Corrupt official in the Red Chamber

Chapter 423 The reception banquet

A few days later, Jia Rui received reports from Song Jian, Tang Zhen and others in the Yangxin Hall.

After seeing the report, Jia Rui was finally relieved. The rebellion in Jinling City was finally suppressed. Those people with ulterior motives in the world should be honest for a while, right?

Jia Rui took a long breath, then stood up and walked out.

I walked outside and looked at the weather. It was a clear sky today, and the light made Jia Rui warm. It was such a good day.

A smile appeared on Jia Rui's face involuntarily.

Lao Li, who was next to Jia Rui, came to Jia Rui's side and whispered: "My lord, the emperor is still living in the back hall of Longshou Palace during this period. Do you think we should change his place?"

Jia Rui looked back at Lao Li. Lao Li was so frightened that he immediately lowered his head, took a step back, and knelt down.

Jia Rui ignored him, but looked at Qingkong, thought for a long time, and then said: "Let the emperor return to Qianqing Palace."

After saying that, Jia Rui left with the eunuchs and guards beside him.

Lao Li, who was kneeling there, didn't dare to get up for a long time. After a long time, he stood up tremblingly, and then wiped the cold sweat on his head.

I don’t dare to accept this kind of money anymore. It’s really scary.

Lao Li is still a little greedy.

This time, he accepted a bribe from Concubine Yuan, hoping that he would put some good words in front of Jia Rui and let the emperor find another place to live.

In fact, this was not because Jia Yuanchun was doing it for the emperor, but because she was really not used to living in this small courtyard.

In this small square courtyard, there are almost no facilities. Except for a few maids around him, there are no maids or eunuchs to serve him. Jia Yuanchun does many things himself.

For Jia Yuanchun, who had been well-dressed and well-fed since childhood, and then became a concubine after entering the palace, this was simply a punishment.

So he used some of his savings to bribe Lao Li.

On the one hand, Lao Li saw that the other party gave him a lot of money, and on the other hand, he also saw that Jia Yuanchun's identity was unusual, so he took the job.

Unexpectedly, Jia Rui took one look at him today and was so frightened that he almost lost his breath.

Lao Li took a deep breath and asked someone to inform Qin Shun.

Because Qin Shun was mainly responsible for the safety of the emperor. Without Qin Shun's words, Lao Li couldn't bring anyone out.

Qin Shun was also surprised after receiving Lao Li's report, so he hurried to find Jia Rui.

At this time, Jia Rui had already mounted his horse and was preparing to leave the palace.

Qin Shun stopped Jia Rui panting, knelt on the ground and kowtowed first.

"My servant comes to see the Duke."

Jia Rui looked at him on the horse and said, "Are you asking about the emperor?"

"The Lord of the Kingdom shines brightly for thousands of miles."

"I agreed. After all, Longshou Palace is the former residence of the Supreme Emperor. It is always inconvenient for the emperor to live there. Let him return to Qianqing Palace."

"My lord, the people in Qianqing Palace are too talkative. If the emperor returns, there may be some trouble."

Jia Rui smiled slightly, "Wouldn't it be better to have trouble? Who is loyal and who is traitor can be seen at once."

Qin Shun stole a glance at Jia Rui, and then said with a smile: "My lord, you see far, I understand what you mean."

Jia Rui nodded and then rode out of the palace.

After Jia Rui left, Qin Shun dared to stand up. Then he patted the soil on his knees and said to the eunuch following him:

"You can arrange this matter, but the Qing Palace must accommodate more of our people. Don't let some of us get close to the emperor and ruin his elegance."

"I understand, little one. Don't worry, ancestor, nothing bad will happen."

Qin Shun nodded with satisfaction, then walked away with his chest held high.

The reason why Jia Rui left the palace at midnight today was because Jia Zheng finally came back from Hainan yesterday.

Today, the Rongguo Mansion is hosting a grand banquet for Jia Zheng, and the first person invited is naturally Jia Rui, the current prime minister and Duke of Wu.

Since Jia Zheng left the capital for Hainan, Jia Rui has not seen him in the past few years, and I don't know if Jia Zheng has become more tactful after years of training.

While Jia Rui was thinking this, under the protection of the guards, he returned to Ningrong Street and arrived at the Rongguo Duke's Mansion.

At this time, the door of Duke Rong's mansion had been opened, and Jia Zheng was taking his son Jia Baoyu at the door to greet the guests and friends.

He saw Jia Rui's team coming from a distance, so he left the others behind, quickly came to the street, and knelt down on the street.

Jia Rui's horse team came over and saw Jia Zheng kneeling there. Jia Rui quickly dismounted his horse and took three steps and then two steps to come to Jia Zheng's side and personally helped him up.

"Uncle, why do you do this?"

"The Prime Minister has many things to do every day. If he can attend the reception banquet of the old man, there is nothing wrong with the old man paying full respect."

Jia Rui was very satisfied.

It seems that Jia Zheng has gained experience and is not as stubborn as before.

Jia Rui smiled and replied: "Today we are all members of our own family, there is no need to perform national ceremonies. Let's just talk about uncles and nephews, regardless of official positions."

