Corrupt official in the Red Chamber

Chapter 562 Blockade of Yongshou Palace

Besides, at this time, there was a very unobtrusive building outside the palace, close to the corner of Donghua Gate. This was the office of Ma Tao, the commander of the Royal Forest Army.

Originally, there was a large yamen according to his level, but it was later rejected by Ma Tao. He has been looking for a place to work in this place next to the palace.

At this time, Ma Tao was wearing full military uniform and sitting in the lobby, with more than a dozen generals wearing helmets and crowns lined up below.

Since it was almost dark when he received an order from the cabinet, requiring him to lead elite troops into the palace tomorrow morning, Ma Tao became nervous. He dressed in military uniform and summoned all his generals.

It wasn't that Ma Tao was going to obey the order, but that the order came very strangely.

You must know that the cabinet has never had a say in the issue of troop deployment. Their commander-in-chief Jia Rui has always given the direct order.

Unexpectedly, the little emperor had just passed away. Their commander-in-chief, Jia Rui, was hiding in Prince Wu's Mansion to avoid suspicion. The cabinet was about to seize military power. What was it going to do? Want to rebel?
Therefore, while Ma Tao ordered people to send a message to Lao Li's people, he also summoned the generals in full military uniform and ordered his sergeants to stand ready, waiting for Jia Rui's order to send troops to quell the rebellion at any time.

The generals under his command also felt that the atmosphere was unusual today, so although they stood for an hour, no one dared to say anything.

It was completely dark outside, and torches were lit everywhere. Only then did a little eunuch hurried in from outside.

But when the little eunuch came to the lobby, he was blocked.

The little eunuch didn't dare to be domineering and honestly showed off the badge given by Old Li.

The soldier on duty picked up his badge and hurried into the lobby. After a while, he came out and let the little eunuch in.

After entering, the little eunuch felt the chilling atmosphere in the lobby, and his heart began to beat.

Therefore, he quickly knelt down on the ground, kowtowed and said, "I am here to deliver the order on the orders of Manager Li."

"What did Mr. Li say?"

"Mr. Li passed on the prince's words."

Ma Tao, who was sitting on top, quickly stood up, walked around the steps, and stood respectfully at the bottom. Then he knelt down on one knee and raised his fists.

The other generals also followed Ma Tao's example and knelt down on one knee, imitating Ma Tao's example.

At this time, the little eunuch stood up and said loudly: "The prince has spoken: Since several adults are worried about the safety of Yongshou Palace, it is also necessary to strengthen the security."

"The last general takes orders."

Ma Tao stood up, his face relaxed a lot.

It seems that the commander-in-chief means to temporarily obey the cabinet's orders. In this case, he can feel relieved.

Afterwards, Ma Tao dismissed the young eunuch and immediately ordered his three thousand households to each lead a thousand elites to be ready to enter the palace at any time.

At dawn, Jia Yucun hurried to Ma Tao's Yamen.

The soldiers outside reported the salute, and Ma Tao personally came out and led Jia Yucun into the inner hall, where the two of them sat down separately.

After sitting down, Jia Yucun was not polite and asked directly: "Master Ma, did you receive the cabinet order yesterday? Are you ready?"

Ma Tao put down the cup in his hand and said with a smile:

"The military order came from the cabinet yesterday. I immediately organized the three thousand elite troops. Now that they are all ready, I will listen to your orders."

Jia Yucun immediately became happy upon hearing this. It seemed that the prince had agreed to his and others' plan.

"Okay, let's enter the palace immediately."

Ma Tao nodded after hearing this, then stood up and walked out with Jia Yucun.

Arriving at the small square, Ma Tao clapped his hands lightly and three generals immediately came over from the side.

"The three of you will follow Mr. Jia into the palace. After entering the palace, you must obey Mr. Jia's instructions. You are not allowed to act privately, and you are not allowed to disturb the women in the palace. If you disobey, you will be executed on the spot."

"I will wait for my orders."

After receiving the order, the three people stood behind Jia Yucun.

Jia Yucun bowed his hand to Ma Tao, and then led the people to the palace.

Arriving in front of the Meridian Gate, the imperial guards on duty immediately came to stop him. A Qianhu from Jiayu Village took out the token from his arms and raised it high.

When the guard in that hand saw the token, he immediately stepped aside, and then three thousand people entered the palace in a mighty manner.

It was no small move for three thousand people to enter the palace. In addition, Concubine Jing still had some energy in the palace, so the rumor reached Yongshou Palace before Jia Yucun.

At this time, Concubine Jing had just gotten up and was lazily eating breakfast.

"How's it going, young prince? Did you sleep well last night?"

"Back to you, my dear, everything is well with the young prince. He slept very well last night and stayed up until dawn." A nun next to her replied with a smile.

Concubine Jing nodded with satisfaction, and then said humbly: "We'd better ask the cabinet ministers to come over today. I still have to compete with them."

Speaking of this, Concubine Jing felt a little melancholy.

Although she guessed that Jia Rui agreed to let her son ascend the throne, Jia Rui never said it directly, which made Concubine Jing still upset.

It seems that we need to urge the cabinet to get the matter done before talking about anything else.

Before Concubine Jing finished her meal, a eunuch ran in crawling.

He was already in the side hall, fell to his knees with a plop, and then howled in a voice that changed his voice:

"The empress is in trouble for being a thousand years old. Jia Yucun has led his troops into the palace."

Concubine Jing stood up as soon as she heard the bang, then stared at the little eunuch closely and asked:

"Can you see clearly?"

"Slave, it seems true. The leader is Jia Yucun, and there are countless imperial guards coming to our side."

When Princess Jing heard this, she suddenly collapsed on her seat.

Her eyes were now distracted and her body was shaking like a sieve of chaff.

It's over, it's over.

Concubine Jing now understood that everything she did was secretly manipulated by Jia Rui.

I am really stupid, I actually think that Jia Rui has feelings for me and the child.

Just when Concubine Jing was upset, there was a sound of footsteps outside, and then Jia Yucun led someone into the side hall.

After Jia Yucun came in, he looked at Concubine Jing who was sitting on top like a puppet.

This woman, who was so high-spirited just a few days ago, has now lost her soul.

But even so, Jia Yucun did not dare to be rude and immediately knelt down to salute Concubine Jing.

"Jia Yucun, the scholar of the cabinet, congratulates Concubine Jing for being a thousand years old. She is a thousand years old."

Jia Yucun's words woke up Concubine Jing who was sitting above her. She looked down, then said with a wry smile:

"Are you ordered to kill the Ai family?"

This is the first time that Concubine Jing calls herself "Aijia".

In the past, Concubine Jing always called herself "this palace".

These two titles indicate Concubine Jing's current state of mind, as well as her change of identity.

In the past, she thought she was Jia Rui's woman, so she called herself "this palace". Now she thinks she is the late emperor's concubine, so she calls herself "Aijia".

"Back to your Majesty, no matter how brave I am, I would not dare to do such a disobedient and unethical thing."

"Then what do you want to do with so many people here?"

"A few of our cabinet bachelors have discussed that these are troubled times, and there is a risk that some bad people may cause trouble in the Yongshou Palace, so we sent people to protect the Yongshou Palace, the empress and the young prince."

(End of this chapter)