The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 576: The Chief of the Ministry of War
East Palace.

The deposed Crown Prince Xu Wenhong hugged Emperor Qiansheng's thigh and begged with tears in his eyes, "Father, please spare my life. It was all forced by Grandpa Emperor. I am helpless."

Emperor Qiansheng had a blank expression on his face, apparently unmoved. Xu Wenhong became even more frightened upon seeing this. He was very afraid of death, otherwise he would have committed suicide on the night the city was broken. He was just hoping for a lucky break.

"Father, please spare my life. I will never dare to do it again. I was bewitched for a moment and my heart was blinded by evil. Please forgive me this time, even if I have to be demoted to a commoner." Xu Wenhong kowtowed and cried bitterly.

Emperor Qiansheng suddenly sighed and said, "Hong'er, you are too impatient." He bent down and gently stroked Xu Wenhong's forehead.

Xu Wenhong was surprised and happy, and a glimmer of hope was rekindled in his heart. He cried bitterly, "I was wrong, I was terribly wrong. Please have mercy on me, father, and give me another chance. Even if I am demoted to a commoner, I will burn incense and pray for you every day, which is also a filial duty to you, father."

Emperor Qiansheng sighed, "Hong'er, I have given you the chance, but you didn't seize it. You shouldn't have let Old Seven escape. Once Shanhaiguan is blocked, I won't be able to come back."

While Xu Wenhong was stunned, Emperor Qiansheng turned around and walked out of the hall. Four guards walked in immediately. One of them was holding a tray with an exquisite small porcelain bottle on it.

When Xu Wenhong saw the small porcelain bottle, he was immediately frightened out of his wits. He trembled and asked in a trembling voice, "What do you want to do?"

The four guards knelt on one knee and said in unison, "Your Highness, please go on your way."

Xu Wenhong stepped back in horror, shaking his head repeatedly and saying, "I don't want to drink it, take it away!"

The leading guard frowned and repeated, "Your Highness, please go on your way. Don't lose the dignity of the royal family and make things difficult for your subordinates."

Xu Wenhong turned and ran, trying to escape from the hall, but when he reached the door, several guards flashed in, blocked his way, grabbed him and brought him back.

The chief of the guards shook his head and said, "Since His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is unwilling to show respect, then this subordinate has no choice but to offend."

The head of the guards said as he grabbed Xu Wenhong's chin, forcibly pried his mouth open, and poured the liquid from the porcelain bottle into him...

On September 12, the eighth year of Emperor Qiansheng's reign, the deposed Crown Prince Xu Wenhou was given the death penalty, followed by Wang Ziteng, General Feng Tang, Prince of Beijing, Prince of Dongping, Prince of Xining, Jia She and others who were all executed by slow slicing.

The nobles of the Shi, Niu, Liu, Wei, and Chen families were beheaded and thrown into the market, and all three clans of each family were exterminated, along with other convicted officials and their families. Within a month, nearly 20,000 heads were killed, and the place was covered with blood and corpses piled up like mountains.

Even more than ten years later, the people in Beijing still felt horrified when talking about this past event, and they vividly described to future generations the horrific scene of thousands of heads falling to the ground at the same time.

It is worth mentioning here that both Jia Lian and Jia Rong escaped death, which was the result of Jia Huan's operation behind the scenes. Jia Lian made up for his mistake and saved his life because he tipped off the king of Min and Jia Huan through Tie Niu, which saved their lives. Jia Rong was pardoned because he instructed Jia Qiang to report his father Jia Zhen for reselling salt permits, which was a righteous act. However, although the two were spared the death penalty, they could not escape the punishment of life. In the end, they were sentenced to exile 3,000 miles to serve in the Guangdong coastal area.

…………

Jia Lian looked at the drizzling autumn rain outside the long pavilion, feeling a mixture of emotions in his heart. He didn't expect that he could still save his life, nor did he expect that Jia Huan would come to see him off in person.

