Chapter 12: A Dangerous Situation
The sky gradually darkened and Buddhist chants were heard in the temple.
The national teacher presided over the ceremony, and all members of the royal family and court officials gathered in the spirit hall to conclude the prayers that had begun three days ago.
When the ceremony started three days ago, important figures from Kucha, the Tang Dynasty and the Uighurs gathered together. The three sacred national treasures shone brightly, and the whole country celebrated in a grand and solemn manner.
But now that the ceremony is coming to an end, all that remains in the hall are empty incense tables, dusty portraits, and tablets of varying ages.
Even the light from the aquarium shining on the Imperial Master seemed to be much dimmer.
Everyone sat cross-legged and listened quietly to the National Master's lecture on the "Vimalakirti Sutra".
Just as the Imperial Master was elaborating on the "Unrivaled Dharma" mentioned in the sutra, a commotion suddenly came from outside. The source of the sound was a corner of the palace.
The sacrifice was coming to an end, so naturally, no one could move while the sermon was in progress. The king looked up at the captain of the guards who was in charge of his protection.
He hurriedly inquired about the situation, then walked over to the king and whispered in his ear, "A fire suddenly broke out in the northwest corner of the palace. The fire is currently small, and the palace has mobilized personnel to put it out."
It was midsummer, and Qiuci was dry and rainy, so occasional fires were common.
The king waved his hand casually, signaling him to lead people to put out the fire, and nodded to everyone, indicating that there was nothing serious and they could continue to listen to the sutra with peace of mind.
The captain of the guards led most of the guards out of the mausoleum and rushed to the fire. They saw that the fire was getting more and more intense. Everyone in the palace gathered at the fire and worked together to put out the fire by pouring water.
The Kucha Palace was not big and was connected to the streets. At this time, the surrounding people had already been alarmed and covered themselves with wet towels and came to help with buckets and basins.
The Kucha Palace was not large, and amidst the chaos, the palace guards were practically useless. The few guards who remained alert were obscured by the flames and black smoke, and failed to notice that among the firefighters, a few people, after pouring water, had quietly disappeared into a secluded area of the palace.
They were obviously well prepared and avoided the palace patrols with great accuracy and approached the place where Qian Deng was imprisoned.
Qiandeng had naturally heard the noise outside a long time ago and saw thick smoke billowing out the window.
Daimao asked worriedly, "County Lady, the fire won't spread over here, will it? I see the guards have gone to the front to put out the fire. Why don't we go too?"
"The truth hasn't come to light yet. If we leave now, won't it be even harder to clear our suspicion?"
Before he finished speaking, a voice came from the side: "But if you don't leave now, I'm afraid they will attack you!"
The voice was bright and cheerful. Even though the person who came out of the dark corner had a cloth covering his face, as if to prevent inhaling charcoal gas like everyone else, Qiandeng immediately recognized that it was Ji Linyou's voice.
"Record thing?" Qian Deng immediately knew something was wrong and quickly walked over to ask in a low voice, "What happened? Who wants to attack me?"
"I heard from the guards that the upper echelons of Kucha can no longer hold back and are planning to take action against the county lord. We'll talk about the details later. Come with me!" Ji Linyou threw two old clothes to her and Daimao, signaling them to put them on and leave immediately.
Qian Deng hesitated for a moment, and the maid who was guarding her called out in panic, "Help! The Tang County Lord is trying to escape..."
Before she could finish her words, Ji Linyou knocked her out with a sharp knife.
"Let's go! Cui Shaoqing is waiting for us outside." Ji Linyou gestured to the clothes thrown to them. "I have to say, he is really thorough. Not only did he prepare a map of the palace, he even prepared some old clothes."
As he spoke, he tugged at his ordinary Kucha civilian clothes and gestured to the others, who were similarly dressed, "It's best not to make this matter public, especially for the former subordinates of the Prince of Changhua and Kucha. We need to leave some room for them. After all, the county lady might return to cooperate with them one day in the future."
Hearing that this matter was arranged by Cui Fufeng, Qiandeng immediately felt much more at ease, knowing that he would definitely handle everything properly.
Ji Linyou then gestured for her to tie on the green belt he had brought with him: "In the darkness, we will use the green belt as a mark. Even if there is chaos, the county lady just needs to remember that this belt belongs to her."
This is a rare fabric in Kucha. The Jin family caravan just brought it from the Central Plains for sale. The deep blue color is slightly reflective in the dark, making it easy to identify.
And because the belt was a wide triangle that covered the left thigh diagonally, Ji Linyou patted his green belt and realized that there was a dagger hidden in it.
Now that everything was arranged, Qian Deng immediately made up his mind: "Let's go. Now that things have come to this, let's get out of here first. Once outside, I'll have the opportunity to investigate the truth and clear my name."
Daimao nodded repeatedly, and the two immediately followed Ji Linyou out of the confinement area and ran towards the palace gate.
Black smoke billowed outside and the fire spread. The fire, which seemed small at first, became more and more intense.
Qiuci's climate was dry, and although many palace servants and civilians came to put out the fire, how could they put it out in such a hurry? Amidst the panicked crowd, even the guards guarding the palace gates had become disorganized.
Qiandeng and Daimao took the prepared buckets of water, mixed in with the crowd of people putting out the fire, hurried out of the palace gate, and ran to the river outside, only then did they breathe a sigh of relief.
When they reached a deserted place by the river, they threw away the bucket, immediately bypassed the palace wall, and sneaked to the rear, preparing to meet Cui Fufeng who was supporting them from behind.
The back door of the palace is towards the mourning hall. At this time, all the people in the city gathered around the fire site of the palace, and the streets here were deserted.
