Northern Prefecture Rivers and Mountains

Chapter 123 Fire
The heavy rain poured down on his head, but Liu Daogui became much more sober.

When they returned to their official residence, Gao Xun and Zhao Lunzhi had been waiting for a long time, and their faces did not look very good.

Zhao Lunzhi spoke first: "There are all kinds of rumors out there now. They say the bandits are in our Zhenglu General's Mansion."

Gao Xun continued, "I've also been to the prison. It's full of people from Jingkou. The security is tight. Outsiders who go in will be questioned. It's unclear who they've captured."

It’s no wonder they are so nervous. If they find out about me, it will be a disaster that will lead to the extermination of my entire clan.

Even the Gao family will be implicated, and no one can escape.

"Guo Hu Wang ordered that the man be taken to Jingkou for interrogation tomorrow. This reveals at least three flaws. First, they didn't get anything out of Guangling, otherwise they wouldn't have taken him to Jingkou. Second, why would he go to the extra mile of taking him to Jingkou? Third, he could have kept the move a secret, so why did he make it known to everyone in the city?"

On the way back, Liu Daogui had already thought it over carefully.

This is the last time you should scare yourself.

Gao Xun's eyes lit up. "Not bad, not bad. If they had found out anything, they would have taken action long ago. They deliberately leaked the information to lure us into the trap!"

"No, it's not us, it's other big fish!"

Liu Daogui was just a small fry, and even if he was caught, Wang Gong would not be very interested. He sent his own brother over, definitely to make a big deal out of a small matter.

"I see! Dao Ze is so meticulous, otherwise we would have lost our composure."

"You're worried too much." Liu Daogui poured himself a cup of hot tea. In fact, he didn't think of this at first, but after meeting Yuan He, he was inexplicably inspired.

Yuan He seemed even more anxious than himself, indicating that Sima Daozi's men were losing their patience.

Most importantly, Liu Daogui believed in the warriors he had chosen. They were all strong men who had fought their way out of desperate situations and possessed strong survival instincts. Those people from Tianshidao could not deal with them, let alone capture them alive...

The heavy rain gradually subsided.

It was wet everywhere, and the rain hadn't stopped yet, but the sun came out first.

Liu Daogui was exhausted from the long journey and was extremely sleepy. He told Gao Xun and Zhao Lunzhi to stay calm and then fell asleep.

Most of the things in the world are groundless worries.

If you don't look for trouble, there will be no trouble.

In the middle of the night, someone suddenly shouted in the government office, "Oh no! There's a fire!"

Liu Daogui was awakened by the shock. When he opened his eyes, he saw a sea of ​​red outside. He thought that the Zhenglu Army Headquarters had been burned down by someone. He jumped up with a start, only to see that the fire was coming from the southwest.

But strangely, there wasn't much shouting that day.

"Isn't that a prison?" Zhao Lunzhi asked sleepily.

Liu Daogui was stunned. If the prison caught fire at this time, wouldn’t that destroy the bodies?

"Let's go and take a look." Liu Daogui shouted, and more than 20 men followed behind him.

The struggle between the two factions in the imperial court had gone from being on the verge of a fight to the point of showing their true colors, with even the prisons being burned down.

When he arrived at the prison, flames shot up into the sky and half the sky was burned red. Amid the burnt stench, Liu Daogui faintly smelled the familiar smell of kerosene.

People who often commit murder and arson will not be unfamiliar with this smell.

"Is the thief still inside?" someone shouted loudly in front of the fire.

Someone immediately replied, "Twenty-three of us, not one less, blocking the front and back doors. None of the thieves will be able to escape!"

"Humph, I want to see how long these people can last!"

The man turned around and met Liu Daogui's eyes. He was stunned for a moment and said, "Hello, Dai Congshi."

Dai Qizhi's eyes actually showed a hint of disappointment. "General Liu has indeed fulfilled his duties conscientiously."

The fire grew stronger and stronger, and the smell of burning flesh filled the entire city. Screams continued to be heard from the prison, but no one came out. Dai Qizhi's forehead was covered with cold sweat.

Liu Daogui was deeply shocked. Those twenty-three men were clearly determined to kill themselves, not caring about their own lives. On the other hand, no one on Dai Qizhi's side dared to rush in. They all just stared at the fire in a daze.

Wang Du set a trap to lure the snake out of its hole, but ended up losing more than he gained.

"Put out the fire quickly, why are you still standing there!" Liu Daogui yelled, not to save these people, but because the fire was so big and a west wind was blowing, which showed a tendency to spread into the city.

There were 40,000 to 50,000 civilians in the city and 70,000 to 80,000 refugees outside the city. The fire caused countless casualties.

"Yes, go put out the fire!" Dai Qizhi also realized that if all the people inside were burned to death, the evidence would be gone.

The crowd drove out the nearby residents from house to house. In Guangling City, there was Ouyang Dai connecting the Han Canal and the Yangtze River. It was a key transportation point, and there was a river in the city, so water was readily available.

The people took out their own wooden basins and buckets to fetch water to put out the fire.

But the fire was so big and there was kerosene inside that it could not be put out in a short time.

Several people whose bodies were engulfed in flames wanted to escape, but they collapsed before they could even get out of the fire door. Their bodies twisted and struggled in the flames, and they let out shrill, ghostly screams.

The people around stared blankly, as if frightened...

An hour later, the sky was getting light, everything that needed to be burned was burned out, and the fire was finally extinguished.

Wang Du, Huan Hong, Yuan He, and Huan Daozhen arrived late, followed by more than a hundred armored soldiers.

Several people looked at each other, their eyes drifting back and forth, but they all tacitly remained silent.

The soldiers rushed into the ruins and carried out charred bodies one after another. Not a single one was alive. They were piled on the street, with various twisted shapes stacked on top of each other, maintaining the last moment of struggle and pain before death, and still emitting a slight heat smoke.

Wang Du, Huan Hong, and Yuan He all stood far away.

Liu Daogui showed no fear as he stepped forward to examine the bodies. He discovered that most of the bodies had wounds on their throats or hearts, indicating they had likely been killed before the fire.

Wang Du pinched his nose and looked extremely ugly.

The fact that someone was able to succeed despite being heavily guarded proves that this person is quite powerful.

If their target wasn't the prison, but him as the Supervisor, I'm afraid his head would have been taken by now...

Liu Daogui was also secretly shocked. This was actually a silent deterrent and a demonstration against Wang Gong.

Wang Gong has been in the Northern Palace for less than two years and has basically no foundation. If he really pushes these people into a corner, it is hard to say who will be in trouble.

His eyes couldn't help but fall on Yuan He, but he also had a look of horror and surprise on his face.

This look doesn't seem like a disguise.

Liu Daogui couldn't help but wonder, if he wasn't the one who set the fire, then who could it be?
But it doesn't matter who it is. There are many forces pushing the situation in an unpredictable direction.

Liu Daogui looked up at the dark sky, it seemed like another heavy rain was coming.

"Go back home!" Wang Du didn't want to stay any longer and turned around and left.

"Goodbye, Governor Wang." Huan Hong followed behind him, with a hint of gloating in his voice.

With the fire, the farce came to an end.

Wang Du and his men left Guangling in disgrace. Officials of all ranks from the Zhenglu Army went to see him off. A group of armored soldiers surrounded Wang Du's ox cart, forming an iron barrel.

"Protector Wang... why don't you stay a few more days?" Huan Hong followed behind.

But Wang Du didn't even look at him, he went straight out of Guangling City, boarded the ship and crossed the river.

Everyone at the port watched it go away.

(End of this chapter)