The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 302 July
After reading the two IOUs, the third prince's eyes flashed with light.

Mr. Mei said excitedly: "Having lost so much money, Wang Ren definitely won't dare to tell Wang Ziteng. If he can't come up with the money in half a month, let's see what he will do!"

The third prince glanced at him and said nothing.

Mr. Mei's eyes rolled around: "This amount of money is not much, it is not enough to control Wang Ren. He will definitely not dare to go to the casino again. We have to think of a way."

The third prince shook his head. "Gamblers never admit defeat. If they lose once, they will double their money and gamble again. They will not stop until they win back. Moreover, Wang Ren owes a huge gambling debt. He will definitely find a way to get some money and then come back to win back all his losses."

Master Mei understood and said with a smile, "Don't worry, Your Highness. I will definitely ask Wang Ren to write two more IOUs."

The Third Prince shook his head again: "Let him win."

Mr. Mei was puzzled.

The third prince smiled and said, "Only if you win can you bet on a bigger one."

Master Mei was secretly shocked. This was a plan to put Wang Ren into an irretrievable situation!

At this moment, the butler came in, walked to the side of the Third Prince, and whispered: "Your Highness, I just heard that the one in Fengzao Palace gave birth in the next two days."

After hearing this, the Third Prince was stunned for a while, and suddenly asked, "Is there any news from Kaifeng?"

Butler: "No news yet."

The Third Prince frowned and said, "Have someone keep an eye on the man named Bai."

The housekeeper said, "Don't worry, Your Highness. The boy's leg is not healed yet, so he can't run away."

The Third Prince nodded and continued, "And there is Fengzao Palace."

Butler: "Yes."

In the blink of an eye, it was the middle of the seventh lunar month. There had been no wind in the capital city for several days since the beginning of the dog days, but a breeze blew at dusk that day. Li Hu opened all the doors and windows. The wind passed through the open window opposite and blew up the gauze dress of Amber who was tidying up her desk.

Amber cleaned up the desk and washed her hands in the copper basin beside her. As she wiped her hands, she said, "The wind has finally started. It will definitely rain in the next two days." She picked up the short coat from the chair and helped Li Hu put it on. She called out to the outside, "Xiangling, Xiangling~"

"What do you want to talk to me about, sister?" Xiangling ran in like a gust of wind.

Amber picked up a whisk and handed it to her: "Stand next to the Second Master, and don't let the flying insects from outside fly in." Then she walked out.

Xiangling said "hmm", and walked cheerfully to Li Hu with her whisk in hand. She drove away the mosquitoes and said with a smile, "It's finally going to be cool."

Li Hu looked at her and asked: "How do you manage to be so happy every day?"

Xiangling: "Why are you unhappy?"

Li Hu was stunned for a moment. Does this seem to be correct?
At this time, Amber came in with a jade incense burner burning Lily Palace Incense, and said with a smile: "The weather is cooler now, and the Second Master can go to the Young Lady's Courtyard to eat again."

Li Hu smiled and said that there was nothing wrong with what he said.

The wind picked up, bringing a cool breeze to my body.

"There are clouds in the sky!" Xiangling shouted in surprise.

Amber's eyes lit up as well.

Li Hu raised his head and saw large dark clouds rolling in from the sky.

The wind suddenly grew stronger and blew in with a sharp whistle. The gauze curtains by the window were blown up, and the windows and doors were rattling due to the wind.

Xiangling subconsciously tried to grab the gauze curtain, but the wind was too strong and she stumbled and fell to the ground.

Li Hu smiled and said, "You are too thin. You should eat more in the future. It would be better if you were like your sister Amber. Otherwise, you won't get anything you want, and it will hurt your hands."

Both of them blushed after hearing this.

Li Hu was just about to reach out and pull Xiangling up when Xueyan's scream suddenly came from outside the yard.

Following the sound, I saw Lin Daiyu and Xueyan floating in like being blown by the strong wind.

"Be careful!" Li Hufei also ran out.

The wind was too strong and there was a draft in the hall. Lin Daiyu felt like she was about to be blown away. Suddenly, she felt like she was in a warm and strong embrace. She heard a familiar voice in her ears: "Do you miss me?"

