When Governor Liu heard this, he carefully checked the direction of the fire, and it was indeed the location of the prefect's yamen, as Shi Zhixian said. Before he came, he knew that the prefect's yamen had been on fire once, and the fire burned unclear last time, so he couldn't imagine that when he first came, the prefect's yamen caught fire again.

A yamen, when it comes to fire, it catches fire? This is too evil.

"Go check it out!" Governor Liu shouted, and ran in the direction of the prefect's yamen, Shi Junsheng, Qin Feng, Master Pin and the other three hurriedly followed.

The closer you get to the prefect's yamen, the brighter the firelight becomes, and the red firelight shines on people's faces, showing an abnormal flush.

Along the road, people who got the fire constantly carried all kinds of buckets and ran in the direction of the prefect's yamen, and at the gate of the prefect's yamen, there was already a crowd of light dù, and several officials of the prefect's yamen maintained order at the prefect's yamen.

"The fire inside is too big, don't squeeze it in......" a servant shouted in front of a dozen people who had carried a bag and a bucket.

"Official, the fire inside is so big, if you don't put out the fire, the Zhiya will burn down!" And the people cried out.

The official glared: "I have already sent someone to inform the water dragon team, the water dragon team has arrived, and the fire can be extinguished smoothly, it is too dangerous inside, you don't go in." ”

…… When Governor Liu and others rushed to the door of the prefect's office, they saw such a scene. Governor Liu pushed aside the crowd and strode forward.

"Hey, I said don't squeeze in, didn't you hear or what?" The official at the head shouted and scolded, and suddenly recognized the Shaanxi governor and Pingliang prefect Liu Zhilun in civilian clothes in front of him, and he was startled. He clenched his fists and said, "Yo, it turned out to be Lord Futai." ”

"Get out of the way!" Governor Liu shouted in a deep voice.

The official hesitated and said, "Futai." It's too dangerous inside......"

Governor Liu stepped forward and knocked the official aside. walked towards the inside of the prefect's yamen, and behind him, Shi Zhi County, Qin Zhi County, Master Lu and others left the yamen and followed into the prefect's yamen.

Governor Liu and the others walked straight to the front of the backyard, and through the wall of the backyard, they saw that the rows of small attics in the backyard were all caught in the fire, and bursts of heat were about to come out.

"...... this?" Master Lu glared and shouted, "Why is there no one here?" ”

"Yay?" Shi Zhixian also exclaimed: "Why is there no one to put out the fire?" ”

Governor Liu and the four of them stood outside the fence heading to the backyard. Inside the wall, the fire was blazing, and deep smoke was billowing out......

Outside the wall, except for Governor Liu and the other four, none of the yacha, scribes, men, palanquin bearers in the prefect's yamen, and even the personal guards brought by Governor Liu from the capital were seen. Governor Liu came to Shaanxi to take office, and Shengshang specially transferred 1,000 officers and soldiers from the Beijing camp as Governor Liu's personal military camp. Since arriving in Pingliang City on the first day. The location of the barracks has not yet been determined, and most of them are temporarily placed in the Pingliang guerrilla barracks, but there are also more than a dozen personal guards who followed Governor Liu to the prefect's yamen and were placed in the wings in the front yard of the prefect's yamen.

And now. The fire in the backyard of the government was so shattering that almost the entire Pingliang City knew about it, but those personal guards didn't appear? That's so unusual!

Governor Liu's face turned pale. His hands in his long sleeves trembled, and he whispered to Master Lu, "Master Lu." You go to the guerrilla camp and transfer the officer's personal battalion. ”

"Yes." Master Lu responded. Turn around and walk out.

Suddenly, a chaotic sound of footsteps sounded, and Governor Liu and the others suddenly saw a group of Pingliang people rushing into the prefect's yamen with various fire extinguishing tools in their hands. The chaotic flow of people almost knocked Master Lu down.

"Everyone, let's put out the fire!" The crowd shouted.

Governor Liu's face was blue, and he stepped aside without saying a word, Shi Zhixian saw this, hurriedly stepped forward, and commanded the crowd and said: "Come in a few people and see what is burned inside!" You guys, go get some water......"

The fire-fighting people swarmed in through the arch, and Governor Liu stood outside, and heard the people running quickly inside, splashing water, beating the flames, and moving obstacles......

After a while, Shi Zhixian came out of the backyard with a disgraced face, ran to Governor Liu, and said: "Zhongcheng, the fire inside is too big, almost all the attics are on fire, relying on these dozens of people to fight the fire is a drop in the bucket." ”

Governor Liu's lips trembled, and the anger in his eyes seemed to be about to erupt. He gritted his teeth and said, "Some people, too presumptuous! Bastard! ”

Shi Zhixian asked: "Lord Zhongcheng, Xia Guan remembers that there is a water dragon team in Pingliang City that specializes in extinguishing fires, if they come, it will be much easier to extinguish this fire." ”

Governor Liu said: "Qin Zhixian has already gone out to urge!" Hmph, according to today's situation, there is a chance that the water dragon team will not come. ”

As he was talking, Qin Zhixian ran in from outside, his face full of horror, and said, "Zhongcheng, the water dragon team has already gone out of the city to put out the fire elsewhere in the evening today. ”

Governor Liu didn't feel surprised at all and sneered.

