Chapter 167: Fang Family Fire
Fang Xun asked, "Did the city lord say how to solve the food problem?"
Xu Yinxi shook her head. "Unless she casts a spell to make food appear from the sky."
"Now that we know the City Lord's intentions, you and I need to be more thoughtful before we act. Take today's vote. If I had known the City Lord had this idea, I would have supported the refugees entering the city no matter what. But I saw Ming Xiaoshuang sided with the City Lord earlier. Does he know this, too?"
Xu Yinxi raised her eyes slightly. "I can't tell. Ming Xiaoshuang's identity is special. He is different from the rest of us. He is 100% loyal to the City Lord. The City Lord also has some special feelings for him."
"It would be nice if we could get a feel for what he has to say."
"No need. This matter is of great importance. Since the city lord hasn't said anything, it proves that it's not the right time to speak."
Xu Yinxi smiled. "That's quite right. No one would be optimistic about this kind of thing in the early stages. Speaking out would only lead to endless criticism, and it would also put us in the spotlight. The fewer people who know about this, the better. Once we grow stronger, the city lord won't even need to bring it up herself; her subordinates will naturally encourage her to do it."
The three people nodded frequently as they listened.
For a moment, the three people didn't know what to think, and the room was silent.
After a while, he heard a commotion outside, as if someone was beating drums and gongs and shouting "fire". Xu Yinxi quickly stood up, opened the window and looked over, only to see a huge fire burning in a house not far away.
Fang Xun's expression changed slightly.
Qian Zhenniang had already spoken: "That direction...why does it look so much like the Fang family's?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Fang Xun hurried downstairs.
Fang Ningmo followed immediately.
The four of them ran in a hurry. Fortunately, although Xu Yinxi, Fang Ningmo and Qian Zhenniang were all girls, they often followed Xu Zhenying to the military camp for training, so their bodies were much stronger than before. They went upstream and after a jog, they found that it was indeed the Fang family courtyard.
The Fang family had already escaped, and Old Man Fang was supported by Fang Ruyu and ran out. His eyebrows were slightly blackened, but there were no other injuries.
The neighbors were busy putting out the fire, and the patrolling soldiers came to help after hearing the noise. For a while, the entrance of Fang's courtyard was in chaos with people coming and going.
Fang Xun looked at the crowd anxiously, then looked them up and down. After confirming that no one was injured, he asked, "What happened? Why did it start a fire out of nowhere?"
Fang Huaimin, the eldest son of the Fang family, said with a dejected look on his face, "Don't even mention it. I don't know who came to our house today, burst in with a knife and started hacking! Look at my clothes, they're all torn to shreds. If I hadn't reacted quickly, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to save my arm."
Fang Xun frowned, "Where's the person? Has he been caught?"
Madam Fang said, "How could we catch him? He's a skilled warrior and wielding a knife. We were no match for him. As soon as your uncle shouted, we all ran over and watched him scale the wall and escape."
Fang Xun and Fang Ningmo looked at each other and saw a hint of fear and uneasiness in each other's eyes.
Fang Xun almost immediately grabbed Old Man Fang's hand, "Grandfather, could it be a Ming relative..."
Old Master Fang glanced at him. Fang Xun also knew that this was a crowded place and not a good place to talk, so he had to suppress his doubts.
Xu Zhenying had also brought people to the rescue. She seemed to have rushed over from the county government office. She took Old Madam Fang in her arms and gave her a good look before asking with concern, "I saw the fire at the county government office and sent people over to put it out. What's the situation? Are there any casualties?"
Mr. Fang didn't know how to face Xu Zhenying and refused to speak.
Old Mrs. Fang smiled and said, "He's fine, but it's a pity about the house. I've lived here for so many months that I've become attached to it."
"As long as no one is safe, the house can be repaired. What happened? Why did the fire start out of nowhere?"
Old Mrs. Fang smiled awkwardly, "Yes, who knows."
"Xu Lezhi?" Xu Yinxi vaguely saw soldiers carrying a man out of the house. The man was covered in dust and tried to avoid her sight, but he still could not escape Xu Yinxi's eyes.
If this person is not Xu Lezhi, then who is he?
Xu Yinxi pushed through the crowd and walked quickly forward, staring at Xu Lezhi in disbelief: "Why are you here?"
She glanced again at the direction where Xu Lezhi was carried out. She vaguely remembered that it was Fang Xun's room, but Fang Xun was meeting with them in his study...
In other words, Xu Lezhi actually broke into the man’s room so late at night?
Xu Yinxi's face suddenly turned embarrassed, especially after meeting Xu Lezhi's evasive gaze, she almost immediately understood what tricks Xu Lezhi was playing!
