"It's no use going over there now!"
"We'd better leave here quickly, lest we get caught and questioned about our identities, and then they pin this on us, which could implicate the Prince!"
Duan Nian is now extremely clear-headed and will absolutely not allow the people in the shadows to frame her.
Pei Xuan replied, "But those people might have been hurt because of us. Are we just going to abandon them?"
Duan Nian said, "These people have nothing to do with us in the end. They are not citizens of our Great Zhou Kingdom, but citizens of the Mingyue Kingdom!"
"Are we really going to pay such a high price for them?"
Just as Pei Xuan was about to say something, Duan Nian continued speaking to him.
“I know you don’t want these people to get hurt, but we can’t stay near the fire any longer. You can tell the officials from the Underworld Kingdom to come and rescue them!”
"Those are their own people, and they actually helped them."
Pei Xuan thought this made sense, and since he really didn't want to affect Qi Guze, he could only agree to Duan Nian's idea.
He then looked at the firelight, gritted his teeth, turned away, and didn't look again.
They quickly left the vicinity and rushed to the nearby government offices, shouting inside, "There's a fire in the west of the city! Officials, please help!"
"All the houses in that area were on fire, and the people inside were screaming in agony!"
"Hurry and go save them! Otherwise, they'll all die!"
"It's absolutely horrific! I don't know which heartless person started this fire! It looks like it was done by someone!"
This must be man-made; it's definitely not a natural disaster.
If many civilians die, then it becomes a criminal case.
The government will inevitably have to take on this matter. If the culprit cannot be found, they may be punished by the King of Mingyue Kingdom right here in the capital.
Upon hearing their shouts, several yamen runners rushed out, intending to inquire about the details of what had happened. However, they found that the yamen was deserted, and they had no idea who had come to report the incident.
As they looked up, they saw that a large area of West Street across the street was indeed ablaze, and they were immediately terrified.
This is a very serious matter! Such a large fire has suddenly broken out, and we don't know how much damage it will cause. If it is not dealt with quickly, His Majesty the King will definitely blame us, and we might all lose our lives!
The jailer was terrified and hurriedly went to summon the county magistrate.
When the county magistrate arrived and saw this scene, he was also extremely shocked.
"How could such a huge fire suddenly happen? What were you all doing? How come no one was informed when the fire first started?"
"Now that everyone knows about the fire, this is going to be a difficult situation to resolve!"
"That area is West Street! West Street holds many of my treasures!"
Some of these corrupt officials hid their treasures in West Street. Now that West Street has been affected by the fire, their valuables may all be gone!
The yamen runners, unaware of this incident, hurriedly said to the magistrate, "Your Honor, don't worry, we'll go put out the fire right now!"
"So you haven't called anyone to put out the fire yet?"
"If I lose all my savings, I'll take your heads as compensation!"
The magistrate was so angry he was about to have a stroke. Looking at his men, he wanted nothing more than to have them all beheaded right then and there!
The clerk beside the magistrate quickly helped him up, saying, "Sir, don't panic. Quickly send them to put out the fire. If the fire is too big to be put out, then don't bother."
The clerk whispered in the magistrate's ear.
Upon hearing this, the magistrate looked up at his advisor.
"What do you mean by that? Are you suggesting we let this fire get so bad?"
"If the entire West Street were burned to the ground, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to keep my head!"
He was terrified that if His Majesty the King blamed him, he would surely lose his life!
The advisor said, "There are many people with dirt on this entire West Street, and nobody wants anything to happen to them."
"If it's really impossible to save it, it's better to let them burn it all."
"If they find something unclean during the rescue, that would be a capital offense!"
Upon hearing what the clerk said, the magistrate instantly realized what was going on.
If civilians help put out the fire and find something, it will definitely cause harm to them.
It would be better to burn everything clean, thus destroying all evidence and preventing anyone from finding any clues in the future, allowing them to cleanly absolve themselves of any responsibility.
Now that we've enjoyed this for so long, we can finally accumulate more wealth in the future.
But if they were caught red-handed now, they would really have no way out!
"Truly worthy of being my advisor, this method is absolutely brilliant!"
The magistrate immediately obeyed the advisor's words and ordered his men to do as the advisor instructed.
The constables quickly gathered a large group of people, and some of them blocked the entrance on the side of West Street.
"What's happening up there? There's a huge fire, why aren't we being allowed to go and help?"
"Please let us pass, sir. I have relatives on West Street, and I want to go there to rescue them!"
"Why won't you let us through? Everyone wants to help!"
"Get out of the way! I just brought a truckload of water; it should be enough to put out some of the fires!"
Some people rushed to West Street, wanting to help with the fire, but the yamen runners sent people to block their way.
"Everyone, stop causing trouble here. If you go in and something dangerous happens, how are we supposed to explain it to His Majesty the King?"
"Don't worry, our government has already sent people to rescue them!"
"Everyone, please don't come over and join the fun. Go home safely, and the fire will be put out by daybreak tomorrow!"
"Hurry up, don't block the way, get out of here!"
The yamen runners drove away the surrounding people, preventing them from entering West Street.
The yamen runners didn't send anyone to help extinguish the fire, in order to make the fire burn more thoroughly and destroy all the evidence on West Street!
Xu Yuehuai was sleeping soundly when she heard a commotion outside in the middle of the night and woke up shortly afterward.
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