Chapter 32: Ridiculous Fire Fighting
While a certain kind-hearted prince was busy adding fuel to the fire and adding firewood to put out the fire at Qi Fang Garden of Qi Lu, Lu Yi had already sneaked into Si Ji Fang.
Just on the west street of Qifang Garden, Lu Yi, Luo Qingzhou and a group of generals, lieutenants, strong men, guards, etc. who were guarding the palace, nearly a thousand people, sneaked in.
The young men and women of Sijifang refused the entry of Dayin's official forces.
Therefore, apart from Lu Yi who was originally in plain clothes, Luo Qingzhou and his men were very efficient. They broke down the doors of hundreds of houses nearby, "temporarily requisitioned" a group of plainclothes civilians, and sneaked in.
There was already a riot of demons around Qifang Garden.
In the several gardens bordering Qifang Garden, the young men and women living there were busy moving with a large group of guards and servants.
They moved out all the precious gold and silver jewelry, and then threw some less valuable items such as beds and wardrobes into the sea of fire.
Lu Yi heard clearly that several princes in fancy clothes were standing on the street, smugly planning how to "pay their bills" tomorrow.
"This fire was clearly caused by the poor handling of the officials of the Honglu Temple and Fengtiaofang."
"Isn't it? They have to take the blame!"
"Oh, the 30,000 rolls of fine silk that were just delivered to my family were burned to ashes in just one fire!"
"What's 30,000 rolls of silk? My family sent me 100,000 rolls of jacquard brocade just before the New Year."
"Wow, you brothers are indeed wealthy. Then, obviously, it is reasonable that 50,000 baskets of premium tribute tea were burned for me, right?"
"Tsk, my heart aches. My uncle just sent me a thousand bear skins, three thousand tiger skins, eight thousand leopard skins, twenty thousand fox skins, and a number of other furs. The total value is over two million strings of cash."
Lu Yu grinned when he heard this.
You bunch of bastards, you have tens of thousands of pieces of silk and brocade, tens of thousands of baskets of tea and tens of thousands of feet of fur. Your garden is indeed exquisite and gorgeous, but can it store so many things?
The barbarian prince with tattoos all over his body, riding a strange flat-horned blue bull, wearing a helmet and armor, holding a 18-foot-long, blood-red cane covered with thumb-sized tumors and lumps, which looked quite ferocious, dancing with his hands and shouting loudly: "Fire, fire, hey, Dongqi Bo's prince, he is our good friend!"
"Put out the fire, put out the fire!"
The prince howled a few times, and the guards and servants he brought with him had already thrown tens of thousands of kilograms of firewood and three thousand kilograms of fat into Qifang Garden.
He patted the green ox under his seat, ran to a few princes who were busy discussing the settlement, and bowed to them.
"Brothers, you can't just stand there."
"Hurry up and put the fire in your garden, otherwise, how are you going to pay the bill tomorrow?"
"Remember, the yard I live in now is too small, so I have stored tens of thousands of kilograms of rare medicinal herbs in the gardens of my brothers."
Several princes laughed in unison.
They all bowed to him and said, "Haha, let's get rich together, let's get rich together!"
Behind Lu Yi and the others, in a garden across the street from Qifang Garden, on the roof of a small building, a girl in a sky-blue dress gestured and shouted, "Hey, you bunch of bastards, Qi Lu was not really burned to death, was he? He still owes me a gambling debt of 300 strings of cash?"
There were bursts of laughter from the neighboring small buildings.
"When a person dies, his debts are settled. Sister Hua, don't worry about these mere three hundred strings of cash."
"Oh my, I haven't heard who Qi Xun offended these days? How come someone broke in and killed people and set fire to the house?"
"What? Are you feeling sorry for him? Brother, I didn't realize you were so fond of this?"
"Bullshit, I was just worried that he might have been burned to death! Look at this half of my front teeth, they were broken when we had a drunken fight a few years ago... This guy has no moral principles, I was unarmed but he used a wine bowl to embarrass me!"
All around, there were noises, clamors, laughter, and scolding, like ten million flies buzzing around.
Lu Yu was dizzy from the noise and could not help but exclaim in amazement.
Today, he had seen these hostages of the princes.
Luo Qingzhou's expression was also extremely ugly. He shouted in a low voice: "Qi Lu cannot die... That evil woman just now clearly said that the fire was related to them. Qi Lu was involved in the affairs of these evil women."
"Qi Lu must be alive. I want his confession!"
In private, a group of palace guards in plain clothes were staring blankly around.
The streets were full of people watching the fun.
Most of the protons in Sijifang came over with their people to watch the fun.
Just as a certain proton clamored just now, they were all afraid that Qi Lu would not be burned to death - it was New Year's Day, if Qi Lu was burned to death, it would be such a pleasant and happy thing!
In Haojing, the son of Dongqibo was burned to death. Tsk tsk, there must be another huge disturbance in the court of Haojing, right?
Alas, I don’t know how many people will be unlucky and how many will lose their jobs.
These protons were imprisoned in Haojing, where they could only eat and drink to their heart's content, and live a life of debauchery. They were extremely bored. If they could watch such a grand spectacle, they would definitely watch it from beginning to end.
So, someone threw firewood and grease into Qifangyuan.
