The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

In contrast to the heavy snow on the northern foothills of the Yinshan Mountains, the capital city was still sunny and breezy.

The emperor had issued an edict to hold additional special examinations half a year ago. As November was getting closer, the inns, teahouses and restaurants near the Imperial Examination Hall were filled with candidates coming to Beijing to take the exams, and it was very lively.

The busiest places today are the teahouses and pubs near Andingmen, and even both sides of the street are full of people.

The leader of Xilingol League and all the nobles came to Beijing today to watch the fun.

At this time, a commotion was heard outside the city gate: "Here they come! Here they come! The Mongolian prince has been taken to the capital!"

"I'm coming!"

The sound of horse hooves and heavy wheels could be heard.

The crowd became agitated, and those at the back kept pushing forward. The soldiers from the Five Cities Army who were there to maintain order held their spears horizontally and tried desperately to hold back the surging crowd.

Several young men dressed as juren finally squeezed in and looked towards the city gate.

Riding on the horses in the front were the dusty scouts of the Rui Shi Battalion. They were all alert and focused, their eyes slowly sweeping across the faces of the people on both sides of the street.

Those eagle-like sharp eyes revealed a fierce murderous aura that was chilling.

One of the candidates swallowed his saliva subconsciously: "This, this is the border army?!"

The other candidates were also frightened by this look.

A man with a Beijing accent spoke up, "What border troops? These are the scouts of the Ruishi Battalion, real Beijing men!" At this point, his face was filled with pride and pride, "In the entire Ruishi Battalion, except for the 3,000 Hetao cavalry, most of them are us Beijing men. This battle can be regarded as a pride for us Beijing men!"

An outsider responded, "I heard that this battle was fought by cavalry."

The man who spoke with a Beijing accent blushed.

An old Beijinger spoke up: "Fighting a war depends entirely on the commander's planning. Lord Li is a genuine Beijing man."

The outsider added: "Wang Ziteng is also a Beijing man."

With a burst of laughter, everyone around laughed.

The old Beijing man couldn't hold back his face and said, "Are you here to cause trouble?"

The man with the Beijing accent interrupted: "All the noble generals are Beijing men. Why do you have to argue with this country bumpkin?"

The old Beijing man snorted and looked towards the center of the street.

A line of more than a dozen prisoner cars drove over. In the first car sat the leader of the Xilingol League, who was wearing a sheepskin coat, handcuffed, and with his eyes closed. The other nobles sat in the prison cars at the back.

The onlookers burst into heartfelt cheers!

Several candidates looked at each other, then squeezed out and walked towards the restaurant.

Several people sat down in their seats.

A candidate poured the wine from the jug for everyone, saying, "You don't know yet, do you? His Majesty will select some of the admitted Jinshi to be his tutors. This is a step to heaven!"

The candidates all looked at him: "Are you serious?"

The scholar nodded.

The candidates were immediately excited:

"The Emperor's grace is so great!"

"The emperor's virtue and grace are truly as high as the sky and as deep as the earth. As high as the sky and as deep as the earth!"

The candidate spoke again: "I also heard that this year's imperial examination is different from previous years. The examination papers will be graded while the test is being taken. The palace examination will be held in the middle of the month, and the imperial list will be announced in the second half of the month!"

"Oh!" everyone exclaimed.

The candidate said: "The emperor is eager to recruit talented people!"

Everyone became excited again!
At this moment, a drunkard rushed in from outside and shouted, "Six hundred miles in a hurry, Lord Li has won another great victory!"

There was silence in the hall at first, then there was a loud bang, and the guests immediately became excited.
Ever since Lady Jia took action to discipline Lady Wang, the atmosphere in the entire Rongguo Mansion has become much more harmonious. Even the relationship between the Ning and Rong mansions has eased a lot. Jia Rong helps Jia She supervise the accounts in various places, and when the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, Youshi and Qin Keqing, are free, they will come over to chat and laugh with Lady Jia.

The sun was shining brightly today, and Grandmother Jia led everyone into the garden for a half-day stroll.

Lin Daiyu and Shi Xiangyun also came. They were invited by Grandmother Jia to help write plaques and couplets.

The current Lin Daiyu is not the Lin Daiyu in the original novel. She did not show her talents in front of everyone. She just chatted with Lady Jia, Lady Xing, Aunt Xue and Youshi along the way. She spoke several times, but Lady Jia still felt that it was not good enough and asked her to change it for Yingchun and her sisters.

Grandmother Jia was in a good mood and did not take the sedan chair. She walked out of the gate of the villa holding Lin Daiyu's hand. At this time, Shi Xiangyun ran over holding the hands of Jia Tanchun and Jia Xichun.

Shi Xiangyun: "Sister Lin, Sister Lin, we have discussed it and decided that the complex of buildings for worshiping the moon and appreciating the moon should also be called Tuobi Villa and Aojingxi Pavilion."

