Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 96 Conspiracy Theory

Dali Temple,
The prison cells of the Dali Temple are quite different from those of the Ministry of Justice.

Most of those imprisoned here are political criminals, or they may be the result of factional struggles among civil servants, so they still have a chance to be reinstated.

As a result, the cells were much cleaner and the clerks in the cells were much more polite to the prisoners, so as to avoid making enemies in prison and causing trouble for them once the prisoners were reinstated.

Yue Ling also went deep into the cell, but the difference was that he brought a jar of wine with him.

Sitting outside the cell, Yue Ling placed two small bowls on the ground, filled them with wine, and passed one bowl through the iron bars.

The man in the cell heard the noise and looked over. He was startled for a moment, then he smiled calmly, moved his feet, came behind the railing, and sat opposite Yue Ling.

He picked up the wine bowl and drank it all in one gulp. "Hey, good wine. I haven't had alcohol in a long time."

The old warrior had white hair and beard and wrinkles all over his face, but only his eyes still had some light.

"Young man from the Yue family, what rank did His Highness give you?"

Seeing Jia Daihua being so familiar, Yue Ling couldn't help but sigh that wine is really the best catalyst for social interaction between men.

"Co-chair of the Privy Council, General Xuanwu."

Jia Daihua was startled again, "It's not a promotion. His Highness treats you well."

Yue Ling smiled and took a sip of wine as well, "His Highness treated you well, and even though you committed the crime of treason, he didn't take your life."

Jia Daihua sighed, "Indeed."

Raising his eyebrows, Jia Daihua said, "Boy, you can't be here to irritate me, right? Are you here to show off your promotion? Don't forget, I am a first-class general, the governor of the Beijing camp!"

Jia Daihua was indeed a warrior. Yue Ling waved his hand and said, "It used to be, but not now."

Seeing Jia Daihua puffing his beard and glaring, Yue Ling smiled and said, "I'm not here to irritate the old general, I'm here to tell him something good."

"Good news?" Jia Daihua asked doubtfully, "Can His Highness allow me to go out?"

Yue Ling shook his head, "No, there is a wedding at Ningguo Mansion today, and the old general will soon have a great-grandson's wife."

"A bunch of unworthy descendants, it seems like something they could do."

Jia Daihua sneered and said, "I'm not in the mood today. Come back and tease me another day."

Yue Ling hurriedly refilled Jia Daihua's cup with wine. "I heard from Chief Secretary Wang. He said there was a counselor from Prince Kang's Palace named Du Ke. He had gone with the old general to besiege Prince Qin's Palace?"

Speaking of business, Jia Daihua's eyes condensed, and he thought: "There is this person. At that time, I found that the Qin Palace was empty, and I wanted to rush to the palace as soon as possible, but he stopped me and missed the opportunity to fight."

Yue Ling said: "But I heard from the surrendered guards of Prince Kang's palace that when Prince Kang learned that we had entered the city, he issued an order for you to come to the city for support."

Jia Daihua was shocked when he heard this. "I didn't receive any orders from the beginning to the end. Could it be that someone stopped me?"

Yue Ling nodded. "Besides, I have been in charge of the Qin Palace guards since they entered the city, and I have never intercepted any news from being sent out. Even if they use arrows, carrier pigeons, or many other methods, the news can be sent out of the city."

"Someone blocked King Kang's order and didn't want me to go to support him?"

"Also, Wang Changshi didn't know anything about this. He accompanied the old general to attack the city. Only Du Ke escaped and his whereabouts are still unknown."

Jia Daihua shook his head and said, "I don't understand why you don't want King Kang to succeed in his rebellion?"

Yue Ling added: "According to Jia She's confession, Du Ke was the aide who suggested that King Kang communicate with the barbarians and rebel back to the capital. It is impossible for him not to know that King Kang had the barbarians as a trump card. With the support of the old master, there is a great chance of success."

"From my guess, there is only one possibility, which is that he wants His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin to carry out a bloody massacre after he takes the throne, punish all the guilty, execute the old general, purge the capital camp, cut off the power of the four kings and eight dukes, and demote all the civil servants who are involved with Prince Kang, so as to cause unrest in the capital and panic among the people. By then, the border will definitely be implicated, and if the northern barbarians attack again, it will become an internal and external trouble, and the country will be in turmoil."

"But I can't understand why Tuji Khan was willing to send all the Uriankhai people to the capital to die."

Jia Daihua thought for a moment and said, "That makes sense. The Wuliangha people are the most warlike and the most difficult to control. Being brave in the army is a good thing, but if they fail to obey military orders, it will only cause chaos."

Yue Ling thought about the situation when he was on the battlefield at Xuanwu Gate, and he also agreed with Jia Daihua's words, "What the old general said makes sense."

After thinking for a while, Yue Ling asked again: "General, do you think that under your call, thousands of soldiers from the Beijing camp will come into the city and join you in the rebellion?"

