The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 42 Assassination 2
The crowd was full of people.

There were five tables of banquets in the flower hall of Ningguo Mansion, and the Jia family members were drinking to their heart's content.

Jia Zhen and Jia Lian were hosting a banquet here to welcome Jia Yun, who had just returned to the capital.

Because of Wang Ziteng's betrayal, the Jia family lost the position of the governor of the Beijing camp, which greatly weakened the Jia family's voice. Because the emperor was suspicious of the Jia family, he transferred Jia Daishan's confidants away, weakening the influence of the army. The former loyalists turned to the new nobles. Under the general trend, the Jia family could no longer reverse the decline.

Jia Zhen and Jia She, the inheritors of the Ning and Rong mansions, both had empty titles and no official positions in the court; although Jia Zheng was a fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Works had basically no real power and had the smallest actual power and the lowest status among the six ministries.

Although Jia Yun is only a captain of the sixth rank, he has real military power and is worth attracting investment.

Jia Yun was surrounded by Jia Zhen and Jia Lian and sat in the chief seat.

Jia Yun, whose face was already flushed, drank the large glass of wine in one gulp and then pointed the glass towards Jia Lian.

Jia Zhen and Jia Lian looked at each other and burst into laughter.

At this moment, Lai Sheng, the steward of Ningguo Mansion, walked in with Ni Er, who was sweating profusely.

Ni Er did not go to the Beijing Camp, nor did he stay in the Fifth Army Camp. He went into business and opened a restaurant in Dongcheng, secretly gathering intelligence for Li Hu.

Jia Yun stood up and said with a smile: "The second one is here."

Ni Er wiped the sweat from his face and whispered quickly in Jia Yun's ear.

Jia Yun's expression changed drastically: "Quick! Go to the General's Mansion!"

Ni Er: "You can't get in. The White Lotus has sent people to watch the street leading to the General's Mansion."

The clock in the corner suddenly rang!
Jia Yun looked over and saw that it was the end of the Yin hour. Li Hu must have left the palace, and it was too late to go out of the city to get help.

Jia Zhen spoke up: "What happened?"

Jia Yun's eyes lit up, and he quickly told him that the White Lotus Sect was planning to assassinate Li Hu.

Jia Zhen was also shocked. When he heard Jia Yun say that the street leading to Li Hu's mansion was blocked by members of the White Lotus Sect, the shrewd Jia Zhen immediately realized that the opportunity had come.

Helping Jia Yun and Ni Er to rush into the general's mansion to ask for reinforcements would not only make Li Hu himself owe them a favor, but also make the prince owe him a huge favor, and it would also ease the relationship between the emperor and the Jia family. It can be said that it kills three birds with one stone.

In addition, Li Hu is considered the son-in-law of the Jia family.

Thinking of this, Jia Zhen slammed his palm on the table, stood up suddenly, and shouted to Lai Sheng: "Call all the guards and servants, bring your weapons, and follow me to catch the man!"

Jia Yun guessed correctly, Li Hu had left the palace.

The news that the Northern Pacification Office was arresting White Lotus Sect members in Dongcheng reached the palace. The prince, who was worried about something happening, ordered Li Hu to leave the imperial city from the right gate of Chang'an and sent a team of imperial guards to guard him.

After leaving the imperial city, Li Hu walked towards the west city along West Chang'an Street under the escort of the imperial guards.

West Chang'an Street was first built during the Yongle reign, starting from Chang'an Right Gate in the east and ending at Xuanwu Street in the west, with a total length of three and a half miles. Chang'an Right Gate has the Chaofang Gate and Gongsheng Gate for officials to enter and exit.

Since the early Ming Dynasty, some officials had set up restaurants, storage places and carriage parking lots at Gongsheng Gate and Chaofang, or prepared wine and food for officials traveling back and forth, stored cargo containers, and parked mules and horses.

After the retired emperor ascended the throne, he not only cleared out all the businesses occupying the gatehouses of the imperial city, but also built an outer wall with three gates, pushing the outer wall about a mile to the west.

In addition, Dengwenyuan, Tongzhengsi, Guangshanku and other government offices are all located in this street, and there are guards on duty at the entrance of each government office.

This section of the road is definitely safe. Just walk a mile or so forward and you will reach Xuanwu Street, and across from Xuanwu Street is Xicheng.

Li Hu suddenly pulled the reins.

The whole group stopped.

The Imperial Guard officer spoke up: "General Li, what's wrong?"

The vendors at the wonton stall and sesame cake stall on the street ahead were shouting loudly, and occasionally looked at Li Hu and others.

Ok?
Li Hu narrowed his eyes. When did the vendors in the capital become tall and strong men?
The Imperial Guards officer seemed to have noticed something was wrong and turned around and said, "Go get two people and drive those vendors and pedestrians away."

The two imperial guards riding in the front looked at each other vigilantly, and then galloped forward together.

"Everyone go home! Go home!"

"The government has official business! Everyone is avoiding it!"