Some people were making noise and cheering all around, while others were sitting and watching the show with a smile on their faces.
Some people were spreading rumors and making sarcastic remarks, cursing Qi Lu on New Year's Day, hoping that he would be burned to death.
No one came to put out the fire!
Luo Qingzhou wanted to capture Qi Lu alive, so the people guarding the palace had to rush into the fire to rescue him.
But looking at the current situation, anyone who dares to rush into Qifangyuan to rescue people will probably be attacked by the crowd from all directions.
There are so many protons, ranging from a dozen to more than a hundred, all with guards around them.
If they join forces, the few people guarding the palace present will not be enough for them to beat.
Luo Qingzhou's hands grabbed at his waist again and again. He really wanted to draw his sword and rush into Qifang Garden, but when he saw the fanatical protons around him, the courage he had just mustered collapsed in the blink of an eye.
"Think of a way to keep Qi Lu from dying." Luo Qingzhou gritted his teeth and squeezed out a few words from between his teeth.
He threw the blame on the two subordinate generals and a group of captains who were surrounding him. They looked at each other with sad faces and could not think of any solution at all.
The protons around were stimulated by the fire and became like mad dogs.
Look at those people who were about to report the spending bill. They are now directing the guards and servants to set fire to the garden where they live.
Anyway, these gardens are the property of the Honglu Temple. They won’t lose a penny if they are burned down!
There are also protons living farther away who are eager to try, and are calling on the people below to prepare torches and lamp oil!
Lu Yi coughed and whispered to Luo Qingzhou: "General, I just thought of a way, maybe..."
Luo Qingzhou and a group of generals and captains suddenly turned their heads and looked at Lu Yi.
Luo Qingzhou said in a deep voice: "If your method is useful, I will give you credit for it!"
Lu Yi nodded, and he squeezed into the crowd, getting close to a group of protons and guards who were whistling enthusiastically, and then he shouted at the top of his voice: "Hey, burning Qi Su to death seems to be too painful?"
"Why don't we all work together to put out the fire and make Qi Xun owe us a life-saving favor!"
"A drop of kindness is repaid with a spring of water."
"If we all work together to rescue Qi Xun, won't he give us a thousand or eight million?"
Several protons, whose faces were red and who were obviously drunk, suddenly turned their heads and looked at Lu Yi.
"This brother looks unfamiliar, but what he said makes a lot of sense!"
"But Qi Lu doesn't have that much money, right?"
Several protons looked at Lu Yi eagerly.
Lu Yi yelled again, "Qi Lu has no money, but his father, Dong Qi Bo, has money... He forced Qi Lu to write an IOU, but he couldn't pay it back, so he forced his father to pay it back..."
From behind, a woman's voice came from afar: "What if his father doesn't return it?"
Lu Yu laughed loudly: "Then, let's send a message to our fathers and beat him up together! If you don't have money, you can pay it back with mines, fertile fields, forest farms, and pastures."
Lu Yi gathered his strength and used the Cang Hai Jin Yuan Gang to stimulate the sound. The extremely powerful sound waves spread throughout several nearby streets.
There was a sudden silence all around.
Then, countless people applauded and cheered: "That brother said it well, it's really insightful!"
"Break open the garden, put out the fire, save people!"
"Hehe, let Qi Lu sign the IOU. Haha, I think his life is worth 10 million strings of cash!"
"Bullshit! How dare you belittle Brother Qi's worth like this? The most beloved son of the dignified Lord Dongqi is worth at least 30 million strings of cash!"
"You are all talking nonsense. One hundred million strings of cash, one hundred million strings of cash. Qi Lu refuses to sign this IOU. Let's all join forces to beat him to death. Beat him to death!"
There was a lot of noise, and countless protons clapped, stamped their feet, and laughed loudly.
A series of confusing orders were quickly spread in all directions. Groups of guards and servants shouted slogans and used wooden poles found from nowhere as battering rams to bang against the walls of Qifang Garden.
Gardens like Qifangyuan are high-end inns prepared for these protons. They are extremely exquisite, but have little defensive power.
At least a thousand people from all directions exerted force at the same time, and the sound of collapse could be heard everywhere. The walls around Qifang Garden were smashed to pieces.
Many skilled guards ran to the canal on the east side, broke the more than two-foot-thick river ice, carried large chunks of ice, and threw them directly into the blazing Qifang Garden.
There is strength in numbers, not to mention a group of guards with extraordinary martial arts skills working together.
Blocks of ice several feet square whizzed into Qifang Garden. Servants from near and far fetched well water, which was continuously transported in buckets and poured into Qifang Garden from all directions.
In just half a quarter of an hour, most of the fire in Qifang Garden was suppressed.
On the rockery in the backyard of Qifang Garden, the group of guards who were attacking the gate of the flower hall screamed hysterically.
“Help! Help!”
"My son is haunted by a ghost!"
“Help! Help!”
"My prince is in there, my King Lancang is in there!"
"Come and save me...Save my prince, and he will reward me handsomely!"
There was a lot of noise all around.
Luo Qingzhou and his group all turned pale as paper.
King Lancang, the uncle of the current emperor, how could he be in Qifang Garden?
The next moment, Yinqi's screams, like a pig being slaughtered, came from the flower hall: "Hurry up, sister-in-law Qi Fei has turned into a ghost!"
