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Chapter 325 An Unusual Fire

Things came out as Lin Mengya expected.

There was not even a single palace maid or eunuch around her courtyard, let alone the spies from the different palaces.

In the past, no matter how late it was, she could see people wandering outside her courtyard. Now it seemed that the mastermind behind this was very sure that she could not escape, even if she was left alone.

Lin Mengya and Baisu was very familiar with the path leading to the Servants Administration.

Therefore, after a short while, they arrived at the courtyard which people of the Servants Administration had specially prepared for spare palace maids like them. However, as soon as they reached the gate, they smelt something like burning wood.

“Gee! Master, look!”

Baisu suddenly jumped in front of Lin Mengya spontaneously, to protect her. In the direction where Baisu was pointing at, Lin Mengya saw thick smoke rising from a small courtyard, not far away.

However, because it was night time, the smoke failed to alert the others.

What made Lin Mengya even more surprised was the courtyard that was on fire was still very quiet. Since the smoke was getting thicker, at least the people in the courtyard should have seen it.

“Be careful! Something seems wrong!”

Despite hiding behind Baisu, Lin Mengya was still nervous. She pinched Baisu’s arm slightly and reminded her in a low voice.

They sneaked along the wall in the darkness. No one would have known that there were two living beings in the shadows, if they did not observe their surroundings carefully.

The burning smell became even stronger, but the courtyard was still very quiet.

The two of them exchanged knowing glances, and then hid behind a heavy and thick gate.

The courtyard of the Servants Administration was very big, but the buildings inside were very common. The farthest Lin Mengya could see was just an ordinary zigzag corridor.

Now these common houses were quiet in darkness.

The orange-red flames were faintly visible in the southwest corner of the backyard. However, the front yard was still eerily quiet.

It was as if there were no living creatures in the courtyard.

Lin Mengya and Baisu did not dare to break in, so they just waited outside the courtyard quietly. After waiting for about ten minutes, a squeaky voice rang out.

“Gee! Fire! Hurry up and put out the fire!”

The owner of the squeaky voice was shouting as loudly as he could. He sounded like a eunuch.

It was as if a floodgate had suddenly been opened, countless palace maids and eunuchs ran out of their rooms, as if it had been arranged beforehand.

Lin Mengya saw clearly that all those people rushed out almost at the same time.

Something strange then happened that confirmed her suspicions.

That was, these people had not only run out at the same time, but were also fully dressed.

Some of the people’s hair were even neatly combed!

As far as she knew, although the people of the Servants Administration needed to get up early to work, most of them should still be sleeping at this time.

If she had not been here tonight, she would not have seen such a weird scene.

Everyone who ran out of their rooms were looking for fire-fighting equipment, hurriedly. Taking advantage of the chaos, Lin Mengya and Baisu slipped into the backyard of the Servants Administration.

Lin Mengya had a feeling that the fire must have something to do with Pearl.

Otherwise, how could there be such a coincidence? As soon as Pearl came back, the Servants Administration was on fire, for no reason.

These people seemed to have made an appointment. However, they were more likely to be waiting for someone’s instruction.

Thinking of this, Lin Mengya’s heart sunk. “Are they going to—”

Nothing bad happened at the front yard now. However, the southwest corner of the backyard was on fire!

Obviously, the backyard was a little more spacious than the front yard, but there were fewer people. Lin Mengya glanced into the rooms hurriedly, and found that most of them were used for storage or other similar functions.

One after another, some palace maids and eunuchs arrived at the scene of the fire. with buckets and basins in their hands. However, as the wind blew, the fire became even more stronger.

There must be something wrong! Strictly speaking, the Servants Administration was not where the masters of the imperial harem lived, but at least, it should be equipped with fire hoses which were specifically used to put out fires.

This was the standard configuration of each building in the imperial palace, but until now, she had not seen any fire hose yet.

It would not help much, trying to put out the fire by using buckets and basins of water. Those people looked more like they were acting.

“Master, shall we go and fight the fire too?” Baisu asked.

Lin Mengya shook her head. What was happening tonight was so odd!

She could not help frowning. However, when she looked in the direction of the southwest corner again, something suddenly occurred to her.

“Let’s go and find Mr. Yu Qiang.”

Seeing that Lin Mengya was in a hurry, Baisu did not ask any questions.

Taking advantage of the disorder, the two ran out of the Servants Administration. However, they did not expect that a pair of sharp eyes caught sight of them by accident.

If Lin Mengya remembered correctly, the courtyard where Mr. Yu Qiang lived was in that direction.

The wind was blowing from the north, so the fire would definitely spread to Yu Qiang’s courtyard.

