The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

There were several exquisite side dishes on the desk. Jia She was drinking by himself, his eyes occasionally looking towards the tightly closed study door.

Suddenly, the door was pushed open.

Jia Jing walked in and smiled when he saw this, "I knew right away that you were hiding in the study drinking."

Jia She smiled and said, "Let's drink and sing, what is life like? Let's have a drink and talk about heroes tonight." As he said that, he took out a pair of cups and chopsticks like a magic trick.

"Talking about heroes over a glass of wine? At best, we are a pair of old drunkards!"

Jia Jing dragged a chair over and sat down next to the desk. He poured himself a cup and said with a smile, "When you get old, you like this. I almost died of greed during the past few days in Xianling."

Jia She poured the wine in the jug for Jia Jing and filled his own glass as well.

Jia Jing picked up the wine glass and took a sip: "You know everything, right?"

Jia She nodded.

Jia Jing: "As long as the Crown Prince is not crowned, the Crown Prince may be in trouble."

Jia She: "Only when the second son dies can his thoughts be completely stopped."

Jia Jing nodded.

Jia She: "I always feel that the emperor is not holding back his farts well."

Jia Jing smiled: "No matter what he is thinking, the court will enter a period of stability. The Jurchens fought Fu Kang'an on the Khorchin grasslands. Without any constraints, I believe the court will be able to put down this rebellion soon."

Jia She shook his head and said, "Don't forget that there have been several mistakes in Henan. I suspect that the White Lotus has planted spies in the court."

"Isn't it just right that Wang Ziteng is unlucky?" Jia Jing drank the wine in the glass in one gulp.

Jia She and Jia Jing looked at each other and burst into laughter.

Jia She suddenly remembered: "Oh, by the way, I received a visiting card a few days ago. The ancestor of the other party was a disciple of the Jia family, so he is a family friend. Now he is waiting for a vacancy in the Ministry of War." As he said that, he took out a visiting card from the box and handed it to Jia Jing.

Jia Jing took the scroll and looked at it, then frowned. "Many military sons from Datong and Xuanfu have already been offered positions in the six towns of Yinshan. Why did he come to the capital to wait for a position?"

Jia She smiled and said, "I can't stand the hardship!"

With a cold snort, Jia Jing threw the visiting card away and said, "If you can't endure hardship, why would you be a soldier?"

Jia She: "After all, we are old friends, so I'll help you if I can."

"It's up to you."

Jia Jing poured himself another glass of wine and said, "No more talking, let's drink."

The open space in front of the Third Prince's Mansion was filled with guards from the Southern Pacification Division, and on both sides of the stone lions at the gate stood a row of guards carrying swords.

Suddenly, there were earth-shaking cries of many people coming from the gate.

After a while, a group of Southern Pacification Division guards came out, driving servants from the Third Prince's Mansion and walked towards the entrance of the alley.

Then, Zhen Fu, wearing a brand new uniform of the commander of the Southern Pacification Division, came out with a sword slung over his shoulder. He stopped on the stone steps, glanced at the guards, and said loudly, "Watch out, no one can enter or leave the Third Prince's mansion without the Emperor's order! Do you hear me?"

All the soldiers shouted in unison: "I heard it!"

Zhen Fu nodded with satisfaction, and when he reached the stone steps, he stopped again, turned around slowly, and looked around the Third Prince's Mansion. He sighed and said, "You may be a guest today, but a prisoner tomorrow. The world is unpredictable!" As he spoke, a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

With a clang, the door closed from the inside.

Zhen Fu shook his head, thinking that he had been told to keep a low profile, and now he might have to stay in this house for the rest of his life. And the emperor, he will probably have to eat vegetarian food and chant Buddhist scriptures for the rest of his life!
Thinking of this, Zhen Fu smiled bitterly. If he had known this would be the result, he would not have wasted time on the Third Prince. The Second Prince didn't look like a good option either. What about the Crown Prince?
He suddenly remembered that handle. Push Jia Yucun out to prove his loyalty? Never mind. Wait a little longer. Maybe the emperor has other ideas.

