The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

The sun is shining brightly today, shining on the bamboo forest that has just sprouted tender leaves, making it full of vitality.

A red figure was lying on the edge of the bamboo forest, behind him was Shi Xiangyun's maid Cuilu.

Cuilu half-knelt there, with a bitter face: "Girl, my legs are numb."

The red figure was Shi Xiangyun. She turned around and glanced at Cuilu, saying unhappily, "Why don't you just stand up?"

Cuilu: “Oh.” She answered and stood up.

Shi Xiangyun: "What a silly girl." Then she looked towards the depths of the bamboo forest.

Suddenly, a snow-white rabbit jumped out from the depths of the bamboo forest. While nibbling on the moss on the side of the corridor, it looked around vigilantly, and its ears were alertly listening for any unusual sounds.

It was the snow rabbit that Li Hu had his personal soldiers send back years ago.

Shi Xiangyun tiptoed over and seeing that the snow rabbit did not react, she pounced on it like flying.

Snow hares are good at jumping. When frightened, they will jump up and disappear without a trace in an instant.

Shi Xiangyun missed her chance and saw the snow rabbit running towards the pavilion. She immediately chased after it, shouting, "Luer, catch it! Ouch~" But then she slipped and fell.

Seeing this, Cuilu hurried over to help her.

Shi Xiangyun had already climbed up, rubbing her buttocks and shouting, "Don't let it run away, I must eat it today!"

Cuilu had no choice but to chase the snow rabbit.

The snow rabbit has large eyes on both sides of its head, which not only provide a wide range of vision, but also allow it to look forward, backward, sideways and upward at the same time, which can be said to be able to see in all directions. However, it has a big disadvantage: the distance between its eyes is too large, so it has to move its face left and right to see objects clearly. When running fast, it often does not have time to turn its face, so it often bumps into walls and trees.

The snow rabbit was so frightened that it ran headfirst into the stone pillar of the pavilion, breaking its neck and dying on the spot.

Cuilu excitedly picked up the snow rabbit and said, "I caught it! I caught it! Oh, the girl is dead."

After hearing this, Shi Xiangyun glared at her unhappily and said to the snow rabbit, "It's not that I want to eat you. It's Brother-in-law Lin who said in the letter that you won't be able to survive when the weather gets warmer. Let's go and tell Sister Lin." After that, she pulled Cuilu and ran out of the garden.

The sound of abacus beads came from the living room of Lin Daiyu's main house.

In front of two accounting desks, sisters Xue Baochai and Xue Baoqin were calculating the accounts sent from the money shop, using their left hands to count beads and their right hands to write.

Sitting at the head of the table, Lin Daiyu was holding an account book, flipping through it slowly, occasionally crossing out a line or two of the account.

The sound of abacus beads gradually became sparse, and almost at the same time, sisters Xue Baochai and Xue Baoqin finished calculating the accounts on their respective tables.

Xue Baochai put down her pen and slowly sorted out the bills on the desk. She glanced at Lin Daiyu and saw her put the account book in her hand into a locked rosewood box. Then she picked up the bills and walked over.

Xue Baoqin followed with the bill in her hand.

The copper lock on the rosewood was locked. Lin Daiyu put the copper key into the sachet and hung it on her belt.

Xue Baochai handed over the first page of the bills in her hand.

Lin Daiyu took it, quickly finished reading this page of bills, put it down, and took the second page handed to her by Xue Baochai. She quickly finished reading the stack of bills in Xue Baochai's hand, and then the bills in Xue Baoqin's hand.

Xue Baochai smiled and said, "It's a pity to leave so much money lying around. I think we can invest it in the Chamber of Commerce. Money will make more money."

Lin Daiyu looked at her and said, "There is no order without rules. Money from banks cannot be invested in the Chamber of Commerce, even if it can generate more money. Banks rely not only on strength, but also on credit."

Xue Baochai blushed and was about to speak.

