The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 340 Bloodshed in Yangzhou City (Part )

Seeing the gate broken, countless black-clothed and masked men holding torches rushed in like a flood, while a group of salt soldiers retreated tumbling and crawling. Jia Huan's face changed slightly, and he hurriedly ordered his personal soldiers to cover them from behind.

The twenty personal soldiers of Jia Huan were all carrying muskets. They immediately raised their guns and fired. The sound of gunfire was like popping beans, and a row of men in black who rushed in first were shot down on the spot. The men in black behind them were so scared that they fell down with their heads in their hands.

Jia Huan, Lu Xiangsheng and others took the opportunity to retreat into the second gate and quickly closed the door. However, they were not afraid of god-like opponents, but pig-like teammates. Although Jia Huan and others successfully retreated to the second gate, Yi Hong and others were chased by the group of assassins and could not get rid of them at all. They were chased all the way into the second gate.

It is necessary to explain the layout of the Salt Inspectorate's Mansion here. It faces south and is divided into front, middle and back, with a total of three courtyards. The first courtyard has three gates, namely the west corner gate, the main gate, and the east corner gate; the second courtyard also has three gates, namely the (west) second gate, the ceremonial gate, and the (east) second gate; the third courtyard is the back house, which is where the family lives and eats.

Jia Huan and others were retreating to the West Gate at this moment, while Yi Hong and others lost the East Gate. This meant that not only the front yard was lost, but also the middle yard. In other words, it was meaningless for Jia Huan and others to guard the West Gate anymore, because the enemy had already entered the East Gate and could turn around and kill here.

"Damn it!" Although Jia Huan was annoyed at the moment, he could do nothing but lead his men to retreat quickly towards the backyard. As a result, he met Yi Hong and his gang who were fleeing in panic in the courtyard.

When Yi Hong saw Jia Huan, he felt like he had found a savior and shouted loudly: "Mr. Jia, come and cover me!"

"I'll cover your uncle!" Jia Huan cursed in his heart. He really wanted to draw his gun and shoot this stupid teammate to death, but he finally suppressed his anger because at this time a group of men in black were coming towards this side fiercely.

This group of men in black were seen walking briskly, with cold eyes and extremely ruthless sword moves. Several salt soldiers who ran a little slower were hacked to death by them in an instant. They were extremely brutal.

Jia Huan hurriedly ordered his personal soldiers to form a battle formation to fight.

Those assassins in the palace were all fearless killing machines. Even though they saw the bodyguards raising their muskets, they still rushed forward ferociously without stopping.

"Fire!" Dai Shilin drew his sword and uttered a word coldly, and twenty of his personal soldiers pulled the trigger at the same time.

bang bang bang...

Lead bullets whizzed out, sweeping down a row of assassins on the spot, but the assassins behind them didn't even blink, and continued to rush forward on the bodies of their companions. Seeing this, Dai Shilin couldn't help sweating and hurriedly shouted: "Switch your knives and fight in close combat!"

The personal soldiers hurriedly put their guns on their backs and drew their swords, and the next moment, the first wave of assassins had rushed to them, and the two sides began to fight each other, and the battle was difficult to determine.

Jia Huan couldn't help but feel horrified when he saw this. The fighting power of this group of men in black was indeed powerful. You have to know that these personal soldiers of his were elites who were carefully selected. No wonder Yi Hong was killed so miserably.

boom……

Jia Huan was dignified, but this level of fighting did not scare him. He suddenly shot and killed a soldier, and at the same time calmly shouted: "Everyone, retreat to the main hall."

As the saying goes, "If one soldier is incompetent, his general will be incompetent as well." As a general, Jia Huan was so calm, so naturally the soldiers were also courageous. They formed a tight defense line and fought while retreating, and finally retreated smoothly into the main hall.

At this time, Lu Xiangsheng and Jiang Bin also gathered some of the escaped salt soldiers. Taking advantage of the terrain, they finally resisted the enemy's attack. However, seeing that the number of enemies was increasing and the main hall was too open, it was not conducive to sustained defense. So Jia Huan decisively ordered his men to retreat to the back house.

The first two courtyards of the Salt Inspectorate's Yamen are office areas, while the back house is where the successive Salt Inspectors and their families live and eat. There is only one gate at the front for entry and exit, making it an independent space in its own right.

Jia Huan and his companions fought and retreated, and successfully retreated into the back house and closed the door. However, Yi Hong and a group of remaining Jinyiwei had already fled here first, and were still in shock!
At this time, the men in black outside had chased to the door of the back house and began to attack, but the back house was a self-contained building separated by a tall wall, so it was not easy to break in.

As for Xu Wenhan and the prefect Hong Wenxuan, they were naturally overjoyed to see that they had easily taken over the front yard and the middle yard. They rushed straight to the yamen prison in the front yard, but found it was empty. They did not find Kang Lingcheng who was imprisoned there, and were very disappointed.

"Damn it, Lin Ruhai, that old fox, must have moved Kangling City in advance." Hong Wenxuan slapped his thigh in annoyance. Xu Wenhan sneered, "Master Hong, please be patient. If the monk can escape, can the temple also escape? The Salt Inspectorate's Office has been surrounded by us from front to back like an iron barrel. Not even a fly can get out. Kangling City is most likely moved to the backyard by Lin Ruhai. When the backyard is breached later, no one can escape. But I declare in advance that the Miss Lin is the one I want, and no one can touch her hair."

