Fire Captain

On the fifteenth day of the lunar calendar, there was a Lantern Festival as usual in Jinling City. The streets were packed with people, making it almost impossible to stop them.

Mei Changsu had agreed early in the morning to go to Miaoyinfang with Yan Yujin and Xiao Jingrui. When he went out, he saw the lanterns hanging in the courtyard and couldn't help but think of the scene when he hung lanterns with Princess Nihuang when he was a child. When he came to his senses, he suddenly saw Princess Nihuang standing in front of him, and it was as if he was in a dream.

Princess Nihuang looked at Mei Changsu's clothes and asked, "Brother, are you going out?"

Mei Changsu said: "Yes, I need to go to Miaoyinfang."

Princess Nihuang asked, "Miaoyinfang?"

Mei Changsu was afraid that she might misunderstand him and quickly said, "I have something to do!"

Seeing his expression, Princess Nihuang couldn't help but smile: "Nihuang understands! On the night of the Lantern Festival, Nihuang just...suddenly wanted to see my brother..."

Bai Ziyang watched from the side and shook his head, thinking that if it weren't for Princess Nihuang, Mei Changsu would be destined to be alone... After saying that, he went out with Chu Qiao.

Bai Ziyang and Chu Qiao had no interest in Miaoyinfang, so they took Fei Liu out to watch the lanterns.

As soon as you walk out of the mansion and enter the main street, you will immediately see a bustling crowd and a cheerful atmosphere. It is a pleasure to see all kinds of people everywhere. In addition, the Lantern Festival is a famous day for blind dates and couples to meet, so this sweet atmosphere is everywhere.

Bai Ziyang turned around and saw Chu Qiao was telling Fei Liu, "Fei Liu, there will be a lot of people around here, don't stay too far away from me and your brother Taiyang, understand?"

Fei Liu nodded and said, "I know!"

Bai Ziyang smiled and suddenly took Chu Qiao's hand. Chu Qiao turned to look at him in surprise. Bai Ziyang smiled and said, "This way we won't get separated!"

Chu Qiao smiled and let Bai Ziyang pull her along. With Fei Liu by her side, the three of them slowly walked into the main street.

If you don't mention a lantern when visiting the Lantern Festival, you will always feel that something is missing. Besides, those finely crafted and dazzling lanterns have long attracted Feiliu's attention.

"Brother Sun, I want this!" Fei Liu said, pointing to a lotus lantern above.

"Okay!" Bai Ziyang paid for it. Fei Liu ran forward with the lantern in his hand, full of enthusiasm.

After a while, Fei Liu saw another butterfly lamp. The butterfly lamp was finely crafted and looked cute and lifelike. He immediately put the lotus lamp in his hand into Bai Ziyang's hand, pointed at the rabbit lamp and said, "Brother Sun, I want this!"

Knowing that Fei Liu would be like this, Bai Ziyang took out the silver and bought the lotus lantern, and Fei Liu held it happily.

Bai Ziyang looked up and around. Chu Qiao asked him, "What are you looking for?"

Seeing the target, Bai Ziyang said happily: "Come!" and pulled Chu Qiao to a stall.

There are always several stalls selling lantern riddles during every Lantern Festival. Each stall has their specialty lanterns, such as those with animals, flowers, and the fairy lanterns on this stall. Bai Ziyang had seen them in previous years and they were indeed very beautiful. He thought they would look even better when Chu Qiao was holding them.

The lantern owner saw Bai Ziyang coming, and saw him holding hands with Chu Qiao, so he quickly came over and said with a smile: "Sir, come and guess a lantern riddle. If you guess it right, give it to your beloved girl, and it will surely make your relationship last forever!"

Bai Ziyang took out some silver and threw it to the boss, saying, "I'll lend you my good words!"

The boss took the silver and asked with a smile: "Master, guess which lantern?"

Bai Ziyang pointed at the brightest fairy light and said, "This is it!"

The boss smiled and said, "Young master, you have a good eye. This lantern is the best one in our shop. It's a pity that many young masters have not guessed it right before. Young master, please take a look..."

