serious man in the red chamber

Chapter 122 The Death of Princess Beijing
Qianqing Palace, go to the study.

Emperor Jianwu was still waving his hands and writing the memorial.

While arranging the memorials on the imperial case, Dai Quan said: "This old slave has a few important things in mind. The Yi Kezhao League's mission will enter Beijing in three or two days, and the urgent delivery from the Water Transport Yamen will also arrive. There is no news from Manchu for a long time.”

Emperor Jianwu didn't raise his head, "Let the cabinet deal with the matter of the Yikezhao League. The top priority for the Qing people to investigate is Lianghuai. Now it is snowing from Shandong to Gyeonggi, and the news is too slow."

Dai Quan put the prepared memorials aside, and said softly: "Lianghuai is too far away from the capital, so it is inconvenient to transmit news. There is Ouyang Lin, the governor of Liangjiang in the south, and Yangzhou is not worrying about it. It's just Huai'an. Water transport yamen It’s okay if the cao soldiers oppress the people. If there is a big trouble.”

Emperor Jianwu closed the approved memorial, put down the pen, took a sip from the tea bowl, put it down, and asked Dai Quan: "How many troops are there in Xuzhou?"

Dai Quan had thought it over a long time ago, and replied in a low voice: "Xuzhou is an important town in the Central Plains. The Taizong Dynasty had 1 garrisons. After Emperor Gaozong ascended the throne, it was reduced to [-]. After two reductions, there are still [-] garrisons." Thousands, this amount of troops can defend the city.”

Emperor Jianwu pondered for a while, and said: "I was negligent. Anhui Wei returned to the station and passed through Xuzhou on the way. They have been out for more than half a year, so let them go home for a reunion year. In this way, draw up an order for Shandong President Bingfu, let them send 2 troops to Xuzhou to help defend."

Dai Quan: "Yes." After hesitating for a moment, he asked, "Should I send a general from the middle of the capital to coordinate and command the two troops?"

Emperor Jianwu looked at Dai Quan: "It's rare that you are so caring."

Dai Quan: "The emperor takes care of everything every day, and this old slave should take care of some small things for the emperor."

Emperor Jianwu: "Draft another decree to Shi Nai, asking him to take the imperial decree to the General Military Mansion in Shandong immediately, and then lead 2 troops into Xuzhou City. chaos."

"Yes." Dai Quan bowed and retreated.

Emperor Jianwu picked up another memorial and spread it out, ready to read and approve it.

"Your Majesty, the chief assistant is here." The voice of the chief eunuch on duty came from the outer hall.

Emperor Jianwu: "Please come in."

Chief Assistant Song Chengliang came in holding a memorial: "Qizou Your Majesty, the cabinet has convicted the crime."

Emperor Jianwu: "Go ahead."

Song Chengliang: "Qizou Your Majesty, the case of the Armory Secretary is very clear. The officials below Lang Zhong were sentenced to hang and executed immediately. The Armory Secretary Lang Zhong was dismissed for the crime of negligence."

Emperor Jianwu raised his head: "Oh?"

Song Chengliang was stunned for a moment: "If Your Majesty thinks that the cabinet made a wrong sentence, I will go back and ask them to give a heavy sentence."

Regardless of him, Emperor Jianwu continued to review the memorial.

There was silence.

After approving the memorial, Emperor Jianwu said, "Just follow the cabinet's advice."

After all, he felt very uncomfortable, thought for a while, and then said: "The current situation is getting better and better, but the government is also getting more and more busy. The land that the military has conquered has to be built fortification and immigration, and officials have to be sent to manage it. The burden is getting heavier and heavier, and it is difficult for me and a few elders to shoulder this burden.

The decree was passed on to transfer Zhao Zixun, Shangshu of the Ministry of Households, and Qian Shangshu of the Ministry of Officials into the cabinet. "

Song Chengliang was taken aback, but immediately replied: "Observe the order."

Emperor Jianwu nodded: "Let the Ministry of War fill in the gaps of the Arsenal Department immediately, let's go."

Song Chengliang: "Yes." He saluted again and withdrew.

Dragon Head Palace, bedroom.

The chief eunuch Xia Shouzhong walked in with snowflakes all over his body.

The two eunuchs on duty quickly knelt down: "Old ancestor."

Xia Shouzhong: "Get up, has the Supreme Emperor taken any medicine?"

The two eunuchs got up: "No, I only took the elixir."

Xia Shouzhong's eyes revealed a look of disappointment and bewilderment, and he walked in to the second door of the bedroom.

