King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 521 Xue Pan’s panic

Let's say that Zhu Jinghong entered the inner house. As soon as he walked into Baochai's room, he saw his wife sitting behind the desk, holding a book in her hand and reading.

Zhu Jinghong was about to speak when he saw Baochai raised his head and said with a slight smile: "Your Majesty has taken so long to come back. Could it be that you got stuck somewhere?"

Sitting on the guest seat aside, Zhu Jinghong took off his wristbands and replied casually, "I rode the horse outside for a while and chatted with the guards for a while!"

"I see, I thought the prince met someone and whispered something!"

Baochai only knew that Zhu Jinghong met Yingchun by chance, but did not know the details of their conversation, so this sentence was just a simple tease.

"I met a girl from the Jia family and asked her a few questions!" Zhu Jinghong replied with a smile.

In fact, he was not afraid that Baochai would know the truth, so he answered calmly at this time.

After traveling to the present for more than two years, he has actually been deeply influenced by the current values, and his mentality is very different from that of his previous life.

With his current status, he could have been more unscrupulous, but up to now he has not messed around in the slightest, which can be regarded as paying special attention to self-restraint.

So what are these people doing here?

After flicking his sleeves, Zhu Jinghong took off his pearl folding brim hat and replied, "I know!"

In fact, Baochai also cherished Zhu Jinghong's cleanliness, so she did not ask any more questions at this moment. The couple got along well with each other.

Baochai was very confused. She didn't understand where Zhu Jinghong's confidence came from. Could it be that he was the emperor's son?

"We're all out of town, just stay here quietly and don't let anyone notice you!"

The two chatted for a while, and then Zhu Jinghong went to practice martial arts alone, while Baochai went to the back of the courtyard to play with Zhu Yunsheng and others.

"Lao Liu is indeed smart, but he has too many clever tricks. Too many tricks will only make people bored!"

"Aren't you afraid of staying outside the city?"

Baochai replied: "Exactly!"

Therefore, serving in such a place is extremely detrimental to the career of a military attache, and anyone with the slightest ambition is afraid of it.

Zhu Jinghong smiled and immediately replied: "No...just let everyone think that only I can win!"

Suling, Gaoling and Yuling are the closest to the annex of Prince Xiang's Mansion, only thirty years apart.

"Yes!"

The so-called "similar to father" is not just the emperor's perception of Zhu Jinghong, most civil servants also have this idea.

After Ying'er took the hat and stepped back, Baochai stood up and walked towards Zhu Jinghong, saying solemnly: "I don't think this matter is simple..."

"We just left the city today, and we encountered something like this, and even had a conflict with the Jia family. What a coincidence!"

Zhu Jinghong smiled and then said: "Although it makes some sense, now that the misunderstanding has been eliminated, let's forget about it!"

Picking up the teacup on the side, Zhu Jinghong asked: "Do you want to say that it's Lao Liu who is causing trouble?"

"so what?"

"Ok?"

"Not afraid!"

There were a total of thirteen mausoleum guards in the Ming Dynasty. Except for the Xiaoling Guards in Nanjing, the others were all near Luoyang, guarding all the royal tombs since Taizong.

"Based on the current military strength of the imperial court, it is difficult to say that there is an overwhelming advantage, so the imperial court must increase its troops. The Ministry of War is already making arrangements for this!"

This is indeed the truth. It is impossible for civil servants to support him, otherwise it will be Zhu Xianming again, making everyone breathless, and almost no one can stand it.

At this time, Baochai finally understood and asked: "So you think you are the only one who can win?"

After a while, three commanders entered the other courtyard. The leader was Suling Guard Commander Liang Wen.

Baochai replied: "It's also possible that Dong Gong did the opposite and made us think it was Lao Liu's family!"

Seeing that Baochai still looked confused, Zhu Jinghong had no choice but to continue: "The Ming Dynasty cannot afford to lose this battle!"

Putting down the book, Baochai asked slowly: "You must already know what happened this afternoon?"

