Chapter 72 Fire
Yu An looked in the direction he was pointing, but there was no sign of him.
"It seems like they've left? Or am I seeing things..." Baozhu wasn't sure for a moment.
Yu An lifted her foot and walked away. "It shouldn't be him. If it were him, he would have come back directly. He wouldn't have left after getting to the door."
Besides, things have finally started to look promising in the Shen family's affairs, and he might not be able to find the time to come back.
Yu An stopped thinking about it and took Bao Zhu to the morning market. At the end of the day, Su Mu reported the situation to her as usual.
"You don't need to report to me about the rest every day," Yu'an instructed him before he left.
Su Mu hesitated, "But... this is what the master wanted."
"No."
Yu An put down her pen. "Now that things are back on track, there's no need to go into details with me. I can't help anyway, I'll just look at the results."
Su Mu: "What about the old man..."
Yu-an: "Just say it's my idea, he'll listen."
Su Mu stopped arguing and agreed, then prepared to leave. However, he opened the door halfway and stood frozen at the doorway, refusing to move.
Yu An looked up at him and saw him manage to stammer out, "Madam, are you aware of the master's recent condition?"
Su Mu looked distressed, took a deep breath, and frowned as she said, "Let Grandpa tell you himself when he gets back. Anyway... anyway, this time it was quite dangerous. Lately, Grandpa seems to be in a hurry to do something, taking risks several times in a row. He's completely different from how he used to be."
He spoke cryptically, and Yu-an listened with a vague understanding.
Before she could ask anything, the person left.
Indeed, Ji Jinghe hasn't been back for a while, and even the two elderly people have started asking about it.
"He probably went to Lizhou, but I don't know exactly what he did there."
Madam Chen: "You're his wife, and you don't even know what he's doing outside? I see that guard reporting to you every day."
Yu An didn't take it to heart: "It's all official business. I wouldn't understand it anyway. He'll come back when he has time."
Chen: "But I heard Granny Liu on the street say that she saw Jinghe come back a few mornings ago. What? You didn't see him?"
A few days ago, in the morning?
That was the day Baozhu pointed to when she saw it.
Yu An shook her head.
Mrs. Chen tried her best to comfort him, "Although you two are not getting along, you are still husband and wife. You still need to understand each other. I can see that Jinghe cares about you a lot, but you look completely indifferent. If Jinghe finds out, he will be very heartbroken..."
"I wonder if the wounds on your body have healed yet..."
As Chen muttered in her ear, she didn't know where to put the needle and thread in her hands. She looked at the embroidery frame, but her mind wandered to another part of the room.
"He took several risks in a row..."
"Anyway, this time it was quite dangerous. I don't know why the old man has been so impatient lately..."
Mo dared not let anything really happen.
The day after tomorrow is Li Baozhong's birthday. According to Chen, she wants to invite Ji Jinghe back for a meal. After the meal, he can do whatever he wants, and they won't interfere.
Yu An remained noncommittal, allowing Bao Zhu to relay the matter to Su Mu.
Su Mu received the order and went to report it early, returning that afternoon.
Ji Jinghe brought a lot of things and played two games of chess with the old man, making the old man happy and laughing several times. Just as they were about to start eating, Wei Ji called him away again.
It was said that the Emperor had issued an edict, and he had to return to the county office to receive it.
"Then let's not wait for him, let's eat first."
Li Baozhong seemed to be deep in thought, but didn't say anything. He drank about half a pot of wine and seemed to be in a good mood.
Ji Jinghe said he would come back before he left, but unfortunately there was still no sign of him before he went to bed.
After lying down, Yu'an felt a strange panic in her chest. Hearing a noise in the yard, she thought it must be Ji Jinghe returning. But she hadn't been asleep for long when she heard a noise at the yard gate.
After going back and forth like this, I couldn't sleep at all.
The charcoal brazier inside had been completely extinguished, and a chilly breeze crept into the exposed shoulders, making it impossible to fall asleep.
My mind was completely sharp, and I couldn't calm down and sleep no matter how I closed my eyes, so I simply put on my clothes and shoes and got up to keep the charcoal brazier burning.
A flash of light passed through the window. Looking up, it didn't seem like someone had lit a lamp in the yard. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be coming from outside the yard, and a pungent smell of smoke was also spreading into the house.
She opened the door to look, and her heart skipped a beat.
The fire has started, and the flames have even silently spread to the roof.
Yu An quickly went inside, put on her clothes, and knocked on the doors of each room.
