The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Amid the shouts and cries that shook heaven and earth, Li Hu walked out of the big tent.

The officer on duty came over and reported to Li Hu: "General, the shouting and killing sound came from the emperor's tent."

Li Hu understood that Jia She's plan had succeeded, no, to be more precise, it was the plan of Jia Jing and Jia She that had succeeded. If the emperor had not died of poisoning, this wave could have taken away the emperor, Prince Zhongshun and the second prince Prince Fu together. Unfortunately, man's plans are not as good as God's plans, and the emperor would most likely have escaped.

The sound of muskets and roars of killing echoed over the camp!

Li Hu sighed. Jia She was too cruel. Both the Infantry Battalion and the Imperial Guards thought that the other side was a rebel. They were fighting to protect the emperor and the court. Unless they were in desperate situations, neither side would retreat. This battle would be very fierce. Although most of the Infantry Battalion’s soldiers were new recruits, they were all good children from the capital, and their number was nearly twice that of the Imperial Guards.

The fighting power of the Imperial Guards was not very good. After two palace coups and several purges, they were severely damaged and were no longer the elite force that could rival the border troops.

Now the muskets can't fire anymore, and the fighting power of both sides is about the same.

"It's on fire!" Wang Daniu exclaimed.

At first, fire appeared in the northwest corner of the imperial tent, and then fire appeared everywhere in the north. That was the camp of the military scholars.

Li Hu shook his head, wondering how many military scholars could survive.

Just then, a scout came hurriedly over.

The sentry said: "General, the people from the Imperial Household Department are here."

"Someone is coming so soon?" Li Hu's eyes flashed, "Let them come over."

The scout retreated in response.

Li Hu looked up at the sky, which was full of stars. He subconsciously reached back to ask for his pocket watch. Then he remembered that he was wearing armor under his robe, so he asked the officer on duty, "What time is it?"

The officer on duty replied, "General, it's just past the second watch."

Li Hu nodded and said, "Tell Wang Yaozu that we are outnumbered, let them fight first, don't rush."

Officer on duty: “Yes.”

Li Hu looked towards the direction of the imperial tent again. The sound of musketry had already stopped, leaving only the roaring sounds of tigers and wolves.

"Here it comes." Wang Daniu reminded Li Hu in a low voice behind him.

A team of eunuchs from the Imperial Household Department strode over with swords slung across their shoulders.

Li Hu frowned. How come these guys were so clean? And their aura exuded a fierce and murderous aura!
Thinking of this, he calmly looked at the barbarians who were walking over. No, those barbarians walked with a sense of arrogance. They walked with a steady pace and in unison. Soldiers! Border troops!
I haven't heard that the Imperial Household Department has transferred people from the border troops!
"The clothes on the guy walking in the middle are obviously not his." Wang Daniu whispered in Li Hu's ear.

Li Hu took a quick glance and immediately understood that these people should be assassins who were in cahoots with that group of bald donkeys but had never shown up.

Li Hu gently touched Wang Daniu with his arm.

Wang Daniu understood and quickly grabbed the handle of the knife on his left waist with his right hand!
Upon seeing this, all the bodyguards simultaneously reached out to grab the hilt of the sword.

The leading soldier obviously noticed it and paused for a moment, but then continued walking forward.

Li Hu became even more certain that they were not foreigners. Foreigners would not have the courage to do this. In this situation, they would have started shouting long ago.

At this time, it is better to kill someone by mistake than to let him go. If you kill someone by mistake, just deny it. It is so chaotic tonight, who has evidence?

Thinking of this, Li Hu took a step back.

With a swish, Wang Daniu and his bodyguards drew their swords together!

With a swish, except for the leader, the other several "barbarians" drew their swords and ran to the man to protect him.

Li Hu smiled, as expected his guess was correct.

The man looked at Li Hu and said, "How did Duke Lu guess it?"

Li Hu didn't answer, but just waved his hand.

"Kill!" Wang Daniu roared.

The bodyguards immediately drew their swords and attacked.

It's impossible to get any information out of this kind of person, and you can't catch him alive, so there's no point wasting time.

Although there were not many people, the fighting was still fierce. There was no shouting, only the sound of weapons clashing.

As he watched, Li Hu narrowed his eyes slightly. These people were indeed not ordinary people. Although the personal soldiers relied on the advantage in numbers, they still suffered casualties, especially the leader, whose moves were ruthless and his strength was amazing.

Wang Daniu walked up with a knife in hand and chopped down an assassin who was fighting with his personal soldiers.

The man also noticed Wang Daniu, and their eyes met!
Wang Daniu rushed forward with his knife in hand and chopped at the man.

The man swung his sword towards his head. With a clang, a flash of fire flashed by.
Looking at the two people fighting, Li Hu's eyes flashed. Based on this man's skills and power, he couldn't be an unknown person.

The fighting on the side had ended. Some of the personal soldiers surrounded them, while others carried the injured personal soldiers away.

Wang Daniu was slightly injured, and the man was also disheveled, with injuries on his shoulders and legs. He used all his strength to block Wang Daniu's full-strength attack, and took several steps back before he could stand firm.

Looking at the bodyguards surrounding him, he smiled bitterly.

Li Hu spoke up: "It's really disgraceful for a general to be an assassin."

"General? Duke Lu thinks too highly of me." The man looked at Li Hu.

Li Hu: "A Qianzong official is not bad. After all, you are a commoner, with no background or support."

The man's eyes flashed: "How did you determine that I was born a commoner?" Li Hu smiled and said: "The commander-in-chief is the one who really leads the troops to fight in the army. The military orders of generals at all levels are conveyed to the soldiers by the commander-in-chief. They are very important. But you were sent to assassinate me."

