The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 768 Emperor Qiansheng's Warning
Yesterday was the Lantern Festival. As usual, Emperor Qiansheng held a banquet in the palace to entertain his officials. Jia Huan and his son did not attend the banquet because it was the day of his wedding. In the evening, Emperor Qiansheng took his concubines to the city wall to enjoy the lanterns and celebrate with the people. He stayed at Consort Tian's residence that night.

It is said that Emperor Qiansheng generally did not stay overnight at his concubines' residences. Whichever concubine he chose that night, a eunuch would bring her to Qianqing Palace on time for his pleasure, and then send her away afterward. Of course, Emperor Qiansheng would sometimes visit a concubine's residence on a whim, but afterward he would return to the warm pavilion in Qianqing Palace to sleep alone.

As the Son of Heaven, Emperor Qiansheng was not tolerating anyone else sleeping soundly beside his bed, not even the Empress or his concubines. However, in the past two years, Emperor Qiansheng had spent the night in Consort Tian's Jingren Palace on several occasions, which shows that his affection for Consort Tian was indeed extraordinary.

On the morning of the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, Emperor Qiansheng left Consort Tian's residence and returned to Qianqing Palace. Shi Dayong immediately and considerately served him ginseng and eucommia ulmoides soup, as he was a man in his forties and needed some nourishment to feel his strength to improve.

After Emperor Qiansheng finished drinking the ginseng soup, his pale complexion immediately became rosy, and his fatigue seemed to disappear. He then looked at Shi Dayong approvingly and said, "This soup tastes good. Prepare another bowl for me tonight."

Shi Dayong respectfully replied, "This servant understands. I will instruct the Imperial Kitchen to prepare it immediately."

When Emperor Qiansheng first began to rely on Shi Dayong, he only used him as a tool to make money and control the civil service. However, as time went on, Emperor Qiansheng became more and more dependent on Shi Dayong, and sometimes he even felt very inconvenient when Shi Dayong was not around.

"By the way, did Prince Min attend Jia Huan's wedding banquet yesterday?" Emperor Qiansheng suddenly asked.

Shi Dayong said with a smile, "His Highness Prince Min has been on good terms with Marquis Dingyuan since childhood. Yesterday was Marquis Dingyuan's wedding. His Highness Prince Min not only attended the wedding in person, but also accompanied Marquis Dingyuan to pick up the bride. He even composed a poem to urge the bride to get ready. The scene was quite lively."

Despite Shi Dayong's seemingly harmless smile, his words were actually quite sinister. As a prince, the Prince of Min was not supposed to associate with officials outside the capital, let alone Jia Huan, who was a provincial governor with military power. Their close relationship would inevitably make Emperor Qiansheng wary. Moreover, Emperor Qiansheng had already become suspicious of Jia Huan after the death of the supervising officer Duan Yong.

As expected, Emperor Qiansheng's expression darkened upon hearing this, and he said indifferently, "Although the rebel army in Shaanxi has been wiped out, there are bound to be some who have escaped. After the first month of the lunar calendar, let Jia Huan return to Shaanxi and not linger in the capital."

Shi Dayong was secretly pleased to hear this, because neither Prince Qing, Xu Wenye, nor Prince Min, Xu Wenhou, were on good terms with him. Prince Qing was supported by the Donglin Party, while Prince Min was supported by the Diecui faction. Naturally, he did not want to see either of the two princes become the crown prince.

Shi Dayong had no choice before, but things are different now. Consort Tian gave birth to a prince last year. Although the prince is not yet a year old, the emperor is only in his forties and in his prime. It is possible that he will remain on the throne for another ten or eight years, or even twenty years. By then, the little prince will probably be an adult and will still have a chance to ascend the throne.

Therefore, Shi Dayong has now made up his mind to protect the prince born to Consort Tian. He will spare no effort to sow discord between Emperor Qiansheng and Prince Qing and Prince Min whenever he has the opportunity.

As an inner court official who was by the emperor's side day and night, Shi Dayong undoubtedly had a huge advantage, which was also the source of his confidence to challenge Prince Qing and Prince Min.