The fire spread rapidly, and by the time she helped the two elderly people out, it had already reached the lintel, which was made of wood and looked as if it would fall off their heads in the blink of an eye.
As the fire grew larger, the flames also woke up many people around. After comforting the old man and Baozhu, Yu'an rolled up his sleeves and went into the yard to fight the fire. Neither Chen nor Li Baozhong could stop him.
There were many medicinal herbs in the courtyard and money in the house; she would save as much as she could. The situation was urgent, and she couldn't care about anything else. As a result, she had just carried two buckets of water when a figure suddenly appeared beside her.
"Hurry up and go take care of the elderly, I'm going to put out the fire."
Zhang Bai rolled up his sleeves, revealing that he wasn't even wearing a padded jacket, only a thin outer shirt.
"We're short-handed, every extra person counts..."
Seeing that he couldn't persuade her, Zhang Bai had no choice but to help carry water to put out the fire. As the fire grew larger, Zhang Bai disregarded her wishes and pulled her out directly.
The streets and alleys were packed with people, all watching the spectacle from the outside, and very few dared to rush in to put out the fire.
"Grandpa Li, how did your house suddenly catch such a big fire? You should report it to the authorities immediately, this fire can't be put out..."
"Yes, hurry up and call your granddaughter out, it's dangerous inside."
Li Baozhong called out "Yu'an" twice, but there was no response.
Mrs. Chen was so anxious that she almost cried.
"Where is Yu'an? Where is she?"
The elderly couple looked up and saw Ji Jinghe. They immediately grasped at a straw, "Yu Niang went in to put out the fire. We couldn't stop her, but the fire is so big now, how could she get out..."
Flames lit up the horizon, and thick smoke was already billowing out. Ji Jinghe glanced at it a few times before rushing inside.
"Hey!" Chen reached out to stop him, almost twisting her waist but still couldn't catch him.
Li Baozhong helped her up from behind, but he was unable to speak.
Chen cried out in distress, and everyone rushed to comfort her. After a while, they heard someone else shouting.
"Hey, isn't this the girl from the Li family? Quick, your maternal grandparents are looking for you!"
Yu An coughed and finally managed to catch her breath, only to see Chen Shi and Li Baozhong at the gate looking at the courtyard with bitter faces.
She stepped forward, calling out, "Grandfather!"
When Chen looked back, she suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, her legs almost giving way and she sat down on the ground.
“You silly child, why didn’t you come looking for us after you got out?! Your grandfather and I thought you were still inside.”
Yu An: "I just came out. Zhang Bai pushed me out. Have you seen Brother Zhang Bai?"
Granny Liu looked around and waved, saying, "Isn't Zhang's son over there? Look."
Looking in that direction, I quickly scanned the crowd several times before finally spotting Zhang Bai.
The man was panting heavily, and there was a black mark on his forehead.
"Brother Zhang Bai!"
Yu An called out, and Zhang Bai responded. Only when someone gestured to him did he realize that Yu An was calling him.
"You have black marks on your forehead."
Yu An tried to take out a handkerchief from her coat and hand it to him, but Zhang Bai innocently stretched out his hand, both of which were covered in black.
Ignoring everything else, Yu An directly raised her hand and wiped his forehead.
"Hey hey hey hey... Jinghe ran inside, Jinghe..."
The voice reached her ears, and her heart skipped a beat. Yu'an shouted, "What did you say?!"
Seeing Yu An safe and sound outside was so exciting that she forgot everything else in the blink of an eye. Just as Chen was about to remember, Li Baozhong tugged at her and said excitedly, "She's out, she's out!"
At first glance, Ji Jinghe was suppressing a cough, his shoulders and half his body stained black.
Chen: Are you alright?
Ji Jinghe couldn't help but look at Yu An in front of him, and in that instant, his peripheral vision also caught a glimpse of Zhang Bai behind her.
He subconsciously clenched his fist and softly uttered, "It's alright."
His voice was so soft that Yu Ansheng had a strange feeling. The shimmering firelight reflected on his face, giving him a faint golden glow. Despite the bright light, a dark shadow blocked his face, making it impossible for her to discern his expression.
But there was also an underlying sense of strangeness.
Experience told her that Ji Jinghe would never take risks for her, but that was the reality.
She stared at him blankly, her heart pounding as if suspended in mid-air, with no bottom in sight.
Li Baozhong patted his arm heavily, a rare look of admiration on his face: "Good lad, you've got guts!"
Ji Jinghe unconsciously shrank back, his face expressionless, so that no one would notice.
