The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Li Hu was lying on the bed with a steaming hot towel on his head. He had a severe headache and could not sleep. He could only stare blankly at the ceiling of the tent.

Wang Daniu came in with a new basin of hot water. He put down the copper basin, picked up a snow-white cotton face towel with flannel, soaked it, wrung it dry, folded it into a strip, held it in his left palm, walked to the bedside, and replaced the face towel on Li Hu's forehead, saying, "This is not much use. You still have to take the medicine honestly."

Li Hu was too lazy to pay attention to him and closed his eyes.

Wang Daniu: "The scabby dog ​​got angry and sent all those thugs out. They were not allowed to come back until they found Shui Rong's whereabouts. It's really hard to deal with such heavy snow. By the way, the scabby dog ​​went to Wang Ren's place."

Li Hu still had his eyes closed.

Wang Daniu shook his head: "This is the bad luck for Xue Dasha. Croton is also considered poison. He poisoned the guerrilla general of the imperial court, and poisoned the army. Ten heads are not enough to chop off." At this point, he suddenly laughed and said, "The Marshal's chance has come."

"What opportunity?" Li Hu then opened his eyes.

Wang Daniu: "Hasn't that fool Xue been talking about her sister in front of the Marshal?"

Li Hu was puzzled: "What's wrong?"

Wang Daniu looked servile and said, "Although I have never seen the eldest daughter of the Xue family, but Mei and Wang Renneng got into trouble because of her, so it must be as the fool Xue said, here we are surnamed Li, all matters big and small have to get the Marshal's approval. When the time comes, you can use both kindness and severity on him, and the Xue family will naturally be grateful, and the daughter of the Xue family will..." As he said that, he laughed.

Li Hu glared at him, but this was indeed an opportunity, a good opportunity to control Huang Jinzhong and Wang Ziteng! Let them take the blame for him!

At this moment, the officer on duty came in hurriedly: "Marshal."

Li Hu: "What's wrong?"

The officer on duty bowed slightly and said, "General, Huang the military supervisor has brought Xue Pan here, saying that Xue Pan poisoned an official of the imperial court. The evidence is irrefutable. Please make a decision, General."

"Oh?" Li Hu's eyes flashed, "Let them in."

Officer on duty: “Yes.” He turned around and strode out.

Wang Daniu took Li Hu's boots.

Li Hu waved his hand: "That's it."

Wang Daniu hesitated and said, "I'm afraid this is not a good idea."

Li Hu said unhappily: "I only have half my life left!" and closed his eyes again.

A chaotic sound of footsteps was mixed with Xue Pan's voice: "Don't push me, I can walk by myself!"

The officer on duty came in with Huang Jinzhong, Xue Pan and two young eunuchs.

Huang Jinzhong gave a half-salute: "Marshal."

Li Hu closed his eyes: "What's the matter?"

What a good pretentious person! Huang Jinzhong looked at Li Hu, then at Xue Pan.

Seeing that Li Hu was pretending to be confused, Xue Pan became more confident. He met Huang Jinzhong's gaze provocatively, meaning: What can you do to me!
Huang Jinzhong didn't bother to pay attention to him and looked at Li Hu: "General, Xue Pan poisoned an official of the imperial court. The evidence is irrefutable. Please deal with it."

Li Hu still closed his eyes: "Is the evidence conclusive?"

Huang Jinzhong: "We found croton in his account, and he admitted it"

Xue Pan raised his head: "It's me!"

Li Hu still closed his eyes: "According to the law, what is the crime for poisoning an official of the imperial court?"

Huang Jinzhong was slightly stunned and replied, "Behead him."

Li Hu waved his hand and said, "Then drag him down and chop him off."

When these words were spoken, Xue Pan was the first to be stunned.

Huang Jinzhong and others were also confused.

The officer on duty turned to look at Wang Daniu and asked, "Are you really going to kill him?"
Wang Daniu gave him a wink.

The officer on duty understood and answered loudly, "Yes!" and walked towards Xue Pan.

Xue Pan came back to his senses: "My Lord! Spare my life!"

The officer on duty grabbed him by the back of his collar and said, "Go!" and dragged him out.

Huang Jinzhong finally came to his senses and looked at Li Hu who still had his eyes closed.

Ever since those two incidents, the reputation of the eldest daughter of the Xue family has been bad. She is also a smart person, and she immediately set her sights on the only noble family she could get in touch with. She would run to the Li family whenever she had something to do. He could see through her little thoughts, let alone Li Hu.

He had originally thought of using this incident to make a personal deal with Li Hu, asking him to immediately send someone to continue searching for Shui Rong's whereabouts, but he didn't expect it to get to this point. It seemed that the eldest daughter of the Xue family had no place in Li Hu's heart, or that Li Hu didn't have that intention. It was impossible? He had heard that the two girls of the Xue family were both outstanding beauties and quite talented.

