The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

It was already dusk and a light snow began to fall from the sky.

After passing the memorial archway, they were not far from the government gate. Wang Daniu rode his horse in the front and suddenly saw a man squatting in the corner of the wall opposite the government gate. White snow was floating on his body.

As he got closer, Wang Daniu recognized the man as Liu Er, a guard from the Imperial Household Department.

Because he strangled the second prince's uncle Zhou Kui, Liu Er was hunted by the second prince. In the end, he turned to Li Hu for help and saved his life. He then became Dai Quan's confidant.

Why is he here?

Liu Er also saw Wang Daniu at this time and stood up quickly: "Duke has returned home?"

Wang Daniu rolled his eyes. How could he not see such a big carriage?
Liu Er smiled awkwardly and said, "General Wang, I have something very important to tell the Duke." As he spoke, he looked at the slowly approaching carriage.

Wang Daniu dismounted, threw the reins to a soldier beside him, and walked towards the stopped carriage.

Liu Er looked closely at Wang Daniu, and when he saw him waving, he trotted over.

Wang Daniu: "Raise your hand."

Liu Er understood and raised his hands.

Wang Daniu searched his body skillfully before opening the door of the car: "Get in."

Liu Er first bowed to Wang Daniu before getting on the carriage.

After closing the carriage door, Wang Daniu stepped aside.

In the carriage, Li Hu looked at the kneeling Liu Er and asked with a smile, "Why are you here?"

Liu Er took out a letter from his bosom and said, "Before our ancestor left Beijing, he told me that before he came back, the secret letter from Shengjing City should be given to the Duke." Then he handed the letter over.

Li Hu took the letter, opened the seal and read it. He was shocked and had great respect for King Kang. A trouble-maker is a trouble-maker. He stirs up trouble wherever he goes and can even stir up a bloody storm!
And this Qian Xiaosi, he was really tough! He lost four sons in a row, suffered three blows, and the third was a double blow, but he just vomited a little more blood and was unconscious for a long time, but he survived.

It seems that mental attacks have little effect on Qian Xiaosi, and he can only be physically destroyed.

Qian Xiaosi is not a fool, he must have started an investigation. I hope King Kang can fool him.

The secret letter said that Prince Kang was planning to throw dirty water on several other Tartar princes. If successful, Shengjing City would be in for a blast!
At this moment, Li Hu sincerely hopes that he can succeed.

After reading the letter, Li Hu turned his gaze to Liu Er and asked, "Is there any news from Manager Dai?"

Liu Er: "The latest news came on the day of the Little New Year, saying that they have reached the Yangtze River, but still have not found any trace of the Prince of Nan'an."

Li Hu nodded. The Prince of Nan'an must have escaped across the Yangtze River. It now depends on whether he has the ability to escape the searches by government officials in Hunan, Yunnan, Guizhou and other places!
Liu Er: "There is one more thing, it is related to the Duke's family"

Li Hu looked at him.

Liu Er: "Wang Ren has set his sights on the property of the future daughter-in-law of the brother of the Duke's concubine."

Li Hu was startled at first, then he reacted, Wang Ren had set his sights on the Osmanthus Xia family. This little bastard had no ability, but he was quite disgusting.

Liu Er continued, "Wang Ren became friends with Xia San. Xia San is the adopted son of the Xia family and the sworn brother of the Xia family girl."

Xia San? Xia Sanlan? Just hearing the name, he is a low-class person. Make friends with Wang Ren? No one who made friends with Wang Ren had a good ending. Prince Kang went to study abroad, the man surnamed Mei was hit by a horse and died, and the prince of Nan'an County was shot into a hornet's nest by a musket.

Liu Er: "If the Duke has no other instructions, I will go back first."

Li Hu nodded: "Okay, be careful on the road."

"The master is back."

"Well, where's your wife?"

"My wife is doing the accounts outside the bedroom."

"Bring me something to eat."

The thick cotton curtain was lifted, and Li Hu walked in from outside. He saw Xiangling coming towards him with a smile, holding a pair of warm shoes.

"The master is back."

Xiangling took out a handkerchief and brushed the snow off Li Hu's head and body, then took off his cloak, bent down and put on warm shoes for Li Hu.

Li Hu held Xiangling's bent back with one hand and put on one of her warm shoes. He then held her back and put on the other warm shoe.

Xiangling straightened her back and looked at Li Hu with a smile on her face.

Li Hu pinched her face and asked with a smile, "What are you so happy about?"

Xiangling pulled out a hairpin from her head and handed it to Li Hu as if offering a treasure, "This is a gift from the madam."

Li Hu smiled. This silly girl was so happy with just a hairpin. He tapped her forehead and said, "Pour me a cup of tea."

"Hey." Xiangling ran to the small dining room with a smile to pour tea.

This silly girl.

Li Hu shook his head and turned to go into the warm room. Just then, Zijuan called Xueyan, Qingwen and Ying'er to come out of the bedroom carrying a box.

Zijuan, Xueyan, Qingwen, Ying'er: "The master is back."

Li Hu smiled and nodded: "What is it?" Then he glanced at Ying'er. Is Xue Baochai back?

Zijuan smiled and said, "Account books." She pointed to the bookshelves along the wall of the warm room and said, "Miss, please put these account books on the bookshelf."

