While Xuanwuhou was speaking, the people of the Wang family next to him were still "struggling" to put out the fire, and three or four guards were struggling to carry buckets and running towards this side, and while they ran, the buckets in their hands were swaying and sprinkling water, and when they ran to the burning warehouse, only half of the water in the buckets was left......

"Whoa!"

"Whoa......

The little water poured into the sea of fire was like a lonely boat in the sea, which could not set off any wind and waves at all, and in the blink of an eye, it was extinguished, and after a few jumps of the scorching flames, with the help of the autumn wind, it jumped higher.

Xuanwu Hou couldn't hide his anxiety when he described it, frowned, and scolded his subordinates: "You don't go to find some people anymore, hurry up and put out the fire for Benhou!" ”

"Yes...... Be. A middle-aged man who looked like a steward echoed again and again, and said with a headache, "However, Master Hou, all the people who can be used in the outer courtyard have already been used, so why don't you go to the inner courtyard to borrow some people......

Feng Yan said with a smile: "Master Hou should go to the inner courtyard to borrow some people, I think the men in your mansion are not as good as the women in handling things." ”

Feng Yan's words were meaningful, with obvious mockery.

Rao is Xuanwu Marquis Mansion made a "powerless" appearance, whether it was Feng Yan or Duanmu Xian, they could easily see that they didn't want to put out the fire at all, and they also knew what this fire really wanted to burn.

The two tacitly exchanged a look, and Duanmu Xian felt that he looked at this future grandson-in-law a little more pleasing to the eye, had eyesight, and could speak.

I am the first assistant, I always have to take care of the face of the first assistant, holding the first assistant's shelf, some things are inconvenient to say, and it is very suitable for Feng Yan.

Of course, Xuanwu Hou could hear the mockery in Feng Yan's words, his face darkened, and he said in his heart: This Feng Yan dared to come to the Hou Mansion to make trouble!

Xuanwu Hou's face was black for a while, blue for a while, and white for a while, and he wanted to order the guards to drive people out, but he remembered that he seemed to have heard that Feng Yan had led people to break into the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies twice, and Wei Guogong had nothing to do with him!

The people of the Terracotta Division of these five cities are all the sons and daughters of the various prefectures, and I am afraid that the trouble will be endless, and now that the emperor is not in Beijing, even if something happens, if he wants to find someone to call the shots, no one can find him......

Xuanwuhou gritted his teeth, but when he didn't hear Feng Yan's sneer just now, he first asked the steward to hurry up to the inner courtyard to borrow someone, and then turned his head to Duanmu Xian and said: "Hey, Lord Duanmu, the things that the sister brought back from Yuzhou are all in this warehouse, this fire is so big, what should I do!" ”

Xuanwu Hou looked like he had a splitting headache and was worried, and the prince of Xuanwu Hou sang and said in harmony: "Father, the matter has come to this point, it's good that no one died, don't worry too much......

Duanmu Heng frowned, he was not a fool, and he could see that the Xuanwu Marquis Mansion had no intention of putting out the fire at all, and was just pretending.

"Grandfather, I'm ......"

Duanmu Heng wanted to step forward to help put out the fire, but was interrupted by Feng Yan carelessly: "Big brother, this fire looks a little big, I'm afraid it's not easy to extinguish." ”

Jiang Chongshen thought so, stretched out his finger to measure the direction of the wind, and then said eloquently: "Today is the southwest wind, the fire is taking advantage of the wind, the wind is helping the fire, look at this open flame is burning so strongly, I can't make it possible for the fire to spread to the house in the northeast......"

They have been in the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division for a few years, not to mention anything else, the eyes of thieves and fire, which are incomparable.

Another fifty percent of the sons and daughters of the Soldiers and Horses Division also nodded and agreed: "Nine times out of ten, this treasury can't be saved." ”

"I guess this beam will collapse ...... end."

"It's hard to say. I'm betting that the beams won't collapse. ”

A few of them started to bet while talking, and Feng Yan didn't care, let them go.

Hearing this, several household officials were also anxious and wanted to help put out the fire, but they were stopped by Jiang Chong and others, Jiang Chong smiled and said to a certain official: "Lord Liu, do you want to bet on it too?" ”

Duanmu Xian frowned, wanting to say something, but found that his cuffs were tight, and Feng Yan quietly pulled his sleeves, still smiling on his face.

Jiang Chong and the others were pestering a few household officials to place bets, and there was a noise in the direction of the gate, and more than a dozen guards of the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division also arrived, talking and laughing.

