The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

In the month of fireworks in March, the back garden of Li’s residence ushered in the most beautiful season again.

There is a peach tree every three steps and a willow tree every five steps on both sides of the river bank. The tender willows look like green smoke, and the pink peaches look like red mist. The swaying willows set off a riot of colors, as brilliant as brocade, which makes people linger.

Looking from a distance, the fields of crabapples look like dense red clouds, delicate and bright red, and the clusters of flowers look like dots of rouge, charming and attractive.

There were many kites flying in the sky, and laughter filled the entire back garden.

All the golden hairpins had arrived. Xue Baochai was sitting under a peach tree playing chess with Lin Daiyu. A group of people were flying kites nearby. Jia Yingchun, Jia Tanchun, Jia Xichun, Shi Xiangyun, and Xue Baoqin were all there. Even Wang Xifeng had come with her daughter.

Xue Baochai glanced at Lin Daiyu, whose face was as calm as still water, picked up a chess piece and placed it gently on the chessboard.

Lin Daiyu casually made a move, took the tea bowl handed to her by Zijuan and took a sip.

Xue Baochai took out another piece and was about to place it, but after hesitating for a moment, she finally spoke up: "Should we write a letter to the Duke?"

Lin Daiyu glanced at her and replied indifferently, "They are just a bunch of clowns."

Xue Baochai was slightly startled. A clown?

The Luoyang incident was a lot of noise but little action. No matter how unwilling they were, the gentry and monks had to accept the result. Li Hu resigned from his position as the right vice minister of the Ministry of War and was fined one year's salary.

Just when everyone thought that the dust had settled, rumors spread inside and outside the city. The monks began to collectively throw dirty water on Li Hu. After nearly half a month of fermentation, Li Hu and even everyone in the Li family became unforgivable people!

Of course, this was also fueled by the upright officials and gentry.

Everyone knew that it was the monks with dirty hearts who were spreading rumors, but there was no solid evidence. The Wucheng Military Command arrested many people who spread rumors. They were all believers from various temples. After being tortured, they got some information out of them, but they immediately changed their confessions when they were handed over to the Ministry of Justice. As a result, Baoling Hou Shi Nai was jointly impeached by the Censorate, the Ministry of Justice, and the Dali Temple. It was only after Jia Jing took action that the matter was settled.

Ever since this incident happened, Xue Baochai and her sister Xue Baoqin moved in, chatting and laughing with Lin Daiyu to relieve her boredom, while helping her deal with matters at the Chamber of Commerce and the farm.

After watching from the sidelines for a while, Xue Baochai was secretly shocked. This matter was far more complicated than she had imagined. The gentry, the upright officials, the monks, as well as the Prince Zhongshun's Mansion and the Prince Nan'an's Mansion were all secretly involved.

If the palace does not take action, it will be impossible for Baoling Hou Shi Nai to obtain evidence. If those fake monks with impure minds are not arrested, they will spread rumors everywhere. If the people of the world believe them, Li Hu and the Li family will be finished.

Therefore, we must never sit and wait for death.

Since there is no evidence that the monks slandered Li Hu, then we have to find a way to find evidence from them. They are all dirty people with impure minds and we will always be able to find evidence against them.

Thinking of this, Xue Baochai placed the chess pieces in her hand and said, "I have an idea, but I don't know whether I should tell you or not."

Lin Daiyu looked at her.

Xue Baochai: "The Eleven Commentaries on the Art of War says, 'If I raise the army first, I will be the guest and they will be the host; if I am the guest, I will not have enough food, but if I am the host, I will have more than enough to eat. If I seize their stores, plunder their fields, take their food, and store their grain, then I will be well fed and they will be hungry, and this will turn the guest into the host.'"

Lin Daiyu burst out laughing: "When did Sister Bao start studying the art of war?"

Xue Baochai blushed and continued, "We must take the initiative and fight for the initiative. If we can take the initiative, we can control the overall situation. If we are passive, we will always be at the mercy of others. We cannot be led by those monks by the nose. We must take the initiative and get their evidence of guilt!"

Lin Daiyu did not say anything, but just looked at Xue Baochai with a smile. This look made Xue Baochai feel uneasy. "Sister Bao is indeed well-read and outstanding." Lin Daiyu praised.

Xue Baochai felt a little embarrassed by the praise. Just as she was about to say something, she saw Nanny Wang hurriedly walking towards Lin Daiyu with a box in her hands.

