Red Mansion Huacai

Chapter 412: Pick Up
There were flames all over the Grand View Garden. Ding Rufeng went ahead to investigate and returned to Huifang Garden, saying, "Master, the thieves have all retreated, most of the Jia family's servants have dispersed, and there were still a few who took advantage of the chaos to rob. When they saw us, they took up their belongings and fled."

Li Weijian nodded.

Ding Rufeng added: "The first wife had a sword in her heart, and she died too."

Li Weijian was stunned. Although he disliked Madam Xing, Xing Xiuyan was close to Madam Xing. After a little thought, he sent Ding Rufeng to collect the bodies of Jia Zheng and Madam Xing and move them to the backyard of the Bo's mansion. He would deal with it after the rebellion was quelled tomorrow.

At this time, Tanchun had already woken up, crying and shouting, and rushed to the East Corner Gate with Jia Lian and Baoyu. Li Weijian had no choice but to send someone to escort them and go to Rongfu to bury Jia Zheng and Mrs. Xing.

Jia Lian frowned and sighed, Baoyu and Tanchun burst into tears, and Li Weijian was busy sending servants to move the corpse near the east corner gate to a corner to be placed until dawn. When Jia Lian led the people back, Li Weijian had not yet gone to greet them, and someone reported that a group of thieves had attacked.

There were three surprises in one night, but luckily, they were all safe. As dawn approached, there was a sudden sound of gunfire outside, crackling like frying beans without stopping. Li Weijian thought to himself, I am afraid that the sage has set up an ambush. But Li Weijian was still puzzled. The sage was in his prime, and the prince was not even twenty years old. Why was he so eager to seize the throne?
At dawn, the gunfire gradually stopped. The Ding brothers bravely went out to listen for a while, and returned at noon. They said to Li Weijian, "Master, the rebels besieged the imperial city yesterday and fought fiercely with the imperial guards, but they were unable to conquer it. At the end of the morning hour, the Shenwei Town Anding and Desheng gates attacked the rebels, catching them off guard. After two hours of fierce fighting, Gu Chunlin saw that there was no way out and shot himself, and the rest of the troops surrendered."

Ding Rusong also said: "I heard that the prince has not been found yet, and the Beijing troops are now searching every house."

Li Weijian breathed a sigh of relief and said, "At least the rebellion has been quelled. I haven't heard when the Saint will return to the throne."

The two brothers shook their heads. The doors of the Bo's mansion were closed that day, and in the afternoon, soldiers came to search the two mansions. The chief was polite, gave his men detailed instructions, and left after a brief search.

Early in the morning of the third day, the emperor returned to the capital, and notices were posted throughout Shuntian Prefecture to reassure the people, saying that the prince and his accomplices in the rebellion had all been arrested and brought to justice. There were occasional fish that had escaped, and anyone who dared to harbor them would be regarded as conspiring in rebellion.

After the capital was pacified, everyone in the Jia family breathed a sigh of relief. Feng Jieer had been avoiding Jia Lian, and Jia Lian was worried about the family's losses. After a discussion with Li Wan, he moved Jia Zheng and Mrs. Xing to the ancestral temple and sent people to buy coffins and other items.

After Jia Zheng and Lady Xing left, Tanchun knew that there was no one in charge of the family anymore, so she and Ping'er gathered the servants, tidied up the house, and counted the storeroom. The thieves robbed all the floating property during the plunder. The gold and silver utensils were all lost, and most of the jewelry and antiques were also lost. Fortunately, the money that was taken from the unruly servants was converted into silver notes by Jia Lian, and now it is well kept on the Jia family, so the Jia family can get by with it.

After one night of chaos, countless families in the capital were in mourning, and good coffins were hard to come by. Tanchun came to find Li Weijian with red eyes. Li Weijian sent a name card to the inner court, and two coffins were delivered in the afternoon. The Jia family then buried Jia Zheng and Mrs. Xing.

Li Weijian and Feng Jieer were helping out at Jia's house when suddenly a maid rushed in and shouted, "It's bad! A lot of soldiers have come outside and blocked the South Gate. They say no one in the garden can leave."

Li Weijian and Jia Lian looked at each other in amazement, and hurried out to see what was happening. When they reached the ceremonial gate, they saw hundreds of soldiers pouring in, holding muskets with bayonets, and standing still, shouting at everyone to stand still against the wall and not to move.

Jia Lian went forward to negotiate with the chief of the department: "What happened? Who sent you here?"

The chief looked Jia Lian up and down and said, "You look like a master. Hurry and stand over there. We are here to confiscate your property in accordance with the imperial decree. No one can be released."

Jia Lian was anxious and asked, "What on earth is this investigation about?"

The chief said, "It's okay to tell you. Concubine Xian De colluded with the Crown Prince to cause chaos, and now she has been executed. She has sent us to Rongguo Mansion to search for anything that was sent to or from the Crown Prince."

Jia Lian was so frightened that he staggered and felt dizzy. The chief saw that Li Weijian was standing still, so he pointed at him and asked, "Why don't you stand still?"

