The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 76: Changes in Rongguo Mansion 1
Beijing King Shui Rong was also fishing.

He sat by the pond in the back garden, wearing a straw hat and a raincoat, fishing with a fishing rod, looking like a country fisherman.

The old butler came over excitedly.

Walking behind Shui Rong, the old butler couldn't wait to say, "Young Master, the show is about to begin!"

Shui Rong didn't turn around: "Did you receive a letter from Yangzhou?"

The old butler said, "Yes. The Second Prince's people have taken over the sphere of influence of several small salt merchants. In addition, the Third Prince's followers have also arrived."

The fishing rod in Shui Rong's hand trembled, and then stabilized again. "In this way, the competition for the Lianghuai salt tax has been exposed. The emperor will most likely take action. Will it have an impact on us?"

The old butler had thought about it long ago, and whispered, "This is inevitable. However, the Lianghuai salt tax will become more chaotic. The emperor can manage the things in public, but he can't manage the intrigues behind the scenes. The second prince, who just won a great victory, is in the limelight, and he will definitely not swallow this breath."

After a pause, he said, "In the midst of chaos, we will rebuild our power."

Shui Rong no longer had that calmness. He threw away his fishing rod and stood up.

I still don't have enough concentration!
The old housekeeper sighed inwardly and continued, "According to the ancestral precepts of the Dashun royal family, after the prince is crowned as king, he cannot leave the capital without reason. When the war in Hetao is over, the second prince will be deprived of his military power and ordered to return to the capital. The emperor relied on bribing the imperial guards and Jinyiwei to kill the deposed prince in the coup, and finally forced the emperor to abdicate and successfully ascend the throne.

He was even on guard against Li Hu who was pushed to the side of the crown prince, let alone the second prince who wanted to seize the throne. Unable to leave the capital, the connections that the second prince had accumulated in Shaanxi and Yulin Town were useless. He could only think of ways to compete with the crown prince, the third prince and the fourth prince for the power of the six ministries and nine ministers. The silver needed to seize the throne is not a small amount of money."

At this point, he smiled and said, "It's not just the Lianghuai salt tax. As long as there is money to be made, there will be chaos in the end!"

Shui Rong's eyes flashed, and he said, "Shall we wait for the opportunity?"

The old housekeeper said, "Yes, wait! Wait for the battle for succession to begin, wait for the emperor to eliminate his suspicion, and wait for the spies around the palace to withdraw!"

Shui Rong nodded.

The old butler looked around and lowered his voice, "There are also signs of progress in the White Lotus Sect. The head of the White Tiger Hall is thinking about taking the top position."

Shui Rong's eyes lit up.

The old housekeeper said, "What the White Tiger Hall Master wants is 300,000 taels. He will first bribe the lower-level leaders of the White Lotus Sect, then kill the old guys at the top, and finally force the emperor to take over!"

Shui Rong thought for a moment and said, "Give it to him."

The old butler wanted to say something when he caught a glimpse of a figure approaching. It was the captain of the guard.

The captain of the guard came over with an envelope and bowed to Shui Rong: "Your Highness, this is a letter from the Censorate." Then he handed the letter over.

Shui Rong took the letter, opened the seal and read it, then started laughing.

The old butler looked at him in surprise.

Shui Rong held back his laughter, read the letter, and handed it to the old butler.

Looking at the letter, the old butler also laughed.

Shui Rong laughed again: "Do you think the old lady of the Jia family and Jia She know about this?"

The old housekeeper suppressed his laughter and said, "This is their second house's business."

Shui Rong: "Since the founding of the Dashun Dynasty, no nobles have ever given gifts to civil officials. For a playboy who is uneducated and a fool, Jia Zheng actually gave the face of the entire Jia family to the civil officials. I don't know whether to say that he is a man of great affection or that he is pedantic and confused!"

The old housekeeper smiled. They knew about Xue Pan's matter last night. In their opinion, it was not a big deal. The censors of the Metropolitan Procuratorate were just trying to disgust Wang Ziteng and embarrass him, but they would not start a civil-military dispute over a businessman at this time. There was still a war in the Hetao Plain, and the Jurchens and Mongols in the north were also ready to make a move. All of this required the old guys of the Four Kings and Eight Dukes to take the blame.

They just wanted to scare the Xue family and disgust Wang Ziteng, but they would not really submit a petition to impeach him or make the matter public.

Qiu Ying was beaten up by his father, Captain Qiu, last night. He will probably be unable to get out of bed for ten days or half a month. Xue Pan's case was reported from Jinling Prefecture to the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple. A large group of people were involved in the process, which was like a hornet's nest. How could the enemy who had lost his heart dare to offend so many people!
As for the palace, they had never asked about this matter before, and they would not ask about it in the future, unless the emperor wanted to deal with Wang Ziteng.

