The head of the Red Mansion

Chapter 106 Counterattack
Lin Zhixiao's shout startled Jia Lian.

Have we had guests over again?

"It's the old man, the old man and the others have come too."

Seeing that the enemy had no time to shoot arrows, Huo Qi drew his sword and leaped onto the carriage. He immediately saw several of the guards from Ningguo Prefecture who were already fighting with the bandits. His heart pounded with excitement. "Guards, step forward and fight for me!"

As he spoke, he jumped down and kicked aside the weakest empty carriage. With a whistle, his horse came galloping over, neighing loudly.

"The rest of you, protect the mistress and the second master!"

As Zhou Bo mounted his horse, he left those words for Wang'er and the other servants of the Jia family, and then sped off like the wind.

The guards of Ningguo Prefecture are all officers who can be sent to the army. Although not all of them can stand alone, they have been trained by Jiao Da for many years, and none of them will back down when they pick up a sword.

Moreover, Zhou Bo and his associates all aimed to secure official positions and provide for their wives and children.

Although this isn't a military base, since the old man has come, they can't back down.

The Ningguo Mansion was facing a shortage of heirs, making Jia Zhen's importance undeniable.

They also came from Ningguo Mansion. Although their close relatives and family members were released after they went out to join the army, what about their other uncles, brothers, nephews and nieces?

Without the old man, and with Rong-ge still so young, how can the brothers and nephews on the estate rise in status?
In an instant, the four guards who were escorting Jia Lian to Jiangnan also rushed out.

The eighteen men, including the Third Master of the Vicious Eyes, never expected that they would encounter a situation where the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

Although it is an official road, who are they?

Having roamed the coast for many years, Third Master Baoyan had never encountered anyone who dared to confront them head-on.

It's like when they disembark at Tongzhou Wharf, even the experienced bailiffs can see their extraordinary abilities, but who would ask them a question?
They all try to stay out of it and not get involved.

As long as they don't commit crimes in other people's territory, everything else... if something happens, just follow the normal procedures!
They even managed to get away with things by bribing big merchants like the Li family with some money, and the arrest warrants would disappear within two years.

The Jia family...

It challenged his bottom line.

The Third Master was furious. He recognized the man standing behind him as the one who had almost gotten into a fight in Tongzhou yesterday.

Is this the old man?

Does he consider this the capital city, his territory?
The Third Master of the Brutality Eyes was determined to end the battle quickly, but he didn't expect that the ten men he brought were all quite capable and coordinated well. They were either one defending and two attacking, or two defending and one attacking.

Adding to the chaos were the rabble of people throwing stones at them from the periphery... and for a time they were unable to achieve anything.

Not only that, but eleven people actually rushed out from Jia Lian's side to help.

"The wind is strong, it's pulling fast!"

Excluding the rabble, those who dared to confront them head-on were all elite soldiers, and they had three more men than the enemy.

Although Li Haifeng still has fourteen people on her side, they are too far away to help her in the present.

If they want to come over, they'll have to take down the Fuwei Escort Agency and the Lin and Jia families first.

The Third Master with the bulging eyes is both flexible and adaptable.

From vowing to teach them a lesson to actually pulling away when things got tough, it only took a few dozen breaths.

After shouting this, he took a step forward, trying to mount his horse, but unexpectedly, the old man with Jia Zhen had somehow raised an arrow and was aiming it at him from afar.

huh~
The sound of an arrow piercing the air rang out. The third brother, with bulging eyes, snorted coldly, raised his sword, and struck—clang!
Unsurprisingly, he fired the arrow, which had little force.

The third brother with bulging eyes wanted to show his contempt. With the force of that arrow, even if it hit him, it would only break his skin at most.

If you're incompetent, why pretend to be capable?
Just as the third brother with bulging eyes was about to leave, Huo Qi had already arrived.

When~
Qiang~~
Clang! Clang!
Before long, they were fighting each other.

Only then did the third brother with bulging eyes understand what the old man meant.

But he wasn't intimidated. As soon as they exchanged blows, he knew that this person was no match for him.

If they weren't so numerous, even the third brother with the bulging eyes would have wanted to stay and teach them a lesson.

Unfortunately, he didn't have time.

Moreover, their horses were clearly inferior to the other people's horses.

Their horses were afraid to fight.

The other person's horse can work well with its owner.

The third brother with bulging eyes was in a great hurry, deeply resenting that they were only strong on the water.

Just as he was about to ride away after another feint, Jia Zhen, who was standing with Jia She, put his hand in his mouth and suddenly blew several whistles of varying lengths.

