The destiny of all heavens begins in the Red Chamber

"Okay, I get it now!"

The young man clapped his hands and suddenly drew his sword from his waist.

The chilling glint of the sword blade startled the two top courtesans beside Jia Zhen, who screamed in alarm.

"Crack!"

A sharp sword light flashed, and the two beautiful courtesans of the Spring Breeze Pavilion instantly perished.

Jia Zhen felt a chill run down his spine as half of his face was stained red by the blood splattered from the beautiful woman's body.

"Did you think my son and I were completely finished?"

The young man's voice was calm and unhurried, the sharp tip of his sword pointed at Jia Zhen, and he said coldly, "Even if we're doomed, I'll still kill you, the culprit!"

After saying that, he thrust out his sword, striking Jia Zhen's left eyeball squarely. Blood splattered immediately, and he suffered excruciating pain in his left eye, losing his sight.

Jia Zhen suddenly leaned back, covered his left eye and let out a shrill scream, but his body suddenly sprang up and flew towards the window next to him. At the critical moment, the ruthlessness in his heart burst forth.

With his life threatened, he couldn't care less about his suddenly blinded left eye; escaping was the priority.

This fellow was in the prime of his life at the time. Even though he was addicted to wine and women, he still did plenty of games like pitch-pot, archery, horseback riding, and hunting, so his body was still quite healthy.

When driven by ruthless determination, the potential that emerges is quite remarkable.

Before Ma Yuan's youngest son could react, he had already leaped and crashed headfirst into the window.

At the same time, he shouted loudly, "There's an assassin! Come quickly and save people!"

His movements were extremely swift and decisive; if he couldn't rush out of the room instantly, he would likely die. Therefore, his act of smashing through the window could be described as ferocious.

Among Ma Yuan's guards, some were even faster than him!

The incident happened so suddenly that there was no time to draw his sword and kill. He could only rush out and, just as Jia Zhen crashed through the window, he struck Jia Zhen's chest with a palm. With a cracking sound, a palm print-sized area was hardened into Jia Zhen's right rib area.

Jia Zhen let out a shrill scream and spat out a jet of blood.

At that moment, he smashed through the window and landed heavily in the corridor. The Ning family guards he had brought with him rushed over in a panic and were shocked to see this.

"Grandpa is injured! Quickly, protect him!"

Following Ma Yuan's youngest son, who rushed out of the room, and his guards, they didn't linger. They snorted coldly and turned to leave: "Hmph, Jia Zhen got off easy!"

"Don't worry, young master. Jia Zhen was hit by my sly palm strike. He'll either die or be paralyzed from the waist down!"

"Haha, that's perfect! Let him live in misery from now on!"

Soon, the group disappeared into the chaotic crowd.

Such an incident at Chunfeng Tower alarmed all the private rooms.

Upon learning that Jia Zhen, the head of the Ning Mansion, had been stabbed and seriously injured, everyone's faces turned extremely grim. They hurriedly dressed and left this place of trouble, fearing they would never return.

What a joke! If a brothel can't even guarantee the safety of its customers, who would dare to come here?

Although the guards from Chunfeng Tower arrived quickly and restored order, the situation was already beyond their control.

The matter of Jia Zhen's serious injury alone would probably require the owner of Chunfeng Tower to personally intervene and resolve it.

If not handled properly, it could lead to huge hidden dangers!

As the guests of Chunfeng Tower left one after another, news of Jia Zhen's assassination attempt spread rapidly.

The situation quickly escalated in the western part of the city, especially in the Ning family. Regardless of whether the matter was true or false, they immediately dispatched elite guards to provide reinforcements, as they could not allow Jia Zhen to suffer any real harm.

On the other side, upon receiving the news, Lady You panicked. She dispatched people to find Jia Zhen, the person in charge, while also sending someone to the neighboring Rong Mansion to report the news and hope to gain their support.

Unfortunately, the Ning family had no adult males to support them at that time.

Both Lady You and Qin Keqing were adept at managing domestic affairs, but they were helpless when it came to external matters.

As for the heir Jia Rong, even a fool knows he's unreliable.

The Rong family was soon thrown into turmoil, and all the core members were alerted.

The old lady hurriedly got up and instructed Jia Lian to take his men to the Ning Mansion immediately to keep watch, and not to let outsiders take advantage of the chaos to sneak into the mansion at this time.

As for Master She, Master Zheng, Madam Wang, Madam Xing, and Wang Xifeng, they all rushed to Rongqing Hall in disheveled clothes to discuss countermeasures.

Although the news was still vague and sporadic, the old lady was certain that the matter was serious and that Jia Zhen would be severely injured even if he didn't die.

As for the outside world, the Five City Garrison and the Shuntian Prefecture's fast-track yamen runners were urgently mobilized, setting up a city-wide search to bring the assassin who tried to kill Jia Zhen to justice.

