Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 135: On the eve of the decisive battle, spies emerge

In Rongxi Hall,

Facing Yue Ling, Jia Zheng was really at a loss as to what to do.

Only then did he understand what the God of Plague was. He had to worship the God of Plague, but he still wanted to stay away from him.

"Second Master?"

Hearing Yue Ling's greeting, Jia Zheng hurriedly said, "I am not worthy of being called a master in front of you. You can just call me Cun Zhou."

Yue Ling frowned. This title was for friends of the same generation, but it made him sound old.

"That's all."

Yue Ling waved his hand and said, "I told you before that the doorman is the face of the mansion. If you act so erratically, you will get into trouble sooner or later. Now that the old master is back, he will question you again."

Jia Zheng nodded repeatedly, "What the Grand Commander said is reasonable. I regret my decision now."

The two of them were silent again and the atmosphere became more awkward.

Finally, Jia Zheng finally saw the light of day. A servant ran up to the hall and bowed respectfully.

"Second Master, the old master is looking for Master Yue."

Jia Zheng finally showed a smile from the bottom of his heart, "Grand Commander, please come in."

In the main room on one side of Rongqing Hall,

Yue Ling was led in by a maid, and was left alone to talk to Jia Daishan.

Seeing that Jia Daishan's breathing had calmed down but his face was not looking good, Yue Ling stepped forward and said, "The imperial physician has just examined the old master. Don't get angry. You need to take good care of yourself."

Jia Daishan shook his head and sighed, "I know my body best. Even if I take good care of myself, I won't live more than a year or two."

"Forget it, let's not say such depressing words today. I really have no way to repay General Yue for saving my life, but I can't accept this favor in vain."

"I wonder if the Grand Commander has any use for the Jia Mansion? Please let me know and I will do my best to help you."

Yue Ling thought for a moment and said, "To be honest, I really have something to trouble you with, and it has been delayed for a long time."

"Oh? Is there such a thing?"

Jia Daishan also became interested and listened attentively.

Yue Ling nodded and said, "There is a little maid in my house, a servant of the Jia family. When she was in the house, her name was Yinger, and she should be a maid beside the old lady. But now she is serving Lin Daiyu, the daughter of Lord Lin, in my house. We have become familiar with each other after a few visits. I think she is smart, so I want to keep her by my side."

"I don't know about this matter, could you please help me, sir?"

Yue Ling's words made Jia Daishan confused.

"Lin Ruhai's daughter, the Jia family's illegitimate daughter, why are they both in the Grand Commander's Mansion?"

Yue Ling smiled awkwardly and said, "This is a long story, so I won't disturb you from resting."

Jia Daishan came to his senses and realized that most likely Lady Jia had not told the truth just now.

His eyebrows were furrowed, then relaxed after a moment. Jia Daishan said, "It is not appropriate to exchange a maid for the governor's grace of saving his life. It will not be good for my reputation if it is made public. Is my life worth the indenture of a maid? This is just a bonus at best. If the governor has not thought of anything serious, then let's put it aside for now. When he has thought of something, he can come and talk to me again."

Yue Ling nodded, "Okay then, I'll listen to you, old master."

Not long after, Yuanyang took Zijuan's indenture and handed it to Yue Ling.

When handing it to Yue Ling, Yuanyang couldn't help but look at it a few more times, and the way he looked at Yue Ling was different.

"That damned girl Zijuan pretended to be honest and obedient the last time she came to the mansion. But a few months have passed and she is already flying up to the tree and turning into a phoenix. When she comes next time, I want to see what excuse she can come up with to give an explanation to the sisters."

Yuanyang thought secretly in her heart, and hurriedly bowed to Yue Ling and walked out of the room.

Jia Daishan said again: "Is there a shortage of maids working in the Grand Commander's Mansion? There are quite a few in the mansion. If the Grand Commander needs them, you can ask for a few more."

"No need, no need. I will go back to the government office first and won't disturb you from resting."

Jia Daishan said familiarly, "No, I won't be busy in the future. I won't be able to go anywhere in the future. However, since we are facing a powerful enemy, I will not delay the Grand Commander's official duties. I hope the Commander will not mind my crime of lying to you."

"My dear old man, your words are too serious..."

Yue Ling left the mansion, but his back was closely watched all the way in Rongguo Mansion.

The three girls leaned over to look at him. Tanchun couldn't help but say, "This is the most famous commander-in-chief in the capital recently. He is in charge of 200,000 soldiers in the capital and has been fighting the barbarians outside the city for two months. He really looks like a hero that only appears in novels."

Yingchun replied in a dull voice, "It seems that the old master was rescued. This is a great favor to the Jia family."

Tanchun added, "Oh, I really envy Sister Lin. How can it be boring to be with such a handsome young man all day long?"

Sanchun thought about her own brothers again. Not to mention Jia Lan, who was just weaned, there were Jia Lian, Jia Baoyu, and Jia Huan. Then when she looked at Yue Ling, it was like comparing a chicken to a phoenix.

"We all thought that Second Brother Bao was a very talented person, but compared to this guy, the gap is like a chasm."

