Cypress Boat Floating

"Oh no, Arnold is still in there!"

Ye Jianqing's face changed, and she suddenly thought of Arnold who was still imprisoned inside. The fire in the county government office was obviously aimed at Arnold in the dungeon. It seemed that Nan Chengyi was planning to kill him to silence him.

At this moment when Arnold's life or death was unknown, Ye Jianqing didn't care about his injuries and was about to rush towards the county government office, but was stopped by Lu Ci Qiu, "I know you are anxious, but don't worry, Arnold will be fine."

Hearing this, Ye Jianqing couldn't help but roll her eyes at him. She was very anxious at the moment and had no time to listen to what nonsense Lu Ci Qiu was talking about.

For some reason, she felt depressed when she thought that Arnold might die in the fire, and she couldn't help but complain about Lu Ci Qiu's attitude: "At this time, you are still talking about this. Arnold's life or death is unknown. How can you ask me to stay calm?"

Lu Ci Qiu pressed her shoulders and forced her to calm down: "If you must go, then I will take you there. Your foot is still injured. As the saying goes, it takes a hundred days to heal a broken bone. If you run around now, the wound will not heal later."

After saying that, Lu Ci Qiu squatted down and carried Ye Jianqing on his back. Fortunately, the City Lord's Mansion was not too far from the County Government Office and it was only a short walk away. Lu Ci Qiu was a martial artist, so it was no problem for him to carry Ye Jianqing on his back.

Ye Jianqing lay on his broad back, pursing her lips slightly. She began to reflect on her attitude towards Lu Ci Qiu just now, which seemed a bit bad. But even she herself could not explain why her heart felt so sad when she thought about Arnold's death.

She was sure that she had never seen Arnold before she traveled through time or before she was reborn, and she knew nothing about him. If she came to provide disaster relief this time, she might never meet Arnold.

Is it because of Arnold’s past?

Arnold's past reminded her of a child she saved before she traveled through time. That child, like Arnold, had been imprisoned since childhood and was raised by drug dealers as a bomb. When he grew up, he only knew how to take drugs and sell drugs. He did not understand the value of life, nor did he understand the existence of love in the world.

Although such people are hateful, they are also pitiful.

Arnold did kill many people, and he must have paid a corresponding price for it, but he killed without any knowledge of life, which was the education he received since childhood. If possible, Ye Jianqing wanted Arnold to return to a normal life, so that he could know the value of life and realize how serious the mistakes he made before were.

Soon, they arrived at the county government office. The fire in the government office was still not extinguished. The raging fire only burned a corner of the dungeon. It was obvious that it was aimed at the people in the dungeon. It seemed that someone could not stay there any longer and decided to kill someone.

In the county government, Liu Hanyun was busy organizing people to put out the fire, and arranged for the soldiers guarding the dungeon to help put out the fire. Among the people coming and going, Arnold was nowhere to be seen. Ye Jianqing began to panic.

After Lu Ci Qiu put her down, she then grabbed a passing soldier and asked, "Where's Arnold? Where's the guy in the dungeon?"

The soldier shook his head: "He didn't come out, he's still inside."

Hearing this, Ye Jianqing stood there in a daze.

Didn't come out... Does that mean he couldn't escape from the fire? So he would die, right?

"Don't worry, he will be fine." Lu Ci Qiu patted her shoulder and comforted her in a low voice.

Lu Ci Qiu was very puzzled by Ye Jianqing's attitude towards Arnold. In his opinion, Ye Jianqing and Arnold had only known each other for two or three days, and this person almost killed them. Why did Ye Jianqing care so much about Arnold?

The two of them watched others busying around without saying a word.

The weather in summer is already hot. Next to the blazing flames, the earth is like a steamer, so hot that it is hard to breathe. Every breath seems to contain the dust from the burning fire. The flames swept through the entire dungeon like a whirlwind. The dungeon was filled with crackling sounds, and the vicious tongues of fire burned everything, making strange hissing noises.

Soon, someone dragged a charred man out of the fire.

Liu Hanyun and the soldier who dragged the corpse out of the dungeon secretly glanced at Ye Jianqing and did not dare to speak.

Ye Jianqing stared at the corpse. There was no other voice in her ears, as if everyone present had pressed the mute button. There was only the corpse in her eyes.

She walked over slowly step by step. The white hair that was thought to be a monster had been burnt away, the terrifying white skin had been burned into black, and the handsome face had been flattened and burned. There was no part of his body that could identify his identity, but there was only one person living in the dungeon of the Nancheng County Government.

Ye Jianqing squatted down, knowing that it was impossible, but still holding a glimmer of hope, she stretched her trembling hand under his nose. She hoped that the person lying there would call her sister again, and stand up and strongly ask her to call him brother.

Her hand did not feel a breath. His heart was no longer beating, his pulse had stopped, and he was no longer breathing.

