Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Chapter 727 Choice

In the vast wilderness beyond Iron Net Mountain, a rider was fleeing madly, with several cavalrymen hot on his heels.

"Bang!"

"Bang! Bang bang bang!"

Amid a series of sparse gunshots, the man fell off his horse.

"My lord, please look!"

Jia Yu rode up to the front and took a letter that his subordinates had found.

Seeing that it was not sealed and that there was no indication of who it was addressed to, Jia Yu took the opportunity to pull out the letter inside.

One glance was enough to change his expression. And when he saw the vermilion "Seal of the Retired Emperor" at the end, he could no longer hide his shock.

"grown ups……?"

"Take this man back; I need to see the Marquis immediately!"

……

Jia Yu was a distant cousin of Jia Lian. After being transferred to the capital by Jia Lian, he served as the commander of the musket battalion of the Imperial Guard.

In terms of authority, he was already the third person in the entire firearms battalion.

Today, I was just following the usual routine and inspecting a few defensive lines when I encountered a group of riders coming aggressively, shouting for them to open the gate and let us pass.

However, Jia Yu and the others had already received Jia Lian's orders to set up defenses on imperial orders, and no one was to be allowed to pass without his command.

The two sides could not reach an agreement, which led to the violent arrest.

But he never imagined that the capture would result in this outcome!

Isn't the retired emperor in Tiewang Mountain?

Not only him, but also His Majesty, and countless members of the royal family and important figures of the court, were all participating in the annual royal hunting activity at Iron Net Mountain.

How could someone, under the guise of the Emperor Emeritus's orders, attempt to mobilize troops in the capital region?

As Jia Yu pondered the countless possibilities, she found it difficult to remain calm.

He rode alone, galloping at full speed, to the firearms camp.

The camp was quiet inside and out, with none of the usual bustling activity and busy training that usually took place there.

Jia Yu knew that this was because the firearms battalion had received orders to set up checkpoints and garrison troops.

However, Jia Yu knew even better that the firearms battalion had not mobilized even half of its men for this defense deployment.

After all, there are only a few paths, big and small, between Tiewang Mountain and the capital, so there's no need for thousands of people to be mobilized at once.

Previously, Jia Lian had only thought that it involved the safety of the two emperors and many important figures, so he dared not be negligent.

Looking back now, I'm afraid my cousin, who was also the eldest son, probably knew something all along...

Inside the station, Jia Lian was naturally not idle.

His gaze remained fixed on Tiewang Mountain and the capital.

It's easy to talk about things in the capital.

The Western City Military Command, under his jurisdiction, controlled the two western gates of the capital.

Although the Western City Garrison was ordered by the Embroidered Uniform Guard to be relieved of their posts last night with an "imperial decree," their small force was only enough to guard two city gates. The capital city was high and its walls deep, and most of the city walls were still in the hands of the Garrison, so it naturally wouldn't affect Jia Lian's ability to receive information from within the city.

Jia Lian did not feel that Emperor Ningkang distrusted him because of the Embroidered Uniform Guard's power grab. After all, everything he had done was just speculation, and he himself had not participated in Emperor Ningkang's grand plan.

Moreover, according to the information he received, the other high-ranking officers of the military command had experienced a bloody battle last night.

In comparison, his Western City Garrison was quite good; at least no violent conflicts occurred. This also suggests that the Embroidered Uniform Guard's actions were indeed Emperor Ningkang's intention, which is why they were more conciliatory towards the Western City Garrison.

After all, everyone knows that the Embroidered Uniform Guards are a bunch of "lackeys" who will bite anyone they can get their hands on.

Of course, Jia Lian only kept a cursory eye on things in the capital to ensure there were no major problems. His main focus, naturally, remained on Iron Net Mountain.

Early in the morning, he received news of the Iron Net Mountain riot, saying that the Crown Prince, under the banner of the retired emperor, had raised troops to surround the mountain and was going to stage a military remonstrance against Emperor Ningkang.

At first, he was really startled, thinking that Emperor Ningkang's affair had been exposed and that the retired emperor and the crown prince had joined forces to take action against Emperor Ningkang in advance.

But then he thought about it again and felt something was wrong. It wasn't until news came from the capital that Jia Lian realized that the Crown Prince's rebellion was just a smokescreen by Emperor Ningkang.

Moreover, the more he pondered it, the more astonished he became by Emperor Ningkang's move.

That's a brilliant idea to kill several birds with one stone; I wonder how he came up with it.

With such shrewdness, it's not hard to understand why Emperor Ningkang was able to easily seize power from the retired emperor in the original story, without even causing a major upheaval. At least a large number of people from the four major families were completely unaware of what was happening and fell victim to Emperor Ningkang's blade.

Thinking of this, while Jia Lian felt fortunate for his wisdom, he couldn't help but feel a little worried.

Fortunately, he had firmly clung to Emperor Ningkang's coattails from the very beginning. It's easy to imagine that after this, the entire empire would likely be ruled by Emperor Ningkang's absolute authority.

The worry, of course, is that under such an emperor, he should be even more careful in the future.