Xuanwu Hou's pupils shrank, his body tensed up unconsciously, and he was a little nervous, but in the next moment, he saw Jiang Chong greeting a few of them: "Zhao Xing, Qian Yilin, Sun Zhi...... You're here. Come on, come on, do you want to make a bet too? ”

Zhao Xing and others came up with a smile, some asked how to bet, some asked others what they bet, and some directly touched the lottery head...... When these gentlemen are gathered together, it is as lively as a vegetable market.

At the same time, the middle-aged housekeeper came with a few mothers-in-law in the backyard, and those rough mothers-in-law were either holding copper basins in their hands, or carrying buckets and kettles, but after not running for a while, most of the water was spilled, and the ground on this road was as wet as if it had just rained.

The surrounding people came and went, shouting and shouting, and it was noisy, but these could no longer reach the ears of Xuanwu Hou.

Xuanwu Hou reluctantly suppressed the corners of his mouth that were about to curl up, and quickly exchanged a look with the prince of Xuanwu Hou beside him, and the hearts of the father and son finally relaxed.

The hardest part is over!

Xuanwuhou looked at the blackened warehouse in front of him again, his eyes were as sharp as a knife.

Five years ago, brother-in-law Ji Chengtian passed away unexpectedly, there was no one in the Ji family, and the younger sister and Ji Lanzhou's mother and daughter were helpless.

Now as soon as this treasury burns down, everything is gone.

The emperor may be unhappy when he learns about it, but he has already thought about it, and there is a way to redeem the credit, and at that time, his family can "sell his property" and make up for the eight million taels that Ji Lanzhou promised to give to the emperor.

The Xuanwu Marquis Mansion sold its wealth for the sake of the imperial court, to make up for Ji Lanzhou's leaks, and for the sake of righteousness, but Ji Lanzhou can't let the Xuanwu Marquis Mansion make up the remaining eight million taels, right? !

Even if Ji Lanzhou is dissatisfied at that time, the Wang family will also stand righteous, reasoning, the Wang family is not wrong, and even, if Ji Lanzhou is aggressive, it will only ruin her own reputation!

In this way, the Wang family will be able to justifiably take this huge amount of money out of the Ji family's pocket!

Just thinking about it, Xuanwu Hou felt that his heart was hot.

That's a full eight million taels of silver, once it is done, this huge amount of money will no longer belong to Ji Lanzhou, but to their Wang family!

Xuanwu Hou narrowed his eyes and secretly clenched his fists.

Feng Yan glanced at Xuanwuhou with a smile, and ordered the little brother beside him with a smile: "Jiang Chong, don't hurry up and move a chair, don't be tired grandfather." ”

Jiang Chongle responded happily, and said to the middle-aged steward intimately: "You are busy, let's just move it ourselves." ”

The middle-aged steward of "......" was speechless, they were indeed "busy" fighting the fire, but they couldn't let the living people run around in their Hou Mansion, he could only personally take Jiang Chong and a few people to the nearest hall to move two circle chairs, one for Duanmuxian and the other for Feng Yan.

"Grandfather, you sit down," Feng Yan asked Duanmu Xian to sit down first, "Slowly 'look'." ”

When he said the last word "look", Feng Yan quickly blinked his right eye at Duanmu Xian, which was meaningful.

Duanmuxian sat down, looking at the warehouse in front of him with complicated eyes, in less than a stick of incense, the fire burned a lot more, and it was clear that the Wang family was "doing their best" to fight the fire.

Duanmu Xian's eyes flashed slightly, but he really settled down to take a look.

"Click, click......"

Bright flames leaped wildly, licking the blackened walls and beams,

Like a group of demons dancing wildly, there was the sound of charred beams falling from the storeroom, smashing against the wall on one side, and the storeroom crumbling......

Burn it. Burn it. It can burn a little more fiercely!

Xuanwu Hou was calm on the outside, but deep down he was roaring excitedly, and the orange flames were reflected in his pupils, like the wildfire in his heart, burning more and more.

He didn't think they had done anything wrong, and their Wang family was not ruthless...... All of this is Ji Lanzhou's fault, if it weren't for her aggressiveness, why would she have made such a decision!

Obviously, over the years, his family has been so good to Ji Lanzhou, but Ji Lanzhou has lived up to their hearts!

Perhaps, this is fate.

Although Ji Lanzhou has half of the blood of the Wang family in her body, she is not surnamed Wang after all, and she is destined not to be a member of their Wang family.