Ye Jianqing blinked hard, forcing herself to calm down. She had learned some autopsy techniques before and was about to examine the body carefully. She couldn't believe that the person who was looking at her with a smile in the morning had now turned into a corpse.

Suddenly, she stopped what she was doing as if she had discovered something.

She reached out and pulled the hand of Lu Ci Qiu beside her. Lu Ci Qiu nodded to her, and the two of them stopped talking.

Lu Ciqiu helped Ye Jianqing stand up, then waved to someone and said, "Cover him with a white cloth and take him away. Don't let anyone get close."

The soldiers only needed to follow orders and do their work without asking any questions. They would just respond when they heard the order and then call another person to help move the body away temporarily.

After the fire was put out, Lu Ci Qiu explained everything to Liu Hanyun and asked him to thoroughly investigate the cause of the fire. Then he took Ye Jianqing and slowly walked back to the City Lord's Mansion.

Ye Jianqing felt that she had many questions that she wanted to ask Lu Ciqiu, but she also knew that now was not the best time, so she kept silent. After the two returned to the room, she asked, "What is going on?"

Lu Ci Qiu poured himself a glass of water and said as he drank, "I told you it's okay."

"Did you arrange this fire?" Ye Jianqing frowned and sat down next to him.

Lu Ci Qiu just smiled and said nothing.

After a while, he said, "Two days ago, Master Liu came to see me..."

two days ago.

At this time, Lu Ci Qiu was arranging various matters concerning Qingshui in the city. All the men in South City came out to help, including Liu Hanyun and Master Liu.

During the break, Master Liu suddenly found Lu Ci Qiu, pulled him to a deserted place, and knelt down in front of him on the spot.

This frightened Lu Ci Qiu, but he also knew that this man and Liu Hanyun had done a lot of bad things for Nan Chengyi, and it was probably not a good thing for him to come to him at this moment. He wanted to see what Master Liu had to say to him, so he waited for him to speak up without changing his expression.

"Eighth Prince, please save Nancheng!" Master Liu knelt down in grief and cried to Lu Ciqiu: "I have been a master in Nancheng for more than ten years. During these years, three or four county magistrates have come. Two of them were too upright and refused to submit to Nan Chengyi. They were on good terms with Shi Wenjie. As a result, they were all killed by Nan Chengyi in the end. The third county magistrate was on good terms with Nan Chengyi and listened to Nan Chengyi in everything. He exploited the people and made their lives miserable. The people complained, so that man teamed up with Nan Chengyi to create the Three Nanshan Elves Murder Case and killed those who had the most opinions about him. Later, he was afraid that he would suffer the consequences, so he died of illness. After him, it was County Magistrate Liu.

For the sake of the people of Nancheng, County Magistrate Liu compromised and ambushed Nan Chengyi in order to collect evidence of his crimes, hoping that one day he could take him down once and for all and get rid of this scourge for Nancheng.

But we have never been able to go to Beijing to ask for help. Now that you are here, we believe that you can save us. Please save us."

As he said this, Master Liu kowtowed three times to Lu Ci Qiu.

Lu Ci Qiu just stood there and watched him speak sadly. He didn't believe what Master Liu said. He always had some doubts about these people in his heart: "You mean, now you have collected all the evidence of Nan Chengyi's crimes, and you want me to expose him and bring him to justice, right?"

Master Liu cried out, "Your Highness, please save us!!!"

"Why should I believe you?" Lu Ci Qiu was not affected by him at all and still looked at the matter calmly.

Master Liu probably didn't expect Lu Ci Qiu to react like this. He hurriedly took out an account book from a small cloth bag he carried with him and handed it to Lu Ci Qiu: "I have evidence to prove it."

"What is this?" Lu Ci Qiu asked as he flipped through it.

"This is the account book of Nan Chengyi's past bribery. I also have evidence of him killing two other county magistrates, but I have hidden all of this evidence."

Lu Ci Qiu shook the account book in his hand and looked at Master Liu coldly: "If you don't bring other evidence, how can I believe you?"

Master Liu paused and said in embarrassment: "Your Highness, this... this evidence is only one copy, if, if..."

"You are afraid that if I accept this evidence and then sell you out, what will you do?"

Hearing this, Master Liu shook his head like a rattle and quickly denied: "No, no, no, I dare not."

Lu Ci Qiu sneered and said, "You are afraid that I won't help you. I am also afraid that you are someone sent by Nan Chengyi just to get close to me and then murder me."

"How dare I, a commoner, murder His Highness?" Master Liu felt so miserable that he could not even cry. Every word the Eighth Prince said was blocking his way out.

He has been observing the Eighth Prince these past few days. If the Eighth Prince did not seem to be a person who really cares about the people, he would not want to be exposed so quickly.

After struggling for a while, Master Liu finally gritted his teeth and made up his mind to take out all the things: "I will take you to get the other evidence."