Jia Tanchun and Jia Xichun nodded in unison.

Lin Daiyu said nothing and looked at Grandmother Jia.

Jia Baoyu, Jia Yingchun, and sisters Xue Baochai and Xue Baoqin also came over.

Grandmother Jia smiled and said, "I'm going to take advantage of you again."

Lin Daiyu smiled with her hand covering her mouth. She didn't expect that the two buildings in her back garden were so similar to the villa where she came to visit her parents, especially Tuobi Villa and Aojing Pavilion, which were simply carved from the same mold.

Shi Xiangyun spoke again: "As for the bamboo forest, I think Sister Lin's house is better. The bamboo forest is cool and moist. The house is narrow, and the back of the house should be open and ventilated, and there is clear water. Although it is cool in summer, it is too cold in winter."

Xue Baochai interrupted her and said, "It's not occupied, so there's no need to worry too much." She then whispered in Shi Xiangyun's ear, "Don't talk nonsense. This is a drawing that the eldest and second masters discussed with the Ministry of Works, and the Empress in the palace agreed to it."

Although the words were spoken softly, they were clearly heard by everyone.

Shi Xiangyun pouted, looking unconvinced.

Grandmother Jia looked at Shi Xiangyun, then at Xue Baochai, and then said to Lin Daiyu, "The snow chicken you sent the other day was good. I specially kept it and asked the kitchen to cook snow chicken and tapioca porridge. Let's go back and eat it."

Lin Daiyu said "hmm" and supported Lady Jia as they walked towards Rongqing Hall.

Back at Rongqing Hall, Jia's mother ate her porridge while listening to the housekeeper's reply. All the supervisors had handed in their accounts; all the antiques and cultural relics had been displayed; all the birds, including cranes, peacocks, deer, rabbits, chickens, ducks, geese, etc., had been bought and handed over to various places in the garden for breeding; the ten little nuns and Taoist nuns who had been bought had also learned to recite a few volumes of scriptures and mantras.

As for the little actors, they were all sent away by Grandmother Jia. Fortunately, the Li family still had twelve little actors who could perform more than twenty variety shows.

Grandmother Jia took the handkerchief and wiped her mouth, then asked Lin Daiyu with a smile, "How is it? Does it taste good?"

Lin Daiyu smiled and replied, "I'll send the cook to learn from her tomorrow."

The smile on Jia's mother's face became even brighter: "Okay."

As they were talking, Wang Xifeng led Ping'er in.

Lin Daiyu smiled and stood up: "Second sister-in-law is here."

Wang Xifeng stepped forward and helped Lin Daiyu sit down: "We just had dinner, sit down and rest for a while."

Lin Daiyu looked at her. Wang Xifeng was no longer as capable and domineering as before. She turned her eyes to Ping'er. This girl finally made it, got rid of her embarrassing status and became Jia Lian's concubine.

Ping'er gave Lin Daiyu a faint smile.

Grandmother Jia: "What's the matter?"

Wang Xifeng smiled apologetically: "Madam, Miaoyu is here."

Grandmother Jia: "Then please come in."

Wang Xifeng: "Miaoyu invited the Bodhisattva from the Muni Temple, but she is chanting sutras now, so she won't be here for a while."

Jia Mu nodded.

Wang Xifeng then said to Lin Daiyu, "This Miaoyu is also from Gusu."

Lin Daiyu became interested: "Oh?"

Wang Xifeng: "She is a nun who practices Buddhism with her hair uncut. She is eighteen years old this year. Her Buddhist name is Miaoyu. She was originally a daughter of a scholar, but she has been sick since she was a child. She bought many substitutes but none of them worked. She had no choice but to become a nun herself and practice Buddhism with her hair uncut. Now, there are two old nuns and a maid serving her. I heard that she is very knowledgeable in literature. I just saw her. She looks good, but she seems difficult to talk to."

Lin Daiyu was about to speak when she suddenly saw something and stood up.

When Jia Mu and Wang Xifeng looked over, they saw Mrs. Wang, who was "recuperating from illness", hurried in.

Mrs. Wang panted, "Madam, Baoyu's marriage with the third daughter of the Zhen family must be cancelled immediately."

Grandmother Jia frowned and was about to get angry.

Mrs. Wang breathed a sigh of relief: "Uncle Baoyu sent a letter saying that Shui Rong is a traitor and that he will kill all his clans!"

Grandmother Jia's expression changed immediately: "Really?"

Mrs. Wang handed Wang Ziteng's letter to Grandmother Jia and said, "We suspected Uncle Baoyu when he was ambushed before. Now that we are sure that Shui Rong is among the rebels, let's go to the Zhen family to cancel the engagement while the palace has not received any definite news!" (End of this chapter)