The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 306 Luoyang
The Kunning Palace was dark and empty, with only a few faint lights coming from the doors and windows of the side halls.

There was only the queen in the side hall, who was sitting beside the couch with the black robe embroidered with dragon patterns spread on her knees.

There was the sound of footsteps, and then a palace maid ran in hurriedly: "Madam."

The queen still lowered her head: "Prince?"

Maid: "Prince."

The queen stood up and gently lifted the robe, seeming to admire the dragon pattern she had embroidered on it: "Noble Concubine Wu has made great contributions. She has helped the royal family to expand and prosper, and has made great contributions to the country."

The palace maid was puzzled.

The queen put down the robe, walked to the table, poured half a bowl of tea and ate it, then suddenly asked, "The mother of Concubine De still can't enter the palace, right?"

Palace maid: "Yes. The emperor did not grant Wang a royal decree."

The queen turned around and walked back to the couch, sat down, picked up the robe and continued embroidering.

The maid bowed and retreated.

The Queen spoke: "Let the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess bring the Emperor's grandson here tomorrow morning."

Maid: "Yes."

Li Hu walked out of the front hall with his hands behind his back, looking at the rising moon in the distance. He did not expect the Second Prince to be so cruel and ruthless, and he did not expect that there was such a force around him.

Want to blame Zhou Kui's death on himself? Li Hu snorted coldly, turned around and walked back to the hall to sit down, looked at the man kneeling there, and then shouted: "Third uncle!"

Li San responded and walked in.

Li Hu: "Take Liu Er downstairs for dinner."

Li San: “Yes.”

Liu Er was overjoyed when he heard this, realizing that his life was saved. He said excitedly, "Thank you, my Lord!" He kowtowed three times, then stood up and walked out with Li San.

Wang Daniu spoke up: "General, do you need me to lead people to destroy the Second Prince's men?"

Li Hu shook his head: "The palace is watching us. Zhou Kui's death was his bad luck." At this point, his eyes flashed, "You report Liu Er's matter to the palace immediately."

Wang Daniu was shocked and fell to his knees: "General! General! How dare I do such a thing?!"

"Use your brain and stop thinking about women all day long!"

Li Hu glared at him. "Liu Er has been standing in front of the door for more than half an hour. The spies in the palace must have noticed it. How could you not report such a thing?"

Wang Daniu was stunned at first, then he smiled: "I understand, General, this is for my own good."

Li Hu said unhappily: "You are beautiful, I am doing this for my own good."

Wang Daniu chuckled: "Same, same."

Li Hu: "Also, someone who revealed this news to the Third Prince."

Wang Daniu: “I understand.” He stood up and walked out.

Li Hu also stood up and walked to the door, a sneer flashed in his eyes, and he said softly: "I want to see how biased his heart is."

The moonlight shone quietly, and the city of Luoyang was abnormally quiet.

The prefectural government office was brightly lit.

The door of the study was open, and the prefect of Luoyang was sitting at the desk, leaning close to the light of the lamp beside him, reading a book.

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

Luoyang City was under siege, and outside the city were all White Lotus followers and refugees who appeared out of nowhere. If he had not been prepared, Luoyang City would have been captured two days ago by the White Lotus followers who had sneaked into the city in advance and seized the city gates, and cooperated with the rebels outside the city.

Although Luoyang City had high walls and the White Lotus rebels did not attack the city, the prefect of Luoyang was still worried. He was afraid that the imperial court had no idea that Luoyang City was under siege and that no reinforcements would come to rescue Luoyang City.

After dusk, he ordered his men to load the armory, powder depot, and granary with gunpowder. Once Luoyang City was captured, they would all be blown up, especially the armory!

The prefect of Luoyang sighed, slowly walked towards the desk, and just after taking two steps, he was suddenly shocked!
In the distance, shouts and screams were heard in the night wind!
His face changed and he turned around and ran out.

Countless shouts and cries of killing echoed over Luoyang City, mixed with the terrified screams and cries of countless civilians!
The government office was in chaos, with panic-stricken officials and soldiers running around everywhere.

