The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

There was silence in the west warm room.

The third place winner was standing in front of another desk, sorting official documents, glancing towards the imperial desk from time to time.

The imperial desk was piled high with memorials, and Emperor Yongchang was reviewing them with his hands moving non-stop.

Dai Quan came in with a new basin of water. He put down the copper basin, wrung out a face towel, handed it over, and said softly, "Your Majesty, wipe your face."

Emperor Yongchang placed the approved memorial on a corner of the imperial desk, took the towel and wiped his face, saying, "There is nothing for you to do here, go down."

The scholar understood, bowed and retreated.

Dai Quan then brewed another bowl of tea and brought it over.

Emperor Yongchang took the tea bowl and sipped it slowly while thinking.

Dai Quan said nothing and sorted out the memorials and official documents on the imperial desk.

Emperor Yongchang put down his tea bowl, stood up with the help of the imperial desk, paced a few steps, and then spoke: "How is the investigation of the Mobei incident going?"

Dai Quan: "It should be the news that Fu Kang'an revealed to the Jurchens."

With a humph, Emperor Yongchang said, "He is sure that I still need him. I can't do anything to him for the time being."

Dai Quan: "The mess in Mobei is indeed only Fukangan who can clean it up. If someone else takes over, it will fall apart."

"That being said, if you dare to play tricks on me, you will have to pay the price!"

Emperor Yongchang's eyes flashed with a fierce light, "Originally I still had some concerns, since the Luosha people's reinforcements are coming soon, I don't need to pay attention to Fu Kang'an's request, let Agui enter Mobei!" At this point, he sneered, "Fu Kang'an is sure that I still need him, and I am also sure that he dare not surrender, so I can only hold on and fight on."

Dai Quan smiled bitterly, but didn't know what to say.

Emperor Yongchang: "Tell Zhen Yingjia that I can agree to the request of the Tartar fake emperor, but he must show sincerity."

"Yes."

Dai Quan was silent for a moment, then said, "From what Li Hu said, He Shen doesn't seem to want us to sign a contract with the Tartar emperor."

Emperor Yongchang waved his hand in disdain: "Who is he? He is just a servant of the Tartar fake emperor. Don't pay any attention to him!"

At this moment, the voice of the eunuch on duty came from outside the warm room: "Your Majesty, a secret report just sent by the Northern Pacification Office."

Dai Quan walked quickly to the door.

The eunuch on duty handed the secret report to Dai Quan.

Dai Quan walked quickly to the imperial desk holding the secret report and handed it to Emperor Yongchang who was sitting on the dragon throne again.

Emperor Yongchang took the copy and tore it open to read. As he read, a strange look appeared on his face: "Li Hu and He Shen had a conflict, and both sides even drew knives."

Dai Quan was surprised. Broken up?
Emperor Yongchang raised his head and thought silently. After thinking for a moment, he read it carefully again and shook his head: "What kind of conflict could there be between the two of them? Unequal distribution of the spoils?!"

Dai Quan couldn't figure it out and didn't know how to answer.

Emperor Yongchang's eyes flashed: "Ask Wang Daniu."

Dai Quan: “Yes.”

Emperor Yongchang suddenly remembered: "Didn't Li Hu go to Yuqing Palace?"

Dai Quan: "Yes, Li Hu went straight out of the palace."

Emperor Yongchang smiled slightly and picked up another memorial.
Nanzhen Fusi
In the office, Wang Ren was like a wounded beast, running back and forth in the middle of the office. He came to the desk and suddenly stopped, slammed his palm on the desk, and shouted loudly: "This is too much!"

Several trusted servants looked at each other, and one of them spoke up: "Master, the fool Xue has been transferred, but the monk can run away but the temple cannot. Except for the pawnshop, the grocery stores of the Xue family are all under the jurisdiction of the master."

Another servant said: "There are also the Xue family's caravans heading outside the Great Wall. We can accuse them of colluding with the Tartars!"

Another servant said: "There's no need to go through so much trouble. The young master just wants to take the eldest daughter of the Xue family as a concubine. Just take her back and sleep with her first."

With a slap in the face, the boy took several steps back before he could stand firm.

