The entire Golden Harbor was in a state of chaos.
The people from the Water Dragon Bureau hurriedly rushed to the harbor, but the raging fire stretched for miles. The wood piled up at the harbor and the docked warships were engulfed by the fire. They had no idea where to start.
The people of Golden Harbor were alarmed. They panicked and looked at the sea from the cliff at the end of the town.
They had never seen such a huge fire in their entire lives. Even the sky was dyed red by it.
The connected warships were burning. The sea breeze roared. The sea surface was also burning for some reason. It was as if a huge dragon was burning. Thick smoke billowed and covered the sky.
Some of the people were worried. Some wiped their tears. Some knelt on the ground and kowtowed to the gods, praying that the people of Golden Harbor would be safe. They prayed that the heavens would stop punishing them.
"They must have dismantled the warships. Even the heavens don't agree."
An experienced elder angrily held onto his walking stick.
Someone else said, "We didn't cherish our warships. That's why the heavens want to take them back. They won't be used by the people of Da Zhou. "
"What should we do?"
A woman cried.
The local magistrate looked for paper and pen with trembling hands. He reported to Your Majesty that the warships were on fire for no reason and the entire harbor was engulfed in flames. Perhaps it was a warning from the heavens …
The magistrate didn't want to be labeled as a failure, but he seemed to have forgotten that he cared about the heavens. The heavens sent a warning and burned the warships that he wanted to build the imperial mausoleum. Could it be that the heavens were dissatisfied with him as the emperor?
The magistrate couldn't think about these things for the time being.
No one noticed that after the fire and thick smoke, more than 30 warships of various sizes slowly left the harbor and headed southeast at full speed.
No one noticed that a small donkey was carrying an immortal-like old man and leaving Golden Harbor under the cover of the night. They were heading in the direction of the capital.
%
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"
In the Huichuan County yamen, Li Qitian was being helped by Xiong Jinshui to change his clothes. He heard a rough and urgent voice outside. "There's an urgent report from Golden Harbor!"
Li Qitian frowned. He casually ordered, "Back off." Then he strode to the front hall.
He saw a man in a tight suit standing in the middle of the ground with a worried expression. It was none other than the secret agent, Zhu Meng.
"What's the matter?" Li Qitian casually sat down.
Zhu Meng presented the memorial and the secret report together, then lowered his head and carefully retreated to the side.
When Li Qitian saw Zhu Meng's cautious appearance, he knew that something must have happened to Jin Gang.
He first opened the secret report sent by the spy, and his expression changed greatly after a glance. Then, he opened the report sent by the Golden Harbor County Magistrate, and his face turned ashen as he fiercely slammed the table.
"What warning from the heavens? Whose warning was it?! Were those trash all eating rice for free?! I only asked them to dismantle a few ships, but they actually burned down the entire pier. What use do I have for this group of trash?! "
Your Majesty was so angry that Xiong Jinshui and the palace servants all knelt down in panic.
From what he heard, Jin Gang caught fire and burned down the ships Your Majesty used to build the Imperial Mausoleum. Xiong Jinshui felt that something bad was going to happen.
Li Qitian was so angry that he was walking around in circles, panting heavily.
"Trash, a group of trash. What use do I have for you all?!"
He walked to the table and waved his hand, causing the ink, paper, and inkstone on the table to fall to the ground. The blue and white porcelain brush fell to the ground and shattered, and the water inside spilled all over the floor.
"Your Majesty, please quell your anger!"
Everyone kowtowed.
Li Qitian roared, "Quell my anger? How can I quell my anger?! I only wanted to build an Imperial Mausoleum. First, I was greedy. Then, I used shoddy materials to buy stones. Now, all the wood has been burned down! You said it was a warning from the heavens, but what did I do that required a warning from the heavens? "
"I love the people like my own children, and I work hard every day, not daring to neglect them in the slightest. Even if it was a warning from the heavens, it was telling me not to forgive you bunch of mediocre people!"
"Your Majesty, please quell your anger!" Everyone kowtowed again.
Li Qitian was panting like an ox. He gritted his teeth and said, "Investigate, investigate thoroughly! Why would there be a fire at the seaside for no reason? There must be something fishy about this! If you can't find out the reason and insist that it was a warning from the heavens, I will kill everyone at the docks and bury them with my wood! "
"Yes!" Zhu Meng accepted the order and quickly retreated.
Li Qitian then gave a few more orders, ordering people to investigate the situation at Jin Gang as soon as possible.
After waiting for two hours, he found someone to ask how many ships were left.
When he heard that all the ships at the docks had been burned down, Li Qitian angrily smashed the four treasures of the study he had just brought.
Li Qitian didn't avoid people when he was angry, so the guards outside the door vaguely heard the commotion. Although they didn't dare to spread rumors, there was no guarantee that these sounds wouldn't be heard by other people. For example, Tang Xiu, who served Pang Xiao.
Pang Xiao was currently recuperating in the rear courtyard of the yamen. When he heard the news from Tang Xiu, a smile appeared on his slightly pale face for the first time in several days.
With such a big commotion, Sister Yi must have safely boarded the ship with the treasure.
No one would have thought that the treasure would be on the warship of the previous dynasty, carried by his darling and far away from Li Qitian's search.
Tang Xiu saw Pang Xiao smile and couldn't help but lower her voice. She joked, "Wang Ye is secretly happy to have such a virtuous wife like Wang Fei."
Pang Xiao's sword-like eyebrows rose and he also said in a low voice, "You brat, you've grown bold. If Wang Fei heard this, she wouldn't be willing to marry Ji Yun to you."
Tang Xiu's young and delicate face immediately turned red.
When Pang Xiao saw this, he couldn't help but smile comfortably.
Everything was going well. His injuries should be gradually getting better. This would prevent him from being delayed when he needed to do something in the future.
Tang Xiu happened to hear these words. But the imperial bodyguards didn't dare to spread the news.
When Lu Heng received the news that something had happened at Golden Harbor, it was already three or four days later.
"Count, the people on the streets are saying that a huge dragon flew to Golden Harbor a few days ago. First, it breathed fire to burn the warships. Then, it blew a gust of wind that made it impossible for people to go close to put out the fire. That fire dragon lay on the surface of the sea until the sun rose and all the warships were burned to ashes before it flew into the clouds."
Lu Wenru had been asked by Lu Heng to return to his side because she was used to serving him. When she heard the news outside, she hurriedly came to report.
When Lu Heng heard this, he put down the book in his hand in shock.
"Fire dragon?"
"That's right. It can breathe fire and blow wind. The people at Golden Harbor have made it sound like a god. This lowly one also heard it from the people on the streets. "
"The warships were all destroyed?" Lu Heng frowned.
Lu Wenru nodded: "Yes, it is said that not a single warship was left. Even the dismantled wood on the shore was burned. Fortunately, there were no casualties among the people. The fire at the docks did not spread to the city. The fire has already been extinguished."
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