Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 264, Entering the Palace to Plead Guilty

"Oh, it's really true! I'm so regretful!"

Li San immediately put down his weapon and cried out in regret.

Do you know why he regretted it?
However, this official government establishment is truly rare.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard was the emperor's personal army. Even a minor officer's rank was a family heirloom; the salary was meager, but it guaranteed protection from disaster. They wielded real power, wore the flying fish robe, and carried the goose-feather blade! They could arrest whomever they pleased, take whomever they wanted—a status far beyond what he had as a mere wandering swordsman.

Seeing that Li San showed remorse, Jia She feared that he might repeat his actions because of his crime, and quickly said:
"As the old saying goes, 'Ignorance is no excuse.' You have already rendered great service, and although you have made a mistake, it has not yet amounted to a grave error. If you can repent in time and help me eliminate the thief, you will not only be innocent, but I will also report to the King of Wu to request commendation for you!"

Upon hearing this, Li San immediately clasped his hands in a fist and said, "How dare I disobey your command!"

Turning around, he saw that the Sand Poison Dragon had struck Jiao Da in the chest with a palm, sending Jiao Da flying a meter away, spitting blood and unable to move.

Li San immediately drew his knife and charged.

Sand Dragon exclaimed in surprise, "What words of that corrupt official did you believe, that you would contradict him so readily?"

He rolled on the ground and picked up the steel knife to block it.

The two exchanged blows several times, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.

Li San's knife skills are fast and his angles are tricky; Sha Dulong has great strength and powerful force.

They fought for fifteen rounds without a clear winner, but Li San's injuries were causing him pain and he was gradually becoming unable to continue.

Just as Jia She was about to step forward to help, the soldiers of the Five Cities Garrison arrived and stormed into the Jia residence.

Upon seeing this, the Sand Poison Dragon hurriedly tried to escape.

"Where to escape!"

The soldiers of the Five Cities Garrison shouted and fired a volley of fifteen arrows.

The Sand Poison Dragon wielded a steel blade with impenetrable skill, cleaving through all the crossbow bolts with it, before scaling the wall to escape.

However, the officers and soldiers of the other five city garrisons all took out a crossbow.

What did you expect? They weren't some Five Cities Military Command; they were the Huaiyin Army, veterans of countless battles.

More than twenty crossbows were drawn, and with a pull of the trigger, countless bolts rained down, leaving no chance to save the day, no matter how skilled Sand Poison Dragon was with his swordsmanship.

All that remained was a gushing blood and a body covered in trachoma.

Li San watched from the side, afraid of accidentally hurting himself, and quickly took off his thief's clothes.

Ah, how tragic, how tragic!
This is why he abandoned the darkness and embraced the light, and why he was moved by the mere rank of a junior officer in the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Afterwards, Li San gave a detailed account of what happened.

Cheng Dun was caught on the spot, and there were witnesses to prove it.

Meanwhile, Cheng Fan was sending people to search for Cheng Dun.

He sensed something was wrong after the two officials from the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Revenue were arrested. The two officials' backgrounds and resumes were related to the Cheng family, and he concluded that the case must involve the Cheng family.

Cheng Fan searched through the embezzlement ledgers from previous years. Because the amount of embezzlement was too large and involved too many people, he was too old to remember them all, so he made the ledgers so that he could easily look them up.

Upon investigation, the names of the two individuals were found to have appeared in the records of embezzling grain from the Taicang granary in the past.

However, there is no record whatsoever of the so-called "green bud donation".

It seems that they were embezzling money in secret, and he was unaware of it, which is why he didn't raise his guard immediately.

Now that the reason has been clarified, and considering that the person who filed the complaint was sent by Fang Yong to Shuntian Prefecture, Cheng Fan couldn't help but ponder the matter deeply.

Although the man was blocking the road to file a complaint and happened to run into Fang Yong, how many coincidences are there in this world?
A beggar just happened to run into Fang Yong?

