Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 261, Assassination of Jia She
Song Yun replied, "These are the bones of a rat king in the prison. That day, my brother and I fainted from hunger. The rat king thought we were dead, so it came to eat us. I woke up in pain and used my legs to trap the rat king. My brother Xue also woke up and then killed the rat king with his hands!"

Li San nodded upon hearing this, thinking to himself, "No wonder..."

With a "click," the handcuffs came off.

Li San used his hands to remove the rat bone from his mouth before untying his shackles.

Although rat bones were disgusting, he, being a江湖人士 (jianghu person, a person of the martial arts world), did not care about such trivial matters.

Seeing this, Xue Pan exclaimed in surprise:

"You opened it so quickly, brother, you have excellent skills!"

Li San said modestly:

"No, it's mainly because these bones are easy to use. They're thin and hard, even better than copper or iron."

Xue Pan said, "That's right. This thing is very hard. Of all the bones in the Rat King, this one is the hardest. We can't even bite it. My brother and I ate it several times but couldn't digest it. Later, because it got thinner and thinner, we dared not eat it anymore and used it as a chew toy. That's why it's so fine."

"Click!"

The shackles were off, but Li San stood there stunned, and the bone in his hand fell to the ground.

Xue Pan's words kept echoing in his mind.

I ate it a few times...

"Brother, what's wrong?"

Xue Pan asked.

Li Sanqing, his face pale, did not answer, but instead forced himself to exhale and say, enduring his discomfort:
"It's nothing, I'm practicing my internal energy right now, so don't say anything."

Upon hearing this, Xue Pan dared not disturb him.

Li San took a few deep breaths and rubbed his wounds. Some of the wounds were quite deep, making him wince in pain, but fortunately, none of them had damaged his bones.

Li San looked at the wall in front of him, which was five or six meters high, with a small window at the top for ventilation.

He kicked his right foot sideways, bent his knee with force, and then his whole body sprang up, rising nearly three meters high. He then quickly grabbed the wall with his right hand, used his left foot to climb up another half meter, grabbed the wall with his left hand again, and climbed up with his right foot. After doing this several times, he secured the window.

Li San climbed up, used his bone-shrinking technique, first compared his head and hips, and seeing that he could pass through, he began to squeeze out.

The so-called bone-shrinking skill is not some kind of supernatural power or magic that can directly shrink bones. If that were the case, he wouldn't have needed to remove the shackles in the first place; he could have just shrunk them directly.

Bone-shrinking kung fu is actually a technique that involves long-term practice to alter the body's joints, causing the internal bones to contract inwards without being restricted by the joints, thereby reducing the surface area.

However, the bones of the head and hips cannot be changed, so they must be compared in advance. If the head and hips cannot be changed, then no matter how skilled one is in bone shrinking, it will not be possible to change the bones.

Fortunately, the Swallow Sect has always only accepted short-statured boys as disciples, so that it would be easier to pass on their light-body martial arts skills. Li San was no exception, so he was able to pass through.

A short while later, Li San used his contortionist skills to squeeze through the window and then quickly escaped.

After escaping, Li San chose to contact Cheng Dun.

If the mission fails, according to the code of honor, he should inform the employer of the situation so that the employer can take appropriate action.

While Li San was imprisoned, Jia She outside did not stop working.

He arrested Luo Rulin, the senior official of the Ministry of Personnel's Performance Evaluation Department, and Wang Chengzuo, the assistant director of the Ministry of Revenue's Granary Department.

The Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Personnel were thus alarmed.

Cheng Fan then became alert.

Officials from both ministries submitted petitions and appealed for justice, putting pressure on Jia She. Regardless of whether the two men were guilty or not, all the officials instantly banded together, and the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Revenue simultaneously ceased their work, bringing all procedures to a standstill.

The pressure on Jia She increased significantly.

Luo Rulin and Wang Chengzuo, who were arrested, also refused to speak.

Jia She was hesitant to use torture because of their identities.

It should be understood that once severe punishment is used, he will have no way out and will be directly opposed to the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Personnel.

If Fang Yong can withstand the pressure and protect him, then he will naturally be worry-free. But the real fear is that Fang Yong might not be able to withstand the pressure or, afterward, in order to appease the anger of the two officials, discard him like a used tool, framing him with a false confession. That would be...

