The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 301 Losing

Looking at the "ceiling fan" flipping back and forth, Li Hu took a while to come back to his senses. On each horizontal beam of the main hall of Yuqing Palace, there was a three-foot square fan woven from bamboo, four in total, strung on a silk rope as thick as a little finger, and the silk rope was stuck on the red wood wheel of the horizontal beam. Several young eunuchs pinched the hanging rope ends and pulled them one by one, flipping back and forth like a "ceiling fan", fanning gusts of wind.

There are several hand-cranked fans in the distance, similar to the hand-cranked blowers in the previous life. There is also a basin of ice in front of the fans so that the wind blowing from them is cool.

Evil old society, bah, let me go back and create one too.

The prince took a sip from the tea bowl on the table beside him, put it down, and continued, "Father has approved the resignation of the Minister of Rites. Father's reaction was very calm. I suspect that the situation in the court will soon usher in a major change."

Li Hu: "What do you mean?"

The Crown Prince: "Father may break the court's personnel rules and regulations and recruit new people."

Li Hu shook his head. Recruiting new people could break the conservative habits in officialdom and contain other forces, but the risks were also considerable.

The prince suddenly remembered: "You have made a breech-loading self-fired musket."

Li Hu: “So fast?”

The prince smiled and said, "The Capital Military Equipment Bureau has gathered the best craftsmen in the world. Even if there are no drawings, as long as you explain it to them clearly, they can make it."

Li Hu smiled and nodded.

The prince sighed, "There are only two left out of the five cabinet ministers, and the other one was just appointed. Although the routine work of the various ministries is being done as usual, the official documents are no longer drafted by the Prime Minister. They have all been sent to the Shangshufang, waiting for the emperor's review."

Li Hu's eyes flashed. If time goes on for a long time and the emperor gets used to it, will he think that it doesn't matter whether there is a cabinet or not, and then abolish the cabinet?
At this time, Zhao Tong walked in with sweat all over his forehead.

Li Hu looked at him and smiled. After being beaten with twenty boards by the emperor, this traitor became much more obedient and no longer spied on the prince like before.

Zhao Tong: "Your Highness, the Imperial Study has issued an order to hold an imperial examination to select scholars, and the date is set for November this year."

Li Hu and the prince looked at each other. The emperor was going to find help for him.

Zhao Tong: "There is one more thing. General Xie Jing won a great victory. After General Xie Jing's army of more than 7,000 people crossed Wolf Mountain, they were besieged by more than 20,000 coalition forces of the Ulanqab League. The two sides fought a fierce battle at the mountain pass. In the end, our army won a great victory and the remnants of the Ulanqab League fled."

"Well done!" the prince clapped the armrest.

Li Hu frowned. Three against one, and it was an ambush, but the Mongols were defeated and retreated. Are they so useless?
Seeing Li Hu stunned, the prince asked, "What's wrong?"

Li Hu thought for a moment and said, "I'll go to the Ministry of War to take a look."

Prince: “Any questions?”

Li Hu: “It’s hard to say.”

The prince: "Go ahead. Oh, by the way, you should be more respectful to the Duke of Zhenguo, he is your elder after all."

Li Hu raised his eyebrows: "Respect is mutual."

The prince smiled bitterly and said, "Forget it, just pretend I didn't say anything."

Li Hu also laughed, chatted a few more times, and then left.

Hearing the sound of the palace door closing outside, Zhao Tong spoke again: "I just heard a piece of news that His Majesty has selected a few eunuchs who are familiar with military strategy from the Imperial Stables."

The prince looked at him.

Zhao Tong: "I am arranging people to investigate."

The prince closed his eyes.

Zhao Tong understood, bowed and retreated.

The sun has set to the west.

Li Hu walked out of the Ministry of War, and Wang Daniu, who was waiting at the door, hurriedly followed him.

As he was walking, Li Hu suddenly stopped, a confused look in his eyes. Could it be that he was just overthinking?

"Kong Qingxiang is here." Wang Daniu whispered behind Li Hu.

Li Hu looked in the direction of the voice.

Kong Qingxiang ran over with sweat all over his head.

Kong Qingxiang: "I have been keeping an eye on Qufu these days and I just heard about something."

Li Hu: "What's the matter?"

Kong Qingxiang: "The little bastard from the Mei family has become friends with Wang Ren. Not only do they go to brothels together, they also often go to casinos. I heard that Wang Ren has won a lot of money in the past few days."

Li Hu: "Oh? Is this a trap?"

