The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 14 Big House
The melodious sound of a flute came from the backyard of Prince Zhongshun's mansion.

On the stage, the female role acted as if she was suffering from lovesickness and sang the opera in a charming and seductive manner.

Under the stage, Prince Zhongshun tapped the table with his fingers to clap his hands, staring at the female role intently, and cheered loudly when he heard the good points.

At this moment, the butler hurried over and whispered something in King Zhongshun's ear.

Prince Zhongshun was startled at first, then the smile on his face disappeared, and he suddenly swept the cup on the table far away, and burst out: "Why is the emperor so unfair?!"

The singing of the sandalwood board, qudi and voice suddenly stopped.

The butler waved his hand and everyone retreated quietly.

With a snort, King Zhongshun said, "He is just a poor man who got lucky. Why?!"

The butler poured him a glass of wine and whispered, "Your Majesty, this is an opportunity!"

King Zhongshun: "Opportunity, what opportunity? Captain Qiu has always been on good terms with us." As he said that, he picked up the wine glass and drank it all.

The butler looked around and said, "The Infantry Commander's Office."

After hearing this, King Zhongshun was stunned for a long while and looked at him in confusion.

The housekeeper said: "After the incident with Prince Zhong, Your Majesty has become wary of the princes of the royal family. The prince will not be able to stay in the position of the commander of the imperial guards for long."

Prince Zhongshun reacted: "Do you want me to resign on my own initiative?"

The housekeeper nodded and said, "The Infantry Command Office is in charge of the entire capital. Although it only has 30,000 soldiers, it is the most powerful trump card. As long as the prince holds this army in his hands, no matter who inherits the throne in the future, they must continue to use the prince."

King Zhongshun's eyes lit up, and he said excitedly: "Now we can punish that pariah with justification!"

The housekeeper smiled bitterly and said, "We can't touch Li Hu, at least not yet. The most urgent task is to show our loyalty to the emperor and then obtain the military power of the Infantry Commander's Office."

At this point, he hesitated, "In fact, there is no conflict of interest between the prince and Li Hu. He did not give gifts to the prince in order to avoid suspicion. After all, the matter of Prince Zhong is there, right?"

King Zhongshun glared at him and said, "There is no room for negotiation on this matter."

The butler shut up.

Prince Zhongshun: "Go to the outer study and draft a resignation letter to the emperor for me."

Butler: "Yes."

"Let Qi Guan come and drink with me." King Zhongshun added.

After seeing off Zhao Tong, the eunuch in charge of Yuqing Palace, Li Hu returned to the wing room of the yamen.

The Jinyiwei of the Southern Pacification Office are not all cowards. Even a rabbit will bite when it is cornered. What's more, there are also the Jinyiwei of the Northern Pacification Office with ruthless means. More than a dozen people were also injured in the Southern Camp.

As soon as they saw Li Hu coming in, the wounded soldiers who were able to move struggled to sit up. The wounded soldiers with broken legs and feet who could not sit up also raised their heads, with guilt on their faces.

"Lie down quickly, everyone lie down!" Li Hu helped a wounded soldier lie down.

Although the wounded soldiers lying on the sickbeds were all lying down, their eyes were all looking at Li Hu.

Li Hu was silent for a moment, then said, "The past is the past, there is no need to blame yourself, let alone bear a grudge." At this point, he smiled and said, "If you still feel upset, then hurry up and heal your wounds, serve me well, and find an opportunity to make another great contribution so that I can also become a lieutenant general. How do you think?"

There was silence.

Li Hu deliberately frowned and said, "Why, are you blaming me for not being able to make the decision for you?"

As soon as these words came out, the wounded soldiers panicked and started shouting, "It's us who have implicated you! We've ruined your future!"

The soldiers who were least seriously injured rolled off their beds and knelt facing Li Hu.

"Lie down quickly and be careful of your wound!" Li Hu walked up and helped a wounded soldier lie down first.

"Lie down now."

"Lie down now."

Captains Zhao and Qian rushed in from outside and helped the wounded soldier lie down.

Li Hu ignored them and said to the wounded soldiers, "You don't need to worry about your family. I have already arranged everything. You can rest and recover and try to go home as soon as possible. Don't think that the food in the government office is good and stay here."

Everyone laughed when they heard this.

Li Hu: "Okay, I won't disturb you guys from resting. I'll go see Wang Daniu." After saying that, he turned around and walked out.

Zhao and Qian hurriedly followed him out.

Li Hu walked towards the duty room and asked, "How many things did you copy from the Sun family?"

Zhao Qianzong followed closely and replied, "It's not detailed yet. The floating property and banknotes alone amount to more than 30,000 taels." Li Hu stopped in his tracks and said in surprise, "30,000 taels, so much!"