Ding Rusong said at the side: "This is my master, who was granted the title of Earl of Jingling."

The chief was startled for a moment, then his expression changed immediately, and he said with a flattering smile: "So it's Li Cai... Master Li, please forgive me for not recognizing a great man. But the Jia family case has been reported to the public, if Master Li wants to turn things around, why not go and ask the prince to plead for him."

Li Weijian nodded, sighed as he looked at the distraught Jia Lian, and walked up to the chief and asked, "Who is leading this time?"

The head of the ministry whispered, "Eunuch Dai and Minister Zhao of the Ministry of Justice."

Minister Zhao was not very familiar with him, but Dai Quan was very familiar with him.

At this time, another officer came running over, holding his sword and saying, "General Manager Dai has ordered that all members of the Jia family go to Rongxi Hall to listen to his orders."

Two soldiers then took Jia Lian and left, while another soldier went to the back to look for the male members of the Jia family. Li Weijian frowned as he entered Rongxi Hall, where he met Minister Zhao and Dai Quan. He could not help but say, "There are mostly women in the back house, only Baoyu. You two can send someone to invite him quietly."

Dai Quan gave Li Weijian some face and said, "Mr. Li is right. In this case, we can just send a sentry."

Soon, Li Wan, Jia Lan, Baoyu, Tanchun, and Xichun all arrived. Dai Quan and Minister Zhao exchanged a glance, and Dai Quan stood up and looked around, asking, "Why isn't Jia Zheng here?"

Jia Lian hurriedly said, "Replying to Master Dai, thieves broke into our house last night and my second uncle was tragically killed by them... even my stepmother died a violent death."

"What a sin." With a sigh, Dai Quan opened the imperial edict and said, "Everyone of the Jia family, listen to the imperial edict: The Emperor, by the Mandate of Heaven, decrees that the Crown Prince is plotting a rebellion, and Concubine Jia is colluding with him, and has been tampered with by the insiders and the outsiders, and has been executed by slow slicing. Third-rank general Jia Lian is a member of the Crown Prince's gang... In addition, according to the report of the Metropolitan Censorate: Third-rank general Jia Lian, in between being filial to the country and being filial to his family, violated the imperial edict and forced a good citizen to break off his engagement, and forcibly married a commoner girl. He is guilty of being filial to the country, being filial to his family, marrying secretly without telling his parents, and divorcing his wife and marrying again. Now, he is punished for multiple crimes, and is dismissed from his post and imprisoned in the inner prison to await execution."

After the decree was read, soldiers came forward and took Jia Lian away. Jia Lian shouted "unjust, unjust", but no one paid any attention. Li Wan, Tanchun, Xichun and others wept silently, Jia Lan kept silent, and Baoyu burst into tears.

Jia Lian suddenly caught sight of Li Weijian, and he tried to save his life, shouting, "Brother Jian, save me! Brother Jian, save me!"

All the soldiers looked at Li Weijian. Without waiting for Minister Zhao to speak, Dai Quan said, "Although Lord Li and the Jia family are old friends, they are just friends for personal reasons and have never colluded with the crown prince." As he spoke, he unfolded a scroll of imperial edict, thought for a moment, and sighed, "Forget it. Since Jia Zheng is dead, it's better not to read this edict."

He put down the decree and bowed to Li Weijian: "Master Li, in this case, we will go back to the palace to report the decree."

Li Weijian said, "I'll see Eunuch Dai off."

The two of them walked side by side and went out of the ceremonial gate. Dai Quan dismissed his attendants and whispered, "Don't worry, Master Li. You will not be implicated this time." Li Weijian hurriedly asked, "Master Dai, how did it come to this?"

Dai Quan hesitated for a moment before saying, "Mr. Yan has already returned home. Mr. Li may as well ask your mentor about this matter."

As they were talking, they arrived at the main gate. Dai Quan bowed to Li Weijian, jumped on his horse, and rode away with a few eunuchs.

Li Weijian stopped in front of the door for a long while, and when he turned around, he saw soldiers searching everywhere, saying they were looking for evidence of Jia Lian's connection with the prince. However, hundreds of thieves had robbed the house the night before, and a fire had burned the Grand View Garden and Jia Lian's study to the ground, so they found nothing.

At this moment, an old man suddenly appeared crying and wanted to enter Rongxi Hall. Minister Zhao hurriedly ordered: "Stop him quickly, the servants of the Jia family are not allowed to enter!"

Li Weijian took a closer look and found that this person was Jiao Da.
Jiao Da was stopped by the soldiers, and he cried loudly, "It has really come to this! I advise these useless men every day, but none of them listen, as if I want to harm them! Those useless masters have been pushed into the prison cart and taken away like pigs and dogs. If they had listened to me earlier, they would not have fallen to this point. I want to cry but there is no place to cry. What is the point of me living!"

A soldier shouted, "Where did this old man come from? Tie him up!" Immediately, a soldier took a rope and tied him up.

