The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 731: Covering others’ eyes
As the military supervisor, Duan Yong usually worked at the Governor's Mansion, but he did not live there. Instead, he lived in a private residence near the Governor's Mansion.

Since the three armies set out to quell the bandits, everything has progressed smoothly, with frequent reports of victory. Duan Yong is in a good mood, and if things continue to develop like this, the bandits in Shaanxi will soon be wiped out.

That night, Duan Yong leisurely sipped tea in his private residence. It was "Tianfu Longya" tea, a tribute from a local official. It was said to be wild green tea picked from the Minshan Mountains, using only the tenderest buds at the top. The annual yield was extremely low, making it exceptionally precious.

The young eunuch serving nearby poured Duan Yongxu a cup of tea, saying cautiously, "This servant overheard some news today, but I don't know if it's true or false."

Duan Yong said "Oh," and asked, "What news? Tell me about it."

"General Tiehu of the Southern Route secretly gave Jia Huan a golden Buddha statue, which is said to have been obtained from the bandit leader Luo Rucai. This is a spoil of war and should be handed over to the commander's mansion. I think it is a bit inappropriate for Jia Huan to keep it in private." The little eunuch said while secretly observing Duan Yong's expression.

Upon hearing this, Duan Yong chuckled and said, "I thought it was something big, but it's just a golden Buddha statue."

The young eunuch said somewhat awkwardly, "This servant has spoken out of turn!"

Duan Yong waved his hand and said, "Although it's nothing, you should still report back to me about such things in the future. As the supervisor of the army, how can I betray the emperor's trust? I should still report what needs to be reported."

The young eunuch immediately understood and smiled, "This servant understands."

Duan Yong chuckled, saying with a hint of sarcasm, "I thought Jia Ziming only loved beautiful women, but it turns out he also loves money. It seems we misjudged him before."

The young eunuch said dismissively, "Who in this world doesn't love money? This servant has never believed that any official can be completely incorruptible."

Duan Yong said meaningfully, "It's not that there aren't officials who are honest and upright, but it's still better to love money. A commander-in-chief of the three armies, a high-ranking official in charge of a region, young and promising, if he doesn't love beautiful women or money, what do you think he's after? So it's still better to love money!"

The little eunuch stuck out his tongue inwardly upon hearing this, but dared not say anything more.

Indeed, if a minister is extremely capable, skilled in both literature and martial arts, highly prestigious, and has an excellent reputation, yet is neither greedy for wealth nor lustful, and has no moral flaws, what would he want? Any emperor would surely be wary of such a perfect minister.

Jia Huan was clearly well aware of this, which is why he said that convoluted thing to Mandarin. To put it bluntly, Jia Huan deliberately accepted bribes to tarnish his own reputation and to give Duan Yong some leverage. Otherwise, he wouldn't feel secure as the supervisor, and the person sitting on the dragon throne would feel even more uneasy.

In fact, it was Jia Huan's own secret instruction that Tie Hu secretly gave the golden Buddha to Jia Huan; otherwise, given their relationship, Tie Hu would not have needed to flatter Jia Huan like this.

Getting back to the main point, Duan Yong took a sip of tea and frowned, saying, "Compared to Jia Huan accepting the golden Buddha, I am more curious about why Jia Huan sent that Western maid to Hami."

The young eunuch nodded and said, "This servant also finds it strange. Jia Huan is young and full of vigor. It is perfectly normal for him to bring a favorite maid from the mansion to serve him. But after the maid arrived, he rushed to send her to Hami. It is really hard to understand."

"Hmm, this matter must be thoroughly investigated." Duan Yong tapped the tea table lightly with his index finger, seemingly lost in thought. Monitoring Jia Huan's every move was originally a task assigned to him by the Emperor.

…………

Meanwhile, Mandarin, escorted by several of Jia Huan's personal guards, left Lintao Prefecture and headed towards Jiayuguan. Her safety along the way was naturally assured. Who would dare to touch the Governor-General's favorite concubine? Unless they had a death wish.

Soon, Mandarin successfully exited Jiayuguan and headed towards Hami along the newly repaired post road.

Since Jia Huan incorporated Hami into the territory of the Great Jin Dynasty and temporarily subdued Turpan, the safety of the route from Jiayuguan to Hami has greatly improved. Even desert bandits have almost disappeared. In addition, the construction of post towns and post roads has made transportation convenient, and merchants and travelers come and go in an endless stream every day.

It is worth mentioning that Xue Pan has cherished the opportunity given to him by Jia Huan since he took on the task of building the post stations. So he has been working diligently and has now basically completed the construction of three post stations. He is now speeding up the construction of the last one and striving to finish it before the arrival of winter.