Lin Daiyu continued, "Li's Bank is currently only handling deposits and exchanging notes for silver. In addition, there is no storage fee for depositing money in Li's Bank."

Xue Baoqin was puzzled: "Wouldn't that be a loss?"

Lin Daiyu: "It depends on the long term."

Xue Baochai seemed to understand: "You want to set up the stall first, let Li's money house open all over Dashun, and then issue bills of exchange?"

Lin Daiyu smiled. That was all for the future. The most important thing now was to launder the money. "Sister Lin! Sister Lin~"

Shi Xiangyun rushed in like a gust of wind and handed the snow rabbit to Lin Daiyu: "I finally caught this runaway snow rabbit. Sister Lin, can I ask the kitchen to roast it for you?"

Lin Daiyu: "Thank you then."

Shi Xiangyun smiled happily, and hurriedly handed the snow rabbit to the old woman, and reminded her to be careful.

Lin Daiyu then noticed the mud on her buttocks: "Did you fall?"

Shi Xiangyun: "It's okay, it doesn't hurt."

"You!"

Lin Daiyu tapped her forehead and said, "Go to the inner room and change your clothes."

Shi Xiangyun said "hmm" and ran into the bedroom like a gust of wind again.

Lin Daiyu smiled and shook her head. This girl said she came to celebrate her birthday, but ended up staying with a lot of luggage. It would have been fine if she was naughty, but she still chattered in bed at night, laughing and talking for a while. I don't know where those words came from, but they gave them a headache. She was not quiet even when she fell asleep, but fortunately the bed was big.

Xue Baoqin spoke up: "Sister Lin, let Sister Yun sleep in the innermost bed tonight."

Lin Daiyu: "Why, did she kick you again at night?"

Xue Baoqin nodded.

Lin Daiyu was amused: "Let Yun girl kick your sister?"

Xue Baochai rolled her eyes.

Xue Baoqin reacted and was about to speak when she saw Nanny Wang hurried in with an official document.

Nanny Wang: "Miss, this is the copy sent by the Ministry of War." She handed over the copy.

Lin Daiyu took the exhibition and looked at it.

Xue Baochai showed a trace of envy in her eyes. This was power. Although Li Hu was not at home, the copies of the cabinet and the six ministries would still be sent to Li's house. Lin Daiyu could learn about the major events of the court and the country without leaving her house.

Seeing Lin Daiyu's expression change, Xue Baoqin asked tentatively: "Sister Lin?"

Xue Baochai also looked at Lin Daiyu, at the copy in her hand.

Lin Daiyu: "The White Lotus rebels defeated the army of King Zhongshun, and Wang Ziteng was seriously injured. It is said that at the critical moment of the battle, an unidentified rebel group attacked the government army from the rear wing."

Xue Baochai and Xue Baoqin were both shocked.

"useless!"

Shi Xiangyun, who had changed her clothes, came out from the inner room and said, "If it were Brother-in-law Lin, he would have wiped out those White Lotus rebels long ago. Oh, by the way, what do you think Brother-in-law Lin is doing now?"

Lin Daiyu, Xue Baochai and Xue Baoqin were all stunned. Yes, what was Li Hu doing?

In contrast to the bright and sunny capital city in spring, the northern foothills of the Yin Mountains are still cold and windy, with snow covering the fields.

The biting cold wind whistled by, and the big red flag with the word "Li" on it fluttered in the wind.

Under the big flag, Li Hu sat upright on a big white horse.

Behind him, tens of thousands of soldiers with fluttering flags and bright armor were lined up in formation and ready to attack.

Everyone's ears and noses were red from the cold wind, but they all stared ahead with ferocious eyes.

A huge army appeared at the other end of the prairie. Fu Kang'an arrived.

Soon, Fukangan's coalition forces stopped their horses, and a battle for the northern foothills of Yinshan Mountain was about to begin. (End of this chapter)