Hearing this, he burst into laughter.

After laughing, he suddenly changed the position of the knife in his palm, pointed the tip of the knife towards his abdomen, stabbed it hard, then looked at Li Hu and slowly fell backwards.

Li Hu closed his eyes. He said that the military merits of generals and above must be verified by the Ministry of War. Similarly, deaths must also be reported to the Ministry of War. It is not difficult to check for civilians. Well, I have an excuse for being late.

With a humph, Li Hu said loudly: "Put on double armor and rush to the emperor's tent to help!"

There were earth-shaking shouts and cries of killing outside the tent, but it was very quiet inside the tent.

Emperor Yongchang lay straight on the couch, his eyes closed and his teeth clenched. Li Yuan, the Imperial Hospital Director, was sitting on a low stool beside the couch, slowly stroking the silver needle on Emperor Yongchang's philtrum.

The Crown Prince stood aside and cried. Dai Quan stood beside the Crown Prince, holding his hand with one hand and wiping his tears with the other hand.

At this time, Zhongjing Hou Shi Ding came in personally carrying a bowl of medicine.

Seeing that the emperor still clenched his teeth, he sighed silently. If he didn't open his mouth, how could he take the medicine? If he didn't take the medicine, how could he detoxify?

Li Yuanzheng pulled out the silver needle on the philtrum, and then pulled out all the other silver needles. Then he took out a roll of moxa from the medicine bag, lit it on the candle flame, blew out the flame, opened the emperor's clothes with one hand, and applied moxibustion to an acupuncture point on the emperor's chest. Then he changed another roll of moxa, lit it, pulled out the hairpin on the emperor's bun, parted the hair on the top of his head, aimed at the Tianling acupuncture point, and applied moxibustion, and then took back the moxa.

There was a gurgling sound in Emperor Yongchang's throat, and then his teeth slowly loosened, as if he was letting out a long breath from deep within his abdomen.

All eyes turned to Emperor Yongchang's face.

Unfortunately, there was no response.

Li Yuanzheng closed his eyes and said to Dai Quan, "You can give him the medicine now."

Dai Quan quickly took the medicine bowl from Shi Ding's hand, scooped up a spoonful of medicine, and fed it into Emperor Yongchang's mouth.

The Crown Prince spoke: "When will Grandpa Huang wake up?"

Li Yuanzheng: "Replying to the prince, the emperor's poison is not too serious. As long as he takes good care of himself and rests well, he will wake up."

The Crown Prince nodded.

Marquis Zhongjing Shi Ding sighed inwardly. Li Yuanzheng's words were full of hidden meaning. The emperor might not wake up!

At this moment, a red-robed eunuch from the Imperial Household Department walked in in a panic and whispered something in Shi Ding's ear.

Shi Ding's expression changed drastically and he strode out.

The eunuch in red was about to follow him out.

The Crown Prince spoke up: "What happened?"

The red-robed eunuch hesitated for a moment and replied, "Reporting to the prince, the rebels broke through the imperial guards' defense line. General Feng Tang was seriously injured. Prince Consort Yongchang, Duke of Qi, Duke of Zhiguo, Marquis Pingyuan, and Marquis Jingtian were all killed in the battle."

The Crown Prince was shocked.

The red-robed eunuch said: "The champion of the martial arts was also seriously injured. Other martial arts scholars were either dead or injured. Many others are still missing."

The Crown Prince came to his senses and said, "Where is the Duke of Lu? Why hasn't he come to rescue me yet?!"

Before he finished his words, a low horn sounded from outside the tent, followed by the earth-shaking sound of horse hooves.

The big eunuch in red was delighted: "It's Duke Lu who has come to rescue us!" After saying that, he ran out like the wind.

The Crown Prince looked at Emperor Yongchang lying on the couch, then turned his gaze towards the tent door, waiting.

Outside the big tent, roars, screams and wails were heard one after another. Even if one only listened to the noise, one could imagine the tragedy outside.

After an unknown amount of time, the sound of horse hooves could be heard outside the emperor's tent. Then the eunuch in red rushed in and knelt down before the crown prince: "The Duke of Lu is here!"

The Crown Prince said hurriedly: "Please come in!"

The eunuch in red said, “Yes.” and ran out again.

The curtain was raised and Li Hu strode in.

When he saw Li Hu coming in, the Crown Prince wanted to greet him, but when he saw that his body was covered in blood, he retreated to Dai Quan in fear.

Li Hu walked to a distance of about five steps from the bed and stood still. He glanced at Emperor Yongchang, whose eyes were tightly closed, and saluted the Crown Prince. Then he asked, "Shi Ding said that the Emperor was poisoned. How is he?"

Dai Quan was silent for a moment, then replied, "Your Majesty is blessed by heaven, it's okay."

Good luck? Li Hu understood that this was not going to work.

Dai Quan: "Why did you come just now?"

Li Hu: "First, he was assassinated by a group of fake eunuchs outside the big tent, and then he met the people of King Zhongshun on the way."

The Crown Prince: "Duke Lu, have Prince Fu and Prince Zhongshun been captured?"

Li Hu: "It's a mess outside and it's dark. I don't know what's going on."

The Crown Prince's face was tense: "Prince Fu and Prince Zhongshun led their troops to rebel and attempted to kill the king and seize the throne. We can't let them get away."

Li Hu: "Yes. I will go and arrest Prince Fu and Prince Zhongshun myself." After saying that, he strode out. (End of this chapter)