The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

The light in the hall dimmed.

The prince stood up, walked to the couch, brought the candlestick, picked up the flint on the desk, lit it, and lit the candle on the candlestick.

Then the prince slowly stretched his right hand to the table, picked up a letter, and held it towards the candlelight. A corner of the letter ignited, and then the flame slowly devoured it until the three words "Wang Ziteng" on the envelope were burned into white ash!

The prince waited until the flame on the envelope reached his fingers before dropping the last corner into the ink pool.

"Your Highness, General Li is here." Zhao Tong's voice came from outside the hall.

The prince said: "Come in." He turned around and sat down on the couch.

Li Hu strode in, sat down on the other side of the couch, and asked, "Your Highness, is there anything?"

The prince asked with a smile, "Did you finish the discussion so quickly?"

Li Hu: "What is there to talk about! The battlefield is changing rapidly, and Yangzhou and the capital are thousands of miles away. By the time the strategy drawn up by the upper study is passed on, it will be too late."

Zhao Tong brought a bowl of tea.

Li Hu bowed, took the tea bowl, and sighed, "I am so unlucky. If the emperor is in a bad mood, I won't come back."

The prince smiled and said, "You didn't give any advice?"

Li Hu gave a bitter smile: "I would like to, but the emperor is staring at my neck. People under the eaves have no choice but to bow their heads!"

The prince smiled and nodded at Li Hu: "You! What did you say?"

Li Hu took a sip of tea and said, "I have read the intelligence sent back by the Northern Pacification Office and the Imperial Household Department. I predict that Shui Rong will change his strategy and move westward from Yangzhou to attack Tianchang and enter Anhui."

The prince thought for a moment and said, "Go on."

Li Hu: “No more.”

The prince was stunned for a moment: "No more?"

Li Hu: “No more.”

The prince frowned: "So little?"

Li Hu: "Quite a lot. Knowing the direction of Shui Rong's rebels, the court can make corresponding deployments. Fengyang has been destroyed by the White Lotus rebels, and Shui Rong can only go south to attack Chuzhou. Shui Rong has robbed so much money, food and equipment, and has also taken so many civilians hostage. The 800-li express can only go a short distance. The cavalry in Xuzhou Prefecture is transferred southward. The Jiangnan camp is entering Chuzhou from Liuhe. The two sides can attack Shui Rong from the front and back of Chuzhou. As long as there is no major mistake, the outcome can be decided in one battle."

The prince perked up: "Really?"

Li Hu smiled: "Faced with the overwhelming cavalry phalanx attack, even the elite infantry of the border army would be afraid, let alone a group of rabble! Your Highness has never been on the battlefield. There are more than ten thousand cavalry, boundless, and the smoke and dust are several miles long."

The prince nodded: "Okay, okay. If we can really win the war, it's not too late. The people can plant some other crops in the fields, the court can give some relief grain, and exempt taxes for one year, and we can get through it." At this point, he sighed, "The people are suffering."

Li Hu sighed inwardly. Even if he could wipe out the Shui Rong rebels in one battle, there were still dozens of White Lotus rebels of all sizes in the Central Plains. Oh, by the way, there has been no news of Bai Hongzhi for a long time. I wonder how this guy is doing.

The prince suddenly remembered: "By the way, did Heshen send you a lot of valuable gifts such as ginseng and furs?"

Li Hu was stunned at first, then smiled and said, "Originally, Ming'er sent it to Your Highness early this morning. Among them is a 300-year-old ginseng, which is the most rare. Your Highness, if you eat it, your illness will definitely get better."

The prince laughed and said, "I am not trying to blackmail you!" Then he said to Zhao Tong, "You tell me."

Zhao Tong: "Yes. I don't know how this matter was known to the group of people who passed the imperial examination, and they are secretly contacting the Qingliu to impeach General Li."

Li Hu was slightly stunned: "Report me?! Why do you want to report me?"

Zhao Tong: "Accepting bribes and colluding with the enemy."

Li Hu laughed angrily: "Accepting bribes and colluding with foreign enemies? Why don't they say it's 'groundless'? Heshen and I were doing business together, and he used these things to pay the interest! If this is collusion with foreign enemies, then are all the people in the Dashun Dynasty 'traitors' who are colluding with foreign enemies?!"

