CHAPTER 480: CHAPTER 480: FEIGNED DEATH ESCAPE

"Quick, bring water to put out the fire, we can’t let the people inside die!" Squad Leader Zhu was so scared that he sweated profusely and shouted at the Government Officials he led.

Among the three squad leaders of the county government, he was the one with the least strength and background. This time, he had finally got the duty of guarding the family of serious criminals. As long as someone from the Capital arrived, he could hand them over and earn merits. But now, with the sudden fire at Zou family’s place, his opportunity for merits was gone, and he might even face punishment.

"Yes, yes, yes!" The Government Officials were also panicked, quickly fetching water from the well in the Zou family, but with only about thirty of them, it was impossible to extinguish the massive fire engulfing three courtyards.

Squad Leader Zhu shouted, "Go, gather Zou family’s servants to help with the firefight."

However, the Government Official, wiping his sweat, hurriedly said, "Squad Leader, other than the three courtyards where Zou Yuzhen and other main members of the Zou family live, the large kitchen, front courtyard study, and servants’ quarters are all on fire. The fire is severe, and the Zou family’s servants are fighting the fire at those places."

Squad Leader Zhu felt like he wanted to die; what was happening now?

He quickly pointed to another Government Official, "Quick, go back to the county government to get people to help with the fire, we can’t let Zou Yuzhen and others die in the fire."

"Yes." The Government Official got the command and immediately ran out of the Zou Mansion.

But once outside, he saw that several alleys’ residential houses and shops on the street in the county were also on fire, and Squad Leader Yang was leading people in firefighting.

The Government Official slipped and fell in shock, quickly got up, and ran towards the government office. Before reaching the government, he bumped into County Captain Jiang and County Magistrate Xu, who were hurrying over with county soldiers.

County Captain Jiang and his group had already seen the fire at the Zou family’s place and had immediately rushed over. Seeing the Government Official, County Captain Jiang grabbed him and asked, "How is the Zou family? Which courtyard caught fire?"

The Government Official, trembling, said, "The courtyards where several masters of the Zou family and servants lived have caught fire."

"The courtyard where Mrs. Zou and Zou Yuzhen live is on fire!" County Magistrate Xu turned pale with fright, "It’s like what I feared most has happened, just when things were about to be concluded, how could such a disaster arise? The Zou family really doesn’t give me peace of mind."

County Magistrate Xu even cursed out loud.

The shrewd County Captain Jiang, upon hearing that the courtyard where several Zou family members lived was on fire, immediately thought of something and hurriedly said, "Sir, this fire is suspicious, and it is very likely that the Zou family deliberately set the fire to escape death. Please order immediately to close the city gates, and do not open them for anyone, no matter what type of exit permits they have. For the next few days, no one should be allowed to enter or leave the county until we have thoroughly searched the area. Otherwise, if it really is an escape attempt, we can’t bear the responsibility."

County Magistrate Xu shuddered at his words, "County Captain Jiang is right, Old Tian, take my handwritten letter and go guard the city gates, don’t let anyone out. If anyone causes trouble wanting to leave, seize them and bring them to the county government immediately."

"Yes," Master Tian immediately took five Protectors straight to the city gates, commanding the county soldiers there not to open the gates.

County Magistrate Xu and County Captain Jiang then hurriedly rushed into the Zou Mansion. County Magistrate Xu asked, "Has anyone gone to put out the fire at the shops on the street and the residential houses in the alleys? We can’t afford to let people die; otherwise, this situation could escalate."

County Captain Jiang said, "Squad Leader Yang, Squad Leader Jiang, and Luo Wu have already taken other Government Officials to fight the fire, and it’s the county’s rule that once a residential house catches fire, all families in the entire alley or street must come out to help. There are enough people, sir, you can rest assured."

While talking, they had already reached the Zou family, and before even arriving at the courtyard where Mrs. Zou and her daughter-in-law and grandchildren lived, they heard a series of piercing screams: "Ah—Ah—Ah!"

The screams sent chills down people’s spines.

The legs of County Magistrate Xu went soft, supported by County Captain Jiang, they hurried to the courtyard where Mrs. Zou lived. Seeing the towering flames, his body was shaky, and after steadying his mind, he pointed at Squad Leader Zhu and scolded fiercely: "How did you guard the Zou family? The fire has grown this severe, were you asleep? Zhu, this is dereliction of duty!"

Squad Leader Zhu hurriedly knelt down crying innocence: "My lord, I have been guarding the Zou family and have not dozed off or engaged in drinking and gambling at night. We noticed the fire as soon as it started, but by the time we rushed in, the fire in the courtyard was already too intense to rescue anyone."

County Captain Jiang, smelling the odor around, frowned and said to County Magistrate Xu: "My lord, this fire was set deliberately, there’s the smell of pine oil."

It was the added pine oil that made the fire burn so quickly, making it impossible for Squad Leader Zhu and his men to rescue anyone.

After hearing this, County Magistrate Xu, also smelling the odor of pine oil around, somewhat reduced his anger at Zhu, saw him still kneeling on the ground, and shouted: "Get up and fight the fire, why are you kneeling!"

Squad Leader Zhu immediately went to fetch water to fight the fire.

Splash, splash, splash!

Buckets of well water were poured into the burning house, but the room had been drenched in pine oil, and it took the Government Officials and county soldiers a long time to extinguish the fire.

By the time the fire was completely extinguished, Mrs. Zou and her brother Zou Chengji had already been charred to blackness.

Zou Yunkun’s wife was still breathing, but her skin was so burned that it was unbearable to look at, and she soon stopped breathing, dying with her eyes open, showing an unwillingness to die.

Zou Yuwan was luckier; there was a large bathing tub in the washroom of her room, filled with water that hadn’t been emptied, and she hid inside the tub during the fire. However, even so, she was suffocated by smoke to scarcely breathe; it was estimated that she would not make it.

County Magistrate Xu, seeing the tragic state of the Zou family, vomited several times and fainted once, only to be revived by Doctor Zhou.

Upon waking, he immediately asked County Captain Jiang: "How is Zou Yuzhen?"

County Captain Jiang, with a solemn face, pointed to a charred corpse in the courtyard and said: "This corpse’s hand has a jade ring with the name of Zou Yuzhen inscribed on it."

County Magistrate Zou, just like the noble families in the Prefecture, had ordered a jade ring inscribed with names for each of his descendants, used as a token for the male members of the Zou family.

However...

"I believe that this corpse is not Zou Yuzhen’s; he must have escaped death," said County Captain Jiang. "This sudden fire must have been set by the Zou family themselves, and among the remaining heads of the Zou family, only Zou Yuzhen could have taken such drastic actions."

Zou Yuzhen truly treated them as fools to deceive, thinking himself clever? Did he really think they were so foolish as to believe his poorly conceived tricks?

Squad Leader Zhu weakly said, "Lord County Captain, when the fire broke out in the courtyard where Zou Yuzhen lived, the Government Officials fighting the fire continuously heard screams..."

County Captain Jiang’s gaze darkened, interrupting him: "Those screams were not from Zou Yuzhen, but from this charred corpse."

County Captain Jiang was thoroughly disappointed with Squad Leader Zhu; not only did he fail to prevent the Zou family fire, but he was also naïve enough to believe that this unrecognizable charred corpse was Zou Yuzhen.

Did Squad Leader Zhu wish for this matter to end here, not pursuing Zou Yuzhen any further?

If he truly harbored such thoughts, then it was intentional protection, letting Zou Yuzhen successfully fake his own death!