The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Just like in the capital, heavy snow fell here as well.

In the heavy snow, the personal soldiers wearing fur cloaks and wide-brimmed winter hats stood around the big tent.

Inside the big tent, Wang Daniu was squatting in front of a small charcoal stove, fanning himself and boiling some medicine.

Li Hu was half lying and half sitting on a recliner in front of the central military desk, wrapped in a quilt. He leaned close to the brazier beside him, flipping through a stack of documents and coughing from time to time.

After the medicine was ready, Wang Daniu picked up a rag beside the empty bowl and wrapped the handle of the medicine jar. He slowly poured the medicine into the medicine bowl, and then poured the medicine in the medicine bowl into another empty bowl. He did this back and forth several times before he walked to Li Hu with the medicine bowl.

Wang Daniu: "Marshal, take the medicine."

"Oh." Li Hu responded, put down the stack of documents, sat up straight, took the bowl of medicine and drank it in one gulp. It was really hard to drink, bitter and sour.

Seeing Li Hu's painful expression, Wang Daniu couldn't help laughing out loud.

Li Hu glanced at him. He didn't have the energy to be angry with him right now. He would make a list and settle the accounts after he recovered from his illness.

I thought of Lin Daiyu again. She started taking medicine when she was old enough to eat, and only stopped completely in the second half of last year. She switched to a medicated diet for more than ten years. It was really hard for her.

At this time, the voice of the personal guard came from outside the tent: "General, General Wang Yaozu is here."

"Come in." Li Hu handed the bowl of medicine to Wang Daniu and lay down again.

Before he finished speaking, Wang Yaozu walked in: "Meet the Marshal."

Li Hu: "What's the matter?"

Wang Yaozu: "The scouts sent out for reconnaissance have all returned, but there is still no trace of Shui Rong."

Li Hu was silent for a moment, then said, "Forget it if you can't find it. Let's wait until the weather clears up."

Forget it?

Wang Yaozu and Wang Daniu looked at each other. This was not like Li Hu's style!
Li Hu: "Anything else?"

Wang Yaozu: “No, no.”

Li Hu: "Send someone to buy the big fat pigs, chickens, ducks and geese from the nearby villages and towns. And buy some wine and drinks so that everyone can have a good meal."

Wang Yaozu: “Yes.” He turned around and walked out.

Wang Yaozu had just walked out when the voice of his personal guards rang out again: "General, Xue Pan is here."

Why is this kid here instead of visiting his uncle to ask about his health? Li Hu thought for a moment before saying, "Let him in."

A corner of the tent curtain was lifted, and Xue Pan, wearing a thick fur coat, crawled in through the gap in the curtain.

Xue Pan walked over with a fat, sly face.

Li Hu looked at him and asked, "Did you find the money?"

Xue Pan dragged a chair over and sat down by the fire: "I just went to deliver bird's nest porridge to that bastard Wang Ren."

Li Hu raised his eyebrows: "Are you so kind?"

Xue Pan chuckled and said, "I added something."

Li Hu: "Croton?"

Xue Pan: "I went to the market ten miles away in the snow and wind to buy it."

Li Hu looked at him and smiled, then asked, "How is your uncle?"

Xue Pan: "What else can I do? Just think it through and it will be fine."

Li Hu and Wang Daniu smiled at each other. Wang Ziteng fell ill as soon as he arrived at the camp. The military doctor treated him for two days but to no avail.

Xue Pan suddenly remembered: "That bastard Wang Ren accidentally let it slip that my uncle submitted a confession to the emperor through Huang Jianjun and was willing to pay a ransom of 100,000 taels!"

Li Hu nodded.

Xue Pan: "Because he killed too many people in Henan, he didn't dare to return to the Henan General's Mansion. He wanted to lead troops outside the Great Wall and make meritorious deeds to atone for his sins."

Go to lead troops outside the Great Wall? The Six Towns of Yinshan?

Li Hu's eyes flashed. Wang Ziteng must have known the news outside the Great Wall. According to the intelligence, Fu Kang'an's defeat was a matter of time. At that time, there would be a major reshuffle outside the Great Wall and the war would be reignited.

