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This big fire burned for an entire day.
When evening arrived, the solemn and respectful ancestral hall had turned into a scorched pile of crumbling fences and dilapidated walls. The majority of surrounding pine and cypress trees had been burned down as well. Dusk domed the skies, and remnants of surviving wisps of smoke rose up in spirals.
Huò Wēi Lóu stood near the site of the fire, the space between his eyebrows creased with a heaviness similar to the beckoning of mountain rain.
Hè Chéng stood behind him and his voice softened unconsciously, “Hou’ye, the fire started burning from the inside, and there is presumably no other reason for it, but one fears that it will take six to seven to clean up this place.”
The area of the ancestral hall was not small; apart from the central hall, there were a total of ten or more houses at the front and back. Presently, the broken walls and rubble, the still-burning beams, pillars, and rafters have collapsed into a small hill, surrounded by flames and smoke. The depths of Huò Wēi Lóu’s eyes was dark and deep, and with a sidelong glance, he saw Zhèng Wén Ān standing at the side, his expression distressed.
“Gather all the servants in the residence and deploy more hands from the government office, ensure that this place is cleaned out within three days.”
Once Huò Wēi Lóu’s utterance landed, Zhèng Wén Ān came back to his senses. He came a step closer and said: “The people in the residence are feeling trepid right now, perhaps the case should be solved first before cleaning up this place…”
Huò Wēi Lóu glanced at Zhèng Wén Ān, causing Zhèng Wén Ān’s mien to change a few times. In the end, he still complied, “Yes, zaixia will arrange it now.”
Zhèng Wén Ān waved his hand to call over a few stewards and passed down what Huò Wēi Lóu had instructed just now. Similarly, Hè Chéng ordered a constable to deploy more government hirelings to this place. The curtain of night was going to descend soon, and the chilly wind was bone-piercing. Huò Wēi Lou fixed his gaze, and abruptly realised that Bó Ruò Yōu’s thin figure was currently climbing on a pile of scorched beams and pillars.
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Frowning, Huò Wēi Lóu sauntered over to Bó Ruò Yōu.
The intense fire was already gone, but in the middle of the crumbling fences and dilapidated walls, a star of smoke and fire still remained. As she moved closer, there seemed to be residual warmth underfoot. Huò Wēi Lóu did not understand what Bó Ruò Yōu was trying to do by climbing up there, and the hems of her skirt were stained with black soot and dirt.
“What are you doing?”
Huò Wēi Lóu issued a question with his deep voice, which sounded quite displeased.
Bó Ruò Yōu turned her head back. Instead of feeling any fear, she returned a question: “Can Hou’ye smell some kind of odour?”
Huò Wēi Lóu furrowed his brows as Bó Ruò Yōu stepped off that pile of scorched wood. Her hands were also stained with black soot, to which she brushed her hands against each other as she said: “Hou’ye, it’s tung oil. Although it has been completely burnt, a faint odour still lingers in the smoke and dust—”
Since Huò Wēi Lóu had been in the army since a young age, he naturally knew what tung oil was. Most of the fire reconnaissance on the battlefield used tung oil, only because tung oil burned quickly and violently, wasn’t easily extinguished by water, would give rise to thick smoke when burning, and in thick concentrations, the smoke was poisonous.
At this moment, Bó Ruò Yōu also stated: “The lamp oil typically used as an offering to the Buddha and memorial tablets in the Buddha-worshipping Halls and ancestral halls is butter oil. While butter oil is expensive, it produces less smoke, has a fainter smell, and burns for a longer period of time. Tung oil shouldn’t have appeared in this place. Moreover, min’nü discovered that there was the smell of tung oil on Momo Yu’s person early on.”
As Bó Ruò Yōu spoke, she used the back of her hand to brush away the scattered tendrils of hair on her cheek, “The fire started suddenly, its intensity was swift and violent, and it is reckoned that Hou’ye has guessed that it’s abnormal. Min’nü can now affirm that someone had deliberately started the fire with tung oil.” She slanted her eyes to take in the full view of the destruction, “The ancestral hall is of great importance to a clan; if it was not out of a pressing need, they would never consider starting a fire and burning it down. Zheng wu’ye came here last night, the Oldest Young Lady wanted to enter the capital early this morning, and the back of the ancestral hall caught fire. Min’nü feels that there must be something peculiar about this ancestral hall, and all of this was decided by Zheng wu’ye and Momo Yu last night. They want to conceal something, which is why they acted with such callousness.”
