Official Liu could only bite the bullet and continued thinking of a solution to face the situation.
Apart from that, he had to find out who was in the fire. After all, if they died from the fire, they would be unrecognizable from the burns by then.
"This is the Zheng family's wax shop. The family's only son, Zheng Lusheng, went in. He was wailing and moaning. His parents-in-law are inside too. There's also a… priest with them! A female priest who looks 30… Some neighbors who live on the same street with the Wei family are inside as well…"
The official had sent someone to investigate.
As the people were from the same area, it should be easy to figure out who was inside.
However, that priest had come out of nowhere.. Nobody knew who she was.
If something happened, would it not be difficult for him to file the report? Not only that, but they would also have to inform her family. Nobody knew which family that priest was from…
…
Xie Pinggang was currently investigating a case with the Crown Prince next to him. He felt like his head was going to explode.
The Crown Prince was here as a supervisor. To put it simply, he was here to monitor the people's work at the Criminal Division.
However, he should not be investigating the case with them, right?
Not only that, the Criminal Division did more than case investigation. They had many miscellaneous matters to handle. Any of them were easier than investigating a case.
Xie Pinggang had no idea why the Crown Prince insisted on being out on the job with him.
Forget that he tagged along; the Crown Prince was also talkative. He would ask Xie Pinggang about him working at the Criminal Division and whether his family was adapting to their lives in the Imperial City.
People might think that the Crown Prince was interested in Xie Pinggang's family.
They were bandits in the past, so Xie Pinggang was worried that the Emperor would suddenly recall their existence. Never had he expected the Crown Prince would be sent directly.
He was like a fish that was being sliced. He had lost his spirit in the job.
"There seems to be a fire ahead." Xie Pinggang glanced at the south. "Your Highness, the official from the fire patrol, is an old buddy of mine. Can I… take a look?"
Many people had come out of the mountain stronghold with him back then. They had been recruited, after all. It would not make sense if all of them were made officials. It would be unfair to the rest.
Moreover, they had been rewarded for killing the barbarians.
Therefore, those who wanted to be in the military had been hired. The timid ones had become good citizens and lived somewhere peacefully as they were worried that the imperial court would come after them for what they had done in the past.
However, those who came out of the bandit mountain stronghold would be courageous. Therefore, Xie Pinggang knew some of them in all military camps, including the fire patrol.
The fire in the south seemed to be serious, so he wanted to take a look. He could give his buddy a helping hand if needed.
"I'll go too."
Zhao Xuanjing thought Xie Pinggang was interesting. He was direct in his words and straightforward in his work. Although he looked fierce, he was considerate. If he was born into a respectable family, he would not be a mere minor official at the administrative office now.
Xie Pinggang was stunned. "There's a fire… What's there to look at?"
Zhao Xuanjing was entertained.
If it was someone else, he would definitely say things like, "The place of fire isn't safe for Your Highness who possesses a noble identity". However, Xie Pinggang told his objective directly.
"I just want to look." Naturally, one would have to be direct when talking to a straightforward person.
Xie Pinggang said after hearing that, "Sure. Please be careful, Your Highness. I'm worried I can't watch out for you in the place of fire."
Zhao Xuanjing agreed to that happily.
Xie Qiao's brother was such an interesting person.
However, judging by the fact that Xie Pinggang was lacking care when tending to the Crown Prince, he must be lacking in that too when it came to women. Given his hot temper, he might not be able to marry a wife for the rest of his life.