Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 776: Jia Jing's Bloodshed at Meridian Gate

Outside the Meridian Gate of the Imperial Palace,
The soldiers on duty at the Imperial Guard all had bleak faces. Normally, when they were patrolling here, things like what they saw would never happen. They didn't know when it started, but it was said among the Imperial Guards that the easiest job was guarding the Meridian Gate, which was nothing more than standing guard and patrolling. But ever since the appearance of a censor, who had sounded the drum to report to the emperor that day, they had been living in fear all day long, fearing that something might go wrong. Even though they were so careful, something still happened.

On the second floor of the street corner restaurant,

Zhou Lianghao, with a blushing face, took the tea bowl, drank tea instead of wine, and confessed his crime.
"Please forgive me, my brother. I have not dared to leave the house these past few days. I was afraid of causing trouble, so I have been staying in the yard. If it weren't for my brother's invitation today, I probably wouldn't want to come out."

That being said, those who know the ins and outs of the matter will definitely know the reason. After returning that night, Zhou Lianghao sent people to Changlefang. The group of prostitutes who had just arrived were said to be the "skinny horses" from Yangzhou.

He didn't buy much, just two to serve him. It was obvious that dry wood met fire, and they went to bed after being served. The gentle land was like a steel knife scraping bones. Zhou Lianghao, who had no ambitions, couldn't stop after tasting it. He didn't ask about what was happening outside.
"You are quite cautious, boy."

Zhou Yewen praised him and said that it would be better to be cautious. After all, they were all waiting for the letter from the palace. He thought that his father and others would send a message later.

Only Zhou Yunfu, the son of Chen Wang who was sitting to the west, looked at the two men with some suspicion. Such a cautious attitude was not like their habit, but they did not ask too many questions.

"Brother Ye, since Jia Jing is here, the palace might change its mind. After all, it will cut off the roots of Ningguo Mansion in one fell swoop. Will the Jia family be willing to do so? Will the noble old relatives just ignore their actions?"

If it were any other nobleman, it would be fine, but this is the reputation of the four kings and eight dukes. The Jia family involves so many people, and Wang Ziteng is still leading troops in the south. Why are the civil officials so anxious? Although the title is still there, there is no one to inherit the direct lineage, and it falls into the side branch. It is sad and lamentable.

"I don't understand this matter either. It's understandable that the civil officials are fighting over the Jia family's affairs. Although the nobles spoke out, they didn't contribute anything. I don't know what they were thinking."

This is also what several princes and sons of vassal states did not understand after coming to the capital.

"Hey, my two brothers, look, someone is coming to the palace."

Zhou Lianghao had been looking over there, and when he saw the palace gate open, he pointed.
The two of them didn't say much, and hurriedly looked in the direction of the finger. Sure enough, someone came out of the palace.

In an instant, more people gathered around!
In front of the Meridian Gate,
The place where the Dengwen drum is placed,
Jia Jing was wearing a Taoist robe that fluttered in the wind. He stood there with his eyes closed, his expression unclear. The imperial guards around him stood there unmoved.
The side door of the palace was opened, and the Imperial Censor Zhong Yugu hurried over, his face covered with sweat, which he had no time to wipe off. His clothes were scattered while he was running, and he looked very embarrassed.

As soon as he walked out of the Meridian Gate, he saw that Jia Jing from the Ningguo Mansion was still there. He felt a little complicated. In the past, the Jia family in the capital had never suffered such difficulties. When the former prince was still in the capital, the Ningguo Mansion was so glorious. Now he can only be a prisoner, and even this outsider has to show his face in public.

We are all old acquaintances, so I had to show some respect, so I could only stop, straighten my clothes, and put on my official hat.
Then he slowly walked closer,
Opened his mouth,

"Mr. Jia, your majesty, your majesty does not allow you to show mercy and ask Mr. Jia to go back and wait for news."

The words came to his lips, and he could not help but be tactful. Thinking of the angry look of Emperor Wu in the Imperial Study, it seemed that Jia Zhen and his son in Ningguo Mansion were really hopeless. There was no point in saying more. Jia Jing had come here in vain.
Hearing the words of the Censor, Jia Jing suddenly opened his eyes and looked towards the palace gate. The past events came back to him vividly.

Especially that night, the former crown prince Zhou Yongxiao had led his troops into the Meridian Gate, and Su Yuankui's troops had clearly entered. Unfortunately, the betrayal of the two old dukes of the Jia family led the Beijing camp to attack from behind, and the victory was lost.

