Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 442: The World is in a Trap

September 5th, at 5 p.m.

Jinling, Rongyufang, Zhen’s House.

Zhen Fangqing heard from Liu Xian's family that a girl wanted to see her, saying that she had brought a letter on behalf of Jia Cong, and was waiting in Xuanhe Hall outside the second gate.

Zhen Fangqing was surprised when she heard this. If Jia Cong wanted to see her, he could just come to her house. Why did he send a girl to deliver the letter?

Ever since the eldest master wrote a letter to the old empress dowager in the palace, trying to arrange a marriage between Jia Cong and himself.

The shadow of Jia Cong kept lingering in her mind, and her heart was in turmoil.

With the old empress dowager's prestige and status in the palace, if she wants to make this happen, I'm afraid even the emperor would find it difficult to object, and this marriage will most likely go through.

While Zhen Fangqing was happy, he also had deep concerns.

Because she knew clearly that Jia Cong's third brother from the first house was suspected of being involved in the private manufacture of firearms and was implicitly standing on the opposite side of the Zhen family.

He was the first person to propose firearms in the Great Zhou Dynasty. With such a gap between them, would he still accept me?
No one else in the Zhen family knew about this matter except her, which made her even more worried.

Ever since they first met at the Jia family's old house that day, Jia Cong's outstanding demeanor and conversation left an impression in her heart.

In addition, her family was keen on getting her and Jia Cong married. Although she understood the reason, they were just using her as a bargaining chip to allow the Zhen and Jia families to form an alliance through marriage.

Among them was the second brother-in-law, whom Zhen Fangqing disliked, who fanned the flames to realize his own plan.

Even though the process and planning involved made Zhen Fangqing feel genuinely unhappy, she was happy to see that things were finally accomplished.

Now, Zhen Fangqing and Jia Cong are in an ambiguous relationship, and she is very clear that she has fallen in love with Jia Cong.

Therefore, Jia Cong's weight in her heart grew day by day.

Since he specially sent someone to deliver the letter, she must want to see him.

……

She said to Liu Xianjia: "Since she is a girl, please invite her to the inner courtyard to serve tea and meet her."

After a while, Zhen Fangqing saw Liu Xian's family bringing people in.

She was a little girl of about thirteen or fourteen years old. She wore a pink embroidered vest on the upper body, soft silk bloomers on the lower body, a pleated skirt tied around her slim waist, and light green embroidered shoes on her feet.

Although the little girl is not very old, she is bright and beautiful, with a fair and rosy face, a slim and flexible figure, and the charm of a young girl.

Zhen Fangqing's eyes lit up when she saw this. Such a lovely girl was rare. She was no less lovely than Lingguan, who was beside Jia Cong.

The little girl bowed to her and said, "Baozhu greets the Third Miss. I am here to deliver a letter on behalf of Brother Cong."

Zhen Fangqing felt a little strange about addressing the girl as Brother Cong, and was also somewhat curious about the relationship between this little girl and Jia Cong.

She opened the letter and found that the handsome and elegant calligraphy on it was indeed written by Jia Cong himself. However, after reading the content of the letter, Zhen Fangqing was slightly shocked.

……

When Zou Min'er handed the deposit slip to Jia Cong, they both concluded that the thing that Zou Huaiyi hid so secretly could not be a pile of gold and silver.

Rather, it was some kind of basis for him to protect himself and survive in the world. After all, he had done such a sinister and gloomy thing, it was impossible for him not to leave a way out for himself.

When Shui Luosha tried to assassinate Zou Min'er, he specifically asked her for the secret files and accounts of the Water Inspectorate, which reminded her and Jia Cong.

Both of them inferred that the contents of this storage file were most likely the secret account of the Water Conservancy Bureau kept by Zou Huaiyi.

However, the items on the deposit file had been contracted with Sihai Money House and must be signed and collected in person by the depositor. The person who filed the file was Zou Min'er's mother.

However, when the Zou family was confiscated, the women of the Zou family were demoted to the Jiaofangsi.
Mrs. Zou died in prison due to excessive grief and anger. The file keeper passed away, and according to the contract of Sihai Money House, the deposit file became a dead file. Even though Zou Min'er was the daughter of the file keeper, she could not collect it.

At the beginning, Jia Cong had thought about getting this storage file through Zhen Fangqing.

Because Sihai Money House was the property of the Zhen family, Zhen Fangqing, as the person in charge of the Zhen family's business, could retrieve the deposited files with just a little flexibility.

However, Jia Cong was concerned that the Zhen family was involved in the private manufacture of firearms and might be involved in the theft of muskets in Liaodong. Once the matter was confirmed and the incident occurred, the Zhen family would have violated Emperor Jia Zhao's taboo!

