Chapter 154: Burning the Mansion (Part Two)

Su Tan'er had been somewhat troubled lately.

Trouble was a private matter, and to her, the trouble at hand was a rather unfamiliar emotion. After the major affairs of the household were settled, recalling it occasionally over the past few days would make her blush. She had not spoken much about it even with Cousin Danhong, but deep in her heart, she still managed to suppress the shyness and earnestly contemplate certain things.

If only she hadn't run away back when they got married...

She was now regretting that course of action. In life, many developments and outcomes were unpredictable, making regret a rather futile emotion. However, since the thoughts in her mind had nothing to do with business, after agonizing over them, she mostly ended up pursing her lips and blaming her own lack of foresight and childishness.

Anyway, whether you stick your neck out or pull it back, the blade comes down either way. The tattoo she had anticipated from the beginning—she ended up foolishly running away from it anyway. Looking back, she could no longer recall what her mindset had been at that time. If she had simply adopted the attitude of closing her eyes and taking a bite, resigning herself to fate, she wouldn't have to agonize over such embarrassing matters every day now.

Consummation, after all, required the right atmosphere and a natural pretext. But these past few days she had been busy with household affairs. Now, the results she ought to have achieved were already in hand, yet if she truly wanted to keep busy, there were still plenty of things to do. Her husband probably assumed she would remain occupied for the next few days. He was a man of upright character; now that their life together had settled down, he wouldn't suddenly think of pushing her down onto the bed one of these days. In truth, if that really happened right now, she wouldn't even mind. Yet she was now forced to think and plan for this. Between husband and wife, things surely couldn't be dragged past this winter. But upon thinking of this—"between husband and wife"—when she truly looked at the matter from this perspective, she had to admit that the relationship they currently shared had been initiated by herself and built upon that foundation. Previously, she had felt that as long as the household looked like a home and she treated this husband well, that would suffice. Now, looking back, as for the actual role of a wife, she... really hadn't fulfilled much of her responsibility.

Yet she was no delicate woman who spent her days wallowing in self-pity. Having spent several years in the commercial world, she had forged a certain boldness.

After agonizing over the matter for a few days, her primary consideration was that her own problems had to be solved by herself. Of course, it was impossible for her to actually run up and lay this matter bare before her husband. She cared about her face, after all. At this moment, her concern for Ning Yi had grown, and she cared even more about how she was viewed in his heart.

In short, the problem had to be solved. It was somewhat troublesome, but once her mind started working, it couldn't stump this young woman who possessed the identity of a business tycoon. That morning upon waking up, she came up with an idea. To an ordinary person, it might seem somewhat absurd and making a fuss over nothing, but to Su Tan'er, it was no different from making a decisive judgment in the boardroom. With the boldness of handling a major business worth hundreds of thousands of silver taels, she decisively adopted this little scheme. She returned home early at noon, then arranged for Chan'er, Juan'er, and Xing'er to go about their chores, while simultaneously mobilizing the domestic servants and guards of the neighboring courtyards to ensure they wouldn't all swarm over at once. Once everything was prepared, she gritted her teeth and could begin her operation.

She carefully inspected the structure of that small two-story building, then carried dry, slender twigs from the woodshelf and piled them around the base. Initially, she had considered many details: the fire had to burn evenly, the ignition points had to be carefully chosen, and whether it should look like an accident. But to her, arson was an absolute foreign trade. She shook her head: Whatever. The house is mine, if I want to burn it down casually, I'll burn it down. Once I forbid anyone from investigating hereafter, who would dare say anything more?

In the tranquil afternoon, the young woman who wielded power as the head of the Su family's main household went about these furtive deeds with tension and concentration. Then, recalling some other matters, she ran back into her husband's room, unsure of what else she intended to do.

Outside the door, Ning Yi pressed against it in puzzlement. Inside, he saw the young woman opening his cabinet, hurriedly searching out various items to identify and organize them.

