The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 32 The mastermind behind the scenes
Li Hu didn't know that on the Fengxiang city wall there was a shriveled old man in a long gown with shaggy hair and beard who was looking at him through a telescope.

Looking at Li Hu's receding back, the old man slowly put down his clairvoyance, sighed deeply, turned around and walked down the city wall.

If the people from the Northern Pacification Office were here, they would definitely be shocked, because this old man was the leader of the Shaanxi branch of the White Lotus Sect, whom they had been hunting for decades.

Li Hu's intuition was not wrong. He was behind the series of events that happened during this period, in order to create opportunities for the rebels in Hanzhong to break through the encirclement of the government troops, rush out of the Qinling Mountains, cross the Weishui River to the north, raid the Second Prince's troops, and lead millions of disaster victims in northern Shaanxi to the south.

After learning that Li Hu wanted to wipe out the bandits in Fengxiang Prefecture in one fell swoop, he ordered the conscription of civilians, built earth walls outside the city, and dug a moat, hoping to use the same trick to trap Li Hu in Fengxiang.

Although Li Hu did not send troops to fill the trenches and attack the city as he had expected, his goal had been achieved. As long as Li Hu could be delayed here for ten days or half a month, those who rushed out of the Qinling Mountains could safely cross the Weishui River.

The former government office became a branch of the White Lotus Sect. In front of each of the two eight-shaped walls on either side of the stone lions at the gate stood a row of White Lotus sect members carrying swords.

A young man in a green robe was standing quietly on the stone steps in front of the gate.

From afar, a group of White Lotus sect members armed with guns and swords came guarding a sedan chair.

The young man immediately went over to meet him.

The sedan stopped in front of the government office and the old man walked out of it.

"Grandfather!" The young man went up and held the old man's arm.

The old man sighed and said, "I've told you so many times not to show up so easily, but you just won't listen."

"My grandson knows he was wrong, and he will correct it in the future."

The young man helped him walk towards the steps of the government office. "I heard that the government troops are digging tunnels. It seems that Li Hu has not been blinded by his previous victory."

Old man: "He's here. We win this round. As long as the Left Protector and his men cross the Wei River, we still have hope of victory."

The young man hesitated and said softly: "We can't win"

The old man immediately stared at the young man.

The young man seemed to have mustered up his courage and looked at the old man: "Grandfather, such an uprising will not defeat the Dashun court, and will only cause the brothers in the sect to sacrifice in vain. You also saw that the Beijing camp only had less than 30,000 people, while we had more than 100,000 people in Xi'an Prefecture, but in the end, we suffered defeat after defeat, and were completely wiped out in just half a month. The Beijing camp has nearly 170,000 elite troops! There are also nine borders, the Jiangnan camp, and the southern Xinjiang garrison."

The old man sighed and said, "How could I not know? But now that the situation on the leader's side has come to this point, I won't hide it from you. This is what that person meant."

The young man blurted out: "The leader is confused. It has been four generations of emperors. People's hearts are no longer with Zhu Ming!"

The old man stopped and looked at him.

The young man lowered his head.

"Don't say such words again."

The old man sighed deeply, "It's difficult for you, the leader. Due to the continuous suppression by the imperial court, we have suffered heavy losses, and only the Azure Dragon Hall and the White Tiger Hall remain from the four major halls. If it weren't for the financial support from that person, we would still be hiding in the mountains. We have no money or food, and even the victims would not work for you."

After a pause, he said, "Even if we fail this time, we won't suffer any loss. We have accumulated nearly a hundred years of wealth in Hanzhong Prefecture."

Young man: “Yes.”

Old man: "What are you doing here?"

The young man replied, "Grandfather, I have decided to take part in the imperial examination next year, pass the exam and become an official in the imperial court."

The old man didn't respond.

The young man continued, "My grandson has thought about it carefully. Although the court is corrupt and officials are forming cliques for personal gain, this is not the end of the dynasty. If you want to overthrow the court, you must use the internal struggle for imperial power and the struggle between civil and military officials to make them engage in fierce party struggles and coups for interests and power, and constantly consume the national strength of Dashun."

