With such a major incident at Yanyu Tower, many people must be paying attention to it. Qu Qingxi must be careful to avoid having her identity discovered unknowingly, which could bring her unnecessary trouble.
When Qu Qingxi slowly walked to the Misty Rain Pavilion, a large crowd had already gathered there.
Although the government officials were trying to drive them away, many people still gathered around to watch the spectacle. The government officials had no choice but to let them stay, since the people just wanted to watch the excitement and hadn't done anything to interfere with their work.
Qu Qingxi hid behind several tall young men and looked inside. She saw that the once magnificent and splendid Yanyu Tower was almost entirely charred black.
The buildings of Yanyu Tower were mostly made of wood, which is more flammable. Originally a three-story building, part of it has now collapsed and turned into ruins. Government officials still occasionally carry out blackened corpses from inside.
Those who were fortunate enough to escape the calamity knelt there weeping before being taken away by government officials for questioning.
Seeing this scene with her own eyes, Qu Qingxi couldn't help but sigh. She had come here specifically for Yang Qianqian a few days ago. Back then, it was a bustling and lively place, full of bright lights and revelry. Now, it had become such a desolate place.
Qu Qingxi noticed that the men gathered here looked at Yanyu Tower with regret and sorrow in their eyes. A few women also secretly looked over, initially with a look of satisfaction, but when they saw the corpses being carried out one after another, their eyes flashed with helplessness and heartache.
When the Misty Rain Pavilion existed, some married men would come here to find prostitutes for pleasure. However, when something happened at the Misty Rain Pavilion and those men had nowhere else to go, they would take concubines.
A fickle person will always be fickle. If the main road is blocked, they will find mountain paths and side roads. They will never give up their desires.
Qu Qingxi sighed inwardly; some men really are unreliable.
Before marriage, men weigh the pros and cons and show their affection in various ways. But once the woman is married, they find the wild flowers outside fresh and appealing, and their wives become boring. Men either seek out prostitutes or take concubines constantly, while women are trapped in the backyard for their entire lives.
More importantly, in the end, those poor women only feel that they failed to win their husbands' hearts, and find it hard to think that these are not their problems at all, but rather the problems of those men.
The feudal system and society ultimately imprisoned women's minds. Even if some women understood that these were not their problems, how could they really change this system that had been in place for thousands of years?
Thinking about this, Qu Qingxi couldn't help but feel fortunate that she was born in a new era, received a new education, and possessed her own independent thoughts and personality.
She felt pity for the women here, but she couldn't possibly fight against the social system alone. To try to create a system and atmosphere of equality for all under such circumstances was simply wishful thinking.
She came here to become stronger, hoping to have the power of choice. If one day He Liufeng were to take a concubine or seek pleasure outside, she would definitely choose to leave without hesitation.
Even if she fell in love with He Liufeng at that time, she would not give up herself for a man.
Qu Qingxi lowered her eyes, lost in thought, when the words of the young men in front of her pulled her back to reality.
A man in blue pointed to the ruins before him and said with regret, "What a pity, so many beautiful women perished in the fire."
"Hmph, they're just prostitutes who've been ridden by a thousand men. It's better if they're dead." Another man in a maroon shirt sneered, his eyes full of contempt.
"Why do you say that, Brother Li? Even if they are prostitutes, they are still living beings," the man in blue asked, puzzled.
"What kind of vibrant life is a person covered in filth?" The man in the saffron didn't think those prostitutes were living beings; he only thought it would be better if they were dead.
The presence of those people pollutes the environment here. How can such a noble place as the capital have such a filthy place as a brothel?
The man in blue didn't speak again, but glanced at the man in crimson with a slightly strange look, and the two of them continued to look in that direction.
This time, however, the man in blue subtly increased the distance between the two.
Among the crowd, some lamented the passing of life, while others simply regretted that the Misty Rain Pavilion was gone, and that they might never find such a good place for seeking pleasure again.
There were all sorts of opinions, but it was clear that most of the people present were just there to watch the spectacle, and very few actually felt any pity.
Qu Qingxi continued to hunch over without showing any emotion. Doing this for a long time was actually very uncomfortable for Qu Qingxi, but she dared not relax. She had just spotted several suspicious-looking people in the crowd.
Those people were disguised in the crowd, seemingly just watching the excitement, but their eyes were constantly scanning the people around them.
Qu Qingxi guessed that these people were probably all there to gather information.
Seeing that she couldn't see anything from this side, Qu Qingxi squeezed to the right. This time she could finally see the situation inside clearly. There were about ten corpses covered with white cloths. However, from the size of the feet that were exposed when the white cloths were occasionally blown by the wind, it could be seen that nine of the ten corpses were probably women.
Turning her gaze away, Qu Qingxi looked around the Misty Rain Pavilion again, trying to see if she could find anything. Suddenly, she noticed a furtive figure.
Qu Qingxi looked closely and felt that she looked familiar, as if she had seen her somewhere before. Upon closer inspection, she remembered her identity.
That person was Ren Nuanyun's personal maid, whose name seemed to be Chunyi. However, at this moment, Chunyi was wearing extremely tattered coarse cloth clothes, and her face was smeared with something black, making her look like a maid who did rough work.
However, Qu Qingxi noticed that Chunyi's hand seemed to be injured and bandaged, while her other hand was hidden by her body, so it was impossible to tell what was wrong with it.
What is Chunyi doing here dressed like that?
Could it be that Ren Nuanyun really caused the fire at Yanyu Tower?
However, Ren Nuanyun is ultimately just a princess who relies on the system. She shouldn't have such great power to turn a brothel that has been established in the capital for many years into this state overnight, right?
As far as she knew, Ren Nuanyun's connections here, besides the Marquis of Dingguo, were limited to the Crown Prince.
Marquis Dingguo has been in the capital for many years. Even if he doesn't know who is behind Yanyu Tower, he should know that it's not someone to mess with, so the person who made the move was probably not him.
Moreover, according to my previous information, the Marquis of Dingguo would also secretly come to Yanyu Tower, and he had a lover in Yanyu Tower. I have never heard of any discord between the Marquis of Dingguo and his confidante, so the Marquis of Dingguo should not set fire to it.
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