"Brushes, ink, paper, inkstone, clothes. This is... the essays my husband wrote before?"

"A fan... this fan should still be..."

"This piece of clothing... never mind, burn it..."

"What is written here..."

"Paintings... blueprints..."

"Vernacular novels... uh, should I burn this one?"

As she sorted through things, she muttered and deliberated to herself. If she felt an item was still needed, she placed it somewhat far from the rear window; old clothes and the like were casually tossed near the windowsill. She picked up a brush holder, hung up several writing brushes, and found an inkstone Ning Yi had used. On second thought, she replaced it with one that had barely been used, poured some tea into it, and ground the inkstick a few times. As for the large stack of vernacular novels, she first carried them to a spot on one side of the room far from the window, but a moment later, after glancing at them, she carried them all back, placing them on the table by the window which was destined to suffer. Ning Yi felt a twinge of regret watching this; there were still several books among them he hadn't finished reading.

Having roughly organized the various items, she huffed and puffed as she adjusted the positions of the tables and chairs in the room. After finishing all this, she wiped the sweat from her brow and nodded to herself. Seeing that she was about to come out, Ning Yi hurriedly slipped away, making his way with keen interest to the empty courtyard next door. He stepped on a pile of earthen bricks in the corner of the yard, climbed up the wall to observe the movement behind the house.

Before long, Su Tan'er walked over, coughing, holding a burning twig in both hands. The twig was quite large, and consequently probably not fully dried; moreover, it was hollow, with flames licking one end while smoke billowed desperately from the small hole at the other. Su Tan'er had probably grabbed it simply because she thought it could serve as a torch, and she was now thoroughly choked by the smoke, squinting and waving her hand to fan the air, looking quite uncomfortable.

Ning Yi pressed a hand to his forehead, laughing uncontrollably.

Su Tan'er acted with decisive resolution. Without overthinking, she lit the piled twigs cluster by cluster. Frowning, with a look of intense concentration, she kept getting smoked by the fire. Most of the building was of wooden structure, so igniting it this way made catching fire a dead certainty. Su Tan'er then casually lit two window frames, tossed the large, smoke-emitting branch that had tormented her right through a small hole in the window, and clapped her hands. Ning Yi rather liked that brisk, neat gesture of hers. At that very moment, the roof tiles on the wall shifted slightly, and Ning Yi reached out to steady himself. The next instant, he froze slightly.

When he looked back toward Su Tan'er, she happened to be looking over as well. Her melon-seed-shaped face bore an expression of astonishment, her lips pursed together as if trying to turn into a hare's lip. The intellect and poise that had once belonged to this young woman were now replaced by an expression of disaster-like panic on her face.

Ning Yi exposed half his head and locked eyes with her for about half a second. His first reaction was to decisively pull his head back. The amusement rushed up, causing his cheeks to puff out with a "pfft." The most important thing right now was to flash out of sight, but his foot suddenly slipped. That pile of earthen bricks had been sitting there for too long, and one corner gave way. He pitched forward, landing so clumsily he almost sprained his ankle. Following that, he walked away while desperately suppressing his laughter.

***

Ning Yi patrolled the nearby paths for about two minutes, steadying himself against a wall to digest the series of interesting sights he had just witnessed, while making sure no one was coming by yet so the fire on the small building could burn a little longer. Su Tan'er hadn't chased after him; it was hard to predict her mood at this moment. Of course, if the first emotion he saw from her later was rolling-on-the-floor laughter, then the probability of a "husband-murdering" tragedy actually occurring in this courtyard tonight would likely exceed eighty percent.

Any clever man should know when to have a sense of humor, when to be serious, when to look blank, and when to be grief-stricken... Still, it was utterly hilarious, hahahahaha...

He pre-spent all the places he should laugh in his heart, though his face didn't show much expression. When two domestic servants walked past him, he stopped them with a stern look: "Hey, where are you going?"

