The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 297 What a pity

In the upper study, Emperor Yongchang sat in front of the imperial desk, looking down at the military register.

At this time, Dai Quan walked in quietly, approached the imperial desk, opened the tea bowl and took a look, then walked silently to the compartment, picked up the copper kettle, and brewed tea in front of the imperial desk.

Emperor Yongchang felt it from the corner of his eye, but without looking up, he asked, "Is the third brother gone?"

Dai Quan: “Yes.”

Emperor Yongchang slowly flipped through the pages and asked, "Not one missing?"

Dai Quan replied, "Wang Yaozu, the commander of the sentry camp of the Ruishi Camp, and 449 officers and soldiers are all here, not a single one is missing."

Emperor Yongchang: "It's really not them?"

Dai Quan: "If it were them, there would be no way there wouldn't be any casualties."

Emperor Yongchang: "What if they were wearing armor?"

Dai Quan was slightly surprised.

Emperor Yongchang snorted and flipped through the military register quickly in annoyance. Then he slammed the register shut, pressed his palm on the imperial desk, stood up, and paced back and forth quickly.

Dai Quan's heart suddenly rose, and he held his breath, but his eyes quietly followed the emperor's footsteps.

Emperor Yongchang walked back to the imperial desk and said to Dai Quan, "Check it out. There is no wall in the world that is impervious to wind. I don't believe there is no clue to be found."

Dai Quan: “Yes.”

Emperor Yongchang: "As for those unidentified corpses, please urge them to find out the truth as soon as possible."

Dai Quan: “Yes.” He bowed and walked out.

Just as Dai Quan walked out, the eunuch on duty hurried in and whispered, "Your Majesty, we checked and found that Li Hu did not leave the house yesterday."

Emperor Yongchang showed a bewildered look in his eyes: "Is it really not him?"

The chief eunuch said, "Wang Daniu said that Li Hu did not leave the house yesterday, nor did he see anyone. He could not have known Lord Zhongjing's plan to capture him."

Emperor Yongchang's eyes flashed: "Crown Prince?"

The chief eunuch was secretly frightened, and gritted his teeth and said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince has no farm property, and his salary can only maintain the daily expenses of Yuqing Palace. The medicinal food he eats is all from the Empress's own money!"

Emperor Yongchang was slightly stunned: "Is this true?"

The chief eunuch was also stunned: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty doesn't know?"

Emperor Yongchang was a little embarrassed: "Someone come!"

A eunuch in red came in response.

Emperor Yongchang: "Let Zhao Tong come over here!"

Eunuch in red: “Yes.”

Emperor Yongchang: "No need. Bring two eunuchs to execute the crime and give me twenty slaps of the board!"

Eunuch in red: “Yes.”

The eunuch regretted having spoken too much.

Emperor Yongchang began to pace back and forth rapidly, saying as he walked, "If it wasn't Li Hu, or the crown prince, then who could have done it?"

The chief eunuch pondered for a moment and replied, "Except Zhang Cheng, all the remnants of Linjiang Marquis' Mansion are dead. The other party is obviously killing people to silence them! They must be the rebels who were not discovered back then."

After a pause, he said, "Perhaps, the Fourth Prince's incident was also done by these people."

Emperor Yongchang stopped in his tracks, his eyes gleaming: "There are rebels among the nobles!"

The eunuch didn't dare to say anything.

Just then, a red-robed eunuch from the Imperial Household Department hurried in and handed a wax ball to the chief eunuch.

The chief eunuch crushed the wax ball, took out the paper ball inside and unfolded it. He was delighted and said to Emperor Yongchang: "Your Majesty, General Wang's secret report shows that Zhang Chengguo is still hiding in the south city."

Emperor Yongchang looked at him.

The chief eunuch said: "A peddler delivered a letter to the residence of the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery on behalf of Zhang Cheng. Li Hu happened to go to Heshen's banquet at Taihe Tower, and the letter fell into the hands of General Wang," and he presented the paper.

