Yan Cigui

Chapter 398 There’s a fire, be careful! (Two updates combined into one, please give me a monthly ticket)

As the words fell, there was another lightning flash in the sky.

 The electric light illuminated Li Shao's face, showing his eagerness and worry in front of others.

Wang Gouzi heard the commotion and came over from the side hall in a hurry. He happened to see this scene and couldn't help but feel a thump in his heart.

It was raining heavily and thundering. At first, he only knew that something was going on in the flower hall, but he didn't know the specific reason yet. When he saw Li Shao's expression, he thought, "It's not good."

“Your Highness, Your Highness,” Wang Gouzi called out twice anxiously, “What’s going on?”

Xu Bai's eyes turned to a few people, and when he saw that Xu Jian didn't stop him, he said, "A lightning struck Qianfu."

Wang Gouzi said "Ouch" and said subconsciously: "You didn't hurt anyone, did you?"

"I'm just going to take a look," Li Shao said, "hurry up and prepare your carriage and horses."

Wang Gouzi’s heart trembled.

The incident happened so suddenly that he didn't have time to analyze it carefully. He just instinctively felt that he couldn't allow His Highness to make such a trip.

"Don't be anxious," Wang Gouzi licked his lower lip, ignoring his pounding heartbeat and trying to keep his tone calm, "It's raining so hard and I don't know the specific situation. You wait here and let Fu Guo Will you send someone to inquire again?"

The less anxious Wang Gouzi is, the more anxious Xu Bai is by his side.

"Didn't I just come back from asking about it?" Xu Bai rubbed his hands, his voice trembling, "There's smoke in the house!"

 Wang Gouzi asked: "Have you informed the government?"

"Some people have gone," Xu Bai said, "but after all, it is Qianfu, Shuntianfu or the garrison yamen. They don't dare to break in easily."

 The dog's tooth aches from hearing this.

A house that has long been uninhabited has been hit by thunder and smoke. It makes sense for the neighbors to climb over the wall and go in to check the situation, let alone the people from the yamen.

In case rescue fails and the situation worsens, the entire street will be affected.

 But it happens to be a Qianfu, and the government is bound to be more restrained in doing things.

"Your Highness," Wang Gouzi had no time to discern what was going on. He only had countermeasures in his mind at the moment and said wisely in his haste, "You are afraid that it will be difficult for the Yamen to handle things, so why not let the people from the Duke's Palace use your badge to guide the government? It’s too dangerous to go there by yourself.”

 Li Shao hesitated for a moment.

Besides, Lin Yunyan, who had been silent for a while, told Xu Bai: "Hurry up and get some rain gear."

After speaking, he took a cloak from the shelf by the door and gave it to Xu Jian, and also took out an eyelet tie for himself.

"No matter what, we are so close, how can we not go and take a look?" She glanced at Li Shao and said, "Don't delay, I said slowly on the way, if His Highness doesn't go in, you will be on the carriage. The government offices have all seen you, whether you have a badge or not, and whether you are leading the way or not, it doesn't matter."

Li Shao originally wanted to go, but after hearing what Lin Yunyan said, he had no objection, nor did he want to waste time and rush the dog.

Wang Gouzi thought for a moment and realized that it was really inappropriate to remain in a stalemate.

He thought about it more on the way, and if he noticed something went wrong, just let His Highness stay in the car.

As the carriage left the house, the rain subsided, but the thunder and lightning did not stop, which sounded quite scary.

 Li Shao was sitting in the car, very anxious.

Wang Gouzi was also anxious, but Xu Bai accompanied them in a car, and there were many things he couldn't say.

 After much thought, Wang Gouzi was not sure what Fu Guogong's plan was.

Lightning strikes are accidental. If they fall in a dormitory, the matter may be big or small, but we need to make a fuss about it...

 It can be directed at His Highness or His Majesty. How to splash the ink and how to spread it depends on the positions of each party.



If you really have such ability, and it would be too much to be an idle prince, then you should become a national teacher!

 Besides, it doesn’t make sense that Duke Fuguo has been keeping His Highness steady and advancing and retreating with His Highness in recent times just to make a fuss about lightning strikes.

 Because anyone can write the article, and there is no need to gain His Highness's trust.

Wang Gouzi scratched his head, worried.

  What Duke Fu is doing is really a mystery!

Even the master is in a fog, let alone him?

Time is tight and there are many ideas. Until he arrived outside Qianfu, Wang Gouzi couldn't even pick out a thread, let alone straighten it out.

When they got off the carriage, they saw many people pointing and pointing at them not far away.

 Wang Gouzi raised his head and looked up: "Where is the smoke? Why didn't you see it?"

Xu Bai said: "You can't see it even if you are close. It was very obvious on West Street before."

 “Hurry in.” Li Shao urged.

Wang Gouzi stopped him: "It's too dangerous, you stay here, little one..."

"What's the danger?" Li Shao interrupted, "Why can't I go?"