Therefore, he was somewhat worried about becoming more involved with the Zhen family.

By chance, Lingguan saw Zhou Zhengyang's portrait and recognized that the person Luo Xiong brought with him to watch a play in Jinbi Garden in Suzhou that day was Zhou Zhengyang.

Jia Cong was anxious to go to Gusu to arrest Zhou Zhengyang, so he temporarily put the matter of the storage files on hold.

……

However, before leaving for Gusu, after careful consideration, he decided to leave a letter for Zhen Fangqing in advance.

Because he considered that once Zhou Zhengyang was caught, he would have an important witness, and the follow-up of the major case of the Water Supervision Bureau that had been lingering for many years would basically be decided.

In order to make this a solid case and root out the corruption, we must collect more physical evidence.

If the storage files left by Zou Huaiyi are the secret accounts of the Water Inspectorate at that time, they would be the most important physical evidence.

He handed the letter to Qin Keqing and told her the whole story. If she received a message from him via Feiyu Chuan from Suzhou, she should deliver the letter to Zhen Fangqing and retrieve the stored files as soon as possible.

As long as he captures Zhou Zhengyang in Gusu, he can ask Zhen Fangqing for help, which will make him appear to be acting in a righteous manner, rather than having a personal relationship with the Zhen family. This will be the best way for both himself and others.

Even retrieving the storage files through Zhen Fangqing was at least a good deed for her, in case the Zhen family was really involved in the private manufacture of firearms and suffered a catastrophic disaster.

With this incident, Zhen Fangqing may have more room for maneuver.

Although Jia Cong and Zhen Fangqing had only known each other for a short time, he still had some admiration and sympathy for this girl who was more capable than any man.

……

Last night he led his men to sneak into Geng's house and finally captured Zhou Zhengyang in one fell swoop. He then released Feiyu to send a message to Jinling.

Gusu is not far from Jinling, and the messenger Feiyu only took half a day to deliver the message to the Jinling Xinchunhao Mail Station. After Keqing received the news, she asked Baozhu to deliver the letter to Zhen Mansion.

Although Baozhu was young, she had been smart and quick-witted since she was young. Two years ago, when she was only a little girl, she was able to lure Keqing out of the Qin Mansion on her own.

Keqing asked her to deliver the letter because she knew that although she was young, she was quick-witted and responsive, and was not at all vague.

After all, Zhen Fangqing is a woman, and it would be inconvenient to let a male servant come over.

Baozhu saw Zhen Fangqing thinking for a moment after reading the letter, and her big eyes began to roll around.

He blurted out, "Regarding what Brother Cong wrote in the letter, please help the Third Miss. Brother Cong said that he would be extremely grateful and would definitely accept the Third Miss's kindness."

Zhen Fangqing smiled slightly and asked with interest: "If your brother Cong really said that to you, why didn't he come to see me himself, but asked you to deliver the letter?"

Baozhu said without hesitation: "Of course, he told me personally that Brother Cong is a man who keeps his promises. I know it best. He couldn't come in person, so he went to Gusu to do some work."

Zhen Fangqing was very smart. Even though she had not known Jia Cong for a long time, she knew that he was a thoughtful and cautious person who would not easily promise anything. Could it be that this little girl was just making things up... ?
However, Jia Cong was serious and wrote a letter to ask for help, so she would never refuse. She said, "Since what Yu Zhang said involves important national affairs, the Zhen family will help even if it means breaking some rules."

Baozhu's bright eyes smiled like a crescent moon and she said, "Thank you, Third Miss!"

……

Suzhou, Xichang Gate.

As usual, there was a constant stream of people entering and leaving the city gate in various ways.

Xichang Gate leads west out of the city to major cities along the river. It is the most popular city gate among the four gates of Gusu.

Zhang Wu and Jiang Xiaoliu were driving a horse-drawn carriage loaded with vegetables, fruits and other things. Five or six men carrying loads were following slowly behind the carriage.

They were the last group of people Jia Cong left behind in the city to cover the retreat.

When they passed through the Xichang Gate, the gatekeeper took a few fragrant pears from the cart, chewed them until the juice flowed out of his mouth, then waved his hand and let them leave the city.

Just when they had walked less than a hundred steps out of the city, they heard noisy footsteps and thundering horse hooves behind them.

Looking back from afar, a large number of guards infantry and cavalry poured out of Xichang Gate, with a fierce and murderous look.

The guards at the city gate shouted loudly: "Pirates and Japanese pirates have appeared in the city. The military command of the Guard Command Office has issued an order to close all four gates and search for the bandits. No one is allowed to enter or leave!"