Thinking about it, Xuanwuhou's eyes became more and more gloomy, and it was difficult to hide the ambition in it.

This time on the southern tour, the second prince actually invited the second son Wang Tingwei to go with him, last time the daughter Wang Wanru said, the third princess fell in love with the second son, maybe the second son has a chance to be the master, with such an opportunity, what is Ji Lanzhou? !

It's Ji Lanzhou who is unrighteous in front, so don't blame yourself.

The sun was setting in the west, but the fire was still raging, and the wind became more violent, blowing the flames, swallowing everything around them that could be touched......

"Look, the fire is blown by the wind!"

"Tree ...... The tree is on fire! ”

"The fire has burned those plane trees, hurry, hurry up and put out the fire!"

“……”

The middle-aged steward was really anxious at this time, and the people were also anxious, and hurriedly poured the water in the bucket and basin on the tree, "Bang, Bang, Bang......" But the burning branches were in a high place, even if they tried their best to splash water, the water could not splash the high branches at all.

"Zrazla!"

The flames swayed in the wind and spread extremely quickly across the canopy of the branches, connecting the branches to the branches, and spreading all the way to the northeast with the direction of the wind......

After a while, the fire was connected into a piece, and even burned to a hall, and spread along the hall to the wings on both sides, this large area of fire opened its teeth and claws, reflecting the sky red, as if a large fire cloud hovered above the Xuanwu Marquis's mansion.

Even Xuanwu Hou's father and son panicked, and their faces changed.

The flames were greedy and frenzied, and everywhere the tongues of fire passed, they were charred black.

"Click, click......"

charred branches, tiles, bricks, beams...... All fell in flames, and then with a loud "boom", one wall of the storeroom collapsed.

It stands to reason that this was as Xuanwu Hou wished, but he couldn't laugh, and the fire far exceeded his expectations.

Feng Yan sat on the circle chair and crossed Erlang's legs, pretending to be unintentional and said, "Master Hou, how can this fire burn like this!" Could it be that someone deliberately set the fire? ”

Jiang Chong heard the song and knew the meaning of the song, and said cooperatively: "Yes, commander, judging from the scene I have seen so many times over the years, if it is burned like this, someone may have lit the fire oil." ”

"How so!" Xuanwu Hou chuckled in his heart and retorted, "The two of you are thinking too much, it's just that the wind is strong." ”

Xuanwu Hou Shizi hurriedly shouted: "Hurry up and put out the fire, hurry up and put out the fire!" ”

At this moment, the prince of Xuanwu Hou is sincere.

But the subordinates of the Hou Mansion were already a little confused, looking at each other, the chief steward had privately told them to let them work without contribution, just pretend, so now, do you want to contribute? !

The chief steward hurriedly shouted: "What are you doing in a daze!" Don't hurry up and put out the fire! Fire! He accentuated the words "firefighting" and repeatedly emphasized that he was really angry with these stupid minions.

Seeing the angry appearance of the chief steward, these subordinates finally understood what he meant, and hurriedly continued to put out the fire.

However, it was already too late.

The fire was already too big, even at this moment, they really started to put out the fire, it was too late, in front of the cold fire, the manpower was so thin and powerless, and the buckets of water poured into it could not make any splash at all.

The crimson sea of fire continued to spread, and the fire dragon roared and raged, devouring all the houses, trees, and so on in its touch......

The wind was blowing, and Xuanwu Hou's father and son were almost stunned, dripping in cold sweat, and watched the fire expand along the hall in the direction of the theater on the other side......

The surrounding smoke and dust were also getting thicker, and the air was filled with a thick smell of burning.

Rumble!

There was another rushing sound, and the beams and walls of the storehouse and the hall rumbled and collapsed, and it was a mess......

In less than an hour, the southwest corner of the Hou Mansion was burned beyond recognition, and the original magnificence no longer existed.

The surroundings were noisy and noisy, but they were also surprisingly quiet, and Xuanwu Hou and his son could hardly make a sound.

"Master Hou."

At this time, Feng Yan's careless voice suddenly sounded again, and Xuanwu Hou just listened to his voice, and his brows twitched.

Feng Yan said solemnly: "This fire doesn't look right, it's definitely not accidental." Saying that, he directly instructed his subordinates, "Come on, report to this commander to Jingzhao Mansion, someone has set fire, and you must not tolerate it!" ”

"Yes, Commander!"

