The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 176

There had never been so many soldiers coming to the small village since its establishment. Under the light of torches, the armor, swords, guns, and muskets were all shining, surrounding the entire village!
The fire had been put out long ago, but sparks and black smoke were still rising from the ruins. Officers and soldiers from Shuntian Prefecture and runners from Daxing County Yamen were carefully cleaning up the ruins.

There were more than a dozen corpses lying on the open space in front of the ruins, all of them were members of the White Lotus Sect.

Dai Quan came in person and was standing there with a grim face, looking at the ruins.

Beside him, Li Hu was also standing there silently.

Behind them, the prefect of Shuntian and the magistrate of Daxing were also looking at the ruins with extremely pale faces.

Suddenly, a low cry came from the ruins: "Found it!"

A red-robed eunuch hurried to the ruins and said, "Quick! Carry it out!"

Soon, several bailiffs from the Daxing County Yamen came towards Dai Quan carrying a charred corpse.

Looking at the charred corpse and the equally charred waist badge, Li Hu shook his head. The guards from the Imperial Household Department were really useless. Three against two, two died and one was captured.

The eunuch drew the sword from his waist, fiddled with the corpse for a few times, and then reported to Dai Quan: "Old Ancestor, he was severely punished before he died."

After a moment of silence, Dai Quan finally spoke: "How much does he know?"

The eunuch paused and replied, "In reply to the old ancestor, according to the palace rules, it is forbidden to inquire about matters other than the errands. However, large-scale personnel transfers cannot be concealed."

Dai Quan seemed to remember something, and his expression became solemn.

At this time, a burst of hurried horse hoof sounds came over, and everyone looked over.

A Mongolian officer rode up to Li Hu, pulled the reins, jumped off his horse, and reported to Li Hu: "General, the cavalry sent out to search have all returned, and found nothing."

Li Hu nodded and turned his gaze to Dai Quan.

Dai Quan was a little excited: "Search again! Someone must have escaped!"

The Mongolian officer was stunned for a moment and looked at Li Hu.

Li Hu: "Go ahead."

As soon as the Mongolian officer left, Zhang Cheng hurried over and reported to Li Hu: "General, we have searched several villages around, but found nothing."

Dai Quan's eyes flashed, and he couldn't believe it for a moment.

Li Hu was also stunned. Could it be that the leader of Qinglong Hall flew?
He returned to the barracks for a midnight snack and was just about to lie down when the emperor's handwritten edict arrived in less than half an hour. During this time, the officers and soldiers of Shuntian Prefecture had already blocked off the area around the village. Even if he managed to escape, he would not be able to get far without a horse.

Could it be that the Qinglong Hall Master is still hiding in the village? Li Hu shook his head. He had already searched twice. The Qinglong Hall Master was missing an arm, so there was no way he could get away with it.

The chief eunuch spoke up: "Grandfather, do you need to search the village again?"

Before Dai Quan could speak, another shout came from the ruins: "There is a body without a left arm!"

Dai Quan's eyes lit up: "Bring it over here!"

Another charred corpse was placed in front of everyone.

Dai Quan looked at him carefully and turned to Li Hu: "Have you seen the master of Qinglong Hall? Come and see if it is him?" When he said this, he was also stunned. The corpse had been burned beyond recognition and it was impossible to recognize it!

Li Hu looked at the corpse, then at the corpses of the White Lotus Sect members, and then said to Dai Quan: "The leader of the Qinglong Hall is a true martial artist. It is impossible for him to choose to burn himself to death."

Dai Quan was shocked and realized. He gritted his teeth and said, "He must still be alive!"

At this moment, a soldier from the Northern Pacification Division ran over and knelt down before Dai Quan: "Report to the old ancestor, a secret passage was found in the well."

Dai Quan asked anxiously: "Where does it lead to?"

Fanzi: "Look at the direction, it should be the trees at the east end of the village"

Without waiting for the guard to finish, Dai Quan turned around and walked quickly towards the woods.
The blazing light from the torches illuminated the grove brighter than the lantern festival.

A Mongolian officer behind Li Hu whispered, "Marshal, there are war horses, at least three."

Before he finished speaking, a shout came from the other side of the grove:
"I found horse manure in the grass over here!"

"Ancestor, we found the exit!"

