Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 117 The curtain is about to begin

Beijing,

Twenty miles east of the city,

Zhang Jinyu's brigade has already arrived at the boundary of the capital, and the outline of the capital can be seen from a long distance.

The dense marching team was like a long black dragon, winding and slowly moving forward. Of course, there were more pedestrians on the official road, and the common people silently moved out of the way to let the army go first.

Zhang Jinyu took his bodyguards and ran to a mound surrounded by earth. Standing on a high place and looking west towards the capital, the morning mist scattered like clouds under the sunlight, and the hazy city revealed its faithfulness. face.

The majestic and towering city walls and the majestic and huge city were lying prone on the plain, like a huge black dragon lying on the plate, with a magnificent momentum.

Outside the city, that is, outside the moat, densely packed vendors gather together to form a market, like a city outside the city, and its prosperity is eye-opening.

Even though it is so far away, the wide official road close to the capital is full of people coming and going, there are vendors, farmers who go to the city to sell vegetables, and children from rich families come out to play with their servants, and more people get up early to make a living.

"Master Hou, this capital is getting more and more prosperous."

Duan Hong said with emotion in the front, it was deserted back then, and there were very few Zhuangzi outside the city here, and now you can’t buy Zhuangzi in the capital even if you have money.

"Yeah, it's the first time I've seen so many people. You can see that the outside has become a big market. By the way, why are there so many shacks outside the old city wall?"

Zhang Jinyu looked outside the market, where a large number of shacks were gathered, one after another, and Duan Hong sighed when he saw it.

"Hey, Lord Hou, those are refugees from all over the world. If they can't survive, they all come to the capital, and they can't enter the city. After a long time, they build a shack outside the city and live in it."

Zhang Jinyu couldn't bear to hear it. She couldn't bear it in such a cold day, not to mention those naked people, let alone what to eat.

"This, the court didn't ask, did it?"

Duan Hong sneered, and replied helplessly,
"Master Hou, how did so many people come here to ask? The imperial court can only set up some porridge sheds outside, or the rich family members donate to others, or they will sell some of their strength to merchants in exchange for some living money, otherwise they can only live on their own. off."

Zhang Jinyu stopped talking, but gradually had a vague idea in his heart, whether it is possible to lure these refugees out of the pass, there are so many deserted Zhuangzi, this matter still needs to be discussed in the long run.

Looking at the busy scene of people coming and going on the main road, putting aside the unpleasantness ahead, Zhang Jinyu said again,

"Sure enough, the capital still looks lively, and there are too few people outside the customs."

"Master Hou is right. We just have too few people. If we are angry, it is better to say we are popular. When there are more people, we have everything!"

Ning Bian's voice came from behind, Zhang Jinyu looked back and asked,

"Why did you come here? What happened to the army horse behind?"

"Go back to Lord Hou. Everything is fine in the future. It is Lord Hou. How do we set up camp? According to the order, we are going to camp in Anhu Camp."

"I know what you mean. When we arrive in the capital, we will choose a place to set up our own camp. You will be responsible for the safety of the camp. I will lead my personal guards directly into the palace to meet the emperor."

Zhang Jinyu turned her head and said solemnly,

"We'll talk about everything when I get back."

"Understood, Mrs. Hou and the others."

"Let Duan Hong lead the vanguard battalion guards, and kill anyone who dares to get close."

"It's Lord Hou, the last general takes orders."

Soon, the convoy gradually approached the capital, and people on the road consciously avoided it. The entire team was orderly and magnificent, and apart from the dull sound of horseshoes, there was not a single noise, which made it even more intimidating.

When they came to the expected open space, not far from the capital, Ningbian began to set up the whole army. Duan Hong led the soldiers of the vanguard battalion to drive out the onlookers and guarded them. Wei Yong led the guards to guard the carriage firmly there.

As for the servants of Jia's mansion, they were all tied together and guarded by battalion soldiers. Anyone who was dishonest would be whipped over, and a bloodstain appeared on the whipped person immediately, causing the onlookers to cry out in shock.

They were all talking about who was arrested, and the clothes were so gorgeous, they didn't look like bandits.

Those who discussed included Zhou Rui, the manager of the Rongguo Mansion. Today Zhou Rui went to the Zhuangzi to collect rent as planned, and he had to make two accounts. One was given to his master, the second wife, Mrs. Wang, and the other was Submit it to the public account of the government.

In the past few years, the weather in the capital has been good, the harvest is good, the rent is good, and I can earn more. I was thinking about going back to the mansion to finish the job, and let my mother-in-law prepare a few dishes and drink some wine to relieve fatigue. It happened that Luo Yunhou's army had arrived in Beijing.

I thought I was going to the Anhu Day Camp, but who would have thought that I would camp not far from the gate of the capital? The figure squatting on the ground is like Qian Hua, the steward of the mansion.

Zhou Rui was afraid of identifying the wrong person, so he squeezed forward again, rubbed his eyes, and then confirmed that it was Qian Hua, one of the stewards of Jia's mansion. Those servants didn't need to look, they were all servants of his own mansion.

