The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 114 Accidental collision
"The girl said to hang up the big red lanterns to celebrate!" Li San's voice came from the gate.

Two servants came out carrying long poles and brand new big red lanterns. They then used the long poles to lift the lanterns to the eaves and hung them up, then went back in.

Li San, who had changed into festive clothes, walked out with his hands behind his back. Looking at the big red lanterns swaying in the breeze, he smiled and nodded.

Ever since Lin Daiyu entered the mansion, the family has tried to avoid the use of brightly colored items such as bright red, and more than half a year has passed in a flash.

The day after tomorrow is the Emperor's Birthday. According to court rules, every household in the capital city must hang big red lanterns in front of their doors to celebrate the Emperor's birthday.

Originally, she planned to hang it up on the day of the Emperor's Birthday, but unexpectedly, after receiving a letter from Li Hu, Lin Daiyu was so happy that she asked to hang it up in advance to celebrate the occasion.

Two servants came out with a long bamboo broom and started sweeping the large area in front of the door.

Then two bodyguards came out with swords slung over their shoulders and stood outside the door, one on each side.

"Cheer up, everyone!"

Li San smiled and said, "The imperial edict for the reward will arrive soon."

A soldier spoke up: "How did you know that?"

Li San: "The master won a great victory in Hetao and captured a prince. He was not promoted to a higher rank last time. I guess he will be promoted to a second-class marquis this time!"

Another guard laughed and said, "You must have heard this from Miss Lin."

"You little bastard!" Li San scolded with a smile.

As they were talking, the sound of horse hooves came from the corner of the street.

Li San quickly looked over and saw that it was the Jia family.

The imperial edict conferring rewards has not arrived yet, why are they here now?
Also, why are they all wearing plain clothes? Did they just come back from a funeral? I haven't heard of any funeral.
Thinking of this, Li San still went to greet him with a smile.

Riding on the horses in the front were Jia She, Jia Zheng and Jia Zhen. Jia Baoyu, Jia Rong and several young men of the Jia family followed behind, protecting Jia's grandmother's sedan chair. The group came towards the Li Mansion in a mighty manner.

As soon as they saw Li San, Jia She, Jia Zheng and Jia Zhen reined in their horses and dismounted to greet him.

"My dear relative!" Li San raised his hands from a distance.

Jia She and the other two bowed in return.

Lady Jia's sedan chair also stopped.

Jia Baoyu and Jia Rong went to greet Li San who was walking towards them, "Uncle San."

Li San smiled and nodded: "Don't be so polite, don't be so polite."

Jia She frowned. Why was Li San so happy?

Jia Zheng glanced at Jia Zhen and motioned him to speak.

Jia Zhen coughed and said, "You know everything?"

Li San replied: "I am waiting for the imperial court's order."

Before Jia Zhen could speak, Grandmother Jia lifted the curtain of the sedan chair and stuck her head out.

Grandmother Jia had a sad face and red eyes, obviously she had just cried.

Li San stepped forward and bowed to Lady Jia: "Madam."

Grandmother Jia opened her mouth and finally said only three words: "Old relative."

Li San was confused and couldn't ask any more questions, so he could only turn sideways and extend his hand to make a gesture of giving way: "Miss Lin is in the backyard."

After hearing this, Jia's mother looked even more sad and lowered the curtain of the sedan chair.

Watching Jia Mu's sedan disappear into the gate, Jia She looked at the two big red lanterns and said with some displeasure: "Why are the big red lanterns still hanging?"

Li San was startled at first, then he smiled and replied, "This is what Miss Lin asked. I'll just hang it for three days for a happy occasion."

When these words were spoken, Jia She was the first to be stunned.

Jia Zheng, Jia Zhen and Jia Rong were also stunned.

Suddenly, Jia Baoyu's voice popped up: "Didn't they say that Brother Li died in the battle at Hetao? Why are there big red lanterns and so much celebration?"

Li San was stunned for a moment, then pointed at Jia Baoyu and shouted, "Second Master Bao! Are you cursing our Li family's master? What do you mean he died in Hetao? Our master just won a great victory in Hetao and captured the Mongolian prince alive."

Jia Baoyu's face suddenly turned red: "Uncle, I didn't curse Brother Li, it was the master who said that."

Li San turned his gaze to Jia Zheng again.

Jia Zheng glanced at Jia Baoyu and was about to speak.

At this time, a horse came galloping on the street, with Ni Er sitting on it.

When he reached the gate of the mansion, Ni Er dismounted and shouted breathlessly, "Third uncle! Third uncle! People outside are saying that the Second Master died in the battle at Hetao!"

Li San was so angry that his eyes turned red, and he cursed: "Which bastard spread the rumor!"

Ni Er: "Is the Second Master okay?"

Li San said unhappily: "Of course it's okay! Second Master's letter came to Beijing along with the victory report, it's fine!"

Ni Er let out a long sigh and said to himself, "It's good that everything is fine! It's good that everything is fine."

Li Hu is fine!

Jia She glared at Jia Zheng and said, "You have never done anything right."

Jia Zheng was a little confused: "They are talking about me."

Jia She waved his hand and said, "Okay, stop talking!" Then he turned his gaze to Jia Zhen.

At some point, Jia Zhen was standing behind Jia Baoyu.

Jia She stood there in a daze, not knowing how to start.

Li San started to curse: "Who on earth spread the rumor? If I know, I'll tear him to pieces!" Ni Erxian glanced at Jia Zheng and said, "I heard it came from the Ministry of Works."

There was silence for a moment.

Just then, the sound of horse hooves and wheels could be heard from far away on the street, becoming louder and louder, and everyone looked over.

It was a horse-drawn carriage that stopped in front of Li's mansion. There was a lantern hanging in front of the carriage with the words "Zhongshun Prince's Mansion" written on it.

