King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 607
Hearing Baochai mention Jia Yun, Lin Hongyu's eyes shone with light, and her whole body was wrapped in great happiness, and she didn't even listen to what was said next.

"What do you think?"

It wasn't until Baochai asked this question that Lin Hongyu woke up from her joy.

"The princess means..."

"What I mean is, what do you think about betrothing you to Jia Yun?"

"This...servant is from a humble background, how can he be worthy of Master Jia!"

Although Jia Yun did not come from a serious family background, she was a serious official. It was normal for Lin Hongyu, a slave girl, to have low self-esteem.

"What's wrong with this? In two days, I will ask Mrs. Lin's wife to adopt you as an adopted daughter... That's all!"

The wife of the Lin family that Baochai mentioned was the wife of Lin En, a second-class male who was a fifth-rank military commander and now a general in the Beijing camp.

Although Lin En's actual position is of the fifth rank, his title as a second-class male is of the third rank, so this wife of the Lin family is a serious third-rank concubine.

It's not that the princess' words didn't work, but that the housekeeper Baochai was too strict, which made the eunuchs in charge of the treasury extremely cautious.

Yinger Maliao took the letter, opened it and sent it to Baochai.

"Get up... just do your best from now on!"

Deng An said it was urgent, which was definitely not a joke, so Baochai didn't delay much, got up and walked outside.

The reason why I chose her was because she was the lowest-ranking person in Baochai's social circle.

This is of course a good thing. In fact, if it is an ordinary thing, Lin Hongyu, as Baochai's close attendant, can do it without following the rules.

After he stood up, Baochai ordered: "These golds should be put into the warehouse as ordinary gifts. There is no need to inspect them!"

"Okay...I'll write you a note!"

"I will carry my flesh on a thorn and go to the palace to plead guilty, and then you will go to the palace to plead for mercy!"

But at this moment, a maid suddenly came in from outside to report that Deng An had something urgent to report.

After a few breaths, she appeared in front of Deng An.

Taking the pen from Ying'er, Baochai wrote on her special paper: "The twenty boxes of goods brought by Xiaohong do not need to be inspected, they can be put into storage directly!"

"Let him wait in the outer hall!"

She understood that Zhu Jinghong's move was to retreat in order to advance, and as long as he admitted his mistake in advance, he would not be punished.

When I opened it, I saw the familiar rough font again, with only a dozen words written on a piece of paper.

After Lin Hongyu left, Ying'er finally couldn't help but say: "My dear lady...with so much gold, that girl from the Cui family is really rich!"

Deng An replied: "Prince Gang sent someone to spread the news, saying that they entered the capital on horseback and are now heading to the imperial city!"

Baochai folded the letter again, and then ordered Ying'er to burn it.

Under Baochai's governance, the palace's warehouse was the place with the most rules. The entry and exit of things and property must be clearly accounted for, and the entry of so many things into the warehouse must be carefully checked.

For Baochai, it was an extremely easy thing, but for Lin Hongyu, it was nothing less than a great grace.

Being adopted as the adopted daughter by the third-grade wife Gaoming, her status will be greatly improved. It can be said that it is more than enough for Jia Yun, the sixth-grade principal.

The second-class male is the lowest grade of nobility, and the next generation will have nothing, so it is very easy for the Lin family to sell the Prince Xiang's Mansion and let him adopt Lin Hongyu as his adopted daughter.

At this time, Wen Xing said from the side: "No matter how rich you are, you still can't send it to us!"

"I know your thoughts. Since you work for me wholeheartedly, how can I not think about you?"

Lin Hongyu carefully took it from Wen Xing's hand, saluted Baochai again and left the study.

"take it!"

"Yes!" the two girls replied quickly.

"If the person in charge of the treasury asks, just say this is what I meant!"

After kowtowing a few more times, Lin Hongyu replied: "Yes!"

"Yes!"

Once the box is opened and inspected, the gold will be exposed. Although the eunuch of the palace is one of our own, the less people know about "receiving heavy gifts", the better.

After saying this, Deng An also took out a letter and said, "This is a letter from the eunuch who sent the message!"

"You're back? Didn't you say you'd arrive the day after tomorrow? Why are you back today?" Baochai was surprised.

Deng An hooked his waist and reported: "Your Majesty... the prince is back!"

"My slave, thank you!" Lin Hongyu knelt down excitedly and kowtowed three times to Baochai.

"Yes!"

But with twenty boxes and no inspection required, the eunuchs did not dare to let them go casually.

After writing it, Ziyou Wenxing took the princess's seal, took the paper and used the seal.

Ying'er and Wen Xing, who were waiting on the left and right, hurriedly stepped forward, one by one spreading paper and the other dipping in ink and passing the pen, all with skillful movements.

While the two were talking, Baochai couldn't help but say: "Okay... don't mention this matter again!"

"Your Majesty, because of your many efforts, the warehouse is now very strict. I only rely on the slaves to dictate your instructions. If you want these twenty large boxes to be put into the warehouse, I'm afraid..."