"Ah, Husband, we just delivered some things and are now returning to report to Steward Zhou."

"Are the things delivered?"

"Yes."

"You might need to go out later, so you don't need to report back to Steward Zhou just yet. Go to the side gate and prepare a carriage for me. Come with me to handle some business... However, if I haven't come over in half an hour, it means everything is fine, and you can go report to Steward Zhou then." By this time, no one in the household dared to ignore him. At his words, the two servants readily agreed and turned to leave. Ning Yi looked back, estimating that the fire should be reaching a certain scale by now. At that exact moment, he heard his wife's voice ring out.

"Help! Someone help! There's a fire, a fire! Come quickly..."

Judging by that tone, she was still quite composed.

***

A fire had broken out. Two nearby servants were the first to rush in through the courtyard gate. The flames were still burning at the rear of the building, but smoke and dust were already drifting across the front. In the center of the courtyard, Su Tan'er frowned and shouted, "There's a fire! Quick, think of a way to put it out!"

"Yes, buckets, water vats... where are the water vats, Second Young Miss..."

"Someone, help! Fire!"

The two servants were somewhat flustered for a moment. But the Second Young Miss, who had just taken over the main household's business, was someone capable of handling major events. She maintained a composed expression: "Wait, wait, is there no water in the kitchen? You guys—first call for help, and quickly move the things out of the room so they don't get burned! Hurry up!"

Mid-sentence, another servant came running over. Su Tan'er commanded, "Hurry, you go too..." Before her voice faded, Ning Yi's figure had also appeared near the courtyard gate. At this moment, she had no spare attention to notice her husband's expression. Her face suddenly flushed red; she stared blankly for a second, then looked at the servant and snapped, "You go help too!" Then she jerked her head back to look at the smoking small building, her chest heaving as her heart pounded frantically: thump, thump, thump, thump.

Then Ning Yi came running over as well: "What's going on! What's going on! How did a fire start?" His face was full of astonishment and heartache. Hearing him use that tone, Su Tan'er froze slightly as well. She turned her head to look at him and saw Ning Yi panting, frowning: "How, how did a fire start..."

As Ning Yi said this, he glanced at her. Su Tan'er's face turned red all over again with a *bang*. She averted her gaze, struggling to put on a professional business face: "I, I don't know either. It suddenly caught fire. Maybe... when no one was around, I heated some water, and later... later I didn't put it out properly. I was resting just then..."

Ning Yi nodded. A brief silence followed. "Uh, it's winter, the weather is dry, a fire... a fire is normal." Just as he was fumbling for something to say, in the small kitchen nearby, one of the servants rushed out carrying a wooden bucket and told the other servant, "A-Shan, there are only two buckets of water left here! We need to go look in the neighboring courtyard..." As he spoke, he made to charge back into the room, but Ning Yi rushed over and intercepted him: "What are you doing?"

"Put, put out the fire..."

"Two buckets of water can't put out the fire anymore. Move the things first, move the things! Find some bedsheets, soak them so they won't catch fire..."

"Oh..." The servant nodded, dumped the entire bucket of water over his own head with a *splash*, and charged straight inside.

The flames burned fiercely, billowing smoke. Servants and maidservants arrived one after another, carrying things out from the building. Su Tan'er and Ning Yi stood in the center of the courtyard. The young woman wore a solemn and serious expression, frowning, though she mostly avoided looking at Ning Yi. Their voices rang out amidst a chorus of shouts.

"Move that chair out first... *cough, cough*..."

"The head of the bed, there's a box by the bed head..."

"Never mind the eight-immortals table!"

"Books, books, those rolls of bamboo slips, that's right..."

"Put the things under the eaves over there first..."

"Xiaochan's room items! Right, hurry, hurry, be careful not to let them burn..."

"Anyone who gets burned can go draw ten taels of silver for medical expenses later..."

"There will be rewards for everyone..."