One of the guards of the Five Cities Terracotta Division hurriedly clenched his fists to receive the order, and his voice was loud.

Xuanwu Hou was stunned by this unexpected development, and hurriedly tried to stop it: "Commander Feng, don't you need it?" It's just that the weather is dry and dry, and I accidentally walked in the water. Why do you need to alarm Jingzhao Mansion......"

"Master Hou, the arsonist with fire oil is extremely vicious and has evil intentions, just imagine if the fire spreads to other mansions around it, if you don't get it, it will burn the entire street." Feng Yan looked at the righteous words, and he was righteous.

Jiang Chong on the side did not give Xuanwuhou a chance to speak, and talked about several fires in the capital over the years, such as the arsenal fire six years ago, because it was a dry winter, a lot of flammable materials were piled up in the arsenal, and finally three million instruments were wiped out; For example, three years ago, Liu Yushi's house caught fire, the fire was fierce, burning for a day and a night, causing disasters within a radius of one mile, and the houses on a street were burned, killing and injuring more than a dozen people; Another example......

Jiang Chong looked like he hated the arsonist, and several other sons and brothers also added a few words from time to time, only saying that Xuanwu Hou and his son were speechless.

Xuanwu Hou's heart sank little by little, and he had a vague premonition that something was wrong, and he tried to calm down, and said in his heart: If the people don't raise it, the officials won't be investigated, he Xuanwu Marquis Mansion thinks he's unlucky, what can Jingzhao Mansion do? !

Not long after, Jingzhao Yin Wanguiran came with a few yacha with a sad face, especially when he saw that Duanmu Xian was also there, he felt that this must be a troublesome errand, and his head was big.

Jing Zhao Yin first saluted Duanmu Xian, Xuanwu Hou and others, and saw that the fire here was raging and the smoke was billowing out, so he instructed the Yacha who started to do it: "Li Bantou, hurry up and help fight the fire together!" ”

If the fire spreads to Beppu, then there will be more people involved in this "arson case", and it will also make the situation more complicated.

Wan Guiran just wants to spend the three-year term in peace, and it would be great to be able to get another fat difference like his predecessor Jingzhao Yin and Liu Qifang.

All the officials could do was to stop the spread of the fire, cut down all the branches and trees around the burning houses, and surround them with sand and soil to keep out the fire......

In this way, it was busy until the sun set, and the fire was extinguished, or rather, it was burned out, and the southwest corner of the Hou Mansion was only left with broken tiles, broken bricks and walls, desolate and dilapidated.

The air seemed to be filled with the heat of the flames, and it was very hot.

The situation was far worse than Xuanwu Hou's preset, he originally just wanted to burn this warehouse, but he didn't expect the fire to get out of control, involving the nearby main hall, theater and two or three courtyards, the front yard was almost half burned, and as far as the eye could see, it was full of scorched black, and it was unbearable to see.

Xuanwu Hou felt a throbbing pain in his heart, the matter had come to this point, he could only comfort himself in his heart, it was just a matter of burning a few houses, as long as he could keep the eight million taels of silver, it was all worth it!

That's right. It's just a few dilapidated old houses, and after a while, we can rebuild them......

Xuanwu Hou secretly gritted his teeth, quickly calmed down, turned his head to look at Duanmu Xian, and sighed: "Lord Duanmu, the Hou Mansion is in the water, it is Ben Hou who is negligent, and Ben Hou is also at fault." Don't delay the military affairs in the south because of the fault of our government, Lord Duanmu can rest assured, the niece of Ben Hou promised to donate the silver to the imperial court, even if Ben Hou sells his property, he will definitely rush out, and please ask Lord Duanmu to give a few ......days of grace."

Xuanwu Hou's words were sincere and reasonable, so that people could not find mistakes, Duanmu Xian, who was sitting on the circle chair, was a little surprised and squinted.

Before Duanmuxian could speak, Feng Yan rushed in front of him and said in an unquestionable tone: "Master Hou, everything is one thing, whether your Hou Mansion and the Ji family donate silver or not, this commander can't control it, but the arson must be investigated!" Feng Yan looked at Wan Guiran as he spoke, "Master Wan, did you say?" ”

"......" Wan Guiran's forehead was faintly oozing a little sweat, and he didn't know how to answer.