At this point, a cold light flashed in his eyes, "He used the struggle for imperial power to strangle a veteran like Shi Guangzhu. The reason why we were defeated so quickly and so tragically this time is because this old villain saw through our intentions and was ahead of us every step of the way!"

The old man sighed again: "You are right. But the emperor is not a fool. He will not kill these old generals except for the crime of treason."

The young man chanted in a low voice: "The bright moon in Qin and the fortress in Han, the people have not returned from the long march of thousands of miles. If only the flying general of Longcheng was here, the Hu horses would not be allowed to cross Yinshan Mountain."

The old man was startled: "You mean outside the Great Wall? The alien race!"

Young man: "The main force of the Dashun Dynasty has not been corrupted or declined. No matter how many uprisings there are, they will be quickly suppressed. Only the foreign tribes can consume them." When he said this, he looked at the old man expectantly.

After hesitating for a long time, the old man blurted out two words: "No!"

Young man: "Grandfather." The old man changed the subject: "When are you going to leave the city?"

The young man swallowed the following words, thought for a moment, and replied, "I will have dinner with my grandfather and then leave."

The old man nodded: "Alright, it will save us from unnecessary trouble. Let's go through the secret passage in the north of the city."

Young man: “Yes.”

The old man suddenly remembered: "There was a rebellion in Shaanxi this year. The court may ask the candidates in Shaanxi to guarantee each other, or ask officials from the same hometown in Beijing to guarantee them."

The young man had already figured it out, and said with a smile: "Scholars and officials in Beijing are no match for a prince as a guarantor. They are reliable and save trouble."

The old man frowned: "What do you mean by that?"

The young man suppressed his smile and said, "There are spies from the Northern Pacification Office everywhere along the Wei River. We can't hide it. Since you will be exposed sooner or later, you might as well make a 'loyalty' to me."

The old man was startled and just opened his mouth but no sound came out.

The young man continued, "The Crown Prince's lamp will be extinguished sooner or later. Although the Second Prince was tricked in the disaster relief, he has also made great military achievements. I heard that he is also deeply favored by the dog emperor. This is a good opportunity."

After hearing his words, the old man closed his eyes and strode towards the backyard.

The young man smiled and chased after him.

It was getting dark and torches were lit one after another on the winding city walls.

After seeing his grandson off, the old man came to the city wall again.

The old man put his hands behind his back, looked at the yellow wind rolling in the distance, and sighed: "The reputation of the Bai family, ancestors, has been ruined by me."

He took the telescope from the guard, looked around the city, turned around and walked down the city wall.

The moment he turned around, a piece of ground about ten feet away from the moat sank, and then a human head appeared. It looked around and then shrank back.

As night fell, twenty or thirty potholes appeared one after another nearby.

Still on that high ground, Li Hu stood there quietly, looking up at the night sky.

It was a dark and windy night. The moon was hidden by clouds, leaving only a few twinkling stars.

"Who!" Wang Daniu asked in a low voice.

A dark figure appeared, and then Jia Yun's voice came: "It's me."

Jia Yun ran to Li Hu and whispered, "General, two passages have been filled in the moat, and the tunnels under the city wall are being dug as planned."

Li Hu nodded: "There is a stone wall behind the earth wall, we must dig deeper."

Jia Yun: “Yes.” He answered, turned around and disappeared into the night.

Li Hu turned around and saw that the army had already formed into a square formation and was ready to attack.

Fengxiang City was shrouded in peace and tranquility, and it was abnormally quiet.

Suddenly, there was a knocking sound from under the city wall.

"Who!" the White Lotus sect members on the city wall shouted.

There was silence.

A White Lotus member: "Don't be suspicious. The captain said that they won't be able to dig it out in five or six days."

Just then, the sound of hurried running came from the bottom of the city.

Another White Lotus member: "There are people under the city!"

A White Lotus leader came over and shouted, "Shoot! Shoot them to death!"

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a loud bang and the White Lotus Sect members on the city wall flew into the sky.

(End of this chapter)