The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Every autumn and winter, the prince's cough would relapse. Last night, an urgent message was delivered from Mobei. He did not go to bed until the end of the first hour of the lunar calendar, and his already poor health became even weaker.

Zhao Tong, the eunuch in charge of Yuqing Palace, warned all the eunuchs and palace maids that they must be quiet this morning and that except for the emperor's edict and urgent decrees from the Ministry of War, all other matters must be reported after the hour of noon.

At daybreak, the eunuchs and palace maids who had gotten up early to do their work tiptoed around, not daring to make any noise. Even the eunuchs who were sweeping the fallen leaves did not dare to use brooms, some squatted on the ground to pick up the fallen leaves, and some caught the fallen leaves in the air.

Just at this moment, there was a deafening knock on the door outside the palace!
The eunuchs and palace maids on duty were all terrified. Zhao Tong immediately walked out of the hall: "What's going on! It was said that the prince was resting, why is he gone now!" As he spoke, he quickly walked to the palace gate and was about to reach out to open it.

Two young eunuchs on duty rushed over and opened the palace gate.

"What's going on? I told you, something happened after noon."

Without waiting for the palace gate to open, Zhao Tong started shouting. The first thing that caught his eye was the two eunuchs on duty kneeling on the stone steps. Just as he was about to start scolding them, he caught sight of a figure. It was the Queen!
Zhao Tong was startled and knelt down.

The queen came in and said, "Go and call the prince."

Zhao Tong: "Yes." He bowed his head, then stood up and walked towards the bedroom.

Behind her, the Queen shouted, "Tell the prince not to wash or dress, but to come to the West Warm Pavilion immediately."

Knowing that something was wrong, Zhao Tong did not dare to delay and ran to the palace like flying.
The prince had only a bun on his head, and he ran towards the western warm room while buttoning his clothes. He stopped in front of the door, straightened his clothes, and took a deep breath before calling softly, "Mother."

The Queen's voice came from the warm room: "Come in."

"Yes." The prince lifted the door curtain and walked in.

The queen was sitting alone on the south couch at this time, and on the couch was a box wrapped in bright yellow satin.

The prince stepped forward to pay his respects, saying, "Yesterday, an urgent message came from Mobei, saying that our army had a conflict with Agui's troops."

The queen raised her hand to stop him and said, "The matter in Mobei is not urgent. There are more important things for you to do now." She stared at the bundle on the couch and said, "This is sent by the Duke of Lu. Open it and take a look."

The prince: "Li Hu? Why did he think of giving a gift to our mother?" He untied the bundle.

A bronze box was revealed, with two seals with large bright red seals cross-sealed on the lid.

The prince was slightly stunned: "Didn't the Queen Mother see it?"

The queen handed him a key without saying a word.

The prince tore off the seal and opened the box. When he saw what was inside, his expression suddenly changed and he immediately closed the lid again.

The Queen looked at him.

The prince's voice trembled: "How could he steal the seal of my father?"

Looking at the prince's reaction, a trace of disappointment flashed in the queen's eyes, and she reached out to open the lid of the box.

A golden coiled dragon, with its scales slightly open, eyes wide open, and head raised to the sky. This is a real dragon!
A golden dragon lies on the golden seal box, and eight dragons are circling around the four sides of the golden seal box!

This golden seal box contains the Dashun kingdom and the emperor’s seal!
At this time, the queen took out the emperor's golden medal for mobilizing troops from her sleeve and placed it on the table.

No matter how stupid the prince was, he now understood that something had happened at Xishan and the emperor. He didn't know how to start, so he could only stare at the queen in a daze.

The queen took out a letter from Li Hu from her sleeve and said: "Prince Fu colluded with Prince Zhongshun to rebel, and your father was poisoned and fell into a coma." Then she handed the letter to the prince.

The prince took the letter and looked at it, his face becoming increasingly grim. Then, he grabbed the letter and angrily cursed, "This damned little beast, how dare he!" The Queen: "Okay, now is not the time to talk about this. The most urgent thing is to quickly seize the power of the Imperial Guards. You don't need me to teach you how to do it, right?"

The prince said: "Don't worry, mother. I know what to do."

The queen nodded and said: "In addition to the imperial guards, you must immediately control the North and South Pacification Offices and the Five Cities Military Offices, and take control of all the military power in the capital."

Prince: "Yes."

Queen: "Also, after you get the military power, immediately summon several old men from the cabinet to the palace and have them draft an order to gather the Five City Military Command and the Nine Cities of Shuntian Prefecture to impose martial law. Civil and military officials in the city are not allowed to leave. Officials from other provinces who come to Beijing must all stay at Luhe Posthouse to wait for orders. Apart from the cabinet, the news that your father is poisoned and in a coma must not be spread out!"

The prince nodded solemnly.

Queen: "Dai Quan also sent a letter. He suspected that this matter was related to the Emperor."

The prince was silent for a moment: "No evidence?"

Queen: “There is no evidence.”

The prince was somewhat embarrassed: "Dashun ruled the world with filial piety"

The queen thought for a moment and said: "Replace all the eunuchs in the Cining Palace and send another 20 eunuchs from the Silijian to keep a close watch on the emperor."

The prince hesitated again and said, "I'm afraid this is not a good idea."

The queen stared at him with some dissatisfaction: "Which is more important, reputation or life?"

The prince lowered his head.

The queen snorted: "Just listen to what those corrupt scholars say. Empty talk is useless in governing a country. Do you understand?"

"I understand, son." The prince replied, but he was silent in his heart.

The queen suddenly remembered: "Send someone to bring the third child back from the imperial mausoleum immediately!"

The emperor was still hunting in the Western Hills, but the capital was under strict martial law, which caused the people of the capital to panic. For a time, people were in a state of panic and rumors were spreading.

The imperial court stipulated that cabinet ministers would take turns on duty day and night and be available for summons at any time to handle urgent documents.

It happened that Jia Jing was on duty in the cabinet last night.

On the usually bustling street, there were only a few pedestrians walking in a hurry, and the shops on both sides of the street were closed.

Jia Jing lowered the curtain of the sedan chair and sighed softly. Man proposes, God disposes. The old man, the retired emperor, had escaped. But the old man would definitely attack again, and that would be the day of his death!

In a blink of an eye, three years have passed. Time flies. It's time to let the real murderer, the emperor, go down to accompany him.

Well, it’s time to give Jia Rong a concubine, otherwise if something unexpected happens, the Ningguo Mansion will be extinct.

The emperor gave Qin a title, but did not allow her to give birth to any offspring. Offspring?
Thinking of this, Jia Jing's eyes flashed. Prince Fu died, leaving only the crown prince, the grandson of the emperor, Prince Kang, and Prince An. The emperor and Prince Kang were both troublesome. If they were all dead, wouldn't the throne fall to Prince An? If Prince An sat on the Fengtian Palace, the Jia family would be in trouble.
Jia Jing let out a long sigh, calming his thoughts, and then snorted again, thinking: Wang is also a murderer, but she has not said a word of repentance in the past three years. This selfish and foolish woman still uses the identities of Concubine De and Prince An to cause trouble in Rongguo Mansion from time to time.

If Prince An inherits the throne, there will be chaos! This stupid woman will be a disaster if she stays here, we have to find a way to get rid of her!
Thinking of this, Jia Jing slowly closed his eyes. (End of this chapter)