Unexpectedly, Jiao shouted, "I have lived for more than eighty years, and I have only followed the master to tie people up. How can I let anyone tie me up? I don't want to live anymore, I will fight you to the death!"

As he spoke, he raised his hand to hit him. Several soldiers turned their muskets around and swung their butts to hit him. Li Weijian hurriedly shouted, "Wait, this man is a loyal servant, just tie him up and put him aside."

The chief was very considerate of Li Weijian and waved his hand when he heard this, saying, "Forget it, don't bother with this old fool, just tie him up."

Several strong soldiers stepped forward and tied up Jiao Da tightly. Jiao Da was about to rest, but unexpectedly Jiao Da stood up and shouted, "I will not live anymore!" Then he rushed towards a soldier's bayonet.

The soldier was frightened and dodged quickly. Jiao Da stumbled and hit his head against the wall, causing a bloody head injury. He was silent in the blink of an eye.

Li Weijian asked the servants to move Jiao Da's body aside first, and then sat with Minister Zhao for a while. It was not until dusk when the officers and soldiers had finished searching that Minister Zhao led the body away.

The Jia family was in a state of panic. The eldest sister, Li Wan, was at a loss for words. She cried out, "It's over. What can we do? The family business is going to fall apart!"

Xichun said at the side: "Now that our hereditary position is gone, I'm afraid we can't live in Rongguo Mansion anymore."

Tanchun bit her lower lip and said, "Except for the Kong and Zhang families, there are no more thousand-year-old families in this world. As the saying goes, the grace of a gentleman is cut off after five generations. Although the hereditary position is gone now, at least there are still some family assets. Our family still has some manors in the capital and Liaodong. We can sell some of them and buy a house. From now on, I will concentrate on my studies. There may be a day when I can make a name for myself in the future."

Jia Lan echoed from the side: "Third aunt is right!"

Seeing that Baoyu had no reaction, Tanchun had to come over and said, "Second brother Bao, now that Second brother Lian has been convicted, there is no one to take care of him anymore. Second brother Bao must not be naughty anymore and must learn some serious official career and economics."

Baoyu nodded silently, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Li Weijian nodded and said, "Third sister is right. If we can't find a suitable house for the time being, my old house is still vacant. You may as well move there first."

After explaining everything to everyone, Li Weijian returned home and rode his horse straight to Yan's house. When he arrived at Yan's house, he heard that his teacher Yan Xiyao was still accompanying him, so Li Weijian waited in the study for a full hour before his teacher returned.

Seeing that Yan Xiyao was exhausted, Li Weijian hurried forward to meet him.

Yan Xiyao frowned and sat down. He drank a cup of tea before saying, "Is Fusheng here for the Jia family's affairs?"

"Yes and no," Li Weijian said with a cupped hand, "But I am really confused as to why this incident is so urgent."

"Urgent?" Yan Xiyao smiled bitterly and said, "It's necessary to be anxious." He pointed his index finger above his head and said, "God won't give me long."

"Ah?" Li Weijian was shocked and said hurriedly: "Teacher said -"

Yan Xiyao nodded and said, "Something has gone wrong since the beginning of spring. I can only eat porridge every day, no more than two bowls. After eating, I have abdominal distension and pain, and I can hardly see anything."

"What did the doctor say?"

"The pulse records are all in the Imperial Hospital, how can I know? But until now, he has not gotten better, but has become worse. He is now skinny... I am afraid he won't have much time left."

Since Yan Xiyao said this, it is obvious that the saint has serious health problems!
Li Weijian thought to himself, I can't eat, and my stomach is bloated and painful... I have consulted doctors and asked for medicine but to no avail. Why does this sound like stomach cancer?

Yan Xiyao added in a deep voice: "The Saint had long intended to appoint a new crown prince, but he could not make up his mind until this year. Unfortunately, the crown prince had such a good reputation that the Saint had no choice but to force him to rebel."

Yes, the current emperor is very proud and does not want to bear the blame. If he wants to change the crown prince, won’t he have to force the prince to rebel?
Yan Xiyao talked about the northern tour again. When the emperor was staying at the imperial palace, he heard that the prince had rebelled. He felt a mixture of relief and grief. Yuanchun happened to inquire about the emperor's diet and daily life. For some reason, the emperor got angry and strangled Yuanchun to death with his own hands, then scolded her for colluding with the prince and intending to rebel.

Afterwards, imperial edicts were issued one after another, dispatching troops from the capital to quell the rebellion, which goes without saying.

Li Weijian couldn't help thinking, as expected, there is no father and son in the royal family... I'm afraid that the chief minister Chen Hongmou may also be behind this matter. The sage intends to change the emperor, and Chen Hongmou is afraid that the government will end after his death, so won't they join forces to force the prince?

It's a pity that Jia Yuanchun suffered an unprovoked disaster... It seems that it can't be said to be unprovoked, because Yuanchun did communicate with the prince. Li Weijian sighed secretly, if Yuanchun stayed in the harem honestly, how could the Jia family have suffered the disaster today?

(End of this chapter)