Red Mansion: Bastards rule the roost

At that moment, Xiao Guizi ordered two tall eunuchs and four imperial guards, and holding a pot of imperial wine Peach Blossom Drunk, they walked under the cold moonlight, like a group of ghosts, towards Changchun Palace.

"Eunuch Gui, why are you here so late at night?"

The eunuch on duty at the gate of Changchun Palace greeted them with a smile, but when he saw the four armored and sword-wielding Dragon Guards who came in afterwards, he suddenly felt a chill in his heart and quickly retreated, keeping silent.

Xiao Guizi smiled coldly and said, "Tell all the servants in the palace to leave. We are here to visit the queen in accordance with her orders." Then he showed the Nine Dragon Gold Medal in his hand.

"Yes, yes, I obey your command." The eunuch knelt down and kowtowed, then called people away.

Dozens of palace ladies left in a hurry, and Changchun Palace suddenly became much quieter. There were only a few candles in the corridors of the palace, which flickered like ghost lights.

"Go in and pay your respects to the Empress and Eunuch An." Xiao Guizi smiled coldly, led everyone to push open the door of the main hall, and walked in.

There were only An Wenyao and two personal maids serving in the palace. Empress Chen had not yet gone to bed and was reading a book in front of the lamp.

Xiao Guizi led the people forward, bowed casually, and said with a smile: "Your servant is here to pay respects to the queen according to her order."

An Wenyao shouted, "How dare you! How dare you be rude in front of the queen? How many heads do you have!"

Empress Chen glanced at him sideways and said with a smile, "Little Guizi has made progress. What is the decree for this?"

Xiao Guizi placed the imperial gold medal on the tray, cupped her hands and said with a smile: "The emperor is worried that your majesty can't sleep at night, so he specially gave you a pot of fine wine, please drink it."

Empress Chen looked at the golden plaque that was never used lightly and represented the secret decree of the Emperor. She sighed slightly and finally came to this step. She said calmly, "Your Majesty, I am grateful for your kindness. Please thank him for me."

"I obey your command." Xiao Guizi said.

"Bring it up." said Queen Chen.

"Yes." The two palace maids stepped forward and were about to take the cups and plates from the eunuch's hands, when suddenly their arms shook, and two daggers as thin as paper and as thin as willow leaves slipped from their sleeves and fell accurately into their palms.

But two graceful figures turned lightly, like a fragrant breeze, and instantly penetrated into the four Dragon Guards. They raised their white hands lightly, as fast as lightning, with a few hissing sounds, and blood flashed!
Ugh! The four big men fell to the ground almost at the same time before they could react, holding their necks and struggling for their lives. The thick and sticky blood spurted out from between their fingers, and there was no way to hold it back.

Xiao Guizi seemed unaware and smiled, "Feihua and Zhaiye are becoming more and more skilled. If we were healthy, I would definitely ask the queen to marry them."

The two girls spat in unison: "Bah. Shameless little Guizi!"

The Queen smiled and said, "If you do your job well, I will give you the two of them as a reward."

Xiao Guizi bowed and said, "My servant was rude, please forgive me, Your Majesty. The two sisters are your good friends, how dare I ask for your help?"

"You're smart." The two girls snorted coldly.

The other two young eunuchs saw what had happened and in the blink of an eye the four guards were lying down. They had already become limp with fear and fell to their knees on the ground, kowtowing and begging for mercy.

Xiao Guizi turned around and said with a smile: "Since you have been with me for many years, I will not let you bleed. Just drink the wine yourself."

"Please spare me, Madam, please spare me, Eunuch Gui, I didn't see anything."

The two young eunuchs were so frightened that they burst into tears and wanted to beg for mercy, but Feihua and Zhaiye grabbed their chins and forced each of them to drink half a pot of poisoned wine. After a while, the poison took effect and they died.

Empress Chen then asked, "What's going on?"

Xiao Guizi said, "To answer your Majesty's question, Lin Ruhai died suddenly this afternoon. Your Majesty and several other officials discussed the matter for a long time and summoned Li Meng, Wang Ning, Yan Jie and Feng Ziying. Then Chief Steward Dai came out and ordered Xiao Shunzi and I to execute the Emperor and your Majesty separately."

"So the emperor has passed away?" asked Queen Chen.

"It should be so." Xiao Guizi said.

Empress Chen nodded and said, "Your Majesty has ordered the death of the Retired Emperor and me. I think your majesty will make great plans. There will be great changes tonight." After saying this, she smiled coldly and asked, "How is Jia Cong?"

An Wenyao said: "The young guard is handling Lin Ruhai's funeral, there is nothing unusual."

"He is quite patient." Empress Chen groaned for a moment, tapped the table with her white jade-like hands, and said, "But I have to make a fuss about this.

Well, it is impolite not to reciprocate. The emperor gave me a pot of fine wine, so I will give him a bowl of porridge in return."