Walking up to her, Nanny Wang whispered, "Miss, Ma Dao Po has confessed. All the things are here." Then she handed the box to Lin Daiyu.

Lin Daiyu opened the box, took out the trial record, looked at it, nodded, and handed it to Xue Baochai. Then she took out a few small accounts and looked at them. They recorded the secret affairs of many officials and wealthy wives and girls. There were also some paper figurines, incense and other things in the box.

After reading the trial record, Xue Baochai was stunned. She had seen this Ma Dao Po twice in Lady Jia's room, but she didn't expect her to be so vicious, acting like a demon behind the scenes and harming so many people's lives.

Buddha in front of you, devil behind you?

Xue Baochai's eyes lit up. She felt sleepy and found a pillow. This was it. She suddenly realized that Lin Daiyu had already thought of it.

Thinking of this, Xue Baochai looked at Lin Daiyu.

Lin Daiyu smiled slightly. She also remembered that Li Hu had mentioned in Rongqing Hall that this Ma Dao Po was not a good person.

She was just trying to save her life, but she didn't expect that her personal guards would find evidence in Ma Dao Po's nunnery. In addition, these small accounts also recorded that Ma Dao Po paid tribute to several other nunneries. It's obvious that the people in those nunneries were not good people either.

If you pull out the radish, you will bring out the mud too. If you are not careful, all the temples in and outside the capital might be wiped out.

Looking at these small accounts, Lin Daiyu hesitated again. They recorded the secret affairs of the wives and daughters of officials and wealthy families. If she handed them in, it would be wrong. Even if she didn't hand them in, Ma Dao Po would confess and the Southern Pacification Office would still be able to find out.

Thinking about it, Lin Daiyu looked carefully again, the Nan'an County Prince's Mansion, Zhao Yushi's Mansion, Wang Hanlin's Mansion, etc., uh, this Ma Dao Po is really powerful, knowing so many official wives. Also, the backyard of a wealthy family is really messy, with wives and concubines competing for favor, children fighting openly and secretly, and even cursing other people's houses.
Lin Daiyu shook her head and said, "I'm getting off topic. The officials listed here either impeached Li Hu before or secretly attacked the Li family this time. They are all enemies."

What did Li Hu say? Yes, too many lice don't itch, too many debts don't worry. Anyway, I have already offended them, and I don't care if I offend them again. It's like water that has been poured out, and it can't be taken back.

In addition, the more people the Li family offends, the more assured the emperor will be, knowing that a lone minister cannot threaten the throne.

Thinking of this, the guilt and reluctance in Lin Daiyu's heart disappeared. She packed up the box and handed it to Nanny Wang: "Ask Third Uncle to personally take Ma Dao Po and these things to the Southern Pacification Division and hand them over to Zhen Fu, the commander of the Southern Pacification Division."

Nanny Wang: "Yes. Does the young lady have anything to say?"

Lin Daiyu smiled: "That's a smart man. The emperor's desire to abolish Buddhist privileges is not groundless. If it weren't for the death of Concubine Shu, he would need a Buddhist monk to perform a ritual. Humph. Now the emperor needs an excuse and a knife."

Xue Baochai understood that it was not that the palace was unwilling to intervene, but they were waiting for the right opportunity. If they wanted to destroy him, they had to drive him crazy first.

Lin Daiyu: "Without the protection of the old concubine, the Zhen family must show loyalty to the emperor to prevent retribution later. Therefore, Zhen Fu will definitely make a big fuss about this case, wantonly implicate others, and hand the emperor a knife to cut off Buddhism, and may even set off a storm of anti-Buddhism."

Xue Baochai was shocked when she heard this. She remained silent on the surface, but she was shocked in her heart: Lin Daiyu knew that there would be a big prison, or even a storm of destroying Buddhism, but she still took action without hesitation. This is too cruel and ruthless.
Lin Daiyu then picked up a chess piece and placed it on a hole on the chessboard, saying with a smile: "Capture the dragon and break the eye. This is called capturing the thief and the king."

Xue Baochai slowly glanced at the position where Lin Daiyu's chess piece was placed, and smiled bitterly. She had lost, just like those monks jumping up and down. She was about to win, but was killed by a fatal blow!

Nanny Wang suddenly remembered: "Wang Ziteng and Wang Ren are back" (End of this chapter)