The second wife of the Fang family didn't seem to notice Xu Lezhi at all. Suddenly, she said, "Hey, why is Miss Xu Qi in my house? Why didn't I see you? Who opened the door for you? Could it be that you sneaked in?"
Madam Fang Da hurriedly and secretly pulled Madam Fang Er, but Madam Fang Er remained unmoved. Instead, she continued to look puzzled: "It's late at night and the dew is heavy. How could you, a girl, appear in my son's room?"
Mrs. Fang's words were harsh, and she gave Xu Yinxi and Xu Zhenying almost no face at all.
Mrs. Fang naturally knew exactly what she had done to Xu Lezhi.
Xu Lezhi was pestering Fang Xun, and as his mother, how could she not know?
She had always been concerned about Xu Zhenying's face and didn't want to make a big deal out of it, so she always tried to evade the matter. As people from prominent families, they were naturally not used to saying absolutes. But Xu Lezhi seemed not to understand and actually sneaked into her son's room at night. What did he want to do? Who among the people present could not see it?
You want to use the same tricks as in Bianjing City to frame her and force her to marry you? No way!
Xu Lezhi didn't expect that she just had the courage to confide in Fang Xun, but she happened to meet the killer by coincidence.
The fire trapped her in Fang Xun's study, and she couldn't go in or out. Now that she was being carried out in such a brazen manner, she just wanted to crawl into a crack in the ground.
Xu Yinxi was so angry that she wanted to slap her. Seeing that everyone in the Fang family and the other people who were fighting the fire were looking in her direction, Xu Yinxi gritted her teeth and said with a smile, "What are you talking about, Madam Fang? My sister and the eldest daughter of the Fang family are like sisters. She must have seen the Fang family on fire and ran to save them in a panic. Otherwise, how could she, a girl, just run into someone else's house casually?"
Xu Lezhi nodded immediately, frantically saying, "This is what happened. I saw the Fang family's house was on fire, and I was worried about the safety of Old Madam Fang and Sister Ruyu, so I thought of rushing in to save them!"
Mrs. Fang stared at Xu Lezhi with a sarcastic smile on her lips.
Then she glanced at Xu Zhenying again, her eyes still sharp, and said slowly, "Is that so? In that case, I must have misunderstood. Also, the Xu family has Xu Yinxi and the City Lord, which is enough to show how strict the Xu family's family traditions are. How could such a scoundrel be born?"
Fang Ningmo also smiled and said, "Second Aunt, you must have misunderstood! Miss Xu Qi was anxious to save people, and with the fire raging everywhere, she probably couldn't find her way, so she went to my brother's room. A woman's reputation is so important, you must be careful with your words!"
Madam Fang was afraid to act rashly, so she could only stop there. She quickly smiled and said, "I was confused."
Xu Zhenying glanced at Xu Lezhi indifferently, knowing that the Fang family and the Xu family had just had a fight.
She also looked down on Xu Lezhi's behavior which was like stealing chickens and dogs.
A perfectly normal girl actually broke into a man's room uninvited in the middle of the night.
What exactly does she want to do?
Frame Fang Xun with the word "innocent"?
Xu Zhenying sneered, but her words and actions showed no sign of favoring her sister. She smiled and held Xu Lezhi's somewhat cold hands, saying word by word, "Seventh sister, you are really something. How could you lose your sense of propriety just because you were anxious? Fortunately, we all know that you are close to Miss Fang. You are just too concerned. Otherwise, others would think you were doing something sneaky. Don't do this again next time, understand?"
Xu Lezhi secretly wanted to pull her hand away, but Xu Zhenying was so strong that she couldn't break free at all.
Xu Lezhi had no choice but to grit his teeth and say, "Thank you for the reminder, City Lord. I'll make a note of it."
Xu Zhenying let go of his hand, then quietly wiped his hand with his sleeve, as if he was disgusted with Xu Lezhi.
This little action naturally caught the attention of the Fang family.
This also sends a signal that Xu Zhenying doesn't like Xu Lezhi, and she may not necessarily clean up the mess that Xu Lezhi has done.
Fang Xun, who was standing aside, felt that these women seemed to be arguing with each other, but also seemed to have said nothing. He just thought that Xu Lezhi was a weird girl. Why did she stay close to him every day? It really disturbed his work.
Qian Zhenniang, who was standing by, said, "Everyone, I'm the only one living in my courtyard. Why don't you stay at my place tonight?"
Xu Zhenying also said: "Yes, I want to find a place to settle down. Tomorrow I will send someone to help you build a house."
From beginning to end, the Fang family never mentioned to Xu Zhenying that someone was trying to kill them. Fang Xun wanted to bring it up and ask Xu Zhenying to help catch the murderer, but was suppressed by Mr. Fang.
As soon as Xu Zhenying turned around, Xu Yinxi immediately followed with Xu Lezhi.
