King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 444 Miaoyu
"This thirteenth daughter-in-law is really shameless. My mother finally asked her if she was really short of money. What do you think she said?"

"She said that the palace can be maintained, so that the queen mother does not have to worry..."

"Then, the mother-in-law allocated another [-] yuan from the treasury to her, but the thirteenth daughter-in-law pretended to refuse, and in the end she took the money away!"

"Tell me, our family, and the prince's family... have you ever been so favored by your mother?"

Listening to his wife's chattering, Zhu Jingyuan felt extremely bored, so he had no intention of paying attention.

Now that the imperial court is implementing the New Deal and there is a war, it is a great opportunity to deploy people to cultivate power. This is what Zhu Jingyuan is most concerned about.

He was completely in no mood to pay attention to all the nonsense going on in the inner house.

As for Baochai, she went to Zhu Yunsheng's bedroom and had a chat with Daiyu and Xiangyun who entered the palace.

What makes Baochai confused is that Daiyu's eyes were a little evasive when she saw her today, which made her think that the relationship between the sisters was estranged because she had been out of the palace for too long.

After staying at Zhu Yunsheng's place for a while, Baochai took the queen's generous gift and got on the carriage back to the palace.

When she returned home, she realized that Zhu Jinghong had not returned yet and was still staying at the Bingzhan Bureau.

Originally, Baochai wanted to share the harvest, but she felt a little disappointed.

When he returned to Tongxin Hall to sit down, a female official came to report that Chen Chong, the administrator of the register, had died.

"Ok!"

Baochai just responded and ignored the matter. The new administrator had been arranged a few days ago.

Chen Chong, who knew too much, had too many people in the palace who wanted him to die, so of course he would only die.

………………

As the situation in the northwest deteriorated further, the imperial court discussed a new plan to increase troops and began to mobilize troops and food.

As the latest intelligence came back, Bria and Tuxietu had also fallen into civil strife, and the emperor-respecting faction and the anti-Ming faction were fighting each other.

As for the Junggar army, they have also moved within a hundred miles of Jiayuguan, and the war is imminent.

Once the fighting starts, the outcome will be unpredictable, so the two sides have not fought on a large scale and are still in the stage of tentative contact.

In this gradual development process, time has entered February, and the cold weather has gradually faded.

In February, the eighth day of the lunar month, the sun was shining brightly.

On the official road outside the west gate of the divine capital, a group of dozens of cavalry were galloping up, followed by nearly a hundred cavalry behind them.

The leader was undoubtedly Zhu Jinghong, followed closely by the Dragon Guards, who were out of the city for an outing today.

It was said to be an outing, but in fact it was just for fun. Speaking of which, Zhu Jinghong had not been out of the city for a long time.

Compared to living in the palace, it is obviously much more convenient for him to go out of the city now that he has a separate residence.

The ground in the capital is already peaceful. In addition, there are enough guards this time, and the guards are wearing armors and carrying enough weapons, so safety issues can be guaranteed.

To put it bluntly, the more than 100 of them could easily defeat them even if they encountered hundreds of thieves.

At the beginning of this year, more than 150 people from the Long Imperial Guard were released. People such as Hou Jing and Wang Jie have gone somewhere, and most of them are actually guarding the pro-army and the Beijing camp.

Of course, as long as Hou Jing and the other thirty or so people are willing, most of them can continue to stay in the Dragon Guard and upgrade their ranks through qualifications.

However, Zhu Jinghong suggested that they go abroad so that they can be promoted quickly when the war comes, and their career will be smoother in the future if they have a foundation of military merit.

Therefore, these people listened to his advice and dispersed into the pro-army and Beijing camps respectively, broadening and deepening Zhu Jinghong's "network" a lot.

Only Zhang Lin and Lu Yuxin remained as Dragon Guards at Zhu Jinghong's request, and now both of them have been promoted to team captains.

The most critical ones, Hou Jing and Wang Jie, both became generals in the Beijing camp, each with more than [-] soldiers under their command.

