The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

The governor's office was brightly lit.

The three imperial edicts issued by the cabinet to the whole country were now placed high on the incense table at the top.

Marquis Zhongjing Shi Ding and General Shenwu Feng Tang stood there silently. The angry look on their faces had disappeared, replaced by a look of confusion and a hint of sadness.

In the distance, shouts of "Long live" were heard.

Shi Ding trembled violently and ran out quickly.

Feng Tang followed him out.

At the same time, Huang Jinzhong, the military supervisor of the Rui Shi Camp, sat quietly in his bedroom, wearing a brand new bright red dragon robe.

"Godfather!" Following a woman's call, the door was pushed open and a little eunuch almost stumbled in.

As soon as the eunuch entered the room, he knelt down in front of Huang Jinzhong who was sitting there, and said in a panic: "Rui Shiying, Rui Shiying rebelled against several brothers, all of them are dead. Jia Yun, Jia Yun opened the city gate, and the rebels entered the city."

Huang Jinzhong stood up by holding the armrest of the chair, then knelt down in the direction of the capital, kneeling three times and kowtowed nine times.

The eunuch: "Godfather."

Huang Jinzhong walked tremblingly towards the white silk hanging high on the side, stood on a stool, put his head into the white silk ring, and muttered, "Dashun is dead." Then he kicked the stool.

"Godfather!" The eunuch rushed over, hugged Huang Jinzhong's legs, and burst into tears.

It's already very hot in Xuzhou in mid-May.

The huge team welcoming the royal army stood outside the city of Xuzhou with flags fluttering and heads crowded around.

Lin Ruhai stood in the middle of the line of officials, and Chen Qiang stood beside him. Under the scorching sun, everyone was sweating but stood in a solemn silence.

The sound of horse hooves and rustling footsteps came with the ground shaking.

"Here it comes." Chen Qiang whispered in Lin Ruhai's ear.

All eyes looked over there.

The first thing that came into everyone's sight was a large yellow dragon flag that was more than two meters high.

Although he had not yet ascended the throne, Li Hu's bright yellow-bordered banner had been replaced with a large yellow dragon banner, announcing his status as a king and the change of dynasty to the world.

Wang Yaozu took the lead and led the sentry camp in front.

Following behind the sentry camp were rows of imperial guards armed with swords, marching in neat and powerful steps.

In order to facilitate command, Li Hu reorganized the entire army. The Rui Shi Battalion, the Yong Wei Battalion and the Hetao Cavalry were merged into the Imperial Guards. Wang Daniu was appointed commander of the Imperial Guards and the Beijing Camp troops were reorganized.

Now the troops under Li Hu are divided into the Imperial Guards, the Beijing Camp and the Mongolian Cavalry.

The three clear edicts of the cabinet had already spread throughout the Central Plains. In addition, Li Hu had a very high reputation in the Central Plains. Wherever the army went, the people welcomed the royal army with food and drink. It could be said that the timing was perfect!
Officials from the provincial governments and counties of Henan, Hubei, and Anhui sent in memorials of apology, and expressed their willingness to swear allegiance to Li Hu, to the new dynasty, and to await the arrival of the royal army.

Zhang Cheng, Zhang Xi and the four princes have led hundreds of thousands of elite troops south, entered Hubei from Nanyang, and then crossed the river south to first capture Hunan and Jiangxi, waiting for Li Hu's order.

Li Hu had already made up his mind. After reorganizing the troops under the city of Xuzhou, he would divide the troops again and send them north to Shandong and then to Lianghuai. He would personally lead the main force of the army south, striving to recover Jiangnan before the Mid-Autumn Festival, and finally concentrate on solving the problems in southern Xinjiang and the southeast.

In addition, Li Hu had sent people to build a shipyard and build warships long before entering the Pass.

Behind the Yellow Dragon Banner, Li Hu arrived. Protected by Wang Daniu and others, Li Hu arrived on his big white horse!

Chen Qiang knelt down and shouted loudly: "Long live!"

"Long live! Long live!"

Amidst the loud shouts, all the officials knelt down in unison.