The pedestrians on the street were so scared that they hurried away, but the vendors stood there motionless, pretending they hadn't heard anything.

The two imperial guards became more alert, looked at each other quickly, and reached out to grasp the hilt of the sword at the same time.

Just then, the sound of horse hooves came from the alley on the south side of the street, and then a man in a black cloak rode out slowly.

Li Hu understood that this was directed at him.

The iron hooves made a loud noise on the stone road, the black cloak fluttered backwards, and the black horse ran through the street like lightning, galloping towards Li Hu. With a swish, the two imperial guards drew their swords at the same time, clamped their legs together, and rushed forward.

Suddenly, a white light flashed from the waist of the man's black cloak, and three horses passed each other in an instant.

The heads of the two imperial guards flew out immediately along with the severed blades!
The frightened warhorse carrying the headless corpse rushed straight into Xuanwu Street, and immediately countless screams of fear were heard from the people!

But the man stopped, and the sword in his hand also stopped in mid-air, with a cold light flashing on it, and there was not a single trace of blood.

The imperial army officer shouted, "Retreat! Protect General Li and retreat!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of heavy hooves rang out behind him.

Li Hu was surprised. These thirty-odd riders actually came from the Pedestrian Office, which was the post station.

"Kill!" The imperial guard officer had no time to think.

The officer of the Imperial Guards led six of them to charge forward, while the remaining four Imperial Guards surrounded Li Hu and protected him.

"You guys go too." Li Hu quickly drew out his sword and pointed it at the man.

The man lifted the hood of his cloak, revealing a face that looked somewhat like the Left Protector.

Li Hu raised his eyebrows, thinking that he was here to avenge his father.

The leader of Qinglong Hall raised his sword and said, "Kill!" Then he rode his horse towards Li Hu.

The vendors also rushed over with knives brandished!

Li Hu squeezed his legs together and the warhorse under his crotch rushed forward like an arrow.

With a "clang" sound, a flash of fire from the collision of swords passed by. A cold light flashed in Li Hu's eyes. He turned around and slashed with his sword. Then there was a scream, and the black horse's tail flew out along with a large piece of meat.

The black horse felt the pain and suddenly raised its hooves like crazy, running around recklessly. The Qinglong Hall Master could not control his horse for a moment and was thrown off by the black horse.

The Qinglong Hall Master struggled to get up and shouted loudly: "Shameless villain!"

At this moment, Li Hu dealt with the vendors. He shook off the blood on his knife and controlled his horse to turn around.

The head of the Qinglong Hall had a gloomy expression and shouted loudly: "Li Hu, you shameless villain!"

Li Hu smiled slightly, squeezed his legs together, and urged his horse to rush towards him.

Suddenly, two "chi chi" sounds were heard breaking through the air.

Li Hu pulled the reins suddenly, and the warhorse's front hooves rose into the air. It also let out a scream, and two bloody holes appeared on the horse's neck.

The warhorse's hind legs went limp and it fell down with a loud thud.

At that moment, Li Hu jumped up from the horse's back, stood on the ground, and met the eyes of the Qinglong Hall Master.

More White Lotus Sect members came out from the Xingren Division.

Li Hu saw clearly that an old man was holding a dart in his hand.

The White Lotus Sect members roared and rushed towards the lonely Li Hu!

"Back off!" the Qinglong Hall Master yelled.

The White Lotus Sect members all stopped where they were.

The Qinglong Hall Master's eyes flashed with murderous intent, and he swung his sword to kill.

Li Hu did not hesitate, waving his sword and moving forward. With a "clang" sound, the sword and the sword collided again, creating sparks!
In a blink of an eye, the two fought for more than twenty rounds.

Li Hu discovered that the Qinglong Hall Master was extremely fast and his swordsmanship was strange and unpredictable. If he were an ordinary soldier, he would have been hit by the sword long ago.

Just when Li Hu barely dodged the sword, the Qinglong Hall Master shook his wrist and the long sword stabbed towards Li Hu's abdomen from the side!

Some people from the White Lotus Sect have already cheered.

The Qinglong Hall Master's look revealed astonishment, and the tip of the sword pierced through the brocade robe and stopped. Even if he used his hidden strength, he could not move forward even a little bit!
Li Hu's knife slashed towards him, and the Qinglong Hall Master had no choice but to retreat quickly.

In order to strike at his weak spot, Li Hu rushed forward, brandishing his sword with great force, and slashed at the upper and middle lanes of the Qinglong Hall Master.

The leader of the Qinglong Hall was losing his pace and was trying to dodge with difficulty. Suddenly, a black shadow attacked him on the head. He subconsciously swung the sword towards his head. There was a "clang" sound, followed by a pain in the abdomen, and the whole person flew backwards.

Looking at the Qinglong Hall Master who fell to the ground and spit out blood, Li Hu slowly retracted his foot, then tore off the torn outer robe, revealing the armor underneath.

(End of this chapter)