Hissing sound~~~~
The horses of the Third Brother with bulging eyes and others were somewhat out of control.

Lin Zhixiao and the others on the periphery grabbed stones and threw them at the bandits who were clearly struggling but still trying to escape.

Actually, if the old man hadn't arrived in time, even if Lin Zhixiao saw these bandits overwhelmingly attacking the second master and his aunt, he wouldn't have had the guts to do it.

But now, of course, it's time to kick a man when he's down.

Jia She held the arrow, but couldn't shoot it.

He used to play with arrows when he was young, and although he was accurate, he really couldn't get the strength anymore.

And that accuracy... that last arrow was already an exceptional performance.

Now that our own people are fighting with bandits, if things go wrong, he could accidentally hurt his own people.

Jia She readily lowered the arrow. "Zhen'er, if the Horse King who taught you how to train horses knew that you could only play a half-baked tune, believe it or not, he could complain to your grandfather from the underworld."

Jia Zhen: "..."

He believes, but he doesn't need to train horses.

After all these years, the fact that he could manage to make someone's horse flustered for a little while with his half-baked skills is already quite remarkable, okay?
"Uncle She, our eldest brother isn't called the second brother, hehe, they're pretty much the same."

Jia She: "..."

If this kid hadn't arrived just in time, he would have given him a good whack right now.

What do you mean, the eldest brother doesn't mention the second brother?
He is his uncle.

"A hundred taels of silver will be awarded for capturing any bandit."

Jia Zhen sensed his uncle's displeasure and hurriedly shouted, "Wounds—ten taels!"

We can't inflict too much damage.

If these guys try to make money and stab someone seven, eight, or nine times, he'll go bankrupt.

"One hundred taels! One hundred taels!"

Huo Qi shouted, "Kill!"

As soon as he finished speaking, with Zhou Bo's help, he chopped off the right hand of the third brother, who was holding the knife, with a single sword stroke.

"Ah~~~~"

The third brother with bulging eyes let out a miserable cry and desperately strained his legs, trying to break free from the fighting circle.

Just then, a stone came flying at him. Using his sense of direction, he quickly tilted his head to the side.

Even so, my ears and cheeks were burning.

At the same time, Zhou Bo reacted swiftly, slashing down with his knife—*thud*!
bang~
Rolling around~~
Blood spurted high into the air, and the third brother with the bulging eyes fell to the ground with an expression of disbelief on his face.

Ahhh, Third Master is dead.

The group of bandits, who could cut ordinary people down like vegetables, were terrified and lost all their previous teamwork, only thinking about escaping for their lives.

You could kill someone and get a hundred taels of silver, or injure someone and get ten taels.

The servants brought by Jia She were all working hard with stones on the outside, not to mention the guards of Ningguo Mansion.

In an instant, they all became like wolves and tigers.

oops~
Standing on the roof of the car, Jia Lian, who was nervously watching this side, saw two more bandits fall. He stomped his foot and pointed at Li Haifeng and the others who had already drawn their weapons but were trying to retreat after realizing something was wrong. He said, "Everyone, kill one and get a hundred taels of silver, injure one and get ten taels of silver. Attack!"

The bodyguards from Fuwei Escort Agency already harbored resentment over their brother's death, and now... of course they charged forward with howling fury.

If they don't get their revenge today, how will Fuwei Escort Agency survive in the future?

"Seventh Master, let's go!"

Chang Lei gave Li Haifeng a push; he himself also wanted to escape.

If they don't escape now, they're all going to lose their lives here.

When Li Haifeng mounted her horse, the others didn't care about the goods anymore. Some were dismounting the horses, and some were dismounting the mules. But because they were too confident and had long regarded the Jia family's carriages and horses as their own, they hadn't taken any precautions in advance.

Although the unloading of horses and mules from the carts was quick, they were only about a hundred meters away from Jia Lian's group at that point.

The men from Fuwei Escort Agency all arrived on horseback. They had just untied their clothes and hadn't even had a chance to mount their horses when two of them were slashed down.

"Lian'er, five hundred taels of silver will be awarded for killing Seventh Master."

Jia Min lifted the carriage curtain and called out urgently to Jia Lian.

"Kill Seventh Master, reward five hundred taels of silver."

Jia Lian shouted immediately.

At the same time, the servants from the Lin and Jia families also grabbed knives and clubs and rushed towards the caravan that only wanted to escape.

"That Seventh Master... must be Li Haifeng."