I watched all this happen with my own eyes, powerless to do anything. In the end, His Highness set himself on fire in the East Palace and faked his own death to escape. Marquis Jingnan died tragically at the East City Gate. All his former generals died in battle in the city. All the loyal and brave men that night became wandering ghosts.
now,

Looking at the bright appearance of the Meridian Gate, sometimes I would definitely ignore all of this, thinking that the master has now completed the layout in the south of Beijing,

In the capital, there is no need to care about the court anymore. Thinking of this, a resolute look appeared on his face.
Suddenly, he saw the vague figure of Marquis Jingnan leading his troops to attack the palace gate in front of the Meridian Gate. His eyes turned red and he shouted angrily,
"Brother Su, Jia is here. Master, I am late."

At the end, he did not forget to leave behind confusing words,

In the eyes of the crowd, Jia Jing suddenly became furious. He turned his head and poked the center of the drum with the Buddhist whisk in his hand. Immediately, a wailing drum sound flashed from the Dengwen drum. A big hole appeared in the front of the drum. Then, Jia Jing laughed loudly and said,

"My Lord, I left late, so I came to look for you."

A shrill cry,

He charged at the stone statue on the platform in front of the Meridian Gate, letting out a muffled groan. The stonework in front of the drum was covered with shocking blood. Jia Jing's eyes were distracted, and blood was all over the stone platform. Not only was the Imperial Envoy frightened to the point of having his eyes turn white, but even the guards of the Imperial Army were stunned and at a loss.
As for the people watching at the opposite street corner, they shouted loudly, "Someone's dead, someone's dead!" The crowd ran away in panic, and fearing that they would be implicated, they fled in all directions.

The second floor of the wine shop,

The three princes who were still watching the excitement and gossiping could not believe their eyes when they saw the scene in front of the Meridian Gate.
Under the sun, the pool of blood was extremely conspicuous.
Zhou Yewen, the prince of Song, who had reacted, asked anxiously;

"Brother Hao, you must have seen it clearly. The dead person is Jia Jing from Ningguo Mansion. Are you mistaken?"

Even Chen Wang's son Zhou Yunfu turned around and stared over. He didn't believe it. How could Jia Jing, the lord of Ningguo Mansion and a smart man, commit suicide in front of the Dengwen Drum in front of the Meridian Gate? Was it just forcing abdication, or was he forced to commit suicide? What did the imperial envoy say just now? There were a series of questions. He had to first confirm whether it was Jia Jing himself.

At this time, Wu Wang's son Zhou Lianghao swallowed his saliva and stammered back;

"My two princes, there should be no mistake. It is indeed Jia Jing. He is wearing something so obvious. And the ornaments on the carriage are obviously from Ningguo Mansion. How can we be wrong?"

After saying this, he wanted to look for a carriage, but he saw that the carriage that stopped at the street corner had disappeared, so he asked in confusion;

"That's not right. The carriage was parked at the street corner just now, but now there is no trace of it."

I was confused and couldn't find the carriage. Did it run away or was it dispersed by the crowd? There was no trace of it.
The princes of Wu and Chen turned their heads to look at the street corner. It was a mess, and there was no sign of a carriage.

"He must have gone back to report the news. Since he was just here, the Jia family will be here soon. It might be a big event to watch."

Zhou Yewen, the prince of Wu, never dreamed that the people of the Jia family of Ningguo Mansion were so stubborn that they dared to stain the Meridian Gate with blood. If the nobles knew about this, who knows what would happen.

This might be an opportunity. Prince Chen obviously realized what Prince Wu meant. Looking at the panic in front of the Meridian Gate, he had to take advantage of it.
"We need to see the excitement, and we need to spread the news in the capital."

"Yes, this is important, someone come here,"

Zhou Yewen nodded and was about to call for help, but was stopped by Zhou Yunfu.

"Brother Wen, this is not the place to talk. Let's hide for a while to avoid losing the big picture."

Prince Chen said that he would lose the big picture for the sake of the small. He was afraid that the imperial guards would react and arrest those onlookers to silence them. Of course, now that they were involved, they could not be silenced.

The two nodded. Indeed, people drinking tea gathered in groups of three or five near the windows to watch the excitement, not avoiding others.
It is said that a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall.

The three of them stood up and were about to leave as if they had discussed it beforehand. The waiter wanted to stop them and ask for money, but the guard following behind him threw a silver ingot to him. The waiter took it in his hand, bit it hard, and the corner of his mouth immediately cracked.

"Thank you, everyone. Come often!"

