Chapter 172 Wildfire
"What's the matter? Why are you in such a hurry?" The emperor saw the man kneeling in front of the Golden Throne. His chest was heaving violently because he ran too fast. However, because he was in the Golden Throne, he didn't dare to breathe deeply and had to hold it in.
"Your Majesty, there has been a forest fire in Nanshan. The fire is extremely severe!" the guard responded loudly.
When Shangguan Nanxing heard this, his eyes narrowed.
Wildfire, this didn’t happen in the previous life. What happened?
When Prime Minister Su heard about the forest fire in Nanshan, he was also stunned. The mountain in the south was where Su Xin disappeared.
If the wildfire was very big, there would be no news about Su Xin for such a long time. If he died in Nanshan, this fire could burn it all cleanly.
What the prime minister didn't know was that the forest fire was set by Su Xin. After she woke up, she saw her face in the mirror and found it was somewhat similar to Shangguan Nanxing's, and she was filled with emotion.
Then, he thought of the humiliation he suffered on the mountain, and in a rage, he lit a fire.
In her heart, the most humiliating thing that had ever happened to her, Su Xin, in her entire life was to live in this mountain. Only by burning it down could she ease the hatred in her heart.
Although it had rained for a long time before, the sun had been shining brightly for more than ten to twenty days during this period. All the dead branches and leaves on the mountain were completely dry and could be ignited easily.
With Su Xin's fire, the whole thing spread like wildfire.
"What?!" The emperor was so shocked that he stood up from the dragon throne and walked quickly out of the Golden Palace.
Other court officials also hurried to catch up. The Golden Throne Hall faced south and was located on a high ground in the imperial city. Looking towards the South Mountain, they could vaguely see black smoke rising into the sky, which seemed to be different in color from the white clouds in the sky.
The fire at Nanshan is no small matter. Judging from the rising smoke, the fire must be extremely fierce. The Dongyou Imperial City is surrounded by mountains on three sides. If one mountain is on fire, how can the other two mountains be spared?
There were fires on all three sides, and the imperial city was like being baked in fire. To put it more seriously, there would be countless deaths. With such a situation, it was no wonder that the guards were in a panic just now.
Even Su Xin probably didn't expect that her anger would lead to such serious consequences.
"The water from the east lake! Quickly, gather all the imperial guards and go to the east lake to fetch water to put out the fire!" The emperor was horrified upon seeing this, and even threw aside Gu Qingzhi's request.
Water and fire are merciless. If the fire in Nanshan really spreads, it will be an absolute disaster for the Dongyou Imperial City.
"Yes!" After receiving the order, the guard retreated quickly.
"My dear ministers, Nanshan is on fire now. Who has a good plan?" The emperor turned around and looked at the ministers in the court.
"This..." Everyone looked at each other. Everyone thought of using the water from East Lake, but the emperor had just given the order.
"Oh..." The emperor turned his head and looked towards the direction of Nanshan again. He didn't know if it was his illusion, but he felt that the fire over there seemed to be much more serious than before.
The emperor was shocked. He felt vaguely that the water from East Lake might not be effective.
The spring breeze mixed with chillness blew on the emperor's face. The emperor was stunned. Wind, he actually forgot there was wind. The wind fueled the fire, and the fire fueled the fire. Fear flashed in the emperor's eyes.
"Pass on my order. Whoever can come up with a good plan to put out the fire will be rewarded with ten thousand taels of gold." After the emperor gave the order loudly, he hurriedly announced the adjournment of the court, having completely forgotten about Gu Qingzhi's matter.
After the court session, every courtier who left the Golden Palace looked towards the south with concern. There was thick smoke over there.
The fire burned for three consecutive days. All the imperial guards, the city defense troops, and the guards at the homes of officials in the city were mobilized to deal with the fire.
However, due to the extremely good weather and windy weather, in addition to accidentally burning dozens of people to death, the fire showed no sign of stopping and even showed signs of burning towards the west mountain.
People in the imperial city have clearly felt that the temperature in the city has risen a lot in the past few days. Even those with sharp eyes have noticed that the forsythia flowers that were still buds a few days ago are now in full bloom, a golden color.
The reward for anyone who has a good idea to put out the fire has increased from ten thousand taels of gold to an additional hundred acres of land and a first-rank official title.
"Waste, all waste!" The emperor was in the imperial study, reading countless memorials one by one, throwing them away as he read. The memorials all provided methods of putting out fires, but at a glance, they were all nonsense.
But he had to look at it. What if there really was a good solution hidden in it? The emperor had not rested for three days and he was well aware of the severity of the wildfire.
Dongyou usually sent people to guard the forests, because there was a forest fire in Dongyou's history, which almost destroyed the country at that time, so their emperors of all dynasties had strict supervision over the forests.
Only this year, it rained for three months some time ago, which made him relax his orders. The forest ranger also became lazy as a result. Now he has ordered the forest ranger to be executed.
But what's the point of executing the forest ranger? The forest fire will still be as fierce as before.
The Dongyou Imperial City is now filled with the smell of burning. Even the beggars who usually make a living by begging for food have worry in their eyes when they see the fire not far away.
"Hey, Second Miss, is this forest fire really unstoppable? Looking at the weather, it probably won't rain for a while. God, it rained for three months before, but now, not a drop of rain has fallen."
Xiao He watched Su Yue staring at Nanshan in a daze, so she looked over and complained aloud.
The Nanshan Mountain today looks charred and even on fire.
And Su Yue just looked at Nanshan, no one knew what she was thinking.
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