"Your Majesty, this old servant has another matter to report," Shi Dayong suddenly knelt down, his face filled with grief and indignation.

Emperor Qiansheng frowned and said, "Speak."

Shi Dayong then cried and said, "This old servant vaguely heard that the people of the Ministry of Justice are intensifying their interrogation of Gao Yingxiang and other bandit leaders, using severe torture to extract confessions, trying to pin the reason for the bandits' rebellion on the mining supervisors and tax supervisors in various places. This is clearly an attempt to put this old servant to death. How vicious their intentions are!"

Back then, the coal mines in western Beijing were protected by Yi Hong, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. The annual tax revenue they paid was less than a fraction of their output, resulting in a huge loss of national assets. And the coal mines in western Beijing were just the tip of the iceberg. There were so many mines across the country, and unscrupulous merchants colluded with powerful figures to embezzle an unknown amount of wealth that should have belonged to the country.

This old servant's initial suggestion to Your Majesty was to dispatch mining and tax supervisors throughout the country was intended to recoup losses and replenish the national treasury. My loyalty was unwavering, as Heaven and Earth can attest; what wrong had I done? Yet, there are always those who dislike this old servant and wish to put me to death. I implore Your Majesty to do me justice!

As Shi Dayong spoke, he pretended to wipe away tears, his expression one of grief and indignation, as if he had suffered a great injustice.

Indeed, mining supervisors and tax collectors did prevent the loss of state assets to some extent, but the ruthless mining supervisors and tax collectors caused even more serious damage. They used various pretexts to exploit and oppress the people, and both local gentry and ordinary citizens suffered greatly. Of the wealth plundered by the mining supervisors and tax collectors, only one or two tenths actually entered Emperor Qiansheng's pocket; the rest was divided up privately, with Shi Dayong, the head of the secret service, naturally taking the lion's share.

It can be said that the extreme exploitation and oppression by mining supervisors and tax officials was one of the main reasons for the frequent occurrence of popular uprisings. Not only did the Donglin Party hate the evil mining supervisors and tax officials, but even the Diecui faction led by Sun Chengzong also deeply resented them. The difference was that the Donglin Party members were more self-serving, because their large number of industries in the Jiangzhe area were also threatened by the mining supervisors and tax officials.

Overall, abolishing the nationwide network of mining supervisors and tax collectors was undoubtedly a good thing for the country and its people. However, it was clearly not a good thing for Emperor Qiansheng personally, because the mining supervisors and tax collectors were indeed making money for his slush fund, bringing in tens of millions of taels of silver every year. How could he bear to cut off this income?
Therefore, no matter how the civil officials impeached and attacked Shi Dayong, he ignored them all and even valued Shi Dayong more and more. As the saying goes, don't look at the advertisement but the effect. You civil officials talk a good game, but when it comes to doing things, you're all useless. You haven't earned a single penny for me, yet you still advise me to be frugal and set an example for the world. On the other hand, Shi Dayong's money is flowing into my private treasury, allowing me to spend it as I please without any worries.

I only have one capable minister by my side, and you civil officials can't even tolerate him, trying every means to get rid of him. This is simply outrageous and intolerable!

Emperor Qiansheng coldly ordered, "Issue my decree to transfer Gao Yingxiang and the other bandit leaders from the Ministry of Justice prison to the Imperial Prison of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. After the first month... no need to wait until after the first month, execute them immediately in three days!" Shi Dayong was overjoyed. After leaving the Qianqing Palace, he immediately ordered Lu Youwei, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, to personally go to the Ministry of Justice prison to take them away. Three days later, Gao Yingxiang and 108 other key leaders of the rebel army were all executed. Gao Yingxiang was subjected to slow slicing, and it is said that he was cut more than two thousand times before he finally died.

The official in charge of the Ministry of Justice who was in charge of the surprise interrogation of Yingxiang and others was Yang Tingshu. He was a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the same year as Jia Huan and Zhang Pu, and one of the rising stars of the Donglin Party. Fearing retaliation from the eunuch faction, he actually took the initiative to request a transfer.