After speaking, Jia Rui took Jia Zheng's hand and entered the Rongguo Mansion together. At this time, many officials were already waiting in the Hall of Rongxi.

When they received Jia Rui and Jia Zheng coming in together, they immediately gathered around them. Some bowed, some saluted, and some fawned over them.

Jia Rui smiled and nodded in response to these people, looking very kind.

Not to mention Jia Zheng, when did he have this kind of scenery?

Next, a banquet was held in the Rongxi Hall. Jia Zheng and Jia Rui sat in the middle, while others drank happily below.

When we came here, everyone thought that nothing would happen next, but something happened in the middle.

I only saw a young official in his twenties, who didn't know which department he was from, who came to Jia Rui and Jia Zheng with a drink.

"I would like to propose a toast to you two adults."

Jia Rui thought the official was here to please him, so he smiled and pretended to take a sip from his wine glass to give him face.

Little did he know that the young man didn't drink at all, but instead poured the wine in the glass at Jia Rui.

Since he was sitting with Jia Zheng next to him and a group of waiting people behind him, Jia Rui had no way to hide, so he let the wine splash all over him.

At this moment, everyone in the entire hall became silent, and many officials opened their mouths to look at the young man, wondering why he was so crazy.

At this time, Jia Rui's face turned livid, and he stared at the young man in front of him with sinister eyes.

Jia Zheng, who was next to Jia Rui, was also shocked at this time. He did not expect that such a change would occur during a good reception banquet.

At the same time, he looked at Wang Ziteng who was not far away.

It turns out that this young man was brought by Wang Ziteng. Otherwise, how could he, a nameless and unnamed official, enter the Rongxi Hall of Rongguo Mansion to give him wine.

Wang Ziteng, who was sitting below, was actually very confused.

You must know that he has just returned to Beijing not long ago.

He has been patrolling the nine borders. After the death of the Emperor, he thought that his opportunity to return to Beijing had come, so he bribed Aunt Xue with money.

Aunt Xue saw that Wang Ziteng was her brother, so she said some kind words to Xue Baochai in front of him.

Xue Baochai still took good care of his relatives, so he blew some pillow wind in Jia Rui's ears.

Therefore, Wang Ziteng was able to return to Beijing.

However, his official position has not yet been arranged.

Originally, Wang Ziteng wanted to take advantage of Jia Zheng's wedding banquet to get close to Jia Rui, and then give him generous gifts, hoping to find an important position in the court.

But after something like this happened today, it would be good if he could save his life, let alone hold an important position.

Under this situation, Wang Ziteng decided that it would be better for him to show off his suspicions.

So he stood up suddenly and shouted angrily at the young man, "Chen Bin, what do you want to do?"

After saying that, Wang Ziteng ran over from his seat, pulled Chen Bin and wanted to walk out.

However, Jia Rui's soldiers were already blocking their way, and their swords were half out of their sheaths.

Jia Rui changed his clothes under the service of the maids, and then walked in from the outside again. He sat down angrily on his seat again, looked at Wang Ziteng and the young man who were blocked and asked angrily:

"Where is this madman who dares to insult me?"

The young man named Chen Bin threw away Wang Ziteng and cursed at Jia Rui: "He has a human face and a beast's heart, and is ungrateful. He only imprisoned the emperor for his own selfish purposes, held the emperor hostage to order the princes, was ruthless and extravagant, and did not know how to pity the nobles. You have killed countless people with swordsmanship, how can you have the dignity to meet the Supreme Emperor underground?"

Jia Rui looked at the young man with a smile on his face.

"That's good, what do you think I should do?"

"I would say that you should return the government to the emperor, then seal yourself in the palace and wait for the emperor's orders."

Jia Rui nodded, stood up, walked to the young man's side, and asked in a soft tone: "What is your official position? Who else is there in the family?"

The young man was not a fool. He also realized something, but he was not afraid at all. "My father, the governor of Guangxi Province, won the imperial examination in the next subject. I will not change my name to Chen Bin."

Jia Rui nodded.

No wonder he dared to be so arrogant, he turned out to be a descendant of the Jiedushi of a town.

It's a pity that the Guangxi Jiedu envoy he relied on was just a little shrimp in Jia Rui's eyes.

Originally, they were the people controlled by Jia Rui. If these people were honest, Jia Rui would naturally give them glory and wealth. But now that he is allowing his son to jump out, don't blame Jia Rui for being rude.

In fact, Jia Rui had long wanted to rectify Guangxi, because the toasts in Guangxi were making too much noise, and the Guangxi Jiedushi did not know what role he played in it, which made Jia Rui uneasy.

Simply take this opportunity to remove the governor of Guangxi and send someone more capable and trustworthy.

Then Song Jian is good. He has been loyal to him over the years. Although he has a lot of power and commands 60,000 cavalry, his official position has not been promoted. Simply letting him take over as the governor of Guangxi can be regarded as a reward for him.

Therefore, Jia Rui suddenly changed his face, "You are so young and you don't want to serve, but the imperial court dares to insult the prime minister of the imperial court. This is not a big deal. Come on, bring the owl leader out to see you."

(End of this chapter)