The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 628 The villain holds a grudge
The Dongjishichang is located near the north of Dong'anmen, an unremarkable alley, deserted and somewhat eerie. In fact, before the establishment of the Dongchang, it was still very lively, a street with a morning market, and the people nearby, even the officials who attended the court, liked to come here to buy breakfast after the court was dismissed.

However, ever since the East Factory chose this place for its office, it has gradually become deserted. The nearby residents have moved away one after another, and the vendors naturally no longer come here to set up stalls.

Just imagine, every night in the Dongchang prison there were ghosts howling and howling, and every now and then a few corpses tortured beyond recognition were carried out, with gloomy winds blowing all day long and the atmosphere gloomy and gloomy. Who could bear it?

Before the establishment of the East Factory, the Jinyiwei Prison was the most terrifying place in the entire capital, and people were terrified when talking about it. Today's East Factory is even worse than that. Although the Jinyiwei was terrifying, its main supervision target was still officials, but the East Factory was not like that. The East Factory not only had all the power of the Jinyiwei, but also had a wider "business" scope and a longer reach.

For example, in the past, the court tacitly allowed the people to discuss state affairs, and the Jinyiwei also turned a blind eye to it. However, it was not the case with the East Factory. Now, anyone who dared to criticize the court in public would be immediately arrested and sent back to the East Factory prison. Those who knew what was good for them would be released if they paid enough money, but those who did not pay or could not afford the money would be in trouble, either dead or disabled. Look, just half a month ago, several scholars were drinking in Hongyan Tower. After a few drinks, they forgot the taboos and cursed the mine supervisors stationed in various places by the court for their misbehavior. As a result, the news reached the ears of the East Factory guards, and they were all arrested and sent back to the East Factory prison that day and tortured to death. The money given to these people did not work, and in the end, they lost both their money and their people, and only brought back a few corpses that were no longer human.

Not to mention ordinary people, even the former commander of the Jinyiwei, Yi Hong, is now imprisoned in the prison of the East Factory. The new commander of the Jinyiwei is named Lu Youwei, who was originally a captain under Yi Hong and also Yi Hong's confidant. However, he has now surrendered to Shi Dayong and got to his position by betraying his old superior Yi Hong.

At this moment, with a loud clang, the iron door outside the East Factory prison opened, and cold wind rushed in, forming a tiny tornado that rolled up the dust and grass on the ground, and an unpleasant fishy smell came to the nose.

Shi Dayong, the governor of the Eastern Depot, took out a handkerchief to cover his mouth and nose. Under the guidance of Zhou Ye, the chief waiter, he came to a prison cell. In the dim light from the oil lamp on the wall, he could vaguely see a person lying in a damp corner, straight, as if dead.

"Oh, Old Yi, you look like this, are you dead?" Shi Dayong asked in a shrill voice.

The man lying in the corner sat up when he heard the sound. He was in tattered clothes and covered in blood. His one eye flashed with cold and malicious hatred as he stared at Shi Dayong like a poisonous snake.

Shi Dayong said a little disappointedly: "Old Yi, you are so lucky to still be alive. I just wanted to collect your body."

Yi Hong sneered, "I appreciate your kindness, Eunuch Shi. You are still alive, so how can I, who is younger than you, die first?"

Shi Dayong's eyes flashed with a hint of viciousness. He took out a scroll of imperial edict from his sleeve and said calmly, "Receive it!"

Yi Hong was overjoyed and quickly got up and knelt on the ground. Shi Dayong opened the imperial edict and read: "By the Emperor Chengyun, I decree: Yi Hong, as the commander of the Jinyi Guards, is corrupt, abuses the law, abuses torture, and takes human life lightly. This is a crime that is condemned by both humans and gods. However, considering that you have worked diligently during your tenure and solved many major cases, although you are 70% at fault, you still have 30% of the merits. I will show you leniency and spare your life, and remove you from your original position, confiscate your property, and send you to Nanjing to guard the Xiaoling Mausoleum. I decree this!"

"I, your humble servant, obey your orders and thank you for your great grace!" Yi Hong kowtowed hurriedly to express his gratitude. As the saying goes, as long as you have the green mountains, you will never run out of firewood. Although he lost his position and his wealth was confiscated, as long as he could save his life, he might be able to make a comeback in the future.

Shi Dayong handed the imperial edict to Yi Hong, and said with a complicated look: "Old Yi is really capable. He can even let King Min come forward to plead for you. Hehe, but it's a thousand miles to Jinling to issue the edict. It's freezing cold, so you must take good care of yourself. Don't catch typhoid fever on the way, it will be troublesome."

Yi Hong felt a chill in his heart and sneered, "Thank you, Eunuch Shi, for reminding me. Although my life is worthless, I still want to live a few more years to guard the tomb of the late emperor."

