At chen hour, when Fang Zian was sitting in the public room in the front yard drinking tea and working as usual, in the lobby of the Yamen behind, seven or eight servants and clerks were already whispering nervously and talking endlessly. They were acting like ghosts. After discussing in low voices for a while, they finally left the Yamen lobby together, went to the front room and arrived at Fang Zian's public apartment.

Several people gave in and hesitated in the corridor. Finally, veteran Wang Jin came in with a pot of newly boiled water and was about to refill Fang Zian's tea when he saw these chattering guys.

"What are you doing? Lao Ma, Lao Qian, Lao Hou, what are you doing standing at the door? Being sneaky."

"Hey, Brother Wang, it's just right. Please let me know and ask Mr. Fang if he has time so that he can meet with us. I'll report something important later." Lao Ma said with a smile.

Wang Jin was in a daze for a moment, but he never thought that one day he, Wang Jin, would be called "brother" by Lao Ma. Lao Ma, Lao Hou and Lao Qian, the officials in the yamen, usually did not treat him as a human being.

"Report something important? What important thing can you report? Besides, you usually don't report things to Mr. Fang. Don't you all report to Mr. Xia? What happened today? Why do you want to report to Mr. Fang? What happened? Has the sun come out in the west?" Wang Jin said.

"Wang Jin, don't you know yet? Mr. Xia... something happened to him. He seems... seems to be dead." Lao Hou whispered.

"What? Are you kidding?" Wang Jin was dumbfounded. He really thought Lao Hou was joking.

"Who are you kidding? We have all got the news. Something happened to Mr. Xia last night. I'm afraid Mr. Fang doesn't know about it yet. That's why we came to report Mr. Fang. Go and report it quickly. This matter is not a trivial matter." Lao Hou glared.

"Oh oh oh, yes, yes. I'll report it now." Wang Jin was so panicked that his heart was pounding. On the one hand, he was shocked by the news, but on the other hand, he felt that it was impossible. He felt even more hopeful that the news would be Real anticipation and ecstasy, but also panic of not knowing what happened.

Wang Jin came out soon, swallowing his foam and waving to several people. Lao Ma and others hurriedly dressed and bowed into Fang Zian's temporary apartment, and followed Wang Jin into the inner room. They saw Zhen sitting behind the desk holding a desk. Lord Bo Fang, the master of the tea cup.

Mr. Fang seemed a little tired, his eyes were slightly darkened, and his face was a little pale. But his waist was still straight and his eyes were still sharp and fascinating. There was a kind of majesty in the way he sat there, which made the master who had eaten Your Majesty, Lao Ma, Lao Hou and others are feeling a little weak in their calves.

"I'm waiting for you to greet Master Fang." Lao Ma and the others knelt down to salute.

Fang Zian put down the tea cup and yawned, then waved his hands and said, "You guys don't have to be polite. Wang Jin said you want to see me to report something important. Is there anything else important in our yamen?"

"Master Fang, this is indeed an important matter. Master Xia is dead!" Lao Ma said directly.

"What?" Fang Zian stood up, his voice a little artificial and his expression a little exaggerated. If there was a mirror in front of Fang Zian at this moment, I'm afraid he would laugh immediately, because he would see how exaggerated his acting skills are. .

"Say it again? I heard you right.

"Fang Zian shouted.

"Sir, it's absolutely true. Master Xia is dead. Last night, there was a fire in the Zhangjia Restaurant on the slopes of Wansong Mountain on the west bank of the West Lake, and dozens of people were burned to death. Master Xia was among them." Lao Hou said quickly.

"How is that possible? Are you kidding me?" Fang Zian shouted.

"It's really true. Lao Yuan lives outside Yongjinmen. He saw the fire last night with his own eyes, but he didn't know that Mr. Xia died in the fire. All three fire teams at the Yongjinmen fire watch tower station are here.

The fire was put out. This morning, Lao Yuan learned about the situation from their mouths. It was so miserable. The whole restaurant burned to the ground, and the flames were several stories high. It was impossible to put out the fire. Our people couldn't even go there.

It was in vain. The fire was put out only this morning. The brothers from the Yongjinmen Submersible Fire Team worked hard all night and only withdrew in the morning. It was so miserable. Twenty or thirty people were burned to death inside, and every one of them was burned to coke."

Lao Ma quickly explained.

Fang Zian frowned and said, "It was all burned to charcoal? How do you know that it was Mr. Xia who was burned to death?"

"Hey, Master Xia's weapons are easy to recognize. The sword that Master Xia wears was brought from the Central Guards, and his name is engraved on it. It's not like the knives in our warehouse, which are all made casually.

Master Xia has always kept his sword close to his body. I found Master Xia's sword in the fire, and all the brothers stationed at Yongjinmen recognized it. Can this be false?" said Lao Ma.

Fang Zian's face turned pale and he said: "Is that really so? That's incredible. Why didn't the brothers from the Jinmen Submersible Team report such a big thing, and I still didn't know anything about it? Also, why did Mr. Xia show up?