Jia Daihua was shocked again, "What do you mean by this?"

Yue Ling said, "I just want to ask, don't you think that the mobilization of troops this time is too easy? To mobilize troops, there must be a warrant from the Privy Council, right? The old general led the troops into the city without a warrant, and did someone help him? You know, it's rare to see soldiers from the Beijing camp fighting back and entering the imperial city like the old general since the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms."

Jia Daihua's eyes widened in shock, "You said, someone has set up a trap for me?"

"Perhaps it was not set up for the old general, but the old general got in. Anyway, I have always been willing to suspect my colleagues with the greatest malice."

Yue Ling slowly stood up and picked up the jar of wine.

"If the old general has any clues, you can send someone to look for me. I won't stay here long. Goodbye!"

Jia Daihua pondered for a while, and suddenly said: "Hey, you little brat, why don't you leave the wine here?"

He kept looking outside, but he didn't see Yue Ling coming back. Jia Daihua picked up the wine bowl, licked the edge of the bowl, and said to himself: "This kid is really a monster. No wonder the King of Qin would use him. Who would dare to think that there is a traitor in the Privy Council? And he wants me to help him find it, so I have to help him."

"If there is one, I will have the opportunity to redeem myself from my crime and he will also have done a great deed. But who could it be?"

"Damn it, why isn't this kid a member of the Jia family?"

……

After leaving the Dali Temple, Yue Ling felt completely refreshed.

Now that we have an idea of ​​what to do next, we can report the progress of our work to the King of Qin, and then ask the King of Qin to send more spies to the border to investigate and obtain more useful information.

Thinking about the casualties of the Qin Palace guards, Yue Ling's heart became more determined: "Barbarians? I will slaughter them with my own hands."

Yue Ling curled his lips and walked towards the mansion.

This place was not far from the house. Passing by the shops along the street, Yue Ling smelled the odor of buns. He was indeed a little hungry.

Yue Ling wrapped a few meat buns in a paper bag and bit them while continuing on his way.

When passing by another street, I saw a ragged girl, huddled against the wall, shivering, and barefoot without even a shoe.

The morning glow filled the sky, and soon it was night.

The autumn night in the capital city was filled with cool breeze, which was more than the girl could stand in her thin clothes.

It was indeed pitiful to see, and the girl looked quite old. I don't know how she ended up living on the streets.

If there is a straw stuck on the head, it may be that someone's daughter is sold as a maid when the harvest is poor throughout the year. This way, there is one less mouth to feed, the pressure on the family is reduced, and the daughter can also survive. This is very common in this world.

But this girl didn't have any on her head.

Yue Ling walked up to her and asked, "What's wrong with you?"

The little girl raised her head and met Yue Ling's eyes warily. She then stared at the bun in Yue Ling's hand and her stomach growled at an inopportune moment.

"Are you hungry? Here's to you."

Yue Ling handed the bun in his hand over, then took it back after a moment, broke it in half, took a bite himself, and handed the other half over.

The little girl's eyes moved, and she picked up half of the bun and started eating.

Seeing the little girl wolfing down the food, a bit like Xueyan, and she didn't seem much older than Xueyan, Yue Ling asked with concern: "Where is your home? Outside the city?" The little girl shook her head.

"Is there anyone else at home?"

The little girl shook her head again.

Yue Ling sighed, "Why is he mute? I'm afraid he won't survive a night wandering on the street like this."

After the little girl swallowed the bun, she spoke, "I can speak."

The worry on Yue Ling's face faded a little, "Where is your home?"

The little girl said, "I can't go home."

Upon hearing this, Yue Ling had an idea. A girl of this age could only be sold to a brothel for a good price, and perhaps that was why she escaped.

"Alas, the harvest outside the city is indeed not good this year."

Along the way, Yue Ling saw many people selling girls as maids at the corners of the alleys. They had no other choice but to do it to survive.

At that time, a team of soldiers from the East City Military Division passed by. The sergeant saw Yue Ling on the roadside, stopped and saluted Yue Ling.

"General Yue."

Yue Ling nodded in response, "Thank you for your hard work. I will help look after you in front of the mansion."

The captain nodded in agreement, then looked at the girl squatting next to Yue Ling and asked, "General Yue, is this the maid you bought?"

In the inner city, if there were refugees on the street, they would be sent to relief halls. But if a girl was alone and went to a place where the government would not care, the consequences would be disastrous.

Yue Ling nodded, "Yes, I just bought it."

The squad leader bowed again and said, "General Yue, we are going to patrol first. Goodbye."

After listening to the conversation between the two, Qin Keqing looked at the young man in front of her curiously. He had just reached adulthood, but he was respectfully addressed as a general by the military officers on the street. She had just run so hard to avoid these people that her shoes fell off.

Qin Keqing, who had never been out of the house, only realized today how difficult life was. As a girl, it was difficult for her to find her way around the huge capital, let alone escape from marriage. She would be questioned every few steps. If her escape from marriage was exposed, she would definitely be caught by Ningguo Mansion, and the consequences would be even more unimaginable.

