CHAPTER 518: CHAPTER 512 EXTINGUISHING THE FIRE

Fu Zhi, although he had anticipated it, was still taken aback.

Zeng Yue told him as soon as he entered the city that it was difficult to discern Wang Mi’s loyalty or treachery, and it was unclear whether he was sincerely defecting or planning to harm the emperor. Therefore, they needed to prepare in advance to protect Your Majesty.

Fu Zhi was also afraid that this might be a scheme by Wang Mi and Liu Cong, so he agreed to their plan. He arranged for a hundred sets of guard armor, and after donning them, they stood by the emperor’s side, with the purpose of protecting him.

In addition to these hundred trusted aides under Zeng Yue, Fu Zhi also had the palace guards hide in the houses on both sides of the Ministry of Industry to guard against unexpected events.

Although Wang Mi had acted domineeringly along the way, he finally presented himself with respect to the emperor. He thought the upcoming conflict would be their internal struggle, similar to his conflict with Prince East Sea.

Who could have predicted that Zhao Hanzhang would kill without hesitation, not giving them any chance to react at all?

Fortunately, Fu Zhi and others had experienced much chaos before, so they quickly reacted, also sending palace guards forward to assist, killing the more than a hundred trusted aides Wang Mi had brought into the palace.

Blood was everywhere inside and outside the Ministry of Industry’s main hall. The courtyard was filled with corpses and blood. Ji Yuan walked towards the main hall, his shoes drenched in blood, leaving clear bloody footprints on the ground.

And the situation inside the hall was no better. Zhao Hanzhang slashed the throat of the last bodyguard, then sheathed her sword and looked at Ji Yuan who entered.

The floor was covered in blood. Ji Yuan avoided the stains and selected a relatively clean spot to kneel and report, "Governor, the external traitors have all been subdued."

Zhao Hanzhang nodded with satisfaction, "Good!"

Only then did she turn to look at the emperor, seeing him still crouched in the corner, staring at the sword in her hand in fear.

She immediately tossed the sword to a trusted aide nearby and lifted her robe to kneel before him, "Your Majesty, the traitor Wang Mi has been subdued. Please, Your Majesty, do not be alarmed."

Only then did the emperor react, quickly breaking away from the eunuch supporting him, stepping forward to help Zhao Hanzhang up personally, still shaken, "Zhao Qing, arise; Wang Mi was like a treacherous wolf or tiger. It’s all thanks to Zhao Qing’s prompt decision-making, isn’t it, Fu Qingjia?"

Fu Zhi nodded silently, "Yes."

He glanced over Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan, his mind slightly heavy, without saying more.

Zeng Yue brought in soldiers to carry the corpses out of the room. Zhao Hanzhang instructed indifferently, "Sever Wang Mi’s head and send it to Beigong Chun. He knows what to do."

"Understood."

Zeng Yue personally dragged Wang Mi’s body away. This prominent Qingzhou hero and rogue must have never imagined that after bouncing around for over a decade, he would not meet his end at the hands of Liu Yuan, Gou Xi, or others, but at Zhao Hanzhang’s hands.

The Jin Minister witnessed Zhao Hanzhang kill and restore order, falling silent. The room remained quiet, no one spoke.

Zhao Hanzhang asked the emperor to go out and inspect the fire situation.

Dawn was breaking, but the fire was still raging. Although the Zhao Family Army and Wang Mi’s army were both pouring water, the fire remained difficult to control.

The emperor and officials finally shifted their attention, becoming anxious, "This fire is unstoppable."

"Therefore, I ask Your Majesty to move to the east of the city to temporarily avoid the fire," Zhao Hanzhang advised.

Fu Zhi said, "Half of those outside are Wang Mi’s troops. If we go out, the news might leak, leading to further chaos."

Zhao Hanzhang: "Then I request Your Majesty send out the palace guards and servants to extinguish the fire."

"This..." The emperor couldn’t help but look at Fu Zhi.

In this palace, the guards, eunuchs, and palace maids together numbered more than ten thousand, and there was a river in the palace city from which to draw water.

