A piece of Japanese incense

"Girl! Girl!" Yutuan rushed in in panic.

I opened my sleepy eyes and turned to look at her nonchalantly: "What?"

"Miss! Miss is here!"

"Mo?" I sat up suddenly.

"Are you here? I...can we still get out?"

"A guy came back from outside and said he heard the bell. He should be here soon!"

"Go! Run! It's not too late to go home now!"

We fled in a panic out of the back door in full view of everyone. Some people even thought we were thieves and tried to stop us.

Yuzhu had sent Yu Nian home before, and I don’t know if he is still waiting for us at the main gate. Yuyi and I walked home under the guidance of Yutuan.

I had always taken a carriage before, and I had never imagined that the streets of the imperial capital would be so wide and long. It was so far that even after eating two steamed buns, a meat pancake, a third of a roasted sweet potato and many pieces of maltose, I was still a little hungry.

"Yutuan, how long will it take to get home? It's getting dark..."

"It's almost there! It's almost there!" Yu Tuan also became a little anxious and quickened his pace a lot.

"Hey! Look! What is that in the east?" A passerby pointed to the distance and saw wisps of black smoke rising in the air.

"It looks like there's a fire somewhere!"

"Look at the momentum, the fire is quite fierce!"

"All the city's defense soldiers have been dispatched. I heard that the royal garden in the eastern suburbs has caught fire and has been burning for more than an hour!"

……

Listening to the vendors and pedestrians passing by talking about each other, especially those mentioning Dongjiao Gardens, my body stiffened briefly.

"Girl! It's Dongjiao!"

My muscles tensed. “I heard it!”

Yu Yi whispered, "Should we go take a look?"

"What do you think!"

"Go home, take...a carriage?"

"Once you return home, do you still want to come out?"

While Yutuan and Yuyi were still arguing, a pair of old men drove past us on a large two-wheeled cart.

Without thinking, I stopped the slow-moving horse and said, "Old man, are you going out of town?"

"Yes, it's getting late. You three little girls should go home quickly!" The old man was about to turn his horse around and leave.

"Old man, we also want to leave the city. Please lead us for a while."

I looked at Yuyi, and she woodenly took out a string of copper coins and handed it to the old man.

The old man was still a little hesitant, so I quickly explained: "We went to the city with our family to visit relatives. We got separated from our family because we were having fun on the way. I beg you to give us a ride for a while."

The old man was still hesitating, and the grandmother sitting in the back of the car said with a smile: "Come on up."

Seeing that they had collected the money, I carried Yuyi into the car, turned around and whispered to Yutuan, "Go home first, and ask Yuzhu to meet us, quickly!"

Yutuan quickly understood what was happening, and after seeing us get on the car, he ran towards home.

As we walked further and further away from the city, the old lady kept chatting with us, and I was distracted by her. I was always thinking about Aban and Butler Wang.

They arrived home, but it was still a long distance from Suiyuan. They couldn't help but worry about when Yuzhu and the others would arrive.

The flames shot up into the sky, illuminating the night sky. Even the stars seemed to be dimmed, leaving only a dazzling red light.

I made up my mind not to wait any longer, so I took off the bracelet on my hand as a deposit, rented the old man's carriage, and prepared to drive over to take a look myself.

The old man wanted to take me there, but I thought Suiyuan’s geographical location was sensitive, so I politely declined.

I gripped the reins tightly, my heart beating faster to the rhythm of the horse's hooves hitting the ground.

I imitated the old man's posture and shouted softly, trying to communicate with them. The horse seemed to feel my nervousness and anticipation. It adjusted its pace tacitly. The wheels of the carriage began to turn slowly, accompanied by the creaking sound of the wooden bearings. I took a deep breath and felt the rough texture of the reins in my palm.

Yuyi kept shouting behind me, and I didn't dare to look back. As the rhythm of the horse's hooves hitting the ground, I felt an unprecedented sense of control and freedom.

The wind blew past my ears, taking away the initial nervousness and uneasiness, and replacing them with the anticipation and excitement of being able to reach Suiyuan on my own.

The closer we got to Sui Garden, the thicker the smell of smoke and burning became in the air. The light of the flames shone on people's faces, and it was so scorching that we couldn't open our eyes.

Before getting close to Sui Garden, you can see some people carrying water bags, some carrying wet quilts on their shoulders, bravely rushing into the sea of ​​fire.

Some of them waved long-handled shovels, scooped up sand and threw it at the flames; others held buckets, drew cold water from the stream, and poured bucket after bucket into the burning courtyard. The insignificant drops of water seemed so powerless in the face of the sea of ​​​​fire.

Yuyi shrank her neck and said in a muffled voice: "Girl, the fire is too big, we should not go over there."

"Since we are here, let's find someone to ask. Knowing their safety will give us peace of mind when we go back."

Yuyi saw a pregnant woman not far away, so she asked me to wait where I was and she went up to ask.

"Miss, that woman's husband is from the West City Defense Team. She said her husband was at home with her to accompany her while she was expecting her baby. The team notified her that no one from the garden came out during the rescue. Because it is a royal garden, everyone in the city was mobilized regardless of whether they were on holiday or not."

"No one came out?"

"I don't know what the situation is now. How could such a big fire start all of a sudden?"

A bad thought came to my mind: Could it be that Ah-Ban's identity has been discovered? Murder and arson, destruction of evidence? Who wants Ah-Ban dead?

With a bunch of questions in mind, I decided to rush to the back door tunnel first. In case they were trapped in a secret room at the moment, maybe I could save their lives.

I turned my horse around clumsily, made a circle, and came to the back door.

The heat wave hit us, and the air was distorted by the high temperature, as if even breathing was burning. The flames licked every inch of the house, dyeing them a charred black color.

"Girl, don't go in, let's go home, it's too dangerous."

"The wind is blowing to the left now, the fire won't spread to this side, you just wait for me here, the small pond in Bishui Pavilion leads all the way to the back door, I'll go in and soak in the water, nothing will happen, you watch the horse, don't let it run away. When Yuzhu and the others come, you tell them to wait here with you for me, don't wait for me to come out, you'll be gone!"

After telling Yuyi about it, I rushed into Sui Garden without hesitation.

Once the back door of Suiyuan was pushed, it shattered like paper. The flames were like greedy beasts, clinging to the wooden corridors, licking the carved beams and painted buildings, and devouring the traces of time. Under the red walls and black tiles, smoke was swirling and sparks were flying.

The blazing flames were reflected on the surface of the pond, as if even the calm water surface was set on fire, and a light of despair was revealed in the sparkling waves.