The driver put on the whip, jumped down from the front of the sedan, took down the stool he was sitting on and placed it next to the handlebars, and opened the bamboo curtain: "We're here, Second Steward."

A middle-aged man emerged from the sedan chair, holding the elegiac couplet in his hand and stepped off the carriage on a low stool. Although he was slightly startled by the two big red lanterns in front of the Li Mansion, he still walked over.

Seeing that Jia She and others were wearing plain clothes, the second butler felt relieved. He walked to the front of the crowd and said loudly: "When he heard that General Li died in battle, my prince was extremely sad and wrote this elegiac couplet by himself to express his feelings." As he said that, he handed over the couplet.

Everyone's eyes were on Li San.

"well."

Li San was so angry that his face turned pale and he shouted, "Someone come!"

A boy sweeping the floor shouted at the side door: "Someone is making trouble!"

Before he could finish his words, a group of servants rushed out from the door.

The second butler was furious: "How dare you! We are from the Zhongshun Palace, how dare you!"

Li Sanhong's eyes were red. "Even if Prince Zhongshun comes, we beat him up, and we'll be in the right with the emperor!" Then he raised his hand and chopped it down hard, shouting, "Hit him!"

The servants immediately rushed forward, pinned the second steward and the coachman to the ground, and beat them up!
Jia She took a step forward and picked up the elegiac couplet that had fallen on the ground.
The door of the upper study was closed, and there stood a large bronze ice jar, with white steam rising from the hollow part of the lid.

A piece of bloody white linen was spread on the imperial desk, with dense dark red handwriting on it, it was written in blood.

Emperor Yongchang sat on the dragon throne with his brows furrowed and his beard trembling slightly.

The palace door opened. It was Dai Quan. He gently pushed the door open and stepped in. Hot air rushed in. He immediately closed the door, walked quietly to the side of Emperor Yongchang, and said softly, "Your Majesty, everything has been arranged."

Emperor Yongchang still closed his eyes: "Tell me, what should I do?"

Dai Quan did not reply immediately. He was silent for a moment before answering, "Thunder, lightning, rain and dew are all blessings from heaven."

"fart!"

Emperor Yongchang opened his eyes and sighed, "It's difficult for me too. If I really abolish the second son, only the fourth son will be left. I have a feeling that he is too 'desireless', which is a bit unreal."

Dai Quan hesitated for a moment and whispered, "There is something that I just heard these days. Captain Qiu is secretly investigating Daxiangguo Temple."

Emperor Yongchang: "Go on."

Dai Quan: "It was Captain Qiu and his son who personally supervised this. Should we summon Captain Qiu to the palace for questioning?"

Emperor Yongchang thought for a moment and said, "No need. If he finds anything, he will hand over the sign."

Dai Quan: “Yes.”

Emperor Yongchang turned his gaze to the blood letter again and sighed, "I only have a few sons!" Then he closed the blood letter, pressed his hand on the imperial desk, stood up, and walked back and forth quickly.

Dai Quan understood that the emperor still wanted to protect the second prince.

At this moment, the voice of the eunuch on duty came from outside the palace gate: "Your Majesty, this is a secret report from the Silijian duty room."

Dai Quan walked over quickly, pulled aside a line, took the secret letter, walked up to Emperor Yongchang and presented it.

Emperor Yongchang took the secret letter, opened the seal and read it. After reading a few lines, his face turned gloomy.

Dai Quan looked at Emperor Yongchang in surprise.

"There's something unexpected going on!"

Emperor Yongchang handed the secret letter to Dai Quan, "How is the third brother?"

Dai Quan was stunned and looked at Emperor Yongchang.

Emperor Yongchang: "Let's see first."

Dai Quan quickly scanned the area and was shocked. There were rumors outside the imperial city. Such deadly rumors, two commanders died in the battle of Hetao, there were spies in the court, traitors in the army, and the Tartars became "monsters" in the mouths of the common people. There were even rumors that the second prince betrayed Li Hu.
The imperial court must clarify this matter immediately, otherwise not only will the royal family's reputation be completely lost, but the morale of the military and civilians will also be affected.

The most important thing is that Li Hu is not dead!

But once this matter is clarified, the Yulin general and those Yulin soldiers cannot be dealt with. If they are not dealt with, the second prince will have to be dealt with.

"It is God's will!"

Emperor Yongchang sighed, "They have all made military achievements, so I pardon their death penalty. Although the death penalty is pardoned, the living crime cannot be forgiven! Each of them will be beaten with fifty sticks in the court!"

Dai Quan: “Yes.”

Emperor Yongchang paused and said, "Send someone to take that evil creature back to the capital, lock him up in the clan house, and confine him for three years!"

Dai Quan was silent for a moment before answering, "Yes."

Just as he finished speaking, the voice of the eunuch on duty came from outside the palace gate: "Your Majesty, there is news from the Imperial Household Department that the people in Prince Zhongshun's mansion and the people in Li's mansion have fought."

Emperor Yongchang was stunned for a moment: "Which Li Mansion?"

The chief eunuch on duty: "General Li Hu."

Emperor Yongchang frowned: "What's going on?"

There was silence outside for a moment, and then the voice of the eunuch on duty was heard: "Your Majesty, it is said that people from Prince Zhongshun's residence went to deliver a funeral couplet to General Li's residence."

Emperor Yongchang was a little surprised. If this matter got to the front line, it would be a huge trouble. With a "slap", Emperor Yongchang slapped the imperial desk and almost shouted, "Let Prince Zhongshun come into the palace!"

After saying a few words, I thought about it. There are too many people and the plot will be a bit chaotic. I'd better leave one person offline temporarily.

The plots in these chapters were changed temporarily, and the following manuscripts also need to be changed.

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(End of this chapter)