The Second Master of the Red Chamber

The third prince made Jia Lian feel very uncomfortable.

This point had already come to mind when I first met the Third Prince.

Although the Third Prince had a very good reputation in the court and the country, perhaps because they were of the same kind, Jia Lian felt from the beginning that the Third Prince was extremely cunning and even a little sinister, and therefore did not like him very much.

I believe that the other party feels the same way about him.

The reason why the other party had always been kind to him was probably because he was very valuable. Even if there was a risk of losing trust with Emperor Ning Kang, his past achievements and great reputation still made him very valuable to the Third Prince.

Of course, it may also be because the third prince is still very weak and needs a lot of help.

To be honest, if he had a choice, Jia Lian would actually prefer the eldest prince to continue to be the crown prince.

Although the eldest prince cannot be considered wise and brave, he has an above-average appearance and his behavior is traceable. Even if such a person is supported to take the throne in the future, he will not feel insecure.

Therefore, although Jia Lian appears to be a staunch supporter of the imperial party and does not participate in the dispute over the princes, he actually still tends to favor the crown prince.

Unfortunately, the prince, who was in the vortex at the peak, failed to grasp the situation and ruined himself.

Thinking of this, Jia Lian smiled helplessly. How could he have the qualifications to feel pity for the prince now?

He himself was in trouble.

The remarks made by the retired emperor pushed him to the forefront and to the opposite side of Emperor Ning Kang.

At the moment, it is still unknown whether Emperor Ning Kang can figure it out, and whether he can reconcile with Emperor Ning Kang.

The only thing that is certain is that as long as he does not act rashly at this critical moment, Emperor Ning Kang will definitely not kill him.

At most, he will be hidden away.

If this is really the case, then it becomes extremely important to make friends with the future emperor in order to make a comeback after the death of Emperor Ning Kang.

If this is the case, the olive branch that the Third Prince extended to him seemed like a life-saving straw to him.

When Jia Lian came to his senses, he found himself back in the military tent, and Aqi was helping him take off his armor.

He did not bring any servants with him when he left Beijing this time, not even Aqin.

He knew that this was a dangerous situation, and Aqin's skills were not as good as her sister's, so it was better for him to stay at home and protect Fengjie.

Looking at Ah Qi, whose face was always stern and whose eyes only showed a moment of tenderness when she occasionally looked up and made eye contact with him, Jia Lian's annoyance gradually disappeared.

Both sisters Aqi and Aqin are quite tall. The elder sister Aqi is even slightly shorter than Jia Lian, but this does not affect the beauty of her feminine figure.

Even though she was wearing armor, Aqi still looked slim and slender.

Thinking back to these days when I was away from home, it was Aqi who acted as my bodyguard and made my bed and tidied my household.

Although she had several duties, she never acted like a spoiled child or complained, and she never even showed a trace of fatigue in front of him. Jia Lian then reached out his hand lovingly and touched her head.

Aqi looked at him and seemed to understand what he meant.

After stripping Jia Lian down to his thin clothes and hanging his heavy armor on the stand, she walked to the tent door and closed the curtain completely.

The closed curtains represent that the master is resting and should not be disturbed unless necessary.

Jia Lian had originally come back to sleep, but seeing this, he was no longer sleepy. He looked at Aqi, who had suddenly become shy, with a little anticipation.

Ah Qi walked up to Jia Lian and asked hesitantly in unstandard Chinese: "Subordinate, do you need to take off your armor?..."

In this situation, Jia Lian felt strange using such an official self-reference.

But he still smiled and said, "It's not necessary."

He wanted to see how far the straight girl Aqi could go, and he really didn't have the intention of having a big fight with Aqi at the moment.

Ah Qi frowned. She was not used to doing this kind of thing. Unlike her sister, she liked to be passive.

But she was the only woman around Jia Lian at this time, and she also knew that Jia Lian seemed to be a little troubled now. As one of his women, she also had the obligation to comfort Jia Lian.

