The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 224 Only Eight Left

Not only did the Emperor and Prince Zhongxiao stay indoors, but the princes and dukes outside the city also hid among the army.

Those who had fewer troops simply hid in the capital.

No one wanted to seek refuge in the palace.

Jia Rong was recuperating at home to avoid the summer heat and changing into new, durable shoes.

"Your Majesty!"

After hearing this, Jia Rong walked out of the house and went to the vent for ventilation and heat relief.

"whats the matter?"

Wang Xifeng shouted, "Your Majesty, Prince Fu and his family want to stay in our house for a few days."

Jia Rong frowned, he was not familiar with Prince Fu at all.

"No, our house is already crowded enough. Let him rent a yard to live in by himself."

Wang Xifeng didn't want to disobey Jia Rong's arrangement, so she quickly declined.

After waiting for more than an hour, when Jia Rong was practicing boxing and kicking techniques, someone outside shouted again.

"Your Majesty!"

Jia Rong came over angrily, "Who is it? What's the matter?"

His tone was a little annoyed, and he was obviously unhappy.

Shi Xiangyun shouted quickly, "I am Xiangyun. The princess of Zhennan wants to stay at our house for two days. She has sent two boxes of gold, silver and jewelry. My uncle is an official there, so he knows them all."

Just as Shi Xiangyun finished speaking, a female voice that looked a bit older called out, "Lord Zhongxiao, I am Mu, the wife of the Lord of Zhennan. My Lord is in the army and it is inconvenient for me to come. I would like to ask to stay in the Lord Zhongxiao's mansion for two days. Please forgive me if I disturb you."

Jia Rong heard this and shouted, "It is not convenient for me to see outsiders. You can stay in the women's courtyard first. However, this is not a place specially for entertaining the ladies of the palace. Please be patient for a few days and control the servants."

"Yes." Princess Mu knew that Jia Rong was in a high position and had great power. She also knew that Jia Rong had rejected Prince Fu's request today, so she did not dare to say much.

But Princess Mu added, "There are a few young people coming with us, I wonder if they can stay together?"

"Go to the men's hospital." Jia Rong said directly: "You should tell them clearly in advance and stay there for two days. Don't touch the hospital's things, otherwise we will not be responsible if someone dies from eating them."

Seeing Jia Rong being so rude, Princess Mu wanted to leave for a moment, but after thinking about it, she decided to endure it.

“It should be so.” Princess Mu seemed to be very easy to talk to.

Jia Rong shouted again, "Tell the housekeeper to close the door! No one should go out these days! No patrols at night, go back to bed as soon as it gets dark, and don't light any candles! Everyone, stay hidden!"

Shi Xiangyun also knew the seriousness of the matter and quickly said, "I understand! Big brother, you can take a rest. We are leaving now."

Shi Xiangyun took Princess Mu out, and only when they were far away did Princess Mu's face darken.

"It is said that the prince is a modest gentleman. Why are you so anxious after hearing this?"

Sheyue followed Shi Xiangyun and whispered beside her: "Everyone has been anxious these days. I heard that many people died this time. No matter how many people there were, they couldn't stop the assassin."

Princess Mu also came here with her family to seek refuge, so she was naturally one of the anxious ones.

But Princess Mu's daughter-in-law smiled and said, "If I had known that the Zhongxiao Palace would do nothing but wait for dawn with eyes closed, then we could just find a place and save money."

Princess Mu said unceremoniously: "It's a shame. The place King Zhongxiao provided for us is naturally a good one. It's us who came here rashly and disturbed us."

Princess Mu's daughter-in-law didn't say anything, but she was very dissatisfied with Prince Zhongxiao's family.

There was not much to say about Shi Xiangyun and the others as they were much lower in status than these two.

Jia Rong didn't know about this, otherwise this mother-in-law and daughter-in-law would have saved their father-in-law.

Because he didn't know about this, Jia Rong fetched a bucket of water for his bath at night, and then quickly went to the military camp outside the city.

He was wearing a black suit, a white hat, and even had a pair of gentleman glasses tied on his head.

Jia Rong stood still.