"You guys go ahead and do your work." Li Hu lifted the curtain and entered the bedroom, only to see Lin Daiyu wearing casual clothes with her hair tied up in a bun. She was sitting in front of the desk by the south window, talking to Xue Baochai, who was also wearing casual clothes.

Seeing Li Hu coming in, Xue Baochai hurried over to greet him, bowed, and said softly, "The master is back."

Li Hu's gaze subconsciously fell on Xue Baochai's chest.

Xue Baochai's face suddenly turned red.

Li Hu smiled awkwardly and called to the inner bedroom, "Amber."

"Amber has gone to the kitchen." Xue Baochai blushed as she walked up to Li Hu and helped him undress. After changing into home clothes, Li Hu sat down at the desk, took a sip of the tea Xiangling brought him, and said to Lin Daiyu who was looking through the account book, "The Queen Mother asked me to say hello on her behalf."

Lin Daiyu raised her head: "Oh?"

Li Hu was a little curious: "Are you two so close?"

Lin Daiyu: "Before you came back from the south, we often exchanged letters."

Li Hu remembered that this was the case.

Xue Baochai's eyes flashed, Lin Daiyu actually had an affair with the empress dowager.

Lin Daiyu: "How is the Queen Mother?"

Li Hu sighed: "It's nothing serious. Just take a few doses of medicine and recuperate and it will be fine."

After a pause, he said, "I have aged a lot in an instant. I have completely lost my former energy and spirit."

Lin Daiyu nodded.

At this time, Xiangling came in again with a smile: "Master, Sister Amber is setting the table."

After hearing this, Xue Baochai said to Li Hu and Lin Daiyu, "I'll go and help." As she said that, she wanted to go out.

Li Hu suddenly remembered: "Don't leave!"

Xue Baochai had no choice but to stop.

Lin Daiyu looked at Li Hu: "What's wrong?"

Li Hu told the story of Wang Ren and Xia San.

Xue Baochai's face changed immediately, and then she looked at Li Hu, her eyes full of pleading.

Li Hu was silent for a moment, then said, "As long as your brother doesn't act up during the three-month national mourning period, everything will be fine."

Xue Baochai nodded and turned her gaze to Lin Daiyu: "Madam."

Lin Daiyu: "Go back quickly."

"Yes." Xue Baochai bowed slightly and walked out hurriedly.

Li Hu stood up and was about to go out, but was stopped by Lin Daiyu.

Li Hu looked at her: "What's the matter?"

Lin Daiyu said unhappily: "Bao girl went to the warm room to change clothes."

Li Hu: "Isn't there a glass screen?"

Lin Daiyu laughed angrily: "You also know that it is made of glass!"

whispering sound!
Li Hu curled his lips and muttered, "I've already touched it, are you afraid of me seeing it?"

"What did you say?"

"I'm not wrong."

"You, you finally revealed your true colors."

"It's too late to regret now!"

"I called you too late! I called you too late"

"Aiyo~ A gentleman should use his mouth instead of his fists!"

Lin Daiyu also reached her other hand into Li Hu's clothes and pinched a piece of flesh through his underwear. "You are talking about a gentleman, what does it have to do with me!" As she said this, she couldn't help laughing.

Li Hu also laughed.

At this time, footsteps were heard from the warm room. Lin Daiyu let go of her hand and looked out the window. She saw Xue Baochai leading the maids and servants into the snow. Then she asked, "Nothing will happen, right?"

Li Hu: "What could possibly happen? No matter how brave Wang Ren is, the worst thing he can do is sleep with Miss Xia."

Lin Daiyu laughed and punched him, "What nonsense are you talking about!"

Li Hu smiled and took her into his arms: "Let's go eat."

The front yard of the Xia family
A table of wine and food was laid out cold.

The door curtain at the back hall was lifted, and Wang Ren, dressed in casual clothes, walked in. He glanced at the full wine glass on the table, then snorted coldly.

At this moment, a gust of cold wind came in from behind the thick door curtain, and a young man in a brocade robe walked in.

The young man walked up to Wang Ren and said, "Stupid Xue is gone."

Wang Ren looked at him: "Xia San, didn't you pat your chest and say it was foolproof?"

Xia San smiled bitterly: "I guess something happened in the Xue family, otherwise Xue Dashazi's servant wouldn't dare to come to him at this time."

After a pause, he said, "Don't worry. In two days I will invite the fool Xue out to a place where the Xue family can't find him. I will get him drunk and find two singing girls. If he drinks and whores during the period of national mourning, he will not only be dismissed from office, but also go to jail."

Wang Ren nodded.

Xia San rubbed his hands and said with a flattering smile: "Please help with the Xia family's property, Young Master Wang. After the success, I will give you 30%. Oh, by the way, my sister is very attractive, you can..." As he said this, he laughed.

Wang Ren looked at him with a smile. He wanted to take Xue Pan's life and sleep with his wife, and take over the Xia family's property at the same time.

Seeing Wang Ren smile, Xia San was overjoyed and quickly picked up the wine glass on the table: "Please, Mr. Wang!"

Wang Ren: "You can't drink during the national mourning period." After saying that, he walked out.

Xia San was stunned. (End of this chapter)