Amidst the bustling activity, Ning Yi gave instructions on which items the servants should move, while Su Tan'er gestured and directed the servants to place the belongings on the other side of the courtyard, where fire-fighting efforts had also begun. People carrying buckets and basins of water ran back and forth continuously. Before long, Xiaochan and the others came hurrying over, crying out, "What's wrong? How did a fire start?" A steward, probably failing to notice Su Tan'er resting on the side and Ning Yi participating in the firefighting, rushed in and yelled, "How did a fire start? How did a fire start? Did anyone get burned?" This made the afternoon scene even more lively.

"Well, you see, it's winter and the weather is dry. Starting a fire is a very normal thing." Ning Yi splashed a bucket of water into the flames, walked over, and patted the steward's shoulder. "Everyone is very anxious and upset right now. Stop asking why. Talk less and do more. You don't really need to ask, you know? Here, take the bucket, go put out the fire quickly."

Over by the courtyard gate, Chan'er was carrying a washbasin and came running in along with several maidservants. Su Tan'er called out, "Xiaochan, don't go over there, don't get burned." Xiaochan turned her head and said, "I'm fine..." Then she tripped and fell with a *bang*. The water spilled out, and the washbasin rolled wildly. Outcries erupted, instantly plunging the scene into another wave of chaos...

***

The scent of a fire having burned and then being extinguished by water permeated the air. When the warm, yellowish light of the setting sun lit up the sky, the small building—mostly charred and partially collapsed—still stood in the courtyard, clearly no longer habitable.

A large number of rescued items were laid out in the courtyard: tables, chairs, cabinets, and various sundries. The servants were handling the aftermath of the fire, and relatives arrived one after another. Su Yu and Su Boyong had also come over earlier. The important figures spoke all at once, while the lesser figures dared not make much noise. Under the direction of the steward, the servants began moving the items into the small building on the other side. Xiaochan could be accommodated in the room next to Juan'er and Xing'er, and so that was arranged. As the servants carried the things, Xiaochan, accompanied by Juan'er and Xing'er, counted the salvaged items.

Her lodging was clearly assigned, but as for the rest of the belongings, their placement seemed somewhat ambiguous.

When the steward had gone to report to Su Tan'er earlier, Su Tan'er was talking with a paternal uncle. She had casually pointed and said, "Just put them on the table in the room." And the steward had done so.

Those were the various trivial belongings belonging to Ning Yi, and by "the room," she had meant her own bedchamber. Of course, at the time, she had only answered offhand. This matter did not attract anyone's attention.

She was very busy, after all, and no one would notice what considerations might lie behind an offhand reply in such a chaotic scene. She was busy, you see.

The setting sun gradually sank, and oil lamps and torches were lit around the yard. As dinnertime approached, the servants responsible for cleaning up the aftermath were also ordered to temporarily halt their work. In the small courtyard, a certain strange atmosphere began to brew.

There were hardly any items left lying about in the courtyard. The very chair Ning Yi had been sitting on was casually pulled by him into the dining hall. At this point, some people finally realized that most of the previous items had been temporarily stuffed into Su Tan'er's room, crowding the entire space to the point of tightness, with the belongings arranged somewhat scattered about.

No one understood why it had turned out this way. In the courtyard just now, Su Tan'er had been constantly dealing with numerous relatives and had never directed anyone to move any specific items to any particular place. Ning Yi had been busy with other cleanup tasks. Gradually, those items had just vanished, and when people looked back to trace who had intended it or who had given the instruction, they couldn't find a single trace.

Su Tan'er went to inspect the crowded room, looking somewhat troubled, yet she didn't say anything. Ning Yi also went to take a look, probably feeling quite troubled as well over where he was supposed to sleep tonight. Chan'er, Juan'er, and Xing'er also went to look, finding themselves equally clueless about how to tidy the place up.

It was unclear when the atmosphere had begun to turn peculiar.

The hours ahead might prove to be an awkward evening. Of course, they could also turn out to be an interesting one...