Despite finishing her speech, Bó Ruò Yōu did not hear Huò Wēi Lóu’s response. She was worried about whether she had spoken too much, but when she turned around, she only saw Huò Wēi Lóu looking at her with an indecipherable expression, which made Bó Ruò Yōu feel like something was awry…
Huò Wēi Lóu first looked at Bó Ruò Yōu’s ash-stained face, then looked down at Bó Ruò Yōu’s hands.
Her considerations when conducting post-mortem autopsies were scarce to none; she did not hesitate at all in the face of rotting flesh, her fingers had dipped into corpse water, and had been frozen before, all of which caused some of her fingers on her left hand to redden and swell slightly, and now that it was stained with soot and ash, it was honestly an unbearable sight.
“The ancestral hall certainly has its oddities. Luckily, the sudden fire does prove this point, and men have been ordered to clean up and search this area.” Pausing momentarily, Huò Wēi Lóu’s tone became milder by a degree, “There are no corpses to examine today, you don’t need to be here.”
That sentence was a command for her to withdraw, but Bó Ruò Yōu wavered momentarily, trying to test it as she said: “Min’nü would like to stay here to inspect more.”
Huò Wēi Lóu’s gaze became heavier, and Bó Ruò Yōu hurriedly said: “Though min’nü is a woman, her mind is meticulous, she definitely won’t make a botch of things—”
A glint flashed past the bottom of Huò Wēi Lóu’s eyes. He heard it clearly, Bó Ruò Yōu still remembered how he said that he did not like women in the space where he was handling official business. Huò Wēi Lóu scanned the fire site, “With these conditions, what can be discovered? When it is time to use you, you will naturally be called upon.”
Bó Ruò Yōu followed his line of sight to look over, only seeing the scorched, wide-girthed beams and pillars littering the ground everywhere, and debris and broken walls were strewn around in a similar disarray. Undeniably, most of it involved physical labour. Bó Ruò Yōu came to an understanding. Before these thick and heavy objects were removed, it would certainly be difficult to discover anything.
Somewhat helpless, she sighed audibly, “Then… Then min’nü will take her leave.”
Her tone of voice seemed to harbour some regret. Huò Wēi Lóu had gotten used to the sight of people shirking their duties and shying for their work in the officialdom. Now that he was looking at her, he quintessentially felt that her countenance was becoming more emotionally stirring the longer he observed her. Even though there was soot smeared on her face, it did not reduce her blossoming countenance and bones of jade.
Once that thought arose, Huò Wēi Lóu’s brows knitted together lightly. He had abstained from womanly charms for many years, and no matter how devastatingly beautiful a woman was, they were just ordinary rouge and vulgar powder in his eyes, and yet he was starting to find Bó Ruò Yōu slightly pleasing to the eye today.
It must be because she was diligent and attentive during work and was skilled at her profession.
Huò Wēi Lóu’s thoughts settled. When he looked at Bó Ruò Yōu again, he could not avoid feeling some regret again. He hummed faintly in response, to which Bó Ruò Yōu pivoted on her heels to leave. At this moment, Hè Chéng approached them, and upon seeing the smear on her face, he revealed some astonishment, “Xiao Bó, you…”
Hè Chéng pointed at her cheek, unable to hold back the urge to laugh, “Why is your face smeared?”
It was only then that Bó Ruò Yōu understood why Huò Wēi Lóu regarded her with that gaze. Although she did not feel embarrassed, it was still a slight loss of etiquette in the end, so she offered a fleeting, bitter smile before departing in quick strides. Hè Chéng clicked his tongue audibly as he peered at her fading back figure. Aware that Huò Wēi Lóu was satisfied with Bó Ruò Yōu’s performance for the past two days, he remarked, “One has allowed Hou’ye to witness a joke. Xiao Bó’s conduct has always been more dependable than those youngsters, and during the few instances where she was assisting in a case, she has never found it laborious or tiring.”