Lu Ci Qiu stopped him, "Don't be impatient, tell me your story first. You just told me so many stories about the county magistrate, but what about you? You have been a legal advisor here for more than ten years, why did you suddenly decide to expose Nan Chengyi?"

At this point, Master Liu, a grown man, suddenly burst into tears and buried his face in his hands helplessly.

"I'm useless. It's all my fault. I'm a coward."

Lu Ci Qiu frowned, puzzled.

Master Liu wiped his tears with his arm and told Lu Ci Qiu his story: "It is difficult for common people to grow up. My family had a little savings, so my parents sent me to a private school. When I grew up, I became a scholar by chance, but I failed the imperial examination, so I became a legal advisor in the county government. Everything was good at first. I married a beautiful wife and had a well-behaved and sensible daughter, but... the good times didn't last long.

After my daughter grew up, she was taken by Nan Chengyi, who took her by force and abducted her to be his concubine. I was too cowardly to resist. My wife was heartbroken and cried at home every day. Finally, she cried until she went blind and died.

So, I hate Nan Chengyi. Nan Chengyi has destroyed countless families and kidnapped countless good girls to be his concubines. No one who enters the City Lord's Mansion comes out intact.

Poor little daughter of mine, she couldn't even come out to see her mother off on her deathbed, and could only suffer Nan Chengyi's tyranny in the City Lord's Mansion every day."

The more Master Liu spoke, the more excited and sad he became, which made Lu Ci Qiu feel sorry for him.

He knew that there were many women in Nan Chengyi's backyard, but he didn't know that these women were robbed in this way. This man is really a scourge, and it seems that he really has to be gotten rid of.

"You get up first." Lu Ci Qiu helped Master Liu up, and then said, "I know that you want to deal with Nan Chengyi. As the eighth prince of Da'an, how can I watch this kind of person harm the people? Don't worry, I will definitely seek justice for you and the people of Nancheng."

Hearing this, Master Liu was overjoyed and immediately knelt down and kowtowed to Lu Ciqiu: "Thank you, Your Highness."

Lu Ci Qiu changed the subject and said, "But there is a key point now, that is, insufficient evidence. The evidence you have is completely inadequate to bring him to justice. We need more evidence and witnesses."

Master Liu thought about it carefully, and suddenly his eyes lit up. He said to Lu Ci Qiu excitedly: "Your Highness, Arnold, Arnold is also a witness. He helped Nan Chengyi kill so many people. And Nan Chengyi also planned to kill people to silence them."

Lu Ci Qiu raised his eyebrows. Just right, Master Liu had mentioned the person he was thinking of. Although he was very satisfied, he remained calm on the surface and said, "How does Nan Chengyi plan to kill people and silence them?"

Master Liu shook his head: "Nan Chengyi only asked Magistrate Liu to kill Arnold, but did not say how to deal with him."

Suddenly, Lu Ci Qiu came up with a plan and said to him, "Now I'll give you a chance to prove your sincerity to me."

Master Liu looked at Lu Ci Qiu and nodded nervously.

Lu Ci Qiu leaned close to his ear and said, "Nan Chengyi wants you to kill Arnold, so you have to show him and let him know that Arnold is dead."

......

"So all this was your idea?" Ye Jianqing put his hands on his chest and looked at Lu Ci Qiu with an unfriendly look.

Lu Ci Qiu nodded proudly, "Yes, doesn't he want Arnold to die? Then let Arnold die."

"Who was that body just now?"

"I don't know about that. They found him." Lu Ci Qiu spread his hands to prove his innocence: "But I did instruct them to find someone who was extremely evil and was supposed to die."

Ye Jianqing scratched his forehead, "So why did you hide it from me?"

Lu Ci Qiu grinned awkwardly, smiled stiffly at Ye Jianqing, and tried to argue: "I didn't hide it from you, I just forgot to tell you."

"You forgot to tell me..." Ye Jianqing put on a fake smile, but her hand gradually moved towards where the skylark was placed, "You are really forgetful. Do you want me to help you consolidate your memory?" As she spoke, the skylark had already appeared in her hand.

Seeing that Ye Jianqing had already taken out the skylark, Lu Ci Qiu swallowed his saliva. Who could still sit still at this time? He had to run quickly.

He was facing Ye Jianqing, and he slowly backed away, step by step, trying to retreat to the door. "Well, do you want to hear my explanation?"

Ye Jianqing hummed, but had no intention of listening to his explanation. Yun Que was getting closer and closer to him. In a blink of an eye, Lu Ci Qiu had retreated to the door. He put his hands behind his back and quietly opened the door a crack. Before Ye Jianqing could react, he turned around and ran.

Ye Jianqing snorted and did not chase after him. He calmly closed the door, put Yunque away, and lay quietly on the bed.

Lu Ci Qiu had no idea how nervous she was during her time in the county government office, and how afraid she was that the person lying down was really Arnold.