Zhao Hanzhang said, "I urge Your Majesty to make an early decision."

Zhao Hanzhang didn’t bypass him to make the decision directly but left it for him to decide, which he did not expect.

After a moment’s pause, the emperor said, "Alright, send them out to extinguish the fire."

Thus, except for those inside and outside the Ministry of Industry, the other palace guards and palace maids were sent out to extinguish the fire, avoiding sending people from the Ministry of Industry to prevent news of Wang Mi’s death from leaking.

Now only Zhao Hanzhang’s people were running around to deliver messages and orders.

Seeing this, even though the courtiers were anxious and uneasy, they dared not speak openly, as the earlier scene had been too brutal. She had proposed an alliance with Wang Mi, only to slit his throat in mere moments.

Everyone stayed quietly in the Ministry of Industry, waiting for news.

The palace gates opened, and the guards, palace maids, and eunuchs carried buckets and basins filled with water outside. Zeng Yue mingled with the crowd, carrying a bag out of the palace, mounted a horse, and led a squad of guards to chase towards West City.

Fu Tinghan asked the Ministry of Industry official, "Do we have maps of the Capital City here?"

The Ministry of Industry official glanced at Zhao Hanzhang, seeing her raise her eyebrows, he immediately lowered his head and replied, "Yes."

"I need the maps of the Capital City, including the building layouts."

That would be classified and not something ordinary people could see.

But under Zhao Hanzhang’s gaze, the Ministry of Industry official obediently went to retrieve them.

Incidentally, besides the Jingzhao Mansion, they, the Ministry of Industry, had the maps.

Fu Tinghan spread out the map, stood on the second floor of the Ministry of Industry to look outside, then glanced at the hourglass. After a moment, he summoned a trusted aide, "Demolish the houses on Hengsi Street—take down these two buildings, on Vermilion Bird Street take down five buildings, here, and here..."

Just pouring water was not enough to stop the fire. Destroying some buildings to create firebreaks was the best approach.

He had to tear down these buildings before the fire spread further, so he also had to calculate the speed of the spread...

Zhao Hanzhang added, "Deploy our forces in five routes and proceed immediately!"

"Yes!"

The day gradually brightened, but the fire in Luoyang continued to rage vigorously. Despite the increased manpower, the blaze had not weakened much.

Wang Shou led the Wang Family Army to pour water into the fire. The flames scorched his face, and his temper flared uncontrollably. Turning around, he saw someone pouring water onto houses that hadn’t caught fire, and he ran over angrily to kick the person down: "You’re slacking off; the fire’s over here, which direction are you pouring it, are you blind?"

"General, this is how the superiors instructed us to do it. They said the houses already on fire are beyond saving and the flames are fierce, making them hard to approach, so it’s better to pour water on nearby houses to prevent the fire from spreading, thus weakening its intensity. I saw the Zhao Family Army and palace people doing the same."

"The superiors?" Wang Shou squinted his eyes and asked, "Who are your superiors? I am your superior. Whose orders are you following?"

"But didn’t our general ally with the Zhao Family Army? This order was delivered by a trusted aide of the Zhao Family Army, and our general is in the palace, so..."

Wang Shou squinted, only then remembering, "Hasn’t our general been in the palace for quite a while now? Why hasn’t he come out yet? And weren’t one thousand troops external to the city brought in? Why haven’t they arrived?"

The soldiers looked at Wang Shou silently; how would they know?

But shouldn’t they be focusing on putting out the fire for now?

While pondering, there was a rumbling sound, and several people immediately turned to look, only to see two houses in the distance collapsing. After demolishing the houses, people went forward to remove the timber and began pouring water on the adjacent houses...

The soldiers of the Wang Family Army were tempted by the sight and wanted to demolish houses and pour water as well, so they urged Wang Shou, "General, this tactic seems effective. Let’s stop pouring water directly into the fire and focus on the houses that the fire is about to reach."

"Shut up; at a time like this, are you still thinking about firefighting? You, quickly take some people into the palace to find the general, be sure to get a definite answer, understand?"

"Yes."