Qin Zhixian said again: "There is another matter, when the official came in, he found that the yacha at the door didn't know where he had gone. ”

"Yes, very good!" Governor Liu's face was resentful, and his voice was as cold as a thousand years of ice.

The three of them looked at the fire in the backyard and listened to the shouts of the people fighting the fire, and were speechless for a while.

Shi Zhixian asked in horror: "Zhongcheng, what should I do now?" ”

Governor Liu said slowly: "What else can I do?" Wait for the arrival of the officer's pro-barracks. ”

The three of them stood outside the fence and waited, and Shi Zhixian saw that although the dozens of Pingliang people who arrived were struggling to extinguish the fire, the results were really small, so they let them retreat from the inside, no longer participating in the firefighting, but only paying attention to the fire on the periphery to prevent the fire from spreading to the front yard.

Everyone watched for a while, and neat footsteps sounded outside, and Master Lu arrived with a large number of pro-military battalions.

Governor Liu's expression was obviously relaxed, and he strode forward and ordered the pro-military battalion to take over the fire-extinguishing tools from the hands of those people and go into the backyard to extinguish the fire.

With the addition of a thousand Governor Liu's personal soldiers, the speed of extinguishing the fire was significantly accelerated, under the command of several pro-battalion captains. The soldiers divided into three teams and opened two more openings in the wall. From three places at the same time, the fires in the backyard aisle and on the grass have been extinguished. The soldiers focused on rescuing the burning pavilions.

Through the newly opened hole in the wall, Governor Liu saw that the row of small attics with two or three stories on the east side had been burned down in half, and the soldiers had poured buckets of water on it, unable to suppress the fierce fires.

Governor Liu clearly remembers that a few hours ago, Governor Liu and Shaanxi Governor Hong Chengchou were leisurely strolling in the backyard, laughing and inviting Hong to live in those attics.

In just a few hours, those small lofts that were originally exquisite and elegant turned into a sea of fire. No longer the appearance of Jiangnan garden!

The anger in Governor Liu's heart was a little heavier.

Dozens of civilians who participated in the firefighting have been sent out.

The soldiers were still pouring water into the burning attic in vain.

Master Lu, Shi Zhixian, Qin Zhixian and others all looked at Governor Liu, and they all knew that these newly built attics could not be kept no matter how hard they tried. However, none of them dared to raise it with Governor Liu at this time.

"Well, tell them to stop. I can't get it back. Governor Liu waved his hand at Master Lu and said.

When Master Lu heard this, he hurriedly walked over and stopped the useless work done by the soldiers.

Right now. Pingliang Tongzhi Lu Yifa and Tuiguan Huang Daozhou led a large group of officials to run in hurriedly, and those officials also carried a small half bucket of water in their hands, while running. The water in the bucket splashed out, spilling water stains along the road.

"Lord Zhongcheng!" Lu Tongzhi and Huang Tuiguan ran to Governor Liu sweating profusely, wiping their sweat. On the other hand, he said: "It's too late for the lower officials to put out the fire." ”

Lu Tongzhi shouted to the officials behind him: "Hurry up, put out the fire!" ”

The officials shouted. Roaring and rushing into the backyard.

At this time, Lu Tongzhi saw that the surrounding Governor Liu's personal soldiers were all sitting around in prostration, and he couldn't help but say in surprise: "What." Don't put out the fire? ”

Governor Liu stared at Lu Tongzhi's eyes and sneered: "The fire burned like this, and I can't save it if I want to!" Lord Lu, there is such a big fire in the prefect's yamen, and there is not a single official in the yamen! What should Lu-sama explain? ”

Lu Tongzhi was embarrassed, and said anxiously: "Lord Zhongcheng, this matter today is really not a coincidence. Two days ago, there was a serial murder case in Jingzhou County, and the chief arrester of the government office went out to investigate the case with the third class of officials, and the rest of the officials, Xia Guan thought, Lord Zhongcheng accompanied so many personal guards, for the sake of the safety of the adults, there must be a group of personal soldiers who want to live in the prefect's yamen, and those officials who originally lived in the yamen will move out to live, and the next official will take these people out to find housing in the afternoon! ”

Inspector Liu heard this, sneered, and before he could ask, Master Lu next to him sneered and said sarcastically: "Lord Lu will really shirk responsibility!" ”

Lu Tongzhi saw that it was Master Lu who spoke, and when he heard Master Lu's questioning tone, he was uncomfortable, and he snorted lightly from his nostrils and did not answer.

Master Lu's face turned red and he was embarrassed.

