Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 498 It’s not a peaceful night
Yamen of the Ministry of Internal Affairs,
The little eunuch Xiao Mingzi stood behind the chair and carefully squeezed the shoulders of his "godfather" Wang Gonggong. When he heard the question, he answered casually,
"Godfather, of course my son knows that, you are in charge of the House of Internal Affairs, the top and bottom managers, as well as the eunuchs and supervisors. Anyone who doesn't look at your eyes, no matter how well-connected they are, will be given to you first. At a glance, my son has benefited a lot from being by your side, and he knows in his heart that he will definitely honor you."

"Hmph, that's enough, you idiot. The Ministry of Internal Affairs is now in charge of the general family. You don't have to worry about food and drink. There is still so much oil and water to earn. You said there is so much money to take from other places. Why bother to sit in those places? Although the position of the palm seal looks majestic and surrounded by people, there are many things inside, and it is easy to get punished if you can't do the errands well. The Za family wants to be clean, guard their own one-third of an acre, and live a leisurely life. In one, as long as the Zajia family is loyal, there will definitely be no danger."

The prince took a breath of comfort and explained that the strange thing was that it was not that he did not have a seat in the "Twelve Supervisors" of the inner court. Those palm prints, general managers, pen holders, etc., long before those two people, the internal minister had been looking for him alone. I passed him and asked him where he wanted to go. At that time, the Palace Supervisor, Shang Shan Supervisor, Shang Bao Supervisor, and Yin Shou Supervisor could all go to be palm seals. However, the prince and his father-in-law had already planned in their hearts and insisted that they would not go and would always want to go. Following the internal minister, Dai Quan saw that he could not be persuaded by his loyalty, so he handed over most of the affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to him, and devoted more energy to taking charge of the Imperial City Department. Even the Imperial City Department was still a part of the prince's management. On a daily basis, The princes and father-in-laws were all responsible for the duties and inquiries, and their power was not small. In this way, the power in the hands of the princes and father-in-law increased instead of decreasing, and they became more and more majestic.

Xiao Mingzi seemed to have figured it out. His godfather was still smart and stayed behind. He followed the internal minister and enjoyed endless prosperity and wealth. If he followed his godfather and his old man, he also enjoyed endless glory and wealth. He immediately I admire you,
"My godfather is still wise and scheming. My son was really blind just now. He was talking nonsense and couldn't see the true Buddha clearly."

"You, the Zajia is also a nostalgic person. As long as you serve the Zajia well and protect you better than his godson, the glory and wealth will naturally follow you and me. You should look carefully at everything in the future. You have to look at the inside, not just the skin. There are gains and losses, so if you want to be comfortable, you have to go the right way and follow the right people."

"Yes, what the godfather said is absolutely true. My son understands that he is absolutely loyal and will stay with his godfather and serve him well."

Xiao Mingzi knew that her godfather was right, so she pinched her shoulders behind her more carefully, made a pot of tea for the prince, and waved to the waiter to serve cakes, fruits and other items.

Suddenly, the prince thought for a moment and asked,

"By the way, I forgot to mention the main thing. In the past few days, you personally take people to the rice shops in the capital to explore and see who is behind them. In addition to the ones just arranged, find a few more and copy them together. Copy them. The food goes to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the money is left with the Za family for the time being, remember it."

"This, yes, godfather, son, remember, godfather wants this."

Eunuch Wang Xiu smiled sideways, a bit of a sinister smile.
"Godfather, I'll teach you another lesson. In addition to big things, we can also add some things of our own. The brothers on duty in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Imperial City Department don't keep the money for rewards. Where does the money come from? Besides, we are busy with work. For a while, the two of us talked all night and our mouths are dry, so we need to save some money to buy some drinks to moisten our throats."

"Yes, godfather, don't worry about this matter. My son will keep an eye on it personally and he will definitely handle it beautifully for you. There will definitely be no negligence. Please don't worry, godfather."

"Haha, okay, okay."