Of course, the so-called post town was just a small castle that was a bit larger than an ordinary post station. It was not a real city. It only had simple defensive fortifications such as walls and arrow towers. It was fine to hold off small groups of bandits, but it was absolutely impossible to stop the attack of a large army.

However, Jia Huan's main purpose in building the post station was to provide a place for merchants and soldiers to rest and resupply. Defense was only a secondary and additional function. If a proper city were to be built, it would not only be incredibly expensive, but it would probably take eight or ten years to complete. There was really no need for that.

Getting back to the main point, on this day, Xue Pan was overseeing the construction of the last post station. This post station was only two hundred li away from Hami City, and its basic structure was already taking shape. Hundreds of craftsmen were working diligently to complete the project, and it was believed that the post station would be finished before the official onset of winter.

Xue Pan had just finished lunch. While picking his teeth with a toothpick, he stood on a high place and shouted to urge the workers to work, acting like a foreman.

"Master Pan, the weather is dry, have some tea to moisturize yourself!" One of his underlings cleverly brought over some tea.

Xue Pan took the teacup, rinsed his mouth, took a sip, and handed the teacup back to his younger brother. However, his eyes kept glancing at the post road, as if he was somewhat absent-minded.

It turned out that several days earlier, Xue Pan had received a message from Jia Huan, saying that Mandarin would be coming to Hami to stay for a while and asking him to help with her reception.

Xue Pan naturally dared not be negligent. There was no problem with receiving her, but it was a bit awkward. Back then, Xue Pan had his eye on the blonde, blue-eyed, and hot Mandarin and took the initiative to flirt with her, only to be beaten up by her. Later, he even tried to exchange Xiangling for Mandarin with Jia Huan, only to be beaten up by Jia Huan again.

Although Xue Pan had endured many hardships and turned over a new leaf, he still couldn't help feeling awkward in front of the person in question. But what was bound to happen would happen; Mandarin and her entourage appeared on the post road. Her blonde hair was easily recognizable, so Xue Pan had no choice but to bite the bullet and step forward to greet them, bowing and saying, "My name is Pan Lixue. I am here on the orders of the Governor-General to await Aunt Mandarin."

Mandarin glanced at Xue Pan and noticed that this former playboy seemed to have changed a lot. She used to hate this guy, but now she found him more pleasing to the eye. She nodded and said, "No need for formalities. Has Third Master explained everything to you?"

"Understood, understood, I've made all the arrangements, I guarantee there won't be any problems," Xue Pan hurriedly replied. Mandarin hummed in agreement and then said nothing more. After resting for a quarter of an hour, she set off again, with Xue Pan personally leading the way.

The reason why the imperial secret police were so well-informed was not only because they sent out a large number of spies to travel all over the country, but also because the officials of the post stations in various places, namely the postmasters, were all people of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. These postmasters were not only responsible for collecting intelligence, but also for transmitting intelligence back to the Embroidered Uniform Guard headquarters, forming a highly efficient information transmission network covering the whole country.

Hami was a newly incorporated territory of the Great Jin Dynasty, and it was located in a remote area. The intelligence network of the Imperial Guard had not yet reached this place. In addition, Hami was conquered by Jia Huan, and under his deliberate arrangements, it was difficult for the Imperial Guard's spies to infiltrate.

In other words, Hami is now Jia Huan's "private territory," which is why he sent Mandarin here to develop new firearms—it's both safe and secretive.

As evening fell, Xue Pan led Mandarin into Hami City and headed straight for the former Hami Royal Palace, which is now the residence of the Yiwu County Princess.

Jia Huan had already informed Ayina beforehand, so the latter happened to be home and personally went out to welcome Mandarin inside. Xue Pan couldn't help but secretly think to himself, "My brother-in-law is really capable; he's already managed to handle this young girl, Ayina! Tsk tsk!"
After Xue Pan left the county princess's mansion, he began to work on another matter arranged by Jia Huan, which will not be discussed here.

Meanwhile, Ayina led Mandarin to the small courtyard where they were staying and said politely, "This is where Sister Bao and Sister Lin used to live. Sister Man, you can stay here from now on."

Mandarin took Ayina's little hand and said with a grin, "That's wonderful, little Ayina. Thank you so much. You're a hundred times prettier than I imagined. No wonder Master often mentions you!"

Ayina blushed slightly, secretly pleased, and said shyly, "Sister Man, you flatter me. I'm not as pretty as you." She then glanced at Mandarin's ample bosom.