Wang Gouzi really couldn't tell where the danger was, so he could only say: "No one from the government has arrived yet."

"They are far away. It will be too late when they arrive." Li Shao made up his mind. Seeing Xu Bai coming to knock on the door, he lowered his voice and asked Wang Gouzi, "I am here, but I won't go in. Call me father." What would the emperor think if he found out?"

 The dog is speechless.

Li Shao looked at the closed door with an extremely serious expression.

 This is the place where he lived in his childhood, and this is the place where his mother lived.

 His father prefers him, and he misses his mother even more!

Li Shao clearly remembered how disappointed and angry his father was when he saw his mother’s belongings damaged last time.

 It is true that the lightning strike in Qianfu had nothing to do with his own actions, but Li Shao also remembered that he personally repaired those relics, and his father was satisfied and gratified.

He definitely doesn't have the ability to repair the house, but if he goes in and takes a look, what's the big deal?

If someone is in the palace at this moment and doesn't know, that's fine. He is standing outside the gate of the house and doesn't even go in. It's really unreasonable.

Furthermore, if the place where the mother lived is damaged or burned down...

 The emperor's father's nostalgia for his mother is gradually diminishing, so can his son still be favored?

If he wants to be the crown prince again, he must hold on to his mother's Yu Ze!

Wang Gouzi understood what Li Shao meant and couldn't help but glance at Xu Jian.

There may not be any danger inside the house, but if His Highness stays outside, he will definitely be challenged by the imperial censor and the emperor will be dissatisfied.

“The little one will follow you closely,” Wang Gouzi and Li Shao suggested. “It’s raining and it’s dark, so it’s hard to walk on the road. Please be careful where you step.”

 Xu Bai couldn't knock the door.

"Is there no one guarding the concierge?" Lin Yunyan walked over and muttered.

Li Shao said: "There may not be many people inside. The guard noticed the smoke and went to check, so he didn't care about the door."

“What should we do?” Lin Yunyan asked knowingly.

 Li Shao looked towards the courtyard wall.

The Qianfu courtyard is high, and Wang Gouzi doesn't seem to be good at climbing over walls. Asking someone to borrow a ladder at this moment will be delayed.

 He asked Xu Jian: "Can you turn over?"

“My legs are not strong enough.” Xu Jian lied without changing his expression, and raised his chin towards Shenchen.

Shenchen's back injured by Xiong Xiazi had already healed, and he just followed him. When he saw this, he ran a few steps without saying a word, stepped on the courtyard wall, jumped into the air, and landed inside the wall in the blink of an eye.

 Soon, he opened the door from the inside.

Li Shao took the lead and quickly entered the house.

The rain curtain blocked the view, and the lantern swayed in the wind and rain as if it would be extinguished in the next moment.

Although Xu Jian and Lin Yunyan had seen the drawings, it was their first time coming in. At the same time, they had to pretend to be strangers and only relied on Li Shao to lead the way. Li Shao lived here until he was five or six years old. After that, he only accompanied Sheng Shang here a few times, and his memory was vague. He might be able to recognize the way easily during the day, but he couldn't see anywhere clearly at night. He only relied on his superficial impressions to walk all the way to the backyard.

Going around the front hall, Lin Yunyan pointed to the sky not far away: "Is that where the smoke is coming from?"

Li Shao paused, looked in the direction of her finger, and saw the rising smoke.

It's not strong, it floats along with the wind, and there's not much burning smell in the breath, so it's not serious and it doesn't burn.

There was a direction. Li Shao walked east and west under the corridor, and he arrived at the place in a short time.

 That is the main courtyard of Qian Mansion.

　　What was hit was a tall tree. The tree fell to the ground and was split in the center.

The main house was also hit, and the smoke started from here.

The housekeeper was looking inside, and there was an oil lamp coming from the house.

Hearing the noise, the steward hurriedly came out and asked, "Who is here?"

 Li Shao said: “It’s me.”

The steward took a closer look, recognized Li Shao, and quickly saluted.

 “How is the damage?” Xu Jian asked the steward.

"The young one was at the concierge when he suddenly heard several lightning flashes and thunder, which made the ground shake. I knew that the thunder must have fallen nearby, but I never expected that it would fall in the house," the steward said with a sad face. , "Someone still saw the smoke and called him, and he quickly found it here.

　　A tree fell down, and there was a hole in the roof on that side. The hole was not big, but the rainwater leaked in, and now half of the house was wet.

There are only old furniture left in the house, and there are no buckets or basins. The younger one is going to find one to collect water..."

 “You go ahead,” Li Shao urged him, “I’ll go in and take a look.”

Lin Yunyan asked the steward: "Are there any oil lamps? It's not enough for lighting."

"There are some. There should be one or two more in the low cupboard in the east room, as well as a few candles."

 The steward left in a hurry.

Shen Chen took out the lamp holder from the cupboard, divided some oil from the oil lamp left by the steward, and lit a few more candles.

 The room gradually became brighter.

