The Concubine Wushuang of Red Mansion

Chapter 161 The grace of saving lives
When Xue Pan heard the word "Jia", his heart sank and he asked anxiously, "Is it Jia Cong?"

The boss of the ship looked at Xue Pan as if he were a fool. He didn't know the name of Lord Jia, but he also knew that calling him by his name like this was clearly a way to seek death.

"I don't know about this. I guess there are not many marquises in the world, let alone such a young marquis. His surname is Jia, so I think he is the only one."

Xue Pan was about to cry but had no tears. He patted the couch and told the maid and mother-in-law to call Aunt Xue and Baochai over. The boatman was naturally taken down.

Aunt Xue thought something was wrong, so she hurried over with Baochai, and shouted as soon as she entered the door, "My son, what's wrong with you?"

Xue Pan said with a sad face, "Mom, otherwise, we should go back!"

Aunt Xue and Baochai were both stunned, "Go back? Where are you going back?"

"I'm going back to Jinling!" Xue Pan said what he had just said to the ship's boss, "Who would have thought that Jia Cong would also come with him? This obviously doesn't give me a way to survive!"

Baochai was a little depressed for a moment and couldn't help but said, "Brother, we have been ready to go to Beijing a long time ago. We have also disposed of some of the shops and properties at home. We are focused on going to Beijing. How can we talk about it all at once? Can you tell me something so easy and simple?"

Aunt Xue cried and said, "Son, you know your brother. He is frightened by the man who killed him with a thousand swords. What should we do now?"

They have already walked more than half of the way to Beijing. If they had found out earlier that the Thousand Swordsman was following him, they would have been earlier... It wouldn't be a big deal earlier. Just as Baochai said, they would have come this time. It was to transfer the family business from Jinling to Shenjing, and inevitably dispose of a lot of property cheaply.

If we go back in despair, wouldn't the things we lost earlier be in vain?
Aunt Xue's hatred for Jia Cong was at its peak. Xue Pan also had random thoughts and shouted, "Mom, is it possible that he knew I was going to Beijing and followed him here on purpose? Mom, he won't kill me. Bar!"

Baochai sighed, "What are you thinking about, brother? He is a dignified marquis, and he has a heavy burden on his shoulders. This time he went to Beijing, he must have been ordered by the emperor, and he happened to be traveling with us. If he really wants to go with us, If you can't get through it, why come here by yourself?"

Xue Pan just breathed a sigh of relief. Thinking of breathing under the same sky again in Shenjing, he suddenly held his breath and did not dare to breathe out.

"My son, don't be afraid. No matter what kind of prince he is, he still has your uncle and uncle. He won't dare to do what he did to my son when he was in Jinling. Besides, I heard that Jia Cong is from Xifu. The one who came here turned out to be the concubine of the eldest master of Xifu. The old lady in Xifu is still his direct grandmother. We went to live in Xifu. Your sister and I went to visit the old lady more. What happened? I don’t believe it, he’s not even afraid of the old lady.”

Xue Bianfang breathed a sigh of relief. After all, he had thought before that there were much more interesting things in Shenjing City than in Jinling. In the city where dragons steamed into the sky, in a prosperous place, the girl must be different from the flower girls on the Qinhuai River. All these factors allowed Xue Pan to temporarily suppress his fear of Jia Cong.

Aunt Xue and Baochai returned to the inner cabin, and they sat on the couch in front of the window. Aunt Xue sighed and said, "Then Jia Cong did a good job as an errand in Jinling, why did he come back again?" , it really goes along with the saying: Enemies often meet on a narrow road."

Baochai felt that the cabin was a little stuffy, so she fanned a hibiscus jade face with a fragrant handkerchief, and said in a soft voice, "Mom, I heard that at my aunt's house, the East Mansion and the West Mansion are separated by a wall. The servants have been communicating with each other for a long time. Since we have gone to the West Mansion, we should say less of these things in the future so as not to cause trouble to my aunt."

