Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 312: Surrender of Prisoners Shocks the Four Nations

Rongguo Mansion, Qingzhizhai.

In the main hall, her skirt fluttered, her shadow was graceful, and her smile was as sweet as a silver bell.

Qingzhizhai, which had been silent for half a year, seemed to have suddenly regained its vitality and vigor.

Four or five maids came in from outside the second gate, carrying four or five large wooden boxes, and entered Qingzhizhai one by one.

These are the luggage that Jia Cong brought back from Liaodong, and most of them are various specialties of Liaodong.

Qingwen was filled with joy as she instructed the maid to put things away. Wu'er took a large copper coin from the silver box and poured wine for the maid who was carrying the luggage.

Since hearing yesterday that Jia Cong had returned to the capital, the girls in Qingzhizhai had not slept well for half the night.

Zhishao, Wu'er and Yinglian got up before dawn and woke up the sleepy Qingwen.

Several people brought a little maid and cleaned Qingzhizhai inside and out, making it look as clean as new.

However, Jia Cong had a lot of things to do that day, and he was nowhere to be seen after noon, and everyone was a little anxious.

It was not until after noon that Jia Cong returned from Tanchun's room after talking with his sisters for a long time.

In the main room, Zhishao was changing Jia Cong's outer clothes into casual clothes and soft shoes. She looked at him with her beautiful eyes, full of tender attachment and smile.

A slender and delicate figure was circling around them. She was wearing a magenta printed double-breasted jacket, a light pink long skirt, and a red gold necklace around her neck.

Her complexion was as smooth as snow, with a rouge mole between her eyebrows, and her eyes were bright and shining. Her words were full of regret and heartache: "Master, you have become darker and thinner."

In the entire Qingzhizhai, everyone else called Jia Cong "Third Master", except Yinglian, who got used to calling him "Young Master" when she first met him in Jinling, and never changed her name afterwards.

Jia Cong laughed and said, "In Liaodong, the food is not as good as at home. The sun is strong and the snow is heavy. If there is any light, it will be bright at night. It would be strange if you are not dark and thin."

Qingwen came in at that moment and said with a smile, "It's okay for the master to be a little darker and thinner. Ask Wu'er to prepare some soup for him. He will be back soon after he recovers. Our Third Master will look good no matter what."

Wu Er joked, "You are the only one who has no shame. You are thinking about the beauty of the Third Master every day. You are almost getting stye."

Qingwen blushed and fought back bluntly: "You are not ashamed. I even called you Third Master in my dream last night."

Wu'er's face turned red as a cloth. He rushed forward and the two of them hugged each other and laughed. Qingwen was most afraid of being tickled, so she was so tickled by Wu'er that she kept begging for mercy.

Yinglian was jealous, but she hadn't decided who to help.

Zhishao just smiled with her lips pursed aside, but she saw that although Jia Cong had a smile on his face, his brows were slightly furrowed, as if something was on his mind.

He asked with some concern: "You came back safely and made military achievements. People in the mansion said that you will be promoted to a higher position. What else is there to be dissatisfied about?"

Jia Cong smiled at her and said, "It's not a big deal. I can handle it. I made you drift to the south of the Yangtze River. I will never let anyone around me suffer again."

What he said about Yingchun's marriage in Tanchun's room just now surprised all the sisters present.

But they all knew that Jia Cong and Yingchun had a deep sister-brother relationship, so Jia Cong must have his reasons for saying such things.

Yingchun was already afraid of this hasty marriage.

But she didn't know why Jia Cong was so disgusted with this marriage.

But Jia Cong was her most trusted and valued brother, and her greatest support, so Yingchun naturally believed everything he said.

With her closest brother making the decision for her, Yingchun's discomfort and fear that had been hidden in her heart for many days suddenly disappeared, and she felt relieved.

Jia Cong found out that the two families had already gone through the process of accepting marriage proposals and asking for marriage names, and had exchanged engagement letters. The Sun family had already offered the betrothal gifts at the end of May, and now all that was left for both parties to do was to agree on a wedding date.

It is said that the official matchmaker came to the door in early May, and all the arrangements for the marriage were done so tightly. It is said that Sun Shaozu was even eager, and Jia She was also very willing to enter into this marriage.

Even if Jia Zheng said a few inappropriate words, it would be of no avail, after all, Yingchun was the daughter of the eldest wife.

In fact, from the perspective of etiquette, Yingchun is already the daughter-in-law of the Sun family, but she has not yet been married.

But as long as he hadn't married into the family yet, everything was still in time for Jia Cong. He knew what kind of person Sun Shaozu was, so he would naturally never let what happened later happen.

Given his generational status, it would be useless to oppose this marriage to Lady Jia or Jia She. Children's marriage is decided by their parents, and as a brother, he has no right to speak out.

He could only use his own method, even if he had to use extreme means, he would never let Yingchun die.

……

The sixteenth year of Jiazhao, the sixth day of the sixth month.

A captive presentation ceremony will be held at the Meridian Gate today, and sacrifices will be offered to heaven at the Wentian Pavilion in Kunyang Palace to show the ancestors of heaven and earth, and burn incense to report the achievements of pacifying the barbarians and expanding the territory!
The morning light in the east was dim, and in the main room of Qingzhizhai, people were busy shuttling back and forth. Zhishao and Wu'er were helping Jia Cong dress in his official uniform, but it was not the green robe of a fifth-rank civil official, but the ceremonial armor of a fifth-rank general, which was sent by the Ministry of Personnel yesterday.

