All these thoughts flashed through Song Jue’s mind in an instant. After glancing at Song Chuyi and Xiang Mingzi, he immediately came up with a plan: “First, have Wangyue stay here to guard you two. Don’t go anywhere. Brother Yan went with Second Young Master Li to take Master Qingfeng to find the plum blossom cake stall. Once they realize something’s wrong, they’ll definitely come back. Once they return, you can head back to the manor.”
Ye Jingchuan was still somewhat uneasy. He had thought of the same thing as Song Jue—with the Five City Military Commissioner’s Office and the Ministry of Works keeping close watch, plus the Imperial Guard and Shuntian Prefecture patrolling, how could there still be startled horses and a fire breaking out on the street? He was deeply afraid this fire was aimed at Song Chuyi. After thinking it over, he left both Changxing and Chang’an to serve under Song Chuyi’s command: “You don’t necessarily have to wait for Young Master Li and Brother Yan to return. If the situation looks bad, with your family’s guards along with Wangyue, Chang’an, and the others protecting you, leave the building immediately and find a safe place to hide first. As for Miss Lu, Song Big Brother and I will go look for her. We’ll send someone to notify the Lu family afterward. Given her special status, Shuntian Prefecture and the Five City Military Commissioner’s Office won’t dare be negligent. She won’t come to harm, so don’t worry too much.”
Otherwise, if this really was aimed at Song Chuyi, in such chaos, what couldn’t be done? It would be better to hide among these people fleeing for their lives, with several skilled martial artists protecting them. Nothing serious would happen, and it would reduce them as targets.
At this moment, they couldn’t think of a more appropriate solution. Standing by and watching someone die was definitely not the best option. Song Jue’s face darkened as he nodded at his two younger sisters, giving Wangyue special instructions: “If anything at all happens to these two young ladies, it’s on you.”
Wangyue had followed Song Jue for a long time and knew he meant what he said. He agreed resolutely, waited for Song Jue and Ye Jingchuan to clatter downstairs, then immediately ordered the servants who had come along to go out and gather information—if Second Young Master Li and Fourth Young Master really did come back, they needed to be informed so they wouldn’t be lost either.
Xiang Mingzi was so anxious her eyes had reddened. Only when Song Jue spoke did she belatedly remember that her fiancé had cheerfully followed Master Qingfeng and Song Yan out—among all scholars under heaven, there wasn’t one who didn’t revere Tang Mingzhao and Master Qingfeng. Now that he had seen them in person, with his brother-in-law helping to introduce them, Second Young Master Li naturally couldn’t wait to get close to Master Qingfeng.
Song Chuyi’s own heart was also pounding violently. To reassure the people and to prove that the Eastern Palace still had the Crown Prince’s grandson even after the Crown Prince’s fall, Emperor Jianzhang had specifically arranged for him to release the first sky lantern on the Cheng’an Gate tower this evening. After releasing the lantern, he would definitely come out to find her. If he happened to run into this chaos…
Or even worse, if this chaos was aimed at him…
Both of them couldn’t help but feel anxious. The servant Wangyue had sent to gather information came rushing back. He hadn’t heard any news about Song Yan and Second Young Master Li, but brought other news instead—the fire was growing larger and larger. Although water wells had been set up every fifty zhang and sentry posts every fifteen steps to prevent fires, with people pushing and shoving each other now, the Five City Military Commissioner’s Office personnel simply couldn’t keep up with fighting the fire. Add to that tonight’s strong wind, and the fire had already spread from the east side to the west side.
“The fire is huge… All the shops on the east side have burned down. The several shops next to us all sell silk and ready-made clothes, and there’s an oil shop across from us. If the fire reaches here, it’ll be terrible!” The servant who worked under Wangyue was quite articulate: “We should leave quickly! I heard people have already burned to death…”
Wangyue didn’t dare delay any longer. After explaining the situation to Song Chuyi and Xiang Mingzi, he escorted them downstairs.
But even going downstairs proved extremely difficult—though the staff at Chongyin Hall were all well-trained, they simply couldn’t handle the sheer number of patrons. There were many listening to opera as well. Those who had reserved seats at Chongyin Hall were all either wealthy or noble. They treasured their lives greatly. Upon hearing the fire would soon reach this area, they all scrambled to squeeze downstairs. If not for the waiters and managers at Chongyin Hall maintaining calm, people might have been trampled to death on the stairs. With great difficulty, they escorted the two young ladies downstairs. Wangyue stood under the eaves and couldn’t help but feel somewhat dumbfounded—he knew there would be many people fleeing, but hadn’t anticipated this many. If he followed Second Young Master Ye’s suggestion and really brought the young ladies into this human tide, whether they could be protected was truly uncertain…
But there really was no other way. If they delayed any longer, there would only be more and more people. Besides, staying at Chongyin Hall, if someone really wanted to harm the young lady, they could be found in an instant. Watching people continuously pouring out from shops on both sides, Wangyue gritted his teeth, had Qing Luo and Han Yan protect Song Chuyi, Qing Ying, Qing Tao, and Yusheng follow Xiang Mingzi, and led them charging into the crowd.
At first, they could barely manage to surround Song Chuyi and Xiang Mingzi in the middle while moving forward. But later, even Wangyue himself was squeezed dizzy, carried involuntarily by the tide of people, pushed forward for who knows how far. When he came to his senses again, though he could still see Xiang Mingzi being held tightly by Qing Tao and Qing Ying not far away, he couldn’t find even a shadow of Song Chuyi.
On the other end, Song Jue and Ye Jingchuan had expended tremendous effort to finally locate Lu Chonghua’s carriage—fortunately, after Lu Chonghua’s carriage was pushed out for a distance, it was forced by the crowd into a dead-end alley. Manyue was too timid to follow Lu Chonghua’s order to let her get out of the carriage, which was why they could find her.
Now that they had found her, Song Jue and Ye Jingchuan, both drenched in sweat from exhaustion, breathed sighs of relief. After discussing for a while, Song Jue wanted Ye Jingchuan to escort her back to the Lu residence first. This chaotic scene had grown so large that it definitely wouldn’t resolve quickly. Now that they had found her with such difficulty, it was safer to send her back first—he still had to find his sisters, and bringing along a Miss Lu wouldn’t be appropriate and would only be a burden.
But Ye Jingchuan was truly worried about Song Chuyi. People were everywhere around them, and they could already smell the thick smoke even here. At this rate and wind direction, it probably wouldn’t take long to burn to the Chongyin Hall area.
Lu Chonghua covered her mouth and coughed violently several times, choking until tears nearly came out. She made a decisive decision to go with them: “Whichever of you escorts me back, it probably won’t be easy.” She pointed at the densely packed people surging out from the alley entrance and sighed: “I know I’m a burden, but if you split up now with one person escorting me back, I’m afraid this burden will become even more troublesome. Let’s go find Little Yi together first. This counts as sharing hardship together, doesn’t it?”
Even Song Jue had no better solution. He glanced at Ye Jingchuan, then turned back and nodded at Lu Chonghua: “This is the only way then. Miss Lu, please stay close.”—After all, they were men, and with propriety between men and women, they couldn’t pull Lu Chonghua along. They could only have Lu Chonghua keep close on her own.