Looking at Lin Ruhai kneeling there, Li Hu sighed in his heart, Heaven, Earth, Emperor, Parents and Teachers, the Emperor comes before the parents. Not to mention him, Lin Ruhai will have to kneel down when he sees Lin Daiyu in the future. The imperial power is greater than filial piety and greater than everything in the world!
Li Hu got off his horse, walked to Lin Ruhai, helped him up, held his hand and said, "Master."

Lin Ruhai looked at Li Hu with a loving and somewhat emotional gaze, opened his mouth, and finally said only one sentence, "Let's talk about it when we get back."

Li Hu smiled and nodded, then said to everyone, "Everyone, get up."

Everyone bowed their heads once more in a chaotic manner, and then they all got up.

Li Hu walked up to Chen Qiang, looked at him for a while, and then patted him on the shoulder.

The two looked at each other and smiled.

Li Hu turned his gaze to the crowd again, obviously looking for someone. Then he frowned and asked Chen Qiang, "Where are Shi Ding and Feng Tang?"

Chen Qiang: "They are in their respective rooms."

Li Hu only found out what happened here afterwards. Shi Ding and Feng Tang knew that Dashun was doomed, so they did not resist and directly ordered their soldiers to lay down their weapons.

As for Huang Jinzhong, Li Hu did not expect him to hang himself. After learning about this, Li Hu ordered his body to be sent back to the capital, and ordered people to build a tomb for him next to the mausoleum of Yongchang, so that he and Dai Quan would always accompany Emperor Yongchang.

Li Hu was silent for a moment, "Let's go to the Governor's Office." After that, he supported Lin Ruhai and walked towards the city gate.

It was the beginning of the sixth lunar month, and the capital had also ushered in the hottest days of the year. Even in the evening, the weather was very hot and stuffy, making people feel uncomfortable.
At this moment, Grandmother Jia was in a happy mood, even more happy than after drinking iced plum juice or eating iced watermelon.

Ever since the death of Duke Rong, the Jia family has been getting worse day by day; but the Zhen family is different. Because of the old concubine, the Zhen family is superior to the Jia family in every aspect.

The old lady of the Zhen family had oppressed her for most of her life, but today she was humble and submissive, and discussed with her in a low voice, wanting to form an alliance with the Jia family and ask for Jia Tanchun to marry Zhen Baoyu.

The Niu family rebelled and was related to the death of the young emperor. The three judicial officials held a joint trial and sentenced the Niu family to death along with all nine generations of their clan.

Although Jia Tanchun was engaged to the second master of the Niu family, because the Jia family and the Niu family had no blood relationship, and because of Lin Daiyu's golden face as the future queen, the cabinet drafted an edict before the verdict to cancel the engagement.

This incident still had a significant impact on Jia Tanchun's reputation, but the current Jia family is no longer what it used to be, and Jia Tanchun's reputation has also risen with the tide. Moreover, she is the only eligible woman in the Jia family, and the people who come to propose marriage are almost breaking down the threshold of the Rongguo Mansion!
However, Grandmother Jia politely declined all the applicants on the grounds that Jia Tanchun was still young.

Grandmother Jia had already made a plan in her mind. Jia Yingchun was cowardly and not as good as Jia Yuanchun, so she had to send another girl from the Jia family into the palace. Considering all aspects, Jia Tanchun was the most suitable candidate.

However, I have to tell Lin Daiyu about this first.

At this time, Grandmother Jia thought of Jia Yuanchun again and sighed deeply. If it weren't for Baoqin and others who kept a close eye on her, she would have died long ago.

She knew that it was the Jia family who had wronged Jia Yuanchun. After discussing with Jia She, she went to Lin Daiyu to ask for mercy, and took Jia Yuanchun back to the Jia family and settled her in the villa where she came to visit her parents.

Just as she was thinking about it, Zhou Rui's wife hurried in, greeted Lady Jia, then leaned over to Lady Jia's ear and whispered a few words, then took out a letter from her sleeve and handed it to Lady Jia.

Grandmother Jia was overjoyed. She took the letter, tore it open, and read it. She was startled at first, then her face turned pale. She hurriedly folded the letter and put it in her sleeve. Then she said to Zhou Rui's wife, "Quick, go and ask the master to come back." Her voice was trembling. (End of this chapter)