Dai Quan was so angry that he threw his hands and turned to look at Li Hu: "I'll have to trouble you here, General Li."

Li Hu folded his arms and said, "You are too kind, Minister."

Dai Quan turned his gaze to the governor of Shuntian Prefecture and the magistrate of Daxing County and said, "Please come in, my two lords." Then he turned around and strode out.

The faces of the Shuntian prefect and the Daxing county magistrate turned even paler. They looked at each other and then followed tremblingly.

Li Hu suddenly remembered Jia She's letter. Could it be that something big was going to happen in Shandong? Bai Hongzhi, yes, Bai Hongzhi must have fled to Shandong! That made sense!

On the post road, three horsemen were galloping desperately in the direction of leaving Beijing.

It was getting light. A stream was flowing by the road ahead, the water was clear and you could see the bottom.

"Stop for a while and let the horses catch their breath before going any further." The leader pulled the reins. It was the leader of the Qinglong Hall.

The other two also reined in their horses, and the three horses kept snorting and breathing out hot air.

The head of the Qinglong Hall led his horse towards the stream, saying, "Let's go to Henan first, and then send a letter to the head of the White Tiger Hall. He will be interested in dealing with the Northern Pacification Division."

The two nodded.

According to the emperor's decree, the Li Mansion must be rebuilt according to the standards of a marquis's mansion, so the main gate has to be demolished and rebuilt. During this period of time, all entry and exit must go through the corner gate on Lin Daiyu's side.

A large car was parked outside the door.

Li San asked the servants to carry out a few boxes and cages.

At this time, Li Hu and his group came running from the corner of the street.

Li San hurried over to greet him, "Second Master is back."

Li Hu said "hmm", got off the horse, looked at the boxes on the cart and asked, "What is this for?"

Li San took the reins and said with a smile, "The second master of Rongguo Mansion has been sent to Shandong Province as the education commissioner. The young lady wants to go to Rongqing Hall to have a drink and watch a play."

After a pause, he said, "The Madam sent someone here again early in the morning."

Li Hu: "Oh? Who is it?"

Li San: "Miss Yuanyang."

Li Hu nodded. Jia She mentioned this in his letter yesterday, but he had forgotten about it because he was busy.

Seeing bloodshot eyes of Li Hu, Li San said distressedly: "Second Master, have you been busy all night again? Go and have a rest."

Li Hu: "Okay." He yawned, glanced at the busy craftsmen, and then walked in.

At this time, the area outside the Chuihua Gate was surrounded by many old women and wives, and Lin Daiyu's sedan chair stopped in the middle of the crowd.

Even though Li Hu was used to seeing this, he still couldn't help but smack his lips.

"Second Master is back!"

"Greetings to the master of the house!"

All the women and wives paid their respects to Li Hu.

Li Hu smiled and nodded.

"The girl is coming out! The girl is coming out!" The maid's voice came from inside the hanging flower gate.

All the maids and wives started moving at once. Some of them looked around alertly, a few held down the poles of the sedan chair, and two wives in charge raised the curtains.

Li Hu shook his head. Looking at this situation, if someone didn’t know better, they would think that some high-ranking official was leaving the house.

After a while, a group of wives and maids surrounded Lin Daiyu and walked out of the Chuihua Gate.

Lin Daiyu had already seen Li Hu. She walked up to him with a smile, knelt down in front of him, and said softly, "Second brother!"

Li Hu looked at her with a smile, then bowed in return.

Lin Daiyu smiled and said softly, "My second uncle was sent to Shandong as the education commissioner, and the old lady prepared a few tables of home-style banquets."

Li Hu: "Third uncle said so."

Lin Daiyu looked at him: "Busy all night?"

Li Hu: "Busy all night."

Lin Daiyu was silent for a moment, then said, "You should rest at home. I'll go talk to the old lady."

Li Hu smiled and he had no plan to go.

Lin Daiyu: "Have you had breakfast?"

Li Hu: “I’ve eaten.”

Lin Daiyu: "Go back and rest."

Li Hu smiled and said, "I'll take you out."

Lin Daiyu pursed her lips, turned around and got into the sedan chair.

Li Hu saw them off to the door, gave some instructions to Nanny Wang and the others, and only came back after watching the group leave.

(End of this chapter)