With just one sound, the person disappeared.

But in front of the Meridian Gate,
When the Imperial Censor Zhong Yugu saw the scene, he was so frightened that he didn't know what to do. His eyes rolled back and he fainted on the ground. The Imperial Guard Captain was stunned. He had no choice but to order the surrounding soldiers to be on alert while he turned around and ran to the Meridian Gate to report.

Just as he was about to leave, he saw Eunuch Yun and a group of young eunuchs rushing over, breathing heavily and with pale faces.
When he got closer, he saw the Imperial Censor and Jia Jing from Ningguo Mansion lying on the ground. His expression changed drastically, and he shouted in a thin duck voice:
"What's going on? Why is he lying on the ground?"

As he had just arrived, his vision was obstructed, so he only saw Jia Jing's body, but did not see the blood flowing from his head. Therefore, Eunuch Yun guessed that Jia Jing could not help but hit the Imperial Censor Zhong.

But the captain of the imperial guards beside him replied tremblingly;
"I am here to see Eunuch Yun. Lord Zhong just came over to deliver a message. I don't know how, but Jia Hanlin suddenly stood up and rushed over, crashing into the stone platform. It looks like he is dead."

As soon as this word comes out,
Eunuch Yun, who was about to yell, was like a duck being strangled by the neck, unable to utter a single sound. His face flushed red from holding back his anger.

His face turned from red to white, looking extremely ugly. He walked over quickly and saw that the drum had a torn cover and blood was all over the stone platform. Jia Jing from Ningguo Mansion was already lying motionless in a pool of blood.
Eunuch Yun's face was pale. He reached out and pressed Jia Jing's neck, but he felt only coldness from his fingers and there was no movement. This meant that he was dead.

He turned back to look at the fallen Censor Zhong and gave him a fierce kick.
"If you still don't get up, go call the imperial physician. You stay here and watch while I go back and report to His Majesty."

"Yes, Eunuch Yun."

Zhong Yugu, who had fallen to the ground, was no longer unconscious. He quickly got up and ran to the Meridian Gate to find the imperial physician.

Eunuch Yun took small steps and hurriedly walked, sighing as he walked. Looking at the cloudless sky, he suddenly felt emotional: nothing comes out of nothing, and disaster comes from the west.

And on the other side,
Witnessing the miserable state of Jing Lao Ye in Ningguo Mansion, Lai Wang, a servant of the Second Mistress of Rongguo Mansion, was so frightened that he hurriedly drove his carriage back to Ningrong Street.

Arriving at the gate of Rongguo Mansion,

Before the carriage had even stopped, he threw down the reins and jumped off the carriage in a panic. He stumbled and fell to the ground because he was too anxious.
at the gate,
The servant on duty saw Lai Wang in the second grandmother's yard, got off the carriage and fell to the ground. They looked at each other.
He hurried forward and helped Lai Wang up. He wanted to say something nice to him, but Lai Wang got up and pushed the gatekeepers away with both hands, cursing.
"Get out of here, get out of here! You are delaying important matters. How many heads do you have?"

The anxious voices made the servants around confused, but they did not dare to surround them anymore and immediately dispersed and made way.
Lai Wang didn't waste any time, he pushed aside a few people and hurried in, leaving a group of servants standing outside the door, looking at each other. Someone asked,
"What's going on? Isn't it said that the manager of the Second Madam's courtyard treats people very well? Why is it like this today?"

As if he had some doubts, the other person jokingly looked around and suddenly spoke,
"Everyone, don't you find it strange? Normally, when he went out this morning, the butler was supposed to take Master Jing to the palace. Now only the butler is back. Where is Master Jing?"

This aroused the curiosity of the others, and some even quietly came to the carriage, opened the curtains, and looked inside.

"It's true. Master Jing didn't go home."

The others were also whispering, wondering why the manager came back alone.

In the pear courtyard east of Rongguo Mansion, the second wife was sitting in the room sipping tea. She looked out the window and saw several maids and servants drying quilts in the yard and beating them vigorously with wooden sticks from time to time.
"Ping'er, what's going on? The sky has just cleared up and the humidity hasn't subsided yet, so why are you already hanging out the quilts to dry?"

Ping'er was packing clothes in the house at this time. Coincidentally, the new clothes delivered yesterday had arrived. She looked at how they were made and then washed them and put them away.

Suddenly hearing the Second Mistress asking a question, Ping'er stopped what she was doing and turned around to look at her grandmother. She saw her grandmother sitting there, looking out the window with a frown, and there was something thoughtful in her eyes.