Tanchun expressed everyone's thoughts, and Yingchun and Xichun all nodded in agreement.

At this time, Baoyu, who came from nowhere, saw three girls sneaking around, seemingly discussing something.

Just as he was about to go forward to scare them, he heard the discussions when he got closer. Baoyu could not help but burst into tears and ran back to his room.

"Hey, was there someone behind us just now?"

Tanchun looked back but didn't see anyone.

Xichun shook her head and said, "I didn't see it." Tanchun stood up and said, "Forget it, don't talk about it outside. It will be bad if someone hears and gossips about it. Let's go back."

……

Yue Ling's successful raid on the camp did indeed cause great damage to the Northern Barbarians.

After the winter month, they never attacked the capital again, and even retreated from the banks of the Lugou River to the Liangzhen town on the opposite bank.

Just when everyone thought that the Northern Barbarians would retreat back to the grassland, they unexpectedly gathered a large army, crossed the river again, and set up camp near the capital.

According to the reports from the spies sent out by Yue Ling, some more civilians were conscripted this time, and part of the border troops that were tied down outside Juyong Pass were sent south to provide support.

Moreover, some firearms were seen in the large camp of the Northern Barbarians, most of which were moved down from the cities captured from the border.

Upon hearing this news, the guards at the nine gates of the capital dared not be negligent.

At this time, Yue Ling was also verifying the real plan in his mind.

First, he deliberately dispersed his troops so that Dongzhimen had the least troops and lacked artillery, while he himself was stationed at Xizhimen.

Sure enough, not long after, soldiers from Dongzhimen came to report that they saw the Northern Barbarian cavalry on the city wall, but they did not take the initiative to attack.

Yue Ling naturally knew that the Northern Barbarians were now waiting for reinforcements and had enough siege equipment. When the moat froze, that would be the best time to attack.

But because Yue Ling blocked the nine gates, all the news from outside the city was controlled by him alone. The spies in the city could not know the situation in the Northern Barbarian Camp, so they still made some moves on the city wall to send messages to the Northern Barbarian Army.

Yue Ling quickly rushed to Dongzhimen and first walked around the city wall to observe, but did not find any obvious abnormalities.

He then questioned some soldiers guarding the city, but most of them told him that they did not notice anything unusual.

Until nearly nightfall, Yue Ling still hadn't been able to verify his reasoning, and he couldn't help but feel a little anxious.

If the traitor in the city is not caught, the capital will still be in danger of being breached.

"Grand Commander, you just asked me if there was anything unusual on the city wall. I really didn't find anything unusual. However, I heard a few birds chirping early this morning, which was really annoying."

Just as a soldier was about to leave, he turned back and complained to Yue Ling.

"Birds chirping? Where are the birds coming from in this cold winter?"

Yue Ling frowned slightly. As a policeman, he instinctively doubted these tiny details.

"Birds, what good can they do?"

Yue Ling asked again: "What bird? How big is it?"

When the soldier heard Yue Ling's question, he did not dare to slack off and immediately stood still and said, "It's not small, and it flies high, and its cry is harsh and unpleasant. As for what kind of bird it is, the small one can't tell, but it keeps circling overhead, which is very annoying."

"Circling?"

"There must be something strange about this." Yue Ling began to think deeply again.

Yue Ling knew that since the Liao Dynasty, the nobles of the nomadic tribes on the grasslands had been advocating an activity, which was to train falcons, especially the gyrfalcon.

Even during the reign of Yelü Abaoji, the Jurchens, who were oppressed by the Liao Kingdom, had to offer Shanghai Dongqing regularly, otherwise they would be punished. This became one of the reasons why the Jurchens rose up against the Liao Kingdom.

Tamed Saker Falcons can be used for hunting, delivering messages, and completing some simple tasks, and may even be used to provide signals on the battlefield.

But it is impossible for a gyrfalcon to understand complex information. Someone on the city wall must have provided it with a secret code or password.

Yue Ling returned to the city wall and checked again.

"Grand Governor."

"Meet the Grand Commander."

A team of flag bearers was passing by Yue Ling. When they got closer and realized it was Yue Ling, they stopped their horses and saluted.

Yue Ling was always kind to others. He nodded and asked with concern, "Thank you for your hard work. Which department are you from?"

"Replying to the Grand Commander, we are from Anding Gate, and we will go to Zhengyang Gate to hand over the flag."

Yue Ling also knew about Lu Yuan's management measures for these flag bearers, which were very cautious.

"Well, let's go and rest first."

"As ordered."

After the flag bearers from Zhengyang Gate passed by, the flag bearers from Dongzhi Gate also began to line up and prepare to march.

"Meet the Grand Commander."

Yue Ling was observing the appearance of the Arrow Tower to see if it was different from the other ones when the flag bearer from Dongzhimen came up to him.

"Well, you've worked hard. You should go and take a rest too."

"As ordered."

When the team raised their whips and were about to leave, Yue Ling suddenly realized something was wrong.

"and many more!"

"Where are the tassels on your flags?"

　16. I will finish writing the war line tomorrow.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)