However, Zhu Jinghong had not rested long when he heard someone coming to report from outside. Three commanders of Suling Guard, Gaoling Guard and Yuling Guard came to pay their respects.

"You are all blind, thinking that the sky in the capital is everything, but you don't know that the world is very big. For example, in the northwest... the Rakshasa Kingdom and Kazakhstan have been increasing their troops!"

"So you still want to go to the battlefield?" Baochai looked worried.

Baochai replied bitterly: "We have already withdrawn from Beijing, and he still resorts to these methods, which is too much to deceive others!"

"Although I have withdrawn from Beijing, there are many spies around me. I think the old man will know what happened today!"

Although he was confused, Zhu Jinghong still ordered: "Invite them in!"

"Are you talking about the Jia family?"

Seeing that Zhu Jinghong didn't care, Baochai replied: "Looking at what you mean, you don't want to bother me anymore!"

Putting down the tea cup and grabbing Baochai's hand, Zhu Jinghong said with a smile: "The court has been divided between them. Where else can we go if we don't go to the battlefield?"

"Why?"

The mausoleum guard force is very special. Its only task is to guard the imperial mausoleum. Except for officers with more than a thousand households, who are appointed and dismissed by the court, the rest of the military officers will be hereditary from their ancestors, so they have basically no communication with the outside world.

So today, do you think Zhu Jinghong can win the battle? The answer is no doubt, after all, he played so smoothly in the Northwest.

"Kowtow to the prince!"

Looking at the three people paying homage in front of him, Zhu Jinghong looked puzzled and asked, "Why are you three here here?"

"Your Majesty, I have sent people to protect you according to your decree!"

"By order?" Zhu Jinghong was even more confused.

Liang Wen replied: "The Lord has a decree that Prince Xiang's Mansion is isolated outside the city. In order to prevent you from getting into trouble with Her Royal Highness the Princess, I ordered my ministers and others to send troops to protect me!"

"Suling Guards, Gaoling Guards, and Yuling Guards each sent three hundred soldiers to come. They are now in front of the other courtyard!"

Although the mausoleum guard troops were well-equipped, they still implemented the settlement system established by Taizu. Each of the more than 5,000 military households in the guard only had more than a thousand soldiers.

Nowadays, each guard has three hundred sergeants, which can be regarded as a large-scale mobilization.

The old man cares so much about me, why is he giving me a sweet date after beating me? Zhu Jinghong thought so.

The next moment, Liang Wen took out an official letter and handed it to Zhu Jinghong: "Your Majesty, this is the transfer order from the Royal Horse Supervisor!"

The reason why the Yumajian was as important as the Dongchang and stood out from other agencies in the inner court was because it was the emperor's military secretarial agency.

They were responsible for the promotion and training of the twenty-two guards of the Shangzhi personal army, including the mausoleum guards. They were in very critical positions and were highly trusted by the emperor himself.

After reading the official document and confirming that it was correct, Zhu Jinghong just asked these people to leave, and then returned to the study.

He wanted to personally write a memorial to reject the transferred mausoleum guards.

Normally, even if the memorial was delivered to the General Affairs Department in the afternoon, the emperor would see it the next day at the earliest.

But Zhu Jinghong was different. His memorial was delivered directly to the Supervisor of Ceremonies and sent to the emperor's desk as quickly as possible.

This afternoon, the emperor basically had nothing to do, but he was not idle either.

In the sand table set up in the side hall of Qianqing Palace, he was fascinated by the situation in the northwest.

In fact, he would watch the sand table when he had time, and he already knew the situation in the northwest very well.

It is precisely because of his thorough understanding that he understands how serious the situation in the northwest is now.

He thought it would be easy to defeat the main force of Junggar and suppress the rebels. Little did he know that the Rakshasa Congress was deeply involved, and now the army had entered Junggar territory.

Different from what Zhu Jinghong was considering, Zhu Xianming was already weighing repeatedly whether he should continue fighting in the northwest.

