Yehe Shi seemed to have lost her last bit of sanity after being provoked by Lanqin's words, and immediately collapsed to the ground like a lump of mud. The Fourth Prince didn't bother to look at her again, and instead took Lanqin's hand and turned to leave.
However, before Fourth Master and Lanqin could rest, a servant suddenly rushed in from outside to report: the North Courtyard is on fire.
Lanqin was startled and instinctively asked, "Which place?" She was worried about Song Shi. After spending these years together, Lanqin and Song Shi were no longer just sisters, but closer than sisters.
The servant who came to report said that there was no fire on the Yehe clan's side, but on the Song clan's side. Lanqin was finally relieved.
Fourth Master immediately put on his clothes and went. Lanqin wanted to go, but Fourth Master stopped her: "It will be of no use for you to go. Master Song will take care of the matter himself!"
Lanqin was exhausted after a busy day, so she immediately told Su Peisheng to go with the master before lying down fully clothed.
"Cui Niang, go to the kitchen and tell them to make some chicken soup for the master. It's so cold. When you come back, make sure to give some to the master and Su Peisheng as well." Lan Qin definitely couldn't sleep. She and the Fourth Master had just left the North Courtyard, and less than an hour later, Ye He Shi's room had caught fire. There was only one possibility—Ye He Shi or her maid had set the fire.
The maids in the room, including Lanqin, hadn't gone to sleep, so naturally none of them could go to sleep either. They all stayed in the room waiting for news. They stood on the steps in the south courtyard and looked north towards the Fourth Prince's residence. Sure enough, there was a red light in that direction, indicating that the fire was still quite large.
"What a disaster! That Yehe woman is such a troublemaker. Master and Master are kind-hearted; they should have had her tied up back then. We were thinking of keeping her for one night and dealing with her tomorrow, but she actually set a fire." Cui Niang said, seeing Lan Qin leaning against the bed with her eyes open.
"Yehe is indeed reckless, actually setting herself on fire. Does she not want anyone in her house to survive?" Lanqin was stunned, thinking that Empress Dowager Cixi's ancestors were indeed not to be trifled with. She also wondered, "I wonder if Sister Song is alright, otherwise I would really be implicated."
“If Master is worried, why not send Cui Da and Cui Er to take a look and see if there’s anything they can do to help?” Cui Niang said.
Lanqin nodded and then told them to be quick-witted.
Meanwhile, in the main courtyard, some people were still awake. After taking the medicine prescribed by Physician Yang for several more days, the Princess Consort gradually recovered. Although she looked a little thinner, she was now much better.
Qiu Chan was beaten to death, and Ling Xiu returned barely alive, needing to rest in bed for a while before she recovered somewhat. Now, the maidservant named Cai Yue serves the Fujin. The Fourth Prince, who had originally intended to add a few more people, has not mentioned it again. The main courtyard is no longer the splendor it once was.
“Madam, it’s in the direction of the North Courtyard. I just made an excuse to go out and get some hot water for you, and I went to check in that direction. It seems there’s a fire,” Caiyue said.
"Fire?" The princess was sitting on the bed fully clothed, her face gaunt and sallow from being bedridden for a long time, and her hair was simply tied up in a bun.
“In the dead of winter, when the air is dry and the temperature is high, I guess the maids must have accidentally knocked the lamp beads over,” Caiyue said.
"The Song family and the Yehe family live in the North Courtyard. Do you know which section of the river is the source of the water?" The Fujin's eyes were pitch black, as if bottomless.
“It’s very late outside, and many servants have been transferred over there to rescue people, so I haven’t encountered anyone asking,” Caiyue whispered.
"Go and check the situation now. Take advantage of this chaos to find those people I told you about. The South Courtyard's attention is probably all there now, so you can go and do your thing," the Princess said. "Find out which side is on fire."
Seeing the Fujin's resolute expression, Caiyue said, "Then this servant will go and wake them up, otherwise there will be no one to serve you here, Fujin."
"No need, I'll just lie here and don't need anyone to serve me. You may leave now," the wife said.
Because of her sweet talk and quick wit, Caiyue got along quite well with the two old women guarding the door. Whenever she wanted to go out, she only needed to tell them, and they would usually let her out.
Under the cover of night, Caiyue noticed that one of the two old women was already asleep, and the other was still half asleep. Not wanting to wake them, she tiptoed into the room, quietly took the key from the table, and unlocked the door.
In the north courtyard, Madam Song was naturally still awake. She had only just fallen asleep when black smoke billowed from the house across the street. Qingping and Cuiyun rushed in to report the fire, and the three of them immediately got up and dressed. Several maids who had been waiting outside also came in to watch over Madam Song. They went to the door and looked through the window at the house where Madam Yehe was staying; flames were already appearing. Hexiang and Hehua, who had run out from inside, stood outside, not daring to approach. Servants from various places were carrying buckets of water from the well outside to extinguish the flames.
Black smoke billowed up, and a cacophony of voices filled the air. Song clasped her hands together, silently reciting something in her heart.
“Master, everything was fine, how did the fire start? Could it be that she set it herself?” Qingping couldn’t help but say to Song Shi, “Judging from the commotion these past few days, Ye Gege seems to have gone mad, talking nonsense.”
Song knew perfectly well what had driven Yehe to madness, but she couldn't say it outright, so she simply said, "Qingping, go to the South Courtyard and let them know you're safe. I reckon the Consort is still worried."
Qingping received Song's instructions and agreed. She put on a cotton overcoat and went out with the kerosene lamp.
Because most of the servants in the mansion had been called away to put out the fire, Qingping walked along the corridor with the gas lamp and didn't encounter a single person. In addition, it was getting late at night, and with the cold wind blowing, she couldn't help but feel scared.
She walked to a rockery and couldn't help but glance at the dark, heavy area a few times.
Suddenly, two dark figures moved around a few times near the artificial hill before disappearing back into the darkness.
Qingping thought she was seeing things, but she also felt that she was not mistaken; it was a human figure.
Who could be there so late at night?
Qingping suppressed her curiosity and did not go over to take a look, but instead walked towards the south courtyard.
After Qingping had gone some distance, the two figures hiding behind the artificial hill finally emerged. By the moonlight, they were indeed Caiyue and one of the managers of the flower room.
“She almost saw me just now, Steward Zhang. The Princess Consort has never mistreated you. Did you hear what I just said?” Caiyue said to Steward Zhang.
“That’s right, the Fujin treats her servants very well. But now the concubine in the South Courtyard is in charge, and the Fujin is also imprisoned. Is it really necessary to do this?” Steward Zhang said with a bitter face.
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