At a glance, he saw the Supreme Emperor sitting quietly with his eyes closed on the soft couch, with an abnormal flush on his cheeks, he sighed slightly, and walked gently to the edge of the soft couch, Xia Shouzhong said in a low voice: "The boy from the Zhen family is in the couch He Lou used the bag trick to get rid of the spies' tracking, and when he was found, he had already walked out of the box, and the people in the box had left earlier."

The Supreme Emperor still closed his eyes: "Is this the only thing?"

Xia Shouzhong: "There is another strange thing. Xie Qiong personally led [-] cavalry out of the camp, all of them are his confidantes."

"Oh?" The Supreme Emperor opened his eyes.

Xia Shouzhong: "The spies said that at the end of the day, someone entered the camp with Jia Hu's token."

Taishanghuang: "Go on."

Xia Shouzhong: "Jia Hu is strict in governing the army. He doesn't have a badge or military affairs. The generals and below are not allowed to walk around at will. We can only guess that this person went to the riding camp to meet Xie Qiong, so I can't get more information."

The Supreme Emperor thought for a while: "Check it out slowly."

"Yes."

Xia Shouzhong hesitated for a moment, and said, "Just now there was news from the West City that a spy monitoring the Beijing Palace had disappeared."

"what happened?"

"I lost my track while following the history of the Prince of Beijing. The servant is arranging someone to investigate."

The Supreme Emperor looked at him: "Immediately send more people to monitor the Beijing Palace."

"This"

Xia Shouzhong was surprised. It was the end of the year, and the spies from the Dragon Head Palace were almost all monitoring the honorable generals of the Jia family, the Liu family, and the Niu family, and recorded the names and official positions of every official who came to give gifts, so as to analyze their behind-the-scenes secrets. The power of connection.

At present, Jia Hu is the most powerful, and behind him is the Liaodong Army, Shandong General Army Mansion, Shaanxi General Army Mansion, Jiangnan Daying, Yangtze River Navy, and Guangdong Navy, as well as the Datong General Army Zhongqinbo Zhao Yi whose attitude is unknown.

Today, Jia Hu has become the second Ning Guogong, and his influence in the military far exceeds Jia Daishan.

The Supreme Emperor closed his eyes again: "Go at once."

"Yes." Xia Shouzhong glanced at the Supreme Emperor, bowed and retreated.

The backyard of Ningguo Mansion.

Lin Daiyu sent people to the kang yesterday, and when she heard that Mother Jia was coming, she hurriedly ordered people to add two incense cauldrons, which were lit with sandalwood and warm like spring.

The women prepared iron stoves, iron forks, and wire masks, and a group of little girls were holding iron skewers to pierce the meat, and the meat was all freshly killed.

The game sent by the Liaodong Army included deer, roe deer, roe deer, wild boar, hare, golden pheasant, etc., as well as twenty pairs of bear paws, fifty catties of sea cucumbers, and many dried fruits of various colors.

The game from the north and the fresh fruits from the south were all on the table at this time, and Youshi prepared another jar of sweet-scented osmanthus brewed last year.

All the sisters are very stubborn, so don't ask the women to reach out to help, take off the bracelets on their hands one by one, and grill the meat by themselves around the stove.

A group of people gathered together, watching the fresh and tender meat skewers sizzling on the charcoal fire. After a while, they heard the crackling sound of fat dripping on the charcoal fire, followed by the unique aroma of barbecue, and the wine was hot. , the aroma of wine and meat are mixed together, which makes people unconsciously move their index fingers.

Swallowing, Xiangyun sprinkled various seasonings on the barbecue. Seeing that Tanchun had already started eating, he also picked up a skewer to eat, but it was scalded, which made everyone laugh.

Several people were eating barbecue and drinking at the same time, feeling very uncomfortable.Especially Xiangyun, who ate with a smile on his face and shouted happily.

"Second master is here." The servant girl's report came from outside.

Jia Hu had just returned from the front yard, and it was snowing heavily outside, and it was freezing cold. As soon as he stepped into the flower hall, the heat rushed in, which made him feel a little uncomfortable for a while.

Xichun hurried forward: "Brother, why are you here?"

"Second brother, sit down quickly." Xiang Yun rushed up to pull Jia Hu.

Under Xiangyun's forceful pull, Jia Hu could only sit beside her, and Tanchun sat on the other side.

Xiangyun picked up a bunch of freshly roasted venison: "Second brother, try it, I roasted it, how about you try it?"

"Yo, you baked it yourself? Then I want to taste it."

Jia Hu took a sip, "Not bad." Then he put it aside.

"Yesterday I specifically asked Mother Wang. Why don't you eat it?!"