"I'll obey your command and do it right away. Take care, Your Majesty." Xiao Guizi bowed and slowly retreated.

Empress Chen suddenly said, "Little Guizi, if you are loyal to me, your parents and sisters will benefit from it for the rest of their lives."

"My whole family is alive because of the grace of Your Majesty, and I am very fortunate to be able to repay you with my death." Xiao Guizi bowed again and left resolutely.

Empress Chen sighed slightly and said, "There are many heroic people among the common people, not just Lin Tanhua."

An Wenyao said, "Your Highness is right. Although we are not as well-versed in history as Lord Lin, we also understand the meaning of loyalty and righteousness. We are only happy to die for your Highness, and I think Xiao Guizi feels the same way."

Feihua and Zhaiye said in unison: "We are the same."

A trace of pity flashed across Empress Chen's eyes. She shook her head and said, "You have served me wholeheartedly for many years. How can I bear to see you die in an untimely way? It's just... Alas... The imperial family is the most ruthless."

An Wenyao said, "My lady, whether Xiao Guizi succeeds or fails, Dai Quan will definitely send someone again. I think we should take shelter for a while. The palace is so big, I don't think he will be able to find us in a short time."

Empress Chen said, "Good. Send a message outside the palace saying that there is a change in the palace, and have the young uncle summon Jia Cong to raise an army to support the king and remove the emperor's entourage."

"Yes."

But Xiao Guizi hurried back, went to the imperial kitchen to say hello first, and then returned to the Yangxin Palace to report.

Dai Quan was waiting at the gate. Seeing some blood splattered on his body, he asked, "Is everything going well?"

Xiao Guizi smiled and said, "It went smoothly. I have to ask the steward to forgive me. I have a grudge against An Wenyao, so I exchanged jobs with Xiao Shunzi, took people to Changchun Palace to do the job, and killed the guy with my own hands.

This is the Empress's 'Luanfeng Changchun' jade plaque, please have a look at it, General Manager."

Dai Quan took it and checked it, then he snorted coldly and said, "Forget it, next time you dare to act on your own, watch out for your skin.

How dare you sacrifice public interests for personal gain in such a big matter? If His Majesty knows, you will die.”

"Yes, yes, I was confused for a moment. I just wanted to take revenge on the way and I dared not miss the mission." Xiao Guizi said in panic.

"Well, never mind. It's also Old An's fault for having made too many enemies. You were only about ten years old when you entered the palace, and he had the heart to punish you. Our family couldn't stand it." Dai Quan waved his hand.

"Thank you for your understanding, Manager." Xiao Guizi wiped her eyes and choked.

Dai Quan smiled and said, "You are not a child anymore, why are you crying? You will be the chief steward in a few days, so you don't have to worry about being laughed at." "I rely entirely on the support of Chief Steward Dai. No matter what I do, I am always a servant of the chief steward. I will never forget your great kindness until I die." Little Guizi smiled flatteringly.

Dai Quan laughed, feeling very pleased. At this time, Xiao Shunzi also came to report, saying that the emperor had passed away. Dai Quan also scolded him and sent him away.

Soon, two eunuchs from the imperial kitchen brought over Emperor Xifeng's midnight snack.

Xiao Guizi stopped him and asked, "What did you give me?"

"Replying to Eunuch Gui, I have made the longan and yam porridge as you ordered, along with a few side dishes."

Xiao Guizi nodded and said, "Well, give it to me, you guys go down."

"Yes."

Xiao Guizi took the tray and turned her back to Dai Quan. At the moment when the two eunuchs turned around, she had actually hidden a thumb-sized bottle in her right hand. She quickly pulled out the cork and poured a small amount of colorless and tasteless juice into the porridge.

As soon as I turned around, I saw Dai Quan coming over and asked, "Are you delivering midnight snacks? What are you making today?"

Xiao Guizi smiled and said, "I asked the imperial kitchen to prepare longan and yam porridge and a few side dishes to nourish the emperor."

Dai Quan nodded and said, "Yes, that's what you are worried about. The emperor has been working day and night these days, forgetting to eat and sleep. It's time for him to have some porridge to calm his nerves and nourish his brain."

As he said this, he looked into the porridge bowl and saw that the porridge and the nameless juice had already merged into one, without any flaws at all.

"Why are you rushing to do the work today? I never see you so focused before." Dai Quan looked up at Xiao Guizi.

Xiao Guizi knew that he had become suspicious, so she smiled and said, "To be honest, I just did something big and I have to take revenge. Although I didn't do anything, I'm hungry. I thought of taking advantage of my position and filling my stomach."

Dai Quan's suspicion was gone, and he laughed and scolded, "You bastard, you dare to take advantage of the emperor. Well, come and serve half a bowl to Xiao Guizi."

