Fortunately, the Lujia Bookstore is independent and is located next to a small river.
After the fire broke out, Wuhoupu in the city immediately mobilized nearby residents to use river water to put out the fire. After a night of hard work, the fire finally did not spread to other places.
This Wuhoupu is the fire brigade officially organized by Shangyuan City. In such a large city, if there is no fire prevention mechanism, the consequences of a fire would be disastrous.
After the fire was extinguished, almost nothing was left of the Lu's Bookstore. Black smoke curled up and everything was in a mess.
Taimin, the county magistrate who came after hearing the news, stood alone in front of the ruins, looking lonely, helpless and dull.
"Sir," Huo Anu, whose face was covered with black and gray stains, sat tiredly next to Xu Zun and said bitterly, "It seems that this fire was specially set for us?"
"How is it?" Xu Zun also had messy buns and was extremely embarrassed, but his face was still cool, "Are you still saying that I am a warrior?"
Huo Anu shook his head slightly, looking at the ruins in the distance with a dazed look.
"why why?"
Looking at Zhao Yu again, the word "embarrassing" can no longer be used to describe him, but I saw that his hair was blown out, his face was charred, his clothes were torn and full of holes, as if he had been shot out of a cannon.
If it weren't for their physical and mental exhaustion and aches all over, Xu Zun and Huo Anu would have laughed out loud.
"Someone is following someone, but we didn't check it, Miss Huo..." Zhao Yu complained, "You, an expert, are below your standards!"
Unexpectedly, Huo Anu did not get angry for the first time, but nodded pertinently and said:
"This can only mean one thing, either the people following us are too skilled and even I didn't notice; or, they have been waiting for us here for a long time!"
"It's crazy. Look..." Zhao Yu stretched out his finger, "These are obviously two questions!"
"I don't understand," Huo Anu looked at Xu Zun, "You came to the bookstore tonight on an impromptu basis. How could the person who lit the fire know that we were coming?"
"I'm thinking about this too," Xu Zun nodded, "It should be that, whether we come or not, they are already ready to burn this place down!
"Perhaps we just arrived by chance and they had no choice but to take action in advance."
"Who is it? Who is it?" Huo Anu clenched his fists, "Why do they want to burn this place down? Are they afraid that we will find Lu Xiaofeng's family? Or are they afraid that we will find the daughter of the Hou family?"
"Ouch..." Huo Anu said this, and Zhao Yu also expressed concern, "Master Xu, this place has been burned down, can you still find the daughter of the Marquis?
"Don't forget, you and the Marquis have signed a military order. If you can't find it, then... tsk tsk..."
When Zhao Yu spoke, smoke even came out of his mouth. Xu Zun almost couldn't hold it back and quickly covered his mouth to suppress laughter.
"Yes, sir," Huo Anu said, "the clue is broken, what should we do?"
Unexpectedly, after asking, the two of them discovered that Xu Zun was staring blankly at Sheriff Taimin in the distance, as if he was thinking about something.
"What's wrong?" Huo Anu was curious, "You don't think there is something wrong with this county guard, do you?"
"No, I just feel a little strange," Xu Zun said, staring at Taimin, "I specifically mentioned Lu Xiaofeng to him yesterday. Now that the bookstore is on fire, according to normal reaction, should he come over to me anxiously?
Is it right to question?"
"Oh?" Huo Anu also looked at Taimin in the distance and asked, "What does it mean to be anxious?"
"It means being anxious in vain," Xu Zun explained. "In dialect, it can also be understood as being impatient."
"Oh, if you had told me earlier that you were too impatient, wouldn't it be over?" Huo Anu complained in a low voice, "You have to speak dialects to me, a foreigner, no matter..."
"Wait, foreigners?" Xu Zun turned to look at Huo Anu, as if he had thought of something.
"Sir, please don't be so surprised, okay?" Huo Anu looked a little embarrassed.
"Yes," Zhao Yu was thinking about the previous topic, "There is indeed something wrong with this county guard!"
But seeing that Taimin was still looking at the ruins in a daze, he had no intention of coming over and asking Xu Zun and others.
"Anu," Xu Zun continued to talk and said to Huo Anu, "you are wrong, our clues have not been broken.
"Just because there is a fire here, it proves even more that my idea is right!
"The matter of Miss Lu's disappearance is indeed not simple!"
"Really...really?" Huo Anu's brain was no longer strong enough, "Are you saying that the mysterious disappearance of Lu Xiaofeng's family has a lot to do with the disappearance of the daughter of the Hou family?"
"Yes!" Xu Zun nodded, "This fire was caused by someone who wanted to cover up the traces and didn't want us to find anything!"
"Since it has been burned down, doesn't it mean that the clue is still broken?" Huo Anu spread his hands, "What I said seems to be right, right?"
"This clue is broken, we can check another one," Xu Zun said with bright eyes, "Anu, now go back and take a shower and dress up. You will have an important task today!"
"Ah?" Huo Anu's eyes widened, "What mission?"
Xu Zun glanced at Taimin in the distance again and said two words: "Go to school!"
…
Qinglan Academy is located in Qinglan Temple in Shangyuan City.
Since the establishment of Qinglan Temple, no man has ever entered.
However, Huo Anu is different. Not only is she a woman, she is also a foreigner. She came to Qinglan Academy to study, which naturally attracted special attention from the Taoist nuns in the academy.
Huo Anu is from the Western Regions. Although the Western Regions belong to Daxuan, they are not from the same lineage.
Therefore, Huo Anu is an authentic international student!
Previously, Xu Zun had written a letter of recommendation to Huo Anu, which bluntly stated that Huo Anu was the assistant to Xu Zun in Tangzhou.
This time I came to Qinglan Academy to learn poetry, calligraphy and etiquette for my future work.
Although Qinglan Academy is quite mysterious to men, it is not harsh on women studying there. As long as they have a certain status and financial resources, they will welcome them.
After all, in such a feudal background, there were not many people in the family who really wanted their girls to study.
What's more, the academy only holds classes twice a week, and they also hope that more girls will come to study.
However, since Huo Anu had just arrived, it was naturally impossible for him to become a formal student so quickly. He could only be arranged to sit in the school and wait until the expiration of the term to become a full student.
Of course, Huo Anu came with a mission, and just being able to attend the class once was enough.
Seeing Huo Anu being allowed to enter the academy, Xu Zun breathed a sigh of relief.
However, Zhao Yu couldn't understand it at all:
"Sir, is it a little too late to go inside to look for clues now? Besides..." He looked at the Taoist nun at the entrance of the academy and said worriedly, "I am from the same family as Miss Lu, so what could be fishy inside?"
"You didn't think that Miss Lu would be hidden in the academy, right?"
Seeing that Xu Zun was also looking at the academy without saying anything, Zhao Yu continued to express concern: "Besides, are you not aware of Huo Wangwang's irritable character and fiery temper?
"If this guy makes trouble inside, he will get you into big trouble..."
"Humph," Xu Zun smiled faintly, "I sent her in, and I didn't ask her to be a good baby! Let's go..."
"Let's go?" Zhao Yu asked hurriedly, "Where are we going?"
"Yamen," Xu Zun said, "let's first see if there is any progress on the body of the woman in monk's clothing..."
