Dream of the Red Chamber: Rising from Refugees to Sweep Across the Land

Chapter 94 We're Not Young Anymore

Achoo—Achoo—

'

Liu Feng rubbed his nose. It must be some bastard gossiping behind his back.

"Kneel down obediently."

Dai Quan happened to come out of the study, glared at him irritably, and walked straight out of the main hall.

Liu Feng pursed his lips, rubbed his knees, and casually tapped the gold bricks on the ground.

"Bang bang—" Two crisp sounds rang out, and Liu Feng immediately grinned. TV dramas weren't all just nonsense; there really was something going on behind the scenes!

I tried tapping the other pieces next to it, and sure enough, they all remained silent. Well, the money wasn't wasted.

"What are you banging on! Get in here!"

Well, when you're under someone's roof, who dares not bow their head? If I tell you to kneel, you kneel. If I tell you to get inside, you get inside.

Liu Feng got up, dusted off his knees, and strode towards the study.

Liu Feng was taken aback when he ran into several cabinet ministers coming out of the room. He then realized why they were being made to kneel; it turned out that these civil officials had their powerful backers here.

Apart from the Grand Secretary, the other cabinet members all had their eyes on Liu Feng.

Liu Feng glared back immediately. "I'm afraid of the Emperor because the outside is full of Imperial Guards with swords at their sides. You? I'm not afraid of a damn thing!" These men, usually second only to the Emperor, had never been so disrespectful. They puffed out their beards and glared, but were powerless against Liu Feng.

Liu Feng was a member of the emperor's personal guard. The emperor had already punished and scolded him, so they couldn't keep harping on the "illegally arresting the censor and beating people in the street." Besides, this matter couldn't withstand further investigation; the civil officials were in the wrong.

In the Imperial Study, Emperor Yankang was reviewing memorials when he caught a glimpse of Liu Feng's sour face out of the corner of his eye. Without even looking up, he asked, "What's wrong? Feeling wronged?"

Liu Feng bowed and said, "Your subject dares not."

"Dare not? Then you must." Emperor Yankang still didn't look up, his pen still in his hand, and chuckled: "The civil officials are arrogant, but there's a saying that makes sense: this empire still needs to be governed by scholars. So I have to give them this face."

"Are you just going to let them go like that?"

"Release them?" Emperor Yankang put down his pen, his voice turning cold. "That depends on whether they can survive the fifty strokes of the cane."

What a murderous aura!

Liu Feng swallowed hard. If the emperor had murderous intent, not to mention fifty strokes, ten strokes of the cane would be enough to kill him.

Emperor Yankang picked up his teacup, took a sip, and asked, "What are your plans for the investigation next?"

On his way here, Liu Feng had already planned it out: "Your Majesty, Prince Yong has always been devoted to Buddhism, observing a strict vegetarian diet, and possessing upright character. He is known throughout the court as a wise prince. He usually maintains strict discipline over everyone in his household, and his family's conduct is extremely upright. I believe that someone must have taken advantage of the prince's absence from the capital to secretly entice and mislead him. I intend to thoroughly investigate those who have had dealings with senior officials during this period; perhaps we can find some clues."

Emperor Yankang suddenly laughed: "Oh, so you've learned to flatter now?" He nodded, "But that makes sense. Investigate this thoroughly."

"Yes." Liu Feng clasped his hands in a fist salute.

"Go then." Emperor Yankang put down his teacup, picked up his pen, and continued reviewing memorials.

Liu Feng turned and walked out. The emperor didn't mention Lin Ruhai, and he didn't say a word either; it was as if the two had agreed beforehand to pretend nothing had happened.

As soon as Liu Feng stepped out of the Meridian Gate, he was stunned.

The three officials were already dead, covered with white cloth. Mei Hanlin and three other officials continued to be flogged.

They killed three out of seven, almost halfway through.

That's really ruthless!

Liu Feng looked around carefully and noticed that the patrolling censor and the two officials from the Imperial Academy were missing. He glanced at the unconscious Mei Hanlin and smiled to himself: "Don't die, okay? If you die, who will I show Xue Baoqin to?"

He exchanged a few jokes with the chief eunuch on duty at the Meridian Gate, slipped a fifty-tael silver note into his hand, and turned to leave with a flourish.

Money is just something that's dead when you keep it; it only becomes money when you spend it.