Chu Qiao and Fei Liu stood aside, not going forward to look, waiting quietly for Bai Ziyang.

Bai Ziyang looked at the riddle hanging under the lantern and saw: Now that we are here, we should make the best of it. Guess a word.

Bai Ziyang thought for a moment and said, "It's the word 'rabbit'!"

The boss clapped his hands and laughed, "That's right, that's right! You are very smart, sir! Congratulations, sir, this lantern is yours." Then he took the lantern and handed it to Bai Ziyang.

After Bai Ziyang took it, he gave it to Chu Qiao and said, "For you!...My beloved girl!" Bai Ziyang smiled brilliantly.

Chu Qiao looked into Bai Ziyang's eyes and slowly took the lantern. She held it in her hand without saying anything. Bai Ziyang didn't say anything either. The two of them quietly strolled around the Lantern Festival. The quiet atmosphere between them was extremely sweet. As for Fei Liu... he had already run to the front and stared at the huge candied haws.

Seeing that Fei Liu couldn't walk anymore, Bai Ziyang bought two strings of candied haws. Fei Liu was happy and gave the other one to Chu Qiao. Chu Qiao smiled and said, "You treat me like a child."

Bai Ziyang also laughed and said, "Sir, can't you eat candied haws?"

There were various snacks on both sides of the street. When Bai Ziyang saw them, he bought a little of each and shared some with Fei Liu. He fed the rest to Chu Qiao and occasionally ate some himself. He was very busy and happy.

He was busy feeling something being handed to his lips, and took a bite without noticing it. It tasted sour and sweet. Bai Ziyang saw that it was Chu Qiao's candied haws. Now there were only two or three hawthorns left on the bamboo stick. Bai Ziyang chewed the red fruit with one cheek pushed up. He looked at Chu Qiao with a puzzled look, which made him look even more adorable.

Chu Qiao turned around and said fearfully, "I can't finish it. I'll give it to you!" After saying that, she took the chestnuts from Bai Ziyang's arms and started peeling and eating them.

Fortunately, the three of them were eating while walking around, otherwise they would have been full of food if they had eaten the way they did. When they returned home after the Lantern Festival, Mei Changsu had already returned. Bai Ziyang showed off his spoils to him, and then they went to rest.

After the Lantern Festival, the New Year was over, and life gradually returned to normal. Mei Changsu was free, so he had to find something for Prince Yu to do. He informed Prince Yu about the prince's private brothel, and wanted Prince Yu to help Shen Zhui impeach the prince, but he didn't expect Prince Yu to be much more ruthless than him...

At that time, Bai Ziyang was basking in the warm sunshine, squinting his eyes and planning to take a nap, but he did not expect that a loud bang was heard in the city, and even the house seemed to shake slightly.

Bai Ziyang immediately turned over and sat up, looking at Mei Changsu, who was also startled by the noise, and the two looked at each other. Then Li Gang came to report that the private gun room had exploded.

"The private gun room exploded?" Mei Changsu asked in disbelief.

Li Gang said, "Yes, it is said that it was caused by the recent dry weather without snow, and the avalanche of fire. The private gun house was razed to the ground when it exploded. There were about ninety households nearby that were implicated, and all of them were destroyed in the fire. An entire street was burned down."

Mei Changsu asked: "How many casualties were there?"

Li Gang said: "Dozens of people have died in the private gun room alone, and if you add the civilians nearby who were implicated, there are at least hundreds of people, and there are more than a hundred people with minor and serious injuries."

Mei Changsu asked: "Is the fire under control?"

Li Gang said: "Fortunately, there is no wind today, so the fire did not spread to the next street. It has been put out now."

Mei Changsu sighed, "An entire street was burned. Was there any riot?"

Li Gang said: "Indeed, some treacherous people took the opportunity to start looting. The people from the patrol camp arrived, but they were unable to suppress them for a while. Fortunately, Prince Jing and his personal soldiers arrived in the end and stabilized the situation."

Mei Changsu asked: "Jingyan went there too?"