However, anyone with discerning eyes knows that this is nothing more than a facade, done for outsiders and for the present day.

Jia Zhen was only seriously injured and disabled; he was not unconscious.

The moment he was taken to the hospital, he clearly identified himself as the assassin.

However, the news was too explosive. Neither the Shuntian Prefecture officials who rushed over nor the nobles who were enjoying themselves at Chunfeng Tower could make up their minds to take action against the Vice Minister's residence.

This matter naturally needed to be sent to the palace immediately, awaiting the decrees of the current emperor and the retired emperor.

If it weren't for Jia Zhen's miserable state right in front of them, they would have suspected that this fellow was taking the opportunity to frame them.

But no one expected that the current emperor's actions would be so significant and swift.

The news reached the palace only a short time before the emperor's decree was issued.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard, in conjunction with the Shuntian Prefecture and the Dali Temple officials, ordered a search of the residence of the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, determined to find Ma Yuan's youngest son.

It is said that even the retired emperor was alarmed and immediately flew into a rage.

At this time, the Ningguo Mansion was still at the tail end of its peak, and its influence was still quite astonishing.

Otherwise, the Ning family's complete decline and even being deliberately targeted by the royal family in the original Dream of the Red Chamber would not have occurred nearly ten years after Qin Keqing's death, but would have been addressed immediately.

Once you offend the royal family, they won't be polite to you. Even the most loyal ministers will face the immediate fate of having their property confiscated and being punished.

The assassination of Jia Zhen can be described as extremely heinous.

To put it more broadly, they didn't take the Great Qian Dynasty seriously, and naturally, they didn't care about the imperial family either.

On a smaller scale, the nobility could very well use this as an opportunity to launch an attack and ignite a new round of infighting in the imperial court.

If the assassin is indeed Ma Yuan's youngest son, then the cabinet will be on the defensive, and might even suffer a significant loss. Otherwise, the powerful nobility group will not let the matter rest easily.

Moreover, Ma Yuan's position is also very important. He is not just the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, but also the Governor-General of the Granaries, who directly manages the thirteen granaries in the capital. That is no joke.

But what happened next shocked the entire capital.

Before the Embroidered Uniform Guard, together with officials from the Shuntian Prefecture and the Dali Temple, could surround the Ma family's residence, a government granary located on the outskirts of the capital suddenly caught fire.

It was the height of summer, and the recent days had been sunny and hot. The air was thick with heat, and a fire could easily start.

"Fire! Fire! That's where the government granary is located!"

It is estimated that this was done intentionally, as the fire spread extremely rapidly.

At first, all that could be seen was a red ball of light in the darkness, but soon the entire sky was enveloped in red light, and flames shot into the sky, creating a truly astonishing fire.

At this time, the raging flames could be seen throughout the entire capital city, along with the dark sky dyed red by the flames, which looked quite spectacular.

Jia Huan was also awakened at this moment. Without putting on any clothes, he rushed out of the room, looked up at the dark night that was reddened by the firelight, and a knowing look appeared on his face.

Damn it, are some people and forces desperate and resorting to such tactics?

Chapter 101 Slap in the Face (Please Subscribe)

Xue Pan, who was also awakened, stood in the courtyard of Pear Fragrance Courtyard, trembling.

Seeing the sky dyed red by the flames filled me with indescribable shock and fear.

He knew the exact location where the flames were rising.

I've been hanging out with the thugs on Ningrong Street lately, and that's exactly where I'm going to expand my influence.

There, near the city wall, was a huge government granary, right on the bank of an artificial waterway.

He naturally did not believe that the fire that suddenly broke out in the granary was an accident.

The river is right next to it, and the official warehouse is fully equipped with all kinds of fire extinguishing equipment. As long as we react quickly and organize enough manpower to put out the fire, it can play a key role.

But look at this fire, wow...

All the outrageous things he did in Nanjing before couldn't compare to this one.

This is a direct and blatant attack on the faces of the current emperor and the cabinet ministers, without any hesitation.

"Someone, tell the guards outside to be on their guard and keep a close watch on the gate!"

After watching for a while, Xue Pan gradually calmed down and didn't forget to call out to the maid beside him.

The old woman guarding the gate relayed a message, and footsteps sounded outside the gate before falling silent again.

"Where did this huge fire start? It's terrifying!"

At this moment, Aunt Xue and Xue Baochai got up and were quite surprised by the scene outside.

"The official granary near the city wall!"

Xue Pan explained, "Mother, don't worry, no matter how big the fire is, it won't spread here!"

"This is terrible! The official granaries are full of goods transported by the Grand Canal. I'm afraid prices in the capital are going to skyrocket!"

Although Aunt Xue didn't know much about doing business, her family was in business, so she was quite shrewd.