The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

In the heavy snow, Li Hu dragged his tired legs into the backyard.

Amber happened to come out of the west wing and hurried forward to help Li Hu.

Li Hu put his hand on Amber's waist, half of his body leaning on her, and sighed: "I haven't had much rest since the beginning of the twelfth lunar month. If I continue like this, even a god can't stand it!"

Amber: "The emperor passed away again?"

Li Hu hummed and said softly, "Just keep this to yourself, don't tell anyone."

After a pause, he said, "This is a secret between us."

Amber's eyes lit up and she smiled happily.

Li Hu smiled. Except for Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai, all the other maids in the family were easy to trick.

Thinking of this, he sighed again in his heart. Three emperors died in less than two months. If it weren't for the very old emperor Wushang, the Dashun royal family would have collapsed in an instant.

In order not to cause panic, the Supreme Emperor decided to conceal the news of Emperor Tianyou's death and announce it to the public after the first month of the lunar year.

Today is the twenty-first day of the first lunar month, and there are still ten days left.

The Supreme Emperor chose a good time. It gave everyone time to prepare mentally, wouldn't arouse Jia Jing's suspicion, and it also gave him time to prepare.

Although Liu Er said that he had not received the order from the Supreme Emperor, Li Hu knew that the people who were going to rescue King Kang were already on their way to Shengjing!

Amber helped Li Hu up the stone steps and whispered in his ear, "Miss Bao's mother is here."

Aunt Xue is here?
Li Hu was slightly stunned. Ever since the matter of Xue Baochai was made clear, he hasn't seen Aunt Xue again. What should he call her now?
Call her mother-in-law? Jia Min is the right one. Besides, he hasn't slept with Xue Baochai yet.

Call her concubine? That's not appropriate either, that's what the Jia family calls her.

Following Lin Daiyu and calling her aunt? There is also Xue Baochai in between, which always feels weird.

Amber had followed Li Hu for four or five years, so she naturally saw what was on his mind. She smiled and said something in his ear.

Li Hu's eyes lit up, and he smiled and kissed her on the face: "It's not in vain that I love you so much."

Amber smiled with her hand covering her mouth, took out a handkerchief from her body, brushed the snow off Li Hu's head and body, then wiped the saliva off her face, and then shouted inside: "Master is back." As she spoke, she lifted the door curtain.

Li Hu rubbed his face, wiped away his tiredness, and strode in.

As soon as he stepped into the door, Li Hu was stunned.

Lin Daiyu's face looked a little unhappy, and Aunt Xue and Xue Baochai had tears in their eyes, obviously they had just cried.

Li Hu looked at Lin Daiyu.

Lin Daiyu didn't say anything, but pointed to the inner room and motioned Li Hu to go in and change clothes first.

Li Hu handed the cloak to Amber and turned into the bedroom.

Lin Daiyu glanced at Xue Baochai's maid Ying'er and motioned her to follow in.

Ying'er hurriedly followed him in and told Li Hu what had happened while helping him change his clothes.

Did Xia Jingui go to the Xue family and make a scene? Did she act like a shrew and a vicious woman? Not only did she bully Aunt Xue and make her mad, but she also brought up the fact that Xue Baochai had been living in the Li family for a long time, making Xue Baochai so angry that she burst into tears? !
She is worthy of being the shrew in the original novel who single-handedly overthrew Aunt Xue, Xue Baochai and Xue Pan, causing unrest in the Xue family!
Li Hu shook his head. He had thought that after they got married, Xia Jingui would be able to control Xue Pan and prevent him from causing trouble outside. He didn't expect that such a strange thing would happen before they even got married.

Ying'er walked around to the front to button his shirt, and said, "That girl from the Xia family doesn't look like a lady from a noble family at all. She is just a scoundrel who doesn't care about her reputation at all. Our girl ignored her, and she became even more presumptuous. I have never seen such a shameless woman!"

Li Hu: "She came here by herself?"

Ying'er: "I heard that her distant brother came with her."

Li Hu nodded, turned and walked out.

Aunt Xue was talking to Lin Daiyu. When she saw Li Hu coming out, she stood up quickly.

Li Hu smiled and waved his hand: "Please take a seat. Let's sit down and talk." Then he walked to the main seat and sat down.

Amber handed Li Hu a cup of hot tea and asked him to drink a few sips. Then she walked behind Li Hu and gently massaged his shoulders.

Li Hu looked at Aunt Xue: "What are your plans?"

Aunt Xue wiped her eyes with a handkerchief and said, "How can we live happily with such a shrew at home?"

Li Hu nodded. He could only consider himself unlucky in this situation and took the initiative to cancel the engagement.

Lin Daiyu spoke up: "This matter is not that simple."

Li Hu looked at her: "What do you mean?"

Lin Daiyu: "Why would she do this? What good would it do her to make such a fuss? Besides, if she didn't agree with this marriage, why would she wait until now to make a fuss?"

Xue Baochai was confused by the situation and immediately reacted when Lin Daiyu said this.

Aunt Xue was stunned for a moment and asked, "Did she do this on purpose? She wanted to force the Xue family to cancel the engagement so that she could take the Xue family's betrothal gift?!"

After hearing this, Lin Daiyu wanted to laugh but couldn't, so she had to hold it back and then glanced at Xue Baochai.