Governor Liu asked: "That's it, the official asked you, there was a fire in the yamen of the prefect's mansion, and the water dragon team of Pingliang Mansion did not appear from beginning to end, what should Lord Lu explain?" Don't tell the official that they can't live there, I want you to help choose a house! ”

Lu Tongzhi smiled wryly, shook his head and said, "Lord Zhongcheng said that he was laughing. The water dragon team does not live in the prefect's yamen, and they do not need to change places to live. ”

"Humph!" Governor Liu sneered.

"Alas," Lu Tongzhi blushed, rubbed his hands, swallowed his saliva, and said with difficulty: "Speaking of which, even the subordinate himself doesn't believe it. But things are so unfortunate! In the evening in the eastern suburbs of Pingliang, there was a sudden fire in an old house, and the governor and the people in the eastern suburbs could not rescue, so they applied to the prefect Yamen for support from the water dragon team, and the lower officials sent the water dragon team over. The old house on fire in the eastern suburbs is a little far away, even if someone is temporarily sent back to the water dragon team, they won't be able to come back for a while! ”

Governor Liu sneered again and again, "Lord Lu, Lord Huang, you don't need to lie to deceive this official. This time the fire broke out, this official will definitely find out! Hmph, if you let this official find out the truth, no matter who it is, this official will never spare it! ”

"Yes, yes, Lord Zhongcheng's eyes are like torches, and he can't hide anything from Lord Zhongcheng!" Lu Tongzhi hurriedly complimented and said.

Governor Liu glanced at the attics that were still burning everywhere, and the fierce color in his eyes flashed. He pushed Lu Tongzhi away and walked towards the outside of the mansion.

Governor Liu, Master Lu, Shi Zhi County, Qin Zhi County and others were far away from the scene of the fire, and Master Lu whispered in surprise: "Eh, my lord, where are we going?" ”

Governor Liu glared at Master Lu with cold eyes, and frightened Master Lu so much that he couldn't help but shrink his neck. Governor Liu shouted, "Aren't you hungry? ”

"Huh?" Master Lu, Shi Zhixian and Qin Zhixian were stunned for a moment.

The front patronized the firefighting. Master Lu ran to assemble the pro-military camp, Shi Zhixian ran in and out of the scene to direct the people to fight the fire, and Qin Zhixian ran to the station of the water dragon team to urge the water dragon team to return to the prefect's yamen to fight the fire...... Speaking of which, the three of them were so busy that they were so tired that they didn't even feel hungry.

At this time, Governor Liu said the word hungry, and the stomachs of the three of them rumbled in unison.

The three of them clenched their stomachs and said embarrassedly, "Hungry ......"

Governor Liu glared and scolded: "Then don't you go to find a place to eat!" ”

“……”

Shi Zhixian's face was more vivid, and he led Governor Liu, Master Lu, and Qin Zhixian to walk out like a starving ghost reincarnated, and said flatteringly as they walked: "Xia Guan knows a restaurant, and the dishes are on par with that drunken immortal building, originally Xia Guan should have taken the adults there a long time ago, but they were disturbed by that damn fire......

The four of them hurriedly walked out of the prefect's yamen, and as soon as they walked out of the main gate, they saw a carriage parked at the door of the yamen, and there were seven or eight Tsing Yi guards in green clothes and green hats on the side of the carriage, and a young man in a Confucian shirt was getting down from the carriage.

Governor Liu's four people slowed down, and Shi Zhixian said hatefully: "It's Xu Liang!" ”

Sure enough, Xu Liang got down from the carriage, smoothed out the wrinkles on his Confucian shirt for a long time, and with a snort, he opened the gold-painted folding fan on his right hand, walked over to Governor Liu and others, and said with a smile: "Liu Zhongcheng, it's really a place in life where you don't meet!" We just met in the Zuixian Building, and we don't want to meet again at the entrance of the prefect's office! ”

Xu Liang asked with a concerned face: "Xia Guan was drinking with Jinyiwei's brother in the Drunken Immortal Building, and suddenly saw a fire in the prefect's yamen. The lower officials were worried about the safety of the government, and even the extra delicious food was withdrawn, so they hurried over! Uh, I don't know which house caught fire? Hey, people nowadays are too careless in doing things! The government has been in the palace for some years, and the people inside don't pay attention to the use of fire, and last time someone knocked over the candle, but this time I don't know who caused the trouble......"

Xu Liang babbled and said.

"Xu Liang!" Governor Liu's hateful voice was interrupted, his gloomy eyes swept over Xu Liang, and said: "This time the government is on fire, the matter is extremely strange, the cause of the fire, this mansion will definitely investigate to the end!" You're going to check the fire, just go into the house and see it!" ”

After saying that, Governor Liu threw off his robe heavily, and led Master Lu and the others to stride away.

Xu Liang stood outside the prefect's yamen, watched Governor Liu and the four of them leave quickly, and sneered: "Burn it clean, I see how you live!" (To be continued......)