The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 428 Who could it be?
When the moon rose above the eastern wall, it was just getting dark. The entire imperial city was already dark and empty, with only a faint light coming from the western warm room of the Yangxin Palace.

Under the dim light, Zhen Fu had already been kneeling there waiting for the emperor.

There was a sound of footsteps, and Emperor Yongchang strode in. He went straight to the couch in front of Zhen Fu and sat down: "Have you found out? Why did these fake monks come to Beijing? What are their backgrounds?"

Zhen Fu replied, "Your Majesty, most of these fake monks are from Songshan, and some are from Kaifeng Prefecture. Their identities are fine. As for what they want to do, perhaps they really want to participate in the martial arts examination and serve the court, or they may be targeting Duke Lu."

Emperor Yongchang hesitated for a long time before saying, "Whether they really want to participate in the martial arts examination or take the opportunity to assassinate Li Hu, they must die! I will never allow these fake monks to enter the army!"

At this point, he snorted coldly, "So many people joined the army, what do they want to do?! Forming a clique and undermining the court!" As he spoke, he slapped the couch with one hand, "Kill them all, leave no one alive!"

"Yes!" Zhen Fu answered loudly, and at the same time he felt relieved. Buddhism hated Li Hu the most, and he was the second most. He was the one who handled the Ma Dao Po case. Most of the temples in the capital were involved. He killed more than a thousand people, forced hundreds of people to return to secular life, and exiled the rest. All the temple properties were confiscated.

Emperor Yongchang nodded with satisfaction.

Zhen Fu suddenly remembered: "There is another group of people who are also monitoring those fake monks. I suspect they are from the Duke of Lu's Mansion."

Emperor Yongchang's eyes flashed: "Personal soldiers?"

"Not a personal soldier." Zhen Fu said affirmatively.

Emperor Yongchang: "Those are Ni Er's men. Kill them together."

Zhen Fu bowed his head and said, "Yes." Then he got up and walked away with his body bent.

Emperor Yongchang: "Stand."

Zhen Fu hurried back.

Emperor Yongchang: "I heard that your old lady wants Zhen Baoyu to inherit the title?"

Zhen Fu: "Your Majesty, this is indeed true."

With a humph, Emperor Yongchang said: "After the Mid-Autumn Festival, I will confer upon you the title of Prince of Changxing."

When these words were spoken, Zhen Fu's heart was overwhelmed and he immediately knelt down: "I thank the emperor for his grace!" As he said this, he kowtowed three times heavily.

Emperor Yongchang smiled and nodded: "Go out of the palace."

"Yes." Zhen Fu stood up, bowed and walked out.

Emperor Yongchang was listening to Zhen Fu's footsteps and the sound of the outer palace door closing. He then snorted coldly: "Do you really think I don't know what you are doing with the emperor?"

The moonlight shone quietly, and snoring sounds could be heard in the inn.

The old monk was still sitting cross-legged on the cushion, counting the rosary in his hands and reciting Buddhist scriptures silently.

Suddenly, his ears moved, and then his eyes suddenly opened.

Snoring like thunder.

The old monk's eyes were fixed on the door. He put his rosary on the ground and took off the beads around his neck.

Finally, several dark shadows appeared on the door, and through the crack in the door, a flash of white light could be vaguely seen.

The old monk's hand holding the beads tightened. It was a knife! Could it be that someone from the Duke of Lu's mansion had come?
Before he could think about it, the door was kicked open with a "bang" and several dark shadows came in with knives.

The old monk threw the long string of beads out, and when several black shadows subconsciously raised their swords to block, he suddenly jumped up and hit a black shadow on the chest with both palms.

With two screams, two black shadows flew backwards.

Then, the old monk kicked another black shadow away. At the same time, he formed a claw with the five fingers of his right hand and grabbed the neck of the last black shadow. With a "click", he crushed the man's throat.

In fact, it only took a moment before screams, fighting sounds, and scolding were heard from the surrounding guest rooms.

There was a fierce and cold light in the old monk's eyes, and he strode out.