"Brother Huan, thank you." Jia Lian picked up the farewell glass of wine and said gratefully to Jia Huan.

Jia Huan said calmly: "You should thank yourself. If you hadn't let Brother Tie Niu tip off, the result today might not be like this."

Jia Lian fell silent after hearing this.

Jia Huan added, "Do you regret it, Second Brother Lian? If you hadn't tipped off the king, Prince Min and I might not have been able to escape, and the emperor certainly wouldn't have been able to return so quickly to quell the rebellion. If the emperor had taken Shanhaiguan first, he might have succeeded in restoring the throne, and you would have been able to rise to prominence with me."

Jia Lian shook his head and smiled bitterly, "All this is just hypothetical. Your luck has always been frighteningly good. Even without my tip-off, you would have probably been able to turn danger into safety. Huan'er, can you tell me what happened after you were kicked by the donkey? Since then, you have completely changed. Could it be that the donkey's kick really opened your mind?"

Jia Huan stood up, put his hands behind his back and looked at the drizzling autumn rain outside the pavilion. After a long while, he said, "Second Brother Lian, it's time to set off."

Jia Lian couldn't help showing disappointment. He had always been curious about why the naughty boy Huan suddenly changed so much. He wanted to find out the reason, but Jia Huan obviously wouldn't tell him.

In fact, not to mention Jia Lian, even the two girls, Baoyu and Dai, Jia Huan kept his mouth shut. What virtue and ability did Jia Lian have?
After finishing his last glass of wine, Jia Lian stood up and bowed to Jia Huan, saying, "Jia Lian will never come back. Please take good care of Qiao Jie. Her mother is definitely unreliable."

Jia Huan nodded and said only two words "don't worry". Jia Lian bowed again, put on his rain gear and stepped into the rain. Jia Rong was already waiting in the carriage over there. The four officers in charge of escorting the prisoners had become impatient and would have come up to urge them if it weren't for the money.

Originally, the exiled prisoners were to go there on foot, but Jia Huan gave a lot of money, and the officers in charge of escorting the prisoners were also happy to be comfortable, so they agreed to hire a carriage and wait until they arrived at Tongzhou Wharf before taking a boat south.

After Jia Huan sent Jia Lian and Jia Rong away, he took a carriage back home. When he arrived at the gate of the mansion, he saw that the middle door was wide open and the housekeeper Lin Zhixiao was waiting anxiously. "The Third Master is finally back." When Lin Zhixiao saw Jia Huan, he immediately walked down the steps and said anxiously, "An imperial edict has arrived, it is for Third Master Huan, and the imperial envoy has been waiting inside for half an hour."

Jia Huan hurried into Rongxi Hall and saw that Old Man Zheng was cautiously chatting with a eunuch. He stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Master. Sorry to have kept you waiting for a long time."

The eunuch was very young, but he didn't put on airs. When he saw Jia Huan, he stood up and said with a smile, "Oh, Jia Hanlin is back. We just arrived not long ago, so it's okay. Let's get ready to receive the imperial edict."

The servants quickly set up an incense table in Rongxi Hall. Jia Huan knelt in front of the table. The eunuch took out the imperial edict and read it out: "By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: Hanlin Editor Jia Huan has protected the King of Min and contributed to the suppression of the rebellion. He is hereby promoted to the head of the Ministry of War, in charge of the Military Selection Department. I decree this!"

"I accept your command and thank you!" Jia Huan bowed three times, then raised his hands high to take the imperial edict.

The eunuch smiled and said, "Congratulations to Master Jia, congratulations to Master Jia!"

The Director of the Ministry of War is a fifth-rank official, while the Hanlin Editor is a sixth-rank official, which means he was promoted to the first rank. Jia Huan's contribution this time was not small, but Emperor Qiansheng only promoted him to the first rank, which seemed a bit stingy. However, considering that Jia Huan only won the top spot in the imperial examination in March this year and was promoted to the Director of the Ministry of War in September, he was promoted to the first rank in just half a year, which was already an extremely fast speed.

