The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 193 Giving You Face
Mount Ni, formerly known as Mount Niqiu, was named after Confucius whose parents prayed at Mount Niqiu and received his son. Therefore, Confucius’ given name was Qiu and his courtesy name was Zhongni. Later generations avoided the taboo of Confucius and called it Mount Ni.

This is a holy place for Confucian scholars of all dynasties to worship. The Confucius Temple, Nishan Academy, etc. are built on the eastern foot of Zhongfeng.

Such a sacred place should be solemn and quiet.
On the post road, Zhou Rui led a team of officers and soldiers, surrounding an official sedan chair and trotting towards Mount Ni.

"Hurry! Hurry!" Jia Zheng's urging voice came from the sedan chair.

In Nishan, the sounds of human voices, trumpets, horse hooves, and gongs and drums were earth-shaking.

Teams of cavalrymen from the Rui Shi Battalion charged through the mountains and forests, waving their whips, and animals were running around in panic everywhere.

Li Hu was holding a bow and arrow, leading his personal soldiers and galloping on horseback.

A group of sika deer, goats and hares ran out.

Li Hu drew his bow and aimed his arrow at a sika deer and shot it.

The sika deer was shot by an arrow and rolled over and died.

Wang Daniu and his personal soldiers cheered loudly: "Good!"

Li Hu smiled, put away the bow and arrow, drew out his saber, squeezed his legs together, and rushed forward like a horse.

Wang Daniu and his bodyguards drew their sabers and rode their horses to chase after them.

The sound of horse hooves rang out, and the withered grass and leaves swirled in the air. Li Hu swung his saber at a sika deer.

A stream of blood spurted out.

Wang Daniu chopped and stabbed left and right like a madman, cruelly chopping his prey into a bloody mess.

Zhang Qiang also led a group of fierce cavalrymen, waving sabers, chasing a group of prey. With a flash of saber light, sika deer, goats and other prey fell in a pool of blood.

The cavalrymen of the Ruishi Camp rode their horses, drew their bows and shot left and right.

One arrow would knock down a prey.

At this moment, in the pavilion on the opposite mountain, pairs of angry eyes were looking at them.

More than a dozen old men with gray beards and beards were standing there surrounding Duke Yansheng.

An old man started to curse: "You bastard!"

Another old man said: "You barbarian! I want to go to the capital to file a complaint with the emperor!"

Another old man said, "Sir, this is already the second day. We can't let them destroy the holy land any longer."

All eyes were now turned to Duke Yansheng, but he just stared straight ahead, still motionless.

The old man said, "He is humiliating our teacher Confucius and degrading all scholars in the world! This is intolerable! The teachers and students of the academy are filled with righteous indignation. Even if it costs their lives, they must defend the dignity of our teacher Confucius."

Duke Yansheng did not look at him and replied in a low voice, "I understand."

The old man said, "Sir, I will personally lead the teachers and students of the academy to drive these barbarians out of the holy land! If they dare to take action, the spit of scholars in the world will drown them!"

The elders all shouted, "Yes! Drown them!"

Duke Yansheng slowly looked at him and whispered only one word: "Wait!"

Suddenly, an old man shouted loudly: "You bastard! You idiot——"

Following his gaze, everyone vaguely saw Li Hu waving at them.

A flash of cold light quickly flashed in Duke Yansheng's eyes, and in an instant he returned to his usual indifference.

The old men started to curse.
Li Hu put down the telescope. This old man is really patient! Wait, wait until we catch your good grandson, and expose the matter from this opening, and then we can expose the old face of the Kong family! Colluding with the White Lotus Sect, killing court officials, killing people to silence them, so many charges, even if the Yanshenggong Mansion is not hurt, the blood of the Kong family will be involved.

Well, they also intercepted and killed the messenger from the Imperial Household Department!
Li Hu smiled. He really didn't expect that the young man was a member of the Kong family and the grandson of Duke Yansheng.

Wang Daniu came over excitedly and said with a smile: "With so many prey, it's enough for everyone to have a meal."

Li Hu: "Is it cool?"

Wang Daniu patted his chest and said, "Great!"

Li Hu smiled and said, "I heard that there are tigers, leopards, wolves and other fierce beasts in Mount Tai. After I finish my work with the White Lotus Sect, I will take you hunting."

