The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 60 The villain succeeds
Qianmen Street was bustling with people in the morning, but now it is deserted and people passing by are in a hurry.

Suddenly, there was a burst of hurried footsteps. Before the pedestrians on the street could react, they saw two teams of soldiers running towards them from the direction of Zhengyang Gate.

"Martial law has been declared! Go home! Go home!"

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

After all, it was Laba Festival, so the two officers leading the troops were relatively polite and just shouted loudly.

The passers-by stopped passing by and left in a hurry.

Two officers: "Search! Find the White Lotus rebels!"

The two teams of soldiers responded with a roar and rushed into the stores on the east and west sides of Qianmen Street respectively, and screams were immediately heard.

Another burst of hurried running sounds was heard, and a search began in the direction of Yongdingmen.

Officers and soldiers searched house by house, verifying everyone's identity information, and young and strong people were taken away from time to time.

Finally, several officers and soldiers found the "restaurant" and knocked on the door vigorously: "Open the door! Open the door!"

The door of the shop creaked open, and the elderly manager came out with a smile on his face: "Excuse me, gentlemen, what happened?" He took out a silver note from his pocket and said, "Our shop has been newly renovated, please go easy on us. I'll give you a drink with this silver note." Then he stuffed the silver note into the hand of the leading officer.

The officer took a glance and saw the three big words "Fifty Taels" clearly visible on the banknote!
He smiled with satisfaction and nodded, stuffed the banknotes into his arms, and nodded quietly to the other officers and soldiers.

The officers and soldiers understood and walked in slowly.

The old steward looked at both sides and asked in a low voice: "What happened again?"

The officer said, "Don't mention it. It's the White Lotus Sect again. They can't keep quiet during the holidays and insist on coming out to assassinate me. The palace has issued an order to search the whole city. Anyone with a questionable identity will be arrested!"

The old steward was secretly shocked: Are there other brothers in the capital? Impossible, all of them have evacuated the capital with the leader of the Qinglong Hall.

Just then, a soldier ran over from the backyard and whispered something in the officer's ear.

The officer frowned and looked at the elderly manager: "Why are all the people in your store young and strong?"

The old steward was startled. "What's wrong? All our people are registered in Shuntian Prefecture, and we have a Shaanxi official in Beijing as guarantor."

After hearing what he said, the officer's expression eased. Just as he was about to say something, the old steward took out a silver note from his pocket and stuffed it into his hand, saying, "Please teach me, sir."

The officer thought for a moment and said, "Since there is a Beijing official from the original place as a guarantor, there will be no problem. However, in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, you should hire some more locals for your store, and not just young and strong people. Do you understand?"

The old steward: "I understand, I understand. Thank you, General!"

The officer glanced at the banknote in his hand, then looked at him and smiled.

The elderly steward knew that he was asking for hush money and felt disgusted, but he kept smiling and said, "I know the rules!" As he said that, he took out a silver note from his sleeve and handed it to me.

"Slow down!" A loud shout suddenly came from the street.

Everyone was startled and looked in the direction of the voice.

Bai Hongzhi, wearing a cloak, walked over.

Behind him, there were two guards carrying swords. Not far away, there were several guards guarding a warm sedan chair.

The elderly steward came over and briefly explained the matter.

Bai Hongzhi's eyes flashed and he looked at the officer.

The officer also looked at him, examined him for a moment, and folded his hands: "I am from the South Camp, and I have been ordered to search for the White Lotus rebels. Where do you serve?"

"Tell him to get out!" Bai Hongzhi pushed the officer's hand that was suspended in the air away and strode in.

"Why don't you get out of here? Are you waiting for us to throw you out on the street?" A guard looked fierce.

The officer was stunned. He glanced at the two guards from head to toe. Suddenly, he shuddered. One of the guards had a waist badge on his belt under his cloak. On it were four characters of "The Third Prince's Mansion"! They were guards of the Third Prince's Mansion!!!
The officer had no choice but to shout loudly, "Next one!" and led several officers and soldiers to another restaurant.

The elderly steward sighed and strode into the restaurant.

When he reached another restaurant, the officer stopped and looked at "Youjian Restaurant" with hatred.

An officer said: "We must save this face no matter what."

The officer replied with red eyes, "He is the Third Prince's man, how can you stop him?"

Another soldier came forward and whispered, "It's obvious at first glance that this pretty boy is not a good guy! And those young men, Shaanxi just had a bandit rebellion!"

Another officer said: "We can sell the news to Master Ni. What happened to the Third Prince? Behind General Li is the Crown Prince, the current emperor!"

The officer hesitated.

The soldier said, "We have provided information to Master Ni more than once or twice, and there has never been any problem. Even if the two families quarrel, General Li will not push us out given his character."

The other officers and soldiers nodded.

The officer gritted his teeth and said, "Go and report to Master Ni now!"

The soldier nodded and walked to the other side.

Watching his back disappearing in the alley, the officer looked at "a restaurant" again and then led the officers and soldiers into the restaurant next to him.

On the other side, Bai Hongzhi led the elderly steward into the study.

The bookshelf is piled high with books, and there are dozens of large book boxes lined up in the corner.

The old butler in front of the bookcase took out a box of books from a box and handed it over.

Bai Hongzhi looked at the cover and said, "Wrong. It's the Song edition."

"Yes."

The old steward put the box of books back to its original box, and took out another box from another box. He glanced at the cover, took the box of Song edition books and said, "Young Master, you shouldn't do this."

Bai Hongzhi said disdainfully: "Just a few bugs." He took it with both hands and put it into the bamboo basket on the desk.

"It's easy to dodge an open attack, but hard to guard against an arrow from the dark. It's easy to deal with the King of Hell, but hard to deal with the little devils. It's better not to offend people when you can avoid it." The old steward closed the bookcase and spoke again.

Bai Hongzhi snorted nonchalantly.

The old steward wanted to say something else.

Bai Hongzhi spoke: "I will stay in the Third Prince's Mansion for a few days. If there is any emergency, go there and find me directly."

The old steward said, "Yes." He paused, "Should we investigate the assassination?"

Bai Hongzhi: "No need. This was not done by our people." At this point, he smiled coldly, "The emperor wants to put the blame on our White Lotus Sect, give an explanation to the civil service group, and ease the conflict between the civil service group and the military."

The elderly steward nodded.

Bai Hongzhi suddenly remembered: "The Third Prince just received news that the Second Prince has extended his hand to the Lianghuai salt tax. He seems to have the same intention. Let our people lurk in Yangzhou in advance, kill the Second Prince's people, put the blame on the Third Prince, push him out in the open, and force him to participate in the fight in advance!"

After a pause, he said, "If the situation allows, kill Lin Ruhai and get revenge!"

Elderly steward: “Yes.”

"What that bug said is right. Let's recruit some more people." Bai Hongzhi picked up the bamboo basket and strode out.

(End of this chapter)