As soon as the day dawned, the streets were full of people and noisy. Many people were people in the vicinity, and they ran out when they heard the shouts of the fire. At this time, the fire is very slow to fight, and the fire can easily spread and affect many nearby houses.

Groups of stubborn armor soldiers had blocked the intersections, and the onlookers could not get close. There was some chatter in the crowd, "Is the fire extinguished?" "I heard that it didn't burn, and there were many waterwheels back and forth, blocking the streets over there......

The fire destroyed several nearby houses, but fortunately there were shouts and people running out of the houses before the fire spread. The most burned was the mansion where Qu Neng's father and son lived, almost only the turning earth wall remained, and the roof was all burned down.

Two officials were questioning a few embarrassed sergeants when an old monk with triangular eyes stepped out of a gorgeous carriage. The officials stepped forward to salute, and the monk said, "Tell them to continue." ”

A man who was only wearing dirty clothes said: "We shouldn't have been on duty last night, we were sleeping soundly, and we woke up when we heard the gatehouse 'bang bang' being beaten." When I opened my eyes, I saw a fire outside the window! We hurriedly got up, and without even bothering to put on our clothes, we hurriedly opened the gatehouse, and put down the people in the hood and entered the courtyard.

I went to the room next door to see that the brother on duty was knocked unconscious, and his jaw was staggered! We went to the well again to draw water, but the fire on the house was blazing, and we sent people to the nearest official shop to call a water wheel......"

Another soldier covered his chin and said with a sad face: "Damn it, the little ones dozed off in the second half of the night, and they were knocked out while they were still asleep." ”

Yao Guangxiao listened and walked into the courtyard without saying a word. At this time, the fire had just been extinguished, and there was white smoke and the smell of burnt charcoal everywhere on the wooden beams of the collapsed house.

An official in a green robe greeted him and arched his hand: "The lower official is the official of Beiping Mansion." ”

Yao Guangxiao nodded.

The green-robed official accompanied him and said: "At present, it seems that the cause of this matter is that after the Jingnan army broke through the Jingshi, Qu Neng's father and son saw that the general trend had gone and were unwilling to surrender, so they burned themselves ......to death" He pointed to a piece of ruins and said: "The bones of Qu Neng's father and son are inside." ”

Yao Guangxiao didn't speak, he looked as he walked, and walked towards the ruins.

Walking to the side of the ruins, the green-robed official said again: "According to the guards, before nightfall, the door of the room where Qu Neng was held was locked. The lower official checked that the door was charred, and the copper lock fell to the ground, and it was locked.

The firewood in the stove room was also emptied, and there were scattered plants and trees on the ground. Other than that, there are no signs of anything else.

The lower official deduced that Qu Neng's father and son first pried open the locked door and came out, and while the soldier on duty opposite was asleep, he went over and knocked the two soldiers unconscious. Then they went to the stove room and brought firewood back to the room, piled it under the bed, and lit a fire to set themselves on fire. ”

"Where is the body?" Yao Guangxiao asked.

The green-robed officer led them into the ruins, only to see a few people guarding there. Yao Guangxiao stepped forward to see that there were only two piles of charred bones left, crushed by the collapsed beams. He walked up to him, reached out and touched it, and immediately crumpled a piece of bone into ashes.

Yao Guangxiao immediately lost interest, clapped his hands on each other twice, turned around and left.

He walked straight out of the burned mansion, suddenly stood still again, turned around and asked, "Except for Qu Neng and the others, how many people are still in this mansion?" ”

"Returning to Master Daoyan's words, there are thirteen people in total, and they are being interrogated." An official replied.

Yao Guangxiao said: "Take them to the gates of Beiping respectively, look at the people who go out of the city, and recognize Qu Neng's father and son." ”

The official was puzzled: "Didn't Qu Neng's father and son be burned to bones?" ”

"Unrecognizable." Yao Guangxiao said quietly, "Send people to try." ”

The official arched his hand and said, "Yes." ”

…… In the Changyi Gate of Beiping City, the sky has turned white and the light is hazy, and some people who get up early are waiting by the city gate, waiting to open the door in order to go out of the city.

Three horses were tethered to a carriage at the intersection of a side street. Zhu Gaoxu and Qu Neng's father and son were both in the carriage, and the eunuch Wang Gui was in front of the carriage.

"As soon as the gates of the city are opened, you will go out of the city and let the king take you away." Zhu Gaoxu said in a deep voice, "General Qu almost entered the city from the Changyi Gate back then, and today he will leave from the Changyi Gate." ”

Qu Neng hugged his fists and said: "King Gaoyang took the risk to save him, and the great grace is unforgettable!" ”

Zhu Gaoxu glanced at him, nodded and said, "It's really risky, if I let my father know that you were let go by me, I won't be able to explain." ”

Qu Neng pondered for a moment, and immediately said: "King Gaoyang, just rest assured, even if Qu is caught, he will die at most, why should he die so despicable, and betray his benefactor first?" ”

This Qu Neng is really sensible, and he can understand what Zhu Gaoxu means at once. Zhu Gaoxu immediately said: "I believe you." But I put so much effort into not wanting to hear how General Qu died in the future, I want to know how the lion lived! ”

The two immediately looked at each other and smiled.

