Chapter 110: The Delicate Time of Fire (Part )
After listening to Lu Lu's explanation, Su Liuyue asked, "Is the place where the master and servant's bodies were found close to the door?"

Lu Lu nodded and said, "They are only one or two steps away from the door, but they must be on fire by then. Even if they escape from the fire, they may not be saved..."

Su Liuyue frowned slightly, "If the fire started at the desk, Fang Wen was right there. When he woke up, he was probably on fire. It's understandable that he didn't have time to escape, but why didn't his servant have time to escape either?"

Lu Lu just opened his mouth when Feng Dali behind him said, "It is very likely that the servant was also beside the desk. The master hadn't gone to bed yet, so he must have been waiting by the side. When he noticed the fire, he was also on fire, but not as seriously as Fang Wen.

Even if he had a chance to escape, it is unlikely that he would abandon his master and leave. He would probably panic and hesitate for a while, and then be unable to escape at all."

Route nodded and said, "We also guessed the same. The main reason is that no one knows what happened in the house when the fire started. We only know that Fang Wen and his servant are dead. We can only guess what happened at that time."

Su Liuyue thought for a moment and said, "How many windows were there in Fang Wen's room at that time?"

Lu Lu was slightly stunned and said, "There is only one window."

"When did the others discover his house was on fire?"

"It was late at night when Fang Wen's house caught fire. Everyone was asleep at night. Unlike in the city, there were no night watchmen in the village to keep an eye on fire. Later, the thick smoke from Fang Wen's house drifted into his neighbors' rooms and woke them up. Only then did they discover the incident. At that time, the entire house where Fang Wen lived had already been burned down..."

Su Liuyue nodded, without asking any more questions, and said, "Tell me about the second fire."

Lu Lu felt that he couldn't keep up with Su Xiaolangjun's thoughts. Although he was a little depressed, he was used to it. He pursed his lips and said, "The second scholar who was burned to death was from the capital. His name was Kong Deming, but his family was just an ordinary farmer. He originally lived in a village outside the city. After his family members worked together to report him as a juren, he moved to the city and found a job as a teacher in the city, teaching while preparing for the exam.

The location of the house he lived in was not particularly good. It was in the southwest of the outer city and was a house he rented.

It was late at night when his house caught fire. He and his wife had already gone to bed. The fire was caused by the fire in the stove in their kitchen not being completely extinguished. It caught fire quietly while they were sleeping.

The yard they rented was very small, and the kitchen was right next to their dormitory. After the fire started in the kitchen, it first spread to their dormitory, and the couple were burned to death in their sleep...

When I went to check, his wife's body had fallen beside the bed. Maybe when she was halfway through burning, she realized something was wrong and wanted to run out for help, but it was too late...

Fortunately, during this period, in order to allow Kong Deming to concentrate on preparing for the exam, the couple sent their son to live with his grandfather in the countryside, which saved his life. "

This does sound like an accident.

Su Liuyue pondered for a while and said, "I heard someone say that there were three fires in Xinjing this month. The last two were the ones you just mentioned. Could the first fire be related to the last two?"

Lu Lu was slightly stunned, then shook his head and said, "I don't think it matters. Although people died in the first fire, and the identity of the dead person was quite special, there was no scholar among the dead..."

Before Lu Lu finished speaking, the carriage stopped. Su Liuyue subconsciously turned her head and saw that a yard not far away was full of people. Although the fire had been put out, there were still clusters of black smoke surrounding the house. Through the wall, she could see that the burned house was charred and mottled.

A woman's grief-stricken cry could be heard from inside, "Hui'er! My Hui'er!"

Lu Lu sighed and whispered, "The scholar who died this time was named Wei Minghui, the fifth in the Wei family's generation."

Su Liuyue nodded, got off the carriage, and saw Zhou Yunke had also gotten off the previous carriage.

Feng Yang had already led his men up there, driving the crowd to both sides and clearing a path. Zhou Yunke looked up at the yard, frowned slightly, but said nothing and walked straight in.

Su Liuyue quickly followed.

There were not many people in the yard at this time. Most of them had been "invited" out by Feng Yang in advance, leaving only a middle-aged man and woman who were well-dressed but had grief-stricken faces. I guess they were Wei Minghui's parents.

There were two bodies lying on the ground. Both bodies were unrecognizable, with their hands and feet curled up. One of the bodies had most of its body burned to charcoal.

When Wei Minghui lived outside, he was accompanied by a servant. Fortunately, the servant was much shorter and thinner than Wei Minghui, so they could not tell the difference between the two bodies.

The body that was more severely burned was Wei Minghui's.

Su Liuyue couldn't help but frown.

Most of his body was charred, which meant that the fire started very close to Wei Minghui.

Soon, Feng Dali brought three men over. They were all covered in sweat, and their clothes on the backs were stuck to their bodies due to sweat. Any exposed skin was covered with black mud.

One of the men was very young, with a bookish air, and actually looked like a scholar.

After Feng Dali brought them over, he bowed and said, "They were the first to discover the fire and start putting it out. The first person to discover the fire was another scholar named Luo Langjun who lived nearby. The other two Langjuns lived next to the courtyard where the deceased lived. When Luo Langjun discovered the fire, he immediately called them over to help put out the fire."

The young scholar standing in the middle stepped forward quickly, still with a look of shock on his face, and said in a trembling voice: "I... I didn't expect that there would be a house fire here in the middle of the day... My dear officials, you should know that recently almost all the people living in Zhuangyuan Lane are scholars who are going to take the imperial examinations. Because the examinations are approaching, everyone is staying at home and rarely goes out, and I... I am the same.

Other people knew the situation here and rarely came here, for fear of disturbing the scholars' studies.

I…I woke up from a nap and remembered that I hadn’t been outside for a few days, so I decided to take a walk around here to relax. Then I found out that there was a fire here, and…and it was burning quite badly…”

Su Liuyue's eyes darkened slightly.

Of the three cases of fire, only this one occurred in broad daylight.

However, the time is also very delicate. Not to mention that according to what Mr. Luo said, there won't be any strangers coming to Zhuangyuan Lane recently. Even at noon, everyone is either eating or sleeping at home. Few people would suddenly have the urge to go outside and take a look.

It was not until Wei Minghui's yard was already burning very badly that anyone noticed the fire.

Zhou Yunke looked at Luo Langjun and asked, "Do you know who lives in this yard?"

Mr. Luo nodded and said, "I know...I know. Wei Wulang's reputation is already very famous. Besides, we all live in Zhuangyuan Lane. When we first moved in, we would more or less inquire about who the neighbors are, or visit them.

I didn't expect that the one who got into trouble would be Wei Wulang...

"Sir, it's not possible... it's not possible that someone is setting fire to kill us scholars as people say? Or is it that they are targeting those who are famous and have good grades? But... but is it possible that someone wants to reduce the number of scholars who have the possibility of passing the exam before the exam?"