Dream of the Red Chamber: Rising from Refugees to Sweep Across the Land

Chapter 99 Heshen: Heaven bless my Great Qing!

Liu Feng, holding his teacup, glanced around at the living room filled with Buddha statues and thought to himself: This is so fake!

It's like you're afraid others won't know you're a Buddhist.

The steward standing nearby chuckled, "Our prince has had a deep affinity for Buddhism since he was a child. He loves to eat vegetarian food and chant Buddhist scriptures, and he also likes to enshrine various Bodhisattvas, Arhats, and Buddha statues in his mansion."

"Are there many Buddha statues in the mansion?" Liu Feng asked.

"It's no exaggeration to say that all the Buddha statues in all the temples in the capital combined don't equal the number in our Prince's Mansion," the steward said with a smug look.

Liu Feng was slightly taken aback, then realized: "You cast it yourself?"

"Exactly," the butler said with a smug look on his face. "What does Lord Liu think of the Buddha statues in this hall?"

"Good, very Buddhist." Liu Feng said without hesitation.

The butler curled his lip, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes.

Liu Feng blinked: "That must be a lot of copper, right?"

The steward replied proudly, "Of course. His Majesty bestows gifts upon the Prince's residence every year..."

'

"Ahem!" A cough suddenly came from the back room, interrupting the butler's words.

"Your Highness," the steward hurriedly stepped forward.

Liu Feng put down his teacup, stood up, and bowed: "Your Highness."

Having changed his clothes, Prince Yong emerged, twirling a string of prayer beads in his hand. He gave a faint "hmm," took his seat in the main seat, and cut to the chase: "You've come for the senior management, haven't you?"

Liu Feng cupped his hands in greeting: "I apologize for disturbing you without permission, Your Highness."

Prince Yong's tone remained indifferent: "You are acting as an imperial envoy; it is our duty to cooperate with you."

Liu Feng was taken aback; these words sounded so awkward.

Prince Yong slowly twirled his prayer beads: "Steward."

"Yes." The butler understood and turned to Liu Feng: "Lord Liu, please ask me anything."

Liu Feng asked a question, and the steward answered it in a smooth and seamless manner, which made Liu Feng somewhat incredulous. His gaze darted back and forth between the Prince Yong and the steward. Could it have been pre-arranged?

His gaze was suddenly drawn to the thumb ring on Prince Yong's thumb. It was dark yellow and pitted, not a jade thumb ring, but a bone thumb ring.

As Prince Yong turned his prayer beads, the inside of his thumb ring was inadvertently revealed, showing a deep mark.

Liu Feng's heart skipped a beat. He knew this thing all too well. It was made by drawing a hard bow and sharpening it. It would be impossible to leave such marks without hundreds of arrows.

He felt a chill run down his spine; the Prince of Yong was skilled in martial arts!

Liu Feng glanced at the hall full of Buddha statues again, and thought, "This place is no longer safe!"

After thinking it over, he asked a few more questions and then hurriedly took his leave.

Prince Yong watched Liu Feng's retreating figure, his hand tightening so much that the prayer beads creaked under his grip: "Does he believe it?"

The steward smiled and said, "This is an imperial envoy. Believe it or not, he has to investigate."

Prince Yong nodded, then asked, "Have the person been found?"

The butler shook his head.

A cold glint flashed in Prince Yong's eyes: "Spread the word that the Northern Garrison Command intends to kill his entire family."

Back at the Thousand Household Office, Liu Feng silently memorized what the steward of the Prince's Mansion had said. After eliminating those who were unable to bribe the senior officials, five families remained, which gave Liu Feng a headache: the Emperor's two sons, the Emperor's younger brother, Prince Zhongshun, the Emperor's deceased uncle, and Prince Beijing.

The graves of the entire Cheng'en family are overgrown with weeds, cross that out. And with the brains of Prince Zhongshun, he'd be grateful if no one schemed against him, cross that out too.

Liu Feng glanced again at the names of the Emperor's two sons. The steward's words, whether intentional or not, had subtly led him astray, but he wasn't a fool. After a moment's hesitation, he picked up his brush and quickly wrote down only the name of the Prince of Bei Jing. He put down the brush, suppressing the urge to immediately go to the Prince of Bei Jing's residence. His fingertips lightly tapped the table, and he ultimately decided to go to the palace first...

