The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 1 Palace Change
In the second year of Yongchang, Prince Zhong plotted rebellion, and the emperor placed Prince Zhong in a bronze jar and burned him to death in the Daming Palace.

Forbidden City, Donghua Gate.

A team of armed imperial guards patrolled along the moat at the foot of the imperial city.

At this moment, a lantern illuminated several figures in black cloaks walking towards the palace gate.

"Who!" the officer on duty shouted.

When the person came closer, it turned out to be Prince Zhong with several eunuchs in red.

The sentry officer was startled at first, then he quickly stepped forward to greet him: "I pay my respects to the old man!"

Suddenly, a flash of knife appeared from the waist of a eunuch in red!
The sentry officer's head flew out immediately!

Several other eunuchs in red rushed out like lightning. A white light flashed, and the heads of the night patrol soldiers, along with the tips of their guns, flew up under the sharp swords that passed by!
The headless sentry officer fell down with a bang!

The eunuch in red stepped forward, put his hands in front of his mouth, and made a sound like a magpie!
It's so quiet! So quiet that everyone can hear their own heartbeat!
At this time, torches were raised on the Donghuamen Tower.

The eunuch in red felt relieved, and with his hands clasped in front of his mouth, he made three consecutive magpie calls!
Inside the door, a very long key was inserted into the huge copper lock on the door.

Several eunuchs carried the heavy door bars on their shoulders and removed them.

The huge palace door clicked open.

Prince Zhong shook the lantern in his hand three times.

The next moment, the sounds of hurried horse hooves and running were heard from Dong'anmen.

The entire palace was dark and empty, with only a faint light coming from the western warm room of the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

There was a sound of footsteps, and two teams of imperial guards came over with swords in hand.

The leader was a young military officer. With a wave of his hand, the imperial guards behind him immediately replaced the four imperial guards who were originally guarding the gate of the Palace of Tranquil Longevity and lined up on both sides of the gate.

The young officer walked back and forth in front of the palace gate with a knife slung over his shoulder, stopping and starting, looking back and forth from time to time.

The young officer was named Li Hu. He was a soldier in his previous life. During his vacation, he saved several students who fell into the water. Eventually, he drowned in the water due to exhaustion. When he opened his eyes again, he had come to this strange world.

Looking at the night sky in the distance, Li Hu felt confused and helpless. He knew nothing about this world.

Before dark, he opened his eyes and found that his original body had also drowned, but he did not die from falling into the water. Instead, someone put a knockout drug in his tea, and he fell into the bucket and drowned on his way back to the room.

His original name was Li Hu. He was a native of the capital, the second child in the family. His parents died early and his elder brother died in battle outside the Great Wall. Because his elder brother saved his superior before his death, he was able to take his brother's place and join the Imperial Guards as a team officer.

Li Hu thought carefully for a while, and after confirming that his original body did not have any sister-in-law to take care of, he breathed a long sigh of relief. He was alone in both lives, which saved him a lot of trouble.

However, just when he breathed a sigh of relief, his trusted subordinate came to report that the Donghua Gate Guards had suddenly changed their guard.

This made Li Hu realize that something was wrong, and he immediately went to the guard room in Donghua Gate, but found that there were only strangers outside the guard room. He did not dare to get close, and went to several other forbidden gates, where he also found new people.

He immediately ordered his confidant to go and inquire about the news, and learned that all the imperial guards near Donghua Gate had been replaced, and they were all the deputy commander of the imperial guards.

The deputy commander of the imperial guards is the emperor's man.

Li Hu immediately understood that the emperor was trying to seize power and restore the monarchy!
Li Hu, who knew nothing about this world, planned to sit back and watch when the palace coup occurred. However, the memories in his mind told him that the reason his original body was promoted to Baizong two years ago was because he killed a captain in another palace coup. That captain was the former prince's man.

Yes, the current emperor was not the heir to the throne. Instead, he launched a coup, killed the crown prince, and forced the emperor emeritus to abdicate.

Since Emperor Yongchang was not the successor chosen by the retired emperor, his title and position were not legitimate. In order to consolidate his throne and win back some people's hearts, Emperor Yongchang established a filial character for himself and did not purge the retired emperor's old ministers. This created a situation of "two suns and moons hanging in the sky, illuminating the world."

