Red Mansion: After being expelled from the family, I was granted the title of Marquis of Mobei

Chapter 31 Planning the Beijing Camp, the Beauty

Time passed quickly, and two days had passed. On the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, an official ship slowly docked at the Shendu Wharf.

Not long after, a group of personal guards escorted Jia Jue off the official ship. After Jia Jue got on the carriage, he went straight to the palace.

Two quarters of an hour later, in the Qianqing Palace, Jia Jue walked into the hall with the gait of a dragon and a tiger, bowed to Emperor Yongping and said.

"Wei Chen has met your Majesty."

Emperor Yongping smiled and said.

"Come, sit down and have tea with me."

Jia Jue agreed, and then sat opposite Emperor Yongping.

After Emperor Yongping dismissed his attendants, he drank tea with Jia Jue and said with a smile.

"It's almost the New Year, and I sent you on a business trip, so you didn't even have time to prepare New Year's goods for your family."

Jia Jue chuckled after hearing this.

"Eat the emperor's salary and be loyal to the emperor. It has always been like this."

"Besides, I am alone, and my family doesn't have much to buy for the New Year."

"Since I was fourteen, I haven't really liked celebrating the New Year."

Emperor Yongping had a look of emotion on his face.

"When a son wishes to support his parents but they are no longer around, there is no greater regret in the world than this."

"If your parents were still alive, they would be very happy and pleased to see your achievements today."

"You have performed a remarkable service during this trip south. I have already drafted a decree to posthumously confer the title of First Rank Consort on your mother."

Jia Jue bowed.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness."

Emperor Yongping waved his hand and said.

"Those who have made contributions must be rewarded, and those who have made mistakes must be punished. This is what should be done."

"I know your house is also deserted."

"How about this, you can accompany me to have New Year's Eve dinner tonight."

Jia Jue said after a moment of thought.

"Your Majesty should be attending a banquet with the imperial concubines and royal relatives tonight. I will not be joining you."

A trace of regret appeared on Emperor Yongping's face.

"Like you, I am actually alone."

“It seems that there are many concubines in the harem, but each of them has their own thoughts, and the royal family is not at peace either.”

"I have already made arrangements. This year, we will not be preparing a dinner in the palace. Each palace and royal family will be given a few dishes."

"Speaking of which, you and I, the king and his subject, are quite interesting. The king is a lonely man, and the subject is a solitary official."

"In fact, you and I, as king and subject, complement each other better."

Hearing Emperor Yongping's arrangement, Jia Jue nodded slightly.

"Since Your Majesty has made all the arrangements, I will obey your orders."

Emperor Yongping said with a calm smile.

"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. I sent you on an official mission before the New Year, and you will be getting married soon after the New Year."

"I should let you rest for a while, but the affairs of state are heavy, and the burden on you is too heavy to relax even a little bit."

"After the ninth day of the lunar new year, the New Year festival is over."

"I have already made plans to expand the Praetorian Guards. You will definitely be responsible for this matter."

Jia Jue said after a moment of thought.

"The Imperial Guards of the Northern and Southern Yamen now total 80,000 men. I wonder how many more troops Your Majesty intends to add?"

Emperor Yongping said calmly.

"I will expand the Praefectus Urbi to 200,000 men."

"Two hundred thousand men, Your Majesty, are you planning to make a major move against the Beijing Army once the Imperial Guards are expanded?"

Emperor Yongping smiled with satisfaction and said.

"I knew you would understand my deep meaning."

"Since the founding of our dynasty by our great ancestor, the first governor of the Beijing Camp was the first Duke Rong."

"The second governor of the Beijing Camp was the second Duke of Rong."

"The third governor of the Beijing Camp will be the former Prince of Beijing."

"The fourth governor of the Beijing Camp is Wang Ziteng."

"I know that you are also from the Jia family, but due to some unforeseen circumstances, you and the Rongguo Mansion became enemies and are now strangers."

"I believe you should understand the pros and cons of this."

"Whether it's the Prince of Beijing or the Rongguo Mansion, their ancestors were all founding fathers of our Great Zhou. For a hundred years, they have been interconnected, their roots intertwined, to the point where you are part of me and I am part of you."

"Even now, almost four years after I ascended the throne, they still harbor evil intentions and hinder me at every turn."

"The Beijing Camp is in the hands of these people, and I can't sleep at night."

"Now the time is ripe. It's time to take back the military power of the Beijing Camp."

Jia Jue said after thinking for a moment.

"Your Majesty, I have some thoughts that I'm not sure if I should share."

Emperor Yongping said with a chuckle.

"I left you here so that I could confide in you. Feel free to say whatever you want."

Jia Jue nodded slightly and said.