Xuanwu Hou immediately refuted with a smile: "Commander Feng, this matter has nothing to do with you, this is the housework of my Hou Mansion, why do you have nothing to do here!" Forgive Ben Hou for not being in the mood to entertain guests today, and he is too lazy to worry about your trespass on the Hou Mansion with you, please go back to the commander! ”

"Master Hou only knows one thing, but he doesn't know the other." Feng Yan sat calmly on the circle chair, without any intention of getting up, with a lazy expression, "This fire is so strange and ferocious, this commander suspects that it was done by Nanhuai's spies, intending to prevent Miss Ji from offering silver to the imperial court and cutting off the grain, grass and ordnance of my Dasheng army, which is related to the war in the south, and this matter must be investigated." ”

Feng Yan said it in a high-sounding and righteous manner, which makes people unable to make mistakes.

"This commander is in charge of the soldiers and horses of the five cities, how can he let the enemy spies run rampant at the foot of the capital!" He glanced at Wan Guiran lightly, as if he was a little helpless, "If Jingzhao Mansion can't find out, then the commander will have to go to Dongchang for help......"

As soon as he heard that Feng Yan had moved the "East Factory" out, the surroundings were quiet for a moment, and the atmosphere was a little weird.

Everyone had different expressions, and Wan Guiran was so frightened that he almost didn't jump up, for fear that Cen Yin would feel that his Jing Zhaoyin would be unfavorable when he learned about it, and he would make trouble for them in Dongchang...... For example, if Dongchang really takes over, checks and checks, and finally finds out that it was just an accident, will Lord Cen be angry because of this, and then turn his anger on himself? !

The more Wan Guiran thought about it, the more he felt that this matter had to be handled carefully, he quickly weighed the pros and cons, and hurriedly said: "Commander Feng, where does this little matter need to alarm Governor Cen Lord, it is better to leave it to this official to investigate." ”

Wan Guiran hurriedly instructed the yacha who was lowered: "Li Bantou, this fire started from this warehouse, immediately go investigate the cause of the fire!" ”

Xuanwuhou's face changed slightly, and he wanted to stop him.

Where would Feng Yan give him this opportunity, looked at him with a smile, and deliberately asked, "Master Hou won't object, right?" ”

Speaking of this, if you oppose it again, it will inevitably arouse suspicion.

The corners of Xuanwu Hou's mouth twitched, he couldn't speak anymore, and secretly said with hatred in his heart: This Feng Yan is really nosy! No wonder everyone in the capital said that this son of the eldest princess of Anping was out of tune!

After receiving the order, several officials from Jingzhao Mansion hurriedly walked to the charred warehouse in front of them, and looked around in the broken ruins, their boots making a "click" sound when they stepped on the coke on the ground.

Outside the ruins, Feng Yan was not idle, and asked the people of the Hou Mansion to serve tea, looking like "The Hou Mansion of Xuanwu really doesn't know how to entertain guests", of course, this tea was the first to be delivered to Duanmu Xian's hands.

Feng Yan greeted Duanmu Xian coldly, and behaved more attentively and thoughtfully than Duanmu Heng, his own grandson.

Xuanwu Hou didn't have the heart to pay attention to Feng Yan and Duanmu Xian, he looked nervously in the direction of the ruins from time to time, but he had to pretend to be calm, Xuanwu Hou Shizi was not as good as his father, and a little cold sweat oozed from his forehead.

Duanmu Xian has always been shrewd, of course, he saw the strange appearance of the father and son in his eyes, his eyes flashed slightly, he was not in a hurry, and drank tea by himself quietly.

Before he had taken a few sips of tea, Li Bantou came out of the charred ruins with a few yacha.

"Master Wan," Li Bantou said respectfully to Wan Guiran, "The subordinates found the wreckage there burned even more rotten, broken and charred by the south wall of the remnants of the warehouse, which was the traces of burning oil......

"Sure enough, someone deliberately set it on fire!" Feng Yan interjected casually, "Master Hou, you see that this commander is right, there must be a Nanhuai spy who has infiltrated the Hou Mansion, and this Hou Mansion must also be searched well, what if the Nanhuai spy hasn't left yet?!" ”

Feng Yan seemed to be smiling, as if he was asking for merit from Xuanwu Hou.

Xuanwuhou's face was so black that he was about to drip ink, and his heart became more and more worried, the back of his neck was soaked with sweat, and even his middle coat was soaked.

Duanmu Xian also understood Feng Yan's intentions, and followed Feng Yan's words and said: "Lord Wan, whether the culprit is Nanhuai's spies or other gangsters, arson in the Hou Mansion is not trivial, and the adults must arrest the murderer in order to set an example and give Hou Ye an explanation." ”