Qian Qianzong said: "This is the money that will end my family lineage."

General Zhao Qian: "Yes, we rescued more than a hundred children this time. Over the years, if not a thousand, at least seven or eight hundred! Not a single male member of the Sun family survived this time."

Li Hu sighed: "This is probably the retribution from the underworld!"

Zhao and Qian looked at each other, then took out a memorial from their sleeves and presented it to him.

Li Hu was silent for a while, then asked, "Have you thought it through?"

Zhao and Qian: "Please help me, sir!"

Li Hu took it and looked at it. It was indeed a letter of resignation: "Well, I won't delay your future."

Zhao and Qian: "Thank you for your help, sir!" After saying that, they bowed to Li Hu, turned around and left in a graceful manner.

Li Hu looked at the two people's disappearing backs, then looked at the waste paper in his hand, turned around and walked into the duty room.

As soon as he stepped through the door, Li Hu was stunned.

Wang Daniu, with a white gauze wrapped around his chest, knelt upright beside the kang, looking at Li Hu with a guilty look on his face.

Zhang Cheng on the side had a look of helplessness on his face.

"You want to die!" Li Hu suddenly got angry, walked up quickly, raised his hand suddenly, but put it down again, handed the two resignation letters to Zhang Cheng, and then helped Wang Daniu lie down on the kang.

Wang Daniu: "Sir, please hit me twice!"

Li Hu glared at him. This kid was lucky. Although the bullet penetrated the armor and entered the flesh, it was stuck in the ribs and did not hurt the internal organs.

Zhang Cheng shook the resignation letter in his hand and said with a smile: "It seems that the backers behind them don't want to break up with you, my Lord."

Li Hu smiled.

Zhang Cheng: "That's good, we will have more troops to deal with what's coming next." Suddenly he realized that he had let the cat out of the bag and stopped talking quickly.

Wang Daniu looked at them blankly.

Li Hu to Zhang Cheng: "Tell him."

Zhang Cheng coughed and said to Wang Daniu: "You can't understand why the master gave up this credit? Because the master guessed that he couldn't catch those traffickers this time and couldn't get evidence. Why offend people for nothing? It's almost the twelfth lunar month, and after the Chinese New Year it's the Lantern Festival."

Wang Daniu: "They still dare? No way."

Zhang Cheng: "Money can make you a god."

Li Hu: "I can also slap the emperor in the face."

Wang Daniu swallowed.

Zhang Cheng thought for a moment and said, "We have to be careful of the Royal Guards."

A cold light flashed in Li Hu's eyes.
In the past, a magazine once described it this way: the rich in Hong Kong live on the mountainside, the rich in Shanghai live by the river, and the rich in Kyoto live next to the Forbidden City.

In less than three years, there were two palace coups in the capital, and living close to the imperial city was actually the least safe.

After Dashun established its capital in Beijing, Li Dingguo awarded many mansions in Xicheng to heroes who had made great contributions to the founding of the country. Therefore, most people in Xicheng lived in it, including people of status and position.

The mansion awarded by the prince is located in the west city, a courtyard with five entrances.

The design and architecture of ancient official residences reflected a strict hierarchy and a symbol of social status. The residences of high-ranking officials were usually large and magnificent, with tall walls, well-arranged courtyards, grand halls and corridors. The residences of lower-ranking officials were relatively simple, reflecting the differences in social status and power.

According to the rules of the imperial court, Li Hu could only live in a courtyard house with three courtyards, then four courtyards and then five courtyards.

Further up are the mansions of nobles built by imperial decree, for example, the Ning and Rong mansions of the Jia family are quadrangle courtyards with three corridors and five entrances. When Li Hu was conferred a title, he was qualified to live in a quadrangle courtyard with three corridors and four entrances. The prince's mansion is a quadrangle courtyard with three corridors and seven entrances, and the Yanshenggong Mansion is a quadrangle courtyard with three corridors and nine entrances, but none of them has the grandeur of an imperial palace.

Pushing open the door, Li Hu walked in. There was the back house, the front yard, and the hanging flower gate. The second gate in the saying "Don't go out of the front door, don't step through the second door" refers to the hanging flower gate. The second courtyard was a hall used for external purposes, and after that was another hanging flower gate. Behind the hanging flower gate was the third courtyard where the principal house and wing rooms were located, which was the main courtyard, and then there was the back yard and the back rooms.

What is rare is that there is a garden behind the house. It is not very big, but it is arranged in a very delicate and symmetrical way.

Li Hu nodded with satisfaction. He had to say that the prince was really reliable. He even cleaned the room and could move in on a certain day. He would celebrate the New Year here this year.

Well, by holding a housewarming party, I can make some money from those businessmen.

This money is so easy to make!

(End of this chapter)