Rongguo Mansion,
West Court,

There were only three people including Zhang Jinyu left in the room, but the atmosphere seemed relaxed. Even Lin Daiyu also felt the subtle difference. Although she didn't know what was going on, she was in a good mood and said with a smile,
"Sister-in-law, why do you feel that your second sister-in-law is a little angry today? Do you know why? Is there too much going on in the house and she is a little upset."

"How do I know this? She is not angry any day. She has to take care of everything inside and outside the house. With more servants and more things to do, she is always angry. As time goes by, her temper will naturally become a little bad. Once you get used to it, Enough."

Seeing Lin Daiyu's question, Li Wan defended Wang Xifeng, saying that he couldn't tell anything about things outside the hospital, so he sat there with Zhang Jinyu and drank two sips of hot tea to relieve his appetite, put down the tea bowl, and watched Lin Daiyu return. I wanted to ask again, so I said,

"Okay, let's not talk about her anymore. No matter what, it's no wonder that such a big family has troubled her. They have been busy with court affairs these past few days and haven't come to see you. I feel bad in my heart. Today I came to see Yu'er. , let’s see what’s missing, by the way, has Jia Baoyu from the Duke’s Mansion been here in the past few days?”

When talking about Rongguo Mansion,
The second master Jia Baoyubao must be mentioned. Zhang Jinyu has always been on guard against Jia Baoyu's coming to the door. He also specifically ordered personal guards to guard him. No men from the Jia family are allowed to enter. In this way, outsiders are blocked from entering, and the number of men is reduced. There were unnecessary misunderstandings, mainly because of Jia Baoyu, who was so shameless and shameless, which was really troublesome.

When Li Wan heard this, he realized that the person that the Marquis was guarding turned out to be Uncle Bao. He glanced at the Marquis. He was overbearing but reasonable. On that day, after Jia Baoyu entered the inner hall, he threw the jade too much. It was so shocking that the second wife didn't look good for a few days. She seemed to be complaining about Miss Lin. She was disgusted with her in and out of her words. In private, she even said that she was a disaster star. She didn't look like a noble person. If it weren't for Hou I’m supporting him from behind, but I don’t know what it looks like.

However, now I sincerely envy the girl of the Lin family. Regardless of her destiny, if the man has a title in the future and is destined to be rich, fortunately, he has hope. When Lan'er wins the prize, he will also Now that I have made it through, as for the matters between me and the Marquis and my daughter's family, that's all, it's just a way of repaying his kindness.

Lin Daiyu wrinkled her eyes, turned to look at Zhang Jinyu, and replied strangely,
"Why do you think of asking this? You are talking about Baoyu from my second aunt's wife's house. She has never been here, but the maid Xiren in his yard has come twice. The first time was when she came to apologize and said something. To be polite, I stayed for a while and then left.

Another time, just yesterday, I don’t know why, but someone came to give me flowers, saying that they were brought by Aunt Xue from Jinling and were tribute flowers from the Weaving Bureau. I never really like those colors, and it’s not good if I don’t want them. I gave them to Xueyan and Zijuan. These two girls looked pretty good wearing them. "

Hearing Daiyu say this, Zhang Jinyu felt relieved. Not to mention, Jia Baoyu still had some winks, otherwise she would definitely look good to him. As for the flower, it is not a rare thing. This is a gift from her daughter's family. a joke,
"That's fine, try to avoid him. Jia Baoyu has been suffering from hysteria since he was a child. There is no definite date on when it will attack or when he will recover. He had an attack last time when I saw you. Although the jade on his body is a precious treasure, it usually doesn't happen. Damage, but if it is broken, after all, if you live in the Jia Mansion, it will be difficult to handle if something happens and the outsiders see the joke. As for the Marquis Mansion, there is a yard to the west that has been cleaned up for you. The slaves and maids are also ready, so you can go and stay if you want."

"Well, thank you, Lang Jun, Yu'er will remember it."

Daiyu blushed and nodded. Her sister-in-law was still beside her, and she felt a little uncomfortable. It was not a good idea to say these words at this time.

Li Wan lowered his head and pursed his lips and smiled. Seeing this, he joked from the side,

"Okay, I'm distracting you here. You two can continue talking. As for me, I'll go back right now and you guys can talk!"