At this moment, Mandarin's gaze also fell on Ayina's waist, and she noticed that the latter had a flintlock pistol tucked into her waistband. It was the very one she had made for Jia Huan. She couldn't help but feel a little jealous, thinking to herself, "No wonder it disappeared. So it was given to my little lover. Humph!"

"Hey, what's that on your waist, little sister?" Mandarin reached out and pulled out the flintlock pistol that was tucked into Ayina's waist.

Ayina was startled, clearly not expecting Mandarin to move so quickly, and hurriedly said, "Don't move! This is a musket, it's dangerous!"

Mandarin skillfully twirled her gun, snapped the safety off, and Ayina's expression changed drastically, instinctively taking a step back.

Mandarin chuckled, turned off the safety, and handed it back to Ayina, saying with a smile, "Don't be nervous, little sister Ayina. I originally made this for Third Master to protect himself. I didn't expect him to give it to you. It seems Third Master is really worried about you. This is for his own safety."

Ayina was taken aback for a moment, then her pretty face flushed red, and she said with some surprise, "This musket was actually made by Sister Man?"

Mandarin nodded smugly and said, "Of course."

A glint of admiration flashed in Ayina's eyes as she said with admiration, "Sister Man is truly amazing; she has such skills."

Mandarin sighed and said, "If I didn't have this ability, I'm afraid Third Master wouldn't have even looked at me back then."

"How could that be? My sister is so beautiful, and... and so... big!" Ayina blurted out, blushing with embarrassment.

Mandarin hugged Ayina and giggled uncontrollably, then cupped the latter's pretty face and said, "Little Ayina, you're so cute."

Ayina was used to the dignified elegance of Daiyu and Baochai, and was a little unaccustomed to dealing with the wild Mandarin all of a sudden.

“Good sister, there are plenty of beautiful women in this world. If Third Master falls in love with every one he sees, how can he possibly love them all? Besides, if a woman is only pretty but doesn’t have any skills, she’s just a decorative vase. If he gets tired of her one day, he might just replace her.”

Ayina frowned upon hearing this and argued, "He...he's not that kind of person."

Mandarin's beautiful eyes flickered, and she smiled, "Third Master is certainly not that kind of person. I was just using an analogy. But it's good for a woman to have some skills. For example, you are very capable, sister. You are good at riding and archery. Third Master even appointed you as the commander of the garrison. It can be seen that he values ​​you very much."

Ayina felt very pleased to hear this. After all, she was only a fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl, inexperienced in the ways of the world. How could she be a match for Mandarin? She was flattered and delighted. The two chatted for only half a day and became as familiar as sisters.

"Oh, right, when I came, Third Master asked me to deliver a letter to my sister." Mandarin took out Jia Huan's letter and handed it to Ayina. The latter happily took it, but was a little embarrassed. Her pretty face, flushed with happiness, looked as if she had drunk several pounds of fine wine.

Mandarin clearly noticed that Ayina was eager to read the letter from her beloved, so she deliberately yawned and said, "I've been traveling all day and I'm a little tired. I'll take a nap first. Please make yourself at home, sister."

Ayina was overjoyed and quickly excused herself, eager to return to her room to read the letter her "lover" had written to her. The young girl's heart was just beginning to open to love, and her longing for beautiful love was undoubtedly ardent and sweet.

Although Mandarin understood that Jia Huan's "pursuit" of Ayina was driven by practical needs and had a utilitarian nature, she still felt a little envious, as she had never received such treatment before!
Although Hami is now part of the Great Jin Dynasty, Ayina, as a former member of the Hami royal family, still wields considerable influence. If Jia Huan wants to make Hami his own "private territory," he must win the recognition and support of the locals. Taking Ayina into his fold is undoubtedly a wise choice. Coincidentally, this lovely young girl has also fallen in love with him, so he simply "let nature take its course."

With Ayina's help, Jia Huan was able to more easily and firmly control the Hami region, which was one of the reasons why he felt at ease leaving Mandarin in Hami.

Getting back to the main point, after Mandarin settled in Hami, she began to search for local famous doctors to "treat her illness," and this news soon reached Duan Yong's ears.

When Duan Yonghe learned that Mandarin had gone to Hami to seek medical treatment, and that it was suspected to be "infertility," he couldn't help but chuckle, and even felt a little sorry for Jia Huan!

The inability of a woman to conceive isn't necessarily her problem. For men, this kind of illness is really hard to talk about. But what famous doctors could there be in Hami? It seems that Jia Huan is a bit desperate and grasping at straws, hehe!

(End of this chapter)