How could it be so coincidental that the southwest corner was on fire? Besides, those people who came to the rescue only did it very perfunctorily.

Now she figured out a few points.

Maybe those people’s target was not the southwest corner, but Yu Qiang’s courtyard.

Lin Mengya sped up and arrived at Yu Qiang’s courtyard soon.

After pushing open the shabby gate, they heard the shushing sound as wind blew over the grass, adding a touch of spookiness to the run-down yard.

But now, Lin Mengya did not feel afraid at all, and all she was thinking about was how to find Yu Qiang, as soon as possible.

“Senior—”

Before Lin Mengya could call out “Senior Yu Qiang”, her mouth was covered by a small hand.

She looked at Baisu, puzzled, but Baisu only shook her head with a serious look. Fortunately, they were surrounded by thick sagebrush, its height was as high as half a human.

They were both petite, and nobody would find them if they crouched in the sagebrush.

“What’s wrong?” Lin Mengya inquired with her eyes. Baisu blinked her moist and big eyes and looked around cautiously, before whispering in Lin Mengya’s ear,

“There are some martial arts masters around!”

“How could this be?” Lin Mengya had a hunch that it was a conspiracy. It seemed that someone wanted to burn Yu Qiang to death!

Thinking of this, she could not help being angry.

Yu Qiang had worked in the imperial palace for years. Although he was not extremely powerful, people of the Servants Administration were afraid of him, more or less.

But now, those people even colluded with the martial arts masters and wanted to kill him!

Then there was only one reasonable explanation.

That was, they had found out that Yu Qiang was helping Lin Mengya secretly. Therefore, they wanted to get rid of Senior Yu.

Biting her lip, Lin Mengya thought that she could not just stand and watch these people’s scheme succeed.

However, the situation was critical. She only had Baisu by her side and they had very little chances to win if they had to fight with too many people. Besides, from Baisu’s serious look, she could tell that things were not that simple.

After thinking it over, Lin Mengya came up with a good idea. She discussed with Baisu in a low voice, and they both nodded before making a move.

Baisu took the advantage of the grass and quietly sneaked into the backyard to investigate the situation.

These people’s target was Yu Qiang, so they only left two people in the front yard to keep watch. And just like Lin Mengya and Baisu, these two people hid in the grass as well.

Lin Mengya decided to use the same method against them. The wind was strong tonight, and the grass was dry, so she could also set a fire to force those evil men to show themselves.

Waiting patiently until Baisu returned, Lin Mengya hid behind a large stone with her. Baisu took out the igniter from her pocket and lit the dry grass. Instantly, the dark-red sparks flew up and started a fire that spread at an incredible speed.

“Ah! Fire! Fire! Help me put out the fire!”

After a few seconds, two figures in black rushed out from the grass in a hurry, like butts on fire, wait, their butts were really on fire.

The fire spread quickly and soon the overgrown front yard turned into a sea of fire.

The two men slapped each other’s bodies wildly. The fire had happened so suddenly and it would go out soon. As soon as the weeds burned out, the fire would go out.

Taking the opportunity, Lin Mengya and Baisu crawled to the backyard, where Senior Yu lived.

Now they were in the plum forests again. A fresh fragrance filled in the air in the darkness.

However, Lin Mengya and Baisu were not in the mood to enjoy the smell of flowers, because there was the sound of fighting outside Yu Qiang’s house.

As Lin Mengya expected, the fire had spread to Yu Qiang’s courtyard, and lit up the people’s faces who were fighting.

A dozen masked men in black surrounded Yu Qiang, who was in the middle.

Under their combined attacks, Yu Qiang did not seem to be at a disadvantage. What surprised Lin Mengya more was that the seemingly unremarkable eunuch was aboveboard when he made his attacks or defensive moves. His every move made him seem something like a martial arts master.

Although he was under siege and was starting to lose ground, his eyes gleamed and he still looked mighty.

“His skills are so powerful! Even if Uncle Lie were still alive, he will be no match for him.”

As the saying goes—the insider knows the ropes, while the outsider just comes along for the ride.

Lin Mengya only knew a little about martial arts. However, as a martial arts practitioner, Baisu knew how powerful Yu Qiang was, and now she was watching him fight, with admiration.

“Are you sure that he is powerful? But how are his skills different from yours?”

Baisu turned her head and explained to Lin Mengya patiently.

Lin Mengya had seen many martial arts masters before. Qinghu and Long Tianyu were all rare martial arts masters, but obviously, Yu Qiang was different from them in using martial skills.

“Senior Yu must be a military man before. The fist technique he is using doesn’t belong to any martial arts sect, but is used to train soldiers.”