The Marquis' Wife
Fire at De Xiang's shop
Early in the morning one shop employee violently kicked through the side gate of Lu's residence close to the butler's house making Lu Tao and the other servants flinch and wake up.
"What's wrong?!".
"Bad news! Bad news!! The master and mistress shop fire! I have to tell Madam Lu!".
Lu Tao and the others were shocked. They immediately woke Lu Mei and Lu Yan to tell Adelia about this bad news.
Lu Kai, Lu Tian and Lu Xiao ran to De Xiang's shop to help put out the fire.
"Master! Madam! Pimply. There's bad news!!" Lu Mei initially hesitated to wake Adelia up because Lu Xiang would definitely not like it but she ended up venturing out, this was her master's main income problem, a very important matter.
The sound of commotion and panic outside not only woke Lu Xiang and Adelia but also Lu Cheng in the eastern part of the house.
"What are you guys doing?".
"Young gentlemen. We would like to inform the great lord and mistress that the fire shop!!".
"What?!! How come!".
"Yes young master. I'm reporting this news".
Lu Cheng immediately went into the house and wanted to wake Adelia and her sister but he stopped because he remembered his sister-in-law was pregnant and could not be stressed. Finally he waited anxiously outside the room waiting for Lu Xiang to wake up.
Adelia frowned and asked confusedly. "What's Lu Xiang? It seems like there's a commotion outside".
Lu Xiang held Adelia to wake up. "It's okay, baby. Sleep again".
"really?".
"Yes, it happened outside the house. Let the waiter check it. Go back to sleep".
Adelia went back to sleep with Lu Xiang stroking her head gently and affectionately.
Raising Lu Xiang's face after making sure his wife was asleep, he picked up the outer pajamas and placed them on his shoulder.
"sister".
"Why are you awake? Go back to sleep, you have school tomorrow".
Lu Cheng did not reply and followed Lu Xiang out of the house.
"What are you doing early in the morning? Are you guys crazy?" The typical bass sound of waking up sounds very cold in the ears of the servants.
Lu Mei and the others immediately knelt down apologizing. "Sorry sir, we were forced to wake you up because something bad happened. De Xiang's shop is on fire!!".
Lu Xiang was surprised. "How did that happen?!".
The store clerk stepped forward and reported what he saw. "Manager Zhu who found the fire first, now they are extinguishing the fire master".
"Prepare me a horse! I'll see it for myself!!. Lu Mei and Lu Yan take care of Adelia, don't say anything before I go home! And you should go back to sleep. I want to do tomorrow's activities as usual. You understand?!".
"Okay sir!!".
"Shm. Keep your voices!"
Lu Cai immediately prepared the horse and Lu Xiang immediately set off after putting on his clothes.
Arriving at the shop, Lu Xiang saw the people sitting on the ground exhausted from putting out the fire. Luckily the fire did not enter the store due to a quick blackout by manager Zhu and two other servants who lived in the back house of the store as well as the help of Lu Kai and the others.
The yamen officer on guard duty at night asked Zhu manager a few questions and then immediately greeted Lu Xiang.
"Thank you for your hard work" Lu Xiang only responded briefly.
Yamen officers did not dispute that and immediately reported to his superiors. This incident occurred under their supervision so that they also had to account for and explain the case so that other people did not panic and complain to the officers.
"What's going on?".
"Great master" Manager Zhu bowed respectfully.
He told me about the chronology of how he found the fire that burned down the right side of the store.
"I woke up wanting to go to the bathroom and I smelled kerosene, I didn't think it was strange and thought that an employee had spilled it but the sound of running steps made me suspicious and immediately confirmed but I only saw flames that spread quickly all the way to the second floor".
Lu Xiang's jaw hardened, he inhaled a deep breath trying to calm his mind, he stepped into the garden by the side and saw the black wood as well as the little flower plants being crushed by the people who wanted to put out the fire.
Lu Xiang scowled the tip of his forehead and breathed tired. He did not expect that with high security there were still people who could commit crimes in the inner part of the city. His mind became anxious because he was worried that the perpetrator would hurt Adelia because he knew that the person who told him to do this was his wife's business competitor.
His eyes widened when he remembered Liang Chenyue's name. Could it be that woman?!.
No, there was no way the woman would go crazy to do this after only a few days of apologizing.
Lu Xiang's thoughts raged, he didn't know how to explain this to his wife. Seeing that there was nothing he could do here, he finally told Lu Kai and Lu Xiao to look after and clean up the mess in the shop and chose to go home.
Although the shop only burned on the outside right, Lu Xiang was still afraid if the culprit was dissatisfied and targeted Adelia.
The morning after Adelia woke up, she felt that the atmosphere of the house and the waiter were acting strangely.
"Did something happen? Last night I heard a commotion. Do you know what happened to Lu Xiang?".
Lu Xiang smiled weakly, he placed the side dish on Adelia's plate. "Later we'll talk about it now you have to have breakfast first".
Lu Cheng looked at his brother then continued to eat breakfast while glancing worriedly at Adelia.
Lu Shan also felt an oddity, when he asked Lu Cheng to hold his hand and shake his head, although he did not know why but he chose to trust his brother.
"The fire?! Wh-how is that possible!!" Adelia screamed in surprise and stood up from the seat.
Lu Xiang caught his wife's hand and pulled her to sit back down. "Yes darling. But lucky they failed".
"Then what about the store? Is it all burning?! No. gabe. I have to see it!!"
"Calm down baby~. The shop was all right because manager Zhu and the others immediately put out the fire. Only the right side of the wall was wet, after replacing the wooden walls De Xiang's shop could operate again".
Adelia shook her head. "I have to see it directly Lu Xiang. I have to see it straight". He was so panicked that Lu Xiang hugged to calm him down.
" okay. Let's see it firsthand but you're calm, baby. Take a deep breath and take it out slowly".
Her husband's gentle speech made Adelia a little calmer. Lu Xiang accompanied his wife to their shop after confirming that his wife was fine.
The atmosphere in the De Xiang store was not as chaotic as this morning but many people who wanted to see the fire place directly to make the neighborhood full. Luckily the yamen attendant finally broke up the crowd so that Adelia and Lu Xiang could enter the store without any obstacles.
Adelia breathed a new sigh of relief when she saw that the indoor room was fine, she and Lu Xiang immediately called for the woodworkers and builders to renovate the shop walls.
Prefect Zhong who heard the news was also startled and furious, his mind instantly alleging that Liang Chenyue did it but a moment later he hesitated because the woman was not crazy enough to ignore the warning from him. He was a little anxious if Lu Xiang was suspicious and thought Liang Chenyue was the culprit then blamed her firmly.
Although Lu Xiang is only a Fu scholar, he knows that the young man has a brilliant idea that can help his career and has a broad future, so destroying it is no more profitable than making it a colleague.
He did not want to just because the person who had no connection with his family made his supposed career rise together with Lu Xiang to be a failure because of this.
Prefect Zhong then told the yamen officers to add members to search for the perpetrator in order to calm Lu Xiang's mind as well as for the safety of his family as well since this was happening in the inner part of the city, the place where he and his family live. If today the perpetrator can burn down the store without being discovered then tomorrow maybe they can burn his house without being discovered.