Kong Qingxiang: "I don't know. I asked someone to check the gambling house, and it has nothing to do with the third prince behind the Mei family. By the way, Wang Ren went to the gambling house by himself today."

Li Hu smiled. That's right. Wang Ren will probably be harvested today and owe a large gambling debt! This is an old routine in TV dramas and novels. The real target is Wang Ziteng.

Of all the emperor's sons, only the crown prince is normal. After the death of the fourth son, the third son popped up, who is also a person who is not presentable. Hey, Wang Ren won't set his sights on the Grand View Garden, right?

Li Hu shook his head. Grandmother Jia and the eldest brother Jia didn't worry about this, so why should he worry about it? Go home.

No matter how hot the weather is, it can't stop the gamblers, and the small gambling table is packed with people.

At this time, Wang Ren's eyes were red. He ripped open the collar button at the side of his neck, then took out a silver note and shouted, "Small!" while staring at the dice tube.

The gambling house owner took away the dice tube, but it was a 66544, a big one.

"Damn it." Wang Ren cursed.

At this time, the sound of shaking dice rang out again. The gambling house owner turned his wrist and shook the dice back and forth, then put the dice on the table again: "Place your bets!" His voice was a little hoarse.

Wang Ren stared at the tube, slapped a banknote on the table and shouted, "Big!"

The shopkeeper took away the dice tube, one, one, two, two, three, but it was a small one.

"If you want small, it's big. If you want big, it's small! What the hell." Wang Ren wiped the sweat off his face and yelled, "Come again!"

The shopkeeper wiped the sweat off his face, took another sip of tea, and looked at Wang Ren: "How about this, let's just bet all the banknotes in our hands at once. Young Master Wang, don't bet on anything. I'll bet on a leopard. If it's a leopard, I win. If it's not a leopard, I win and all of Young Master Wang's banknotes will be returned. How do you think?"

Is there such a good thing? Wang Ren was slightly stunned and asked doubtfully, "Really?"

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Even if I had eight heads, I would not dare to deceive you, sir."

Hearing what he said, Wang Ren gritted his teeth and said, "Okay." Then he put down all the banknotes as collateral.

The shopkeeper picked up the tube and swept the dice on the table into it, then shook it again.

All eyes were on the shopkeeper's hands.

With a snap, the cylinder fell on the table again. The shopkeeper said, "Young Master Wang, watch out." Then he opened the cylinder.

The onlookers all gasped. They were all six points. The biggest leopard!

Wang Ren's mind buzzed: "Leopard. How is that possible?"

The shopkeeper took the banknotes on the table, took one out with a smile on his face, and handed it to Wang Ren: "Thank you, this is the money for the tea."

Wang Ren suddenly lost his composure and yelled, "You're cheating!"

The shopkeeper's face darkened: "What? Prince Wang wants to cheat!"

Wang Ren ignored him, snatched the tube and dice, and examined them carefully one by one. After looking at the last dice, a look of disappointment and confusion appeared in his eyes.

The shopkeeper snorted coldly: "Please do as you please, Young Master Wang." Then he turned and left.

"Slow down!" Wang Ren yelled.

The shopkeeper looked at him.

Wang Ren's eyes were red: "Let's gamble again!"

The shopkeeper said: "Master Wang is tired too, come back tomorrow."

Wang Ren glared: "Why, are you afraid that I will default on my debt?"

The shopkeeper: "I dare not."

Wang Ren: "Let's bet on the leopard again. If it's not a leopard, return all the banknotes to me. Bring me paper and pen!"

The shopkeeper pretended to hesitate for a moment, "This."

Wang Ren: "Why? Don't dare to gamble!"

The shopkeeper said: "Okay, I'll prepare the writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone for you!"

Everyone became excited.

Wang Ren slammed the written IOU on the table.

The cylinder started to ring again, and Wang Ren stared at the shopkeeper's hand.

The shopkeeper shook it violently, clicked the cylinder, and opened it quickly.

When everyone looked at it, they all exclaimed in amazement. It was all the same dot. Although it was a little leopard, it was indeed a leopard!

Wang Ren's face turned pale: "Impossible! Impossible!"

The shopkeeper took the IOU, folded it carefully, and put it in his arms. Then he said to Wang Ren, "Mr. Wang, you are tired today. Come back tomorrow." Then he took out another note from the banknotes and said, "Tea money."

"Let's take another gamble! Let's bet on the leopard!" Wang Ren, with red eyes, looked particularly scary at this time.

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. This guy must have lost so much!
(End of this chapter)