When the clouds in the sky blocked the moonlight, Jia Rong quickly broke into the military camp.

If someone stands in the way of a person, he will kill someone; if someone stands in the way of a Buddha, he will kill the Buddha!
Fences, wooden stakes, carriages and the like were all knocked away!

In just one minute, Jia Rong ran 180 meters inside the military camp and arrived at the doors of the tents of several princes who refused to sleep!
"who is it!"

"assassin!"

"There are assassins!"

"The assassin is coming!"

The military tents collapsed under the impact, the canvas was torn and the wooden frames were crushed.

The war horses ran in all directions in the chaos, their iron hooves crushing the remains of tents and trampling the fallen soldiers.

The flames spread among the tents, thick smoke covered the sky, and the entire military camp was engulfed in flames.

The musketeers could not find a place to shoot, and they could hardly even protect themselves. Under the attacks of horses, flames, and the shouts of several of the prince's personal soldiers, they soon lost their composure.

"what!"

"Prince Fu was murdered!"

"Come and rescue me!"

"Prince Fu's body has fallen to the ground! Don't step on it!"

"Help!"

"Come to Zhennanwang's place to protect him!"

"what!"

"Prince Zhennan is also dead! Your Majesty, run!"

The princes and dukes who were protected by tens of thousands of troops were now terrified and fled in all directions like headless flies.

I have to say, this method really worked.

"Protect the king! Protect the king! Protect this king and you will be rewarded handsomely!!"

Prince Zhenhai shouted loudly, trying to summon those confused personal soldiers to come and protect him.

His shouting soon attracted a man in black.

I saw an extremely brave man holding an armored warrior in each hand. He used the armored warriors as weapons and attacked the frightened soldiers around him indiscriminately.

Before long, the more than one hundred armored warriors around King Zhenhai were either killed or injured. Many of them ran away directly or hid in the distance and dared not come over.

"Don't kill me! I will appoint you as the general..."

boom!
Jia Rong walked over quickly and kicked the man in heavy armor in the chest, directly kicking the iron and wooden man fifty meters away.

Prince Zhenhai flew up like a tin can, tilted and flew fifty or sixty meters high, then fell directly into a pile of fire and fell to the ground.

Jia Rong did not stop either, but searched everywhere in the chaos, and only left quickly when he felt the heat was too much.

The battle lasted only three minutes, but the chaos finally subsided after thirty minutes.

Jia Rong quickly ran back home.

"Fuck! The bath water is already hot, no wonder it feels so hot today!"

An hour later, people were crying and dogs were barking outside.

After the deaths of three princes and six or seven dukes, and the injuries of several princes, dukes and generals, Jia Rong could no longer remain in seclusion.

"Exit!"

Jia Rong kicked the door open and walked out directly.

The minister of the royal family who reported the news saw Jia Rong coming out angrily and asked hurriedly: "Your Majesty! Are you not going to make the elixir anymore?"

"How can we care about those things now?!" Jia Rong said angrily, "Let's hold the funeral of the retired emperor first. If there is anything, come to me! You go back and report to the emperor immediately. I will go to the Zhongxiao Palace to prepare for the burial. Then notify all the princes and dukes to meet me at the Zhongxiao Palace in the north of the city!"

Zong Zheng and others looked at King Zhongxiao who came out to turn the tide, and their troubled hearts finally felt reassured!

"The King of Loyalty and Filial Piety is so righteous! He is truly an unparalleled national hero!"

Jia Rong nodded and said, "Thank you for your compliment. I will leave immediately without delay. I also ask the adults to go out quickly to calm people down to avoid any more trouble!"

"Yes!" Everyone quickly followed the lead of King Zhongxiao.

At this time in the Yangxin Palace, the emperor, who had not slept all night, finally breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that Jia Rong had come out of confinement.

"That's good. My brother should be responsible for the funeral." The emperor finally had someone he could rely on, and hurriedly said, "Pass the order! Everything in the next few days will be based on the order of King Zhongxiao!"

The emperor certainly doesn’t know that now even the emperor’s decree is not as effective as Jia Rong’s words.

In such an extremely chaotic situation, everyone tends to let someone who speaks reliably give orders.

