The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

On the post road, the dusty Liu Xianglian, wearing a sun hat, was driving a black-covered carriage on the bumpy road to Beijing.

A team of imperial guards disguised as attendants rode on horses and closely guarded the two sides of the carriage.

Inside the carriage, Jia Zheng sat on the couch with his eyes slightly closed, and the little emperor lay in his arms, asleep.

After an unknown amount of time, there was a knocking sound from the front fender of the carriage, followed by Liu Xianglian's voice: "Uncle, we are almost at the capital."

Jia Zheng suddenly opened his bloodshot eyes and replied, "I understand."

Looking at the sleeping little emperor, Jia Zheng opened the curtain beside the carriage and looked out. The towering Beijing city wall was already in sight in the distance.

After returning after a long absence, Jia Zheng did not feel the slightest bit of joy. Instead, he looked into the distance with worry in his eyes. His mind was filled with those letters from his grandmother, family responsibilities, mother-son affection, and the pressure of life. He had to follow the instructions in his grandmother's letter, find the imperial guards who were guarding them, and follow them back to the capital.

But will Li Hu really let the little emperor go?

After lowering the curtains, Jia Zheng sighed silently.

Suddenly, the carriage stopped.

Jia Zheng subconsciously hugged the little emperor tightly and asked anxiously: "What's wrong?"

The little emperor woke up and said: "Grandfather, it hurts"

Jia Zheng still held him tightly, staring at the window, but did not dare to lift the curtain.

Finally, footsteps were heard outside, and then the curtains were lifted from the outside. It was Liu Xianglian.

Liu Xianglian: "Uncle, martial law has been declared ahead."

Jia Zheng felt relieved when he heard this, and loosened his grip on the little emperor. "Then we should go through Guang'an Gate."

Liu Xianglian: "All post roads in the west of Beijing are under strict martial law."

Jia Zheng was stunned at first, then he realized that Li Hu was going back to Beijing.

"Enter the city from the north gate."

"Yes."

"Grandfather, will we be able to see the Queen Mother soon?"

Jia Zheng hummed, picked up a piece of cake from the food box beside the couch, handed it to the little emperor, and said, "Remember what grandpa said, from now on you must call me mother, and you can no longer call me 'mother queen', understand?"

The little emperor stopped the cake that was about to reach his mouth and asked: "Why?"

Jia Zheng was stunned for a moment. He didn't know how to explain it, so he could only say, "This is what your mother wanted."

With an "Oh" sound, the little emperor lowered his head and started eating the cake with both hands.

After traveling for nearly a month, Jia Zheng was really exhausted. He could not resist the hypnotic temptation brought by the shaking of the carriage, and his eyelids drooped involuntarily.
He suddenly opened his eyes, his forehead covered with sweat. He had just had a dream. The little emperor was beheaded by Li Hu, and Jia Yuanchun was strangled to death by Li Hu's men.

Glancing at the sleeping little emperor, Jia Zheng breathed a sigh of relief, then wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.

The hawkers' shouts outside the carriage faded farther and farther away, and Jia Zheng realized that they had arrived at Ningrong Street.

At this time, a gust of wind blew and the curtains were lifted up by the wind.

Jia Zheng subconsciously looked outside the carriage and his face suddenly changed.

There was a guard post every three steps on both sides of Ningrong Street, filled with imperial guards armed with guns and swords. The gate of Ningguo Mansion was closed tightly, with only two white gauze lanterns swaying in the wind.

Jia Zheng swallowed hard.

The carriage slowly stopped.

Then, the carriage curtain was lifted, and Liu Xianglian looked at the sleeping little emperor, then said to Jia Zheng: "Uncle, we're here."

Jia Zheng was silent for a moment, then walked out holding the little emperor.

As soon as he stepped out of the carriage, Jia Zheng was stunned again.

In front of the huge mansion gate, apart from a few imperial guards who turned their backs, there were only the eunuch in charge and two young eunuchs beside Jia Yuanchun, as well as a sedan chair.

The eunuch in charge came over with some excitement, bowed to Jia Zheng, took the little emperor with both hands, lowered his head and got into the sedan chair.

The two young eunuchs immediately carried the sedan chair into the gate. At this time, Jia She and the two university scholars Shi and Meng came out from the gate.

