The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 479 Complete outbreak
Although the fireworks were brilliant, they were also short-lived. Soon, the dark sky returned to silence, leaving only the cold wind. Lin Daiyu was a sentimental person, and she could not help but sigh that fireworks faded quickly and old friends passed away easily. Thinking of her deceased father, she could not help but feel sad, lowered her head and coughed twice.

Jia Huan said hurriedly, "It's late at night and the cold is severe. Sister Lin is weak and can't stand in the wind for long. Go back to the house quickly."

Jia Baoyu opened his mouth to speak, but Jia Huan spoke first, so he had to shut his mouth in frustration.

Seeing Jia Huan's nervousness, Lin Daiyu felt sweet in her heart and said softly, "I am going home. Brother Huan, do you want to go with me?"

"Let's go together!" Jia Huan nodded, then turned around and asked Baochai, Tanchun and others if they wanted to go. Everyone said it was late at night and it was time to go, so they went out together.

Jia Baoyu was happy to be together and he only wished that the flowers would always bloom and the people would never disperse. When he saw that everyone had left, he could not help sighing. It took Xiren a while to coax him into silence.

Xiaoxiang Pavilion was not far to the east of Yihong Courtyard. Jia Huan sent Lin Daiyu in and gave her a few more words of advice before leaving. Lin Daiyu wanted to order a maid to take Jia Huan back to Yuewei Residence, but the maid refused. Jia Huan was not a spoiled and coquettish person. He had experienced mountains of corpses and seas of blood, so why would he be afraid of walking these few steps at night?
Jia Huan walked out of Xiaoxiang Pavilion alone, holding a lantern, and passed through the dark bamboo forest path. Suddenly, he saw a light in front of him. It turned out to be Baochai and her servants who stopped and looked around, as if they were waiting for him. He was delighted and hurried forward to ask, "Sister Bao hasn't left yet?"

Xue Baochai smiled and said, "The snow has melted these days, and the ground is slippery. We are going the same way, so let's walk together. The road will be brighter with more lights." After saying this, as if she was afraid that Jia Huan would misunderstand her, she added, "Qin girl, the second sister, the fourth girl and the others are going ahead. If we hurry up, we may be able to catch up."

Jia Huan felt a little warm in his heart. It was obvious that Sister Bao was worried because she saw that he was traveling alone without a maid, so he smiled and said, "Okay, I'll lead the way, and Sister Bao follow me."

As he spoke, he walked ahead with the lantern in his hand. However, he was not careful and tripped, almost falling, which scared Xue Baochai and Ying'er.

Ying'er patted her chest and said with lingering fear, "Let me lead the way in front, and Third Master please follow carefully behind. It's freezing cold, and it would be a big mistake if I fall. Last winter, I also fell in the garden and scratched my knee, and it took a long time for the scab to fall off." As she spoke, she walked forward with a lantern to lead the way.

Baochai held up a lantern and shone it on the ground, then asked softly, "Brother Huan, did you sprain your ankle?"

Jia Huan sweated secretly, stamped his feet and smiled, "It's okay, I don't know where the stone came from, it's so unethical, it actually took advantage of the darkness to attack me, I was careless for a moment, and that's why it fell into its trap."

Ying'er burst out laughing, and Xue Baochai couldn't help laughing, and said with a hint of rebuke: "Brother Huan, please stop making jokes. It's important to walk carefully. What if you fall again?"

The three of them walked along the cobblestone path for a while, and when they almost reached Ouxiangxie, they finally caught up with Jia Yingchun, Jia Xichun and Baoqin. They first sent Xichun back to Nuanxiangwu, then sent Yingchun back to Zhuijin Pavilion, and then walked a little further to Yueweiju, and Hengwuyuan had to walk a little further to the northeast corner.

"We're here, Brother Huan, please come in quickly." Xue Baochai said in a gentle voice.