At this time, the sound of a Buddhist horn was heard outside the tent.

Huang Jinzhong was startled. This was real! No, Xue Pan couldn't die. If he died, not to mention whether Li Hu would settle the score later, Wang Ziteng would definitely bear a grudge against him.

Thinking of this, he whispered a few words in the ear of a young eunuch. The young eunuch nodded and ran out like a flash.
Wang Ziteng was standing outside Wang Ren's tent at this moment, and from time to time he could hear Wang Ren's weak cursing from inside.

As the curtain was lifted, an indescribable smell filled the air.

Wang Ziteng quickly stepped back, covering his mouth and nose with a handkerchief, and looked at the military doctor who came out with his mouth and nose also covered with a handkerchief.

The curtain was lowered and a gust of snowy wind blew by. The two men finally let go of each other's hands and breathed a sigh of relief.

Wang Ziteng looked at the military doctor: "How is it?"

Military doctor: "No life-threatening situation."

Wang Ziteng nodded, as long as he wouldn't die, it would be fine.

A burst of hurried footsteps was heard, and Wang Ziteng looked over.

In the heavy snow, the captain of the guard and the young eunuch who went to get information ran over.

Guard Captain: "Master, this is bad, the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery wants to kill Xue Pan"

Wang Ziteng was startled and asked anxiously, "Where is the person?"

Guard Captain: "It has been sent to the outside of the central army headquarters."

What is this!

Wang Ziteng stamped his feet and ran out of the central army camp like a fly. Huang Jinzhong repeatedly assured him that nothing would happen, and he agreed. He didn't expect Li Hu to play by his own rules. Even if he looked down on Xue Pan, he was still his sister's son. If his nephew killed his nephew, how could he explain to his sister Aunt Xue, and how could he borrow money from the Xue family in the future!

Xue Pan, who was tied up, knelt on the snow outside the camp gate. Behind him, the executioner holding a ghost-headed sword took the wine bowl.
"Spare his life! Spare his life—" Wang Ziteng ran over breathlessly and shouted to the officer on duty supervising the execution, "Wait a minute, wait until I see the Marquis before we discuss everything."

The officer on duty nodded.

Wang Ziteng took a deep breath, turned around and ran towards the central military tent.

After an unknown amount of time, a soldier came over and said something to the officer on duty.

Seeing the guards disappear in the snow, the officer on duty walked behind Xue Pan and said, "Master Xue, get up."

no response.

The officer on duty said again: "Uncle Xue, get up."

Still no response.

The officer on duty knew something was wrong and immediately walked up to Xue Pan and bent down, "Uncle Xue?" As he spoke, he tried to help Xue Pan, whose eyes were dull, up. He couldn't help him up. Then he smelled a strange odor and instantly understood what was going on. With a "slap", he slapped Xue Pan in the face, causing him to fall to the snow.

Xue Pan's eyes moved, and then he started coughing violently, his body shaking continuously.

The officer on duty grabbed him and made him kneel on the ground. Then he vomited all the food in his stomach with a "wow".

The officer on duty untied the ropes on him, patted him on the back twice, and said with a smile, "Wasn't Mr. Xue quite heroic before?"

Xue Pan supported himself on the snow with his hands, vomiting so much that tears and snot came out.

The officer on duty called over the Xue family servant who was stopped at the side and said, "Send your master back to change his clothes."

"Yes." The servants hurriedly lifted Xue Pan up.

Xue Pan finally came to his senses and looked at the officer on duty: "No, you're not going to kill me?"

The officer on duty laughed and said, "If we really wanted to kill you, your head would have been hung on the flagpole long ago."

After a pause, he said, "Your uncle doesn't have the nerve to do that."

Xue Pan nodded.

The officer on duty grinned and said, "The kitchen is slaughtering pigs, there is plenty of hot water, Uncle Xue, take a bath. Otherwise, this smell..." He glanced at his lower body.

Xue Pan's face suddenly turned red.

The officer on duty laughed, and the executioner and the soldiers also laughed.

After experiencing many ups and downs, the servants of the Xue family finally relaxed and couldn't help laughing.

Xue Pan was so angry that he said, "What are you laughing at? Hurry up and leave! I'll expose your skin when I get back!"

The servants hurriedly held back and carried him towards the tent.
The snow fell heavier and heavier, smoke rose from the camp, and the aroma of meat could be smelled everywhere.

The tent curtain was lifted, and Wang Ziteng and Huang Jinzhong walked out of the central army tent. They looked at each other and saw suspicion in each other's eyes.

I thought Li Hu would ask for a lot of unreasonable demands, but I didn't expect that he would just let them take full responsibility for hunting down Shui Rong and eliminating the remnants of the White Lotus Sect. Not only that, he also transferred the Mongolian cavalry, the Five Army Camps, and the Hunan official army to them for command. I always feel that there is something fishy going on! (End of this chapter)