Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 253 Two Charred Corpses
Zhaozhou, Hebei.

Zhu Houcong, escorted by Huang Jin and others, left the palace immediately. He didn't even return to his own palace to take the sleeping Consort Kang, Du Shi, but instead sought refuge in a high place, looking at the fire with a sullen face.

Before long, a cracking sound came from the kitchen of the western garden of the imperial palace, and flames shot into the sky, with tongues of fire leaping up the eaves from the pine pillars.

The fire spread completely.

Fortunately, the Imperial Guards on night duty had already noticed something amiss, and they struck a gong, the piercing alarm cutting through the night sky.

Compared to the soldiers of the Beijing garrison accompanying the emperor, it was the cooks and laborers who woke up first. Bare-chested, they rushed out of the side room, moved the vats by the well, and dozens of them formed a long line to pass buckets of well water to the fire.

Water splashed onto the red-hot beams, sending up plumes of white smoke.

Unfortunately, the fire was too large, and such firefighting efforts were ultimately insufficient.

Is His Majesty still in his palace?

"They've already escaped? Good! Good!"

When Lu Bing arrived, he found that the fire had already reached the side hall. He first confirmed Zhu Houcong's safety before giving orders: "Shen Liu, take a team to dismantle the nearby covered walkway to cut off the fire's path! Zhou Wu, take a team to use grappling hooks to pull down the wall over there..."

"Yes!!"

The crowd agreed.

This rescue effort was aimed at salvaging as much of the supplies belonging to the Southern Inspection Team as possible.

After all, people can be woken up and escaped, but the emperor's many tools and vehicles cannot be moved in time. If the fire is allowed to continue, the southern tour may not reach Anlu Prefecture and will have to turn back.

Fortunately, the moment the bricks and stones hit the ground, sparks flew everywhere, and the spreading fire finally began to be contained.

Then the strongmen and laborers poured water on the fire, and the imperial guards ran back and forth. By the time the officials had left the palace, the flames that had shot into the sky not far away had already dimmed.

the other side.

Haiyue was the first to leave the room. She woke up at the slightest sign of trouble. After confirming that there was a fire, she immediately ran around and brought out her colleagues, including the Yan family father and son.

"I'm glad you're all well!"

Once they reached a safe place, Haiyue looked around and saw that all the officials in the side courtyard had already left. She immediately cupped her hands and said, "I am the youngest, so it is my duty to go and check on His Majesty's safety. Please wait here for a moment, I will be right back!"

The officials, who were already worried about the situation, breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this and returned the greeting in unison: "We entrust everything to Academician Hai!"

Yan Song was getting on in years, and being woken up in the middle of the night and running all the way to the palace was quite tiring. However, he remained calm and said to his son, "You should go with Mingwei. The safety of His Majesty is of utmost importance!"

Yan Shifan understood immediately: "Mingwei! Mingwei! Wait for me!"

The two bypassed the Imperial Guards and the Imperial Soldiers who were putting out the fire, and began to search for the emperor's location by the light.

"Phew! It's so cold outside!"

Yan Shifan quickly couldn't stand it anymore. He and his son hurriedly grabbed some clothes and came out. The weather was still cold in late autumn, and to prevent his father from getting cold, Yan Shifan even draped his own outer robe over Yan Song. At this moment, they could only stamp their feet to keep warm, complaining, "How did it suddenly catch fire? And it's His Majesty's palace! This is too dangerous..."

Whether it was an accident or intentional remains to be seen!

In ancient times, due to the wooden architecture, fires were very common. Just look at how many times the Forbidden City caught fire and how many palaces were burned down. Such imperial palaces were even more difficult to defend against.

But Haiyue felt something was off about tonight's fire.

This is mainly because a fire also occurred during the Jiajing Emperor's southern tour in history.

However, the location was not the Zhaozhou Palace in Hebei, but the Weihui Palace in Henan.

There is also a very mysterious story behind this. It is said that during the day, when the emperor was traveling, a whirlwind suddenly passed by his carriage. Jiajing asked what the omen was. The Taoist priest Tao Zhongwen who was accompanying him explained that it meant there was a risk of fire. Jiajing did not believe it at the time, but that night, the palace really caught fire. Jiajing almost lost his life. It was Lu Bing who rushed into the palace and carried him out.

After escaping danger, Emperor Jiajing not only rewarded Lu Bing, but also considered Tao Zhongwen's prediction to be very accurate, and bestowed upon him a title of "High Master of Divine Empyrean, Protector of the Nation and Propagation of the Teachings." From then on, Tao Zhongwen officially succeeded Shao Yuanjie as the officially appointed Taoist Celestial Master.

Under Tao Zhongwen's guidance, Jiajing became increasingly devoted to Taoism, and Guo Xun, Duan Chaoyong, and others who had not fallen out of favor at that time also began to offer alchemy and alchemical techniques.

To be honest, when Haiyue read this story in her later years, her first thought was, "Could it be that Tao Zhongwen set this fire?"

Of course, there is also the possibility that these sorcerers would make prophetic pronouncements at any time, and if they came true, they would write about them extensively, and if they did not, they would simply let it go.

Such survivor bias makes it seem incredibly effective.

Is this fire related to it?
However, Haiyue soon realized that she did indeed have a prejudice.

Not to mention anything else, when Zhu Houcong was surrounded by layers of guards in the distance, a group of Taoist priests stood on the outer perimeter, looking eagerly inside. The one in the lead was Tao Dianzhen.

Hearing footsteps, Tao Dianzhen turned around and hurriedly greeted him, "Hai Hanlin!"