Getting back to the main point, on the day Gao Yingxiang and other rebel leaders were executed, Jia Huan also received an imperial edict from Emperor Qiansheng, ordering him to leave the capital and return to Shaanxi on the first day of the second month, and not to linger in the capital.

This means that Jia Huan had to leave the capital to take up his post only half a month after his marriage, before his honeymoon was even over. Wasn't this a veiled warning from Emperor Qiansheng to Jia Huan, warning him not to associate too closely with the Prince of Min?

On the nineteenth day of the first month of the thirteenth year of the Qiansheng reign, Jia Huan escorted Liu Xianglian to the Ten-Mile Pavilion in western Beijing. At this time of year, the weather was still chilly despite the change in temperature, and the willow trees planted next to the pavilion were bare, having yet to sprout any new buds.

Inside the pavilion, Jia Huan raised his cup to bid farewell to Liu Xianglian, saying, "It has been five or six years since we parted. I hope that Brother Liu will have a smooth journey and that his return will not be far off. We will meet again someday!"

Liu Xianglian raised his cup to drink with Jia Huan, and sighed, "Youth never returns, and a day never dawns twice. Sometimes I really feel that time flies by too fast. Life is only a few short decades. How many times do we part and how many times do we meet again? Let's cherish the present!"

As he said this, the image of Jia Tanchun flashed through Liu Xianglian's mind. He had only seen her briefly on the day of his wedding, but her beautiful figure was deeply engraved in his mind and could not be forgotten.

Seeing that Liu Xianglian seemed lost in thought, Jia Huan smiled and said, "For someone as carefree and unrestrained as Brother Liu to utter such sentimental words, could it be that you have something on your mind right now?"

Liu Xianglian blushed and smiled, "Perhaps."

Jia Huan's heart skipped a beat, and he jokingly asked, "Could it be my older sister?"

Liu Xianglian hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said shyly, "I am not afraid of being laughed at by Brother Huan. Although I, Liu Xianglian, come from humble origins, I have seen all kinds of beauties. The only one who can move my heart is your sister. Unfortunately, your sister will definitely not look up to a dissolute young man like me."

Jia Huan laughed and said, "Second Brother Liu is highly skilled in martial arts, chivalrous, and handsome. Why belittle yourself? To be honest, after that day I sounded out Third Sister, and she had a very good impression of Second Brother Liu."

Liu Xianglian exclaimed happily, "Really? Brother Huan didn't lie to me?"

Jia Huan smiled and said, "Why would I lie to you? One is my own sister, and the other is my sworn brother. Would I cheat you?"

"What... what should I do?" Liu Xianglian was clearly a little agitated.

"Of course, we should find a matchmaker to propose marriage as soon as possible, the sooner the better!"

Liu Xianglian nodded and said, "Brother Huan is right, but I haven't finished what I promised Brother Qi. How about this, after I send this batch of medicinal herbs out of the pass, I will come to propose marriage. It will take at least three months, or at most half a year. How about that?"

Jia Huan nodded: "Of course, but it would be best if Second Brother Liu left a token so that I can tell Third Sister."

Liu Xianglian reached around on his body and finally drew his sword. No one knew how he did it, but the sword suddenly gave a low hum and split into two swords, each gleaming coldly.

Liu Xianglian said self-deprecatingly, "My Liu family was once a family of martial arts masters, but now we have fallen on hard times. We only have a pair of mandarin duck swords and a Zhanquan dagger left. I gave the dagger to Brother Huan back then. I only kept the mandarin duck swords for self-defense. Now I ask Brother Huan to bring these mandarin duck swords to your sister. If your sister is willing, she can accept them. If she is not willing, please keep them for me for the time being. I will come back to retrieve them later."

"Very good!" Jia Huan nodded and accepted the female sword of the Mandarin Duck Swords, while Liu Xianglian took the male sword, mounted his horse, clasped his hands in farewell, and rode westward.

A cry of an eagle came from the sky, and a black dot could be seen chasing the wind and disappearing into the distance.

(End of this chapter)