The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 289 Touch

The heavy rain also splashed huge waves here.

Marquis Zhongjing Shi Ding stood at the door of the living room, staring at the endless rain in a daze.

In the rain, Bowling Marquis Shi Naifeng, wearing an oilskin, walked in in a hurry. Seeing Shi Ding's expression, he was startled at first, then walked over and asked softly, "Third brother, why did you call me here in such a hurry? Is there something important?"

Shi Ding didn't say anything either, just stared at Shi Nai.

Shi Nai felt uneasy when he was being looked at, and asked tentatively, "What happened?"

After a long while, Shi Ding spoke up: "The emperor knows."

Shi Nai was stunned for a moment, then asked, "What did you know?"

Shi Ding looked at him and said: "When working for the emperor, ability is not important, loyalty is the most important."

Shi Nai was stunned for a moment, then he understood what Shi Ding said and said, "I have always remembered what you said. I just followed your instructions. I just accepted some money and property from merchants. Oh, right, it was not just accepting, it was a transaction that was consensual between us."

At this point, he laughed and said, "I heard from those merchants that this was the idea that Li Hu came up with back then."

Shi Ding stared at him for a while, then asked again: "What's going on with Zhang Cheng?"

Zhang Cheng?

Shi Nai was stunned for a moment, then his face turned a little ugly: "Li Hu went to the emperor to complain? Zhang Cheng appeared there, I have to investigate it, right?"

Shi Ding was also stunned: "Did you check?"

Shi Nai was a little confused: "What's going on?"

Shi Ding was silent for a moment, then replied, "The emperor knows that you let Zhang Cheng go without permission. Well, I won't say anything more. You said you investigated it, how is it?"

Shi Nai: "What else can I do? I didn't find anything."

Shi Ding frowned: "Didn't find anything?"

Shi Nai: "How can my men compare with yours? They are all elites carefully selected from the border army outposts."

Shi Ding interrupted him directly: "Why didn't you tell me about such an important matter?"

Shi Nai looked a little embarrassed, "We didn't find anything, what do you want me to tell you? Besides, Li Hu is the prince's man, and he is also trusted by the emperor. I have to consider you and the Shi family!" At this point, he suddenly remembered, "Oh, four scouts from the Ruishi Camp were also found at that time. I just don't know if they were protecting Zhang Cheng or following him?"

There was a loud thunder and the rain fell even harder.

Shi Ding's eyes flashed: "Come on, follow me into the palace."

A deafening thunderous sound also rolled over the roof of the third prince's study.

The third prince paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back.

There was a bright flash of lightning, followed by a loud thunder!
The third prince turned around and walked to the desk and sat down. He picked up a pen and wrote in large letters on a piece of paper: "Grand Emperor, Prince Zhongshun, Prince Beijing".

Then, he wrote six big characters: "Infantry Commander's Office".

The four big characters "Nanzhenfusi" were also written on it.

The three big characters "White Lotus Sect" were also written on it.

Then, he wrote in large letters on the side: "Emperor, Prince, Second Son".

The third prince stared at the paper, as if he was in deep thought for a while. Then he picked up a pen and roughly drew an "X" on the word "Second".

At this moment, the butler's voice came from outside: "Your Highness, someone is coming."

The Third Prince put down his pen, tore the paper into pieces and threw them into the basin, then spoke: "Come in."

The door curtain was lifted, and a man walked in. He was wearing a black satin cloak with a hood. The third prince looked at him.

The man dragged a chair over and sat down opposite him, taking off the hood on his head. It turned out to be the elderly steward who had never appeared, Bai Hongzhi's old servant.

The old steward took out a letter from his bosom and said to the Third Prince, "Third Prince, this is a letter from our Young Master Sun."

The Third Prince looked at him, then took the letter, tore it open and read it, saying, "You write a letter every two or three days. Isn't your young master afraid of being discovered by the Jurchens?"