"Well, Doctor Wang told me not to eat spicy food. Cough, you can eat it by yourself. It's delicious."

Xichun blinked: "Didn't my brother say yesterday that the dishes should be spicy?"

Everyone was startled for a moment, but after thinking about it, they all burst out laughing.

Looking at the barbecue in his hand, Xiangyun put it on the table angrily, and pouted, "It's fine if you don't eat it."

Jia Hu smiled, picked up a skewer of venison, roasted it while brushing it with oil, the oil sounded, and then sprinkled it with seasoning. After a while, a bunch of authentic grilled venison was freshly baked, and handed it to Xiangyun, "Taste my meat!" craftsmanship."

Xiangyun was curious: "Second brother can also barbecue?"

Jia Hu laughed: "Try it."

Xiangyun took it and tasted it carefully, his eyes lit up, he finished a bunch of roasted venison in two or three mouthfuls, drank another glass of wine, and enjoyed it.

Xichun hurried over, took Jia Hu's arm and shook it: "Brother, I want to eat too!"

Seeing everyone looking at him, especially Lin Daiyu's eyes, Jia Hu's mouth twitched. At this time, he must not hesitate, and waved his hand: "Okay, today I will let you have a good taste of my craftsmanship."

Zijuan, Siqi, Shishu and other big girls gathered around, looking curiously at Jia Hu's decent barbecue. After a while, the fragrance spread out, and they swallowed unconsciously. .

As soon as it was roasted, Xiangyun couldn't wait to pick up a skewer and ate it. Jia Hu distributed the roast meat to everyone, Daiyu and the others tasted it, and it was really delicious, so they all started to eat it.

While eating, Lin Daiyu looked at Jia Hu with surprise in her eyes.

A servant girl came in and said, "The old lady is here."

Everyone stood up to greet him.

The door curtain was raised, Li Wan and You Shi supported Jia's mother from left to right, Qin Keqing and Heping'er supported Wang Xifeng, and several big maidservants followed behind.

Jia Mu asked with a smile, "Why are you so happy?"

"Second brother is giving us some barbecue." All the sisters gathered around and accepted the cloaks, supported them, and agreed.

"Oh?"

Jia Mu was startled for a moment, and then said to Jia Hu: "I asked you to come here for entertainment, but you have become more and more indulgent to their sisters."

Jia Hu smiled.

Jia Mu sat down and said to Jia Hu, "I'll try your handicraft too."

You Shi and the others also looked at Jia Hu curiously.

Jia Hu shook his head helplessly. Having a good craft is not necessarily a good thing, and he might be exhausted to death.

There was a mess on the table, a jar of wine was finished, more than half of the prepared food was eaten, and even a lot of fruit was eaten.

Only then did a group of people remember their business, and hurriedly pasted the prepared poem titles, rhymes, and formats on the wall.

Jia Hu looked up and saw that the title was: "Jinglianju", one poem with five-character arrangement, and only two Xiaoyun.

At this time, Xiangyun suggested: "Let's let the second brother start the sentence for us."

The crowd cheered.

Jia Mu also laughed and said, "Just say the last sentence, it's not about elegance and vulgarity, it's good for the occasion."

Everyone looked at each other and smiled.

Ha ha!

Jia Hu's head was sweating, this is a couplet, not a poem, and he had no place to copy, when he suddenly thought of something, stood up, cleared his throat, and said loudly: "I have a sentence, the north wind is tight all night!"

There was a sudden silence in the flower hall.

Jia Hu smiled awkwardly: "What's wrong?"

Lin Daiyu covered her mouth and smiled, "Although these words are rough, they don't show the bottom line. This is exactly how to write poetry."

Tanchun continued: "This sentence is not only good, but also leaves much room for future generations."

Xiangyun smiled and said: "This is the first sentence, sister-in-law quickly write it up."

Wang Xifeng frowned slightly.

Li Wan, the three sisters of the Jia family, Lin Daiyu, Xiangyun, Baochai, and Xing Xiuyan are all well-read poets and books, with brilliant literary talents. One sentence from you, one sentence from me, soon filled the paper with dense dense writing.

Jia Hu sat on the side talking and laughing with Jia Mu, stopping from time to time to listen to their sisters talking and laughing.

At this moment, Lai Sheng's family hurried in and said to Jia Hu and Jia Mu: "People from the Beijing Palace came to report that Princess Beijing is dead."

Jia Mu's expression changed: "What did you say?"

Lai Sheng's family: "Princess Beijing passed away at the beginning of Youshi, and the Beijing Palace has already suspended the funeral."

Jia Hu sighed sympathetically, "It's a poor man."

(End of this chapter)