Lin Daiyu didn't say anything, but stretched out her hand and twisted Li Hu's waist. Li Hu smiled, which meant he agreed.

"Girl, save me!" Xueyan exclaimed.

It turned out that Xueyan was blown by the strong wind and staggered towards the pillar of the corridor, and was grabbed by Li Hu just when it was about to hit the pillar.

Li Hu held Lin Daiyu in one hand and Xueyan in the other, and walked into the main hall.

Xueyan patted her chest and said with lingering fear: "I was scared to death!"

Li Hu said unhappily, "Eat more, don't always have snacks." He fixed Lin Daiyu's hair and glared at Xiangling who was pouring tea, "And you."

After that, he pulled Lin Daiyu to sit down and said softly, "The last dog days are almost over. It will be cooler in the morning and evening, and your appetite will be better. Eat more appropriately. It's better to be a little fatter. I don't mind."

This time, Lin Daiyu was not angry, nor did she speak. She just smiled sweetly at him.

"This is new tea that has just been delivered. Please try it, young lady." Amber personally handed the tea to Lin Daiyu.

Lin Daiyu smiled at her, took the tea, took a sip, put it down, and said to Li Hu, "I just sent someone to bring fruit to my second sister and her family. The housekeeper heard something and the second wife was planning to hold a banquet and perform on the day of the little prince's full moon."

Jia Yuanchun gave birth to a big fat boy, which made Mrs. Wang very happy. She set up a banquet and performed operas, and sent people to the temple to donate money.

However, bad news came that day. The Yellow River broke its dike, drowning Prince Beijing Shui Rong, the Governor of Henan and others.

This cast a shadow over everyone's heart.

If Li Hu hadn't known Shui Rong's identity, he would have been deceived.

One has to admire Shui Rong. Not only did he successfully fake his death and escape, he also took away more than a dozen officials, big and small, including the Governor of Henan, the Provincial Governor of Henan, the Censor of Henan, the Prefect of Kaifeng, etc., leaving the Henan officialdom leaderless.

Shui Rong plotted against the emperor, but it benefited Jia Zheng. He was promoted by the emperor to be the governor of Henan, responsible for disaster relief and repairing the Yellow River embankment.

He jumped from a fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Works to a second-rank provincial governor in charge of a province's finances and civil affairs. People in the capital city joked that smoke was coming out of the Jia family's ancestral tomb.

Li Hu understood, however, that Jia Zheng would not be able to stay in office as the governor of Henan for long, and he only hoped that he would not be captured alive by the White Lotus Sect.

Li Hu didn't expect Shui Rong to be a romantic man. By faking his death in this way, Princess Beijing would not be implicated. Even if the emperor eventually knew that he had rebelled, he would treat this poor woman well for the sake of the court's reputation.

At this moment, Feng came in with a letter, bowed slightly to Lin Daiyu, and then handed the letter to Li Hu: "Second Master, this is a letter from Captain Kong."

Li Hu took the letter, opened it, took a look, and then shook his head.

Lin Daiyu looked at him.

"Wang Ren lost all of Feng Lazi's dowry and also owed a lot of gambling debts."

Li Hu sighed. Wang Xifeng was really pitiful as she was deceived by her own brother.

Lin Daiyu was silent for a moment, then asked, "How much do you owe?"

Li Hu stretched out a hand and flipped it over.

Lin Daiyu was surprised: "Why are there so many?"

Li Hu smiled and said, "This is a gambler."

Lin Daiyu also shook her head: "Poor little Feng."

At this moment, there were flashes of lightning, followed by a burst of muffled thunder rolling over from the distant sky.

Li Hu smiled: "It's finally going to be cool."

Lin Daiyu nodded.

There was another flash of lightning, followed by a loud thunder.

Heavy rain poured down following the thunder, splashing huge water in the yard.

Li Hu stood up, walked to the door and looked at the rain curtain like a sky, thinking in his heart: the express delivery from Henan should be arriving in Beijing soon.

Amid the gurgling rain, a galloping horse rushed into the imperial city!

(End of this chapter)