Chapter 76
The scorching summer heat made it impossible to sleep. Restless and irritable, Jiang Lin lay in the pavilion in the courtyard, trying to cool off, even as the night watchman outside the wall called out, "All is well, it’s the third watch of the night."
This year, there had been very little rain, especially since the start of summer. For over a month, not a single drop had fallen, while the sun grew fiercer each day, and the heat became more unbearable. It was so hot that even Jiang Lin couldn’t stand it, spending every night in the pavilion.
But tonight was different. He felt uneasy, as if something bad was about to happen.
Jiang Lin was fanning himself when he suddenly heard the night watchman outside the wall shout, "Who’s there?"
Jiang Lin immediately sat up, trying to listen more carefully. Instead of hearing the watchman’s voice again, he heard rapid knocking, someone was pounding on the Wei family’s front gate, so hard that he could hear it even from the courtyard.
Xun Qi flew down from the roof. "Young Madam, I’ll go to the front yard to check."
Jiang Lin stepped out of the pavilion. "I’ll go. You take Yun Qi to your master’s bed and stay in the courtyard to guard him."
Apart from the servants on night duty, everyone else was asleep. Seeing Jiang Lin heading to the gate, a servant from Zhaoyun Courtyard followed him with a lantern, curiously asking, "Young Madam, who could be knocking at this hour?"
Jiang Lin didn’t know either. "We’ll find out when we open the door."
When they reached the gate, Jiang Lin held the lantern while the servant removed the door bolt. As soon as the door opened, Jiang Lin was met with a sweaty, panicked face. The man said, "Young Madam, it’s bad. Someone’s come to kill Miss Su again. You need to go and see!"
Jiang Lin stared at the unfamiliar face, unmoved. The man tentatively called out again, "Young Madam?"
Jiang Lin asked coldly, "Who are you?"
The man tugged at his tattered clothes, clearly dressed as a beggar. "Young Madam, I’m one of the beggars on duty at the small courtyard today. There’s no time to explain. You need to come with me quickly!"
As he spoke, he reached out to grab Jiang Lin.
Jiang Lin dodged, his gaze falling on the stone in the man’s hand. Clearly, he had used it to knock on the door, which was why the sound had been so loud.
Jiang Lin asked, "Where’s the night watchman?"
The man looked even more confused. "Young Madam, what are you talking about? What night watchman? Young Madam, let’s go. If we’re late, Miss Su will be in danger."
"You came from the wrong direction," Jiang Lin said, pointing to the right. "You came from this side, so you ran into the night watchman. But anyone coming from the small courtyard would come from the left. Tell me, what’s your real purpose for knocking on the door in the middle of the night?"
The servant behind Jiang Lin looked at him with admiration. The Young Madam was amazing, he even knew which direction the man had come from.
After Jiang Lin’s words, the man stopped pretending to be a beggar. His expression turned fierce. "Since you’ve seen through me, I’ll have to kill you."
The man attacked with both hands, his left hand threw a handful of white powder, while his right hand swung the stone he had used to knock on the door, aiming straight for Jiang Lin’s forehead.
Jiang Lin kicked out the moment the man moved. He avoided the stone but accidentally got some of the powder in his eyes.
The servant behind him called out in alarm, while the fake beggar, who had been kicked back, laughed when he saw Jiang Lin’s reaction. "They all said you were hard to deal with, but it seems you’re nothing special. Jiang Lin, today is your death day!"
The man pulled out a dagger and charged at Jiang Lin. Jiang Lin closed his eyes, a cold smile forming on his lips. "I don’t need my eyes to kill you."
Jiang Lin and the fake beggar tangled together. Within a few moves, the servant shouted anxiously, "Young Madam, it’s bad! There’s a fire! A huge fire!"
Jiang Lin immediately knew that his unease tonight had been justified. The fake beggar had tried to lure him away, but the real goal was to set a fire or kill someone.
Jiang Lin became ruthless. After dodging the fake beggar’s attack, he grabbed the man’s neck with one hand. "You’ll pay for your arrogance," Jiang Lin said, tightening his grip. He snapped the man’s neck.
The man died with his eyes wide open. Jiang Lin clapped his hands, his expression cold. "Your master should have told you that I’m not easy to deal with. Too bad you didn’t believe it."
Jiang Lin told the servant to call for help and check on the night watchman outside. He drank some spiritual spring water to detoxify himself, then headed toward the fire.
The fire wasn’t in the Wei residence but in a small house behind it. The flames were huge, and with the wind blowing, they could easily spread to the Wei family’s Zhaoyun Courtyard.
When Jiang Lin returned to Zhaoyun Courtyard, he saw Xun Qi fighting two masked men in the room where Wei Yunqi slept. So, this was another attempt to target their child.
Wei Yunzhao stood under the eaves, holding a sleepy Wei Yunqi, while the housekeeper directed the servants to help put out the fire.
In just a short time, not only had the fire spread, but smoke was also rising from several other places. It was clear that the attackers intended to burn the Wei residence to the ground.
Jiang Lin called Chang’an and told him to go to the street and sound the gong, waking up the nearby residents to help put out the fire. They would be paid for their help.
If the fire wasn’t extinguished, it wouldn’t just be the Wei family’s property that was destroyed, the entire neighborhood would suffer.
Jiang Lin asked Wei Yunzhao, "Do you think it’s one group or two?"
The combination of arson and assassination, along with the attempt to lure him away, showed that the attackers had come well-prepared.
Most importantly, the attackers seemed certain that he would be the one to answer the door, which meant someone had been watching the Wei family for a long time, and they hadn’t noticed.
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