The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 145 People die for wealth and birds die for food
Zijuan asked a few maids to come in from the garden gate with food boxes in their hands. Then she heard a few clear and melodious crane calls coming from the other side of the lake which was hidden by clumps of weeping willows.

"Didn't the second master say that cranes can dance? Why aren't they dancing?" Xueyan's voice was heard again.

Qingwen's voice: "The wings were sewn."

Snow Goose's Voice: "Why do you need to sew your wings?"

Qingwen said in an annoyed voice: "Nonsense, if you don't sew the wings, it will fly away!"

At this time, the melodious sound of piano came again.

Zijuan smiled with her hand covering her mouth, and led a few maids along the stone path under their feet. After turning a few corners, they arrived at the lake.

Xueyan, Qingwen and a few little maids were watching two cranes eating fish under a tree.

The curtains of the waterside pavilion were rolled up, and Li Hu was holding Lin Daiyu on his lap, listening to her playing the piano.

Amber stood alone on the small bridge outside the water pavilion, fishing with a fishing rod.

Zijuan smiled and said to the maids, "Wait here." Then she walked towards the water pavilion.

Walking over to Amber, Zijuan glanced at the small porcelain jar beside her and asked with a smile, "You caught so many?"

Amber gave her a small smile.

Suddenly, with a "snap" sound, the string broke and the sound of the piano stopped abruptly.

The two were startled and turned to look.

Lin Daiyu smiled and hit Li Hu.

After the two of them had fought for a while, Lin Daiyu got off Li Hu and Zijuan walked over.

Lin Daiyu took out a teapot from an ivory tea basket on the railing, refilled Li Hu's teacup with water, and then said with a smile: "Forget it, forget it, don't ask me to play the lute for you anymore. I don't want to play the lute to a cow again!"

Li Hu smiled and said, "Don't look down on cows. Cows are full of treasures. When they are alive, they work hard to till the land for people. After they die, their fur can be made into leather armor and shoes, their meat can be used as food, and their skin, tendons and horns can be used to make weapons. Even cow dung can be used to farm."

Lin Daiyu was stunned at first, then she laughed and said, "You have so many crooked ideas." Then she handed the tea bowl to Li Hu.

Li Hu took the tea bowl, and with his other hand he held her in his arms, fed her a sip of tea, and said, "Although I don't understand the zither, I understand you!"

"I understand you"

Just four simple words, but Lin Daiyu felt sore in her heart. She buried her head in Li Hu's arms and rubbed it.

Looking at the little head buried in his arms, Li Hu smiled proudly.

Zijuan rolled her eyes. Second Master was lying to her daughter again. What did she understand? Her daughter was innocent and kind. She depended on Second Master. Her emotions were all written on her face.

Li Hu saw it and glared at her.

Zijuan smiled guiltily.

"Ah!" Amber's exclamation suddenly came from outside the pavilion.

"what happened?"

Lin Daiyu suddenly raised her head, pushed Li Hu's hand away, and hurried out.

Li Hu stood up and followed him out.

With a "click", the fishing rod in Amber's hand broke.

Li Hu was surprised: "Wow, I caught a big fish!"

Lin Daiyu burst out laughing: "It is indeed very big!"

Li Hu walked to the railing and took a look, and it turned out to be a wild duck.

As the saying goes, if you don't take advantage of an opportunity, you are a fool. Li Hu asked for some wild ducks, mandarin ducks and other water birds from the zoo and raised them in the lake.

Li Hu smiled and looked at Amber: "Why did you throw the hook onto the wild duck?"

Amber: "No. It was the wild duck that stole my fish."

Li Hu took a closer look and found that it was indeed the wild duck that had swallowed the fish and the hook line together, and was swimming on the lake under the pavilion, pulling the half-broken fishing rod.

"Second Master." Zijuan handed a new fishing rod to Li Hu.

Li Hu took the fishing rod and looked at the wild duck swimming on the lake. With quick eyes and hands, he heard a sound of breaking air, and the other end of the fishing rod hit the wild duck's head hard.

The wild duck struggled a few times and then became motionless.

"Ah!" Lin Daiyu exclaimed, "How could you beat it to death? That's so cruel!"

Amber and Zijuan nodded at the same time.

Li Hu jumped the fishing rod in his hand into the water, picked up the half fishing rod, held it in his hand and pulled, and the wild duck was lifted up.

Lin Daiyu: “Too cruel.”

Li Hu: "Kill the wild duck, clean it, cut it into small pieces, rinse it, pour it into the pot and stir-fry until there is no water in the pot. Heat another pan with oil, sauté scallions, ginger, and garlic, add the best wild duck meat and stir-fry, add appropriate amount of water to reduce the sauce. The wild duck meat is now soft and juicy, and smells especially fragrant. It is smooth, tender and fragrant when you take a bite." Lin Daiyu swallowed her saliva subconsciously after hearing this: "How cruel!"