"Your Majesty, the Imperial Guards are expanding to 120,000 men. This is a major move and will inevitably cause a huge reaction in the court."

"Of course, with Your Majesty's current prestige, and the stolen money I seized from Jiangnan this time, supporting the expansion of the Imperial Guards will not be a problem."

"But I think there should be a softer approach to this matter."

"Wang Ziteng, the governor of the Beijing camp, and the Rongguo Mansion may not always be on good terms."

"Although they are known as the Four Great Families of Jinling, Rongguo Mansion is the leader of the four families."

"But over the years, the Rongguo Mansion has declined greatly, while the Wang family has prospered under Wang Ziteng's leadership."

"I have some understanding of the people in Rongguo Mansion. I think it is unlikely that they don't have any thoughts about this."

Emperor Yongping said after a moment of thought.

"You mean, a counter-espionage plan?"

Jia Jue said with a chuckle.

"The Rongguo Mansion has been the boss of the four major families for so many years. If they feel that they are about to become second in command, I'm afraid they will explode."

"Your Majesty, do you think this plan is feasible?"

Emperor Yongping thought about it seriously, then looked at Jia Jue.

"You are truly my lucky general."

"You know what, I think there's room for maneuver in this matter."

"It's okay to give it a try. Do you have any good plans?"

Jia Jue nodded slightly and said.

"I have some immature ideas, and I hope Your Majesty will correct them."

Afterwards, Jia Jue briefly shared his thoughts with Emperor Yongping.

After hearing what Jia Jue said, Emperor Yongping looked at Jia Jue with a complicated look.

"Now I understand why those grassland tribes fled in fear at the mere mention of your name."

"Your idea is really very, very novel."

"Okay, let's try it your way first."

"By the way, didn't you say in your memorial that the Jinyiwei commander, Gu Qianfan, was very capable this time?"

"In this case, I will send him to your command first, and you will complete this plan."

"However, the plan to expand the Praefectus Urbi must not be neglected. We must do both, and both hands must be strong." "I understand. Please rest assured, Your Majesty."

After finishing the discussion of the main business, Emperor Yongping also took great interest in pulling Jia Jue to play two games together.

However, compared with Emperor Yongping's ability in domestic affairs and strategies, Emperor Yongping is a complete lousy chess player.

Fortunately, Emperor Yongping's chess skills were pretty good, much higher than that of the Han chess master. In addition, Jia Jue deliberately let him win, and the two of them fought to a draw, which made Emperor Yongping very excited.

At night, after having the New Year's Eve dinner alone with Emperor Yongping, Jia Jue returned to the Marquis of Guanjun's Mansion with many rewards.

In the Marquis of Guanjun's mansion, Wang Xifeng was drinking tea in the warm room.

During this period of time, Wang Xifeng gradually got used to the life in the Marquis of Guanjun's Mansion.

She was a smart and capable person. After Jia Jue arranged for her to take over the affairs of the Marquis' Mansion, she arranged the affairs of the Marquis' Mansion in an orderly manner in just half a month, and successfully established her majestic status.

But now it is New Year's Eve, and seeing that Jia Jue has not returned yet, Wang Xifeng is a little anxious.

There are thousands of people in a family, but only one person is in charge.

Without Jia Jue, Wang Xifeng also had no backbone.

Just as Wang Xifeng was waiting for Jia Jue, Ping'er came into the room, bowed, and said.

"Miss, the Marquis is back."

After hearing this, Wang Xifeng hurriedly stood up, then looked at Ping'er awkwardly and said.

"Ping'er, take a look at me. Do I need to clean myself up?"

Ping'er said with a smile.

"Girl, you are fine. Let's go and greet the Marquis."

Wang Xifeng nodded, and then the two of them walked out of the yard and headed towards the mansion gate to greet him.

Not long after they left, Wang Xifeng saw Jia Jue walking with the heroic gait of a dragon and a tiger.

Wang Xifeng and Ping'er came closer, bowed deeply and said respectfully.

"Welcome back to the mansion, my Lord."

Jia Jue said with a slight smile.

"I'm not in the mansion for a while now, so I'm sorry to bother you with the affairs of the mansion."

"Let's go to the warm room and talk."

Wang Xifeng agreed obediently, and then followed Jia Jue like a young wife.

If the Wang family saw this, they would definitely be extremely surprised, because this was still the strong and aggressive girl Feng in their family.

All I can say is that there is always something better than nothing.

After arriving at the warm room, the maids took the cloak that Jia Jue was wearing and hung it aside.

Then Wang Xifeng brought a bowl of dessert to Jia Jue and said.

"My Lord, this is what I had prepared. Please drink it while it's hot to warm yourself up."

Jia Jue took the sweet soup, took a sip and said.