Zhu Gaoxu said again: "General Qu used to be the commander of the capital in Sichuan, and he was temporarily transferred back to Beijing before the Battle of Jingnan, and he has a family in Chengdu Mansion? You'd better not bother for a while, lest you be left behind. ”

The smile on Qu Neng's face was retracted, and he nodded slightly.

Zhu Gaoxu picked up a cloth bag and handed it over, and as soon as the cloth bag moved, there was a clanging sound of metal colliding inside, "There is some gold and silver here, General Qu is holding it." ”

Qu Neng didn't shirk it, and went straight to it.

Zhu Gaoxu said: "It's best to go south, last year I detoured back to Beiping from Huguang, and I felt that Jingzhou was a good place to go west, and there was the Wushan Mountain Range there. The eastern barrier of the Sichuan Basin is full of high mountains and forests, and the road is not far, very close to the Central Plains. ”

Qu Neng said: "King Gaoyang is reasonable. ”

At this moment, a shout came from the city tower not far away: "The official document is handed over, and the guards are changed." When the hour comes, open the gates! Then the drum beat "Knock Knock Knock ......".

Zhu Gaoxu stretched out his hand and tugged on Qu Neng's chest, "This set of Northern Army uniforms, General Qu doesn't fit well...... Let's go! ”

Qu Neng said: "The last general and the king of Gaoyang have made friends between life and death, and I don't thank you for my great kindness, I hope that there will be a useful place in the future, and I will leave!" ”

Qu Liangcai also saluted: "King Gaoyang, there will be a period later!" ”

"There will be a date later." Zhu Gaoxu clenched his fists and stared at Qu Neng's face.

All three of them wore the uniforms of the Northern Army and led their horses to the city gate. Zhu Gaoxu sat in the carriage, lifted the curtain to watch their backs go out from the city gate, and then got out of the car and walked to the seat in front of the car.

He drove the carriage to turn around slowly, and was about to leave, when he suddenly saw a group of people hurrying towards the Changyi Gate. Zhu Gaoxu sat in front of the carriage, turned his head to watch for a while, and saw them standing at the gate of the city, looking at the people who were going out one after another.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu exhaled slightly, flicked a whip, and drove the carriage away.

He hurried back to the county king's mansion and unlocked the gatehouse in the back garden. It was still daylight.

The door from the inner hall to the back garden was kept, so he pushed the door open and walked into the inner hall, and went straight to his bedroom. After a while, Du Qianrui knocked on the door and came in, saying, "Lord, I'll cook for you." ”

"I'm hungry." Zhu Gaoxu glanced at the door, and said, "I slept in the inner hall last night, and I just got up, can Miss Du understand?" ”

Du Qianrui's eyes drifted, looked at him and nodded slightly, and said softly: "The person that the prince bought back, can I ask her to help?" ”

"Okay." Zhu Gaoxu said casually. In the past, Miaojin was locked in the back garden, and he forbade ordinary servants in the palace to enter the inner hall, but now there are not many secrets in the county king's mansion, so it doesn't matter...... Secrets are in people's hearts.

Zhu Gaoxu quickly found a copper brazier with a charcoal fire, first took out the things that could not be burned in the cloth bag, and then threw the entire cloth bag into the brazier together with the green gauze scarf, towel, and incense ash inside, and the fire suddenly rushed up.

He then threw the big hat on his head into it, and took off his green coat and threw it in. After a while, when the contents of the brazier were almost burned, he simply took off all the lining from his body and threw it into the brazier.

Zhu Gaoxu stared at the burning flames, his mind still couldn't settle down, his mind was still recalling the whole process of last night, too many details affected his thinking, the more he thought about it, the more he couldn't calm down, for fear of missing a little clue.

In a trance, he seemed to see that he was struggling miserably in the raging flames, he could feel the endless unwillingness, anger, and grievances, and there were people next to him who watched him struggle with the flames on his body, and the smug smile on his face, hahahahaha......

Zhu Gaoxu felt that his temperament still had the shadow of his previous life, that was when he was doing things, he was bold and calm; When he was done, he would instead remember to be afraid and nervous...... For example, when he placed a heavy bet, and before, he was very bold, and when the money was out, he was so scared that he couldn't breathe!

He also has a habit that the more scared and nervous he is, the more irritated he feels.

Just like now, he stared at the flames, feeling very scared and nervous, and his whole body reacted inexplicably. There are only two ways to deal with this emotion: crazy "car fixing" or overeating!

At this moment, there was a sudden exclamation of "ah", and then something fell to the ground with a "clang". Zhu Gaoxu turned his head to look and saw the woman who had only been brought back yesterday, her face was crimson, and she was staring at him with her eyes open.

At this time, Zhu Gaoxu's forehead was bulging, and his muscles were tense. He swallowed a mouthful of saliva and walked slowly over to the woman. The woman trembled and took half a step back, standing there breathless.

Zhu Gaoxu walked over, reached out and grabbed her shoulder, and both of them were silent.

At this moment, Du Qianrui's voice said, "Lord Wang...... Yes! ”

Zhu Gaoxu glanced at Du Qianrui, his face was a little embarrassed, and then he remembered that he was the prince who wanted to be bigger, so he took a deep breath and said, "Hurry up and bring the food." He let go of the woman in front of him, and then turned and went into the bedroom to find clean clothes to wear.