Ignoring the thick smoke billowing in the courtyard, Xu Di rushed into the room and called for Xiao Jiu, but there was no one in the room. He was about to rush to the backyard when he saw a stone slab being lifted from the ground in a corner of the courtyard near the wall, and then several people jumped out from inside.
By the light of the fire outside, Xu Di saw that it was Xu Zhi and Zheng Yuanyuan, followed by several servants.
Xu Di couldn't describe his feelings. He rushed forward and hugged Xu Zhi tightly, choking back tears as he said, "Xiao Jiu, thank goodness you're alright. What would I have done if something had happened to you? What would our parents have done?"
Xu Zhi was covered in ash. After Xu Di hugged her, she coughed twice and said, "Brother, I'm fine, aren't I? Let go of me first and put out the fire in the yard."
Xu Di quickly released Xu Zhi and said to the people behind him, "Quickly put out the fire."
One team went to help put out the fire, another team guarded the few men in black who were already tied up like dumplings, and a few others were responsible for keeping watch in the yard. Everyone did their job and managed to put out the fire in the yard before dawn.
The fire destroyed the kitchen and affected several courtyards in the backyard. The courtyard where Xu Zhi lived was the main house, which was not burned down. The roof of the east wing was also burned down. Fortunately, when Xu Rao built the house, he requested that it be built with blue bricks and that the roof be made of wood except for the beams, which were made of tiles.
Granny Wang had already arranged for someone to order breakfast from a restaurant in the city. Xu Zhi found a room in the front yard and put the several men in black who had been imprisoned inside. Among the people Xu Di brought were those skilled in interrogation, and they began to interrogate the men in black.
Xu Di hadn't slept all night, having traveled all the way from Ganzhou. Xu Zhi wanted him to rest in the backyard, which hadn't been affected by the disaster, but Xu Di refused and instead pulled Xu Zhi aside to talk in her room.
Xu Di said, "After receiving your letter, I rushed here with my men. I even went to the manor to gather some people, but we were still a step too late."
Xu Zhi said, "I was talking to Granny Wang this afternoon, and it just suddenly came to mind. My brother also knows that we only have a few servants here who don't have much fighting ability. If we encounter a sneak attack, we have no way to resist."
Xu Di asked, "How did you discover these people?"
Xu Zhi smiled and said, "It's also because God took pity on us. There's a woman in the kitchen here who's a local from Hexi. She has a son who works at an inn in the city. This afternoon, Granny Wang gave her three months' extra wages. After dinner, she rushed over and said that her son ran home from the inn to tell her that a group of people stayed at the inn that afternoon, and they looked scary. When her son brought her the food, he heard someone mention her husband's name."
Xu Di nodded, and Xu Zhi said, "The cook's son naturally knew that her husband had left. Her mother took three months' wages and went home. In addition, her son also saw those people's weapons, so he asked his mother to come and tell me. When Wang Mama heard about it, she went to the inn under the cover of night. After seeing the people, she came back and told us to hide."
Xu Di said, "So you hid in the cellar?"
Xu Zhi said, "At the time, I was thinking of taking Yuanyuan outside to hide, but who knew that someone had already sneaked into the backyard. There was no other way but to hide in the cellar."
Hexi is a border city. Although many families dig a cellar in their homes, well-off families prefer to create a secluded space in their yards so that they can hide if attacked by outsiders and unable to escape immediately.
This family was quite particular; they dug a cellar in the courtyard. When they rented the house, the owner had told Wang Mama about it. Wang Mama didn't care at the time and hid the family's girls inside. She and the servants hid elsewhere. Fortunately, these people had the idea of setting fire first and then killing people, which gave Wang Mama the opportunity to hide them.
Xu Di said, "It was really too dangerous. If I hadn't arrived in time, those people would have found you in the cellar sooner or later. Would you have been able to escape then?"
Xu Zhi sighed and said, "Brother, I think my mistake was that I didn't fully consider the darkness in people's hearts."
Xu Di said, "Xiao Jiu, don't say that. You've already done a great job."
Xu Zhi shook her head and said, "Brother, I feel that I am too weak, so weak that others would use my life to please others. Brother, I don't want to be like this anymore. I want to become strong. I want to become someone who would have a lot of consideration even if others wanted to touch me."
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