Jiang Yongkang left a few soldiers to clean up the mess and then followed.
After being some distance away from the noisy crowd, Xu Zhenying suddenly turned around.
Xu Lezhi was startled by her.
Xu Yinxi's eyelids twitched slightly. She knew Xu Zhenying was about to lose his temper. Just as she was thinking about how to explain, Xu Zhenying spoke coldly, "Jiang Yongkang, take two people to take Xu Lezhi back to the second wife. You go and tell the second uncle and second aunt what happened tonight and ask them to teach their children a lesson."
Xu Lezhi was so frightened that the color drained away from his face in an instant!
Xu Yinxi was about to speak when Xu Zhenying interrupted her forcefully, "What your sister did was disgusting enough. Don't make me think that you, standing on her side, are disgusting too. You were almost forced to marry Huang Yazi. Put yourself in his shoes and think about how you would feel if someone framed you and forced you to marry like this! Is the Fang Xun of today not the same person you were in the past? What's the difference between you, who is pleading for Xu Lezhi, and the person who forced you to marry Huang Yazi that day?!"
Xu Yinxi's body swayed and she almost lost her balance!
"Fourth sister, you should make a decisive decision now. Only by breaking free from the constraints of your original family can you have a better future. Think about it carefully. Deal with this matter and apologize to the Fang family! And don't let her harass Fang Xun again!"
Xu Yinxi had never felt so humiliated in her life!
Even when she was almost marrying Huang Yazi, she didn't feel as humiliated as Xu Zhenying said now.
This humiliation was like the sharpest knife, cutting into her heart again and again, making her feel as if it were being cut by a knife.
But the most infuriating thing was that she couldn't refute a single word Xu Zhenying said!
After a while, Xu Yinxi's voice was hoarse, "City Lord, I understand."
As for the Fang family, things were obviously in turmoil.
They didn't dare to enter the house until the neighbors put out the fire.
The Fang family had more than 20 to 30 people, divided into three courtyards. In order to share what they had, the three courtyards were connected together. At this moment, the fire almost burned the three courtyards into ruins.
Especially the luggage in the middle of the yard, which was almost completely burned.
Old Master Fang walked in front, looking at the scorched earth. Now that no one was around, he finally gritted his teeth and said, "This is too much! This is too much!"
Uncle Fang was puzzled. "Father, who are you talking about?"
Fang Ningmo hadn't expected her father to be so slow-witted. She sighed and said, "Dad, how could such a coincidence happen? The city lord just let a group of people into the city to discuss the refugees' situation, and then tonight our family was hunted down. Our whereabouts have been completely exposed!"
Fang Huaimin finally realized what was happening. "You mean...the one from Qiongzhou?"
"Who else could it be except him?!" Old Mrs. Fang was so angry that she gritted her teeth, while Fang Ruyu's face turned pale. Because of her, the Fang family was in dire straits.
By now, Fang Ruyu had long given up those thoughts about Zhou Heng, but she had not expected Zhou Heng to be so vicious. He had clearly sent people to hunt them down last time, and this time he was using the same trick again. Could it be that he really wanted the entire Fang family to be wiped out before he would feel at ease?
Old Madam Fang glanced at Fang Ruyu and scolded her, "Why are you so embarrassed? It was Zhou Heng who killed everyone, not you who sent the killers. Straighten your back!"
Fang Ruyu's eyes reddened slightly.
Fang Ningmo then said, "Grandfather, Grandmother, I'm afraid we can't leave now. We're worried that our whereabouts have been exposed. If we leave the city now, the Fang family will be left alone and die outside without anyone knowing."
Someone said, "If that's the case, why should we run? We'll die anyway if we run, and we can save our lives if we stay. Even if we become bandits, it's better than dying inexplicably out there."
Some were even more furious: "The Zhou family are all worthless. No wonder one son rebelled, and the other son is not his! Since they are so cruel, they can't blame us for being unkind and unjust. I think we should just rebel against him!"
"I think so too. Since the city lord has land and fields and has recruited so many refugees, I think we might as well rebel against the Zhou family!"
"How could the city lord listen to us? Rebellion is a grave crime punishable by the death of nine generations of the clan. Don't mention it again!"
Old Master Fang sat on the stone steps at one side in a somewhat decadent manner. Everyone in the Fang family was talking about it, but he was the only one who remained silent.
He thought of the late emperor, Zhou Heng, and the words of the alien that Xu Zhenying had said.
He couldn't help but sigh deeply. The Zhou family had ruined the great country to such an extent. With Xu Zhenying as a capable person, he was afraid that the world would really be in turmoil.
Rebellion?
He is already very old and half of his body is about to be buried in the ground. Why would he lose his integrity and join the rebellion?
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