This just happened to pique Fang Yong's interest?
It just so happened that it was delivered to Jia She by the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture.
And it just so happens that the Cheng family is also affected?

Cheng Fan's heightened political awareness made him instantly realize that something was wrong.

This could very well be a signal that Fang Yong is targeting the Cheng family.

She just didn't know Fang Yong's attitude or what he planned to do. The thought of resistance was instantly extinguished.

If it were the Longqing Emperor, he could also unite with forces in the court to resist and force the Longqing Emperor to back down.

However, Fang Yong relied on his troops to force his way into the capital.

Unless you have complete control over the military, other tactics will be completely useless against the opponent.

All the troops inside and outside the capital were under Fang Yong's command, so they had no chance to intervene at all, let alone have troops.
Cheng Fan made the decision to abandon Cheng Dun almost instantly. He decided to take Cheng Dun to Fang Yong to apologize and see if handing over Cheng Dun and a portion of the property could settle the matter.

If not, then quickly take your family and possessions and flee the capital.

However, Cheng Dun could not be found when the computer was turned off.

Just as he was getting anxious, the butler brought him devastating news.

Cheng Dun led a group to assassinate Jia She, the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, and has now been arrested on the spot!
Cheng Fan's vision went black instantly.

"idiot!"

He could easily guess Cheng Dun's thoughts.

They were simply thinking that if they killed Jia She, they could then rest easy.

This fool can't see that it wasn't Jia She who targeted the Cheng family, but Fang Yong.

Assassinating Jia She would only hasten the situation and would serve no purpose whatsoever; it was a completely disastrous move.

Cheng Fan wished he could kill Cheng Dun, that idiot, on the spot.

He couldn't be angry, so he hurriedly set off for the palace to apologize to Fang Yong.

Meanwhile, Wang Xifeng entered the palace.

Besides being invited by Tan Chun to play, he also brought some gifts for Yuan Chun.

After returning home that time, Wang Xifeng recounted everything that had happened since entering the palace to the old lady.

Of course, she didn't mention that guy.

When Grandmother Jia heard about Yuan Chun's miserable situation in the palace, she felt extremely sorry for her. She thought to herself that she should not have let Yuan Chun and Tan Chun exchange marriages. However, it was too late to say anything now. She could only prepare some gifts and instruct Wang Xifeng to bring them to Yuan Chun when she went to the palace next time.

Wang Xifeng was eloquent, shrewd, capable, and adept at navigating social situations. Although she only entered the palace once, she got along well with all the women.

Whether they were charming, naive, decisive, innocent, thoughtful, or shrewd, they all got along very well with her. Xiangyun and Tanchun enjoyed playing with her, and Daiyu and Baochai were often close to her.

Therefore, Wang Xifeng felt quite at ease in the palace.

After playing games with her sisters, Wang Xifeng said she was going to deliver something to her eldest sister, and the others let her go.

Having already been led there once, he didn't have anyone lead him again, but instead sent a few palace maids to accompany him.

Upon arriving at Fengzao Palace, they found Fang Yongzheng sitting upright at the table.

Cui Si poured him tea, while her elder sister ground ink beside her.

It turned out that Fang Yong had nothing to do that day, so he came to Fengzao Palace to practice his martial arts with Cui Si.

On the one hand, it's about improving physical health, and on the other hand, it's about hoping to have a child.

Offspring are the foundation of a nation. If his vast fortune remains without an heir, it is inevitable that people will become restless.

Most of the women around Fang Yong were too young to conceive, so Fang Yong instructed them to refine their essence during cultivation. Only a handful, such as Cui Si, Xiao Rong'er, and Ding Muying, were of suitable age and could bear children.

Therefore, Fang Yong has recently been taking extra care of these people.

However, just as I arrived at Fengzao Palace today, two urgent reports arrived from the front lines.

Fang Yong had no choice but to deal with the military matters first.

(End of this chapter)