing them up...

Recalling their previous actions and the cold, glaring gaze of King Xuanming, a chill ran down their spines...

"General, the fire spread from the back kitchen. There seems to be no trace of human activity. The snow behind us hasn't been cleared, and there are no footprints."

Chu Zhao paused at this point, "If it was arson, it was probably just a warning, not intended to kill anyone. Fortunately, the people sent by the general to protect Miss Su informed them in time, and the people in the building were able to evacuate. However, they were guarding the back before that and didn't notice anything unusual."

At first he was afraid that the secret guard was dozing off and letting someone in, but he didn't know.

But no matter what, if they really wanted to take someone's life, they would not choose to do it when there was a lot of noise.

This not only increases the risk of exposure, but if one wants to target someone, one should sneak into the house and set fire in the dead of night.

"Investigate." Xie Xuan stared at the fire that was gradually under control with his phoenix eyes, his thin lips pressed tightly into a line.

On the other side, County Magistrate Sang was really shocked to see Xie Xuan frowning and stopping his horse.

He looked at the shopkeepers with a gloomy expression, "Was it done by other merchants? If anyone concealed the truth or colluded with them, I will investigate the truth and you will no longer have a place at Tianqian Pass!"

"Your Excellency, please understand! We are grateful to you for letting us go. How could we possibly cause any more trouble? Furthermore, we would never invite suspicion for no reason and put ourselves in the spotlight!"

Mu Zhi was so frightened that he almost fell to his knees again.

"Perhaps the kitchen was unattended, and the stove was still burning, sparks flew out, and the woodpile might have ignited. This kind of thing happens all the time."

County Magistrate Sang did not listen to a word of Manager Yu's explanation, and only cast his gaze on Xie Xuan's furrowed brow.

Today's events are full of strangeness...

Given Xie Xuan's character of remaining calm even when the enemy was at the gates, how could he be so upset about such a small matter?

Could it be that there is a hidden secret that he has not noticed?