The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

The queen held the hand of a palace maid and entered the Yangxin Gate.

There was total silence inside the palace, and the eunuchs and palace maids on duty all lowered their heads and remained silent.

At the foot of the stone steps outside the main entrance of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, a woman with loose hair and dressed in plain clothes was kneeling there straight and motionless.

The queen sighed silently, pushed away the maid's hand, and walked over.

When they saw the queen coming, the eunuchs and palace maids knelt down one after another.

The queen walked up to the woman and said softly, "De Fei, you should get up first."

The woman was none other than the eldest daughter of Rongguo Mansion, Concubine De, Jia Yuanchun.

The court had a law that any local official who lost a city or abandoned it and fled would be executed immediately. No matter what the reason was for the fall of Kaifeng City, Jia Zheng, the highest official in Kaifeng City, could not escape the blame.

Jia Yuanchun just shook her head and continued to kneel there, motionless.

The queen sighed. She had heard that the fall of Kaifeng City was indeed related to Jia Zheng, because he was too kind-hearted and did not wipe out the roots of the rebels, which led to the capture of Kaifeng City by the White Lotus rebels.

In order to raise food grains, he ordered the confiscation of food grains stored by the wealthy families in Kaifeng City, which made some of the wealthy families resentful. They then colluded with the White Lotus rebels outside the city, opened the city gates, and let the White Lotus rebels into the city.

Thinking of this, the queen also shook her head. If it weren't for the help of a few righteous men, Jia Zheng would have fallen into the hands of the White Lotus rebels, and the court would have been in a more difficult situation! And that rumor, is it really Shui Rong? If it is really Shui Rong, how will Princess Beijing deal with it? What should the Zhen family do?
The queen couldn't help but feel sorry for the emperor again. It's not easy to be an emperor!
Thinking of this, the queen walked straight into the hall.

Outside the door of the West Warm Pavilion, Dai Quan stood there with a solemn expression.

Seeing the queen coming, Dai Quan stepped forward and bowed.

Queen: "How is it?"

Dai Quan whispered, "The emperor said that he wanted to be alone and quiet."

The queen nodded, lifted the curtain and walked into the west warm room.

Emperor Yongchang closed his eyes and leaned back in the dragon throne.

"go out."

The footsteps were getting closer and closer. Emperor Yongchang opened his eyes angrily, and then his eyes lit up!
It was the Queen! She was silently picking up the memorials on the ground one by one.

The Queen placed the memorial on the imperial desk: "Your Majesty."

Emperor Yongchang then sighed: "Why are you here?"

Queen: "Victory and defeat are common in the military. Why are you so angry? Why hurt yourself?"

Emperor Yongchang smiled bitterly, "I am not angry because Wang Ziteng lost the battle! He lost, so he lost. He made a clear report. I am not the kind of mean and ungrateful person who would let him make meritorious contributions while guilty. But do you know what he said? In order to get away with it, he pushed the blame onto the woman, saying that Wang's urging made him upset and restless, and he couldn't calm down, so he lost his composure and fell into the ambush of the White Lotus rebels!"

The queen's eyes flashed, Wang's matter was actually involved here.

Emperor Yongchang: "Wang is his biological sister. She almost emptied Rongguo Mansion to help him, and even took the risk of lending money at high interest. No wonder people say he is an ungrateful person who can never be fed."

Queen: "Your Majesty."

Emperor Yongchang suddenly came to his senses and realized that he had spoken out of turn.

The queen walked to the compartment, picked up the copper kettle, and brewed tea in front of the imperial desk.

Emperor Yongchang picked up the tea bowl, but suddenly put it down again: "And Jia Zheng, why didn't he die in Kaifeng City! If he died, I would not only give him a grand funeral, but also reward Rongguo Mansion generously, and even confer him a title posthumously. But he just happened to survive. He is not an ordinary official, he is a noble, and even a royal relative. And Li Hu, he is fighting outside the Shanhai Pass, and I kill his uncle at this time? What will the soldiers under his command think?!" When he said this, he slammed the imperial table.

The queen smiled inwardly, still pretending to be so good, and picked up the tea bowl and said softly: "If something goes wrong, we must find a way to solve it."

Emperor Yongchang sighed and said, "If there was a way, I wouldn't be so distressed!" He took the tea bowl and drank several sips before putting it down. Then he looked at the queen and said, "The queen is coming here at this time. She must have something to teach me."

Queen: "The criminal law during the Qin and Han dynasties was mainly divided into two categories. One was regular punishment, and the other was called redemption punishment, which could be redeemed with official titles or money. When Li Guang led his army and was defeated by the Xiongnu, the entire Han army was annihilated, and Li Guang himself was captured by the Xiongnu. In the end, Li Guang escaped back. According to the clear provisions of the Han Dynasty law, he could be either beheaded or demoted to a commoner by redeeming his sin with money.

Li Guang paid money to the court to atone for his fault and was demoted to a commoner. Jia Zheng, the governor of Henan, was forced to take on a job that was beyond his reach. How could he have the ability to govern a province? Besides, Kaifeng City was a quagmire, and it was already very rare for Jia Zheng to hold out for several months. It would be better to let the Jia family pay money to atone for their crime, and then order Jia Zheng to serve in the army while serving his sentence."