The late emperor and the current emperor give people the impression that they are unreliable, and even the princes and dukes from all over the country think so.

Now every prince has brought his troops here, how can the civil officials control them!
Fortunately, Jia Rong's words were more pleasant to the ear than the emperor's, and the princes in and outside the capital quickly took refuge in the Prince Zhongxiao's Palace.

The funeral of the retired emperor was held with great ceremony. Money was not an issue, and the crying was real.

The chaotic military camp soon stabilized. Jia Rong decided not to pursue the previous incident, and all the soldiers worked together to bury the retired emperor.

At night, everyone spent the night together in another county, drinking, playing mahjong and chatting all night. After arranging the funeral of the retired emperor and the empress dowager, they burned the bodies of several princes and dukes together.

During this period, in order to avoid suspicion, Jia Rong did not want people to think that he had come out, so the assassin did not come out.

Although four princes who tried to escape at night died during this period, the number of deaths was more than before Jia Rong came out.

But everyone had seen dead people, so they accepted it calmly this time and did not blame Jia Rong.

After finishing all the work, Jia Rong had a farewell dinner with the remaining four princes.

"I always feel that the capital is a weird place. To be honest, I have wanted to leave for a long time, but the emperor has never let me go home. Not only that, he also gave me the capital's household registration."

After hearing this, the King of Liao picked up the wine pot and poured wine for Jia Rong, sighing, "There must be a prince in the capital. Thank you for your hard work, King Zhongxiao."

The King of Shu also raised his glass and said, "I toast to the King of Loyalty and Filial Piety. The court cannot do without the King of Loyalty and Filial Piety!"

King Zhenxi sighed and said, "There are only eight princes now, and we don't know how long we can hold on."

Jia Rong said unhappily, "Don't say such depressing words! Come, have a drink."

The other princes toasted together.

After everyone drank one cup, Jia Rong put down his glass and picked up his chopsticks and said, "I think this place is really bad. Forget about the assassin, but the water underground is stinking, and there have been several plagues and plagues. It's a combination of natural and man-made disasters."

King Zhou asked curiously, "King Zhongxiao, what do you think we should do from now on? That assassin keeps causing trouble every other day, but he didn't die, and we died first."

The King of Zhenxi sighed and said, "I don't want to come to the capital anymore. At worst, I will just stop being a prince."

The other princes did not persuade him. They all felt that the emperor was a worthless person. If they did not want to be the emperor, they would have replaced him long ago to prevent him from calling them over to die every now and then!

People are becoming less and less respectful to the emperor now.

The Prince of Zhenxi looked at Jia Rong and said, "Prince Zhongxiao, everyone says you are extremely smart. What do you think we should do now?"

Jia Rong laughed and said, "If I had a way, I would have run away long ago. I actually want to be a doctor who saves people, or a scholar who writes books. I have no interest in the affairs of the court. If I wasn't short of money, I wouldn't want to be an official at all."

"Now that I have enough money, I want to live a happy life instead of living in fear all day long. I am just a weak scholar, and the emperor always wants me to catch assassins."

Several princes sighed.

Jia Rong quickly said, "The King of Zhenxi just asked me what to do. In fact, aren't the other princes who didn't come this time the best answer? Just ask for leave and don't come."

King Zhenxi showed an embarrassed expression.

"Will this work?"

Jia Rong smiled and said, "What else is there worth the princes coming to see?"

The King of Shu sneered and said, "Next time you come, it will probably be time to change the emperor."

The other few people didn't want to take up this topic, nor did they want to be the emperor.

The King of Zhenxi asked again, "What if the emperor summons me? I won't hide it from my brothers and uncles. The chief of the clan came to me a few days ago and wanted me to come and manage the imperial guards."

Jia Rong said happily: "Isn't this a good thing?"

The Prince of Zhenxi said hurriedly, "I don't want to stay. I just want to go back to U-Tsang as soon as possible, but I'm afraid the emperor won't let me go."

Jia Rong frowned, then smiled thoughtfully and said, "I've heard that the beauties in India are pretty good. For now, the border is peaceful, but if India in the west invades the border someday, could the King of Zhenxi find some pretty Indian beauties for me?"