"Sister-in-law, what are you talking about? Lord Marquis, it's getting late, you should go back."

Daiyu's face turned red and she felt a little embarrassed when Li Wan laughed at her. Seeing that it was getting dark, she asked the Marquis to go back and rest.

These words were in line with Zhang Jinyu's wishes. He glanced at Li Wan secretly, stood up and agreed,

"Yu'er is right. It's getting late. I've been tired all day. Now that I've eaten and drank enough, it's time to go back. Yu'er, you should rest earlier. Remember to take medicine on time, Xueyan. , take more care of your young lady."

"Oh, I see."

Lin Daiyu, who was behind her, responded obediently. She wanted to come out to see her off, but Zhang Jinyu stopped her and asked Xue Yan to make Daiyu's bed thicker before arranging it.

Just left the house,

But Li Wan had long since disappeared from the courtyard, so he quickly chased after him.On the path ahead, Li Wan, who was walking first, heard the movement behind him and his heart trembled. He was afraid that the Marquis was chasing him. He suddenly felt that his legs were weak and weak. He thought that he still couldn't escape tonight, so he could only turn around quickly. Entering the path, he fled as if he were running away. In the night, Zhang Jinyu walked out of the courtyard door, glanced at the familiar path in front of him, and then disappeared into the darkness. If anyone is paying attention, the soldiers brought by the Marquis have not left yet, only Ningbian followed with several personal guards.

The wind is blowing again, as if celebrating, a spring night is worth a thousand dollars!
Anhu Camp,

Patrolling soldiers could be seen everywhere, and a large number of bonfires illuminated the gate of the camp.

And in the center of the camp,
This is the handsome tent of Wang Ziteng, surrounded by guards wearing armor and carrying swords. There are more than a hundred people standing here, and they are heavily guarded.

Wang Ziteng sat in the handsome tent, holding the imperial newspaper in his hand, and read it carefully by the light of the oil lamp. On both sides of the tent, Wang Ren and Jia Lian were sitting at the bottom, silent, not knowing what they were thinking. What's the matter?

a long time,

Wang Ziteng put down the Di newspaper in his hand with a serious expression. Under the oil lamp, his sharp eyes were like a sharp sword. He looked at the two people through the handwriting on the Di newspaper and said,

"The border pass is safe and sound. Outside Shanxi North Pass, Qitihou has withdrawn his troops, but the most elite Wangzhang Yingshi is still wandering a hundred miles away. I don't know what it means, but it should be fine. I'll ask you two to come back. I want to train all the troops in the capital camp, especially the 5000 elite troops under my control. From tomorrow on, the number of the two of you at the head of the camp will be increased from 1 to [-]. You will have a good run-in in the camp. You can understand it by borrowing it from others.”

"Yes, uncle."

The two men immediately accepted the order, with happy faces. They were about to officially take action. Wang Ren asked,

"Uncle, what happened? You are so anxious. Didn't you say that you would select a new infantry lieutenant to lead the elite battalion after the competition at other battalion heads? Isn't this possible?"

Although Wang Ren was excited, he also knew that his uncle's handling of this matter was not honest. He was the commander of one battalion and commanded two battalions, so there would be gossip, which was not a good thing in the army.

Prince Teng, who was sitting in command, didn't know, but he wasn't afraid. Even if the descendants of the Jia family were not here, no one would dare to say so. Furthermore, he always felt that something was going on. Although there were many people in the capital camp, there were still many people close to him. There were only a few generals who came to join them, and they still used the Rongguo Mansion as a matchmaker. Now that the two of them came, they naturally took over some important positions.

As for the other ministries, there are many hills inside the camp, and among them are the sons of nobles and nobles in the capital. They are very involved. If it weren’t for the power of Ning Rong’s Second Mansion, half of the troops were taken away, where would Prince Teng sit in this position? Stable, especially the [-] elite battalion, took a long time to calm down, and with Jia Lian coming to the Beijing camp, they dared to deploy people blatantly.