"I'll send Sister Bao and Sister Qin there first, and then come back." Jia Huan said.

Xue Baochai shook her head and said, "No need, Sister Qin and I have company, Brother Huan, please go in quickly."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ping'er and Mandalin came out with a lantern each, probably because they heard the noise. Jia Huan had no choice but to wave his hand and said, "Good night, Sister Bao and Sister Qin. I wish you a happy new year."

Baochai and Baoqin smiled at each other, and wished in unison "Brother Huan (Brother Huan) a happy new year". Then they walked towards Hengwu Garden. Under the dim candlelight of the lanterns, only the graceful shadows of their skirts swayed in the cold wind as they walked away.

shhhhhh...

It seemed that there were more beautiful and brilliant fireworks rising from the direction of the imperial city. Jia Huan and the two maids stopped to watch for a while until the fireworks burned out, then they went into the house together, sat around the stove, ate dumplings, and chatted about family matters, enjoying themselves until the second watch, when they washed and rested.

…………

As the saying goes: When you are alone in a foreign land, you miss your family all the more during festivals. At this moment, Lu Xiangsheng stood in the patio in front of the Jinling Guild Hall, looking up at the bright fireworks in the night sky, and couldn't help but feel homesick.

However, at this moment, a loud and terrifying cry of pain suddenly rang out in the cold night, which made people shudder. The candidates from Nanzhili who had not yet gone to bed in the guild hall all ran to the room where the cry came from.

Lu Xiangsheng ran to a room and heard someone inside crying out, "Brother Sanjin, Brother Sanjin... Brother Sanjin has passed away!"

Lu Xiangsheng was secretly shocked and rushed into the room in two steps. He saw seven or eight candidates crying around the bed. There was a man lying on the bed. He was skinny, with pale lips and closed eyes. He was already dead. It was the candidate Zhang Xin, whose courtesy name was Sanjin. It was said that this student Zhang was also unlucky. That day, he responded to Zhang Pu's call and went to the Zuoye Gate to sit in silence and petition. As a result, he was caught by a bucket of cold water from the East City Army. After returning, he had a high fever. Although he asked a doctor to take medicine, his condition was sometimes better and sometimes worse. He was bedridden for nearly a month. Recently, his condition suddenly worsened and he passed away on the New Year's Eve when thousands of families were reunited.

“Brother Sanjin, Brother Sanjin!!!”

Zhang Pu, Wu Changshi, Wu Weiye, Yang Tingshu and others also arrived at this time. Seeing classmate Zhang lying dead on the bed, they were overwhelmed with grief and burst into tears.

Gradually, more and more people gathered, blocking the passage outside the room, and the crying shook the neighbors. Lu Xiangsheng was originally an upright and kind-hearted person. Seeing Zhang Xin's tragic death, he couldn't help but feel grief and anger, and shed tears of sympathy.

At this time, Zhang Pu stroked the corpse and cried, "Brother Sanjin, brother Sanjin, you and I are from the same hometown and passed the imperial examination in the same year. We came to Beijing with great ambitions, hoping to get our names on the imperial examinations and show our talents to the emperor. But you passed away before we could achieve our ambitions. You died before you could achieve your goal, which makes heroes shed tears! Alas, it was me, Zhang Pu, who ruined you!"

Zhang Pu burst into tears and shouted at the top of his lungs, as if his heart was broken, which moved the audience.

Zhang Tingshu said in anger and grief: "Brother Tianru, we are all disciples of the saints. We can die if we hear the truth in the morning. If we are righteous, we will go there even if there are thousands of people. Why should we regret sacrificing our lives for the sake of righteousness? The death of Brother Sanjin is not Brother Tianru's fault. If you want to blame someone, blame the evil officials and soldiers of the East City Military Department, and the nobles who instigated them behind the scenes!
The nobles and dignitaries colluded with corrupt officials in the Ministry of Revenue to issue false salt permits, reselling state assets for profit, and shaking the foundation of the country. They deserve death. We should unite as one at this time to urge the court to thoroughly investigate this case, clean up these traitors, and seek justice for Brother Sanjin, which is also the best consolation for Brother Sanjin's spirit in heaven."