"Thank you for your kindness, Steward." Xiao Guizi smiled and handed the tray to the young eunuch, and quietly hid the small porcelain bottle in her palm.

The young eunuch scooped out half a bowl of porridge, picked out some side dishes and handed them to him.

Xiao Guizi seemed really hungry. She took the spoon, blew on it casually, and then finished half a bowl of porridge and the side dishes. She smiled and said, "This is not enough to fill my teeth. Give me another bowl." Then she handed the bowl away.

Dai Quan said with a smile, "Go, this is made for you? You are addicted to it. You want to eat the imperial meal. I will arrange for you to taste the dishes tomorrow so that you can eat as much as you want."

Xiao Guizi quickly retracted her hand and said with a smile, "I was born as a food taster, why did you do it again? Please, steward, please forgive me this time."

"Go away." Dai Quan waved his hand with a smile.

"Yes." Xiao Guizi didn't dare to go down and induce vomiting immediately, for fear that Dai Quan would become suspicious. She just smiled and retreated to stand beside the pillar.

Dai Quan looked him over and found nothing wrong, so he told the eunuch, "Put down the imperial meal and serve it again after two sticks of incense."

Although Xiao Guizi had taken life-saving drugs in advance, he still couldn't resist the fierce poison. He felt as if there was Nezha making trouble in his stomach, punching and kicking his internal organs, and tearing his intestines into pieces. The pain was so severe that he just wanted to roll over and wail, but he gritted his teeth and held it back, not making any sound, and even his expression did not change, as he remained calm, with only the hands in his sleeves trembling slightly.

Not long after, he felt a sweetness in his throat and a mouthful of blood rushed up, his mouth was full of the smell of blood. Xiao Guizi quickly pursed his lips and swallowed the poisonous blood, secretly worried that if he started to bleed from the nose, he would not be able to hide it. He just hoped that time would pass quickly and he could just endure for two incense sticks.

Suddenly, Dai Quan's voice came: "It's time to eat."

"Yes."

Xiao Guizi felt relieved, smiled with relief, leaned lightly against the pillar, and silently endured the heartbreaking pain.
-
There was no conversation along the way. Jia Cong quickly returned home with Baochai and Daiyu. Pang Chao had already been waiting in the study.

Jia Cong sent the two girls home first, then returned to the study and said, "Mr. Pang, I have made up my mind. I will rebel against you!"

Pang Chao nodded slowly and said, "It's time. Now it's either you or me. There is no way out for you and the emperor.

Since Duke Ruhai has failed in his mission, I think Your Majesty will no longer cover up and will soon attack you openly."

Jia Cong sneered and said, "Then your majesty and I have the same opinion."

Pang Chao laughed and said, "The emperor has calculated everything, but unfortunately he missed one thing. He thought your army was still in Goryeo, and the chances of winning would be great if he took the initiative now. However, he did not expect that Shuangying had already set off to return to the capital."

Jia Cong sneered, "How could he know that I have the Saker Falcon for communication? Before the advent of the telegraph, it was the fastest means of communication in the world. I could dispatch new troops from Jinzhou Guard at any time."

"What is a telegram?"

"Um... I heard that it is a sacred object from the Western Barbarians. No matter how far apart two people are, even if they are at the ends of the earth, they can transmit messages in the blink of an eye." Jia Cong explained.

Pang Chao was horrified and asked, "How could the Western barbarians have such magical means?"

Jia Cong said: "It probably isn't there now, but maybe in a hundred years or so there will be."

Pang Chao shook his head and laughed when he heard this, saying, "So it was just a joke. I was wondering how could there be such a shocking method in the world? The Western Barbarians are not gods."

Jia Cong sighed and said, "Sir, don't forget that all the sacred gods and Buddhas in the world were created by humans. Humans have infinite talents and wisdom, so it is not surprising that they will create some magical methods in the future."

Pang Chao laughed and said, "Although it is like this, it is still too shocking. I am getting off topic. When are you going to start?"

Jia Cong said: "As soon as my army arrives, we will start!"

"Master!" Suddenly Cheng Lingsu came in quickly.

Jia Cong smiled and said, "My army is coming. Don't be anxious, talk slowly."

Cheng Lingsu took a breath and said, "Sir, General Yan sent a message saying that he had disembarked at Tongzhou Wharf this evening and is rushing here."

Jia Cong nodded and said, "Okay, let's proceed according to the plan."

"There is one more thing. Hydra spies and ninjas from various places have urgently reported that many imperial guards and troops from the Infantry Commander's Office are heading towards Ningrong Street. Leading them are the great general Feng Ziying and the Nine Gates Commander Yan Jie." Cheng Lingsu said.

"It's him? What's going on?"

"He said he was here to convey a message."

Jia Cong smiled coldly and said, "Send the order, prepare the army for battle! Let Si Niang and Qiu Wei's people also prepare. Send out fireworks signals."

"Yes." (End of chapter)