A raging fire suddenly erupted at Princess Qingmin's mansion in the capital. Like a ferocious beast, the flames instantly devoured most of the residence. Thick smoke billowed, obscuring the sky and the sun, threatening to engulf the entire world. Yet, strangely, not a single cry for help or shout was heard from within the mansion, as if an empty house were burning.
Princess Qingmin, who was in the palace at the time, heard the tragic news and her face turned pale as paper. She ignored everyone's attempts to stop her and hurried back to the palace. When she saw the raging sea of fire, her legs felt as if the bones had been pulled out, and she almost collapsed to the ground.
Soon after the fire was extinguished, the Imperial Guards arrived on the Emperor's orders to investigate the cause. However, no trace of evidence remained at the scene, and even if there had been, it had long since been reduced to ash. Princess Qingmin was distraught, but could only watch the Imperial Guards at their beck and call, unable to do anything about it herself.
The Jinyiwei discovered more than 2,000 male corpses in the ruins. These corpses showed no signs of struggle and they obviously did not suffer any pain when they died, as if they passed away in a coma.
The fire was clearly arson and not an accident.
Imperial Palace Dragon Palace
The Song Emperor listened to the Jinyiwei's report, his brow furrowed, his expression as gloomy as the sky before a storm. "Over two thousand men! Why is Princess Qingmin's mansion hiding so many?" The Emperor's voice was as cold as iron, his eyes filled with suspicion and scrutiny. After all, the imperial court had a clear rule that a princess could only maintain fifty soldiers.
The Jinyiwei commander replied respectfully, "Your Majesty, I have asked the princess, and she said that these were civilian workers recruited to build the lotus pond. I have carefully examined these bodies and found that they were all martial artists."
After hearing this, the emperor frowned even more tightly, thinking to himself: It seems that this Princess Qingmin has a lot of problems! More than two thousand people suddenly appeared, even if they were already dead.
After the Jinyiwei leader left, the emperor's secret guards quietly jumped down from the roof like ghosts:
"Your Majesty, the secret guard we sent to keep watch outside the Princess's Mansion last night suddenly fainted. When he woke up, the Princess's Mansion had been reduced to ruins, and the arsonist was nowhere to be found. However, he said he had seen people from Dong Jin in the Princess's Mansion."
The emperor was thoughtful after hearing this. It seemed that Dong Jinguo was planning something big!
The Song Emperor pondered for a moment, a plan already forming in his mind. He immediately ordered Princess Qingmin to be secretly brought into the palace for interrogation, and simultaneously increased security in the capital to prevent Dong Jinguo from making further moves.
Emperor Song was still one step too late, and Princess Qingmin disappeared.
Zhenguogong Mansion
Second room Zhiyuanju
The servants from the second and third rooms stood trembling at the second door, not daring to make a sound. When they thought of the second master's angry look just now, they couldn't help but shake their heads.
In the inner room, Jin Linlin and Cao Jiao sat on armchairs, one on each side, each holding a wet towel and wiping each other's hands. They'd moved so many Gu insect jars last night, and the sight of them so densely packed together had made them nauseous. Even though they'd washed their hands numerous times, the thought of it still made them feel like Gu insects were crawling on them, giving them goose bumps.
Jiang Zhixu and Jiang Shuyan, who were sitting opposite them, had been sitting on the Arhat bed for quite a while with gloomy faces.
They were also very puzzled. These two guys had just returned from the farm, and they got angry at the people below for no reason and drove everyone out. They didn't say anything, just stared at you.
"Just tell me what's going on. Who are you trying to scare with such seriousness?"
"That's right. We didn't provoke you, why are you being so fierce?" Cao Jiao echoed along with Jin Linlin.
Jiang Zhixu slammed the table and yelled:
"You two are so bold! You're so lawless! Tell me, were you the ones who started the fire last night?"
Jiang Shuyan also had a serious expression on his face, frowning as he looked at them.
Jin Linlin and Cao Jiao looked at each other and wondered how they knew.
"Do you know how dangerous this is? And you set fire? You think you are that capable, right? No matter what happens, you can't take the risk yourself? If you are caught, where can I save you? I don't even know where you have run to?" Jiang Zhixu became more and more angry as he spoke, and his tone was simply furious.
Jiang Shuyan was even more furious:
"You were seen by someone. They said they saw you jumping into the Princess's Mansion. It's too dangerous, you know? Jiaojiao, I know you are good at fighting, but how many masters are there in the Princess's Mansion? It's enough to scare people to death! You...you..."
Seeing how angry they were, Cao Jiao touched her nose like a frightened rabbit. She couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. Suddenly, she seemed to remember something:
"That's not right? We've all put on careful makeup. Even if someone sees us, they definitely won't be able to recognize us, right?"
Jiang Zhixu said with a stern face, like a strict director of the teaching department:
"Fat black men with beards? If you hadn't disguised yourself like that, how would we have known it was you? Come on, tell us about your heroic deeds."
Jiang Zhixu said sarcastically with a wry smile.
Jin Linlin and Cao Jiao blushed immediately, like two children who had done something wrong, not knowing what to do.
Cao Jiao made up her mind and told them everything about how she met Princess Qingmin yesterday, how she sent people to hunt them down, and how the two of them visited the princess's mansion at night.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Zhixu and Jiang Shuyan stood up suddenly like cats whose tails were stepped on. They pointed at the two of them, so angry that they couldn't speak.
They paced back and forth, like ants on a hot pan, not knowing what to say. They secretly wondered how bold these two men were. There were more than two thousand Dong Jinguo masters! They were all wiped out by them in such a confused manner. It was really unbelievable.
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