Wang Daniu's eyes lit up: "Yes! Let's hunt a tiger and give it to Master Lin in Yangzhou. We can use the tiger skin to make a mattress and the tiger bones to soak in wine. Master Lin will definitely be very satisfied with Second Master as his son-in-law."

The soldiers immediately agreed: "That makes sense! That makes sense!"

Wang Daniu became even more excited: "Let's hunt a few more fox furs and make a cloak for Miss Lin."

Li Hu glared at him: "Why are you worrying about this for nothing!"

Wang Daniu chuckled.

There was the sound of horse hooves, and a group of more than ten riders were galloping towards this side. Li Hu cast his eyes over there.

The group was all in plain clothes, but Li Hu had already guessed their identities, as the emperor's edict had arrived.

At the same time, four sedan bearers, sweating and panting, carried the official sedan to Nishan.

"Stop!" The officer guarding the mountain pass stopped them, "Which government office are you from? Can't you see that there is martial law here? Take a detour!"

Zhou Rui handed Jia Zheng his name card and said, "Superintendent of Education of Shandong."

The officer waved his hand and said, "What academic administration? I've never heard of it. Go away!"

Zhou Rui was stunned.

"What's going on?" The curtain of the sedan chair was lifted and Jia Zheng came out.

The officer looked at Jia Zheng, then looked at the patch on his chest, and said with a smile: "Sir, this place is under martial law. Please take a detour."

Jia Zheng blushed immediately.

"presumptuous!"

Zhou Rui shouted, "Do you know who my master is? He is the head of the Rongguo Mansion in the capital, and your general's elder!"

There was a sound of footsteps, and Wang Yaozu appeared behind the soldiers who were blocking the post road. "Hey, Lord Jia is here!" He greeted him with a smile on his face, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, you bastards are ignorant, you..."

Jia Zheng was in no mood to greet him. He stepped forward hastily and grabbed his arm: "Take me to see your general!" After saying that, he pulled Wang Yaozu towards the mountains.

Wang Yaozu: "Don't be anxious, don't be anxious, just pay attention to your feet."

Here, Li Hu sent away the eunuch who delivered the imperial edict, and smiled as he looked at the secret edict in his hand. He didn't expect that the emperor would ask him to investigate the incident of the messenger from the Imperial Household Department being intercepted and killed. This would save him a lot of trouble.

"Second Master, Jia Zheng is here." Wang Daniu said softly.

The old guy finally came.

Li Hu snorted, folded the secret decree and stuffed it into his sleeve, then went forward.

"Second Master!" Li Hu raised his hands from a distance.

The air was filled with a strong smell of blood, and the cavalrymen of the Sharp Warriors Battalion were cleaning up their prey with blood all over their bodies.

Jia Zheng frowned and said in a somewhat unhappy tone: "You have gone too far in this matter."

Li Hu: "Oh? What do you mean?"

Jia Zheng: "What is this place? This is the territory of the Kong family, a holy place for scholars to worship. How can you kill people here? This will give people a handle to hold you back."

Li Hu raised his eyebrows: "When did this place become the Kong family's territory?"

Jia Zheng was stunned for a moment, "These sika deer and goats are all raised by the Kong family."

"Why does the Kong family have the right to release prey on the imperial court's land?"

Jia Zheng was stunned again.

At this moment, Zhang Qiang came over and whispered to Li Hu: "General, everything is ready."

Li Hu nodded and said to Jia Zheng, "You always come to persuade me to leave here?"

Jia Zheng nodded.

Li Hu: "Okay, I'll leave now."

Jia Zheng was a little confused: "You, you agree to leave here"

Li Hu smiled and said, "You are my elder, I must give you this respect!" He then said to Zhang Qiang, "Return to the camp!"

Zhang Qiang answered loudly, "Yes." Then he jumped on his horse and galloped away.

One trumpet after another was blown.

The cavalry of the Ruishi Camp began to retreat out of the mountain, with mountains of prey piled on the carts.

Li Hu: "You always follow me to the camp, or..." He pointed in the direction of Confucius Temple and Nishan Academy.

Jia Zheng: "This."

Li Hu: "We are at the holy place where scholars worship. You should also go and burn some incense." He then mounted his horse and said to Jia Zheng: "Those people may not be easy to talk to. If you are turned away, come to the camp. I will treat you to a roasted whole lamb."

Jia Zheng nodded.

Li Hu ignored him, squeezed his legs together, and rode his horse straight out of the mountain.

(End of this chapter)