Zhumen Hangui

A servant hurried over and saluted everyone.

"There are still many officials who have not arrived!" Li Loushang, the left servant of the household department, glanced around. There are many people who have not arrived yet!
"Don't wait, the tribute courtyard is on fire, the emperor is furious, and he will go to court immediately."

Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, feeling uneasy for a moment.

"It's ridiculous, it's absolutely ridiculous. Which slave was on duty last night? Such a major event was not reported immediately."

The emperor snapped at the case and pointed at Xu Luo furiously.

Xu Luo prostrated herself on the ground, shaking like chaff in fright.

"Please forgive me, Your Majesty, it was Xiao Anzi who was on duty last night."

He silently mourned for Xiao Anzi in his heart, it's over!This time, I couldn't even protect him.

Originally, Xiao Anzi was quite clever, but he didn't expect to make such a big mistake.

"Why didn't he report it?" The emperor was puzzled, this little Anzi was so ignorant?

"It is said that you are too tired, the emperor, and the imperial doctor ordered you to rest more, so he made his own decisions and did not report."

In fact, Xu Luo knew in his heart that it was because the emperor rested at Concubine Song's side last night, Xiao Anzi benefited from Concubine Song, so he didn't want people to disturb the Emperor and Concubine Song.

Concubine Song has been favored very much recently, how dare Xiao Anzi not listen to her orders?
But this little Anzi is also stupid, won't he ask clearly what's going on?Compared with the fire in the Gongyuan, what is Song Concubine?
"It's ridiculous! What about that lowly slave? Giving him a glass of poisoned wine is all for taking advantage of him, and I will tear his body to pieces."

The emperor hates people who make their own decisions without authorization. Ten thousand deaths of such slaves are not enough.

Xu Luo was terrified, "He has been imprisoned, Xiao Anzi has neglected his duties, and is waiting for the emperor to punish him personally."

The emperor threw the brush washer on the ground, and the cinnabar splashed all over Xu Luo.

"What are you waiting for me to deal with? Immediately cut him into five horses, and do it quickly, so as to eliminate the hatred in my heart."

The emperor would never have imagined that such a big event happened last night, even a servant dared to hide it.

"Did anyone come to the palace to hand out the sign last night?" The emperor was so angry that his chest heaved violently, all of them were wine bags and rice bags.

Such a big matter, he, the Ninth Five-Year Supreme, was kept in the dark and couldn't bear it.

"There are Mr. Song, the left servant of the Ministry of Rites, and Mr. Su, the minister of Guanglu Temple. The fire broke out at the third watch, and Mr. Song handed over the sign to the palace. However, the sign was not delivered to the palace, so Mr. Song had to go back."

"Master Su came half an hour ago, and he also handed over the sign."

"Su Jinxun?" The emperor was a little surprised.

"Yes! This year, the Su Clan has two juniors in Chunwei, who are in the Gong Yuan."

The emperor nodded, thinking of this incident, he was still angry, "Go to court!"

Su Jinxun was taken to the Hall of Supreme Harmony by two officials from the Ministry of Rites, and he could no longer walk.

Just now when Su Huai came to report, the gate of the tribute courtyard was finally opened, but the fire had not been completely extinguished, and the rescuers could not get in.

He could already foresee the tragic situation in the Gongyuan. How many people survived such a big fire?

"The emperor is here!" A promise was sung, and the hall fell silent.

"The ministers welcome the emperor, long live my emperor, long live, long live, long live!"

Everyone bowed to salute, the emperor did not ask all the ministers to flatten as usual, but said sharply: "Where is the Minister of Rites, Wang Deng?"

Wang Deng went out immediately. After he learned that the Gongyuan was on fire last night, he stayed up until dawn.

"Chen is here!"

The emperor glared, "Did you know that there was a fire in the Gongyuan last night?"

"I knew about it, so I immediately asked Song Shilang to come outside the palace gate to hand over the sign. But the sign has not been handed into the palace, and the minister and the outside of the Gongyuan are very anxious."

The emperor was furious when he heard the words, and asked, "Since you already knew about the fire, why didn't you open the dragon gate?"

"Chen and Gongyuan observed the fire outside, and found that the fire was controllable at the beginning. It's a pity that the wind suddenly intensified, and the fire spread rapidly, and finally became uncontrollable."

"Bastard! Since the fire is spreading rapidly, why don't you open the dragon gate?" The emperor pointed at Wang Deng and shouted angrily.

Wang Deng hurriedly knelt down, "Your Majesty! Last night, I saw the wind direction from west to east. If you open the dragon gate and let the wind pass through the hall, it will only encourage the fire to spread. The east side is full of houses, and there are many people and officials' mansions, which are on fire. The scope expands, and it can even burn down the imperial palace, and it will be out of control by then!"

"Then you just watched those candidates die in the sea of ​​fire? They are still young, they are the pillars of the country!"

Su Jinxun couldn't bear it. How could they afford to lose the two children of the Su family in the tribute courtyard?

Su Jinxun suddenly made a sound, and everyone couldn't help looking at him.They can understand Su Jinxun's mood, but this is the only way to go.

"Su Siqing, the overall situation should be the most important thing in everything. How can we only care about personal interests at this time? This is already minimizing the damage. In the face of the overall situation, one cannot care about personal gains and losses."

Wang Deng frowned, and he was helpless, but he could only make this choice.

"What's more, after the imperial court ordered the examination to enter the Degongyuan, the dragon gate is not allowed to be opened until the end, otherwise it will be punished as favoritism and fraud. I handed the sign into the palace overnight and wanted to ask the emperor for instructions, so I didn't dare to make decisions without authorization."

"Is this a personal gain or loss? There are 530 candidates in this exam, and there are so many examiners and handymen. These are real human lives!"

Su Jinxun was heartbroken. So many lives and so many officials watched them die in the sea of ​​fire.

He pointed to Wang Deng and said, "How is your conscience?"

"Presumptuous! Su Siqing, I can understand your feelings, but this is not a reason for you to speak wild words and be disrespectful to me."

Wang Deng was also angry. Under such circumstances, he could only make such a choice.

This fire will indeed damage a lot of talents, but if the fire cannot be controlled and the people are involved, how will he explain to the emperor and the people?

When the emperor thought of Xiao Anzi who concealed and refused to report last night, his heart became even more angry.

But he calmed down and knew that what Wang Deng said was right. In the face of the big situation, he could only minimize the damage.

"Yao An, the house servant, was on duty last night. If this person concealed the truth and did not report it, I will cut him apart."

The emperor slapped the dragon's head on the dragon chair. He was also heartbroken after losing so many talents.

At this moment, Su Jinxun was only anxious. He wanted to know whether his two children were still alive.

"Your Majesty, the most urgent task right now is to send someone to submit the list of candidates for this examination, to report the situation in the Tribute Court and whether there are any survivors." Su Jinxun said immediately.

"I have sent Dali Temple Minister to deal with it, and now I am waiting for his news."

The emperor knew that Su Jinxun was anxious, so he didn't blame Su Jinxun for his rudeness, and explained patiently.

"Wang Deng, quickly sort out the list of candidates in the tribute academy and the location of the dormitories, and submit them to me for review."

Now is not the time to pursue accountability, and the relevant matters must be dealt with quickly.

Wang Deng immediately said: "Report to the emperor, the list and the corresponding houses have all been sorted out, and I ordered someone to draw an overview map of the houses."

"Submit it quickly!" The emperor hurriedly said.