Jia Min then said, "Lian'er, add another three hundred taels."

"Kill Seventh Master, reward eight hundred taels of silver."

Jia Lian's eyes reddened.

Such a vicious and wicked man, if we don't kill him, his family will probably never have a peaceful life. "No, a reward of a thousand taels! Kill Seventh Master, a reward of a thousand taels."

The other henchmen can escape, but Li Haifeng absolutely cannot be let go.

Call ~
huh~
Bang~~
The bodyguards initially didn't care which one to kill or not, but as Jia Lian's bounty kept increasing, they couldn't spare the time to chase after Li Haifeng, so they started kicking, swinging, or slinging whatever was at hand.

One of the bodyguards even grabbed a fellow soldier and threw him over. Everything happened so fast that Li Haifeng heard various sounds behind her, turned to the side, and almost hung on the horse's belly. But by sheer coincidence, two darts struck the horse's rump.

As the red date horse raised its head and let out a mournful neigh, the bamboo hat spun and whistled as it crashed down, landing squarely on Li Haifeng's leg, which was draped over the horse's back.

Li Haifeng's face contorted in pain, and she fell to the ground.

But he dared not let go, and was dragged forward by the horse.

If he was in such a state, Chang Lei, who was behind him, fared even worse. He was hit squarely by the swinging fellow and fell off his horse on the spot.

"Quickly, two men, come with me and chase after them."

Jia Lian originally didn't dare to step onto the stage, but things are different now!
In no time, the caravan was decimated. Li Haifeng, however, managed to climb back onto the horse after being dragged along for a while.

He has to win him back.

As Jia Lian mounted his horse, Jia Min also lifted the carriage curtain and stepped out. She wanted to call out to her nephew, but after opening her mouth, she closed it again.

Two of the bodyguards have already gone after them.

Jia Min patted her chest and let out a long breath.

never mind.

"Mother~"

Lin Chang'an called for his mother from inside the car.

The little guy's voice trembled, clearly he was terrified.

"Don't worry, it's nothing, just a bunch of petty thieves."

Jia Min didn't dare let her son and daughter come out, saying, "Your eldest uncle and cousin have come to pick us up."

Although they were still quite far away and couldn't see very clearly, the guards were all from the East Mansion, so the only reason they could be so reckless in their killing was Jia Zhen.

Another person...

She looked at the somewhat elderly man standing on the car, and her eyes couldn't help but well up with tears.

Her older brother arrived.

"Wait a moment, let them finish, then we'll go home together."

The caravan members probably knew they were doomed and began a desperate counterattack, but the brother and Zhen'er's side, with their numerical advantage, were already close to defeat.

Jia She and Jia Zhen also saw Jia Min. Unable to wait for anyone else, they drove their carriage this way.

"Brother~"

Jia Min jumped off the carriage and went to greet her brother.

Having been away from Beijing for nearly ten years, she hadn't seen her family since. Upon seeing them again, tears streamed down her face.

"Brother's here, brother's here, brother's always here..."

After Jia Zhen stopped the carriage, Jia She rushed towards his sister. The siblings hadn't seen each other for many years, and he was also excited. However, his sister was crying, and he…

He took out his handkerchief with trembling hands and wiped his sister's tears, saying, "Don't cry, if you cry again, I'll cry too."

Jia Min: "..."

She couldn't cry anymore. She snatched her brother's handkerchief and wiped away her tears. "Brother, take two people alive. As for the rest... kill them all for me."

As the daughter of a military family, even though she had never actually seen bloodshed, she had heard her elders talk about countless bloody battles.

Today's incident... while it's alarming enough, it's far from enough to frighten her.

Before she could even truly panic, her brother and nephew caught her off guard from behind.

"Don't worry, I won't let anyone bully you."

Jia She turned his head menacingly, "Leave one alive, but kill the rest."

Bu~
The two remaining survivors wanted to beg for mercy, but the crowd did not hesitate and spared the man who had a slightly bowed leg and had lost an arm.

"Steward Lin, I'll leave this to you. The rest of you... come with me."

As Huo Qi mounted his horse, the guards followed in unison, and within a quarter of an hour, the caravan was cleared away.

"mother!"

When little Daiyu and little Chang'an poked their heads out of the carriage, the dead bodies on both sides were dragged into the carriage, and the two children didn't see them at all.

"Quick! Come down and meet your eldest uncle and cousin!"

Jia Min waved to her children.

Jia She immediately revealed what he considered to be his most benevolent smile.

