Chapter 349 - 341: Sowing Chaos
Chapter 349 - 341: Sowing Chaos
If they really enter that Stone Gate, it’ll be even more troublesome; now is the best time to act.
As Cheng Xiaoxiao waited anxiously, a system’s "OK" made her ease her worried heart.
Then, looking from afar at a corner of the Ouyang Mansion, suddenly a raging fire flared up.
"Fire! Fire!"
Someone shouted loudly, waking the sleeping people up in a fright, and the mansion was filled with noise and commotion.
Ouyang Qingsheng looked coldly at the old butler, "Didn’t you say there was no chance of failure? Why is it one thing after another at such a critical moment?"
The old butler lowered his head in panic, "This old servant will go check it out immediately and handle it swiftly."
In a short while, the fire in the warehouse reached the sky, spreading to the adjoining storage rooms as well.
The thin, continuous snow in the dark night had no effect on the huge fire, but the howling cold wind wildly whipped the rising sparks, which quickly crossed the courtyard wall and reached the main courtyard of the masters, causing screams everywhere.
The extremely cold deep night became exceedingly lively, full of vitality.
All the madams, young ladies, and young masters couldn’t stay in their rooms and had to stand in the open space in the courtyard. Even though they wore thick cloaks, they still shivered with cold, cursing under their breaths.
The temperature in the early morning was the coldest, piercingly cold, and the distant firelight couldn’t drive away the chill of this moment. How could the pampered young masters and young ladies endure this?
After standing for less than fifteen minutes, they were led by the old butler to the servants’ room to rest temporarily.
The household servants and attendants busied themselves fetching water to fight the fire, resulting in chaos. Seeing the fire spreading and growing, the old butler had to dispatch more manpower to rescue valuable items while extinguishing the fire.
Ouyang Qingdong, furious after confirming he could no longer perform in bed, furiously picked up a knife and rampaged like a beast, murdering or injuring innocent maidservants and matrons, painting the ground with blood and terrifying everyone. The fear in their eyes made them tremble, collapsing to the ground in terror.
Upon hearing the news, the Fifth Madame arrived and, thinking of her husband’s future inability, grew extremely resentful of the weeping, seductive woman in front of her, chasing her around the room with a whip.
"You wretched creature, you vixen, I’ll whip you to death!"
"Madame, spare me, Madame, spare me, it’s not my fault, really, it wasn’t me."
"You still dare to dodge, you shameless hussy, stand still and let me beat you to death."
Thus, the courtyard was in chaos, chickens and dogs jumping everywhere, and no one could stop them.
The old butler, commanding the fire-fighting from another side, hurried over upon hearing of the incident, a cold sweat trickling down his forehead.
Seeing Ouyang Qinghua about to go out, he rushed forward, "Third Master, Third Master, is there really no saving Fifth Master?"
Meanwhile, Aunt Zhongli, supported by her maid, ran to the Martial Arts Arena entrance, crying and demanding to see the Family Head.
She was exceedingly anxious but couldn’t break the rule of no female family members entering the arena, so she could only increase her crying to draw attention from inside.
A guard hurriedly reported, "Reporting to the Family Head, Aunt Zhongli says the Sixth Young Master has been poisoned."
At this critical moment, his most beloved son was poisoned, making him anxious. He heard the cries from the entrance growing more and more pitiful.
Tonight’s events could not fail. However, he couldn’t ignore the accident of his most beloved son. Feeling fearful inside, he hesitated for a moment before suppressing his irritation and asked the Great Elder to keep an eye on things. He promised to be back shortly.
Meanwhile, Gu Ming and others, hidden in the shadows, had taken advantage of the sudden incident to slip into the inner circle and lay in ambush nearby.
When the group of guards with children were halfway along their route, they swarmed the guards in a sneak attack.
The two groups instantly engaged in a fierce battle.
Cheng Xiaoxiao was thoroughly surprised that those black-clad men were also there to rescue the children.
So, would her plan be much simpler?
If she just helped them rescue the children, would that be enough?
On the other side, water drawn from the kitchen well was being fetched and splashed onto the raging fire by the servants.
With the increased manpower, efficiency had improved significantly, and the fire gradually reduced. Where the water had been splashed, smoke was rising due to the thermal contraction, floating in the air without color or smell.
Just then, the alarm of an enemy attack was heard.
The hidden guards and guards nearby who were fighting the fire just wanted to help but suddenly felt their strength gradually disappearing, unable to summon their inner strength.
The ordinary household servants also felt dizzy, light-headed, and weak in the legs, unable to muster any strength.
The smoke spread further and further, engulfing most of the Ouyang Mansion.
At this moment, Ouyang Qingsheng was still pacing back and forth in his precious son’s room.
Sitting by the table, Zhongli Mei was crying as if her heart were being ripped out, "Master, you must seek justice for Yan’er. It must be something my sister did; she has never liked our mother and son."
Ouyang Qingsheng, feeling irritable, recalled the situation during the meal at his house. In this mansion, no one else had the capability to poison his son.
Thus, his wife’s suspicion was significant.
So he asked someone to invite his wife over for questioning.
Upon hearing the incident, Lady Ouyang was secretly delighted, yet she maintained an appearance of concern.
"Let’s go! Let’s take a look."
She led them gracefully into the room, trying hard to suppress her upturned corners of her mouth and, with a worried expression, said, "Sister, what’s happened?"
"You vile woman, how dare you speak? Even if I offended you, come at me. Why take it out on Yan’er? Isn’t this taking my life?"
Lady Ouyang, bewildered by the false accusation, was very dismissive.
"Wuwuwu, Master, you must stand up for us. Yan’er is your own flesh and blood; he excels both in literature and martial arts, with great talent, surely envied by others."
"Zhongli Mei, don’t randomly defame me. Your son is sick; what does that have to do with me?"
"Yan’er isn’t sick; he’s been poisoned."
"Your son being poisoned, what’s that got to do with me? It’s not like I did it. I’ve been in my room doing needlework all along and never left. The master can vouch for that." Lady Ouyang remained calm.
"You, the grand madam, head of the household, do you need to do things personally?" Zhongli Mei hysterically insisted that it was the other’s doing.
"What do you mean? You can inquire around to see if anyone by my side went out today? Don’t be like a madwoman, biting anyone you see."
"If not you, then who?"
"Who knows if you’ve offended some sister from some other house? Letting you do some good deeds, but you’re always harsh to servants, maybe someone was retaliating against you for being so sharp and ignoring the lives of servants."
Although Lady Ouyang sometimes had a bad temper, she maintained her posture as the mistress, at most admonishing or punishing the servants with a stick, never directly causing deaths.
Zhongli Mei, on the other hand, though outwardly weak and innocent, was quite ruthless inside.
Whenever dissatisfied, she’d take it out on the servants, sometimes severe enough to leave them half dead or directly killing them.
She thought she had done things discreetly, but how could it escape her ears and eyes?
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