Along the way, the civil officials avoided him as if he were a plague god.

Liu Feng scratched his head. Well, is he going to get another nickname, "the nemesis of civil servants"? Oh well, too lazy to think about it.

He gave Li Shoutian and Zhang Laifu a few instructions, then went home and moved!

The Lin family mansion, no, the Liu family mansion, can barely be considered a two-section, five-courtyard siheyuan (traditional courtyard house). The reason it is "considered" is because the east courtyard only has three sections; Liu Feng bought the residential houses at the back, demolished them, and turned them into a garden.

From the moment the idea came up to the completion of the garden, it only took ten days.

As for why it was so fast? Who is Liu Feng? A lackey of the imperial court! Forced buying and selling is his specialty. He slapped silver notes across the landlord's face, and the landlord was so happy that he brought his whole family to help demolish the house.

There was no way around it; Liu Feng had given them just too much!

..

The east gate wasn't blocked, so Liu Feng entered through it as usual. He walked around the empty bedroom and then strolled over to the study to take a look. The entire box of books remained untouched; everything on the bookshelves had been moved to the west courtyard.

What for? To put on a show, to act like a cultured person.

There used to be an alley between the two courtyards. Liu Feng had the west courtyard wall demolished, leaving only one wall, and a moon gate was opened for easy access.

Liu Feng walked around the garden again, hands behind his back, finding large areas of bare land and mounds of earth. There was nothing he could do; it was the dead of winter, and the flowers, plants, and trees couldn't be moved. He could only wait until next spring.

After looking around, Liu Feng had an idea: dig a pond, raise some fish, build a pavilion, construct a long corridor, and let it be covered in green vines in the height of summer. Just thinking about it is wonderful.

Let's get a few more swings, and in a couple of days invite Lin Daiyu home for a stroll. We can't just let her look at those few plum trees in October, can we?

Liu Feng called Liu Quan over, and the two of them, with gestures and drawings, went through a lot of trouble to arrange everything. Only then did Liu Feng stroll over to his new courtyard.

Compared to a three-courtyard house, a five-courtyard house not only has two more courtyards, but it is also much wider on the east and west sides. His main house has a proper five rooms: the middle one is a large living room, the east side is a small dining room and a gauze-draped wardrobe, the west side is a heated pavilion and bedroom, and the study is next to the south window of the bedroom.

With no one in the living room, Liu Feng turned and went into the warm room, where he heard a noisy commotion coming from the bedroom.

He listened intently and immediately laughed. Xiangling and Qingwen were arguing about warming his bed. Qingwen wanted them to take turns, one night each, but Xiangling absolutely refused to budge.

"Alright, alright! Stop arguing! The bed is big, you two can keep it warm together tonight!" Liu Feng shamelessly sauntered in.

Their faces flushed red to the roots of their necks, but they didn't say anything, which was taken as tacit agreement.

"Find me some clothes, I need to go to the Rongguo Mansion."

"Is Second Master going to see Miss Lin?"

"What, you want to go too?"

Xiangling stared at him longingly.

Liu Feng smiled and said, "Okay, I'll take you with me."

"Second Master is the best!" Xiangling clapped her hands and jumped up.

Liu Feng chuckled and pinched her cheek, then turned to Qingwen, who was rummaging through the wardrobe, and said, "Why don't you come along too?"

Qingwen's face immediately lit up with a smile.

Liu Feng smiled.

I need to talk to Lin Daiyu about this and tell her my thoughts, otherwise if things turn out badly, he'll be seen as an ungrateful wretch and won't have anyone to blame but himself.

Qingwen brought over some clothes and helped Xiangling take off Liu Feng's coat. Suddenly, she sniffed and then leaned in to smell Liu Feng.

Liu Feng lifted her chin and asked with a smile, "What are you smelling?"

"It smells like rouge." Qingwen was a little unhappy and muttered, her words implying that the place was unclean.

Liu Feng rolled his eyes. The house is clean, but what's the use if you can only look at it and not eat it?

Wait a minute, I'm here to investigate a case, not to go looking for women.

It would have been better if they hadn't explained, because as soon as they heard that she had actually gone to a brothel, even Xiangling pouted.

As the two women helped Liu Feng change his clothes, they kept saying, "We're not little anymore," one saying he was probably already fourteen, and the other saying he'd be fourteen soon. This made Liu Feng completely uncomfortable...