The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Blazing torches lit up the night sky red. Tens of thousands of North Korean prisoners were driven in, stumbling and crying loudly.

Li Hu shook his head. He had never seen so many men crying. It was really an eye-opener!

Wang Daniu was amused: "Why are they just like a bunch of girls?"

At this time, Wang Yaozu came over here with a group of men and women in luxurious clothes.

Wang Daniu: "Are they the North Korean royal family?"

Li Hu looked at the old man walking in front with a dull look in his eyes. Driven by the scouts, he walked forward woodenly.

"Your Majesty!"

The two sentinels kicked the old man's ankles at the same time. The old man fell to his knees and came to his senses. The fear of death instantly surged in his heart. He knelt down in front of Li Hu and put his head on the ground. He was so scared that he couldn't speak clearly: "Little Wang. Li, Li"

Wang Daniu: "Don't use the 'Li' anymore. You don't deserve the surname Li!"

All the generals looked at the trembling old man with disdain. He was a small and lowly country and was not worthy of having the same surname as their prince, the future emperor.

Li Hu looked him over and asked, "Can you dance?"

The King of Korea was stunned as he had not expected Li Hu to ask such a question.

"No? What a pity."

Li Hu shook his head slightly and said to the two scouts, "Cut them down."

The two scouts responded, picked up the Korean king and dragged him away.

"My king, spare me! My king, spare me!" The King of Korea finally came to his senses and shouted loudly: "My king can dance! Can dance!"

Li Hu: “Slow down.”

The two scouts dragged the King of Korea back again.

Li Hu looked at him: "Can you dance?"

The King of Korea knew that this was his only chance to survive, and he nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes. We are a nation that is good at singing and dancing. Not only can I dance, I can also sing songs for you to entertain you." As he said this, he looked at Li Hu with a flattering face.

Li Hu waved his hand.

The two scouts released the King of Korea.

In order to survive, the King of Korea forgot his dignity as a king, and danced to the beat of his own drum, doing a somewhat incongruous dance while humming Korean songs.

Upon seeing this, the rest of the Korean royal family jumped up one after another, causing a dazzling scene.

Li Hu smiled with satisfaction and nodded.

Seeing Li Hu smile, the King of Korea and others felt relieved and danced even harder!

Not only Wang Daniu and others were watching with great interest, but the surrounding soldiers also gathered around. If Li Hu had not been there, there would have been a commotion.

After the dance, the King of Korea knelt down, panting, "Please, please have mercy on us, Your Majesty, and forgive our sins."

The Korean royal family knelt down in a mess and said, "Please spare our lives, my king! Please spare our lives, my king!"

Li Hu smiled: "They are indeed a nation that is good at singing and dancing."

Wang Daniu and others all laughed.

The soldiers watching also laughed.

Li Hu: "Since everyone is laughing, I'll let you go."

The King of Korea was overjoyed: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for not killing me, and thank you, generals, for saving my life." As he said this, he kowtowed three times to Li Hu, clasped his hands together, and bowed to the people around him.

The Joseon royal family kowtowed together and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for not killing us, and thank you, generals, for saving our lives."

Looking at the King of Korea and the Korean royal family kneeling there, everyone felt comfortable.

Li Hu waved his hand, and Wang Yaozu led his men to take the Korean royal family away.

Wang Daniu smiled and said, "When the time comes, let them dance with the Jurchen Tartar royal family at the prince's coronation ceremony. No, in the future, every New Year and festival, let them dance in Fengtian Hall." After that, he said to the generals, "We can't feed them for free, can we?"

Everyone started laughing again.

Li Hu smiled. After all, the Li family had ruled Korea for hundreds of years. Killing them directly would be detrimental to the stability of Korea. Keeping them in the capital together with the Aisin-Gioro family, well, the royal families of the surrounding countries would be sent to the capital in the future to let them dance for generations.

Wang Daniu: "My Lord, what should we do with these North Korean prisoners?"

"Send them to Anshanyi and let them build a city there. There is an open-pit iron mine there."

Li Hu was silent for a moment. He decided to build a city in Anshanyi, not only because there were open-pit iron mines with astonishing reserves there, but also because he remembered the sentence "Anshan, Anshan Repertory Theatre." when he was reading the information about Anshanyi, although history had long been changed.

Wang Daniu nodded.