So she nodded, walked forward and kissed Jia Lian gently on the corner of his mouth, then followed her usual sister's actions, holding Jia Lian's chest and waist with both hands, and slowly lowered her body.

The armors of her and her two sisters were specially made for them by Jia Lian. Not only were they bright white and exquisite, but they were also light and soft, making it easy for them to kneel on the ground, giving Jia Lian more visual experience.

……

Just when Jia Lian was living a carefree life and enjoying the beauty in his tent, an extremely unusual scene took place in the tent of the commander of the Guard Camp.

A young general in golden armor knelt on the ground, banging his head loudly.

"Commander, please make the decision for my two brothers!!"

If there were anyone here, they would definitely see that at this moment, this military general raised his head and burst into tears.

Unfortunately, there was no one else here except Feng Sheng, the high and mighty commander of the Guard Camp.

As one of the three main battalions of the Imperial Guard and also the largest guard battalion, its commander's rank is higher than that of other ordinary battalions, reaching the second grade.

Moreover, as one of the biggest contributors to Emperor Ning Kang's forced abdication, Feng Sheng naturally has a bright future, and it is not impossible for him to reach the top of the rank in the future.

But Feng Sheng was also shocked at this time.

"You mean, you suspect that the Third Prince murdered your brother?"

"Yes!"

"Did you see it with your own eyes?"

“Although I have not seen it with my own eyes, I am absolutely sure that my brother’s death must be related to the Third Prince!

At that time, my elder brother led his troops to assist the third prince in capturing the crown prince. After several battles, the number of people around the crown prince was less than a hundred.

When we arrived at Wangjialing, my brother annihilated most of them in one fell swoop. How could the remaining few defeated soldiers of the crown prince kill my brother and his personal soldiers one by one, and not even allow the person who reported the news to escape?

What's more, when the Third Prince sent back the bodies of his brother and others, I checked carefully. My brother and his personal soldiers were all killed by crossbow arrows. Although someone deliberately cut their wounds with swords, how could they hide it from me!

Commander! My brother has followed you for so many years and has always been loyal to you. Commander, you must make the decision for my brother. You can’t let my brother die in such an unclear way…”

The young general finished speaking in grief and anger, then kowtowed again.

Feng Sheng's face became interesting. After a moment's silence, he shook his head and said, "All this is just your guess. It's nothing but wishful thinking to want to accuse the Third Prince without any real evidence..."

Realizing that the young general did not accept his statement, Feng Sheng raised his hand to signal him to calm down.

"Now that the crown prince is dead, the position of heir must belong to the third prince. Don't say you have no real evidence. Even if you saw it with your own eyes, what does it matter?

Your brother is already dead. Do you want me to go against the Third Prince because of your brother's death?
Even if I can do it, do you think His Majesty will depose the Third Prince just because of a mere field canal?

Ugh……

Let's leave it at that. No matter what the truth is, it will not do us any good to delve into it further."

“Commander!!”

The young general spoke out angrily, but he also understood that there was some truth in Feng Sheng's words.

Compared with the third prince, his brother is really nothing, even though he made great contributions in this incident.

But he just wouldn't give in!

"Commander, my brother had no grudge against the Third Prince. After the Crown Prince lost power, my brother even tried to curry favor with the Third Prince. The Third Prince had no reason to harm my brother. I suspect that this incident is related to the Crown Prince's death..."

"shut up!"

Feng Sheng stood up suddenly, his expression changing suddenly.

"You can't just say that? Do you want all the hundreds of people in your Tian family to be buried with you?"

The closer you are to the center of power, the more you understand that the royal family is ruthless.

Now that the crown prince is dead, how he died is not important at all. Unless Emperor Ning Kang speaks, who would dare to use this matter to attack the third prince?
The third prince was ordered to chase the crown prince, but ended up returning with the crown prince's body. With so many officials on the mountain, didn't anyone have any doubts?

But have you ever seen anyone talk about it with others in person?
There is no other reason. First, the prince had already completely lost his power, so it can be said that he deserved it.