Shi Dayong chuckled and waved his hand, saying, "Come on, send Old Yi off."

As soon as he finished speaking, a Dongchang guard walked in quickly and whispered something in Shi Dayong's ear. Shi Dayong's face suddenly darkened and he said calmly, "Let him in!"

After a while, a young eunuch came in. It was Li Jinzhong, the eunuch who had been transferred to serve in the Prince of Min's palace. "Greetings, Lord Shi!" Li Jinzhong smiled and saluted Shi Dayong.

Li Jinzhong was originally a subordinate of Chen Ju, the eunuch of the Imperial Household Department. Shi Dayong was not on good terms with Chen Ju, so he nodded indifferently and said, "Did His Royal Highness Prince Min ask you to come?"

Li Jinzhong smiled and said, "It's winter now, and the weather is cold. His Royal Highness Prince Min asked me to give Yi Hong some warm clothes and a hundred silver coins for travel expenses."

Although Yi Hong was a cold-blooded man, he could not help being moved to tears at this moment, and he immediately knelt down and kowtowed to express his gratitude.

Li Jinzhong handed a bundle to Yi Hong and said with a smile: "Old Yi, now that you have arrived at the Xiaoling Mausoleum, you must reflect on yourself and don't let down His Royal Highness Prince Min's kindness."

Yi Hong immediately kowtowed and cried, saying that he would change his ways and thank the emperor and Prince Min for their kindness. In fact, Yi Hong also knew that he had no friendship with Prince Min, and the reason why Prince Min helped him was just to give Jia Huan face.

At this moment, Yi Hong couldn't help but secretly feel fortunate that he had done Jia Huan a favor, and now he had saved his life. It seems that sometimes one still has to do good things.

Li Jinzhong said a few more polite words before bidding farewell to Shi Dayong and leaving. Yi Hong was now confident. With the support of King Min, he was not afraid that Shi Dayong would send someone to assassinate him on the way south. So he said to Shi Dayong, "Eunuch Shi, goodbye. We have a long way to go. I hope we can meet again in the future."

Shi Dayong snorted coldly with a gloomy face. Yi Hong limped out of the dark East Factory prison with his bag on his back. When he saw the blue sky outside, he felt as if he was in another world and was reborn.

The big boss Zhou Ye watched Yi Hong leave and said in a fierce voice: "Master, Yi Hong is a ruthless person who will take revenge for any slight. If we keep him, there may be trouble in the future. It is better to..."

Shi Dayong's eyes flashed with a coldness as he said, "If you don't remove the roots, the grass will grow again in the spring breeze. How could we not know this truth? But King Min came forward to protect him, what can we do?"

Zhou Ye whispered, "Zheng Dacai has confessed that he did send a message to Jia Huan for help on behalf of Yi Hong, and Jia Huan has a great influence on King Min, so King Min came forward to protect Yi Hong, and it is most likely Jia Huan's doing."

Shi Dayong's face darkened when he heard this, and he was very unhappy. However, Jia Huan was now an important official guarding the border, and he was not someone he could easily shake. Not long ago, Jia Huan had won a great victory in Ningyuan, defeating the invincible Nurhaci in one fell swoop, annihilating more than 80,000 Jiannu troops, recovering all the land in Liaoxi, and recovering 300 miles of lost territory. What a great achievement! It was said that the emperor was also interested in conferring him the title of Earl, and the cabinet was already discussing it.

Moreover, Jia Huan is now a powerful figure in the world, with a very high reputation both in the army and among the people. He commands the most elite army of the Jin Dynasty. At this time, Shi Dayong would not dare to offend him easily?

What's more, Jia Huan has a very close relationship with Prince Min. Although the emperor has not yet appointed Prince Min as the crown prince, it is probably a matter of time. In this way, Jia Huan is not only strong himself, but also has a strong backing. Who dares to provoke him?
So Shi Dayong thought about it and finally decided to let Yi Hong go for the time being. Anyway, Yi Hong had been demoted to Nanjing to guard the mausoleum, and it would not be easy to kill him. After a while, when things had calmed down, he could send someone to kill Yi Hong "of illness" without anyone knowing. Even if Jia Huan and Yi Hong were close friends, it would be difficult to investigate, not to mention that Jia Huan and Yi Hong were not necessarily close friends.

However, Shi Dayong is also a vengeful person. Although he dare not offend Jia Huan now, he has secretly made a note of it in his heart. If he has a chance to defeat Jia Huan in the future, he will definitely step on him without hesitation.

This is why it is said "It is better to offend a gentleman than to offend a villain". Jia Huan's original intention was to repay Yi Hong's favor, but he didn't expect to offend Shi Dayong, the powerful eunuch.

(End of this chapter)