Having said that, Hè Chéng lamented, “All thanks to Xiao Bó’s aid, Qingzhou didn’t have a pile-up of unresolved cases for the past two years and more, the Heavens really treat xiaguan decently. Seeing as to how Hou’ye does not doubt those he employs, xiaguan has benefitted from the advice as well. Although she can’t be appointed to a position in the government office’s documents, but one has heard that Hou’ye has quite a few talents under his combine as well, and this heart of cherishing talents, makes xiaguan feel admiration. That being said, xiaguan will start treating Xiao Bó as a specialist as well, and allow her to stay in Qingzhou City altogether, so it will be more convenient for her to aid the prefectural government office in the future…”
Hè Chéng complimented Bó Ruò Yōu and flattered Huò Wēi Lóu, personally feeling that this torrent of praise had flowed smoothly, without any trace of deliberateness. However, before he could finish his words, Huò Wēi Lóu’s complexion sank down for unknown reasons. Amidst the oppressive chill, Hè Chéng fished out his handkerchief again and started wiping his sweat.
Emperor Jianhe came into power enlightened, and he would always have people that served in another feudal court present during court. Huò Wēi Lóu was under one person and above ten thousand; having received Emperor Jianhe’s trust in no small measure, he also helped him recruit talents numerous times. Hence, Hè Chéng’s praise was not abrupt, but Huò Wēi Lóu was a little unhappy after hearing it. When he returned to his guest courtyard later at night, he was still gloomy.
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Fu gonggong simply assumed that he was frustrated because he lost the chance to search the ancestral hall since it was destroyed in the fire, so he said: “This fire started abruptly, and that Momo Yu is the most suspicious. As expected, she is the most trusted aide of Lao Furen in the past, never careless even when she was setting fire to the ancestral hall. So what if the ancestral hall is burnt? Hou’ye is wise, and great in skill and strategy, in a few more days, he will undoubtedly find the truth…”
“I remember that the country of Western Liang once offered an item as tribute last year.”
“Ah?” Fu gonggong froze, not knowing why Huò Wēi Lóu suddenly brought up this matter. He mulled over it before nodding, “The main pieces that Western Liang offered as tribute this year were unique weapons, which one is Hou’ye referring to? That godly mechanical bow and crossbow?”
Huò Wēi Lóu had served the army since a young age, and Fu gonggong’s first thought was that set of divine mechanical bow and crossbow. The diplomats from Western Liang had stated that the godly mechanical bow and crossbow was capable of firing a number of arrows simultaneously with a range of a hundred li. If it was utilised, it would definitely become an important weapon that could obtain victories for Great Zhou.
里 (pinyin: li) – the denomination of a Chinese mile, which was left untranslated to a modern equivalent because the distance for what a chinese mile represented differed from dynasty to dynasty.
On the contrary, Huò Wēi Lóu shook his head, “It’s a pair of protective gloves that was weaved out of exceedingly thin copper threads.”
Fu gonggong thought hard for a few moments, but he could not remember which item that was, and yet Huò Wēi Lóu instructed: “Use a flying pigeon to send a letter back to the Capital, asking someone to retrieve the item and send it over.”
Fu gonggong left to pass on the message, half-believing and half-doubting, and when he returned, he saw Huò Wēi Lóu looking through his documents. Clueless as to what the use of the item was, Fu gonggong sighed, choosing not to ask more since he could not fathom Huò Wēi Lóu’s thoughts.
At this moment, the embroidered emissary responsible for protecting Bó Ruò Yōu returned, and once he reached the door, he hesitated about whether he should enter.
Fu gonggong stepped out and asked: “Why are you back? Aren’t you supposed to be guarding Bó guniang?”
In a predicament, that embroidered emissary said: “Bó guniang went to the bamboo forest in the east, and she didn’t allow this subordinate to follow. This subordinate felt that it was improper, so he came back to report it.”
Before Fu gonggong could even speak, Huò Wēi Lóu’s voice travelled over from inside.
“Why did she go to the bamboo forest?”
The embroidered emissary replied: “This subordinate does not know, except Bó guniang asked for some joss sticks, candles, and Underworld money from the servants in the residence, as though… she wants to offer sacrifices to the deceased.”
Huò Wēi Lóu raised his eyes from the document, his brows creasing together lightly.
……
The author has something to say: The old iron tree is starting to germinate.