In addition, the head of the Military Selection Department of the Ministry of War has the power to appoint personnel. It is a department with real power and also a department with great benefits. Although it is one rank lower than Zheng's father's fifth-rank doctor of the Ministry of Works, his power may not be lower than that of the doctor of the Ministry of Works. After all, the Ministry of War is much more important than the Ministry of Works.

So when Jia Zheng saw Jia Huan receiving the imperial edict, he was happy but also a little envious. He had been an official for decades before he was promoted to the fifth rank, and he did so only with the help of his daughter Jia Yuanchun. But this kid had reached the fifth rank in just half a year. There was no comparison, really no comparison!

"Butler Lin!" Jia Zheng coughed lightly, and Lin Zhixiao understood what he meant. He immediately gave the eunuch a reward. The latter weighed the amount, congratulated Jia Huan and Jia Zheng again, and then left happily.

Back house.

When Jia Mu and others learned that Jia Huan was promoted to the head of the Military Selection Department of the Ministry of War, they were naturally very happy. They immediately ordered the kitchen to prepare a banquet to celebrate and offer sacrifices to the ancestors.

As for how the Jia family celebrated Jia Huan's promotion, I will not go into details here. On this day, after Jia Huan attended the morning court, Min Wang Xu Wenhou ran to the Ministry of War and invited Jia Huan to have a drink at Min Wang Mansion after work to celebrate his promotion.

Jia Huan was just planning to ask the little fat boy what the meaning of him being "holding" his second sister Jia Yingchun meant, so he immediately agreed.

At about four o'clock in the afternoon, the Ministry of War was closed. Jia Huan took a carriage and went straight to the Prince of Min's Mansion where Lidefang was located. As soon as he arrived at the door, he met his senior brother Liu Yi.

Both of them were stunned for a moment, and Liu Yi asked curiously: "Could it be that Ziming was also invited by His Royal Highness Prince Min?"

Jia Huan shrugged and said, "His Royal Highness Prince Min said he would hold a promotion banquet for me."

Liu Yi frowned and said, "But His Royal Highness Prince Min said he wanted to learn from me!"

Jia Huan's heart moved, and he vaguely guessed what the little fat boy was up to, and said with a smile: "Let's go in first and talk about it."

When the two entered the Prince of Min's mansion, the fat boy Xu Wenhou had already heard the news and came out to greet them. He took Jia Huan's hand and said with a smile, "The chief of the Ministry of War is here. It is really an honor for our humble home."

Jia Huan said with a smile: "If this place is a humble house, then what is my home? A cowshed or a horse shed?"

Xu Wenhou chuckled and said, "You are not serious about my courtesy. Let's go. The banquet has been prepared in Zhuijin Pavilion." After that, he took Jia Huan and left, leaving Liu Yi aside.

Liu Yi seemed to have long been accustomed to Xu Wenhou's indifference and just followed behind him silently.

Jia Huan was surprised and said, "What a coincidence, His Royal Highness Prince Min also has a Zhuijin Pavilion in his palace?"

Xu Wenhou smiled mysteriously and said, "It didn't exist before, but it exists now."

The three of them arrived at the Zhuijin Pavilion, where a sumptuous banquet had indeed been prepared. After the three of them sat down, Xu Wenhou smiled mischievously, clapped his hands and said, "Come on, pour the wine!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a woman in a fancy dress came out from behind the screen, holding a wine pot. Liu Yi didn't care at first, and took a quick glance. Suddenly, he was shocked and stood up, knocking the cup to the ground, breaking it into pieces.

"Wanruo!" Liu Yi cried out in surprise, staring blankly at Jia Yingchun who came out from behind the screen, his whole body as if petrified.

(End of this chapter)