Zhao Tong looked at the prince and thought there was nothing wrong with what he said.

Prince: "Well, no one doesn't believe you. What I mean is that you should not argue with them."

Li Hu was unhappy: "I'm not their parents, why should I indulge their bad habits! If they dare to talk nonsense, I will beat the shit out of them!"

Zhao Tong almost couldn't hold back his laughter.

The prince stroked his forehead and said, "Forget it, as long as you are happy. If there is anything, I will take care of it for you."

After hearing what the prince said, Li Hu was silent for a moment and said, "As long as they don't talk nonsense in front of me, I will just treat it as being bitten by a dog."

The prince smiled and nodded: "Since ancient times, those who have accomplished great things must first have a broad mind. You are the commander of hundreds of thousands of troops, so don't bother with those who seek fame and reputation. Well, it's getting late, so I won't delay you from going home for dinner."

Li Hu stood up and said, "Yes." He bowed and walked out of the hall.

"Please send a few more ginsengs over." the prince added.

Li Hu: "Yes." Zhao Tong followed him out.

The more you don't want to see someone, the more likely you are to meet him or her everywhere.

In the distance, Tanhua Lang and a group of officials who were successful candidates in the imperial examination walked over from the stone bridge in front of Wenyuan Pavilion, talking.

Li Hu paused, then strode over.

When the group of officials saw Li Hu, they immediately stopped talking. No one saluted Li Hu. They all pretended not to see him and walked straight forward.

Li Hu ignored them and walked straight towards the stone bridge.

Just pass by!

At this time, someone in the crowd cursed: "Bah, you traitor dog!"

Li Hu turned his head, his eyes flashing with ferocity as he searched among the crowd: "Who is talking? Who was talking just now?"

The official who spoke was obviously frightened and did not dare to respond.

There was silence.

Li Hu: "Why? He is a hero, a brave man, but you dare not admit it?"

According to the imperial system, insulting a superior would result in dismissal and questioning. The official was so overwhelmed that he dared not admit it now that he had come to his senses.

Tanhualang and others naturally knew who said it, but they kept silent tacitly, trying to get away with it. After all, the law cannot hold everyone responsible.

Li Hu laughed: "Why, you were such a hero just now, but now you are a coward again!"

The third place winner spoke up: "I don't know what Minister Li is talking about. It's alright, let's go to the study to sort out the documents. Let's go."

"Who dares."

Li Hu walked in front of the officials, and his two cold eyes slowly swept across everyone's faces.

Everyone looked awe-inspiring.

Li Hu's eyes searched the crowd back and forth, and finally, an official lowered his head timidly.

Li Hu pointed at the official and said, "Get out!"

Tanhualang and others were shocked and immediately protected the official behind them.

Li Hu: “Get out of the way.”

Tanhualang: "I have delayed the emperor's mission"

Li Hu: “Get lost!”

The third place winner was angry: "Li Hu, don't go too far."

With a "slap", Li Hu slapped the Tanhua scholar in the face!
The scholar stumbled and fell to the ground, screaming, "You, I'm going to sue you in front of the Emperor!"

Li Hu was too lazy to pay attention to him. He grabbed an official who was blocking his way and threw him out. Then another official was thrown out.

The officials were shocked and angry:
"Li Hu, don't go too far!"

"Li Hu, we are going to sue you before the Emperor!"

".We are disciples of the emperor, you can't. Ouch, my waist is broken~"

Just when Li Hu was about to catch the official, someone shouted, "Fight this bastard!"

"Beat him to death!" many officials shouted.

An official rushed over and hugged Li Hu's arm. Other officials immediately rushed over and tried to pin Li Hu to the ground and beat him.

"Go away!"

Li Hu was furious. He exerted force with his arms and threw away the official who was holding his arm. Then he used his fists and feet to knock all the officials to the ground, causing them to scream in pain.

The commotion here had already alarmed the officials in Wenyuan Pavilion. Now the two university scholars also rushed out upon hearing the news and were all shocked.

Li Hu dusted off his robes, glanced at the ground, and was slightly stunned. Where is the person? He looked around and found that the official took advantage of the chaos to run to the Qianqing Palace.

Li Hu: "Bah, you're a coward without balls!" (End of this chapter)