Second, everyone knows that the Third Prince will be the future crown prince. It's too late to curry favor with the Third Prince at this time, so who would joke with their own life and property?

"Go back. Your brother has made great contributions this time. I will use this as an excuse to promote you a few levels later.

Your brother is dead, and your Tian family will have to rely on you to support it in the future, so don't be stupid."

After giving some instructions, Feng Sheng waved his hand, signaling him to leave.

Although the young general was unwilling, he had no choice but to leave the tent.

When I came outside, there was already someone waiting.

"Well, what does the commander say?"

"What else can I say? Just as you expected, he doesn't want to deal with it at all.

This Feng guy is unworthy of being the commander of an army. He is a coward at the critical moment and cannot be trusted at all."

"Then what are you going to do?"

The young general was naturally Tian Qu’s younger brother, named Tian Liang.

He was also in extreme hesitation at this time. On the one hand, he was determined to seek justice for his brother, but on the other hand, he knew that his words were insignificant and it was impossible for him to touch a hair of the Third Prince.

If he really continues to make trouble, he is bound to fail, and maybe even the lives of the entire Tian family will be lost.

Finally, he said dejectedly: "What else can I do? Even Feng Sheng doesn't dare to offend the Third Prince, what can I do?
However, I can't just let go of my brother's murder. Sooner or later... Humph!"

Having said that, Tian Liang knew that if the third prince really became the crown prince and even ascended the throne to become emperor in the future, he would have no chance of revenge.

So he punched the big tree next to him hard.

The person next to him was also a commander of the Guard Battalion, named Zhou Xianming, who was one of his best brothers in the army.

Seeing that Tian Liang was planning to give up his revenge, Zhou Xianming said nothing on the surface, but he was secretly planning something.

He and Tian Liang were brothers, but he had no relationship with Tian Qu, so he didn't care much about Tian Qu's death.

However, after he and Tian Liang discussed it, they felt that the reason why the third prince killed Tian Qu was most likely related to the death of the crown prince. Perhaps Tian Qu was silenced because he knew the truth that the third prince had murdered the crown prince.

Like his Tian Liang brothers, he was born an ordinary military officer. He had worked in the army for many years and had a strong desire to improve himself.

He wondered if there was any way to cash in on such important information.

……

Jia Lian slowly woke up from his light sleep and found himself still lying in the armchair. It was already dark outside.

When he lowered his head, he saw Aqi lying quietly on one of his thighs, also fast asleep.

The originally resolute little face now revealed a bit of the cuteness of a little girl.

Looking at the little girl who didn't even put the tools back for him, he wondered if she was so tired that she fell asleep directly? She was too dedicated.

So he bent down and gently picked her up and put her on the small bed beside him. Surprisingly, he found that Aqi, who had been sleeping very alertly, was not woken up this time.

It turns out that this girl must have been tired these past two days.

After making the quilt for her, Jia Lian rearranged his trousers and clothes before walking out of the tent.

"Has His Majesty awakened?"

"Not long after noon, he woke up. I heard that after taking the medicine, his body is fine now."

After briefly inquiring about the situation on the mountain, Jia Lian decided to return to the tent to rest.

Anyway, Emperor Ning Kang won't use him now, so he is happy to have some free time.

"My Lord, there is a man outside who claims to be a commander under Captain Hu of the Guard Camp and wants to see you, my Lord."

"command?"

Like most people in high positions, for Jia Lian now, a small sixth-rank commander is indeed not something he can take seriously.

If he wanted to, he could easily promote a group of fifth and sixth rank military officers.

However, Jia Lian would naturally not be so arrogant as to refuse to meet someone just because he heard his identity.

Not to mention that the Captain Hu reported by the other party was probably Hu Yuanyao's father Hu Jin, this was a turbulent time, and this person wanted to see him after dark, maybe there was something important.

"Let him come."

After giving the order, Jia Lian walked into Liu Xianglian's tent and took over his place. (End of this chapter)