Dream of the Red Chamber: I can upgrade my entries!

Chapter 89 The ambitious Zhen family, they won't die if they don't court death!
"Jingzhe."

"Bring them in."

Jia Yan gave the order.

"Yes."

Jingzhe turned around and went down to make arrangements.

Before long, a group of dashing figures appeared in the courtyard. Their hair was tied up high, and they wore plain-colored outfits with crimson bodysuits, leather belts and wrist guards made of copper, and sheathed longswords at their waists. Just standing there, they exuded an indescribable sense of competence.

"My lord!"

The maids carrying swords bowed and greeted them.

"Ah."

With a wave of his hand, Jia Yan nodded in satisfaction.

Judging from the maids' movements, they had all seen blood and were highly skilled in martial arts. In one-on-one combat in this narrow, high-walled courtyard, they were a match for ordinary soldiers, except for the elite troops.

"elder brother."

Little Xichun blinked her big eyes, staring intently at the maids in front of her, her little face full of curiosity.

'Eh!!!'

Lin Daiyu also came to her senses and carefully examined the figures in front of her, full of surprise.

"It's late at night, and I imagine my sister must be tired. They will escort her to the West Mansion and stay temporarily in my sister's and Lin sister's courtyard."

"Tomorrow, I will go to the West Mansion to seek justice for my sister."

A chilling light flashed in Jia Yan's eyes as he spoke.

"oh oh."

Xiao Xichun was indeed sleepy. If she hadn't been forcing herself to stay awake to wait for Jia Yan, she probably would have fallen asleep long ago.

"Second Brother Yan."

"I will accompany my fourth sister back to the mansion first."

The quick-witted Lin Daiyu immediately understood Jia Yan's meaning. She took Xiao Xichun's hand, and the two of them, accompanied by maids and servants, returned to the Rongguo Mansion.

It was the dead of night, and the gatekeeper of Rongguo Mansion didn't think much of it. He simply opened the gate and let them in, completely unaware that a group of female demons had entered.

"Master."

Watching Lin Daiyu and Xiao Xichun have their good fortune, Jingzhe slowly spoke: "The things brought back from the north have almost all been sold off."

"The first batch of eight million taels was all sent to the Xishan camp and handed over to Heiyundu."

"The second batch is about 15 million taels, one-third of which will be used for the expansion of Fengluan Pavilion."

"Currently, the influence of the Phoenix Pavilion has spread across the two capitals and thirteen provinces, including Kunlun Prefecture, Xining Prefecture, Jinzhou, Wuyuan Prefecture, Yunzhong Prefecture, and Qiongzhou. No trace in the world can escape our eyes."

"With the brothel as a cover, no underground force discovered anything amiss."

"However, since its expansion, Phoenix Pavilion has more than 30,000 people, which is too bloated and makes it very inefficient in handling affairs."

In just over half a year, with a steady stream of funding, the Phoenix Pavilion expanded far beyond other intermediary organizations, especially in intelligence gathering, where it far surpassed Black Cloud Capital and Chess Camp, and even the Blood Droplets and Hidden Dragon Guards were no match for them.

After all, brothels are the most well-informed places; high-ranking officials and commoners alike frequent them.

Moreover, the brothels amassed wealth at an astonishing rate, creating a virtuous cycle. More than three hundred brothels throughout the Great Qian Dynasty became strongholds of the Phoenix Pavilion, covering all prefectures and larger border towns and counties.

"I understand." Nodding slightly, Jia Yan pondered to himself how to divide the Phoenix Pavilion to better utilize their functions.

"Master."

Mangzhong added, "Over at Xishan, the Hidden Dragon Guards wiped out all the Blood Droplets, and both sides have completely withdrawn."

"The only thing still monitoring Xuanzhen Temple right now is the Chess Camp. Recently, there have been movements from the Prince of Beijing's residence and the Prince of Yizhong's residence."

“Our people discovered that the Prince of Beijing’s mansion was operating a fleet in Tianjin Prefecture, exchanging goods with the Later Jin.”

"The secret agents of the chess camp went to Jiangnan and Yunnan respectively."

'Whoosh!'

Upon hearing this, Jia Yan narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "They really spare no effort in trying to destroy the dynasty."

Previously, the Beijing Prince's Mansion's operations in Ping'an Prefecture were completely destroyed. Unexpectedly, Shui Rong not only did not remain silent for a while, but became even more restless, colluding with the Later Jin. He really has a death wish.

He could guess the actions of Prince Yizhong's mansion with a snap of his fingers; they were simply eliminating the pawns that had been planted in Jiangnan, with Lin Ruhai being the first target. However, he hadn't expected that Prince Yizhong also had plans in Yunnan.

It now seems that Prince Zheng Keshuang of Nan'an is determined to board Prince Yizhong's pirate ship. The Southwest Incident in the original Dream of the Red Chamber is related to the two of them. However, these fools have no idea of ​​the current strength of Qianxiang Kingdom. They will inevitably mess things up, and in the end, even Zheng Keshuang will fall into their hands.

A regional hegemon that completely controlled Myanmar and the Brahmaputra River basin, covering an area of ​​over 90 square kilometers and with a population of over 2500 million, and employed a large number of mercenaries from Britain and France, and purchased the most advanced matchlock guns and a small number of flintlock guns.

At the same time, Siam barely maintained its position under the threat of the Kingdom of Sikkim by appointing a foreigner as prime minister, which shows the strength of the Kingdom of Sikkim.

If left unchecked, the unification of Southeast Asia by the Kingdom of Qianxiang is almost a certainty.

"Master."

“The Prince of Beijing has been on very good terms with the Prince of Bao for the past few days.”

"The Zhen family has decided to send the third-ranked girl to the palace to participate in the imperial concubine selection."

Jingzhe continued.

"hehe!"

Jia Yan smiled, his sarcasm undisguised.

The Zhen family and the Jia family can be said to be two sides of the same coin. The Jia family has four daughters, and the Zhen family also has four. The eldest daughter of the Zhen family married a Hanlin Academy scholar, the second daughter married the Prince of Beijing as his principal wife, and now the third daughter is to be married to Prince Bao as his concubine.

Among Emperor Yongping's sons, Prince Bao, Qin Li, had already distinguished himself and was highly regarded by the retired emperor. He was almost the strongest contender for the crown prince position, revealing the Zhen family's ambition to the fullest extent.

By so blatantly participating in the internal power struggles of the royal family, do they really think they are some kind of extraordinary family, relying on Consort Zhen for their wealth and status? How utterly ignorant!
In the original novel, the day the third daughter of the Zhen family went to the capital was the day that Consort Zhen passed away, which was also the day the Zhen family declined.

"Master."

"The Rongguo Mansion has a considerable amount of silver stored in the Zhen family."

A single sentence from Jingzhe caught Jia Yan's attention. It should be noted that the old lady of the Zhen family and Grandmother Jia were close friends, and their relationship had always been intimate.

"I'll take care of this matter."

Jia Yan gave the instructions meaningfully.

"Yes."

Jingzhe didn't say anything more.

PS: The two capitals and thirteen provinces are Shenjing (Northern Zhili), Jinling (Southern Zhili), Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, Shaanxi (including Hexi Corridor and Ningxia), Sichuan, Huguang (Hubei and Hunan), Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guizhou, Yunnan, Guangxi, and Guangdong (including Qiongzhou).

Kunlun Prefecture (Baoshan), Xining Prefecture (Xining), Qiantao (Wuyuan Prefecture), Houtao (Yunzhong Prefecture) – Ping'an Prefecture.

(End of this chapter)