Chapter 80: Fire Breaker
Hongxiu happily carried the slaughtered fat pigeon to the Qi residence, only to see thick smoke billowing in the distance. The black fog quickly spread into the sky, and the pungent smell of smoke could be smelled from several streets away.
She protected the pigeons and reached out to grab a panicked pedestrian, "Auntie, whose house is on fire up ahead?"
The old woman waved her hand, finally managing to dissipate the smoky smell from her nose: "Isn't that the Qi residence? It suddenly caught fire, my goodness, what a huge fire! The officials from the fire lookout tower are all rushing there!"
Hongxiu's heart skipped a beat, and she could no longer remain calm. She turned around and hurried back.
——
After saying goodbye to Wan Qijiao, Yuan Siyin and Qi Xinxin went down the mountain chatting and laughing. They had just started talking about where to go for the evening's sacrificial ceremony when they heard someone crying so hard they could barely breathe, crying out in anguish, "Cui'er's father! The Qi residence on East Street is on fire! Cui'er is still working inside!"
Qi Xinxin's face turned pale instantly. She staggered back, almost slipping and falling to the ground.
Yuan Siyin panicked for a moment and quickly supported her, secretly pinching the web of her hand to force herself to calm down.
This is at the foot of the mountain north of the city. The Qi residence is on East Street, fortunately not too far. If there were horses...
She looked around and saw a familiar burly man leading a horse.
"Bukash!"
Hearing someone calling him, Bukash turned around. Before he could even see who it was, the reins were snatched from his hand, and a heavy purse landed in his palm instead.
"Borrowed, will be returned later!"
"Xinxin, mount up!"
Yuan Siyin was the first to step into the stirrups and mount the horse. She then pulled Qi Xinxin up with her. With a flick of her golden whip, the Akhal-Teke horse neighed and charged off like an arrow ready to be released.
Knowing the urgency of the situation, the two maids split up and went off to search for the person.
Bukash stared at Yuan Siyin's retreating figure for a long time, unable to come back to his senses, until someone pinched his shoulder.
Wan Qiyao called him several times but received no response, so he had no choice but to take action. "What's wrong, Bukash? Where's Zhaoye?"
Zhaoye is the name of the Akhal-Teke horse that was just stolen.
Bukash scratched his head and stretched out his hand in front of him.
Yu Shiyan looked at the purse and found it strangely familiar.
He pursed his lips, flicked his fingertips off the purse at his waist, and swapped it with the pale yellow purse with tassels that Bukash was holding.
Wan Qiyao seemed to know something, but he was no longer in a hurry. He simply raised an eyebrow and looked at the exquisite purse in Yu Shiyan's hand.
"Prince Mu seems to be..."
"The Prince of Liang doesn't want what he wanted?"
Wan Qiyao smiled and remained silent.
"Zhong Heng," Yu Shiyan called out in a deep voice, clearly in a bad mood.
"Your subordinate is here."
"Go and find out what happened."
It made her steal a horse in the street and give away her personal purse to someone else.
Zhong Heng paused for a moment, accepted the order, and left. He returned shortly afterward, looking hurried, and reported with clasped hands, "Your Highness, a fire has broken out at the Qi residence."
"Fire at the Qi residence?"
Wan Qijiao was somewhat surprised: "The woman next to her seems to be surnamed Qi, no wonder she was in such a hurry."
"In times of emergency, it would be good if Zhao Ye could be of assistance."
Wan Qi and his sister didn't think much of it, but Yu Shiyan felt something was amiss.
It rained heavily for most of the day, and suddenly the floodwaters started flowing.
Someone must have tampered with it.
"Please go ahead, I'll take my leave first."
Yu Shiyan frowned and hurriedly left with Zhong Heng.
"But then again, isn't Zhao Ye never willing to be subordinate to anyone?"
No one but the emperor could tame it.
"Perhaps Miss Yuan is no ordinary person."
"That's true."
Wan Qijiao smiled and agreed.
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