The Luoyang prefect paced back and forth in the hall with red eyes. He walked to the large desk and stopped. He picked up the tea bowl and drank it. His hands were still shaking slightly. He took a sip and threw the tea bowl to the ground: "Don't you even have a sip of hot water?!"

The head of the police squad was so frightened that he said hurriedly, "This little fellow deserves death."

"Why haven't the people we sent out come back yet?!" The prefect of Luoyang slammed the table repeatedly.

The head of the police squad said: "We have already sent three groups of people there."

Luoyang prefect: "Send more people!"

Before he finished his words, cries of "The city is broken! The city is broken" were heard.

The Luoyang prefect shuddered and turned to look. An officer rushed in from the gate, shouting, "The city has been broken!" while running towards the Luoyang prefect.

The prefect of Luoyang turned pale.

The officer ran up to him, knelt down, and cried, "Sir, the commander of the north gate has rebelled and opened the city gate. The rebels have entered the city."

The prefect of Luoyang's legs went limp and he collapsed to the ground.

The head of the police squad was startled and said, "Sir!" He stepped forward and helped him up. The officer quickly brought a chair and let him sit.

The prefect of Luoyang suddenly remembered: "Quick! Quick! Burn the arsenal, gunpowder storehouse and grain storehouse immediately! Quick!"

The officer said, “Yes.” and ran out like the wind.

The prefect of Luoyang gasped: "More, send more people. We must burn the arsenal."

The head of the police squad said: "Don't worry, sir." Then he walked out quickly.

The prefect of Luoyang stood up with the help of the armrest, walked to the desk, picked up a pen and started writing.

After a while, the head of the police squad came back.

The prefect of Luoyang also finished writing and blew on the ink paper.

The foreman of the police said, "Sir, hurry up! It will be too late if you don't leave now!"

"escape?"

The prefect of Luoyang smiled bitterly, "The court has a law that any local official who loses a city or abandons it and flees will be executed immediately."

The head of the police squad remained silent.

The prefect of Luoyang closed his eyes and handed over the ink paper: "You go now and deliver this letter to the court."

The head of the escort team took the piece of ink paper, folded it carefully and put it in his arms.

At this moment, a housekeeper's wife rushed in and cried, "Master, it's bad. The old lady, the lady, and the young lady have hanged themselves."

The head of the police squad was shocked.

The prefect of Luoyang laughed so hard that tears came to his eyes: "Good, good that I didn't bring shame to our ancestors!" He pulled out a piece of white silk from his sleeve and said to the head of the guards: "The beam is too high, help me."

The head of the guards knelt down and took the white silk with both hands: "I respectfully send you off, Your Excellency."

There were earth-shattering explosions in the distance, and flames appeared everywhere in the city!

Luoyang City was soon engulfed in flames!
People were running around in panic everywhere, Luoyang City had fallen!
The Luoyang prefect's worries came true, and the Luoyang arsenal fell into the hands of the rebels.

Shui Rong arrived at the Luoyang Arsenal surrounded by a group of guards. Dozens of large carts were lined up outside the door, and the carts were already piled high.

Teams of strong men were still carrying weapons.

Shui Rong smiled with satisfaction and nodded.

An old man spoke up: "It's a pity that we couldn't take down the gunpowder magazine and the granary."

Just then, Yang Qilong came riding on horseback.

Yang Qilong: "Young Master, I just received news that the 1,000 Tongguan cavalry have passed Shanzhou."

The old man's eyes lit up: "If we eat these government troops, we will have cavalry."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's eyes lit up.

Shui Rong didn't say anything and looked at Yang Qilong.

Yang Qilong pinched his beard and thought for a while before he spoke: "Retreat."

Everyone was shocked: "Retreat?"

Yang Qilong: "With our numerical advantage, we can indeed drown these 1,000 cavalrymen, but the cost will be very high, and we will be held back. Once the main force of the government troops behind us arrives, we will not be able to escape!"

Shui Rong nodded.

Yang Qilong looked at the arsenal: "We definitely can't get all these weapons"

Shui Rong: “Destroy?”

Yang Qilong: "No, give it to the common people."

Shui Rong was stunned at first, then he started laughing.

Yang Qilong also laughed.

Everyone looked at each other in confusion. Are ordinary people still ordinary people if they have weapons?

(End of this chapter)