Is it worth going to war with the Rakshasa Kingdom for the barren land of Junggar...

When the emperor was considering important matters, no one dared to disturb him, except Cheng Ying. Cheng Ying appeared outside the side hall with the certificate handed over by the Supervisor of Ceremonies.

Entering the hall, Cheng Ying paid homage and reported: "Your Majesty, the Thirteenth Master has a memorial!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Xianming made no move, but motioned to put it aside on the table.

Cheng Ying immediately followed his words, put down the memorial and withdrew.

After a while, Zhu Xianming sighed and thought to himself that he was really old, and he was so undecided that he couldn't make a decision.

He felt that he should fight now due to the fear of death, but he could not guarantee that he would feel the same way tomorrow...

To put it simply, he still hasn't really made up his mind.

“It’s still my fault that I don’t have enough money and food, otherwise I wouldn’t hesitate!”

The so-called lack of money and food is a false proposition, because among the internal funds under his own control, there are more than 13 million in silver.

Since the beginning of this year, after the successive battles in Junggar, the state treasury has spent nearly seven million taels of silver on military pay, armaments, food and grass, rewards and pensions.

With only the money in the national treasury, there is no problem in continuing the war for another two or three years. The problem is that the return from the war itself is indeed too low.

Even if the Rakshasa Kingdom is defeated, even if Junggar is recovered, what will happen?

At this moment, Zhu Xianming was asking himself again, showing that his heart was still wavering.

When he came to the table and picked up Zhu Jinghong's chapter memorial, Zhu Xianming read it carefully.

The content of the text was concise and concise, and Zhu Xianming directly commented: "Just act according to the order!"

Zhu Xianming did not have any deep intention in calling the Ling Guards to help protect him, but simply out of love for his children.

After finishing this sentence, when Zhu Xianming was about to put down the pen, he added another sentence: "Be sure to take good care of your sister. If there is anything wrong, you will be severely punished!"

After approving the memorial, Zhu Xianming had someone send it back.

Zhu Jinghong received the reply before nightfall, so he couldn't say much.

As a result, nearly a thousand mausoleum guards were added around the other courtyard, plus the 400 guards accompanying the palace, protecting the place like an iron barrel.

On the second day, the Jia family still left the other courtyard, but Tanchun had already talked to Zhu Yunsheng and was valued by the latter.

More than a month passed in the blink of an eye, and it was the twelfth lunar month of the orthodox year.

During this period, Zhu Jinghong got two pieces of good news.

The first was that Baochai was pregnant, and the second was that Sun Shaozu took the initiative to ask for help, and cooperated with Anxi Xingdusi to defeat the Zasak coalition, laying the foundation for the recovery of the three northwest countries.

It's freezing cold in the northwest now, but these people took advantage of their last chance to win this battle, which is definitely not easy.

Although Sun Shaozu was assisting and the main credit was still due to Wang Ziteng, he was still commended by the emperor and officially appointed him as the commander and commander of the capital of Anxi.

At this moment, in the school grounds on the east side of the courtyard, Zhu Jinghong was reading Sun Shaozu's letters.

"It would be interesting to come back to the capital to thank you. It would be interesting to make up such a reason to come back!"

After saying that, Zhu Jinghong put away the letter, then turned around and looked at the guards behind him, and at the same time said to the four hundred households leading the team: "Are you all ready?"

"Your Majesty, you are already ready!" Gao Hong replied.

"Then let's set off!"

The guards have already brought his Black Whirlwind, and there are knives and bows on both sides of the saddle. They are going hunting today.

Zhu Jinghong could only imagine that he was going hunting in the heavy snow.

Fortunately, there is no shortage of prey in the nearby mountains. Their target is the vicinity of Songshan Mountain, where there are especially many wild animals within a radius of more than ten miles.

In addition to the more than forty close guards who accompanied him, there were more than a hundred other guards accompanying him. Except for Zhu Jinghong and several hundred households, all of them were wearing armor.