"To answer grandma, they didn't want to take the quilts out to dry, but because it rained heavily a few days ago, the wind was strong and blew open the windows of several rooms on the west side. The quilts on the kangs in the rooms near the windows were soaked by the rain and got wet. So they have to take them out to dry today. Although it is very humid, the weather is so sunny that they will be dried in one day."

After listening to Ping'er's explanation, Wang Xifeng's face looked much better. Indeed, after a day of sun exposure, even if there was some moisture, it should be gone. However, the rooms to the west where the servants lived were
"What happened to those houses on the west side? Are the doors broken or have they been forgotten to be closed?"

"Oh, grandma, how could it be broken? It's just that they forgot to close it tightly. This morning, I went to ask, and they said that the window was broken and there was no bar on it."

Ping Er quickly folded several pieces of clothing and put them together. Then she took out an emerald green top. The blue silk and gauze looked so beautiful. She quickly came over to show it to Second Madam.

"Grandma, take a quick look. This dress is a new model. Look, it's made of the finest silk and there's a layer of gauze hanging down. If you put it on and let Second Master see it, you'll look so beautiful."

Whenever Jia Lian was mentioned, Wang Xifeng felt heavy in her heart. Although she complained about him all day long, saying that he had not made any profit, she was still worried about him from the bottom of her heart. Since he followed his uncle to the south, there has been no news from him. She didn't know how he was doing.

After all, there are no judges on the battlefield, and you can't just lead the troops to fight to show off your ability. I remember when we met for the last time at your house, I told you again and again that on the battlefield the main thing is to save your life, lead the troops to fight, and let the soldiers do their thing. How can a general charge into the front? I don't know if that dead guy listened to me or not.

When I think of this, I lose all my mood.

"Just keep the clothes, wash them and put them there until your second master comes back. I don't know where he is now."

Ping'er felt melancholy for a moment, and missed Jia Lian a little, but she still folded the clothes and put them away, and consoled him;

"Don't worry, grandma. Second Master is blessed by heaven. With an army of more than 100,000 soldiers heading south, it's not likely that Second Master will be the one to lead the charge. He will just supervise the battle from behind and get some military merits. Nothing bad will happen to him. Besides, Second Master is not a competitive person."

While giving persuasion, he held a plate of cakes and handed them over. Unfortunately, Wang Xifeng did not appreciate it and started to find fault with him with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh, you know your Second Master's heart. He knows everything better than me. I don't know what they talk about in private. He is trying to squeeze me out as the head wife and let you take the position. Don't mention it. I have been worried about something in my heart these days."

It was said that she was responsible, but it was not a reminder. Ping'er pouted, took the plate back, took a cake and put it into her mouth.

"Since grandma said so, I dare not reply. I will keep this cake for myself."

After saying this, he was about to leave, but just as he turned around, Wang Xifeng grabbed the hem of his clothes and scolded him;
"You little rascal, you're so bold that you even gave me a look. I'll give you a few more days, and you'll still make trouble."

The two were arguing in the house.

Lai Wang ran into the yard in panic. Once he entered the yard, he slipped and fell to the ground. The maids in the yard looked at him in surprise. After all, Lai Wang had been promoted by the Second Mistress to be a manager, but he had never been in such an embarrassing situation before. They wanted to come over and ask,
Lai Wang didn't care about the dirt on his body and shouted at the top of his voice,

"Grandma, grandma, something happened, something happened, something serious happened."

A cry,
Everyone started crying.

The people in the yard were so shocked that they stopped and looked over here, not knowing what was going on outside.

Wang Xifeng in the main hall,
Just as he was thinking of reaching out to hit Ping'er, he heard her wailing and his hand trembled, and he actually knocked the plate of cakes in Ping'er's hand to the ground.
Both of them were a little surprised. What a big deal.
"Grandma, it seems that Laiwang is back,"

"Go and call him in, you little dog slave, he doesn't do his job, he just keeps howling, isn't that unlucky?"

Wang Xifeng was already angry, and now that she was confronted, she would definitely vent her anger on Lai Wang. Ping'er might have known this, but she did not explain, nor did she pick up the cakes on the floor. She hurried to the outer room, opened the door, and

"Laiwang, grandma asked you to come in and answer the question."

"Yes, Miss Ping'er."

Lai Wang no longer had the composure he had before, and crawled into the house with tears in his eyes. He didn't care that Ping'er was still there, and ran straight into the inner room.

With a plop, he knelt on the ground and started crying.
(End of this chapter)