The superior that Brother Li Hu rescued was precisely the confidant of Emperor Yongchang who was planted in the imperial guards. Therefore, he had spoken a few words to Emperor Yongchang, who was still a prince, and should have left an impression on the other party.

Well, that boss died of illness two months earlier, and Li Hu was transferred to the Yangxin Palace at that time. In a sense, he was also the emperor's "confidant", and the reason why he was not killed was probably because the other party was afraid of alerting the enemy.

Li Hu also thought about warning the emperor, but he didn't dare to gamble. If he made a mistake, he could lose his head for alienating the royal family.

Baizong, a low-ranking officer of the Imperial Guard, is of the eighth rank and is in charge of 112 people. However, when on duty, he can only lead two teams, two team officers and 24 soldiers. This is all the troops he can mobilize.

"Who! What are you doing!" Not far away was the forbidden door of the Palace of Tranquil Longevity, and a loud shout came from the other side.

The peace of the Yangxin Palace was broken, and shouts of killing suddenly broke out, mixed with screams and the sound of weapons clashing.

Everyone's face changed and they all drew their knives.

Li Hu waved his hand and said, "Protect the emperor!" Then he strode into the Yangxin Palace.

Everyone followed in, and with a bang, the Yangxin Gate closed.

After the tiger-like shouts and cries of killing, the sounds of countless soldiers and horses were heard outside.

Li Hu had just arrived at the Hall of Mental Cultivation when the door opened with a click.

An old lady in a bright red dragon robe came out, escorting Emperor Yongchang, who was in a yellow robe.

The flickering torches lit up half the sky red!

Emperor Yongchang's face suddenly turned livid, his eyes gleaming, "Great! You're forcing the emperor to abdicate! Dai Quan!"

Dai Quan: "The old slave is here!"

Emperor Yongchang: "Send a signal to have the imperial guards from the Western Garden Camp enter the palace to quell the rebellion!"

Dai Quan: "Yes!" He took the three signals from the red-robed eunuch behind him and lit the wicks by shaking the fire stick.

Three signals whizzed straight into the night sky, exploding three times in the air, emitting brilliant sparks.

Immediately afterwards, a low horn sounded from the direction of Xiyuan Camp!

Li Hu was stunned at first, but then he understood. The emperor was trying to take advantage of the situation and intervene personally to wipe out the power of the retired emperor in one fell swoop. However, wasn't it too dangerous?
Emperor Yongchang: "Li Hu! You lead the imperial guards to escort me through the back door to the Coal Hill Camp!"

Li Hu responded loudly: "Yes!"

The Hall of Mental Cultivation has two back doors. The one on the east is called the Auspicious Gate. Diagonally opposite the Auspicious Gate is the gate of the Yongshou Palace, separated only by a narrow path.

Yongshou Palace was first built during the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty. It was then called Changle Palace. Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty renamed it Yongshou Palace. The favorite concubine of the retired emperor once lived in Yongshou Palace. As Emperor Yongchang had few concubines, he changed it into a place to entertain foreign ministers.

There were two teams of imperial guards, with Wang Daniu leading the front and Zhang Cheng leading the rear. Li Hu, Dai Quan, and several eunuchs in red robes guarded the emperor.

As soon as he stepped out of the auspicious door, Li Hu was stunned.

With the help of starlight, one could vaguely see that the open Yongshou Palace was filled with armored imperial guards.

Li Hu wanted to kick Wang Daniu to death, but this idiot didn't even notice!

"Protect His Majesty!" Li Hu gave the order immediately without having time to think about it.

Dai Quan pushed Li Hu's hand away and said with a smile: "General Li, don't panic, we are one family." After that, he raised his hands and clapped them in the air three times.

Along with the sound of heavy armor, teams of imperial guards wearing black armor walked out of Yongshou Palace, there were nearly a thousand of them!
Li Hu felt relieved and excited at the same time. Dai Quan didn't call him "General Li" casually. The lowest rank that could be called a general was a guerrilla general of the fourth rank. He made a fortune!!!

(End of this chapter)