After taking a shower and changing into a clean set of casual clothes, Si Chen came out of Xiaoxiang Restaurant.
Although he was tired and sleepy, he was still not used to sleeping on the bed in Xiaoxiang Restaurant.
Thinking about how many guests had slept on that bed before, tsk tsk…
Having just obtained the attribute reward of "Movement Technique 2," Si Chen's footsteps were much lighter. He arrived at the ruins of Yunliang Pavilion. Cui Qi was already at the scene and was organizing Wu Hou to collect the remains of those who were burned in the fire.
"Brother Si Chen, you're here!"
Cui Qi's face was solemn as he waved at Si Chen.
Si Chen strode over and asked in a deep voice,"How are the casualties?"
If there were too many casualties, even if he managed to put out the fire, the court would still hold him accountable.
Cui Qi wiped the sweat off his forehead. The temperature of the fire was still quite high. He shook his head and said,"We haven't calculated it yet. However, he already knew that more than a dozen of them had been burned to death. There were 40 to 50 people injured, most of them were injured from being crushed or trampled after escaping.”
"It's alright." Si Chen heaved a sigh of relief in his heart.
It wasn't that he was cold-blooded, but in ancient times, such a fire only burned down a building and killed more than a dozen people. It was already an outcome that everyone could accept.
Cui Qi also nodded and sighed." If it weren't for Brother Si Chen's magical waterwheel, I'm afraid that half of Peace Lane would have been buried in this fire at Yunliang Pavilion. Even our heads wouldn't be able to protect ourselves!"”
Si Chen looked at Wu Hou who was searching for the dead in the charred ruins. He frowned slightly and said indifferently,"Brother Cui, don't you think this fire is strange?”
"You noticed it too?" Cui Qi turned his head and looked at Si Chen.
"When I first arrived here, the fire had just started. If it was an accidental fire, it would usually start from one place. However, this Yunliang Pavilion was on fire from all sides, burning towards the center.”
"Look at the charred ash on the ground. The wood and earth in the outer circle have all melted, but there are still remnants of wooden beams in the center.”Si Chen pointed at the ruins of Yunliang Pavilion and said indifferently," I'm afraid someone set fire to the surroundings with the intention of burning down Pingkang Lane!”
"Brother Si Chen, you can't just jump to conclusions so casually. If it was really someone who deliberately set the fire, it would be a major crime of treason and many people would be executed! Before we find any concrete evidence, we must not make it public, lest the Merit Examination Department of the Ministry of Personnel think that we are shirking responsibility.”
Si Chen snorted coldly and said,"If you don't want people to know, don't do it." As long as a crime was committed, there would be traces. How dare you cause trouble on my ground? I will definitely catch this rat.”
"Then be careful. Don't create a tiger.”Cui Qi patted Si Chen's shoulder and yawned. He said vaguely," I'm going back. Brother Si Chen, I'll leave this place to you."”
Si Chen nodded and let him leave first.
It was obvious that Cui Qi did not want to get involved in the fire at Pingkang Lane.
The signs of arson were obvious, and Cui Qi could not have missed it. But why didn't he say anything and be wary of Si Chen?
This was because those who dared to set fire to the capital were most likely influential families or powerful officials. Thinking back to how the Sage had only been in power for two years, the old ministers of the Retired Emperor's Wude years were still in control of the court. The struggle for power between the old and new forces was becoming increasingly intense. Perhaps it was the old ministers 'idea to burn down Pingkang Lane.
Whoever got involved in this kind of power struggle between father and son would be unlucky!
However, Si Chen had to find out!
As the captain of Pingkang Lane's Marquis Wu Squad, he had the responsibility to find the arsonist. In addition, being impartial and enforcing the law impartially would reward him with the " Strongest Marquis System." Wasn't it nice?
Investigating a case was very simple!
Si Chen directly ordered the vice-captains, Sun Dafu and Zhao Xin, to lead two teams of marquises and split them into two teams.
Sun Dafu was clever and intelligent. He went to inquire about the brothel madame, all the prostitutes, and servants of Yunliang Pavilion, and whether there had been any suspicious unfamiliar faces coming in and out of Yunliang Pavilion in the past few days.
It was naturally difficult to get anything out of a normal interrogation.
Si Chen ordered Sun Dafu to forcefully bring all the people back to the courtyard of Wuhou Shop and interrogate them overnight like prisoners. Everyone had to recall the places they had been to, the people they had seen, and the things that had happened in the past seven days. They had to explain clearly and record them with a pen.
If we can't find any useful clues, no one is allowed to rest!
Xin Zhao's plan was to collect all the burnt remains as soon as possible. Then, they counted the number of people who went missing on the night of the fire in Chang 'an and informed their families to come and identify them.
At the same time, he filtered all the guests who came to Yunliang Pavilion for fun that night and asked them to check whether their friends who came with him that night were alive or dead.
This kind of large-scale mandatory law enforcement inquiry was obviously not carried out in his previous life. But in the Great Tang, the Wuhou Wei, who maintained the security of the capital region, had the right to do so.
After three days of sleepless interrogation, a prostitute finally recalled a useful clue. When she was drinking with a guest, that person had said nonsense, saying that if Captain dared to offend the Duke of Wei, he would definitely exterminate his family. And that joyous guest had just entered Yunliang Pavilion a few days ago.
One of them brought out a bunch of them and finally locked onto the four of them. Their attire and behavior were similar, so they should have lived together. They were all unfamiliar faces who had been frequently visiting Yunliang Pavilion in the past few days.
Xin Zhao finally compared the number of bodies burned to death with the number claimed by their family members and friends. He found four more bodies.
Obviously, these four corpses were the four unfamiliar faces. They were most likely the arsonists!
However, the four corpses were severely burned, and only black skeletons were left.
His identity could not be identified!
Although Si Chen had some doubts about the Duke of Yao, Zhang Liang, he did not have conclusive evidence. Just based on one of the drunk words, he could not convict a Duke of a crime.
Moreover, Si Chen did not believe that Zhang Liang was so stupid to burn down Pingkang Lane to deal with him.
In the end, he only reported the situation of the fire, as well as the analysis and detailed investigation results of the possible arson case, to the Ministry of Justice. At the same time, Si Chen kept an eye out and sent two plainclothes marquises to secretly monitor the movements of the Duke's estate.
At this time, the Ministry of Personnel's Merit Examination Division had also come out with the preliminary results of their handling of the fire at Peace Square's Wuhou Shop.
Si Chen and the other marquises of Peace Square didn't pay enough attention to the fire prevention in the square, causing a fire in Yunliang Pavilion and putting the square in danger. Considering the meritorious service of putting out the fire, the punishment was reduced and the collective salary was fined for half a year. He ordered Pingkang Square Wuhou Shop to strengthen fire inspection for the whole square for three months.
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