 Lin Yunyan held an oil lamp in one hand, made eye contact with Xu Jian, and went to look for Li Shao.

As soon as he entered the house, Li Shao walked to the west to check the damaged west side. Wang Gouzi followed him every step of the way.

 The two of them had only one lantern that was meant to be extinguished, so they could not see clearly what was going on.

 Lin Yunyan is "new here", but she has heard about the condition of this house from Xuan Su.

 Five bays on the left and right, plus two ear rooms.

The west room is used for daily living. Today, there is a wooden kang bed under the window, a wooden table from the old year, and other odds and ends. There is also a bed in the west room, which should be Li Shao's childhood residence. There are old curtains hanging there. Even if someone cleans them, they will inevitably become old and dusty over time.

The roof that was struck by lightning was just above the head of the bed. Li Shao stood below. If it weren't for the rain dripping in, it would be difficult to distinguish the roof and the sky that almost merged with the naked eye.

Wang Gouzi raised his arms to take the lantern to shine, and looked carefully: "The hole doesn't seem to be too big. It doesn't seem to have a big impact. It shouldn't expand. There is smoke coming from that seat. It seems to have been extinguished by the rain." Just the smoke... ugh!”

As he was speaking, his eyes suddenly went dark.

The lantern could no longer hold on and went out.

It was pitch black, and Wang Gouzi couldn't help but turn his head to look for light, and saw Lin Yunyan coming over with an oil lamp.

“It’s too dark,” Lin Yunyan came over and placed a lamp on the empty table, and handed the other to Wang Gouzi, “You can change it to this one and shine again.”

Wang Gouzi took it.

 The oil lamp was not as easy to balance as the lantern, and he did not dare to lift it too high for fear of spilling the oil.

Li Shao raised his head and continued to look. He couldn't see clearly, so he casually said to Lin Yunyan: "Bring the one on the table as well."

Lin Yunyan did not move, she twirled her fingers, and there was a small stone between her fingertips: "Eunuch Wang, come and get it. I didn't hold it properly and my hand was burned."

Hearing this, Li Shao muttered "coquettish" to himself.

However, despite the muttering, he did not object.

Wang Gouzi didn't notice anything was wrong. He equated coquettishness with the princess. How normal this was. He put down his raised hand.

 The next moment, Li Shao stretched out his hand, as if he wanted to pick up the light.

Wang Gouzi was stunned. He had no intention of handing it over. He wanted to take two lamps for lighting, but seeing His Highness reaching out, it seemed that it would be a bad idea not to give them...

Just that moment of distraction fell into Lin Yunyan's eyes.

She originally wanted to wait for Wang Gouzi to hold two lamps and raise his left and right hands together, but it was not stable enough before taking action. She did not expect such an opportunity.

Now or never!

With a pinch of his fingers, just when Li Shao's hand was about to touch the oil lamp, Lin Yunyan moved her arm slightly.

The small pebbles flew out and hit Wang Gouzi's hand. His fingers trembled and his strength relaxed instantly. Before Li Shao could hold it, the oil lamp fell sideways, hit the ground with a clatter, and rolled twice with a grunt. , the lamp oil spilled.

　　The curtain nearby was lit by the lamp and made a rustling sound.

Wang Gouzi was stunned for a moment, looking at his hand helplessly, not knowing why the handover was unstable.

 Feels like a twinge?

He was not sure, and he didn't think about it carefully. The moment he came back to his senses, he patted the curtain.

Li Shao remained motionless, his hand still stretched out and not taken back. The fire on the curtain illuminated half of his face, which was full of confusion.

Lin Yunyan stared at Li Shao closely from beginning to end.

 The fire won’t last long.

 The curtains are flammable, but the water leaking from the roof made this side of the room wet, and even the curtains were damp.

If you hadn't added some lamp oil, there would be no need for the dog to fight hard, and it would be almost extinguished by a little smoke.

Time was running out, she couldn't miss the opportunity, and she had to push Li Shao one more time.

Picked up the lamp on the table, Lin Yunyan held it very close to her face this time. She took two steps forward and called urgently: "There's a fire, be careful!"

The sound exploded in Li Shao's ears. He suddenly jumped up and turned to look at the person who was talking to him.

Under the swaying light of the fire, this man's facial features looked so familiar.

The next moment, the dog who was fighting with the flames also barked: "Your Highness, please go out and take shelter first, be careful of the fire!"

Li Shao glanced at the burning curtain and then at the familiar outline of facial features. He didn't know what happened, but countless images suddenly flashed through his mind, rushing over like a tide, shaking him to the point of collapse.

 An overturned oil lamp.

  A fire that burns from small to large.

 An old **** whom I am not familiar with, and a woman I am familiar with.

 Collapsed beams, burning hall...

Li Shao yelled "Ah" and staggered out.

Book friends, do you still remember?

The little princess’s accuracy was quite good.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 machineslves in on the long road to learn piano, the cat who reads at night, and the small yard for the reward.

 (End of this chapter)