"Damn it, you dog emperor, you deserve to have such a miserable son."

'

Liu Feng walked out of the imperial city cursing and swearing, saying a lot of things, but in the end he only got a lukewarm reply: "There's nothing suspicious about this."

He understood that the emperor didn't want to investigate the exemplary figures who had been painstakingly established based on a mere suspicion, nor did he want to leave the nobles with the impression of being fickle. And what about the Dowager Consort... Liu Feng could understand all of this.

But then he added, "Come back to me with evidence and ask for my permission."

Listen to this, is this even human language?

Please, you son of a bitch!

Why bother checking this? Go home and sleep.

While the capital city was still bathed in sunshine, Shengjing City was already experiencing heavy snowfall.

Amidst the swirling snowflakes, a luxurious sedan chair landed steadily before the palace gate. Before the porters could even move, the curtain was lifted from the inside by a plump hand adorned with emerald rings.

First, a red hat popped out, then the whole person emerged. He tightened his fur coat, his chubby round face unable to hide his excitement, and then strode towards the palace gate.

"Lord He." The guards at the palace gate bowed in greeting.

Heshen nodded slightly, but continued walking straight towards the Hall of Mental Cultivation without stopping.

The Forbidden City in Beijing has everything that the Shenyang Imperial Palace has, except that everything is a size smaller.

In the west warm room, Qian Xiaosi sat on the kang (a heated brick bed), holding a magnifying glass and carefully examining a painting on the kang table, repeatedly saying "good".

He put down the magnifying glass, chuckled, and muttered, "What a good lackey." He then picked up the seal that had been prepared beforehand, breathed warm air on it, and stamped it onto the blank space of the painting, nodding in satisfaction.

An old eunuch handed over a hot towel. Qian Xiaosi wiped his hands and casually said, "The Fan family has rendered meritorious service by presenting the painting; let Heshen reward them with whatever he likes..."

"9

Before he could finish speaking, Heshen's excited voice rang out from outside the door: "This servant Heshen pays his respects to Your Majesty!"

"Oh, He Kun is here? I was just talking about you. Come in quickly," Qianlong greeted him with a smile.

Heshen, bowing low, hurried to the kang (a heated brick bed), knelt down, kowtowed, and then rose, his face beaming with smiles: "This servant has come to congratulate his master!"

"What treasure have you found for me this time?" Qian Xiaosi asked with a broad smile.

"Your Majesty, it is indeed a genuine treasure!" Heshen said, taking out a letter from his pocket and presenting it to the emperor.

Qian Xiaosi's smile froze instantly, his face saying, "You didn't take the wrong one, did you?"

Heshen laughed, "This letter can help our Great Qing seize the Dalinghe defense line, and even take Jinzhou!"

Qian Xiaosi's eyes lit up immediately. He snatched the letter, pulled it out, and began to read.

"God bless our Great Qing! Those merchant guilds the General's Office at Shanhaiguan has recruited all have our people. When they're delivering winter clothes and provisions to the main camp, we'll coordinate an attack from within and without, burning down the Han people's granaries. We'll be guaranteed to win this battle!"

Qian Xiaosi didn't speak, staring at the letter and reading it carefully twice. After pondering for a moment, he looked up and said to the old eunuch, "Summon Agui to the palace immediately."

A sinister glint flashed in Heshen's eyes, but he quickly concealed it under a mask of respect.

Qianlong was overjoyed and said to Heshen with a smile, "You have rendered a great service. Tell me, what reward do you want?"

This time, Heshen didn't hesitate and knelt down directly: "This servant wishes to ask for a reward for Helin..."

'

Qian Xiaosi smiled and looked at him: "You want your younger brother to lead the troops alone?"

"Your Majesty is wise!" Heshen hurriedly flattered.

Qian Xiaosi still had a smile on his face, and tapped his fingers lightly on the kang table a few times: "This battle concerns the fate of our Great Qing Dynasty, and we cannot afford to lose it... How about this, let Helin go and be Fukang'an's deputy, and let him gain some experience first."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" This was exactly what Heshen had been waiting for.

"As for the Han Chinese court... think of a way to keep them from paying attention to the area outside the Great Wall."

"A concubine's son!"

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