"That's the case, it's your brother's fault."

Saying that, Aunt Xue looked at her daughter again. If her daughter could be selected this time, the Xue family's lintel could be changed, so as not to be bullied and scolded by the sky and the earth.

As soon as Baochai looked at her mother's eyes, she knew what she was thinking. Although she was inevitably expecting something, she was also a little shy. She lowered her head, wondering what kind of road was waiting for her ahead.

This is also Jia Cong’s fault. When he passed by Yangzhou, the ship docked at Yangzhou Pier. He went to patrol the salt yamen. The two men chatted for half the night. They got up a little later the next day, which delayed them for half a day. When we caught up with the Xue family's boat, we had already arrived in Bianzhou.

Nothing was said after that. The boats before and after us sailed at dawn and stopped at night. By the time we arrived at the dock, it was already early February.

Because Jia Cong was delayed on the road, some officials along the way came after hearing the news. He had to come out to socialize, so the Xue family's boat kept going ahead.

After getting off the boat, the Xue family rented a carriage, loaded up the boxes and cages, and rushed to the capital.

When I was sitting on the boat, I still didn't realize that when the carriage was driving on the road, I looked at both sides of the road. There were no chickens and dogs in the village, and there were so many refugees. Everyone was silent and just immersed in driving, wishing to fly into the capital in one step.

Not long after walking, the road became increasingly difficult, and we were about to enter deep mountains and wild woods. At this time, not only the old man felt that something was wrong, but Aunt Xue also felt that something was not right when she looked out from the carriage. The busy man stopped the carriage.

The carriage stopped obeying the command and moved faster and faster. There were deep mountains on both sides, and they were walking on the mountain road.

There is a Zhang Dehui in the Xue family, who is over sixty years old. He has been the general manager of the Xue family pawnshop since he was a child. He is an old man. This time he rented a car and sedan. He asked two or three companies and this one was the cheapest. He was greedy for the middle man. I chose this company for a transfer fee and went forward to negotiate.

"Uncle, it's your first time to come here from the south. The road here was easy to walk in the past two years, but now it's getting harder and harder to walk. It doesn't matter where you go. If you delay for a while, you won't be able to reach the inn ahead, so you have to go there. Spending the night in the wilderness, there are rogues and bandits everywhere, we don’t dare to do this business like yours.”

The driver of this sedan was a middle-aged man, wearing a net scarf on his head, a short coat, leggings on his legs, and a pair of straw sandals on his feet. He was walking in the ice and snow, holding the mule, and kept walking towards the old man in front. Lin Zi walked away, speaking forcefully and without any scruples.

Zhang Dehui is also a traveler. Looking at this situation, he knows that he has met someone who is not easy to mess with. It seems that he has to spend a lot of money today. He hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "Brother, our master is none other than someone else. He comes from the south. If you go to the capital to seek refuge with powerful relatives, if your brothers don't lend a hand for a while, it means you are destined to meet them, so you will go to your master's house and offer some silver coins in the hope that your eldest brother will be kind to you. "

This middle-aged man's name is Wang Er. Last year, there was no rain in Weibei. The grass and trees were withered. Villagers fled and died of starvation. Instead of reducing or reducing rents and taxes to save people's lives and deaths, the county continued to send more taxes and levies and strictly ordered the government officials. Go to the countryside to supervise taxes.

After his mother died of starvation, Wang Er left his hometown and went to Beijing alone, planning to find a way out. Unexpectedly, when he entered the city, he got into an argument with a man wearing silk because of the crowds, and was arrested by the city officials and imprisoned. After several days, he almost starved to death when he was thrown out.

In this world, there is no way for people to survive!

Wang Er wandered out of the city. Although he was skinny but tall, he was recruited by others and became a bandit in the nearby hills.

Wang Er glanced sideways at Zhang Dehui and saw that he was also wearing silk and satin, just like the person who had argued with him when he entered the city that day and insisted on saying that his feet had soiled his shoes.

The man beat him up and sued him, but he was thrown into prison.