He made the greatest contribution in the great victory of Yafu, and Jia Cong was promoted to the rank of fifth-grade Wuding general, and his civil service rank was also promoted to the rank of fifth.

Since he was the main meritorious general in the prisoner presentation ceremony today, he naturally had to wear the armor of a fifth-rank general.

After you have finished dressing and packing, leave the inner courtyard, pass through the second gate, and go out through the ceremonial gate.

Along the way, countless people from the Jia family saw him in his military uniform, looking so brilliant and heroic, with burning and envious eyes.
The news has now spread throughout the mansion that Third Master Cong has achieved the first victory in the battle of Liaodong, and today he will go to the Meridian Gate to present the prisoners to the Emperor.

After the ceremony of presenting prisoners, the palace will lavishly reward the heroes of this battle. As the chief contributor, Master Cong Sanye will surely receive the most eye-catching reward.

The bastard who was despised in the East Courtyard, and the Qingzhizhai that was lonely and isolated in the northwest corner of the Rongguo Mansion.

In the eyes of many people, he is an outlier in the Rongguo Mansion.

No one had ever thought that the people in that yard would reach this point today.

When maids from the West Mansion, such as Wu'er and Qingwen, were sent to serve Jia Cong, they were ridiculed and mocked by many people.

But over the past few years, all the maids in the garden were jealous of them, as they had picked up such a reliable and powerful master for free.

Many people in Rongguo Mansion realized that things in the mansion might change in a few days.

……

The palace of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the Meridian Gate.

One thousand elite ceremonial cavalrymen from the Five Armies, in bright armor, lined up under the Meridian Gate Tower, looking high in spirits, with their armor shining brightly and their swords and spears sharp as snow.

Two thousand imperial guards started to line up on both sides of the imperial road outside the Meridian Gate and extended all the way to the bottom of the Meridian Gate tower.

Five hundred Jinyiwei banner officers held high the five-colored imperial flag with coiled dragon on it, which fluttered in the wind, as if it was about to roll up the clouds in the sky. The flags and pennants fluttered, and the sound was majestic and impressive.

All civil and military officials below the third rank were standing at the foot of the Meridian Gate Tower, arranged in rows according to their rank. At a glance, the neat and dense red and green colors were all there, which was quite a spectacular sight.

Following the officials in line came the envoys from various countries, dressed in gorgeous clothes, with different facial features and demeanors, all of whom were ordered to observe the Great Zhou's prisoner submission ceremony.

Among these envoys, there are too many to count, such as Brut, Kazakhstan, Khotan, Goryeo, Japan, Luzon, Ryukyu, Annan, Siam, Sura, etc.

Emperor Jiazhao held such a grand ceremony of presenting captives.

One is to show the great military achievements of the Jiazhao Dynasty in defeating the Jurchens.

The second was to demonstrate the country's strength to the neighboring barbarian countries and show off the military's prestige.

Among these envoys who observed the ceremony of surrendering prisoners, such as Korea, Japan, Annan, Siam, etc., they have often had disputes and procrastination with the Great Zhou in recent years.

On the top of the Meridian Gate Tower, the emperor sat in the middle, with the heads of various departments and important ministers above the third rank sitting on his left and right.

Under the yellow silk umbrella, Emperor Jiazhao wore a black gauze winged hat, a bright yellow dragon robe, a nine-layer jade belt with coiled dragons around his waist, and emperor-of-the-sky boots.

He looked down at the city wall, and saw hundreds of imperial guards wearing blue brocade robes, black gauze crowns, with embroidered spring swords hanging from their waists, escorting more than a hundred prisoners forward in a formation.

Before entering the venue, these Jurchen captives were washed and dressed to maintain the appearance of the ceremony.

Although after the captive surrender ceremony, according to the regulations, Li Manzhu and other surviving Jurchen generals were ordered to be beheaded and sacrificed to the heaven...

The three generals at the front of the team rode their horses towards the Meridian Gate Tower.

The young general in the center has a tall and straight figure, bright silver armor, and handsome and heroic eyes.

The three riders ran to the foot of the city wall, dismounted and saluted, and Jia Cong held high the document presenting the captives.

A clear and high-pitched voice rang out from under the city wall:
"We, the ministers, have followed the king's orders to suppress the Jurchens in the Nine Borders and Liaodong. We have fought many battles and traveled thousands of miles, killing the savages, killing the brave, comforting the people, and demonstrating the might of the army."

"We present the captive Jurchen bandit chieftain Li Manzhu and his 103 companions to congratulate our emperor on his illustrious virtue and military achievements, and to wish the Great Zhou a long and prosperous future!"

As soon as Jia Cong finished speaking, the elite cavalry of the five armies and the infantry of the imperial guards lined up in the Meridian Gate Square shouted almost in unison.

Congratulations to our emperor for his illustrious virtue and military achievements, and may the Great Zhou’s territory remain peaceful and prosperous forever…

Thousands of elite warriors repeated the words in unison, the sound field roared and shook the sky!

Civil and military officials were excited and shouted "Long live the emperor!"
The envoys from all over the world who were watching the ceremony were trembling in fear!
(End of this chapter)