Emperor Yongchang took a look and said to the chief eunuch, "You personally take people there and bring Zhang Cheng back alive!" The chief eunuch said, "Yes."

With the war approaching, the Ministry of War is the busiest, apart from the Ministry of Revenue.

The Minister of War and Duke of Zhenguo Niu Jizon arrived at the Ministry of War early in the morning and was now sitting at his desk reading official documents.

Obviously, he was a little upset, his eyes were facing the official document, but his gaze was not on it.

Suddenly, he put his hand on the desk, stood up, walked to the door, took a deep breath, and looked into the distance with worried eyes.

At this time, a burst of hurried footsteps were heard and Niu Jizong looked over.

A sturdy man dressed as a guard walked over quickly.

Niu Jizong's eyes flashed, and the guard had already walked in front of him.

The guard looked around and whispered, "Everything has been dealt with."

Niu Jizong felt relieved when he heard this. He turned around and walked back to his chair, then continued to read the official documents.

At the same time, in the private room of Taihe Building, opposite to the duty room of the Ministry of War, Li Hu and Heshen were both a little drunk.

He Shen drank another large glass of wine in one gulp, then smiled and said to Li Hu: "General Li, don't forget to send me crabs during the Mid-Autumn Festival."

Li Hu smiled and said, "Don't worry, I will definitely let you eat fresh live crabs."

Heshen smiled and nodded, poured wine for Li Hu, and filled his own glass as well, saying, "It's too hot in the capital, we will go back to Liaodong tomorrow." Then he picked up the wine glass.

Li Hu also picked up the wine glass and they both drank.

Heshen put down his wine glass, took out an envelope from his sleeve, and said softly: "This is the location where the White Lotus treasure is hidden and the list of people that Hongzhou left for Bai Hongzhi to help him." Then he handed the envelope to Li Hu.

Li Hu took it and looked at it. "What's under this?"

He Shen: "It is a means of communication they may use."

Li Hu looked at him with a smile and said, "Aren't you afraid that I will use this to wipe out all your spies?"

He Shen smiled and said, "Put more salt and pepper, otherwise it will smell like mutton."

Li Hu was stunned at first, then he started laughing.

After laughing, Li Hu folded the envelope and put it in his arms, then said, "Hanzhong Prefecture is too large, so let's wait for Bai Hongzhi and the others to transport the treasure out for us."

He Shen smiled and said, "That's your business. I'll just sit back and wait for the money to be divided."

Li Hu suddenly remembered: "By the way, you should pay more attention to the crickets."

He Shen: "Don't worry, I'm definitely serious about making money." His eyes sparkled, "I've thought about it. Cockfighting, dogfighting, anything that can determine the winner and where you can bet on the winner, I'm going to make it a profitable business. Oh, by the way, I won't share the money with you!"

Li Hu smiled and shook his head.

He Shen picked up the wine glass and drank it in one gulp: "This money is really a good thing! Sometimes, as long as you give a little bit, black can turn into white, and even a coward can become a warrior."

At this point, he smiled proudly, "I just spit out a little bit from my teeth, and the servants around Hong Zhou and Yong Yan are willing to work for me." As he said this, he stretched out his hand to gesture.

At this moment, there was an explosion outside the window, shaking the window.

Li Hu's eyes flashed, it's done!

He Shen was startled: "Your capital city is really lively."

Li Hu: "Shengjing City will only be more lively than this in the future."

Li Hu and Heshen laughed at each other.

Li Hu stood up and said, "Let's go. It will be martial law soon."

He Shen sighed and said, "I really can't bear to let it go!"

Li Hu: "There will be plenty of opportunities in the future." After saying that, he accompanied Heshen out.

As soon as he walked down the stairs, Li Hu saw Ni Er, winked at him, and accompanied Heshen out of the restaurant.

Seeing Heshen's carriage going away, Ni Er came over and whispered something in Li Hu's ear.

Li Hu was slightly stunned. It was not Shi Ding, Marquis of Zhongjing, but someone from the Imperial Household Department. What a pity!
(End of this chapter)