Of course, Zhu Jinghong also brought armor this time, but he didn't wear it because he felt uncomfortable, so a dedicated bodyguard carried it for him.

The group of people left angrily, and at this time, Daiyu was talking to Baochai in the palace.

Although it was only confirmed that she was pregnant in the past two days, Baochai's brows and eyes already have some maternal radiance, and there is always a faint smile on her lips.

Holding the warm tea cup, Daiyu asked in a low voice: "Sister Bao, when do you plan to return to Beijing?"

"decide as things go!"

With a concerned look on her face, Daiyu said: "Anyway, it's better to live in the Prince's Palace in the capital. It's not very convenient to live in this other courtyard after all!"

In fact, from the perspective of personal interests, Daiyu did not want Baochai to move back, so that she would have to return to the palace with the princess. It would not be so easy to see Zhu Jinghong.

Baochai sighed, and then said: "Forget it... There are too many things to worry about in the capital, so it's much safer to live here!"

Hearing this, Daiyu felt relieved and thought to herself that it would be best not to go back.

And the next moment, she felt despicable for having such thoughts!

When Daiyu was internally consumed, Baochai asked, "Is it possible that my sister misses her family?"

Daiyu has lived in this villa for more than a month, and he has not seen his father for a long time.

In the past, when she was in the palace, as long as her father was in and out of the palace, she could take a temporary leave from the princess and then come out to have a few words with her biological father.

At this time, Baochai reminded Daiyu that she suddenly realized that not only was she unfaithful to her good sister, but she was also unfilial to her old father.

And the reason was all because of that person... Daiyu directly transferred the conflict and shifted all the responsibility to Zhu Jinghong, which made her feel much better.

The two of them chatted for a while, and suddenly someone reported outside that it was Xue Pan from Jinling who came to pay a visit.

According to the news Baochai got, Xue Pan will only arrive in Beijing today. Normally, he would have to settle down in the house first, and he would not come to see him until tomorrow at the earliest.

It would be too late to come here today.

Looking at Daiyu, Baochai said helplessly: "Sister Lin, go and play with them!"

Baochai wanted to see his brother, but Daiyu knew it was inconvenient to be there, so she got up and left.

At this moment, in the tea room outside the courtyard, Xue Pan had a look of fear on his face and was pouring tea into his mouth one cup at a time.

"My father-in-law, I wonder if His Highness will be here today?" Xue Pan said while holding back his fear.

Xue Pan had just rewarded him with silver, so the eunuch had a very good attitude and replied with a smile: "Back to Uncle Xue, the prince went hunting today, I'm afraid he won't come back until later!"

"Then...that's it!" Xue Pan quickly changed his words.

After drinking the third cup of tea, a maid finally came out and guided Xue Pan to the depths of the courtyard.

Soon, Xue Pan was taken to a living room, which was empty except for the eunuch on duty.

After waiting for a while, when Xue Pan couldn't help but ask, he heard footsteps coming from behind the screen on the left, so he stood respectfully on the spot again.

A few breaths later, accompanied by the female officials and maids, Baochai appeared in the living room.

"Kowtow to the princess!" Xue Pan immediately saluted.

Zigu walked to the main seat and sat down. Looking at his long-awaited brother, Baochai was undoubtedly very happy.

"Get up!"

"Thank you, empress!"

After signaling Xue Pan to sit down, Baochai asked, "Why didn't mother come?"

Normally, the ancestral home of the Xue family is in Jinling, so there is no need for Aunt Xue to come to the capital. The reason why she is accompanying her is because Xue Pan is getting married.

Baochai originally planned to let her brother get married this year, but she didn't know that she had been delayed for so long and now the wedding can only be postponed to next year.

Xue Pan replied: "My mother is tired. I asked her to go back to the capital to settle down. I will accompany her here in a few days!"

"When I learned that the princess was pregnant, my mother was so happy that she didn't sleep all night. She even said that she would come to take care of the princess in person!"

(End of this chapter)