This matter will eventually come to nothing. The Ministry of Justice will just go through the motions and then send people to escort Xue Pan to southern Xinjiang. As long as they get out of Zhili, the Xue family will just have to spend some money.

They had messed up such a small matter like this, not only did they waste money and lose face for the Jia family, but they also brought shame to the entire family of four kings and eight dukes. It's sad and ridiculous!

If this continues, the Jia family will sooner or later be abandoned by the other families of the Four Kings and Eight Dukes!
The old housekeeper folded the letter and said to Shui Rong, "There is no way to deal with Jia Zhen for now, we can try to start with Jia Zheng."

Shui Rong's eyes lit up, and he stretched out his hand to stop the old housekeeper: "Do you mean to buy the rare Song edition and return it to Jia Zheng?"

The old housekeeper smiled and said, "Jia Zheng is a real man."

Shui Rong laughed knowingly. After laughing, Shui Rong said to the captain of the guards: "Tell Censor Zhang to buy the only copy of the Song edition."

Captain of the Guards: “Yes.”

Shui Rong looked at the captain of the guards walking away and suddenly remembered, "Oh, by the way, send someone to Jinling to see why Zhen Fu didn't reply to any of his letters."

A hint of doubt flashed across the old butler's eyes.

It was early spring, and the back garden was full of flowers, full of vitality.

When Nanny Wang accompanied Li San in from the garden gate, they heard Lin Daiyu's happy laughter coming from the other side of the lake which was blocked by clumps of weeping willows.

Li San stopped and said with a smile: "The girl is in a good mood today!"

Nanny Wang smiled and said, "I guess they caught some fish."

Li San paused, took out a letter from his arms, and said, "The young lady is well-educated and polite. She always bows to me every time she sees me. Today you are so happy, I won't go over to spoil your mood." Then he handed the letter to Nanny Wang.

Before he could finish his words, Lin Daiyu's laughter was heard from the other side of the lake.

Nanny Wang took the letter and walked towards the lake with a smile.

Li San listened to the intermittent laughter again, then turned and walked out.

Nanny Wang’s guess was correct. Lin Daiyu had caught more than one fish. There were several fish struggling in the small porcelain jar, including a red snapper, a two-inch long crucian carp, a shad, and a small carp.

Li Hu was sitting next to Lin Daiyu and said something that made Lin Daiyu roll her eyes.

At this moment, the reed sank, and Lin Daiyu hurriedly picked it up, but it was an empty hook. It sank again, and after a while the hook moved, so she picked it up again, but it was still an empty hook.

Li Hu took the hook and took a look, and found that it was hooked inside.

Lin Daiyu laughed and said, "No wonder I couldn't catch any fish."

Li Hu fixed the hook, replaced the bait, and pasted new reeds on the silk rope.

Lin Daiyu smiled as she took the fishing rod and let it hang for a while. The reed sank straight down. She was so happy that she hurried to pull it up, but found that the fish was very heavy and she couldn't pull it up at all. She realized that it was a big fish, so she shouted excitedly: "Second brother, come and help me, it's a big fish!"

Li Hu quickly stood up and took the fishing rod. It was very heavy and he didn't dare to use force for fear of breaking it. He carefully lifted the rod up. As the silk rope slowly swayed, a big carp emerged from the water, which seemed to weigh about three or four kilograms.

Looking at the big carp jumping around, Lin Daiyu's face was filled with an extremely happy smile, her eyes sparkling with excitement, she clapped her hands and jumped up, saying happily: "We're going to eat it tonight! Zijuan, send it to the kitchen!"

The Dashun Dynasty was not the Li Tang Dynasty, and did not prohibit the people from eating carp. On the contrary, because of its delicious meat, it became a famous dish in the imperial cuisine.

Zijuan smiled and said, "Yes."

The fish was too big to fit in the small porcelain jar. Fortunately, she was quick-witted and cleared out the snack box to catch the big carp.

At this time, Nanny Wang came over with the letter and was also surprised: "Wow, such a big carp!"

Lin Daiyu stepped forward and grabbed her arm, "Mammy, I fished it!"

Li Hu saw it and said with a smile: "OK, OK, OK, you are really awesome!"

Lin Daiyu raised her head proudly and ignored him.

Nanny Wang smiled and bowed slightly to Li Hu: "Second Master, this is a letter from Third Uncle." Then she handed the letter to Li Hu.

Li Hu took the letter, tore it open and read it. His expression changed at first glance, and finally he was completely shocked.

Lin Daiyu hesitated for a moment and asked tentatively: "Second brother"

Li Hu: "It's a letter from Jia Zhen, old lady."

Lin Daiyu: "What's wrong with the old lady?"

Li Hu: "The old lady was so angry at the second master that she vomited blood."

First Lin Daiyu, then everyone else, were shocked when they heard this.

(End of this chapter)