Dad, open the door. I'll bring your mistress back for you.

Zhou Lin rushed back to Shandong exhausted.

As soon as he entered the gate of Jinan, he saw thick smoke rising from the direction of the governor's office, like a giant black dragon rising into the sky.

Zhou Lin's heart sank suddenly, and an ominous premonition came to his mind.

Without hesitation, he increased the frequency of whipping the horse, making the horse gallop towards the governor's office as fast as possible.

When he rushed to the governor's office, he was shocked by the scene before him.

I saw that the west courtyard of the governor's office was engulfed in flames. The fire was so fierce that it almost engulfed the entire courtyard.

Hundreds of members of the Wang family stood on the street, covered in dust and looking at the burning house with despair.

Some of the women among them held tightly to small boxes filled with jewels, their eyes filled with fear and reluctance.

Others clung to boxes containing banknotes, land deeds, and house deeds as if they were their last hope.

What's worse is that some of them have nothing in their hands and don't even have time to put on their clothes, looking extremely embarrassed.

However, what is the same is that everyone's face is filled with despair and helplessness.

Wang Haiquan anxiously directed the servants and yamen runners to put out the fire, but pouring buckets of water into the fire was like a drop in the bucket and had no effect at all.

It turned out that the west yard was full of wooden boards soaked in kerosene, making the fire even more difficult to control.

What's worse is that the water tank at home has long been empty, without a drop of water left.

Even the several small pools that were supposed to store water were filled with mud and turned into flat land.

The only remaining source of water was the lake in the heart of the garden, but it was surrounded by dense trees, and the fire had spread there, boiling the water.

Although there was a lake in the East Courtyard, the servants and yamen runners still had to walk around in circles to fetch water from the East Courtyard to the West Courtyard. The long distance meant that the water could not reach the fire point in time, which really proved the saying "distant water cannot quench near thirst".

Wang Haiquan looked at the difficult situation in front of him and felt extremely anxious. He knew that time was life. If the problem of water collection could not be solved as soon as possible, the consequences would be unimaginable.

So, he decisively proposed to demolish the wall between the east and west courtyards, which would undoubtedly save a lot of time and energy and allow the firefighting work to proceed smoothly.

However, Shen Qinghe was unwilling to agree to this proposal. The wall between the east and west courtyards was made of solid clay bricks, which could effectively prevent the spread of fire.

Once this wall collapsed, no one could predict whether the fire would spread to the east courtyard along the wind direction.

Not only that, Shen Qinghe also ordered people to cut down all the rows of trees near the west wall.

The trees grew very lush, with their branches and leaves intertwined, like huge parasols.

Normally, they add a lot of vitality and greenery to the East Courtyard, but at this moment, Shen Qinghe thinks they may become a fire hazard.

If a small spark accidentally floats over from the west courtyard, it is very likely to be attracted by these dense branches, and then ignite the trees, causing a greater disaster.

At this moment, Zhou Lin hurriedly ran into the East Courtyard. When he saw that several members of the Shen family were standing there safely, his tense heart finally relaxed.

He walked quickly to Shen Qinghe and asked with concern: "Second Uncle Shen, what's the situation now? Is anyone injured?"

Shen Qinghe patted Zhou Lin's shoulder and said solemnly, "Fortunately, everyone is fine. It's just that the fire broke out too suddenly, and some people were frightened."

After that, he turned to the Shen family and said, "The servants are going to fetch water from the pond in the east courtyard. I have already ordered the gates of each courtyard to be locked. The women should all stay in the main hall. We must not let those scoundrels intrude."

Shen Chuning also came over with a smile and comforted her father, "Dad, don't worry, we will definitely follow your instructions and won't run around or move around."

Seeing her playful smile, Shen Qinghe frowned and gave her a look, and she followed Shen Qinghe to the study obediently.

"Have you cleaned up the tail?" Shen Qinghe asked.

Shen Chuning blinked her big eyes, "Dad, what tail?"

Shen Qinghe's face was gloomy. "The tree next to the west wall of the yard had been sawed down in advance. It can be knocked down with just a slight push. It was obviously to prevent the fire from the west yard from burning over."

Shen Chuning sighed, "I really can't hide anything from my father, but everything was done by that idiot from the Wang family. It has nothing to do with An Ning."

Shen Qinghe: "Right now, the Wang family is busy putting out the fire. Once the fire is out, they might react. Dad doesn't want to wait until they find our Shen family before finding out what's going on."

Chu Ning then started talking about how the Wang family kept coming to visit them since they moved in.

Until Wang Ruolin invited her to appreciate the flowers, she was actually creating an opportunity for Wang Hongwen.

"You are too bold to be alone with Wang Hongwen in the Wang family. If he wants to do something bad to you, how can you hide from him?"

Shen Qinghe did not rebuke Shen Chuning for having the idea of setting fire to the Wang family, but only said that she should not put herself in danger.

"My daughter will never dare to do it again." Shen Chuning said in a low voice with her head down.

She didn't dare tell Shen Qinghe that there was a secret guard following her, for fear of causing trouble for Zhou Lin.

"Are you sure you didn't agree to anything from Wang Hongwen?" Shen Qinghe frowned slightly, his eyes full of worry, and asked Shen Chuning worriedly.

Shen Chuning quickly waved her hands and explained anxiously, "Even when he invited me to go flower viewing, I was picky and picky, and I mentioned a lot of problems. I never said I had to go even if I died. It was even more impossible for me to agree to anything else."

Shen Qinghe nodded gently, a trace of contemplation flashed in his eyes, and then he said gently: "You go back first, I'll go to the Wang family to take a look. I guess the Wang family has suffered a lot of losses because of that incident."

Shen Chuning responded and turned to leave Shen Qinghe's study.

As soon as she stepped out of the study, she saw Zhou Lin outside the yard.

She ran over excitedly and chattered, "Brother Zhou Er, I didn't have time to talk to you in the main hall just now because my father called you away. A lot of things happened during the days you were away..."

She chattered on and on for a long time, but Zhou Lin didn't respond. Then she looked up at him in confusion.

Zhou Lin was standing there quietly, looking straight at him, his eyes slightly red, as if he had seen a rare treasure in the world that had been lost and found again.

Shen Chuning's heart suddenly tightened, and she subconsciously raised her hand and waved it in front of his eyes, and said with concern: "Hey, are you too tired from traveling? Why don't you go back and have a good rest first.