However, in the past few days, incidents occurred one after another in the capital. For some unknown reason, the capital warehouse was burned down. Then, there was a disturbance in the city over the past few days to rob food. I always felt that something was wrong. I read the Di newspaper again in the past few days. , but didn’t see the signs, shook his head, looked at the two people below, and said,

"We will talk about this later. Those troops are also the foundation left by the old Duke of Ning Rong's second house. Now they are just coming back again. You and Jia Lian are taking over. Who can say anything? Mainly because these days, uncle has been uneasy in his heart. I felt that something was going to happen, so I stayed in the camp every day and did not return home. However, more than half a month has passed, and there is no battle report coming to the capital, and there is no order from the palace, so I want to ask the two of you if you can find out if there is anyone in the capital. What’s the news?”

Wang Ren didn't quite understand his uncle's worries. He glanced at his uncle strangely, wondering if his uncle was too tired from worrying about the camp. Why didn't he feel anything was wrong? Apart from the border issues, there was no battle report, let alone Other places, even Zhongzhou, have been calm for a long time, so I tried to ask,

"Uncle, are you too tired these days? Otherwise, uncle will go back to the house to have a good rest tonight. As for the affairs in the camp, leave it to me and Brother Lian. There will be no oversights. ."

Wang Ziteng thought about it carefully and realized that it might be true, as Wang Ren said, that he was too tired and nervous these days, and even felt a little anxious.

"Well, that's fine. What you said makes sense. I hope my uncle is overthinking it. By the way, Jia Lian, what do you think?"

Wang Ziteng suddenly mentioned Jia Lian's name. After talking for so long, Jia Lian didn't speak. He was a little surprised. Why was he so quiet today? Could it be that he didn't get a good rest at home.

Jia Lian, who was sitting at the bottom, had his name mentioned, as if he had just woken up from a dream. Just now he had been thinking about other things in the house, and was wondering when he could go back. After all, he had agreed with Xue Pan to go to Yanchun Tower. , look at the so-called top card, when his uncle Wang Ziteng asked about it, he also sat up straight,
"Going back to my uncle, it may be that things in the capital have upset him. If nothing else, the fire the day before yesterday was so terrible. I heard that more than ten large warehouses were burned down. It is also said that it was caused by a fire dragon burning the warehouses. There was a call from the gods. Huh, I feel like those officials made it up because they were afraid of taking responsibility. There are too many disputes among the courtiers, so my uncle is worried about this."

"Well, that's true. Jingcang is heavily guarded. Since a fire can be ignited, there must be something fishy. I was also there at the time about the court affairs. The civil servants were arguing fiercely. Those reasons are really ridiculous, but Marquis Luo Yun His advice was spot-on, and it’s time for local officials in Dawu to straighten things out.”

After a pause, he looked at Jia Lian, who still had the same elegant demeanor, with a vague charm of his old father-in-law. There was an inexplicable look in his eyes, and he said again,

"No matter what, the Beijing camp is the source of confidence for us nobles and nobles in the capital. Jia Lian, you are also a direct descendant of Ningrong's second mansion. I don't ask you to be brave enough to fight the three armies, but you must be able to distinguish between the inside and outside. Outside, you don't ask for merit, but Seek no fault, keep in mind your honorable status, and remember it."

"Yes, uncle, Jia Lian has remembered it."

"Um,"

Wang Ziteng looked at the two of them with joy. He finally did not let his thoughts go to waste. He had been in the position of Jiedu Envoy of the Beijing Camp for so long, and now he was in control.

The longer I sit on this throne, the more I feel like sitting on pins and needles, accompanying the emperor like a tiger. The years when the new emperor ascended the throne were relatively stable, but now, Emperor Wu's intentions are becoming clearer. Now most of the imperial army has surrendered to the emperor, and only the remaining The Beijing camp and the border troops were gone, but when he thought about the grace of the Supreme Emperor, Wang Ziteng hesitated, and when he thought about the fate of the former prince, he was even more frightened.

At this moment, when there was silence in the commander's tent, a soldier shouted from outside,

"Report! Commander Jie, a message has been sent from the palace, asking Commander Jie to enter the palace immediately!"

"what!"

(End of this chapter)