The two men walked down the stone steps and bowed deeply to Jia Zheng.

Jia Zheng quickly bowed in return.

The two grand secretaries, Shi and Meng, looked at Jia Zheng with gratitude again, then bowed to Jia She and strode away.

Jia Zheng: "Why are they here?"

Jia She: "They came here on orders."

Jia Zheng was silent. He was judging others by his own standards. Since the two great scholars Shi and Meng knew about this, the little emperor would not be in danger.

At this time, Jia She walked up to Liu Xianglian, looked at him carefully for a while, then took out a memorial from his sleeve and said, "This is your memorial of apology. The emperor ordered me to return it to you." As he said that, he handed it over.

Liu Xianglian: "The emperor doesn't blame me?"

Jia She looked at him and smiled, then asked, "Why does the emperor blame you?"

Without waiting for Liu Xianglian to speak, Jia She continued, "Dashun was destroyed by the hands of the Nan'an Prince and other rebels. The Tang Dynasty first destroyed the Qing Dynasty, then defeated Dali, and pacified the Central Plains and Jiangnan. The Tang Dynasty was conquered by the emperor, and the country is just!"

Liu Xianglian was slightly stunned. This sounded like it made sense, but when he thought about it carefully, he felt something was wrong!
Jia She stuffed the petition of apology into his hand and said, "Go back and have a good rest for a few days, then think carefully about whether to go to the Beijing camp or to Liaodong. Don't refuse yet, go back and think carefully."

Liu Xianglian had no choice but to answer, "Yes."

Seeing Liu Xianglian driving the carriage away, Jia She looked at Jia Zheng and said, "Forget it, the old lady is still waiting." After saying that, he went in first.

Jia Zheng hurriedly followed him in.

In Li Hu's main room, Xue Baochai and others bowed and retreated.

Only Li Hu and Lin Daiyu are left here.

Without outsiders around, Lin Daiyu no longer acted pretentiously. Seeing Li Hu staring at her, she curled her lips and turned her head away.

Li Hu smiled, walked to Lin Daiyu, and took her into his arms: "I miss you, how about you?"

Lin Daiyu buried her head tightly in Li Hu's arms, hugged his waist tightly with both hands, and said "hmm".

Li Hu was delighted. He picked up Lin Daiyu and strode towards the bedroom.

"what are you doing?"

"What do you say?"

"It's not dark yet."

"I can't control it anymore."

"You are a tyrant"

"Let him be a tyrant!"

The date of the coronation ceremony is getting closer. In order to avoid any accidents, Li Hu has to move into the palace in advance.

The auspicious time chosen by the Imperial Astronomical Observatory was perfectly in line with the astronomical phenomena: the sky was clear and cloudless.

The entire route from the Zhenbei Palace to the Imperial City had already been under martial law, with a guard post every three steps and a sentry every five steps, and was filled with imperial guards armed with guns and swords.

At this time in the palace, Lin Daiyu was asking everyone to count their belongings. Everything was ready in the palace, and they only needed to take their belongings with them.

Lin Daiyu had the most things. It took her three days to pack her dowry alone. She also packed hundreds of boxes of books and account books, which were all shipped to Kunning Palace yesterday.

Xue Baochai didn't have many things, just some clothes and jewelry given by Lin Daiyu. Thinking of Lin Daiyu's words, a smile appeared on her lips. After going around in circles, she finally returned to her original dream and achieved success in one step!
Li Huhui would confer the title of Consort Xian on her.

Thinking of this, Xue Baochai glanced at Jia Yingchun who was sitting there in a trance, and a hint of envy flashed in her eyes. It was really nice to have a reliable brother who didn't have to do anything.

Thinking of Xue Pan who was still fooling around in Xi'an, Xue Baochai smiled bitterly. She could no longer rely on her brother in this life!

She suddenly thought of that bitch Xia Jingui, clenched her teeth and thought to herself: Just wait, I'll take care of you soon!
At this time, the little fat man hurried in and reported to Lin Daiyu: "Your Majesty, the time has come and the carriage is ready."

Lin Daiyu nodded and said to everyone, "Let's go." She looked around reluctantly and then led everyone out. (End of this chapter)