Zhou Rui didn't dare to give birth to Zhang, so he retreated back silently with his servants, and went straight to the Jia's mansion in the capital city. There were not a few people who recognized the Jia mansion's management, because Qian Hua was in charge of the purchases outside the Jia mansion, and the small merchants he knew There are countless peddlers, even those wealthy merchants are known to most of them.

It doesn't matter if this person is recognized, it will spread around in a short while, and the people around are pointing and whispering.

Even the soldiers and horses guarding the city knew about it, and those who were smart enough went to the Bingmas yamen to report the matter, and there were so many people with good intentions, they never stayed idle when they entered the city. The servants caught it.

The more it spread, the more evil it became. In the end, there were rumors that Luo Yunhou had arrested all the elders of the Rongguo Mansion and locked them up in the barracks outside. Spy, very busy.

Zhou Rui didn't dare to go through the front door of Rongguo Mansion, so he took his servants in through the side door in the alley, and slipped into Rongxi Hall all the way avoiding people.

After entering the courtyard, I went directly to the Buddhist hall. At this time, the second wife, Mrs. Wang, basically paid homage to the Buddha.

When they came to the door, housekeeper Zhou Rui opened the door lightly, and Mrs. Wang's voice came from inside.

"What's the matter!"

"Go back to the second wife, the younger one is Zhou Rui has something to report."

"Just talk outside the door."

After hearing this, Zhou Rui had no choice but to lower his voice outside the door, and told the whole story of what he saw in the morning, and also focused on Qian Hua's arrest.

Mrs. Wang just replied lightly; "Understood, let's go down."

Zhou Rui had no choice but to back down silently.

And Li Wan from Rongguo Mansion went out through the side door to get some books from the old house left by his father. His own Lan'er had already been enlightened in Jia's ethnology, so he had better prepare more books for the future. Well, I found a day and went home to the old house, where my father Li Shouzhong left a lot of collections in the study.

After entering the courtyard, there was only an old man guarding it, and no one would visit the door at ordinary times. This place was Li Wan's own private property.

The old housekeeper hurriedly said hello when he saw him,
"Miss is back, has something happened?"

Li Wan held back his tears and said lightly;
"It's okay, just get some books, is Uncle Zhong okay?"

"Well. Okay, I'm getting older, and my legs and feet are bad. Thank you, Miss, for your concern. I also arranged for a servant to help me, an old man."

"That's good, Uncle Zhong can live here with peace of mind."

Zhongbo thanked him again and again, Li Wan saw that nothing happened, and went into the study room, which was already covered with dust, carefully wiped one of the big boxes with a handkerchief, opened the box, took out a few books, sealed it again, and finally After leaving the study room, before leaving, he turned his head and took a deep look, and the tears in the corners of his eyes finally couldn't hold back.

After the sadness passed, he wiped it with embroidered clothes, then walked out of the yard again, boarded the carriage, and was about to go back to Rongguo Mansion all the way. On the way, he heard people on the side of the road discussing the affairs of Rongguo Mansion, saying There are all kinds of things, even saying that the elders of Rongguo Mansion have been taken outside the city and locked up, and that Marquis Luo Yun likes wives and widows.

Li Wan accidentally heard that she was ashamed and angry. She was not the only widow in the Rongguo Mansion, and the maids Suyun and Biyue beside her were even more angry. They wanted to get out of the car to argue, but they were caught by Li Wan.

"Miss, they are going too far, this is ruining your reputation."

"I know, something must have happened. I don't want to leave the door. How come there are rumors about the widow who doesn't leave the door. You can listen to it."

The three of them leaned close to the car window and listened carefully. Well, besides themselves, even Wang Xifeng has a share, so it's troublesome now.

Suyun and Biyue's eyes widened, what's going on?

"Hurry up and go home, don't worry about it."

"Yes, ma'am."

Not long after the carriage drove, it turned into an alley. Li Wan got out of the carriage and was about to go to his own residence. After walking not far, he saw a pretty couple standing in the yard by the side door, so he couldn't help but stop.

I saw the headed person standing there wearing a green corseted padded jacket, under his curved willow eyebrows, a pair of red phoenix eyes shone with shrewdness, and next to him was a woman in a water green skirt and jacket, with embroidered eyebrows, good at speaking, and an alluring appearance.

"What a coincidence, isn't this sister-in-law, where did you come back from?"

The two of them were talking about business, and Wang Xifeng's voice was clear and loud. While speaking, she put her beautiful eyes on the book in Li Wan's hand with a smile that was not a smile.

Li Wan replied decently and generously,
"So it's Feng girl, you're not serving the old lady, why are you here?"

"Sister-in-law, isn't it because the servants in the house are making trouble, come out to relax, where is sister-in-law?"

Li Wan also greeted him with a smile, picked up the book in his hand and explained,
"This is a book I took from the old house, and I plan to bring it to Lan'er for use. Lan'er is already enlightened."

It was only then that Wang Xifeng suddenly realized that the second master in the mansion had set up an ethnology study, and he thought Lan Geer had also entered to be enlightened, but when he looked back, he saw two maidservants behind his sister-in-law, still with angry expressions on their faces.

What's going on here?
(End of this chapter)