He suddenly remembered the confession of the old steward, that many White Lotus followers had gone to the six towns of Yinshan. What if they took advantage of the chaos to stir up trouble? Should he tell the emperor and the prince? Forget it. If the world is really peaceful and the eight wastelands are in order, who knows what will happen to him.

He had planned what to do next. He would slowly search for Shui Rong while recovering from his illness, wait for the emperor's edict, resign from the position of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War after returning to Beijing, and focus on the wedding. He would marry Lin Daiyu and have a pair of children. Is it too early to have children? Forget it, we'll talk about it later. Xue Pan snorted coldly at this time: "He actually had the nerve to let our Xue family advance the money for the atonement."

Wang Daniu: "This is too shameless!"

Xue Pan: "That's right. He helped me, but he took hundreds of thousands of silver from the Xue family over the years."

Li Hu interrupted him: "You are my nephew, a junior, so you should show due respect to him. Don't keep calling him 'him'. It will be bad if it gets out."

Xue Pan was a little excited: "Nephew?! Jia Baoyu's phoenix egg is his nephew! For example, on his birthday, whether he is there or not, he will have a set of clothes, a pair of shoes and socks, a hundred birthday peaches, and a hundred bundles of silver noodles. But I have nothing!"

Li Hu smiled. How could Wang Ziteng remember the birthday of the younger generation? It must be Wang Ziteng's wife who did it. She looked down on the Xue family.

Li Hu turned around and asked, "When are you going back?"

Xue Pan: "I'm not going back. My mother cries when she sees me, and my sister lectures me when she sees me. Hey, what have you thought about what I told you last time?"

Li Hu was stunned: "What's the matter?"

Xue Pan clapped his hands and said, "How could you forget this? Come to my house and have some soup! I'm not bragging, but my sister's soup is the best. Once you have a bite, you will never forget its taste."

Li Hu was slightly stunned. Is it really so magical? Could it be that some technology and hard work were added? !

Drink soup? Wang Daniu's eyes flashed. No, this must be told to the girl.

As they were talking, the officer on duty came in hurriedly and reported to Li Hu: "Marshal, something happened. Wang Ren was poisoned."

Xue Pan stood up quickly, laughed and said, "I'm going to watch the joke."

Li Hu: "Aren't you afraid that they will find out?"

"I don't admit it, what can they do to me! The surname here is Li, it's not his turn to point fingers at others, the surname Wang." Xue Pan raised his head and strode out.

Wang Daniu smiled and said, "I don't know if he is really stupid or just lacks brains."

Li Hu smiled.

The officer on duty understood, but still had to ask: "Marshal, this matter."

Li Hu: "Just pretend you don't know."

Officer on duty: “Yes.”

Seeing the officer on duty walk out, Li Hu said to Wang Daniu, "Don't tell tales, or I'll expose your skin."

Wang Daniu blinked his eyes: "This is not something shameful, why can't I say it?"

Li Hu rolled his eyes and said, "You know shit! I'm not planning on going. If you tell anyone, it will only cause trouble."

"Oh~~"

"Oh shit! Wring me a washcloth with hot water."

"What?"

"Apply it on your head!"

The tent was filled with guards from the Imperial Household Department.

Huang Jinzhong's eyes were red as he scanned the map. After a long while, he said irritably, "Where is Shui Rong? Where is he hiding?"

None of the guards said a word.

Huang Jinzhong: "If you can't find Shui Rong's whereabouts if you go out and look for him again, don't come back!"

The guards looked at each other and answered in a mess, "Yes." Then they hurried out.

At this time, a young eunuch walked in.

Young eunuch: "Godfather, I just heard that Wang Ren was poisoned."

Huang Jinzhong: "Poisoned? What kind of poison?"

The young eunuch shook his head: "It's not clear yet."

Huang Jinzhong thought for a moment and said, "Let's go take a look." Then he picked up the cloak on the hanger and walked out. (End of this chapter)