Yes, after understanding Emperor Ningkang's strategy for forcing the emperor to abdicate and the current situation, Jia Lian felt that the overall situation was settled.

Until Jia Yu arrived.

Inside the command post, Jia Lian read the secret letter sent by Jia Yu and listened to his explanation of the situation. For the first time, his brows, which had remained unchanged even after hearing the news of the incident this morning, furrowed.

After all, according to the information and speculation he had received, Emperor Ningkang's troops had already surrounded Tiewang Mountain, and the retired emperor was already trapped. How could he possibly send out so many "messengers"?

The key point is that these messengers brazenly headed towards the capital without being intercepted or pursued in the slightest.

Forgery? Smoke and mirrors? The key is that Emperor Ningkang's side has no reason to pull such a stunt.

The letter clearly stated, "I am in grave danger, and I hope that all my beloved ministers will lead their troops to my rescue..."

If these secret letters were to be leaked, it would be extremely detrimental to Emperor Ningkang!

"Can we capture them alive?"

"Yes, the one I personally captured is still alive!"

"Bring it over right away... never mind, I'll go over there."

……

He ordered the messenger to be taken away, the other party's shouts still echoing in Jia Lian's ears:

"Once the Emperor Emeritus has quelled the rebellion, he will surely make you traitors suffer a terrible death..."

Jia Lian's mind was truly in turmoil.

The messenger was quite stubborn, and he couldn't pry the other party's mouth open completely in a short time.

However, one thing can be roughly confirmed.

The other party did indeed come down from Iron Net Mountain, and they were indeed the Emperor Emeritus's men.

Although he didn't know why this was happening, it was clear that something new had happened on Iron Net Mountain that he was unaware of.

The key point is that he's currently an outsider; even if he wanted to do something, he couldn't!

Although he commanded troops, he dared not act rashly at this moment.

Sometimes, you may be careful for ninety-nine steps, but if you take the wrong step on the last one, everything will be wrong!

"My lord, what should we do now?"

The artillery battalion commander, Jie Jun, stepped forward and asked cautiously.

As a military officer who joined Jia Lian from the very beginning, he has done a lot for Jia Lian over the years and can be considered a confidant.

It could even be said that, in many ways, Jie Jun was more valued by Jia Lian than Jia Yu.

Jie Jun had been gathering information for Jia Lian from the very beginning, so he knew the most.

He knew that his master was a loyal supporter of the emperor, and for the sake of his master and his own future, he was naturally concerned about what Jia Lian would do now.

They have soldiers.

The weapons were also of superior quality.

The key point is that they are very close to the two saints of Tiewang Mountain.

Being in such a position, their every move naturally becomes sensitive.

Jia Lian himself was also pondering what the safest course of action should be, but facing the eager and somewhat restless gazes of Xie Jun, Jia Yu and others, he finally calmed down and said, "The struggle between sages is not something that we, as subjects, can interfere with."

Right now, we just need to do our own jobs well, and we shouldn't, and mustn't, concern ourselves with anything else.

"yes!"

Jia Yu and the others naturally had no objections.

Putting aside the fact that the firearms battalion was created by Jia Lian, they blindly trusted him in terms of talent and insight.

"Jia Yu, stay."

"Because someone forged the imperial decree and forced his way through the checkpoint, for the safety of the two saints of Iron Net Mountain, I believe that we should set up more lines of defense to prevent villains from causing trouble."

"Commander Jia, that's why I'm troubled to ask you to arrange for some more manpower to set up two more lines of defense."

"May I ask, Your Excellency, where is it located?"

"Well, since it's for the safety of the two saints, it's naturally better to be as close to Iron Net Mountain as possible."

"Use five li as the boundary, and add two more lines of defense to the north. Alright, go and do it."

Jie Jun and Jia Yu exchanged glances, both understanding that their lord wasn't doing nothing, but rather, he dared not act rashly before clarifying the situation.

After everyone had left, Jia Lian sat alone in the barracks, secretly mocking himself.

In the end, he also became a two-faced person.

Indeed, Jia Lian had seen through it; Emperor Ningkang's plan to force him to abdicate had clearly run into a real hole.

He didn't know if this was something that was bound to happen, or if it was because his little wings flapped too violently, causing the original historical trajectory to deviate.

However, given the unclear situation, he really couldn't just rush in headfirst!

Emperor Ningkang treated him well, but the retired emperor didn't seem to treat him too badly either. Aside from being a bit unreasonable, the retired emperor seemed to have a rather favorable opinion of him, the descendant of an old friend.

Ultimately, he was not a loyal and righteous subject.

He could not be Yue Fei, but he dared to risk his life for his emperor.

In fact, it didn't make much difference to him whether Emperor Ningkang or the retired emperor won or lost.

It's better that Emperor Ningkang won.

The retired emperor won, which doesn't seem too bad. The premise is that he really didn't participate in the "rebellion".

If we were to lead troops to help Emperor Ningkang at this point, it would be great if we won the gamble, but if we lost, we would have to start over.

As I said before, he is no longer the penniless, unfilial son of the East Wing.

Now that he has fame, beautiful wives and concubines, and the favor of Bao and Dai, he has so much, so naturally he has to consider more things.

……