Li Hu turned his gaze towards the capital again. Now everything is ready, he is just waiting for news from the capital!

It was already very late at night, but the hall of the Zhenguo Mansion was still brightly lit. The cups and plates were in a mess.

Wang Ren, whose face was already red, drank another large glass of wine in one gulp, and then shouted angrily: "Stubborn old man, I said everything I could to please him, but he just wouldn't agree. Do you want me to kneel down and beg him?!"

Niu Ben and the second master of the Niu family smiled at each other.

Niu Ben personally filled Wang Ren's glass with wine and said, "Do you know why he disagrees?"

Wang Ren stared at Niu Ben with hazy eyes: "Why?"

Niu Ben sighed compassionately: "Brother, you are too honest."

Wang Ren: "What do you mean?"

The second master of the Niu family continued: "You are sincere to others and want to take care of them in their old age, but they may not think so!"

Wang Ren looked at him in confusion.

The second master of the Niu family: "Flower Branch Lane."

Wang Ren was still confused.

The second master of the Niu family pretended to hesitate for a moment and said, "Since you don't know, I'd better not tell you, so as not to make you suspicious."

Wang Ren looked at him: "Is it related to me?"

The second master of the Niu family shouted in a false tone: "Maybe I am overthinking. The child in the outer house..."

Niu Ben shouted in a low voice: "Second brother!"

Wang Ren stared at him closely: "What outer house? What child? If you still consider me a brother, tell me!"

Seeing that Wang Ren had fallen for it, the second master of the Niu family hesitated and said, "I also heard it from others. They said, they saw your uncle holding a three or two-year-old boy in Huazhi Lane."

Wang Ren's mind buzzed. "What? What did you say?"

Niu Ben continued, "You are the commander of the Southern Pacification Division. If you check, everything will become clear. Think about it yourself. Has Wang Ziteng been coming home very late recently? And he is always hiding things?"

Wang Ren's face sank: "No wonder he always comes back so late!"

Niu Ben: "It's late, go back and rest."

After a pause, he said, "Maybe it's a misunderstanding."

Wang Ren stood up, holding the edge of the table, and walked out in a hurry without saying anything.

The second master of the Niu family stood up and walked to the window. After a while, he asked, "Is he really Wang Ziteng's illegitimate son?"

Niu Ben smiled and said, "No, that's Wang Ren's child."

The second master of the Niu family was shocked: "Wang Ren's child?"

Niu Ben: "Do you still remember those little actors that Rongguo Mansion bought for the Queen Mother?"

The Second Master of the Niu Family: "Of course I remember. Didn't they say that the Jia Family dealt with all the uproar that took place in the city?"

Niu Ben: "It's that old fellow Jia She."

The second master of the Niu family's eyes flashed: "No wonder Wang Ziteng refused to agree, it turns out that Jia She has something on him. Well, once Wang Ren investigates, won't everything be clear?"

Niu Ben also stood up and said, "I have checked everything. There is only an old woman and a young couple taking care of the child. They don't know the child's true identity." At this point, he smiled and said, "If it were you, and you suddenly found out that you were about to be replaced by someone else and had nothing, would you still be able to keep your composure?"

The second master of the Niu family also laughed.

Suddenly, hurried footsteps were heard outside, followed by the butler's voice: "Master, an urgent letter has just been sent from the military camp. It says it is of great importance. Please open it immediately."

Niu Ben: "Come in."

Before he finished speaking, the butler came in with a letter and handed it to Niu Ben.

Niu Ben took the letter, opened the seal and read it. After reading a few lines, his face turned gloomy.

The second master of the Niu family looked at him in surprise and suspicion.

After reading the letter, Niu Ben was stunned for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter, saying, "What a great move! Such a big move, and we didn't even realize it. We really underestimated our cousin!"

The second master of the Niu family couldn't help it and asked tentatively: "Brother."

Niu Ben delivered the letter: "The troops from Ningxia, Guyuan and Gansu have entered the capital."

"what!"

The second master of the Niu family's face suddenly changed, and he hurriedly took the letter. His face became uglier and uglier as his eyes moved on the letter. Then, he let out a long sigh and said, "If it weren't for the Nan'an County Prince's vanguard army colliding with the northwest troops, we might have failed and even become prisoners!"

A cold light flashed in Niu Ben's eyes: "If that's the case, don't blame me for being cruel and ruthless." (End of this chapter)