Wang Er hated this world and these rich people to death.

Seeing the hatred flashing in Wang Er's eyes, Zhang Dehui secretly screamed "no" several times in his heart, but he had to be patient and said, "Brother, if you have something to say, please wait for me first. I will go and talk to the Lord." My family said that as long as we are willing to spare our lives, all financial matters can be easily discussed."

Zhang Dehui was extremely regretful at this time. If he had known this, he would not have been greedy for the few taels of silver. How did he know that bandits would still be encountered at the foot of the imperial city?

Wang Er is not afraid that Zhang Dehui will escape. They have done this job more than once. Even if they file a lawsuit, it will be useless.

As long as their horse and carriage shop takes over the job, they will be theirs all the time. These people have had lives on their hands, so they are much stronger than the guards of these rich families.

Zhang Dehui couldn't tell Aunt Xue. The woman didn't have much knowledge to say and was still timid, so he went to Xue Pan's carriage and whispered, "Uncle, we are unlucky. We met a bad guy!"

Xue Pan was drowsy. When he heard this, Ji Ling woke up. He sat up and pushed a little harder. His buttocks hurt. He didn't dare to scream, "What's going on? What's going on?"

"I'm afraid I'll lose some money..."

"Which bastard dares to provoke the uncle? Doesn't he know that the uncle of the uncle is the military governor of Beijing?" Xue Pan was furious.

"Uncle, people are under the eaves..."

Before Zhang Dehui finished speaking, he saw about a hundred people suddenly appear in the woods ahead and surrounded them. When Zhang Dehui saw them, his legs went weak and he sat down on the ground.

On the official road not far away, Jia Cong was sitting on his horse and walking freely, with his personal guards behind him, and behind him were the soldiers from the Shenbing Camp. Two or three Taoist priests stood out among them, and the army followed behind. .

Wang Lang led hundreds of soldiers under his command to clear the way ahead.

Scout Goudan galloped over on horseback, and when he came to Jia Cong, he reined in his horse. The horse raised its front hooves, neighed, and stood on the spot. Goudan dismounted and said, "Master Hou, we encountered a nest of mountains ahead." There are about 300 thieves who are robbing a passing caravan. Wang Qianhu has already sent people to keep an eye on them, please give me instructions from the Marquis."

Jia Cong murmured in his heart. He knew that the Xue family was ahead of him and was the largest caravan at present. What a coincidence. The Xue family was robbed?

Regardless of whether he belongs to the Xue family or not, as a national warrior, he is already responsible for protecting the country and the people. Let alone this kind of thing is happening now, how can he just sit back and ignore it?
"Order Wang Lang to suppress the bandits on the spot, and then send someone to notify the local Jiedu Envoy to lead the troops to cooperate!"

Although Jia Cong only holds a third-grade position, he has a superior title. No matter where he goes, he will naturally talk to the highest local official. Therefore, Jia Cong mentioned the local Jiedu Envoy as soon as he opened his mouth.

"Yes! The local Jiedu envoy is Yun Guang. I will go and report it now." Goudan got on his horse and drove away.But Jia Cong is the one chewing "Yun Guang" in his mouth. In the original work, Qin Keqing died, and Wang Xifeng stayed in Mantou Nunnery at night during the funeral. Jingxu, the sister-in-law of Mantou Nunnery, told Xifeng something, Chang'an County There was a daughter named Jin Ge in the family of a wealthy man named Zhang. When she was offering incense in Shancai Temple, she was attracted by Li Yanei, the brother-in-law of the mansion master. This Jin Ge had been hired by the former guarding son. The family wants to withdraw from the relationship, but the defense fails.

Jingxu asked Xifeng to come to him and said, "I think Mr. Yun from Chang'an Jiedu is the most compatible with the family now." Xifeng received 3000 taels of silver and gave a copy of the book to Yun Guang in the name of Jia Lian. , asked Yunguang to break up the marriage between Zhang Jinge and Guarding's son. Yunguang had been favored by the Jia family for a long time, so this matter was naturally not a problem for him.