The noise of the fire ahead had faded into the distance. Qiandeng pulled up her headscarf and walked quickly past the temple along the dark street, only to hear a louder noise coming from inside the temple.
She subconsciously glanced at the door, only to find that the hall was full of scorching flames, and there was a raging fire inside.
She subconsciously turned around and immediately ran towards the spirit hall.
Most of the guards here had left to put out the fire. The few guarding the door were staggering, some leaning against the wall, some half-lying in the corner, their bodies in strange postures covered in dark pools of blood.
Ji Linyou knew at a glance that a tragedy had occurred here. Seeing the county lady running towards the mourning hall, he became anxious and followed her, about to urge her to ignore it and escape quickly, but he heard wailing and screaming from inside the mourning hall.
The tragic roar made Qiandeng rush up the stairs and look into the spirit hall.
Scorching flames erupted from the hall's only entrance, preventing her from approaching. All she could see were countless dark figures struggling and twisting within the blaze, each one desperately trying to throw themselves towards the hall door, driven by a desire to survive.
Unfortunately, the door of the spirit hall was too narrow, and only a few of the swiftest figures protected the important people in the middle and rushed out of the sea of fire and rolled down the stairs.
Those people were covered in fire and ash, their bodies twisted and twisted, making it impossible to identify them. Almost everyone was rolling on the ground wailing, and the surrounding area was filled with screams.
Qiandeng and Ji Linyou hid on both sides, looked at each other subconsciously, and were inexplicably shocked.
"County Lady, how about... let's just leave?" Seeing the situation so bizarre, Ji Linyou felt uneasy and terrified. He said hurriedly, "It's such a big fire, it can't be put out. Let's just leave it alone!"
Qian Deng thought that she was on the run and responded in shock, but when she was about to turn around, she saw a small figure staggering out of the spirit hall and crawling to the threshold. Because she was covered by thick smoke, she choked and convulsed, and her legs went weak and she fainted in the sea of fire.
It’s Bai Zhaosu!
She had always been neglected and treated coldly, so during sacrifices she was naturally in the outer corner, and therefore closest to the temple door, and could barely crawl to the door through the thick smoke.
Unfortunately, she was too weak to get up again after crawling to the door.
The flames from behind were spreading and were about to lick Bai Zhaosu's back. Qian Deng was very anxious and ran towards her without caring about Ji Linyou's obstruction.
The hall was already a sea of fire. Not to mention the portraits on the walls, even the ground was burning fiercely. Everyone in the hall was crawling and twisting, it was a horrible sight, like hell.
Qiandeng didn't have time to watch any longer. The fire in the hall was so hot that it burst out from the door and almost singed her hair and clothes.
"County Master, come back quickly!"
She heard Ji Linyou's cry, but looking at the girl so close to her, Qiandeng gritted her teeth, rushed into the surging flames and heat, and hugged Bai Zhaosu.
Bai Zhaosu's small body curled up in her arms. In the flickering firelight in front of her, she barely opened her eyes and looked at Qian Deng who was holding her in his arms. Her lips moved, but no sound came out.
Qian Deng didn't bother to say anything. He carried her down the stairs and fell into Ji Linyou's supporting arms.
The palace guards had arrived and were stunned when they saw the temple turned into a sea of fire and the few people who escaped.
The few people who fled from the palace in panic were all covered in flames. Some rolled around and screamed, "Save the king!"
Everyone then realized that the person who was surrounded in the middle and was on fire was the King of Kucha who was supposed to be listening to the sermon in the hall.
Several people immediately took off their clothes, rushed towards the king, and put out the flames on his body.
Unfortunately, the fire on the King of Kucha kept igniting no matter how hard he tried to put it out, and it was impossible to extinguish it completely. It was obvious that his body was stained with flammable scented oil or something, and simply putting out the fire was of no use.
The flames did not go out until he rolled on the ground screaming and his clothes and beard and hair were burned to ashes.
At this time, the King of Kucha was already charred all over and was dying.
Qiandeng was already frail, and having rushed through the sea of fire to save people, she had already lost her strength. When she turned to look at the King of Kucha, Ji Linyou had already taken Bai Zhaosu from her. Seeing that she had already lost consciousness and fallen into a coma, he placed her under a tree by the roadside and anxiously signaled Qiandeng to run.
Qiandeng raised his hand and felt Bai Zhaosu's breathing. Seeing that it was weak but still even, he felt relieved and stood up.
But she was in such a hurry that the hood she was wearing fell off during the rescue, inevitably revealing her whereabouts.
The guards were all surprised and confused when they recognized her, but in the chaos, no one stepped forward to stop her, and they had no idea why she was there.
Only one person, lying on the steps with flames still blazing on his body, pointed at Qiandeng and Ji Linyou and screamed, "Catch... Catch them! The murderer... arsonist... Qingyao... belt..."
That distorted voice finally allowed everyone to identify who he was—
It was the imperial teacher who escaped from the mausoleum after being rescued by the monks at the risk of their lives, but who ultimately failed to put out the flames in time.
When he was on the verge of death, he shouted out such a baffling and mournful accusation, drawing everyone's attention to Qian Deng, Ji Linyou and his group.
Except for Qiandeng and Daimao, they were all soldiers in disguise, so they were naturally strong. Although the old clothes they wore had different patterns, the common feature was that they all wore wide blue belts.
As everyone was shocked, the dying King of Kucha opened his mouth with difficulty and uttered a few hoarse words: "Assassin... wearing a green belt... burning and slaughtering!"
Upon hearing the joint testimony of the king and the state teacher, the guards were immediately in an uproar.
The captain of the guards immediately stood up and gave the order: "Catch the murderer, don't let them escape!"
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