“The firefighters from the county government will be here soon, so we won’t be able to stay in the house. Why don’t we just make do at the county government office for the night and discuss our accommodations tomorrow?” he said.
Li Baozhong: "Okay, I'll do as you say."
No sooner had the words been spoken than groups of constables arrived. With the help of able-bodied men from the neighborhood, the last fire was extinguished before everyone was finally able to disperse and go home.
Inside the county government office, the elderly couple, still shaken, sat on the bed, unable to fall asleep for a long time.
"The fire has destroyed all the silver notes and herbs..."
"You old fool, you're about to die, and you're still thinking about these things."
The charcoal brazier inside the room was burning brightly, warming even the quilt. Chen lay down in the quilt, but she couldn't feel at ease.
"Where did the fire come from in the dead of winter? That's really strange... When do you think God is planning to take our lives?"
Their daughter passed away early, and their son was far away in the capital. The two of them lived in Jiangling, and had not seen their loved ones for half their lives. What was there to live a good life like?
Chen sighed, "We'll take it away whenever we want. I'm not afraid of dying, but you are?"
Li Baozhong looked out the window, paused for a moment, and then seemed to remember something. "Hey, look at what happened just now. When that boy from the Ji family heard that Yu Niang was in the fire, he rushed in without saying a word. It took him so long to come out. That shows that he really values our Yu Niang."
Chen glared at him. "You found out on the first day?"
"I didn't believe it before."
Li Baozhong sighed, "He treated Yu Niang like that before, and then suddenly changed his tune. Who knows what he's after?"
Perhaps he saw that the Chu family's case had been overturned and didn't want to be seen as abandoning his wife, so he stubbornly refused to divorce.
"Besides, Yu Niang herself said that she has a good relationship with the Empress Dowager. Maybe the Ji family is just after her and doesn't want Fang Yu Niang to leave. But looking at it today, that might not be the case."
Chen scoffed and began to ponder it carefully.
In a fire, in such a dangerous situation, risking his life to go in and search for people, and coming out without uttering a single complaint, but instead focusing solely on handling the situation, that's what a real man does.
“What’s the use of us nodding? I think our Yu Niang probably doesn’t like him. She’s not even as enthusiastic about him as she is about Zhang’s son.”
The old men both sighed.
"Alright, children and grandchildren have their own blessings. Let's see what Yu Niang decides."
...
The county government office was poorly furnished, but Ji Jinghe had already done his best to make arrangements. It was only a temporary place to stay, so Yu An didn't bother with anything fancy.
Baozhu locked the door, turned off the light, and went to bed: "Miss, I think I saw a doctor come into the master's room."
"His injuries haven't healed yet?"
Baozhu burrowed into the quilt. "I noticed today that Grandpa's face was completely pale. I guess he's not fully recovered yet. I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I feel like Grandpa has lost a lot of weight lately."
Yu An didn't feel anything.
"Why don't you go and see for yourself tomorrow, young lady?"
Yu An casually tucked the blanket in, "What's so interesting about this? He's a grown man; it's enough that a doctor can explain it to him."
The Li residence was badly burned. When I went to check it early in the morning, I found traces of tung oil in the corners of the walls, and the room where Ji Jinghe lived had the most traces.
The other side set this trap solely to take Ji Jinghe's life.
Fortunately, she discovered it in advance, and the whole family escaped a disaster.
Within half a day, Ji Jinghe had arrested the offender, but he was stubborn and refused to confess anything.
The Emperor issued an edict overnight, entrusting Zhang Yanche with full authority over the Shen family's smuggling affairs and ordering Ji Jinghe to return to the capital immediately. Yu An originally planned to stay with the old man to tidy up the house before leaving, but the old man kept urging her to stay.
“Jinghe has arranged everything here, so you don’t need to worry about us. Hurry back, Zhuo’er is still in the capital.”
Yu'an was about to say more when the elderly couple had something else to say to persuade her.
“My uncles are doing very well in Beijing. When I went to Changping last time, I also advised him that he might not come back for the Spring Festival this year.”
Mrs. Chen held her hand and said, "We know, so don't worry about us. Take care of yourself on the way."
After saying goodbye to everyone, we set off.
Ji Jinghe bowed to the two elderly people one by one, and then looked at Yu An.
Their eyes met, and in the bright light, Yu'an could finally see him clearly.
His pale, cold face had even more defined features, and his eyes were bright and resolute, yet a faint sadness lingered in their depths.
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