The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 25 Intrigue
The housekeeper of Prince Beijing's mansion walked into the back garden. The sun was shining brightly here, shining on the clusters of leaves that had just sprouted, the green color was eye-catching.

The old housekeeper walked along the stone path, passing by flowers and willows. After turning a few corners, a small pond appeared before his eyes.

Beijing Prince Shui Rong was sitting in front of a small pond, concentrating on fishing.

Walking behind Shui Rong, the old butler said softly, "Young Master, the emperor gave the good job in Shaanxi to the second prince."

The water moved slightly, and then continued fishing.

The old housekeeper continued, "In previous years, going to Shaanxi to provide disaster relief was not a good job, and they would not have had time to hide. Now that the emperor has just executed more than a hundred officials including the Shaanxi governor, this is a great opportunity to place his confidants and cultivate personal power."

After a pause, he said, "The death of a prince will have a huge impact on the situation. Those people will probably wait and see."

Shui Rong spoke calmly and slowly: "With the loss of a prince, the situation in Shaanxi has become more complicated, even difficult. Emperor Yongchang only thought of 'father and son fighting together', but ignored the complexity of people's hearts and the darkness of human nature. The third prince and the fourth prince would secretly make trouble, making Emperor Yongchang think that the second prince was incompetent, ineffective in disaster relief, and a good-for-nothing.

In addition, the crown prince will not allow the second prince to gain too much credit, which would threaten his position. The situation in Shaanxi will only become more chaotic, and this word "chaos" is what we want. "

The old butler suddenly realized: "Young Master is wise! We know what to do!"

At this time, a fish swallowed the hook and the float fell down. Shui Rong lifted the rod and lifted it to the ground. A two-inch long crucian carp jumped around on the ground.

The old housekeeper picked it up and placed it in a small porcelain jar beside him with clean water.

Shui Rong stood up: "Don't get involved in this matter."

The old butler was startled and looked at him in confusion.

Shui Rong: "If we don't get involved, the emperor will have to take action against other officials if things get out of hand, and he will lose the support of the people even more. Let the emperor's son take the lead, and when the time is right, we will secretly lend a helping hand. The disaster victims plus the bandits will turn the whole of Shaanxi into a melting pot, and any government troops that enter Shaanxi will be swallowed up!"

The old butler quickly became excited and said loudly: "That's right, with millions more disaster victims, the whole situation will undergo a drastic change!"

Shui Rong sighed: "It's a pity for the director of the Imperial Observatory, a loyal and righteous man."

The old butler was silent for a moment, then said, "The dynasty has nurtured scholars for three hundred years, and today is the time to do so."

Shui Rong: "Even so, I still can't bear it."

The old housekeeper changed the subject: "We have already checked it out. The emperor did grant a marriage to Li Hu and Lin Ruhai's daughter."

Shui Rong sneered after hearing this: "The emperor is granting a marriage to a sickly woman. It seems that he doesn't trust Li Hu that much. We can get in touch with him later."

The old housekeeper: "Yes."

Shui Rong thought for a moment and said, "We should find a way to send them some food. Only when we have money and food will people risk their lives for us."

The old butler: "Yes." He answered and walked out.

Shui Rong put his hands behind his back and looked at the setting sun: "I don't bloom when all the flowers bloom. If I do, they will all be scared to death. I want to fight with the west wind and wear golden armor all over my body."

The sun has set.

Li Hu walked out of Yuqing Palace. After less than three or five steps, he stopped, then turned around and looked at Yuqing Palace. Li Hu sighed deeply, turned around and walked forward again.

He was summoned into the palace on his way to Rongqing Hall. He paid two gifts but was not allowed to eat at the table, which was a great loss.

In the kitchen of the Palace of Tranquil Longevity, Li Hu watched a grand drama of loving father and filial son, and friendship and respect between brothers. In order not to laugh, Li Hu could only eat in silence. The emperor's imperial meal was indeed delicious.

It is unknown whether the four princes were happy or not, but Emperor Yongchang was genuinely happy. He waved his hand and gave out a Sunshine Award, giving a lot of rewards, including a piece of farmland to each of them. Li Hu was also rewarded, with a compliment, 100 taels of gold, and 40 rolls of palace silk.

Finally, Emperor Yongchang appointed the second prince as an imperial envoy to go to Shaanxi to provide disaster relief and to act as the commissioner for this mission.

Money and grain needed to be allocated for disaster relief, and the task of transporting the money and grain naturally fell on Li Hu.

For the sake of the victims, Li Hu assured Emperor Yongchang that he would fully cooperate with the Second Prince in disaster relief and would not delay court affairs because of his personal affairs.

Just when Li Hu thought the matter was settled, he was called to Yuqing Palace by the prince and asked to give up the job.

The reason was that he did not think highly of the Second Prince's abilities and was worried that Li Hu would be implicated because of the Second Prince's ineffective disaster relief, especially since everyone knew that Li Hu had a grudge against the Second Prince.

Li Hu was not a fool, and naturally understood the prince's true intention. He did not want the second prince to complete the emperor's task easily, nor did he want the second prince to win the recognition of Emperor Yongchang and thus threaten himself.

The crown prince has this mentality, not to mention the third prince and the fourth prince. They will all make trouble in secret. As for the lives of millions of disaster victims, they don’t care.

At this moment, an absurd idea suddenly popped up in Li Hu's mind. These princes who are both talented in civil and military affairs are not as good as the children of the Jia family who live a luxurious and decadent life. At least they will not affect ordinary people.

This fight between the prince brothers will bring misery to the victims, not to mention the impact on the political situation!

And Emperor Yongchang, where is the emperor's mindset? Why is it that when it comes to his own son, he only has the affection for his calf? !

Li Hu sighed deeply. The prince had given him a difficult problem!

As long as he submitted a letter to resign, everyone would suspect that the crown prince was behind it. This would ruin the crown prince's reputation, and this alone would make Emperor Yongchang dislike him.

These father and son are really difficult to serve! They have to be served even if they are difficult to serve. He has no bargaining power.

Since he could not submit a letter of resignation, the emperor could only ask someone else to escort the relief money and grain.

As for how to do it, Li Hu has already thought about it. He will learn from the sinister Fourth Brother in "The Yongzheng Dynasty", wear cotton clothes, warm himself by the fire, sweat profusely, and then take a cold shower, which is really sick.

Of course, Li Hu couldn't be so direct. If a military general was sick, there would be something wrong no matter how you looked at it.

As soon as I walked out of Dong'anmen, Wang Daniu immediately came to greet me.

Li Hu: "Why are you here?"

Wang Daniu: "Jia Lian from Rongguo Mansion personally sent the carriage back and told me that you were summoned to the palace. Uncle San was worried about you and asked me to take you back to the mansion."

Li Hu nodded and asked, "Did Jia Lian say anything?"

Wang Daniu: ". He said some polite words. By the way, Jia Lian said that his father asked you to come and sit down, have a cup of tea and chat when you are free."

Hearing this, Li Hu's eyes lit up. He had an idea. He could go find that old lecher Jia She and have a drink. There were several ditches in that area. It would be normal to fall into the water after drinking too much, and if you fall into the water, you might get sick.

Thinking of this, Li Hu was a little impressed by his own IQ.

This logic is perfect!
Jia She, here I come!

Li Hu said to Wang Daniu, "I'm going to Rongguo Mansion to have a drink. You don't have to follow me." After that, he mounted the horse, whipped it hard, and the horse rushed forward like an arrow.

(End of this chapter)