The King of Shu said directly: "What I am worried about is not whether the emperor will let us go back, but whether the assassin will cause trouble for us along the way."

The King of Shu no longer cares about the Emperor's thoughts, but only cares about the assassin's thoughts.

Jia Rong said, "This is easy. After the funeral, we have to offer sacrifices to the gods. I will arrange a grand ceremony, and you can pack up and run away quickly. It would be best if you run as soon as the sun rises. If you run from morning till night, you will definitely be able to get out of the capital."

"I will help hold a funeral for the King of Dai after daybreak. His family has been wiped out by assassins. If I don't take care of it, no one will."

Everyone bowed to Jia Rong excitedly.

"The King of Loyalty and Filial Piety is as righteous as the sky!"

"A brave man!"

"The pillar of the country!"

"When Prince Zhongxiao comes to my palace in the future, I will definitely give him a grand reception!"

Soon Jia Rong had a farewell dinner with everyone, and before dawn he went to receive the Dai Wang family. He arranged for Dai Wang's wife, concubines, and daughters-in-law to be raised in the Zhongxiao Wang Mansion.

The emperor stopped conferring titles of kings and maintained the number of princes at eight, and even stopped conferring titles of county princes.

After Jia Rong, a professional funeral artist, took care of the funeral arrangements for several princes, he quickly returned home and sat alone.

Jia Rong suddenly frowned.

"It's too annoying to work here every day. There are so many troubles all the time. Should I find a quiet place to stay?"

After thinking about it, Jia Rong soon discovered something.

"If I don't bring the emperor with me, who will provide food and drink for the family? Not to mention the tributes sent from all over the world."

On the one hand, the emperor would not let me go, and on the other hand, if I left the emperor, I would not be able to enjoy high-quality supplies.

Jia Rong quickly went to see the emperor.

The emperor was watching his one-month-old son playing. The virtuous concubine gave birth to a son for him last month, and the son has grown to one month old.

When Concubine Xian saw Jia Rong coming in, she smiled and knelt down to greet him, "Greetings, Uncle Emperor."

Jia Rong ignored her. He just touched the woman's big breasts casually.

The emperor looked at Jia Rong and asked nervously, "Is there anything wrong, my brother?"

The emperor was frightened these days.

Jia Rong looked at the emperor seriously, and this expression made the emperor even more frightened.

"Has the emperor ever thought about moving the capital?"

The emperor frowned, quickly stood up from the couch, thought for a few seconds and said, "Is this feasible?"

Jia Rong said directly: "It will definitely work! The underground water in the capital is already bad, and the Feng Shui dragon veins are also damaged. In particular, there is a lot of resentment in the palace, so all kinds of things often happen!"

"I originally didn't believe in ghosts and gods, but now I think that the assassin might be a ghost... and he specifically targeted the descendants of the royal family!"

The emperor suddenly felt a chill and could not sleep even more that night.

"Okay! Move the capital! Move the capital immediately!"

The emperor had long wanted to stop staying in the capital, and decisively agreed to move the capital.

Jia Rong quickly said, "This matter still needs to be discussed in the long run. Why don't you go to Jiangnan to inspect it first? The affairs of the capital can be handed over to the left and right prime ministers and the civil and military officials. Your Majesty should take the royal family and the civil and military officials to Jiangnan to have a look. I will also stay in the capital during this period to be prepared for any emergency."

If this happened to any other emperor, he would definitely think that Jia Rong was trying to get the emperor to rebel.

But at this moment, all the civil and military officials in the court and the royal family nobles thought that there was no problem.

After all, these years have been quite turbulent, so it would be good for the emperor to go out for a walk. It would make no difference whether he is there or not.

If nothing happens in the capital after the emperor leaves, it would be better for him not to come back.

The next day when the court was held, Jia Rong came to attend the court.

Everyone felt that something big was about to happen.

It happened to be cloudy early this morning, with a heavy downpour looming.

The air was very oppressive and the room was dark.

"The Emperor has arrived!!"

(End of this chapter)