How could he be burned to death in that Zhangjia Restaurant? Why is this so incredible? Why does it feel like a dream to me? I can’t believe it.”

"Master Fang, not only you, we also don't believe it. But how dare the Yongjinmen brothers and Lao Yuan spread such rumors? Don't they want to live? How dare you make such a joke? By the way, they saved the whole night.

Fire, naturally the report comes later. I guess that Chief Li will come to the Yamen to report the matter soon. Hey, how big is this?" Lao Hou said hurriedly.

Fang Zian smacked his lips and paced around, looking anxious, regretful and at a loss. Suddenly he stopped and said in a deep voice: "I have to go take a look before they can report it. You guys are guarding the yamen so well. What if this happens?"

It's true. If so many people died, people from the Lin'an Prefecture Yamen should have known about it. I don't know if our Shangguan knows about it. But at the moment, the news has not been confirmed, and we can't report it to the Shangguan. The matter has been postponed for the time being. I will go and take a look.

Let’s see the scene and find out more.”

Lao Ma, Lao Hou and others hurriedly bowed their hands and said yes. Lao Qian, who had been silent until now, suddenly said: "Master Fang, don't be anxious, but don't make any mistakes in your hurry. You are now the only backbone of our yamen. We have

Everyone in the yamen must rely on you, sir, to be in charge, so you have to take care of yourself."

Lao Ma and Lao Hou cast disdainful glances at Lao Qian. This guy started to flatter him so quickly. What was even more despicable was that he took away the first batch of flattery, but the flattery seemed not enough.

Sincere. Even so, Lao Ma Laohou nodded in agreement.

"Yes, Mr. Fang is now the pillar of our yamen. You have to be careful while riding. If not, call

You can go with us. But today Niu Laoer and the others have not come yet, and they are not afraid of being punished. Otherwise, we can go with you," said the old horse.

"Ouch! Lao Ma, when you say that, I feel a little scared. Niu Laoer and the others hang out behind Mr. Xia every day. Mr. Xia was burned to death in that restaurant, and they haven't arrived yet.

Could it be that... they were all burned to death there?" Lao Hou asked.

Lao Hou's words immediately sent chills down the spines of everyone in the room, and their hearts went numb. Because this is something that is very likely to happen. After all, the news said that twenty or thirty people died. Maybe it is true.

Fang Zian waved his hand and said: "Don't make random guesses. I'll go and take a look. I'll find out. You guys are looking at the Yamen. If anyone comes to me, tell them to come to the scene. I'll go."

Everyone quickly agreed, bowed and handed each other off, and Fang Zian rushed out of the door with three steps and two steps. After a while, he got on his horse and galloped towards Yongjinmen.

On the way to Yongjinmen, Fang Zian met Li Zhenjiang, the tower commander of the Fangyu Army station in Yongjinmen, and his three teams. These people were going to the Fangyu Army Yamen to report the fire last night.

Seeing Fang Zian, Li Zhenjiang and others quickly reported what happened, which was similar to what Lao Hou and Laoma said. However, Li Zhenjiang told Fang Zian that the sentencing officer from the Lin'an Prefecture Yamen Sentencing Department had arrived at the scene to conduct an investigation. Because of the burning

Too many people died, and a large number of weapons were found in the fire, so this incident aroused the suspicion of the Criminal Division. This was a fire with heavy casualties, or it might be the scene of a brutal massacre.

Fang Zian felt a little nervous after hearing what they said. It seemed that things might not calm down soon, and he had to go back to the scene to take a look. On the one hand, he inquired about the investigation progress of the people in the Criminal Division, so that he knew what he was doing. On the other hand, he

On the other hand, as the head of Fangyu Military Yamen, I should rush to the scene after receiving the news. Otherwise, it will become suspicious.

Half an hour later, Fang Zian, Li Zhenjiang and others arrived at the scene. The intersection leading to the restaurant fire scene had been blocked. After the fire was extinguished, the people also lost interest in watching, so there were not many people present. Fang Zian and others showed up.

With his identity, he was able to enter the cordon and arrive at the fire scene. After Fang Zian arrived at the scene, he took a deep breath when he saw the scene in front of him.

The fire last night was so intense. In the huge courtyard, only a low wing in the front yard was left. It was not burned because it was far away. At this moment, it stood alone on the side of the fire, becoming the only one.

The remaining buildings were left behind, while the rest of the yard was a piece of white ground. The entire restaurant was almost burned to ashes. The main wooden structure was all burned down, leaving only a few dark low walls standing there.

Not only that, even the firewood shed in the backyard and the nearest large tree were damaged, and they stood bare and burned in the distance. If it weren't for the fact that it was summer and the trees were lush and watery, making it difficult for them to burn, the entire mountain would have burned.

Lindu may be burned down.

On the flat ground near a corner of the woods, Fang Zian saw a row of black corpses that were burned like charcoal. They were dug out from the charcoal fire and placed there. When Fang Zian frowned and looked at the corpses, a tall figure
Chapter completed!