Jia Cong did not put his thoughts on the marriage of his children. He was thinking about Yun Guang. What kind of love in the Jia family could he tolerate?

The Jia family is a family of two princes. Over the past hundred years, they must have spread a lot of love in the army. This network of people is the biggest resource.

In the past, he had no qualifications to touch this resource. Now that he has a more distinguished title and more power, he will naturally focus on the military in the future. It is time to consider this aspect.

After all, there are too few useful people on hand. Although the current Dashun army must have suffered from all the diseases that a soldier of the apocalyptic dynasty should suffer from, there are always people who are crouching tigers, hidden dragons at any time, and there are always There is a thousand-mile horse in every horse, and different people play completely different roles in the hands of different people.

Jia Cong was thinking about it. On the other side, Baochai had already sensed something was wrong from the weird atmosphere. However, before she had time to react, she heard the sound of swords and guns clashing. She was startled and felt horrified. She squeezed her hands. The handkerchief was covering her chest, and her hibiscus-like face was already pale.

"Just here!"

Only a strange accent was heard speaking.

Another voice said, "Your Majesty, should we keep no one or only the female family members?"

"If you are young, why should you stay if you are older? If you are not particular about it, I will not object!"

"Your Majesty, there is a rich young lady here. She is so...tsk, tsk, tsk, water comes out when you pinch her!"

"I heard that the old widow is still young. Your Majesty, let the mother and daughter serve your Majesty together. That taste..."

Ying'er and Baochai were riding in the same carriage. At this time, even though she didn't dare to lift the curtain to see, she understood what happened. The blood on her oval face also faded, she bit her lip and held on tightly. Baochai's hand said, "Girl, what should I do?"

After hearing this, Baochai was so ashamed and angry that she wanted to die.

Even though she was talented in singing and singing, she was helpless when faced with this situation. She just closed her eyes and let the tears flow down her face, which was full of shame and snow. She said softly, "Ying'er, when that time comes, I will also Only one is dead!"

Ying'er said in her heart that by that time, the girl might not be able to die even if she wanted to.

But she couldn't persuade the girl to die now.

On Aunt Xue's side, she had come to her senses at this time. A man with a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks, who was as thin as a horse pole, opened the door of the sedan with a knife. She was very happy to see a mother inside, and she stepped forward to take action. .

Aunt Xue screamed.

After hearing this, Baochai didn't care anymore. She pushed towards the car door and was about to go out. Ying'er grabbed her and said, "Girl, girl, you can't get out!"

"Ying'er, let me go, it's already this time, I only have one life left!"

At this moment, Baochai felt a burst of despair in her heart. Thinking that they were forced to go from Jinling to the capital, and now they were humiliated on the road, fearing that they might even lose their lives, she just felt powerless, which could drive people crazy.

At this moment, suddenly, the surroundings became strangely quiet again, and only a loud and upright voice could be heard saying, "The Marquis has an order, surrender your weapons without killing, and we will capture you without mercy!"

When Baochai heard the word "Marquis", he looked up and saw that they were surrounded again. Everywhere he could see, the sergeants were holding firecrackers in their hands. The black muzzles of their guns were aimed at the bandits who had hijacked them. .

This group of thieves had long been targeted by Jia Cong's scouts. Wang Lang also sent people to follow him. After receiving Jia Cong's order, he directly surrounded the people and killed them if they dared to resist.

Among the more than 300 people, there were refugees who had just been coerced to join, and some desperate outlaws. Wang Er and others had been surrounded and suppressed countless times. For them, they were also experienced in fighting against officers and soldiers. They shouted, "Brothers." We, fight with them, these people are a bunch of trash, kill them!"

With a swish of sound, Wang pulled out the long knife hidden in the carriage's plywood and killed the men of Fei Xiong Guard.