Xue Baochai blushed and said to Aunt Xue, "Mom, this is not about money. There is something fishy behind this matter. The Xia family is hiding something from us!"

Aunt Xue asked in confusion: "Something's wrong? What's the matter?"

Xue Baochai just felt tired, but didn't know what to say, so she leaned over to Aunt Xue and whispered in her ear.

Li Hu and Lin Daiyu smiled at each other. Li Hu picked up the tea bowl and took a sip. This was not the future. If a woman took the initiative to regret the marriage, not only would her reputation be damaged, but she would also have to return the betrothal gifts and be caned fifty times. Similarly, if a man regretted the marriage, he would also be punished, with fifty canes and no return of the betrothal gifts.

He has been very busy recently and has no time to pay attention to these trivial matters. Although he doesn't know what happened to the Xia family, it is definitely not a good thing.

As he was thinking about it, suddenly an idea flashed in his mind and he thought of something at once.

"Master." Amber whispered in Li Hu's ear.

Li Hu came back to his senses and saw that Aunt Xue and Xue Baochai looked like they were waiting for him to make a decision. He thought for a moment and said, "Delay."

Aunt Xue and Xue Baochai: "Drag?"

Lin Daiyu also looked at Li Hu in confusion.

Li Hu: "Yes, delay! The more Xia Jingui makes a fuss, the more it shows that the matter is serious and she can't wait."

Xue Baochai's eyes lit up.

Lin Daiyu said sternly, "We can't just let this go. Everyone knows that the Xue family lives in the villa of the Duke of Lu's mansion. She is slapping the Li family in the face! Isn't her Xia family registered as merchants in the Ministry of Revenue? Say hello to the Ministry of Revenue and remove the Xia family's official title in the Ministry of Revenue."

Aunt Xue was delighted: "Just listen to Miss Lin."

"Mom!" Xue Baochai hurriedly interrupted Aunt Xue and looked at Li Hu cautiously.

This girl is very ruthless, hitting the snake at its most vulnerable part! Li Hu looked at Lin Daiyu with a smile and said, "Okay, listen to Madam." He paused, "Guihua Xia Family is too ostentatious. Let's call it Xia Family from now on."

After hearing what Li Hu said, Aunt Xue became even happier.

Xue Baochai smiled bitterly in her heart. The Xia family was considered powerful in Xi'an. They had countless fields, and there were dozens of hectares of osmanthus alone. But what did it matter? Li Hu and Lin Daiyu stripped away the hard work of several generations of the Xia family with just one sentence!

Li Hu looked at Lin Daiyu: "How is it arranged?"

Lin Daiyu: "The kitchen is preparing the meal."

Aunt Xue stood up quickly and said, "No need to bother. I have something else to do at home."

Li Hu turned his gaze to Xue Baochai again.

Xue Baochai nodded.

Li Hu: "Okay, it's snowing hard outside, you better be careful." He then said to Xue Baochai: "Please send your mother off for me and my wife tonight."

Lin Daiyu spoke up: "Come back early when you're done."

Xue Baochai bowed slightly and said, "Yes." Then she helped Aunt Xue out.

Li Hu leaned back in his chair and said, "It's snowing so hard, let her stay at home for one night. It's not good for her to get cold after eating, and it's not good for her to come back with an empty stomach and a cold stomach either."

Lin Daiyu heard this and sneered, "Why, are you feeling sorry for me?"

Li Hu rolled his eyes at her and said, "I'm just worried about damaging the reputation of your housekeeper's wife."

Lin Daiyu looked at Li Hu, as if trying to see how much sincerity there was in his words.

Li Hu leaned his head forward, his face full of sincerity.

Lin Daiyu laughed, poked his forehead with her finger, snorted, and said, "Today is Baoyatou's birthday, I'm waiting for you to eat noodles."

Li Hu was stunned for a moment, then said: "Come on, let's go to the bedroom, I will tell you something about the palace and the court."

Li Hu guessed correctly, the cold wave from Siberia is coming.

Heavy snow had been falling for several days and nights. The biting cold wind was raging over Shengjing City, and the sky and the earth had darkened.

Lights were lit in the imperial palace.

If there were people present at this time, they would definitely be shocked. The Sixth Prince was not wearing mourning clothes, nor was he wearing the clothes of the heir to the emperor. He was still dressed like a prince.

The Sixth Prince sat in front of a small charcoal stove, looking at the medicine jar that was emitting steam, and listening to the conversation inside.

"Your Majesty, don't worry. Everything is ready. We will never let Fukangan escape again this time." A rough voice came out.

"No rush, let him into Shengjing City." The voice came from Qian Xiaosi who was already "passed away".

"Whoo."

"You go down."

After the medicine was boiled, the Sixth Prince took a rag and wrapped the handle of the medicine jar, then lifted the jar and poured the medicine into the bowl.

There was the sound of footsteps, and an old military officer wearing a red cap and a Qilin embroidered on his uniform came out from the inner room.

The Sixth Prince stood up holding the medicine bowl.

The old military officer bowed to the Sixth Prince and strode out.

The Sixth Prince walked to the door with the medicine and said softly, "Father Emperor..."

"come in."

The Sixth Prince walked in with the medicine. (End of this chapter)