Prefect Hong said flatteringly, "Don't worry, Master Han. I have already informed the people below. If we catch this girl, I will make sure she is delivered to you intact. Hehe, Master Han really has good taste. Lin Ruhai is over fifty years old and has only one daughter. She is as beautiful as a fairy and has a natural charm. I have always treated her like a jewel in my palm."

Xu Wenhan's heart warmed when he heard this, and he asked curiously, "Could it be that Lord Hong has seen this girl?"

Hong Wenxuan smiled and said, "Although I and Lin Ruhai have served in Yangzhou for many years, the woman of the Lin family is a female member after all. She usually stays at home and rarely goes out. It is not easy to see her. Moreover, Lin Ruhai became a widower a few years ago, and his daughter had no one to take care of her, so he sent her to the Jia family in the capital to be raised. It is even more impossible to see her."

Xu Wenhan was displeased when he heard this: "Since Lord Hong has never seen it, why is he so sure about it?"

Hong Wenxuan stroked his beard and said, "Some time ago, when Lin Ruhai was inspecting the salt fields, in addition to his two disciples Jia Huan and Lu Xiangsheng, he was accompanied by two delicate and beautiful servants, who were obviously women dressed as men. One of them was probably the Lin family's daughter Daiyu. She was dressed as a man, but her eyebrows were like spring mountains and her eyes were like autumn water. Look at her eyebrows and eyes, she is still charming and soul-stirring. She is truly unique among millions of people!"

Xu Wenhan had always coveted Lin Daiyu's beauty, and he became even more salivating after hearing what she said. He was itching to get her, so he rushed to the gate of the back house in a hurry and personally commanded his soldiers to attack. However, no matter how hard he tried, he was unable to break through, and many people were killed or injured.

Seeing the time passing by, Xu Wenhan and Hong Wenxuan became more and more anxious. Although they had made proper arrangements, it would be very troublesome if they could not take over the back house and kill Lin Ruhai, Yi Hong, Kang Lingcheng and others before dawn.

At this time, a palace guard suggested: "Master Han, if we only attack from the front, it may not be effective. Why don't we go around to the back and climb over the wall from the back garden, and then send other people to climb over the wall from both sides, so that the people inside will be too busy to deal with it."

Xu Wenhan had no better idea at the moment, so he adopted this suggestion. He first ordered the prefect Hong Wenxuan to send two teams of people to climb over the high wall from the alleys on both sides of the back house, while he personally led a group of good men to go around to the back garden and try to climb over the wall from the back.

Back in the backyard, Yi Hong finally caught his breath. Seeing that the defense had been temporarily stabilized, he finally calmed down a little. He walked up to Jia Huan and said with a bit of shame: "It was thanks to Brother Huan just now, otherwise I, Brother Yi, would have died here tonight. I owe you my life."

Jia Huan glanced at Yi Hong with some surprise. Although the latter tried his best to show sincerity, his sinister one eye still made people feel a little creepy. So he said calmly: "Master Yi, you are too kind. By the way, where did these men in black come from?"

Yi Hong's eyes flashed with coldness, and he said fiercely, "Who else could they be from except that group? It's my fault that I was too slow to act, and let them take the initiative. Oh, by the way, since Brother Huan has seen the account book and rushed back from Yingtian Prefecture overnight, he must have made proper arrangements, right?"

Jia Huan immediately shook his head and denied it, "I have never seen the account book. Why do you say that, Lord Yi?"

A trace of embarrassment flashed across Yi Hong's face. He had intended to set a trap for Jia Huan unintentionally, but he had not expected that this boy was alert and would not fall for it at all. So he laughed dryly and said, "Brother Huan, I understand that you have some concerns, but don't worry. Although I, Yi Hong, am not a good person, I also know how to repay kindness, and I will definitely not drag you into this matter."

Jia Huan frowned and said, "Master Yi's words make me even more confused."

Yi Hong couldn't help but curse inwardly, calling him a little fox, but since Jia Huan refused to admit it, he had no choice but to say, "Forget it, let's not talk about this. Although we are temporarily guarding the backyard, the enemy is outnumbered and has other powerful means. Without external help, we may have a hard time getting away."

Jia Huan's heart sank when he heard this. With such a big commotion here, the salt soldiers guarding the city gates should have noticed it long ago. Why haven't the reinforcements arrived yet? Could something have gone wrong?
Thinking of this, even Jia Huan couldn't help but break out in sweat on his forehead, because if the city gate really fell into the hands of the enemy, then Tiehu's cavalry would definitely not be able to enter the city to provide support. In other words, he and others would be isolated and helpless.

Yi Hong saw that Jia Huan looked unhappy, and his heart sank. He blurted out, "Brother Huan, you are not really unprepared, are you?"

At this moment, there were shouts of fighting and screams coming from the direction of the back garden.

Jia Huan's face suddenly changed, and he no longer cared about Yi Hong. He turned to Lu Xiangsheng and shouted, "Jiandou, quickly escort Master Lin to the Buddhist temple."

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiangsheng hurried to Lin Ruhai's residence with a knife in hand. Jia Huan ordered Dai Shilin and Jiang Bin to stay guarding the gate of the back house, while he himself rushed to the west wing with ten personal soldiers.

(End of this chapter)