The Flying Bear Guards were not the trashy snacks that Wang Er and others had encountered before. They were real iron-blooded warriors who had experienced fighting in the southeastern battlefield and had emerged from the sea of ​​​​blood from the mountains of corpses.

"Kill!" Wang Lang frowned and shouted sharply, and the sound of firecrackers was heard all around. When he saw those who rushed towards him with their swords, they fell to the ground like onions.

The rest of the people were stunned. These people were very different from the imperial army they fought against!

After a round of fire cannon fire, Wang Lang took the lead in killing these daring bandits. Almost instantly, all the rebels who raised their swords were wiped out.

Baochai saw this one-sided battle situation from the curtain of the carriage. Although her heart palpitated and the air was filled with the strong smell of blood, the powerful slaughter of the Fei Xiong Guards deeply shocked her heart and made him think about it. That young man, these people are the brave soldiers brought out by his men.

Wang Lang left some of his men to clean up the battlefield, and then led some of his men to kill the surrendered bandits in their lair. Suppressing the bandits was only one thing, but the main thing was that these bandits should have a lot of money in their hands.

The property of the Xue family was not lost, and the lives of the people below were saved. However, it was quite laborious to turn back to the official road from this remote road.

Those people who drove the carriages and horses were all rebels. They died and escaped. The Xue family brought limited manpower to Beijing this time. There were more than ten people in total. They only hired ten or twenty carriages and sedans. They were also killed by the gangsters. A few.

Seeing that it's getting late, if I can't go to the official road early and find a place to stay, in this deep mountain and old forest, I can leave it all here at night.

Zhang Dehui had no choice but to ask Aunt Xue for her advice, "Madam, I just asked, it was Mr. Jiahou's people who saved us, and we always want to thank others for saving our lives. Why don't we go and ask for help?" Can Mr. Jia be kind enough to send a few people over to help us bring these goods to the inn?"

Aunt Xue escaped from death this time. She was so frightened that she couldn't get up from the car. She had been a widow for so many years, and if she really got to that point, she would die.

At this time, she didn't care about the old grudges she had with Jia Cong. Aunt Xue just said, "Look, let's see if there is anything else we can do. Let him help us in this case and say that he will wait until he returns to Beijing." , I will definitely ask him to be a host, and let Pan'er have a good time to apologize to him."

Who would have thought that if they had hated others so much before and gritted their teeth, if it hadn't been for them this time, their whole family would have fallen into the hands of those bandits, and their lives would have been worse than death.

Because he had to wait for Wang Lang, Jia Cong ordered to set up camp on the spot, just next to the mountain and water. The camp was set up at a high place, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack.

Zhang Dehui was stopped when he arrived at the gate of the camp.

"Uncle, we are none other than Jia Houye. We are related to Jiahou Jia. Please tell me and tell the Xue family of Jinling to see you." Zhang Dehui bowed his hands and handed over a small ingot of silver.

The soldier guarding the gate glanced at it but didn't answer it. He turned around and ran toward the central military camp with his gun in hand.

A brazier was lit in the tent, and Jia Cong was talking to several Qianhu, Jiang Xiang and others, waiting for the scouts to report the situation on Wang Lang's side.

The 5000 men and horses under him will be co-organized with the Fei Xiong Guard here in the capital. It is not clear what the situation of the Fei Xiong Guard here is. Therefore, the military positions such as commander, deputy envoy and so on have not been decided yet.

At the entrance of the camp, I heard Daniu say, "Master Marquis, report!"

"Come in!"

Only then did Daniel come in and tell the Xue family about the invitation. Jia Cong said, "Let him come over!"

He didn't know what the Xue family was going to do at this time. It couldn't be to thank him. With Aunt Xue's character, it was impossible to say that it was better to pretend that this life-saving grace didn't exist and go their separate ways as early as possible.

Of course, Jia Cong did not expect that the Xue family would remember this life-saving grace. Suppressing bandits was originally within his scope of responsibility.

　Sorry, I didn't have time to modify it yesterday. I fixed it today and it was late.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)