Wang Ren: "This is the emperor's territory! Also, I am an official, not a bandit! Get out of here!"

The servants looked at each other, turned around and walked out.

A servant walked to the door and stopped, looking at the backs of those people, then walked back to Wang Ren and whispered, "Master, I found something." Wang Ren looked at him and said, "Tell me."

The servant said, "Yes. One of Zhen Fu's officers colluded with outsiders, accepted bribes, and tipped off others."

Wang Ren: “Is this true?!”

The servant said: "I saw it clearly. He took the banknote and handed a piece of ink paper to the young master. Your chance to make a contribution has come!"

Wang Ren's eyes flashed, he walked to the window, looked at the sky outside, and said, "Call them back."

The sun had already set by then.

Li Hu had obviously just finished taking a shower. He was wearing a white short-collared gown and slowly waving a folding fan as he walked into Lin Daiyu's yard.

When they saw Li Hu coming, several little girls rushed to open the Xiang curtains, shouting, "Second Master is back."

The room was quiet. Li Hu turned and entered the warm room. There was no one there. He went straight into Lin Daiyu's bedroom.

I saw Lin Daiyu sitting at the desk under the window, looking through the account books.

Li Hu walked over with a smile and took out the bill of exchange from his pocket: "Interest from the business in Liaodong." Then he put it in front of Lin Daiyu.

Lin Daiyu glanced at the bill of exchange, took out a thick account book from the rosewood box beside her, and wrote down the amount of money on it.

Li Hu: "Oh, this is the family's account book?"

Lin Daiyu nodded, then gently blew dry the ink on it, and put the account book and the bill of exchange back into the box.

Li Hu was slightly stunned: "This, why don't you let me see it?"

Lin Daiyu then raised her head and looked at him, meaning: What are you looking at it for?
Li Huguang opened his mouth but no sound came out.

Lin Daiyu curled her lips and shouted to the inner room, "Zijuan, go and bring the soup to your Second Master." Then she continued to look through the account books.

Zijuan came out from the inner room, greeted Li Hu first, and then walked out.

Li Hu dragged a chair over and sat down next to Lin Daiyu. While watching her flipping through the account books, he said, "I was originally going to come back to have dinner with you. When I came out of the palace, I ran into Kong Qingxiang and talked about some things about the Yansheng Duke and the officials who passed the imperial examination."

Lin Daiyu: "Business matters are more important. I understand."

Li Hu changed the subject: "I ran into Miss Bao outside the Chuihua Gate. Why are you still shy? It's not like I've never seen her before."

Lin Daiyu raised her head, looked at him, and suddenly smiled: "You will know later."

Li Hu was curious: "What does this mean?"

Lin Daiyu rolled her eyes: "You will know later."

At this moment, Zijuan brought a bowl of soup on a small tea tray and said with a smile, "Second Master, soup."

Li Hu picked up the bowl of soup, and a fragrant aroma hit his nose: "What a nice smell!" He took a sip and said, "Oh, this soup is good." Then he took another sip.

Zijuan looked at Li Hu, then at Lin Daiyu.

Lin Daiyu pursed her lips.

Li Hu suddenly realized: "This soup is not made in the small kitchen."

Lin Daiyu snorted softly: "This is the soup you've been dreaming of!"

Li Hu just swallowed a mouthful of soup but it got stuck in his throat and he started coughing continuously for a while.

Lin Daiyu stood up and gently massaged Li Hu's back, saying with a smile, "This soup is really delicious."

Li Hu recovered his breath and said, "It's good, but too greasy." He handed the half bowl of soup to Zijuan and said to Lin Daiyu, "It seems that I am destined to drink porridge."

Zijuan covered her mouth and smiled.

Lin Daiyu curled her lips and said nothing.

Li Hu smiled and looked at her, then stood up and said, "It's windy outside, let's go for a walk in the back garden." Without waiting for Lin Daiyu to say anything, he took her into his arms and walked out, saying, "You 'light bulbs' should stop following me."

Zijuan curled her lips, sorted out the account books for Lin Daiyu, put them into a red sandalwood box, and locked it. (End of this chapter)