In the final analysis, he has always been the major contributor to pacifying Korea and severely damaging Japan.

"He asked me to act with him again... He hasn't come back yet, but the servant came first!" Baochai complained in a low voice.

But he didn't leave in a hurry, and he didn't ask anyone to change clothes, so he planned to enter the palace in casual clothes.

One of them was naked and carrying a thorn to plead guilty, and the other was in such a panic that he forgot to wear a phoenix crown and a habei to enter the palace. The combination makes Prince Xiang's Mansion look particularly embarrassed. Baochai grasped this very accurately.

"Prepare the carriage!" Baochai said calmly.

"Yes!" Deng An replied.

When Baochai was about to leave, Zhu Jinghong had already appeared outside the Ming Dynasty Gate.

Because there were hundreds of riders approaching from his group, the Imperial City Yiwei Division was afraid that someone was plotting against him. The Qianhu stationed here urgently ordered the palace gates to be closed, and ordered the garrison to be in a war-ready state. At the same time, they sent people to urgently report the situation outside the palace gates.

Zhu Jinghong had already expected this result when he led his team towards the palace gate, so he did it on purpose.

Never make big mistakes and keep making small mistakes... This is also one of his tricks to protect himself.

After getting off his horse, Zhu Jinghong approached the palace gate alone. The troops stationed on the city wall were looking at him.

"Is it... His Highness Prince Xiang?"

"It really is……"

Seeing Zhu Jinghong appear, the people on the city wall were very surprised, but they also saw clearly that it was indeed Zhu Jinghong.

"Your Highness Prince Xiang, what are you doing..."

Before Qian Hu, who was stationed at the palace gate, could finish his words, he heard Zhu Jinghong shouting: "Hurry up and open the door... I want to enter the palace to face the saint!"

"This……"

Not sure what was going on, so these thousands of households seemed hesitant.

"Why...I've only been gone for less than a year and you don't recognize me? You're not even allowed to enter the palace to meet the saint?" Zhu Jinghong asked dissatisfied.

"How dare this... minister!"

"Come here...open the door, open the door...hurry up and open the door for the prince!"

After being greeted by Qian Hu, the palace door was pushed open with a creaking sound just a moment after it was closed.

This Qianhu came to the palace gate in person, and fifty soldiers were stationed on the left and right sides of the city gate, nominally to welcome Zhu Jinghong into the palace.

There were nearly a hundred guards escorting Zhu Jinghong. At this time, only one person entered the palace with him, and that was Zhang Lin, who blocked the gun for him. The original intention of arranging so many people to guard thousands of households was actually to prevent impact. To put it bluntly, they were afraid that Zhu Jinghong would do "excessive" behavior.

But the current situation is that most of the soldiers guarding the door have looks of reverence, curiosity or admiration on their faces. There is no hint of alertness or deterrence.

There was no way, Zhu Jinghong led his troops to victory in every battle, so he naturally had high prestige in the army.

"Zhao Qianhu... is such a big formation to welcome me? Or for what?" Zhu Jinghong asked in a deep voice.

Zhao Qianhu, who was called out, felt particularly uncomfortable at this time. He just followed the rules and was on guard.

Of course, Zhu Jinghong just asked casually and did not express too much support for this dedicated Qianhu.

After entering the Daming Gate, there is a very long road ahead. In addition to people from the Yiwei Division standing guard, there are also teams patrolling back and forth.

Of course, because there are various official areas on both sides of the palace road, there are also many officials coming and going, and these people also saw Zhu Jinghong.

Like Baochai, most of the officials had already learned the news and knew that Zhu Jinghong would not return to Beijing until two days later.

So when they saw him appearing, these people's first reaction was surprise, and then they left quickly to spread the news to their colleagues.

So when Zhu Jinghong arrived outside Chengtian Gate, the news that he had returned to Beijing and entered the palace had slowly spread, which really caught the officials off guard.

"Master Thirteen, do you really want to do this?"

Zhang Lin asked questions outside the Meridian Gate. He was holding a long parcel in his hand, with two thorns inside.

Zhu Jinghong took off his hat and said: "Rather than letting others accuse me, it would be better for me to plead guilty myself!"

"Those people are talking nonsense, why should you pay attention to them!" Zhang Lin was angry.

Seeing that Zhang Lin was upset, Zhu Jinghong felt relieved.

In addition to retreating in order to advance in this way, he also wanted to create a tragic hero's character, and the audience would be people in the army like Zhang Lin. Now it seems that the effect is quite good.

Zhu Jinghong did not answer Zhang Lin's words, but untied the ties of his round-neck robe, and then took off his upper body clothes.

It was the middle of winter, and Zhang Lin felt cold even at a glance with his upper body naked like this.

"What are you doing in a daze? Open the package quickly!" Zhu Jinghong said angrily.

"Thirteenth Master, you..."

"Stop talking nonsense and hurry up!"