Zhang Wu and Jiang Xiaoliu looked at each other and their faces changed. If they had been a step slower, they would have been trapped in the city.

At this time, a general in helmet and armor, leading a large number of guards infantry and cavalry, marched out of the city and chased to the west.

All the guards leaving the city were dressed in bright armor and well-equipped, and some even had heavily-armored crossbowmen.

Jiang Xiaoliu saw a large group of guards sweeping past him with a cloud of dust. The general leading the group was described as majestic. It was Luo Xiong, the commander of Suzhou Guard. Yu Xiuzhu said, "My Lord guessed it right. Luo Xiong really led his troops to pursue the enemy personally.

The guards left their garrison without orders, isn't he afraid of being accused of treason? "

Yu Xiuzhu and Jiang Xiaoliu both served in the Fifth Army Camp for several years and followed Jia Cong in the battles in Liaodong, so they naturally knew the rules and taboos of the army.

Jiang Xiaoliu said: "The fact that he hid Zhou Zhengyang shows that he is deeply involved in the Water Conservancy Bureau case. He is just struggling to survive and making a desperate attempt.

Even if he caught up with the Third Master, what would be the use? The Third Master used himself as bait to trick him. Zhou Zhengyang was transported out of the city by another route last night... "

……

On the official road to the west of Gusu City, a large number of guards were marching rapidly, their footsteps like thunder and the sound of horse hooves.

More than a dozen scout cavalrymen galloped several miles away from the brigade to investigate the enemy's movements and guide the direction of advance for the entire guard brigade.

Scouts kept coming back to report on the situation ahead, and the atmosphere seemed bleak and depressing.

"Sir, there are a lot of messy horse and cart hoof prints in the first half mile of the road, and the distances between them are different. It should be that after leaving the city, the thieves entered in different ways, and the roads were not consistent."

"Sir, two miles from the city, all the hoof prints gradually merged into a stream. The bandits must have joined together and fled west and northwest."

"Sir, four miles from the city, there are a lot of hoof prints along the road. If we follow the traces of carriages and horses along the road, we will definitely catch up with the thieves..."

Luo Xiong, commander of Suzhou Guard, was dressed in armor and rode at the head of the team. Behind him were more than two hundred guard cavalrymen, fifty crossbowmen and more than three hundred infantrymen.

This time, Luo Xiong dispatched 500 elite soldiers from Suzhou Guard to chase the thieves who abducted Zhou Zhengyang. The battle was quite large.

He learned from the official documents of Wu County Court that there were more than a hundred people who sneaked into Geng’s house last night to capture Zhou Zhengyang, but the exact number was unknown.

But according to the confessions of Geng's servants, only a few dozen of them carried muskets.

Although dozens of muskets had caused a certain degree of lethality, they were still far from being irresistible.

Luo Xiong led five hundred elite guards in pursuit, having the advantage in numbers and military strength.

In order to deal with these dozens of muskets, he even mobilized fifty crossbowmen from the guards.

In short-range confrontations, the power of a repeating crossbow that does not require a bow or arrow is close to that of a musket.

However, if you retreat fifty steps, the power of the handheld crossbow will be greatly reduced, but the musket is still within the optimal range.

Luo Xiong was very confident that as long as he could chase down this group of people, he would be able to turn the tide and take Zhou Zhengyang back.

Moreover, he had made up his mind that as long as Zhou Zhengyang fell into his hands again, he would not let him live beyond tomorrow.

This time Zhou Zhengyang fell into the hands of others, which gave him a strong sense of crisis. Even if Zhou Zhengyang had a backup plan to fight back, he didn't care.

A captain beside him asked, "Sir, if we catch up with the bandits, should we surround and capture them, or charge and kill them?"

Luo Xiong said coldly: "These pirates who came ashore wanted to cause chaos in the city this time. Although they have temporarily fled the city, they will definitely come back again.

There is no need to tolerate such bandit troubles. If you encounter them, kill them without mercy and leave no one alive!"

The centurion only vaguely heard that a large number of strong men appeared on Yanhua Street in the city yesterday, but he was not sure whether they were pirates or Japanese pirates.

That's why he asked this question just now. Since the commander-in-chief said yes, then so be it. It's okay for the superiors to worry about such matters. They are just following orders.

The commander said that these people should be killed without mercy, so just kill them all. This is not the first time that Suzhou Wei has done such a thing...

……

The five hundred guards marched for nearly two hours along the route discovered by the scouts, following the horse hoof ruts along the way.

About four or five hundred steps ahead, there was an intersection sandwiched between mountains.