The old steward smiled and said, "Money makes the world go round. Your Highness has never been to Liaodong, so he doesn't know the lives of the lower classes. Not to mention the ordinary Han people, even the bondservants of the Eight Banners nobles live in poverty, which is very different from the extravagant lives of the Jurchens."

After a pause, he said, "Not even as good as the people in the suburbs of Beijing."

After reading the letter, the third prince smiled and said, "Dashun will recover Liaodong sooner or later, and when the time comes, all those Tartars will be demoted to lowly households, and they will be slaves for generations to come."

The elderly steward smiled and said nothing.

The third prince shook the letter in his hand: "This is full of nonsense!"

The old steward laughed: "You can't eat hot tofu in a hurry, don't be anxious, Third Prince!"

The third prince's face turned cold: "You are too insincere!"

The old steward was not at all shy, and said with a smile on his face: "It's meaningless to say it now, but I can guarantee that on the day the news is announced, His Highness will see a completely new situation. In addition, His Highness knows too much and is easily confused." At this point, he sneered in his heart. Now it is basically certain that Shui Rong is the mysterious descendant of the Ming Dynasty. When the critical moment of the summer flood comes, once Shui Rong's identity is announced, he will have no choice but to rebel! At that time, use the remnants of the Qinglong Hall to destroy the Yellow River embankment. Once the flood rushes, hundreds of thousands of victims will be affected, and the entire Central Plains will be in chaos!

Thinking of this, he sighed again. Although it was a bit cruel, only in this way could his young master have a chance to turn the tables and the White Lotus Sect get rid of Shui Rong's control. He could take advantage of this opportunity, while the court's attention was focused on the Central Plains, and then use the Jurchen Tartars to take out the property, gather the fleeing victims, and raise a group of people in the Central Plains to complete the grand plan of changing the dynasty!
Thinking of this, the old steward's eyes sparkled.

The third prince had seen it, and a hint of doubt flashed across his eyes.

The old steward came to his senses and said to the third prince, "Tell the third prince a message to keep a distance from the Zhen family to avoid being implicated." Then he stood up and said, "The rain has stopped. It's time for me to go." While putting on his hood, he said, "In order to avoid being noticed by the emperor's people, I won't be here for the next month." After that, he turned and walked out.

A cold light flashed in the eyes of the third prince, and he cursed inwardly: "You old fool, half a year ago you two were just my lapdogs, and now you dare to look at me. Wait until I have time, and I will make sure you die without a burial place!"
The third prince shouted, "Someone come!"

The butler came in in response.

The Third Prince: "Send more people to Henan and keep Shui Rong under surveillance."

Butler: "Yes."

The Third Prince: "And the Prince of Beijing's Palace."

The sound of wind and rain died down.

Lin Daiyu had the habit of taking a nap, and after accompanying Li Hu in the garden for a while, she fell asleep on the couch.

At this time, Li Hu walked in from the outer room, smiled at the sleeping Lin Daiyu, walked to the couch, and gently covered Lin Daiyu with the thin quilt on the couch.

Seeing the sweet smile on Lin Daiyu's face, Li Hu couldn't help but kiss her on the forehead. Lin Daiyu was disturbed in her sleep, snorted in dissatisfaction, and then turned over and faced inward.

Li Hu was stunned. Pretending to sleep?
Suddenly a beam of light shone in, and Li Hu looked and saw that it was amber.

Li Hu tidied the quilt for Lin Daiyu and then went out.

Lin Daiyu turned over, glanced at the still swaying door curtain, smiled and closed her eyes.

Outside, Amber handed a wax ball to Li Hu.

Li Hu crushed the wax ball and unfolded the small piece of paper inside. His face immediately darkened when he saw it. Then he clenched the paper and found out that the emperor had asked Shi Ding, the Marquis of Zhongjing, to investigate Zhang Cheng!

Is he planning to set the fire on himself?! Since he can't avoid it, he might as well touch it!

Thinking of this, a fierce light flashed in Li Hu's eyes and he strode out.

(End of this chapter)