Jia She originally intended to interrogate Li San first. Yesterday, he ordered his men to severely torture Li San, but Li San was able to withstand it and not confess!

It should be noted that severe torture is not something an ordinary person can withstand, so Jia She deduced that Li San might not be an unknown figure, and thus sent people to inquire about Li San's whereabouts.

Yanzi Li San had some reputation in the martial arts world, so Jia She's men used Li San's portrait to investigate and quickly learned about him. After reviewing the information, Jia She felt that Li San had a chivalrous heart. Although he didn't understand why Li San would give up a good position as a Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) officer to become an assassin, he thought that based on Li San's character, he shouldn't be beyond redemption.

If we can appeal to his emotions and reason with him to persuade Li San to submit, we might be able to find a breakthrough, bypass the two major obstacles of the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Revenue, and directly point to the real culprit.

But then, news came that Li San had escaped.

All previous plans fell through, and now there's another charge of negligence in supervision.

Jia She was even more troubled.

His thoughts were in complete disarray, and he couldn't sit still in the government office, so he made an excuse to go home to rest and sort out his thoughts.

Jia She returned to the mansion with a troubled mind, only to find Wang Xifeng and Ping'er preparing to leave in a sedan chair.

Jia She inquired about the reason and learned that Tan Chun missed Wang Xifeng again, so he sent someone to deliver a message and sent her to the palace.

Tan Chun, yes, Tan Chun!

Jia She's mind suddenly clicked.

He was blinded by his own limited perspective and went down a dead end.

With Tan Chun and his niece Daiyu serving Fang Yong at home, what did he have to worry about?

Let's cut the Gordian knot and act boldly!

As long as things are done well, Fang Yong will certainly reward him handsomely.

Having figured out the problem, Jia She's worries instantly vanished.

He looked at Wang Xifeng and instructed her:

"When entering the palace, one must strictly observe etiquette and never anger the prince and princess."

Wang Xifeng bowed her head and agreed, but inwardly she couldn't help but grumble:

"That bastard, he's like a buffalo, what sense of manners does he have?"

Jia She added, "Yingchun is bored at home. When you have time, take her to the palace to have a look."

Wang Xifeng agreed again, and then got into her sedan chair and left.

On the other side, Li San found Cheng Dun, only to find that Cheng Dun was accompanied by two familiar people.

One of them was called Sand Poison Dragon, known in the martial arts world as the Ghost Hand King.

One of them was called Shan Ehu, and his nickname in the martial arts world was Iron Mountain Foot.

When Li San met Cheng Dun, he told Cheng Dun what had happened.

Cheng Dun waved his hand impatiently after hearing this and said:
"Useless trash! I knew it all along! You're more trouble than you're worth!"

Cheng Dun was in a very agitated mood.

With Luo Rulin and Wang Chengzuo arrested, he was immediately on the verge of being exposed, as he was right behind them.

Having lived a life of luxury for many years, Luo Rulin and Wang Chengzuo certainly couldn't withstand the punishment. Cheng Dun had nowhere to run for it at this point, and he was now preparing to take Sha Dulong and Shan Ehu to visit Jia She.

If Jia She accepts his bribe and agrees to stop the case here, then things will be easy to discuss.

If Jia She does not accept, then the only option left is to kill him.

After looking at Li San, Cheng Dun said:
"Since you managed to escape from prison, you're not bad off, so I'll count you in. Come on, let's go!"

When Li San inquired about the reason for the incident, Cheng Dun lied and claimed that he had killed a political enemy.

Li San did not refuse after hearing this.

Cheng Dun then led his men to Shuntian Prefecture, only to be told that Jia She had gone home.

Cheng Dun was delighted; if Jia She returned home, it would make things much easier for him.

Upon arriving at the Jia residence, Cheng Dun paid his respects through the main gate.

Sand Poison Dragon, Single Evil Tiger, and Li San sneaked in through the wall.

Inside the Jia mansion, Jia She, who had just sat down, hurriedly sent someone to greet Cheng Dun upon hearing of his visit.

(End of this chapter)