At this moment, there was a crisp "click" sound, and the old monk subconsciously dodged. A crossbow arrow flew past his neck and almost pierced his neck.

The old monk was startled. They were soldiers!
There were a few more crisp sounds, and the old monk rolled on the ground, and several sounds of breaking through the air passed by.

A voice came from the courtyard wall: "This guy has martial arts skills, let's shoot him together!"

With a crisp "click" sound, countless crossbow arrows shot fiercely into his body as the old monk looked on in horror. He twitched a few times on the ground and fell silent. The fighting in the guest room slowly ended, and a group of Southern Pacification Division soldiers dragged out the bodies one by one.

In the light of torches, Zhen Fu, wearing the official uniform of the commander of the Southern Pacification Division, walked over, looked at the corpses on the ground, and nodded with satisfaction.

At this time, a soldier came over in a hurry and whispered: "Commander-in-chief, a bald man shouted that there is important news."

Zhen Fu became interested: "Take it back."

It was dawn and the door of the Duke of Lu's mansion opened with a click.

Two servants came out with long bamboo brooms and started sweeping the open space in front of the door.

Then two bodyguards came out with swords slung over their shoulders and stood outside the door, one on each side.

The sun slowly rose and the sound of hurried horse hooves was heard.

Ni Er came riding on horseback with two guards.

The sunlight also shines on the square of the Qianqing Palace.

Zhen Fu walked into the study room holding a case record.

In the upper study, Emperor Yongchang put down his pen, took the case record presented by Dai Quan and began to read it.

Zhen Fu, who was kneeling there, was extremely excited. He did not expect there would be an unexpected surprise. If he could dig this person out, he might very well become the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and take charge of the North and South Pacification Offices.

After reading the last word, Emperor Yongchang raised his head and thought silently, then looked at Zhen Fu: "Is that all you can ask?"

Zhen Fu: "In reply to the emperor, that person was responsible for keeping watch and did not follow in. He only knew that the person could help Buddhism assassinate Duke Lu."

Emperor Yongchang thought for a moment and asked, "Do you have any ideas?"

Zhen Fu had already thought about it, and quickly replied: "I was just about to report this to the emperor. I have carefully considered it, and the other party will definitely take action personally. However, Duke Lu is surrounded by many guards, and it is generally difficult to approach him. The thieves should be planning to assassinate Duke Lu while he is shooting on foot or on horseback, especially when shooting on horseback, because the warhorse can rush to the reviewing stand in an instant."

Emperor Yongchang nodded.

Zhen Fu: "As long as you keep an eye on those who are good at riding and shooting, you can catch the assassin."

Emperor Yongchang: "Okay, I'll leave this matter to you."

Zhen Fu answered loudly, "Yes. I will get to the bottom of this matter."

Emperor Yongchang smiled and said, "Go down."

Zhen Fu: “Yes.” He bowed respectfully, stood up and walked out.

Emperor Yongchang leaned back in his chair and asked in confusion: "Who could it be?!"

On the bed, Lin Daiyu, wearing a bright red middle dress, leaned against the head of the bed, her eyes flickering, obviously thinking.

After a long while, she came back to her senses and said to Nanny Wang who was standing outside the bed, "Madame, tell Ni Er that we can discuss this matter after the Duke comes back. Each family will be rewarded with 500 taels of silver."

Nanny Wang: “Yes.” She answered and walked out.

Lin Daiyu said to herself: "Who could it be? Could it be someone from the palace?"

Feng's voice came from outside again: "Miss."

Lin Daiyu: "Come in."

Feng walked in quietly, bowed slightly, and said, "Miss, the master of the house sent his soldiers back to report the news. They will arrive at Chaoyangmen Wharf by the afternoon at the latest."

Lin Daiyu was surprised and happy.

Feng: "The head of the family also said that you should send someone to Rongguo Mansion to tell the eldest wife that her brother, sister-in-law and niece have come to Beijing on the ship."

Lin Daiyu nodded: "I understand. Let Zijuan and the others come in and help me get up."

(End of this chapter)