The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

With a "bang", the last piece of white jade ruler smashed to pieces on the ground!

The Sixth Prince smashed everything that could be smashed and everything that could not be smashed, leaving the ground in a mess.

The several military ministers kneeling there and two old military officers with torn armor and bloody faces and disheveled hair were frightened.

"What did you promise me? Didn't you say we would win? Ah - out of 50,000 people, only less than 20,000 returned. How can we defend Shengjing City?" The Sixth Prince was furious and slammed the desk when he said this.

Several military ministers and two old military attachés were all silent.

"Are you all dumb? Speak!"

An old military officer spoke up: "Your Majesty, we tried our best, it's Li Hu who is too cunning!"

Another old military officer said: "This must be a trap set by Heshen and Li Hu"

"enough!"

The Sixth Prince interrupted him rudely, "Don't blame Heshen for everything! A defeat is a defeat."

The old military officer looked at the chief military minister with pleading eyes.

The leading military minister spoke up and said, "Your Highness, the most urgent task is to immediately recruit young and strong men from the bannermen's houses in the inner city and put them in the city defense team to prevent Li Hu from taking the opportunity to attack the city for revenge. In addition, we should demolish some of the Han people's houses in the outer city and take bricks, stones and wood to defend the city."

The Sixth Prince frowned and said, "Without a house, people will freeze to death at night."

The leading military minister said: "They are just a bunch of lowly people. Besides, the last time the Mongols plundered the outer city, they killed tens of thousands of Han people, and some houses were empty."

The Sixth Prince nodded: "Okay."

Another military minister said: "In addition to strengthening the defense, we should also send people to negotiate and delay time. If Li Hu attacks the city one day later, we will have a 10% better chance of winning."

The Sixth Prince looked at him and asked, "Who should I send?"

The military minister said: "Just send someone to pass a message to Heshen."

The Sixth Prince: "He Shen? Can it work?!"

The military minister smiled and said, "Heshen's family members are all in the city, so he has no choice but to agree."

After pondering for a long time, the Sixth Prince sighed and said, "This is the only way."

The leading military minister said: "He Shen's matter is simple. The most important thing is to stabilize Li Hu. We must first show sincerity and calm Li Hu's anger."

The two old military officers were shocked: "Your Majesty, we are doing this for the court!" Then they looked at the military minister in the lead, "We are doing it according to your wishes, you can't cross the river and burn the bridge!"

The Sixth Prince was stunned for a moment, then after he understood what they said, he immediately turned his gaze to the chief military minister.

The leading military minister panicked: "Your Highness, I do this all for the country and people of our ancestors. I have no selfish motives at all!" As he spoke, he banged his head on the brick floor repeatedly, making a loud bang.

The Sixth Prince was furious, but he also knew that the matter was done, so he could only snort coldly: "Okay, hurry up and make arrangements."

The leading military minister said: "Yes."

Heshen's eyes slowly opened, and he gradually saw the surrounding situation clearly. He realized that this was the tent arranged for him by Li Hu.

The military doctor slowly pulled out the silver needle from He Shen's philtrum, and then reported to Li Hu: "Your anger has attacked your heart. Take a few doses of medicine and recuperate, and you will be fine."

Li Hu: "Go and boil the medicine."

The military doctor replied, “Yes.” He picked up his medical bag and walked out.

He Shen then saw Li Hu again: "Prince."

Li Hu smiled and said, "You owe me a life this time."

Heshen opened his mouth but didn't know how to respond.

At this time, Wang Daniu led Liu Quan in.

As soon as Liu Quan came in, he saw Heshen lying there. He was startled at first, then he ran over and knelt down in front of Heshen. He forgot to kowtow and shouted in a bitter voice: "Master! What happened? I haven't seen you for only two days, how come you have become like this!"

He Shen was also pleasantly surprised to see him, but he couldn't help but feel a little sad, his eyes moistened: "How is your family? Madam? Is your young master okay?"

