The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

The third prince was holding a letter, and as he read it, he began to laugh.

After reading the letter, the third prince stood up and walked to the window. The sky outside the window was gray and covered with dark clouds, which made it look like snow was not coming. However, he was in a very good mood.

Everything in Henan was going according to his plan. Next, as long as King Zhongshun acted according to his strategy and gave his men time to grow, his plan would be mostly successful.

At the same time, he praised Jia Zheng highly in his heart. The key to fighting a war is food and grass. Without Jia Zheng's full support, Prince Zhongshun would not have won victory after victory and swept away the main force of the White Lotus rebels who had entered Henan Prefecture.

It must be said that Jia Zheng is indeed a pure loyal minister. When he inherits the throne in the future, he can be given a leisurely official position to live out his old age. It is said that he also has a daughter who is also pretty. She can be brought into the palace in the future to consolidate the noble lineage.

He thought of the Zhen family again. He had someone spread the news about Shui Rong. Although it was hard to believe, the Jia family's breaking off of the engagement, coupled with the strange death of Princess Beijing, basically confirmed the matter. Although the palace did not pursue the matter now, everyone was afraid of being punished later, and no one dared to interact with the Zhen family anymore.

Judging from the old concubine's condition, it is not a problem for her to live another year or two. When the time is right, we can help the Zhen family and let the old concubine and the emperor cooperate in the palace.

There is also Shui Rong, the spy who infiltrated the rebels and brought news that this guy is preparing to fight Wang Ziteng to the death.

Well, this is a good opportunity. Let Wang Ziteng lead the troops to quell the rebellion and then inflict a major defeat. This way, we can ask the imperial court for money, food, and weapons!

Thinking of this, he walked to the desk, picked up a pen and started writing.

After finishing writing, the Third Prince picked up the letter and blew on it, folded it, stuffed it into the envelope, sealed it, and then shouted, "Come here!"

A guard came in in response.

The Third Prince handed over the letter and said, "You must leave immediately and deliver this letter to Prince Zhongshun within five days!"

The guard answered loudly, "Yes!" and turned around and strode out.

As soon as the guard walked out, the butler hurried in and closed the study door.

The third prince knew that it was not a good thing and stared at him.

The butler came up to him and lowered his voice: "Just received news, the Sixth Prince is dead."

The third prince was shocked. How could this happen? The substance sprinkled in the flowerpot was poisonous, but it would take three or two years to kill a person. He didn't want the emperor to die before the prince, and he needed frequent contact. Even a child couldn't die so quickly!

Thinking of this, his eyes flashed. Someone wants to take advantage of the situation! The prince? Impossible. Two pots of flowers have been successfully sent to the prince's warm room, and it is said that the prince is coughing up blood again. If it is not the prince, then who could it be? !

The butler seemed to have seen through the Third Prince's thoughts and whispered, "Could it be that the Sixth Prince is already in poor health?"

The Third Prince ignored him, raised his head and thought silently, then said: "Find a way to go to the western warm room of Yuqing Palace to see if the two pots of flowers are still there."

The housekeeper hesitated for a moment and said, "I just found an excuse to go check it out a few days ago. It can't be that the flowerpots need to be replaced again, right?"

The Third Prince frowned and said, "You can't ask me to go there in person, right?"

The housekeeper wanted to reply, "It's okay if you smell it once or twice," but he remembered how cruel this gentleman was, and swallowed the words back.

There was total silence.

From somewhere came a cry of surprise: "It's snowing!"

The third prince walked to the door and opened it.

Outside the house, snowflakes were falling from the sky.

The Third Prince spoke up: "It's better not to alert the enemy. Send two pots of wintersweet to the Yangxin Palace, Kunning Palace, and Yuqing Palace in a few days."

Are we going to take down the whole thing?

The butler glanced at him and replied, "Yes."

The Third Prince suddenly remembered: "It's been almost a month, why is there no news from Bai Hongzhi?"

Butler: "I will check it right away."

In the western warm room of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Dai Quan, Li Yuanzheng of the Imperial Hospital, Imperial Physician Wang and others were kneeling there.

Emperor Yongchang walked back and forth with his hands behind his back. He walked to the window and looked at the falling snow outside. He spoke in a very gloomy voice: "Since it is confirmed that there is no problem, then let's do it according to the rules."

Dai Quan replied, "Yes." Li Yuanzheng, Doctor Wang and others felt relieved when they heard that.

Emperor Yongchang: "You must take Concubine Wu's pulse carefully and take good care of her."

The doctors said: "Yes."

Emperor Yongchang: "Go down."

The imperial doctors said, “Yes.” They all bowed their heads, stood up and left.

Dai Quan also got up, walked to the compartment, picked up the copper kettle, and made tea in front of the imperial desk.

Emperor Yongchang's eyes now fell on the flowerpot under the window, in which were planted a few single-petal daffodils.

Dai Quan came over with tea in his hand and said softly, "Your Majesty, have a sip of hot tea."

Emperor Yongchang took the tea bowl, took a sip, and said, "Send someone to deliver this pot of flowers to Concubine Wu."

Before Dai Quan could reply, the eunuch on duty spoke from outside: "Your Majesty, the list of successful candidates in the imperial examination is out."

Dai Quan hurried to the door: "Quick! Express delivery!"

The eunuch hurriedly handed the list to Dai Quan.

Dai Quan walked quickly to the imperial desk holding the list and handed it to Emperor Yongchang who had already sat back on the dragon throne.

Emperor Yongchang took the list and quickly unfolded it. As he read, a smile appeared on his face again: "The top three are exactly as I expected."

The territory of the Dashun Dynasty was so vast that it was snowing heavily in the capital, but here it was thunder, lightning and heavy rain after the strong wind.

The torrential rain that roared to the sky had already enveloped the dark Qinling Ancient Road.

In the gurgling rain, with the help of lightning, one could vaguely see a group of strong men wearing straw raincoats and bamboo hats carrying corpses.

A pit as big as a person's had been dug behind a high ground, and it was filled with corpses.

"Bang!" The last body was thrown into the pile of corpses.

The men who had been prepared nearby immediately filled the hole with soil, and then a group of men tamped the soil down with their feet.

Dozens of large carts were lined up on the ancient road.

The carts were piled high with large boxes.

Deputy General Yulin stood beside a large cart with Zhang Cheng.

Deputy General Yulin: "Should we destroy the other team as well?"

Zhang Cheng shook his head: "It's still useful to keep it."

Yulin Deputy General: "This is not a trivial matter. I must report this to the general, and he will write a letter to General Li."

Zhang Cheng nodded.

At this time, a man strode over and reported to the deputy general of Yulin: "General, everything has been dealt with."

Deputy General Yulin nodded and looked at Zhang Cheng.

Zhang Cheng: "Let's go."

Yulin's deputy general said, "Retreat." Then he jumped on his horse.

Zhang Cheng also jumped on his horse and glanced in the direction of another mountain path. He thought to himself, Bai Hongzhi, you must fight for your reputation. I let you take away some money, and I killed the Jurchens and the Third Prince's men for you. If you still can't accomplish anything, then there is no need for you to live on!
A group of people drove a horse-drawn carriage and disappeared in the rain
On another mountain road, Bai Hongzhi was obviously in a good mood. He was humming a little tune while looking at the large boxes on a dozen trucks.

The old steward smiled and said, "With these properties, we can form a team."

The light in Bai Hongzhi's eyes flickered, as if he was imagining his future ambitions. (End of this chapter)