At this moment, Qin Keqing had no choice but to go down this path.

Seeing that the young man was a kind person, he had just helped her to cover up a lie and escape the investigation of the Military Department. However, she didn't know if she could escape the investigation of the Ningguo Mansion with his protection.

While Qin Keqing was hesitating, Yue Ling felt around his body, took out a few pieces of silver, and said, "It's going to get dark soon, you should find a place to stay first. No matter what happened with your family, it's very dangerous for a girl to be on the street at night."

Qin Keqing bit her lip while holding the silver, and finally made up her mind and said, "Sir, can you take me in as a maid?"

Yue Ling stopped after taking a few steps and looked at the girl in front of him.

Although he was covered in dust and dirt, his facial features still looked delicate.

Thinking about the embarrassing incident with Zijuan, Yue Ling's room was indeed short of a maid.

"Until I find Zijuan's indenture contract, I'd better not let Zijuan work for me."

Seeing that Yue Ling did not respond for a long time, Qin Keqing became a little anxious. If she stayed in a hotel, she would be more likely to be searched. At the moment, she really had nowhere to hide and could only trust her own judgment of people. "Sir, I can wash clothes, cook, do needlework, and I also have a basic understanding of music."

"So powerful? She looks like the daughter of a wealthy family who escaped."

Yue Ling thought about it and agreed, saying, "If you want, you can. I never forced you to sell your body."

Qin Keqing nodded repeatedly.

"Well, come with me."

After Yue Ling left, a group of people came to the street soon.

"Didn't you say you saw him here? Where is he?"

The person who seemed to be the guide of this group also looked annoyed, "I don't know, he was still here just now."

……

Ningguo Mansion,
The wedding banquet started at noon with opera performances on stage, and the buffet continued until nightfall.

There was an endless supply of food and wine during the banquet. It had been a long time since Ningguo Mansion had seen such a grand scene.

Although Jia Zhen had drunk a lot of wine, he still looked energetic. He had heard so many congratulations that his ears were almost callused, and he felt so happy in his heart.

When the time is right, it's time to proceed to the last step of the wedding - entering the bridal chamber.

Jia Zhen called Jia Rong, who was serving guests, and said, "Brother Rong, it's time to go to your room and drink less. Look at how useless you are!"

Jia Zhen supported Qin Ye with one hand and said, "Father-in-law, I am sorry to have embarrassed you."

Qin Ye's body trembled, and beads of sweat slid down his forehead. He replied earnestly, "No, no, the young master is still young, and it's the time for him to have fun."

When Jia Rong was called by his father, he sobered up a little. He hurried over to greet Jia Zhen and Qin Ye before going back to the inner room.

He had been looking forward to this day for a long time. The beauty of the Qin family girl was widely known in the streets. He never thought that the Ningguo Mansion's loss of power would help him win the beauty. It was really a good thing.

After opening the door, Jia Rong drove the maid out of the room.

"Get out, everyone, get out, don't disturb my interest!"

As soon as the door was closed, Jia Rong approached the bride and looked her up and down with his eyes. He felt that her figure was so graceful and charming, and she was simply a beauty on earth.

I got closer and sniffed it carefully. The fragrance of the flowers was so strong that it seemed to relax my muscles and bones.

Jia Rong couldn't bear it any longer, so he wanted to skip the steps of lifting the veil and drinking the wedding wine.

At that moment, someone knocked on the door, interrupting Jia Rong's interest.

Jia Rong came to open the bolt in anger, and saw Baoyu from the West Mansion, accompanied by a few playboys from the Wang and Shi families, trying to break in through the door.

"Hey, uncles, today is my nephew's big day. We'll make more noise tomorrow, we'll make more noise tomorrow."

Jia Baoyu said, "The disturbance is only in the bridal chamber today, there is no reason to make trouble tomorrow. I heard that the girl you married is very beautiful. Let us see what kind of fairy she is."

The person next to him echoed, "That's right, even if you take a look, you can't lose a piece of meat."

"Tomorrow, tomorrow I will bring my wife to serve tea to each of the elders, isn't that okay?"

Jia Rong tried hard to block the door, almost begging for mercy.

Another person stuffed ten taels of silver into the bag, and finally the group of people were sent away. When he returned to the couch, Jia Rong became interested again and lifted the veil with a weighing rod, but the girl did not look like the fairy he had expected.

Even if he had never seen a girl from the Qin family, he could tell that the girl in front of him was not one of them. "Who are you? Where is my wife?"

Ruizhu wiped the tears from her eyes and calmly faced the upcoming punishment in Ningguo Mansion. "I am Ruizhu, the young lady's maid. The young lady left home long ago. Even if she went to hide somewhere, she would not marry into the mansion!"

　On the third day, we achieved 10,000 goals!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)