It is worth mentioning that Hou Jing's position as general was run by his family, while Wang Jie's ability to take on the actual post was due to Zhu Jinghong's help.

According to the arrangements of the Ministry of War, Hou Jing and Wang Jie will leave for the northwest on February [-]th.

Seeing that a group of good brothers were about to part ways, Zhu Jinghong thought of getting together one last time, which is why he went on an outing today.

After running outside the city for a while, Zhu Jinghong slowed down. At this moment, he was surrounded by people.

"Time flies so fast... In the blink of an eye, you all have taken up actual positions, and you are about to fight on the battlefield for the Ming Dynasty!" Zhu Jinghong sighed sincerely.

When everyone agreed, Hou Jing asked: "When will the Thirteenth Master rush to the northwest?"

"It's hard to say...if the North Fourth Guards are transferred to the northwest, maybe I will follow them and have a look!"

At this time, Wang Jie interjected: "Previously, during the Jinling campaign against Japanese invaders, all the ministers served as guards and failed to obey Thirteenth Master's order to kill the thieves. It seems that we can catch up this time!"

"You guys, please don't praise me. I'm just following you to see where I can get my turn in commanding the battle!"

After some explanation, Zhu Jinghong continued: "What's more, when we suppressed the Japanese two years ago, it happened that the prince was seriously ill and was unable to govern. I just helped Jinling Dusi to come up with ideas, and I was there to direct the battle!"

It's okay to lie to others, but these people present were his personal bodyguards at the time, and the whole process of suppressing Japanese was completely unscrupulous.

Zhu Jinghong not only helped come up with ideas for all the combat plans at that time, but he also made the final decision.

Hou Jing smiled and said: "Hehe... With Master Thirteen coming up with ideas, we can feel at ease!"

Zhu Jinghong had mentioned it many times about transferring the four northern guards to the northwest. The old emperor had doubts in his heart and had not yet been able to make up his mind.

Of course, Zhu Jinghong will continue to think of ways to get to the northwest as soon as possible to join in the fun.

There is no need to mention these things too much, otherwise it will appear that he is too impatient, and it would not be a good thing if word spread.

"Look at the hillside ahead... there seems to be a temple!" Zhu Jinghong pointed to the distance and said.

Everyone looked and saw that there was indeed a temple among the green clouds.

"Most of you are going to the battlefield soon, so you might as well go and pray to Buddha for peace!"

With his proposal, everyone at the scene would not object, so they all rushed to the temple.

The road up the mountain was not very wide, and the surrounding trees were dense. The guards from the royal palace at the rear took the initiative to surround Zhu Jinghong and others.

There are also guards rushing ahead to clear away pedestrians.

Not to mention, although this temple is more than 20 miles away from the capital, there are many pilgrims who come to worship Buddha, but at this moment, they have all been driven to both sides of the road by the guards.

Those pilgrims who had entered the temple were all driven outside by the guards, including many of the powerful women in the capital.

But as soon as they saw the attire of the guards, the resentment in these people's hearts was suppressed, and then they consciously hid far away.

With the influx of a large number of guards, the interior of the temple has been completely under martial law, and all nuns are under guard.

Yes, this is a nunnery!

Everyone was silent, not knowing why officers and soldiers were summoned, and the timid ones turned pale with fright.

After about a few minutes, Zhu Jinghong led people outside the temple, and then slowly jumped off the horse.

Looking up at the temple gate, Zhu Jinghong muttered: "Mou~ni~yuan!"

When Zhu Jinghong and his entourage were preparing to enter the temple, at the foot of the mountain, the plans of a group of Jin Yiwei had been disrupted.

Normally, no one would dare to obstruct the Jinyi Guards from enforcing the law, but when the guards from Prince Xiang's Mansion came to drive people away, they could only bow their heads and retreat.

"You mean...Prince Xiang entered Muni Courtyard?" Chen Yuntai asked with a trembling voice.

Knowing that his boss was angry, the leader of the team trembled and replied: "Exactly...exactly!"

Chen Yuntai is extremely motivated and can be called the number one king of Qianhu House in Nancheng. Everyone under him lives a very tiring life.