Seeing his resolute attitude, Zhang Lin couldn't say any more and could only open the package honestly.

There are two thorn trees inside. In order to complete the trick, Zhu Jinghong did not choose a smooth stick.

He took the thorn and tied it to his back with the wrapping cloth. The thorns on it pricked him very painfully.

"Go back by yourself, it's time for me to enter the palace!"

After saying this, Zhu Jinghong did not explain, but rushed in carrying the thorns on his back.

Entering the Meridian Gate is the palace. The people guarding here are the Dragon Guards, so no one came to question and stop him. On the contrary, there were many people who cared about him.

These guards, like Zhang Lin, were aggrieved by Zhu Jinghong's behavior of "bearing a thorn to plead guilty" and believed that he had suffered unfair treatment.

Faced with the persuasion of these people, Zhu Jinghong did not explain much. After all, this is the play he should play.

When he walked to the palace, the emperor, who was resting in the harem, left Wenrou Township very dissatisfied.

At first he learned that Zhu Jinghong had returned early, then he learned that this guy led the guards to break into the palace gate, and finally he learned that this guy had come to expose himself...

This news after news made Zhu Xianming more and more angry.

"Where are the others?"

In the main hall of Qianqing Palace, Zhu Xianming's eyes were cold and stern, and the eunuchs serving him did not dare to show their dignity.

"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness Prince Xiang is kneeling outside the Qianqing Gate!"

It was rare to be in a good mood. Zhu Xianming originally planned to relax, but now his mood was completely ruined.

After walking out of the main gate of Qianqing Palace, Zhu Xianming looked forward along the royal road and saw Zhu Jinghong kneeling outside the palace gate.

"The flesh is exposed and the thorns are exposed... He knows how to do it!"

Since this kid likes to play, Zhu Xianming felt that he should suffer a little, so he did not plan to summon him directly.

"Is there any urgent delivery today?" Zhu Xianming turned around and asked.

Cheng Ying quickly replied: "This morning the Director of Ceremonies sent thirty-one memorials, seven of which were urgently delivered!"

"Well... read these first and then talk!"

Zhu Xianming decided to go to work first, finish the backlog of things, and then take care of the little bastard outside.

Outside the palace gate, Zhu Jinghong was shivering from the cold. If he hadn't been in excellent physical condition, he would have fainted from the cold right now.

The old man hasn’t seen me yet?
"Father, I am guilty. I hope you will punish me severely!" Zhu Jinghong shouted directly.

Anyway, he would lose the emperor's face by tossing around here. He wanted to see how long the old man could endure it.

When he didn't care about his image, Baochai also entered the palace by car, and then came to the gate of Qianqing.

Baochai first saw Zhu Jinghong's back, and saw that her husband was naked from the waist up, which made her feel particularly distressed.

Leaving the accompanying maid behind, Baochai quickened his pace and came to Zhu Jinghong's side, and then jumped directly on him.

"My lord, you are finally back!"

At this moment, Baochai showed her true feelings. The reunion of the husband and wife after a long separation really made her cry with joy.

In order to prevent Zhu Jinghong from freezing, Baochai tried her best to hug him, but was pushed away by Zhu Jinghong.

"I am a guilty person and I am going to plead guilty to Your Majesty. Please don't disturb me!" Zhu Jinghong said extremely seriously.

Baochai knew that it was time to act next, and she and her husband had enough tacit understanding.

"Excuse me... You are a meritorious official of the imperial court. Why do you plead guilty?"

While weeping, Baochai continued: "My parents have given me so much care for my body, hair, and skin. If the prince doesn't cherish me so much, wouldn't it make my father, the emperor, and my queen sad?"

"Your Majesty, stop messing around, let's go back..."

"Everyone in the world knows your merits, how can anyone say you are guilty!"

Zhu Jinghong pretended to be impatient and scolded: "You are a woman, what do you know? Leave quickly..."

"If I don't plead guilty, and I'm convicted, I will fall into a place of eternal damnation!"

This is the double act between the two of them. They are so-called tacit understanding, but at this moment, they are acting like nature.

"But you are a hero of the imperial court..." Baochai was still crying.

The two argued for several rounds about whether they were guilty or not. Finally, Zhu Jinghong scolded: "Stupid woman, you want to kill me..."

"Get out of here quickly..."

As soon as these harsh words came out, the atmosphere reached its peak, and Baochai covered her face and ran away. She would go to the next place to perform.

The conversation between the two of them just now was also seen by the surrounding eunuchs and guards, and it is expected that it will soon spread to the ears of those who should know.

In the Qianqing Palace, the emperor listened to the eunuch's report, his expression was extremely exciting.

"This little bastard, what do he mean by those words?"

"If you don't plead guilty, you will be damned if others are convicted? Who are they?"

After muttering a few words in a low voice, Zhu Xianming became more and more unhappy as he thought about it, so he simply put down his pen.

"Bring that little beast in!"

(End of this chapter)