Liu Quan: "All right, all right." Liu Quan's cheeks were still red and swollen, obviously he had been beaten. He Shen: "Did they beat you?"

Liu Quan: "Master, those bastards confiscated all our property and emptied out the warehouse. But don't worry, the underground..." At this point, he suddenly shut up.

Li Hu rolled his eyes. It’s just an underground vault.

He Shen saw this and said with a smile: "This servant is short-sighted. I am sorry to make you laugh." Then he asked Liu Quan: "Why did they let you out?"

Liu Quan then remembered: "Those bastards wrote me a letter." As he said that, he took out a letter from his arms and handed it to Heshen.

He Shen took the letter, tore it open and read it. After reading it, a cold smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. Then he handed the letter to Liu Quan and said, "Read it to the prince." Then he said to Li Hu, "This letter is written in Manchu."

Li Hu nodded.

Liu Quan began to recite with his hoarse voice.

After reading the letter, Liu Quan couldn't help but spit: "How shameless!"

Li Hu was speechless. After all these years, this was the first time he had seen such a shameless person. At the same time, he knew that they said they wanted Heshen to help mediate and negotiate, but in fact they just wanted to delay time.

Liu Quan: "Those bastards also said that they would send the stolen property from our house to the prince's camp early tomorrow morning."

Li Hu sneered, "You're giving in now? It's too late! Go back and tell them that I not only want 100 million in compensation, but also all the women of the Aixinjueluo clan, and the heads of the generals who attacked my camp and their three clans."

Liu Quan was excited: "Your Majesty is wise!"

Li Hu: "Tell them again that I will only wait until noon. After noon, the army will immediately attack the city!"

Liu Quan responded loudly: "Yeah!"

He Shen sighed softly: "If they ask me..."

Liu Quan: "I understand. Just say that the master was imprisoned by the prince and I didn't see him." Then he said to Li Hu, "Please give me a few strokes of the board, prince."

Li Hu smiled and nodded.

Wang Daniu's eyes showed some appreciation and his tone softened: "Please come in." Then he walked out with Liu Quan.

Li Hu looked at He Shen and asked, "What are your plans for the future?"

There was confusion in Heshen's eyes.

Suddenly, Wang Daniu came in again and handed a letter to Li Hu: "A letter from the princess."

Li Hu took the letter, opened it and read it. As he read it, a strange expression appeared on his face. Dali? Dali? He looked at the date on the letter and calculated the time. The outcome of the battle in Jinling should be decided soon. I wonder if Xie Jing and Liu Xianglian can escape this disaster?
On the south bank of the Yangtze River, cannons roared and shouts of killing shook the sky!
With a cannon shot and a ball of fire, a large flag of the Beijing camp was blown to pieces!

Countless rebels holding spears, holding swords high, carrying shields and waving the banner of "Dali" rushed towards the Beijing camp from all directions!
Under the fierce bombardment of the rebels, the troops of the Beijing camp had already been thrown into chaos and were knocked to the ground one by one.

Xie Jing sat quietly beside the corpse of the warhorse, covering his abdomen with one hand, his eyes full of fatigue.

At this time, Liu Xianglian, with a bloody face and disheveled hair, rushed over and shouted, "Marshal, Wang Ziteng has escaped. Our flank is completely exposed. I will lead my soldiers to escort you out!"

Xie Jing looked at him and said, "Go back and tell the Supreme Emperor that it was the Western Barbarians."

Liu Xianglian: "What about you?"

Xie Jing smiled: "I can't leave."

Only then did Liu Xianglian discover that Xie Jing was bleeding from his abdomen.

"Commander!"

"move."

"Handsome."

Liu Xianglian wanted to persuade him, but Xie Jing raised his sword and slashed it across his neck, then fell down!

"Marshal! Marshal!"

Liu Xianglian fell to his knees in front of Xie Jing's body, kowtowed several times, wiped away his tears, and said with red eyes: "I will definitely avenge you, definitely!" After that, he got up and disappeared into the crowd. (End of this chapter)