The road near the Jiashan intersection is rugged and rugged, surrounded by dense woods, and there is no human trace, making it seem extremely empty and quiet.

The western sky began to be filled with red sunset glow and bright red clouds, which had an enchanting beauty, as if the sky was covered with blood...

A scout who had gone forward to explore the way came back quickly, holding something like a cloth belt in his hand.

He said to Luo Xiong, "Sir, we found a piece of cloth in the bushes ahead. It has the smell of gold wound ointment. It should be a piece of bandage. There are words written on it."

Injuries often occur in the army whether in combat or in routine training, so all soldiers are very familiar with the smell of this golden plaster.

Luo Xiong took the bandage and saw from the broken end that it was torn off temporarily by someone, and there was a word "Yang" written on it with charcoal.

He took out a note from the rice cake shop clerk, on which the words "Zhengyang was captured" were also written with charcoal, and the handwriting of the two characters "Yang" was exactly the same.

Luo Xiong smiled proudly: "The bandits must be nearby. The terrain here is rugged and uneven, which is not conducive to the horses charging. The cavalry will dismount and wait, and the scouts will walk and explore again!"

After a while, the scout reported back: "Sir, there is a forest behind the Jiashan Road ahead. More than a hundred people are resting inside, and there are seven or eight carriages.

They set up two sentries at the edge of the woods, and for fear of alerting the other side, I didn't dare to get too close.

I only vaguely saw five people wearing hoods and being detained, and the rest were equipped with single swords, no armor, and more than 20 muskets. "

Luo Xiong was overjoyed. The situation reported by the scouts was almost exactly the same as what was stated in the official document from the Wu County government. The five detained men with hoods on their heads were Zhou Zhengyang and his subordinates.

"Infantry in front, crossbowmen in support, cavalry in the rear, spread out and surround the woods. If anyone resists, kill them without mercy!"

……

In the woods behind the Jiashan intersection, more than a hundred people were resting in the camp, and there were seven or eight horse-drawn carriages parked there.

Chen Kuishan in the crowd looked frightened and fidgety.

Before entering the woods, he took advantage of others' inattention, tore off a piece of bandage from his leg and threw it on the side of the road as a mark.

But after entering the woods, he felt that something was wrong. Suddenly, three people followed him closely, with unfriendly expressions and behaviors, and forbad him to move around freely.

The young leader, along with dozens of his subordinates, left the woods and went to an unknown place.

Chen Kuishan has become keenly aware that the whole thing is not what he imagined...

He thought of the note he had someone send to the Guard Command Headquarters, and the bandage he had dropped before entering the woods. He had a vague sense that he had fallen into someone's trap.

……

Chen Kuishan was a secret agent planted by the China Railway Corps in Jinling Guard. When he approached Zhou Zhengyang and gained his trust, he was just following orders.

Zhou Zhengyang worked through the Water Monitoring Bureau, and the offshore materials he handled were astonishing.

He didn't know Chen Kuishan's identity, but he really regarded him as his confidant.

Over the years, he gave Chen Kuishan a lot of houses, women, gold and silver, and promoted him to be a captain of Jinling Guard.

Faced with the official position and huge wealth, Chen Kuishan gradually became corrupted and changed from just following orders to actually doing it.

The benefits he received in the past few years have long caused him to be entangled with Zhou Zhengyang, and his family's background has long been unable to be cleaned up.

As long as something happens to Zhou Zhengyang, he will definitely not be able to escape. The rules of the CRRC Corporation Limited are very strict. As long as things go wrong, he will be living a life worse than death.

Therefore, in recent years, he knew a lot of inside information about the big case of the Water Supervision Bureau, but he did not report it to the China Railway Corporation at all, so as not to implicate himself.

When Zhou Zhengyang was exposed, he had no choice but to take him away with him.

……

He suddenly thought of the young man who was leading the group, whose identity he still didn't know.

The young man was handsome and outstanding. Every time he met him, he had a gentle and kind smile on his face and called him Mr. Chen.

It seemed that he had great respect and admiration for this spy from the Imperial Chariot Division who had infiltrated Jinling Guard.

But since entering the woods, he realized that all this was just an illusion.

Recalling that young man's handsome and graceful demeanor, his charming and harmless smile, now seemed to reveal an indescribable sinisterness, full of confusion and danger that made him shudder.

At this moment, a large number of people and horses suddenly appeared at the mountain pass ahead and quickly swept towards the woods.

The crowd in the woods became agitated, and Chen Kuishan's heart, which had seemed as dead as ashes, once again rekindled the flame of hope.

(End of this chapter)