Li Hu smiled and handed it to Amber: "Tell the kitchen that the girl can't eat anything too spicy."

Amber smiled and said, "Second Master, there's no need to remind me specifically. I know everything." Then she turned around and ran away.

"Tsk, why is this girl so naughty now?"

Li Hu leaned his fishing rod against the door of the waterside pavilion and said, "Your housekeeping ability needs to be improved."

Lin Daiyu was too lazy to pay attention to him and walked back to the small round table and sat down.

Zijuan asked the maids to clean up the table and put on it a large plate of fresh fruits, a large plate of melon seeds, four plates of exquisite snacks, a pot of fresh tea, and two clean tea bowls.

Lin Daiyu looked at Li Hu: "Why don't you leave?"

Before he finished speaking, a maid's voice came from the lakeside: "Miss Bao is here."

Li Hu: "I won't disturb Madam Li from entertaining the guests." After saying that, he turned and walked towards the bridge.

After hearing this, Lin Daiyu spat and said, "How shameless!" Suddenly she saw Xue Baochai and stood up.

Xue Baochai, Ying'er and Xiangling stopped at the bridgehead, bowed slightly to Li Hu who was walking towards them, and said softly, "General Li."

Li Hu smiled and nodded, glanced at Xiangling, and walked along the stone path.

Xue Baochai looked at Li Hu's back, then glanced at Xiangling, then walked towards the water pavilion with a smile.

Lin Daiyu welcomed Xue Baochai in and said, "Please sit down, sister." She then ordered Zijuan to pour tea.

After some jokes, Xue Baochai put down her tea bowl and looked at the two cranes: "What beautiful cranes. They must have cost a lot of money, right?"

Lin Daiyu smiled and replied, "I'm not sure, but it will probably cost a lot of money."

Xue Baochai was slightly stunned. Wasn't she the housekeeper of the Li Mansion? How could she not know? Could it be that this crane was given by someone else?

Lin Daiyu: "Sister Bao"

Xue Baochai came back to her senses and said, "Hmm." Suddenly she remembered, "I just ran into Amber. Why was she carrying a dead duck?"

Lin Daiyu covered her mouth and smiled, and replied, "I know this." Then she repeated what happened just now, and said with a smile, "It is true that people die for money and birds die for food."

Xue Baochai's heart skipped a beat when she heard this. The scene of Xue Pan excitedly returning home suddenly emerged in her mind. Bai Hongzhi also pawned all his properties outside the city to the Xue family pawnshop. This was a bit abnormal!
Seeing Xue Baochai was in a daze again, Lin Daiyu hurriedly asked, "Sister, are you feeling unwell?"

Xue Baochai then came back to her senses and hesitated for a long time before she leaned over to Lin Daiyu's ear and spoke.

Flower Hall of Zhongshun Palace
Official Qi was refilling Prince Zhongshun's glass of wine.

Prince Zhongshun picked up the wine glass, tilted his head back and drank it, then pointed the cup towards Qi Guan.

Official Qi smiled and said, "Your Majesty has a big appetite!" He filled Prince Zhongshun's glass with wine again.

Prince Zhongshun did not hold up the wine glass this time. He looked at Qi Guan and said, "You only come here when I sincerely invite you."

Qi Guan put down the wine pot and said: "I dare not deceive the prince, I heard something outside."

King Zhongshun: "What did you say?"

Qi Guan: "You also know that I know Master Bao from Rongguo Mansion, and through him I got to know Xue Pan."

Prince Zhongshun: "Xue Pan? But that fool from Jinling?!"

Qi Guan smiled and answered, "It was him. The Xue family had a pawnshop on Gulou West Street. The owner of a troupe I was familiar with was in urgent need of money, so I took him there. Your Majesty, guess what I saw? Bai Hongzhi came out of the pawnshop. I heard from Xue Pan that Bai Hongzhi pawned all his properties in and out of the city to the Xue family pawnshop."

King Zhongshun was stunned at first, then he laughed and said, "Don't worry about this matter, I know what's going on." Then he picked up the wine glass and drank it in one gulp.

Qi Guan's eyes flashed, and he said with a smile: "So the prince knew about it. I was really scared. I thought he was going to run away."

Before he could finish his words, the butler hurried in and whispered something in King Zhongshun's ear.

Prince Zhongshun's expression suddenly changed: "Is this true?!"

The butler nodded and continued, "The letter was shot in by an arrow. Someone has been arranged to pick up the person according to the address on the letter. Once the person is caught, we will know whether it is real or fake."

Prince Zhongshun nodded, and suddenly remembered: "What did you say just now?"

Qi Guan was startled: "The prince asked me?"

King Zhongshun: "What did you say just now?"

Qi Guan: "I said, 'So the prince knows.'"

King Zhongshun: "Not this sentence!"

Qi Guan was delighted, but pretended to think for a while before saying, "Isn't this what the prince is asking, 'I thought you were going to run away.'"

There was a cold light in Prince Zhongshun's eyes.
(End of this chapter)