The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 493

The shouts of killing, and the screams and cries of countless people in fear echoed over Shengjing City.

The cold wind was howling. King Kang stood in the huge courtyard with his hands behind his back, looking at the high walls. His deep gaze seemed to be able to penetrate the walls and see the outside world.

Since the Lantern Festival, he has been trapped in this small world, completely isolated from the prosperity and freedom of the outside world.

The cold wind lifted his clothes and long hair. King Kang came to his senses, and his eyes revealed an unconcealable fatigue.

He sighed deeply, turned slowly and walked towards the room. Just after taking two steps, he was suddenly shocked!
There was a crisp sound of unlocking a door, and then the gate creaked open.

"Your Majesty."

Prince Kang slowly turned around, and it was Princess Kang.

Princess Kang came running over carrying a cloth bundle.

King Kang looked at her and asked, "Why are you here?"

Princess Kang: "They will not let you go. Fu Kang'an's rebels are attacking the inner city. Your Highness is mixed in the crowd. Take advantage of the chaos to escape!" As she said that, she handed over the bundle.

Prince Kang's eyes flashed: "Fukangan broke in?"

Princess Kang nodded.

"Good, good!" King Kang suddenly became excited.

Princess Kang looked at him with a complicated expression.

King Kang reacted and coughed awkwardly: "Um, I."

Princess Kang: "Your Majesty, please don't count on Fu Kang'an to save you."

Being exposed in front of his face, King Kang's face turned green and yellow, but he couldn't help but ask: "Why?"

Princess Kang: "All the imperial guards who were blocking the palace have been withdrawn. I heard from them that Fu Kang'an's rebels killed everyone they saw, and they should be massacring the city."

King Kang's expression changed immediately: "Massacre the city?!"

At this moment, the eunuch in charge of the palace rushed in like a gust of wind, shouting: "Oh no, Helin is not dead, he betrayed the Qing Dynasty! The bastards of the Niuhulu family opened the gate of the inner city and let Fu Kang'an's rebels in."

Prince Kang and Princess Kang both shuddered.

The eunuch in charge said: "I have already asked people to gather the servants in the mansion to escort the prince and princess out."

Princess Kang looked at Prince Kang and said, "Your Majesty, please go with them."

King Kang also looked at her: "What about you?"

Princess Kang turned her face away: "My home is here."

King Kang suddenly laughed.

Princess Kang was surprised and looked at Prince Kang with her eyes wide open.

After laughing, King Kang looked at her and said, "I won't leave."

Princess Kang: "Your Majesty."

King Kang suddenly held her hand.

Princess Kang was startled and instinctively tried to pull her hand back.

But King Kang held her tighter and said, "You can't escape. Stay here, maybe there is a way to survive."

Princess Kang wanted to say something, but Prince Kang said directly to the eunuch in charge: "Write a sign and hang it outside the door, saying that this is the residence of Prince Dashun. Write Li Hu's name on it in Mongolian. Li Hu is notorious among the Mongolians and will never let go of any grudge. As long as you mention 'Li Hu is coming', the Mongolian children will stop crying!"

The eunuch in charge's eyes lit up and said, "Yes!" He bowed and walked out, then very considerately closed the door from the outside.

After a moment of silence, King Kang spoke: "It's cold outside, let's talk inside."

Princess Kang lowered her head and said "hmm".

Prince Kang picked her up and strode into the room.

Fu Kang'an's premonition was correct, there were ambushes outside Shengjing City.

At this moment, Fukangan was commanding the remaining Mongolian cavalry to fight against the Eight Banners Army of the Bordered Yellow Banner.

Although the Mongolian cavalry was not as powerful as the Bordered Yellow Banner, they had the advantage in numbers. The two sides fought back and forth on the battlefield that was several miles long, and both sides suffered losses. The battle was difficult to resolve and extremely fierce.

Fu Kang'an quickly scanned the battlefield, his face solemn. The defeat of the Mongolian cavalry was a matter of time. He could only hope that Helin could break into the palace, control the emperor and the civil and military officials, and force Lao Liu to write an abdication edict. His identity had long been public, and he was qualified to inherit the throne. With the support of the Eight Banners nobles in the inner city and the response of the Mongolian tribes in the south and north of the desert, the world could be settled by a single order!

Suddenly, the sound of rumbling artillery fire was heard in Shengjing City.

Fu Kang'an was stunned at first, and then he was overjoyed. This was not an ordinary cannon, but a signal cannon from the inner city, a signal cannon for help!
Then, a bell rang from the city, and then another bell rang, slowly at first, and then gradually became faster.

The Bordered Yellow Banner cavalry, which had been fighting fiercely with the Mongolian cavalry, began to leave the battlefield and move towards Shengjing City.

Fu Kang'an immediately ordered the two Mongolian nobles beside him: "Lead your troops and immediately stop the Bordered Yellow Banner. Don't let them support Shengjing."

"Yes." The two Mongolian nobles drew their scimitars and rode their horses towards their respective army formations.

At this moment, a Mongolian nobleman rode up to Fu Kang'an, pulled the reins, jumped off his horse, and reported loudly: "Your Majesty, the Holy, Wise, Benevolent and Martial Emperor, Heshen's son has opened the gate of the inner city. The army is attacking the palace."

"Good!" Fukang'an couldn't help but laughed out loud towards the sky.