"Okay, Xifeng, stop busying yourself and take a seat."

"Everything in the mansion has been arranged."

Wang Xifeng nodded and said.

"We've already bought all the New Year's goods we need."

"During the period before the New Year, 70 or 80 families came to give gifts."

"Many of them have no connection with the Marquis, so I refused to accept them on the grounds that the Marquis was not at home."

"The remaining twenty or so families are mostly the Marquis's old subordinates and trusted aides in the Zhenbei Army. In addition, the Duke of Ying and the Sheng family have both sent New Year gifts."

"I have accepted all of these and have arranged return gifts for each one. The specific details are clearly recorded in the warehouse and the accounting office, and the Marquis can check them at any time."

Jia Jue said with a chuckle.

"I knew you could do it."

"Thank you for your hard work during this time."

"By the way, prepare another gift and send it to the Wang family tomorrow."

After hearing this, Wang Xifeng was stunned for a moment and said with some uncertainty.

"My Lord, the Wang family you are talking about, yes, which Wang family are you talking about?"

Jia Jue looked at Wang Xifeng meaningfully and said.

"The East Sea lacks a white jade bed, so the Dragon King came to ask for the King of Jinling."

"Why, have you even forgotten your origins?"

Wang Xifeng said in disbelief.

"My Lord, why are you..."

Jia Jue said calmly.

"I know you don't understand why I asked you to send gifts to the Wang family."

"I won't tell you anything too specific. This is not something you should know."

"Just be obedient. I promise that after this is done, nothing will happen to the Wang family, and you will be safer in the mansion from now on."

After hearing this, Wang Xifeng nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

She also understood that what Jia Jue said proved that there were some things here that she shouldn't know.

In ancient times, women were subject to the Three Obediences and Four Virtues: obey their fathers at home, obey their husbands after marriage, and obey their sons after their husbands' death.

Now the only one Wang Xifeng can rely on is Jia Jue, so she naturally has to listen to Jia Jue's words.

Not to mention that Jia Jue’s arrangement will not harm the interests of the Wang family, even if it does, Wang Xifeng will definitely listen to Jia Jue. This is a matter of stance.

Jia Jue was still very satisfied with Wang Xifeng's attitude.

After talking about the Wang family, Jia Jue drank a bowl of sweet soup.

After a brief chat, Jia Jue and Wang Xifeng went to the bedroom.

At this time, Wang Xifeng was very shy. After all, she was not yet the evolved and very bold Feng Lazi in the original novel of Dream of Red Mansions.

Although she has now shown her smart and capable side, she is still just a 16 or 17-year-old unmarried girl, so she is still shy and timid.

After Wang Xifeng came to the bed and sat down, her face flushed slightly and she lowered her head shyly.

By candlelight, Jia Jue looked at the beautiful and graceful Wang Xifeng in front of him and smiled.

The Twelve Golden Hairpins are all extremely beautiful. Almost all fans of Dream of the Red Chamber have had some thoughts about the Twelve Golden Hairpins.

Jia Jue is naturally no exception.

Now the lively and charming Wang Xifeng was sitting in front of him, allowing anyone to flirt with her, which made Jia Jue feel a little moved.

Then Jia Jue came and sat down next to Wang Xifeng, gently holding her hand.

Feeling Wang Xifeng's nervousness, Jia Jue spoke gently.

"Xifeng, I know that you came to the Marquis' Mansion and were caught in the crossfire."

"I also know that my previous methods were a bit rough."

"But don't worry, I will treat you well in the future."

Wang Xifeng nodded shyly, and then her voice was very weak and shy.

"My Lord, I understand. I hope you will show me mercy in the future."

Jia Jue patted Wang Xifeng's hand gently and agreed, then hugged the beauty and pulled the bed curtain.

When Jade was young, her lover was infatuated with her. When the lotus blossomed in the frost, her autumn beauty was still beautiful.

There is no need to elaborate on the night of love and romance. Accompanied by the wind, flowers, snow and moon, the third year of Yongping officially became history, and the time came to the morning of the first day of the first lunar month of the fourth year of Yongping.

As a virgin, Wang Xifeng was unable to bear the battle and was exhausted after a night of hard work. She was resting in her bedroom.

As for Jia Jue, he was still as vigorous as ever. He got up early and went to the training ground to practice his boxing, kicking and spear skills.

After finishing his morning exercises, Jia Jue returned to the warm room to wash up, and then ordered the maid to prepare breakfast and send it to his room.

At this time, Wang Xifeng had just woken up. When she saw Jia Jue had gotten up early in the room, Wang Xifeng was startled and hurriedly sat up and said.

"My Lord, I am truly damned for oversleeping."

(End of this chapter)