After a pause, he said, "Think about the prefect of Luoyang. He was such a good and loyal minister, but he died in vain."

Emperor Yongchang was silent for a moment, then sighed and said, "I am worried that if this loophole is opened, once a rebellion breaks out in a local area, local officials will rush to abandon the city and flee, handing the city over to the rebels."

Queen: "Then treat them differently. Those who sacrifice their lives for the country after the city is captured will be rewarded heavily, those who flee without fighting will be executed, and those who hold out until the city is captured can have their punishments reduced as appropriate. They can be allowed to pay money to atone for their crimes. If they are good and honest officials, the emperor can pay for them."

Emperor Yongchang's eyes lit up: "Okay! Let's do it."

Suddenly, there was a "thump" sound outside the window.

This was followed by the eunuch's cry of surprise: "Oh no! Concubine De has fainted!" Emperor Yongchang stood up abruptly: "Quick! Help her back to the palace and ask Li Yuanzheng to take her pulse!" Then he hurried out.

The queen glanced around the warm room, her eyes finally falling on the pots of flowers under the window. She blinked a few times before turning around and walking out.

At this moment, Rongqing Hall was no longer filled with the laughter and joy of the past, and the light in the room was exceptionally dim.

All the women from Rongguo Mansion came, and there was the sound of sniffling and swallowing tears.

Grandmother Jia was sitting on the upper couch, wiping her tears with a handkerchief.

Aunt Xue also came and helped wipe her eyes with a handkerchief.

Suddenly, Zhou Ruijia's voice came from outside: "Second Master Lian is back!"

Before he could finish his words, Jia Lian strode in.

Grandmother Jia stood up and asked anxiously, "How is it?"

Everyone turned their eyes to Jia Lian.

Jia Lian stepped forward, bowed politely, and then replied: "The emperor is so gracious. My elder sister pleaded for mercy, and because the Li brothers had just won a great victory, His Majesty has shown mercy and allowed my family to pay money to atone for our sins, so that my second uncle can serve in the army and make meritorious contributions."

Hearing this, Jia's mother felt relieved and sat down on the couch, clasping her hands together and saying, "Amitabha, Amitabha."

Mrs. Wang: "How much does it cost?"

Jia Lian: "The loss of the city is a capital crime, 100,000."

Mrs. Wang exclaimed, "So many?!"

Grandmother Jia was also surprised.

Jia Lian looked at his mother and said, "This is already a great grace from heaven."

Grandmother Jia reacted: "That's right. Don't even mention 100,000, even 200,000 or 300,000 will have to be paid!"

Mrs. Wang was a little embarrassed: "But it's on the public account..."

Grandmother Jia: "Then let's collect the money!" Her eyes swept towards the main house.

Jia Lian lowered his head, but Mrs. Xing and Wang Xifeng looked at Jia Lian.

Grandmother Jia sighed silently and said to Mrs. Wang, "I still have 10,000 taels of silver in my house, and those antiques and calligraphy and paintings can be worth another 20,000 taels. The money in the public account cannot be touched. I will risk my old face and go to the Li family to borrow 20,000 taels of silver. You two can pay the rest."

Mrs. Wang's face looked unhappy: "In order to build a villa for the visit of the royal family, our second branch even sold all the land and properties, so where would the money be left?" As she spoke, her eyes were fixed on Wang Xifeng.

Wang Xifeng was now like a clay Buddha crossing a river, so she didn't dare to say a word.

Mrs. Wang held the rosary tightly in both hands, and her eyes were filled with anger.

Grandmother Jia's eyes were filled with sadness, and she was about to speak.

Jia Lian spoke up: "The old lady will pay ten thousand, and our eldest house will pay the remaining twenty thousand. I still have work to do at the yamen, so I'll go back first." He bowed to Lady Jia and turned to leave.

The room fell into silence again.

Mrs. Wang suddenly remembered: "A few days ago, I vaguely heard that the Li family came to send interest money to my aunt's house, and there were several large carts." As she spoke, she stared at Aunt Xue.

Aunt Xue's heart skipped a beat, and she stammered, "Well, Bao-ya-tou is in charge of all the household affairs, so I'm not too sure."

Mrs. Wang said to Jin Chuan'er behind her: "Go and invite Miss Bao over."

Aunt Xue stood up quickly and said, "Bao girl is not here. Her sisters went to Li's house to talk to Miss Lin."

After a pause, he said, "I won't be back tonight."

Mrs. Wang wanted to say something, but Grandmother Jia spoke up, "Okay. You two can pay thirty thousand, and I'll figure out the rest." She then asked Wang Xifeng, "Is the work on the garden finished?"

Wang Xifeng: "The works in the garden have been completed. Our master has already inspected them. We are just waiting for the old lady to take a look. If there are any inappropriate parts, we can make some modifications so that we can write plaques and couplets."

Grandmother Jia nodded and said, "That's good." Then she said to Yuanyang, "Prepare the sedan chair. I'm going to Lin's place."

Mrs. Wang thought that Grandmother Jia was going to the Li Mansion to borrow money, and a hint of pride flashed in her eyes. (End of this chapter)