Haiyue asked, "Taoist Master Tao, was His Majesty disturbed by the fire?"

"No! No! The fire had just started when His Majesty evacuated the palace. Everything is fine..."

That statement is rather regrettable.

Tao Dianzhen didn't wish for the emperor to be burned to ashes; rather, he regretted that he hadn't been able to earn a share of the credit for protecting the emperor.

At this moment, he did not seek the favor of Shao Yuanjie. As long as he could get close to the emperor, he still had ways to gain the emperor's trust.

Unfortunately, with so many people crowding around the Emperor in the face of the disaster, he didn't even have a chance to get close, let alone summon him privately. Seeing Hai Yue also arrive, knowing her importance in the Emperor's heart, Tao Dianzhen's eyes flickered slightly, and he suggested in a low voice, "Would Hanlin Hai like to step forward and pay his respects?"

The night was as dark as ink, and the flickering firelight obscured Haiyue's expression, but that didn't stop him from shaking his head slightly, his voice calm and still: "There's no need to come any closer! Now that we've confirmed His Majesty's safety, we should turn back immediately and not disturb His Majesty's presence!"

Under Tao Dianzhen's helpless gaze, Haiyue and Yan Shifan bowed from afar and retreated.

Surrounded by a large group, Zhu Houcong looked at the figure in this direction and asked, "Who is that?"

Huang Jin immediately inquired and returned to report: "It was Hai Hanlin who came looking for His Majesty. After learning that His Majesty was unharmed, he left."

"Ok!"

Zhu Houcong nodded in satisfaction and said in a deep voice, "Once the fire is extinguished, send Lu Wenfu to investigate and see if it was an accidental fire or if there was some other reason!"

Huang Jin's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately accepted the order: "Yes."

No sleep for one night.

As dawn broke in the east, the last wisp of smoke dissipated, and the darkness was driven away by the light of day.

The Imperial Guards and the Imperial Bodyguards began clearing the ruins, counting heads, and determining the casualties.

A fire that starts at night and spreads so widely must mean that some people couldn’t escape in time, and a force of 5,000 people cannot be identified in a short period of time.

But at least the emperor had escaped early and was not alarmed, and the officials accompanying him were also mostly awakened and led away by Haiyue, and they also did not encounter any risks.

As for the palace maids, eunuchs, servants, cooks, and musicians who accompanied the group, few people would care if any of them were injured or killed.

But this fire seems to have affected more than just these lowly servants.

"Boss! In the ruins of the Commander's house... a charred corpse has been found!"

However, when Hong Qi came to his side and reported in a trembling voice, Lu Bing, who was investigating the cause of the fire, suddenly changed his expression: "Whose house are you talking about?"

"Commander-in-Chief..."

Hong Qi said in a trembling voice, "We've sent people everywhere to search, but we still haven't found the Commander..."

Before he could finish speaking, Lu Bing had already dashed out.

"Sir! Sir!!"

Lu Bing rushed over and saw a corpse curled up under the burnt-down nanmu wood table. Although the face was unrecognizable, the four characters "Loyalty, Diligence, Caution, and Perseverance" on the jade belt buckle at the waist were still recognizable.

This is a gift from the Emperor.

"The house where you live wasn't the first place the fire started, how could it be..."

Lu Bing staggered forward and demanded sharply, "Who was on watch outside last night? Who?"

There was complete silence outside; no one dared to respond.

Lu Bing still held a sliver of hope. His fingers trembled as he reached out and rummaged through the charred corpse's body, pulling out half a molten bronze plaque—

That was a birthday gift he personally prepared for Wang Zuo on his fiftieth birthday before he went to Annam last year.

This tough man slowly knelt down, his ten fingers digging deep into the scorched earth, his forehead pressed against the remaining blue brick floor, his shoulders trembling violently.

There was no desperate roar, but the blood mixed with tears left dark red stains on the brick surface, and Lu Bing's confidants who arrived at the scene covered their faces.

"Arrest all those who were on patrol last night! There must be something fishy about this fire!"

After a long while, Lu Bing slowly raised his head and squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth.

Hong Qi and his trusted confidants nodded emphatically and began to arrest people separately.

Before they could detain all the patrolmen from the previous night, cries of alarm came from the villa where the nobles lived.

"The old Marquis! The old Marquis is gone!"

The fire at Guo Xun's residence was not serious, but the Imperial Guards still found a charred corpse inside the house.

The surrounding curtains were reduced to ashes, and the corpse lay supine in the brocade quilt, its hands folded over its chest, as if in a peaceful sleep.

The corpse was dressed in a marquis's everyday clothes, and from the figure and the ornaments at the waist, it could be determined that it was Guo Xun who wore them.

"The Marquis of Wuding has met with misfortune?"

The young Duke of Dingguo, Xu Yande, arrived and, after a preliminary inspection of the scene, showed surprise. He dared not delay and said, "Report to His Majesty immediately!"

"Marquis Guo Xun of Wuding and Commander Wang Zuo both died in the fire?"

As a result, Zhu Houcong's expression changed completely upon returning to the side hall.

These two were no ordinary officials. One was once the most powerful nobleman, holding military power, while the other was the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard for ten years, holding a higher rank and more prestigious position than ordinary commanders.

Although the fire last night was quite large, both the rescue and evacuation were timely. Even though Guo Xun and Wang Zuo were old, they had servants to take care of them. How could they have been trapped in the house and turned into two charred corpses?
After a moment's hesitation, Zhu Houcong gave the order in a deep voice:
"Go! Summon Haiyue, the compiler of the Hanlin Academy!"

(End of this chapter)