Of course, Chen Yuntai does not only "exploit" his subordinates. In the past two years, he has also provided a lot of benefits for his subordinates, so his subordinates are both happy and miserable.

"Trash, you knew it was a den of thieves, why didn't you stop them!"

"If something goes wrong with Master Thirteen, we will all die!"

Listening to Chen Yuntai's roar, the flag officer replied with a sad face: "Sir...it's not that we won't stop it, it's that we can't stop it at all!"

"The guards were running rampant. Our brothers walked slower and were whipped a few times..."

They came here for a secret investigation today, so they didn't wear official uniforms. It was not surprising that they were beaten by the guards.At this time, a small flag officer interjected: "Master Baihu, although there are thieves in the Muni Courtyard, they are just women who have no power to restrain a chicken. They should not be able to cause trouble!"

"You have taken a closer look. Today, all the guards are wearing armor and there are many of them. I think everything will be fine!"

These words made Chen Yuntai feel at ease a little, but he still did not dare to be too careless, so he immediately led people to Muni Courtyard.

As for Muni Yuan, Zhu Jinghong and his party have entered the courtyard and are currently standing in the main hall looking at the Buddha statues.

Since you are here to worship Buddha, you have to pay your respects. It is also good to seek good luck.

Zhu Jinghong was naturally at the front, followed by Hou Jing and others, who lined up to worship the Buddha statue along with Zhu Jinghong.

But Zhu Jinghong only worshiped once before he discovered something was going on under the incense table in front of the Buddha statue, so he stood up and took a few steps back, then yelled: "Who is in there?"

The incense table is extremely wide, and it is covered with yellow thick covering that extends to the ground, covering the inside of the table. There is absolutely no problem in hiding three or five people.

Upon hearing Zhu Jinghong's scolding, Hou Jing and others immediately rushed forward to protect him, and then exited all the way out of the hall.

As for the guards in the palace, they immediately drew their swords out of their sheaths, ran forward and lined up to block the incense table, and at the same time used their swords to lift up the yellow silk on the table.

But he saw two people hiding under the table, and there were several musical instruments beside them, which looked somewhat nondescript.

"Your Majesty, there are two sisters-in-law, one old and one young!" Zhang Youliang, the leader of the group, shouted.

"Bring people out!"

"Yes!"

Driven by the guards, the two nuns were taken out of the hall.

As expected, there was an old man and a young man. Among them was the pretty woman with a cold expression, which made Zhu Jinghong's eyes go straight.

It's such a pity that such a young and beautiful girl actually became a sister-in-law... Zhu Jinghong thought this.

"Who are you?" Hou Jing stepped forward and asked, but her eyes were fixed on the young nun.

The old nun protected the young nun behind him and replied in a panic: "The poor nun's name is Xuan Jing!"

"Where's the one behind you?" Hou Jing asked angrily, who cares what an old woman's name is.

When the old nun was about to reply, the young girl stepped forward and said calmly: "My little girl's name is Miaoyu. Today I thought it was a bandit who wanted to commit murder, so..."

Zhu Jinghong didn't hear a word of what was said later. The word "Miaoyu" was really too harsh.

He is good-looking, a nun, and his Buddhist name is Miaoyu... It is self-evident who this person is.

Hou Jing was heard saying angrily: "Hiding and hiding, you don't look like a good person at first glance. Take him back and I will interrogate him personally..."

"uh-huh!"

Hearing the cough behind her, Hou Jing turned around consciously, with a natural smile on her face.

"You're here to interrogate? Do you need to be interrogated? I'm embarrassed to point you out!" Zhu Jinghong looked sideways at Hou Jing.

Hou Jing laughed twice, but in the end he didn't say a word.

Just when Zhu Jinghong was about to ask a few more questions, the guard Zhang Youliang came out with a batch of rags. To be precise, they were very simple and old musical instruments.

From the beginning to now, Miaoyu has been indifferent, but the appearance of these instruments changed her expression, but she soon returned to normal.

In fact, Zhu Jinghong recognized what these instruments were the first time he saw them.