"Brother Jun Gong, what you said is absolutely right. If it is beneficial to the country, life and death are of paramount importance. Why should we avoid it because of good or bad fortune? Even if I, Wu Changshi, give up my life, I will seek justice for Brother Sanjin!" Wu Changshi raised his arms and shouted.

"We want justice, we want justice!" All the candidates raised their arms and roared in indignation.

Zhang Pu was surprised and delighted, thinking that the people's hearts could be used. He immediately tore down the curtain and used it as white silk. He hastily set up a mourning hall in the lobby of the guild hall, placed Zhang Xin's body in the center, set up an incense table for people to pay their respects, and dispatched people overnight to notify the candidates from the provincial guild halls who were going to Beijing for the imperial examinations, as well as the academies in the city.

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The Donglin faction also responded quickly and promoted the cause. For a time, there was an endless stream of scholars, gentry, and scholars who came to pay tribute to Zhang Xin. When it was dawn, more and more people came to the Jinling Guild Hall to pay their respects, blocking several nearby streets. It really shocked the court and the public.

Seeing that the time was ripe, Zhang Pu put Zhang Xin's body in a coffin. Then, everyone carried the coffin and marched straight to the Meridian Gate.

Tsk tsk, today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, the streets are already bustling, and with what Zhang Pu and others did, the noise is naturally magnified infinitely. Soon, there are huge crowds of people outside the Meridian Gate, I'm afraid there must be 70,000 or 80,000 people, if not 100,000. The momentum is so huge that it can only be described as earth-shaking.

According to the usual custom, on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the emperor would hold a grand court meeting, and all civil and military officials would come to the court and kneel down to pay homage. But of course that couldn't be done now. All the gates in and out of the imperial city were closed, and the palace guards were in full armor, ready for battle. The atmosphere was solemn and desolate.

That day happened to be Jia Yuanchun's birthday, so early in the morning, Jia's grandmother took Lady Wang, Lady Xing and other ladies to the palace to pay congratulations to the imperial concubine, but they turned back in a hurry on the way.

There was a commotion outside the Meridian Gate and the entire imperial city was on the verge of a fight, but Zhao Mingcheng, the leader of the Donglin faction who was on duty in the South Study, was very calm. After all, he was the manipulator behind the scenes and everything was under control.

"This Zhang Pu is really a man of great potential. He is good at responding to emergencies and can handle things on his own. He is no less capable than Jia Huan. It can be said that one loses something in one place but gains something in another." Zhao Mingcheng smiled as he leisurely sipped tea and stroked his beard.

It turned out that Zhao Mingcheng had always felt regretful for not being able to recruit Jia Huan as a disciple of Donglin Academy. Now, Zhang Pu suddenly appeared, whose talent seemed to be no less than Jia Huan's. It was really a pleasant surprise. With his efforts, the Ministry of Revenue was almost certain to win this time, and he could also strike a wave of noble groups at the same time. The emperor would no longer have the possibility of turning things around, and he should just stay in Xiyuan and retire from now on!

Zhao Mingcheng was just thinking about it with great pride when a palace servant outside suddenly shouted, "The Emperor has arrived!"

Zhao Mingcheng hurriedly stood up and straightened his clothes. The next moment, Emperor Qiansheng walked in with great speed.

Zhao Mingcheng quickly knelt on the ground and saluted, saying: "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you and wish you good health and happiness in the new year."

At this time, Emperor Qiansheng was in high spirits. He nodded and said, "My dear Zhao, please stand up and follow me to the tower to appease the people."

Zhao Mingcheng kowtowed again, then stood up and said with a smile: "It is my honor!"

(End of this chapter)