There are so many wrinkles on her face.

Little Daiyu and Little Chang'an paused in their steps, and both showed him their most childlike smiles.

"Little Daiyu, Little Chang'an!"

Jia She greeted the two little ones, picking them up one in each arm. "Come on, call me your great-uncle, and your great-uncle will give you some good things."

When he was twelve, he learned that his mother had given birth to a younger sister, and he really wanted to hold her.

He actually got to hug her. His little sister was so cute back then. She would blow bubbles at him and give him a toothless smile. She was so much cuter than his brother.

Unfortunately, as the younger sister grew up and started reading books, her relationship with her brother improved, but they gradually drifted apart.

Just now, his sister cried to him like that, and Jia She felt a special emotion stirring in his chest. Now, in front of his nephew and niece, he didn't need to be so bound by etiquette.

"Hello, uncle!"

"Uncle, are you here to save us?"

Xiao Chang'an and Xiao Daiyu were born at almost the same time.

"Haha, of course!"

Jia She was extremely proud, "And your eldest cousin, we really owe a lot to him this time."

Jia Zhen smiled throughout, saying, "This is my aunt's and my little cousins' good fortune."

He went to Tongzhou. The fact that he could come this way is because those people were courting death.

Even if he hadn't come, with the guards of their household and the bodyguards of their escort agency, my aunt's side would have suffered heavy casualties at most, but she herself would have been perfectly fine.

“When Mother heard that the seventh son of the Li family had escaped, she was worried about you, so she specially asked me and Uncle She to meet you by both water and land.”

He first joined forces with Uncle She while pursuing them.

The servants of the Western Mansion are good at doing things at home, but if you ask them to deal with river bandits... they'll probably be killed before they even get close.

Jia Zhen simply confiscated their swords and had them throw stones in coordination.

As expected, this surprise attack gave them the upper hand.

"Aunt, it's not safe for us to stay here any longer. Let Lin Zhixiao and the others handle the rest. Let's head back now!"

"Okay! I'll listen to you."

Jia Min held her head high and chest out.

Having been away from home for many years, her brother, sister-in-law, and nephew still think of her. She feels a mix of emotions, including bittersweetness and pride.

Although she was never worried about her family not receiving her, she was afraid of her brother and sister-in-law's indifference.

My eldest brother is unreliable, and I've never even met his second wife. My second brother is very proper, and my second wife... we were never really close when we were at home.

On the way back, Jia Min only had faith in her mother and her sister-in-law from the East Mansion.

did not expect……

"We'll leave when Lian'er comes back."

This wait lasted for more than half an hour.

Li Haifeng was captured alive by them.

……

As darkness fell in the capital, the streets remained bustling with people, and a swift horse galloped in at that moment.

Pedestrians hurriedly dodged, and those who were about to yell at the man on horseback swallowed their words when they saw him in the uniform of a police officer on horseback.

"What big thing has happened here again?"

"It should be. Judging from the way they looked, they were heading towards the Shuntian Prefecture government office."

The most attention-grabbing case in Shuntian Prefecture was the Li family case.

Nearly ten million in assets were confiscated.

Everyone was particularly eager to talk about those silver coins.

"Hey, shall we go take a look too?"

The two idlers exchanged a glance, laughed together, and then headed towards the Shuntian Prefecture government office together.

At this moment, Prefect Dong of Shuntian Prefecture was practicing boxing.

I have to attend court in the morning, so I don't have time to practice. When I get back, I have to deal with official business, so I don't have time to practice either. I'm only free in the evening. After practicing my boxing, I have a meal, wash my feet, and then I can go to sleep.

I have to get up so early; I simply can't go to bed early.

"grown ups!"

A constable rushed over and shouted, "Sir, something terrible has happened! A robbery has occurred on the main road leading to Tianjin, resulting in nearly fifty deaths and injuries!"

what?
Lord Dong withdrew his fist, his face serious. "Did the men from the Five Cities Garrison go?"

Robberies have occurred around the capital; are they not treating these officials as legitimate officials?

"No."

The constable shook his head. "The victims were the families of officials from the Ning and Rong mansions. The kidnapper was Li Haifeng, who had escaped from the Li family. He colluded with river bandits and has already been captured by the Jia family. The Jia family has requested that the case not be tried in Tianjin, but brought back to the capital for you to try."

Thank you to readers 我是姐, 呗浛兌, kanxiaoxiao, 囡囡格格, 蝴蝶jojo, and 归巢 for their numerous donations! Thank you everyone!!
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