Thinking of this, Zhen Fu turned around, waved his hand, and led a group of soldiers away. An autumn wind blew, and fallen leaves fluttered down.

Emperor Yongchang stood quietly by the window of the upper study, looking at the dead leaves falling outside.

There was a sound of footsteps, and a red-robed eunuch from the Imperial Household Department came in and whispered to Emperor Yongchang: "The Third Prince has taken care of it. Zhen Fu said something in front of the palace gate..."

A cold light quickly flashed in Emperor Yongchang's eyes, and he snorted in his heart, "Just wait, wait until the war in the Central Plains is over, wait until I have time, then I will settle accounts with you one by one, and no one of you can escape!"
Emperor Yongchang: "Keep an eye on him and the Zhen family."

The chief eunuch said, “Yes.” He bowed and walked out.

As soon as the eunuch left, Dai Quan came in holding medicine.

Carrying the bowl of medicine to Emperor Yongchang, Dai Quan took a sip himself first, then offered it to him: "It's just right, not too cold or too hot."

Emperor Yongchang took the bowl with both hands and drank it in one gulp.

Dai Quan took the medicine bowl and said with a smile, "That's good. The emperor will surely recover quickly this way."

Emperor Yongchang glanced at him and asked, "Do you think Li Hu can defeat Shui Rong?"

Dai Quan handed over another bowl of warm water and replied, "No matter how powerful Shui Rong is, he can't beat the Eight Banners soldiers. Besides, he didn't defeat the Five Army Battalion and the Infantry Battalion by his own strength. What's fake is fake."

Emperor Yongchang took a sip of warm water, rinsed his mouth and spit it into the bowl, then asked, "Where is Zhen Yingjia now?"

Dai Quan thought for a moment and said, "He should still be in the Ministry of Rites."

Emperor Yongchang: "Ask Zhen Yingjia to come here."

Dai Quan: “Yes.”

Emperor Yongchang suddenly remembered: "Let the crown prince write a letter to Li Hu, saying that I still have use for the Western barbarians, so don't kill them all the time."

At this moment, the emperor was not the only one who was talking about Li Hu.

"Li Hu, I swear to kill you!" Shui Rong, with red eyes, was particularly scary at this time.

Yang Qilong sighed silently. Their food supply was targeted by Li Hu. This was the third batch of food that was burned by the government soldiers. They hadn't received a single grain of food in five days. If this continued, the army would be out of food.

With a "snap", Shui Rong slammed his palm on the table: "Go, send someone to kill those stink bugs!"

Yang Qilong gave a bitter smile: "The government cavalry comes and goes like the wind, we have no way to deal with it."

Shui Rong slammed the table in frustration and said, "If one thousand people can't stop us, send five thousand, ten thousand, or even a hundred thousand. I don't believe we can't stop these bugs!"

Yang Qilong was silent. One hundred thousand men was not realistic. Ten thousand men had no advantage against four or five thousand cavalry. Sending twenty thousand men might be possible, but that would bring many problems. Running back and forth would make the soldiers tired, food consumption would increase, and military morale would be affected. However, they did not have enough food.

Thinking of this, Yang Qilong spoke: "Young Master, I will personally lead 15,000 people to meet the team escorting the grain and grass."

Shui Rong thought for a moment and said, "Be careful on the road."

Yang Qilong: “Yes.”

Shui Rong: "When will those people from Hefei be brought here?"

Yang Qilong: "My Lord, these are all old, weak, women and children, and the bronze cannons are too heavy. We can't even travel thirty miles a day."

Shui Rong's face sank: "We asked them to come here to be cannon fodder, not to have a drink and watch a show! Three days, if they can't get here within three days, don't come!"

Yang Qilong hesitated for a moment, then answered, "Yes," and walked out. (End of this chapter)