The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

The entire Forbidden City was dark and empty, and a lantern slowly floated towards the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

There was still a faint light coming from the western warm room of the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Emperor Yongchang was still unconscious and lying motionless on the bed.

Dai Quan came in with a new basin of hot water. He put down the copper basin, wrung out a hot towel, walked to the bedside, and said softly, "Your Majesty, warm your holy face." Then he shook out the hot towel and wiped Emperor Yongchang's face. After wiping, he couldn't help but say, "Your Majesty, open your eyes and look at me."

Emperor Yongchang still had his eyes closed.

Dai Quan sighed softly, wiped Emperor Yongchang's hands again, and then followed Li Yuanzheng's instructions to move Emperor Yongchang's body joints, rubbing and massaging his legs and arms.

A pair of eyes outside the door were watching silently. It was the queen.

After an unknown amount of time, Dai Quan tucked in the quilt for Emperor Yongchang, then took out a handkerchief from his sleeve and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Looking at Emperor Yongchang who was still unconscious for a moment, Dai Quan picked up the copper basin on the ground and walked out.

Before he even walked out the door, Dai Quan was stunned.

The Queen was standing there looking at him.

Dai Quan was stunned for a moment, but still walked over lightly: "Empress."

The queen didn't say anything, just said "hmm" and walked towards the east warm room.

Dai Quan understood, handed the copper basin to the eunuch on duty, and followed.

In the warm room, the queen sat down on the couch on the south side and asked Dai Quan who came in, "How is the emperor?"

Dai Quan bowed and replied, "In reply to the Queen, Li Yuanzheng just took my pulse before dark, and there is no change."

The queen nodded and asked, "Does Li Yuanzheng have any instructions?"

Dai Quan was silent for a moment, then replied, "Li Yuanzheng asked me to turn the emperor over when I have nothing to do, so that he can stretch his muscles and bones. He said it would be good for recuperation."

The queen was also silent for a moment: "You have worked hard."

Without waiting for Dai Quan to respond, the Queen continued, "After the news is announced, send the Emperor to Kunning Palace and I will take care of him myself."

Dai Quan warned: "This is against etiquette."

The Queen stared at him for a long while before she said, "I am married to the Emperor, how could I possibly harm him?!"

Dai Quan was in a dilemma: "This
The Queen raised her hand and said, "Everyone here, follow and continue to serve the Emperor."

Dai Quan had nothing else to say, so he could only answer, "Yes."

Queen: "You know everything about Prince Kang, right?"

Dai Quan: "Your Majesty, I have heard about this."

Queen: "Who do you think it will be?"

Dai Quan immediately knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, this is not something I can or should say."

"What did the emperor say to you before he fell into a coma?" the queen suddenly asked.

Dai Quan: "The emperor asked me to take good care of the crown prince, saying that only the crown prince can shoulder the heavy responsibility of the country and become the hope of our Dashun in the future."

The queen stared at him: "There's more."

Dai Quan: "The emperor has told me about some spies hiding in the homes of court officials. I will bring you the list right away."

The queen didn't want to continue talking to him, so she asked directly, "How did the emperor arrange for Prince Kang?"

Dai Quan was so smart that he understood immediately: "The Queen suspected that it was me who sent someone to take away His Royal Highness Prince Kang?"

Queen: "I have checked with the Imperial Household Department, the Northern Pacification Department, and the Imperial Guards. No one left the palace yesterday."

Dai Quan was shocked: "Isn't he the emperor?"

The queen was silent for a moment and said: "I'll tell you the truth. As soon as I received the golden medal for mobilizing troops sent by Li Hu, I had someone confer the title of Empress Retired of Cining Palace. I had no chance to contact the outside world at all." Dai Quan was stunned.

The queen thought for a moment and said, "Could it be Prince Kang himself?"

Dai Quan: "No, that's impossible. The Northern Pacification Office cleaned up according to the list, and all those who were involved with Prince Kang were dealt with."

The queen stood up, walked to the door, and asked in confusion, "Who could it be?"

It's brightly lit here too.

Heshen was drinking by himself under the window with two dishes and a pot of wine.

Heshen picked up the wine glass, took a sip, took a bite of the food, then closed his eyes and hummed.

At this time, Liu Quan walked in, put a food box on the table, then opened the lid, took out a bowl of vegetables and placed it on the table, as well as a bowl of ginger vinegar juice.

Liu Quan smiled and said, "Sir, please try it."

Heshen picked up the chopsticks, picked up a little, put it into his mouth, chewed it for a few times, and then said with a smile: "This is the taste!" Then he picked up another little bit, dipped it in ginger vinegar juice, put it into his mouth, smiled and nodded with satisfaction.

Liu Quan: "Speaking of crabs, Taihelou's is the most authentic. Why do I have to eat from other places?"

He Shen picked up the wine glass and drank it in one gulp. He then ate several more mouthfuls of food before putting down his chopsticks. He then looked at Liu Quan and said, "Taihe Tower is Li Hu's property. If you go there, you are telling Li Hu that I am very happy now. He is a man with eight hundred schemes. You must be on guard!"

Liu Quan was puzzled: "Can we change someone else to go?"

He Shen: "It's not wrong to be careful."

Liu Quan poured the wine from the thermos to He Shen, and said with a smile: "With this great man, it would not be too much for His Majesty to reward me with a prince. This is called a prince for a prince."

"Your Majesty?!"

He Shen shook his head and said, "That was a posthumous title bestowed on the dead."

Liu Quan quickly changed the subject: "It's not a bad thing to be a first-class duke!"

He Shen stopped the wine glass that was about to reach his lips and said, "Tomorrow I will send 50,000 taels of silver to Jia Yucun."

Liu Quan hesitated for a moment and said, "Fifty thousand? Isn't that too much? He just said something insignificant. It's all because of my great foresight and planning."

He Shen drank the wine in his glass in one gulp and said with a smile: "You don't understand. This is called revealing the secret! Oh, by the way, give him the bill of exchange from Li's Bank."

Liu Quan immediately understood that Heshen was trying to drag Jia Yucun into trouble. Li's bank had a stub for this large bill of exchange, so it was clear where it came from.

Thinking of this, Liu Quan said, "Jia Yucun is a good man!"

Heshen burst into laughter.

Liu Quan also laughed.

He Shen smiled, his eyes sparkled. He knew Qian Xiao Si too well. He was a man who loved to show off and pursue achievements. Moreover, it was possible to recapture the Han territory within the pass. Qian Xiao Si would not let go of this opportunity. After dealing with Fu Kang'an and repelling the Luocha people, he would definitely take action against Dashun. In this way, the war would not stop!
As long as the war doesn't stop, he will be safe and can even gain more power!
Fight, fight, let’s keep this war going!
He suddenly remembered the token of the Imperial Household Department. Who did it belong to?
In Jia She's study

On the table was a pot of wine, a few exquisite side dishes, and two sets of cups and chopsticks.

Jia She and Jia Jing sat opposite each other.

Jia Jing looked at Jia She quietly without saying a word.

Jia She filled Jia Jing's glass with wine, then filled his own glass, then raised his glass and said, "Please."

Jia Jing, however, did not raise his glass, but said sternly, "What on earth do you want to do?!"

Jia She also put down his wine glass and said solemnly: "Revenge!"

Jia Jing stared at Jia She closely.

Jia She looked at the roof, as if recalling something: "If it weren't for that old man's scheme, my father wouldn't have been so angry that he died! I want to make him have a taste of this, too!"

After a pause, he said, "By the way, let's see if we can push Prince An to that position." (End of this chapter)