Where are the books? Where have all the books gone?
Luo leaned down gently, walked around the edge of the pit, and then followed the stone stairs into the patio - Luo Youer was not around, so she could only see the scene under her feet as close to the ground as possible.
Within ten steps, the stairs reached the bottom.
Only then did she realize that the patio, which originally had seven floors, had been filled with soil until only one floor remained!
Luo Qingqing didn't care too much and started digging with both hands - the soil was very loose and had not been repeatedly compacted. It could be seen that it had been filled in recently. After a while, she found some broken pieces of paper. After holding them up to her eyes for a closer look, Luo Qing felt a chill all over her body.
These papers undoubtedly come from the books in the library.
But now, they have become messy, and there are still traces of blackening on the corners, proving that someone has burned the books here.
What she worried about most happened.
Luo gently raised his fist and slammed it to the ground——
If the Privy Council wanted the Luo family's alchemists, they could just take them away. Why didn't they even let the library go?
When the fist penetrated deep into the soil, another black thing was smashed out.
She was slightly startled and picked up the object.
That's an arm.
There is no way of knowing who it belongs to. There is not much skin and flesh attached to the bones. The only reason why it has not rotted away is because it has been burned by the fire. The entire arm has been completely withered, like a broken branch.
Luo Qingqing couldn't help but think of the corpses hanging above her head when she passed through the city gate.
She felt something well up in her stomach.
…
After leaving the Luo family's mansion staggeringly, Luo gently leaned against the wall on the side of the road and rested for a while before recovering.
It's not that she didn't expect that the library might be destroyed in the turmoil, and some books might be damaged or even lost, but after all, it was the accumulation of the Luo family in the past hundred years. Even if the alchemist broke up with the Zong family, he would not pour out his hatred. Go to the library. At least none of the Qi-sensing people she knew from the Luo family hated books.
The title of "The Luo Family of Youzhou, omniscient in all things" is by no means an honor that belongs exclusively to the clan. Even if the person who senses Qi becomes an alchemist in the Privy Council, he should do his best to maintain this title.
Her plan completely failed.
"Miss Luo... Luo Qingqing, is it really you?" Suddenly, a slightly startled voice came from beside her.
Luo turned his head slightly and found a vague figure looking at him. Judging from the appearance of Qi, the other person is not a Qi-sensing person. His profile looks like that of a young man, but his voice is not that of someone he is familiar with.
"Who are you… "
"It's not convenient to talk here. Let's change places first." He took two steps closer and suddenly froze, "Your eyes..."
"It's okay." Luo gently took off his blindfold, "It's just that I can't see clearly. I can still recognize the way."
"Really?" He retracted his half-stretched hand, lowered his head and said, "Then please follow me."
After bypassing two streets, the man took her into a magnificent three-story pavilion—it looked like an inn, but it was not open for business. There were many women gathered in the corridor. They all chuckled when they saw Luo Qingqing, as if they were watching some joke. The man did not explain, but kept leading her into a narrow guest room.
"Huh..." He let out a long breath after closing the door, then turned around and looked at Luo Qingqing, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let you come to a place like this, but the Luo family is no longer what it used to be."
"You are from the Zong family." Luo Qingqing already had a rough guess about the man's identity. After all, there were only a handful of people in Qianren City who could recognize her disguised appearance. This person must be quite familiar with her, at least. We had been in contact with him for a long time, and at the same time, she didn't remember him. The only one who meets these two conditions is the Zong family.
"Yes, the genius of Youzhou is indeed well-deserved." He bowed his hands and bowed formally, "My name is Luo Zhisheng, and I am the eldest grandson of the second family. You can just call me Zhisheng."
He was fifteen or sixteen years old at most, younger than himself.
Luo nodded slightly, "Why did the Luo family's mansion become like this? The library... who destroyed it?"
"It's the current city lord, Lu Qiheng. He was originally an alchemist transferred by the Privy Council Mansion. Ever since he learned that the Privy Council Mansion was defeated, he has completely changed." Luo Zhisheng's tone was a little low, "This person did not directly target the Luo family. , because after the Luo family split, the mansion was sealed and no one from the Zong family was allowed to enter. At that time, the library was still in good condition, and I heard that the head of the family kept the mansion intact with the lives of his family. "
"What happens after that?"
"After the death of the family leader, many Luo family members left Qianren City - everyone was worried that Ning Qianshi would just stop temporarily and wait until the situation stabilized before conducting a second round of liquidation. Not even one out of ten decided to stay in the city, and I was one of them. One... After all, everything of the Luo family used to be here." He sat down opposite Luo Qingqing, "But no one expected that Lu Qiheng was crazy. He announced that Qianren City would no longer be under the control of the imperial court or the Privy Council, but It was owned by him alone. He then ordered the demolition of the houses in the outer circle and vacated the land, saying that he would achieve self-sufficiency within a year. At the same time, he also increased taxes and demoted the homeless people as slaves to work for him. They opened up wasteland for farming and built city fortifications, saying that this was the only way to preserve Qianren City.”
Luo Qingqing didn't know what to say for a moment.
She considered many reasons, but she didn't expect it to be like this.
—No matter what the other party’s intentions are, this is a de facto separatist regime.
"What about the library?"
Keeping the Luo family mansion would obviously not hinder his ambition!
"There were many people who opposed him, including the original officials of the six ministries, as well as the literati, businessmen and people in Qianren City. Lu Qiheng used the city guards to launch a purge and executed all those who opposed him." Luo Zhisheng sighed. , "At least one or two thousand people died because of this, including disciples of the Zong family. Because there were too many people, there was not enough burning ground, so he used the courtyard of the library as a natural burning ground, and the books became It became fuel for nearby materials.”
Luo Qingqing couldn't help but gritted his teeth.
She finally knew why charred bones appeared in an underground stone well where books were stored.
Burning the corpse and then burying it is an effective measure to prevent the occurrence of evil spirits. Lu Qiheng obviously knew this, but he chose the crudest method - directly using the patio as a pit, and then filling it with soil after burning, so that he could be buried in the shortest possible time. Eliminate evil spirits within a short period of time.
"Snapped!"
Luo lightly punched the table.
Ever since the deaths of Luo Tang and Luo Changtian, her mood had not experienced such dramatic ups and downs for a long time.
"What about the other alchemists in the Privy Council's Office? Isn't there anyone who opposes him? And the defeated Youzhou Army - where did they go!?"
Lu Qiheng also showed a look of hatred, "Lu Qiheng's current subordinates are the original Qianren City Privy Council. And the Youzhou Army... has become robbers everywhere."