Li Gang said: "His Royal Highness Prince Jing also spent some military tents to accommodate the victims and the injured. The doctors in the Imperial Hospital are currently on the official list and cannot be deployed for the time being, so he sent people to requisition private doctors. Oh, by the way... Master Ziyang and Miss Achu have already brought our brothers from the pharmacy in the capital to rush over..."

Mei Changsu breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Zi Yang is there too... That's good..."

Without waiting for Li Gang's report, Bai Ziyang immediately called Chu Qiao to rush to the scene of the accident. The two of them might have little power to put out the fire, but the civilians rescued by the soldiers, those who were burned, injured by the explosion, and those who were smashed, at least could get treatment as soon as possible.

At the beginning, there was only one doctor, Bai Ziyang. Bai Ziyang found an open, flat, shady place, and Chu Qiao directed everyone outside to carry the injured people here for treatment. Bai Ziyang was so busy that he didn't even have time to look up. He relied on Chu Qiao to help him and give him water to wipe his sweat.

When Prince Jing arrived, one of his subordinates reported the situation and said that there was already a doctor on the scene rescuing the injured. After Prince Jing stabilized the situation, he came to see them and recognized Bai Ziyang and Chu Qiao as the two people who followed Mei Changsu that day. It seemed that Princess Nihuang also knew them, but she didn't expect that he was actually a doctor with superb medical skills.

When the doctor recruited by Prince Jing from the public arrived, Bai Ziyang finally felt a little relieved. After bandaging the last patient on his hand, Bai Ziyang relaxed and fell to the ground. Chu Qiao asked someone to carry the patient away. When she turned around, she saw Bai Ziyang lying on the ground. She hurried over and asked, "Ziyang? Bai Ziyang! How is he?"

Bai Ziyang waved his hand and said, "It's okay, I was just a little nervous, and I feel a little tired after relaxing suddenly!... Help me!"

Chu Qiao walked over and put Bai Ziyang's hand on her shoulder, then supported Bai Ziyang and walked out of the makeshift shed. When she looked up, she saw Li Gang standing outside.

When Li Gang saw the two of them, he quickly walked to the other side of Bai Ziyang to help support him and asked, "Master Ziyang, are you okay?"

Bai Ziyang waved his hand and pretended to be relaxed, saying: "It's okay, what can happen to me? It's just a small thing... I don't even need two people to support me!" As he said that, he was about to push the two people away and walk by himself, but he didn't expect that after he took a step, his body swayed and he almost fell to his knees because of his weak legs.

Chu Qiao quickly supported him and said, "Stop making trouble!"

Li Gang also said: "Yes, Master Ziyang, please stop being so stubborn."

Bai Ziyang curled his lips and let the two people support him honestly, and asked: "Why are you here?"

Li Gang said, "The Sect Master knew you were here and came to see you several times. He saw you were busy so he didn't disturb you. He thought you would be tired after you finished your work, so he sent me to stay here and send you back."

As the three were talking, they saw Prince Jing standing not far away. After seeing Bai Ziyang, he strode over, stood in front of Bai Ziyang, bowed deeply without saying a word, and Bai Ziyang was stunned.

Prince Jing stood up and said, “Xiao Jingyan thanks Mr. Bai for saving his life on behalf of the people here.”

Bai Ziyang waved his hands blankly and said, "No... no need..."

Xiao Jingyan said with a serious face, "You have to thank me. I have learned that Mr. Bai was the first doctor to arrive. Fortunately, Mr. Bai was here, so the more than 100 people who were rescued received timely treatment and no one died. The other doctors said that it was all thanks to Mr. Bai's superb medical skills. Otherwise, I'm afraid that at least half of the more than 100 people would have been killed or injured."

Bai Ziyang said: "I am a doctor, and I have a kind heart. I can't just watch a patient die in front of me. Besides, this is not just my credit!"

Prince Jing said: "I respect your high righteousness, sir!"

Afterwards, Bai Ziyang stroked his chin and thought, this Prince Jing... didn't seem so "annoying!"