The surrounding Mongolian nobles immediately became excited, with excited glances interweaving with each other, while the captured Eight Banners generals such as Hailancha and Baoning looked gloomy.

Smiling, Fukangan suddenly looked at the Mongolian nobleman and asked, "What did you call me just now?"

The Mongolian noble wanted to please Fu Kang'an, so he opened his voice and shouted, "Your Majesty, the wise, benevolent and martial emperor!"

Those Mongolian nobles lost no time in flattering him.

Your Majesty, the wise, benevolent and martial emperor?

Fu Kang'an's eyes sparkled, he liked this title, but smiled faintly: "Don't try to flatter me yet. A small Liaodong is not worthy of the word 'big', wait until we conquer the Han areas within the Great Wall." As he said that, he untied the sword at his waist and awarded it to the Mongolian nobleman.

The Mongolian noble took the sword with both hands and said excitedly: "Your Majesty, I bow to thank you for your grace!"

Fukangan smiled with satisfaction and nodded.

Hailancha and Baoning looked at each other. The Shengjing Palace was not the Forbidden City in Beijing. It had no moat, was not as big as the Forbidden City, and was not as majestic as the Forbidden City. Once the inner city was breached, the palace would have no ability to resist.

Hailancha took a look at the Bordered Yellow Banner that was being held tightly by the Mongolian cavalry, looked up to the sky and sighed, Shengjing City is finished!
Sure enough, three fireworks soon rose above Shengjing City and exploded three times in the air!
This is the signal agreed upon by Fukangan and Helin!
Fukang'an laughed loudly towards the sky, then waved his hand and said, "Enter the city!" He squeezed his legs together and rode his horse straight towards Shengjing City.

The Mongolian nobles hurriedly rode their horses to follow Fukangan.

Unlike the inner and outer cities, where the streets were littered with corpses, the imperial palace was not massacred.

Surrounded by Mongolian nobles, Fukang'an rode his horse into the palace. He looked sternly and squinted his eyes as he looked around the palace. The palace, which was not very tall to begin with, looked even smaller. A smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Upon learning that the princes, dukes and ministers were all in the Sixth Prince's bedroom, Fu Kang'an rode his horse straight over.

All the princes, dukes and ministers were kneeling in the square outside the palace, surrounded by ferocious Mongols.

Looking at Fukang'an riding towards them, everyone looked at him with different expressions.

Fu Kang'an rode his horse straight to the stone steps in front of the gate, staring at the open door of the palace, motionless.

At this time, He Lin walked out of the bedroom door with a strange look on her face.

Fu Kang'an looked at him and asked, "What happened? Did the little emperor hang himself?"

He Lin was silent for a moment, then said, "You should go and see it yourself."

Fukang'an frowned, dismounted, and led everyone in.

As soon as he stepped into the bedroom, Fukang'an was stunned.

On the dragon throne in the center, Qian Xiaosi, who had long since passed away, was sitting there in imperial robes.

The Sixth Prince, dressed in the attire of the heir to the throne, stood by.

Both father and son looked at Fukang'an.

There was silence.

After a while, Qian Xiaosi broke the silence: "You are here."

Fu Kang'an didn't know how to answer, so he just nodded.

Qian Xiaosi smiled weakly: "I am almost dying."

Fu Kang'an looked at him.

Qian Xiaosi: "Whether you believe it or not, I have never thought of taking your life." To the Sixth Prince: "What is the Han Chinese saying?"

Sixth Prince: "There is no overnight hatred between father and son."

Fukang'an said nothing.

Qian Xiaosi: "I can pass the throne to you, but you must swear to treat your brothers well and not harm them."

Fukang'an looked at him and still said nothing.

Qian Xiaosi coughed and said weakly, "You should understand that if Heshen's son hadn't betrayed me, you would have been the loser. It won't be long before the Bordered Yellow Banner outside the city will defeat the Mongols, and the Plain Yellow Banner inside the city is still resisting. Hong Zhou still has more than 100,000 soldiers and horses under his command. You can't sit firmly on the throne."

Fu Kang'an was silent for a moment, then replied, "Okay."

Qian Xiaosi: "I swear on your mother's spirit in heaven."

Having made up his mind, Fukang'an did not hesitate and swore an oath on the spot.

Qian Xiaosi really laughed this time: "Okay, okay! You have such means, I will feel relieved to hand over our ancestors' country to you! I have one more thing, the people in Shengjing City are all your subjects, you must treat them well"

Fu Kang'an: "You are not kidding, I promised them."

General Qian Xiaosi raised his hand and said, "The outer city is full of Han people, they can kill them as they please. You can't touch the inner city, the bannermen are the foundation of the country!"

Fu Kangan thought for a moment and replied, "Okay."

Qian Xiaosi nodded, took out two imperial edicts from behind, and handed them over: "Take them."

Fu Kang'an trembled all over, walked forward and took it with both hands, and immediately unfolded it. There was an imperial edict proving his identity as a royal prince and an imperial decree for the abdication of the Sixth Prince.

After seeing this, Fukang'an's cheeks flushed and he seemed extremely excited and thrilled.

"Emperor Father!" The Sixth Prince suddenly exclaimed.

Fu Kang'an looked over and saw Qian Xiaosi leaning back in his chair, his face gray and pale, his eyes becoming increasingly dim.
(End of this chapter)