He had seen the same thing in Jinling two years ago. It was found as a ritual vessel of the White Lotus Sect. Zhu Jinghong had seen the patterns on it carefully, and he still remembers the details on it.

Such a beautiful woman, she can’t really be related to the White Lotus Sect’s rebellion, right?

To confirm, Zhu Jinghong waved to Zhang Youliang, who immediately walked towards him.

"Your Majesty, these are the rags found under the table!" Zhang Youliang said with a smile, obviously he didn't know what this thing was yet.

Not to mention him, even Hou Jing and others don't know him. It's normal for non-professionals to recognize him.

There were many types of musical instruments, including pipa, erhu, guqin, flute, etc. At this moment, Zhang Youliang and several guards presented them to Zhu Jinghong.

Picking up a flute, Zhu Jinghong looked at Miaoyu and asked, "Why should this thing be hidden?"

"Musical instruments are precious, so I'm afraid they might get bumped!" Miaoyu replied, already a little panicked.

"So that's how it is..."

Zhu Jinghong said he understood, but Zhu Jinghong still looked suspicious. These instruments were not very expensive.

Seeing his appearance, Miaoyu became even more nervous, fearing that this person would find out his identity.

"Since it's a musical instrument, do you think you can play it?" Zhu Jinghong asked again.

In fact, he knew that it was impossible to play these ritual instruments because they could not even reach the minimum pitch.

Of course Miaoyu knew it, but saying she couldn't play at this time would deepen Zhu Jinghong's suspicion.

Thinking of this, Miaoyu replied: "Still learning, I know a little bit..."

Zhu Jinghong then smiled and said: "Okay... call your people over and play for us!"

There are eight kinds of musical instruments in total, which naturally requires eight people to play, so Miaoyu looked at her companions in custody.

Zhu Jinghong waved, and the guards let the girl go, and then they came over in great panic.

"Can we start?" Zhu Jinghong asked calmly.

"Okay!" Miaoyu replied calmly, but actually she was extremely panicked.

"You use this, you use this..."

Miaoyu began to allocate people, but the people she named were confused because they didn't know how to play at all.

But Miaoyu was favored by the host and surrounded by "wolves", so these little nuns could only obey and do as they were told.

Everyone divided their instruments, and Miaoyu stood in front and reminded: "You are all beginners. Even if you don't play well, I don't think you will blame me!"

These words were not only to comfort these little nuns, but also to be heard by Zhu Jinghong on the side.

"Bring some stools over here!"

Zhu Jinghong gave an order, and the guards went down to do their work.

Muni Courtyard is only a three-entry courtyard. It is a small temple among the temples around the capital. After searching all over the place, I only found a dozen chairs and stools.

“All enjoy the music!”

After saying this, Zhu Jinghong took the lead and sat on the chair in front. Hou Jing and others also sat down one after another, and a few others had no space and could only stand.

At this moment, several nuns in front of them were at a loss. They didn't know how to play, play or sing at all.

Fortunately, things like pipa and guqin are easy to make, and everyone started "playing" after her signal.

As a result, the scene became exciting, with all kinds of musical instruments playing in a chaotic manner, which shocked Hou Jing and others who were full of expectations.

Is this music?This is just playing the piano randomly... Everyone couldn't help but complain.

But Miaoyu's playing skills are really good. She is like a clear stream amidst the noise, and it feels unique when you listen carefully.

"Don't just focus on playing, sing quickly...sing!" Zhu Jinghong listened with great interest and even played the beat along with it.

Sing?What can you sing?Singing Buddhist sutras doesn't match the tune right now... Miaoyu racked her brains and thought.

But right now, she was afraid of revealing her secrets, and she couldn't do it without singing, so she could only make it up.

"Sing the Buddhist scriptures, chant the Buddhist scriptures..."

"My Buddha's true scriptures help me and others..."

Listening to Miaoyu's singing, everyone present found it interesting. If Buddhism was as interesting as it is today, they would also like to meditate.

At this moment, Chen Yuntai found Muni outside the courtyard.

(End of this chapter)