Red Mansion: Bastards rule the roost

Creaky, creaky... The bookcase against the wall in the study of Prince Beijing's mansion slowly moved away, revealing a deep doorway. A long staircase extended obliquely downward, and dim lights faintly shone from below.

The chilly cold air surged out from the cave, making people shudder and feel terrified, as if it led directly to the underworld.

"Miss Jinse, please stop." Jiang Yuhan said with a smile.

When Jinse saw the rumored "haunted house", she felt weak and cold all over. The huge fear was like a big hand, grabbing her heart and making it difficult for her to breathe.

There have always been rumors among the people in the palace that there is a "haunted house" in the palace, which is where concubines and maids who have made mistakes go.

No one who went in has ever come out alive, but no one has ever seen it.

However, it is true that concubines and maids often died suddenly in the palace.

Jinse has been in the palace for many years. She is extremely talented and beautiful, with pleasant conversation. She has always been favored by Prince Beijing. Naturally, she has heard of this secret room, but she never thought that she would walk into it one day.

Prince Beijing smiled coldly and walked in first. Jiang Yuhan followed closely behind. Two other maids with wooden expressions followed behind, escorting Jinse.

After walking up dozens of eerie and dim steps and turning a corner, the view in front of me suddenly opened up to an underground flower hall, brightly lit, gorgeously decorated, and with all the exquisite and luxurious furnishings, and it didn't feel stuffy at all.

In front of him was a mahogany and marble-inlaid seven-panel Arhat bed, and in front of the bed was a copper incense burner with two ears and a beast button. A wisp of faint smoke came out of the mouth of the beast on top.

Next to it was a four-legged ice jar made of agarwood and carved with gilt gluttonous patterns, filled with ice. There was also a glass bottle of blood-red wine bubbling inside, and the floor was covered with a thick Western Region Anaguli cashmere carpet.

If it weren't for the bloodstained racks faintly visible between the seven or eight rosewood screens inlaid with jade and carved with sea and cloud dragon patterns on both sides, as well as various strange and bloody torture instruments, this place would definitely be regarded as the most gorgeous and extravagant den of vengeance.

Prince Beijing sat upright on the Luohan bed, looking at Jinse lying on the ground, and asked, "Jinse, ask yourself, have I ever treated you unfairly since you came into the palace? Why did you betray me?"

Jinse looked around, determined to die, and sneered, "I think many sisters in the mansion died here. One more person today won't make a difference. Your Majesty, there is no need to say more, just do it."

Prince Beijing was stunned when he heard the words, and then burst into laughter. His laughter gradually became shrill and then stopped abruptly. He stood up and walked down step by step, pinching Jinse's delicate chin and licking her ear gently, as if he was savoring a delicious delicacy.

"Jinse, you are very special. I like you a little bit." Prince Beijing chuckled.

Jinse's hair stood on end, she knew Prince Beijing's character very well. The softer and more gentle his words were, the more brutal and cruel his means of revenge would be.

"Tell me, what benefit did Jia Cong give you to make you betray me?"

There was a trace of confusion in Jinse's beautiful eyes, but then she regained her clarity and said softly, "Jia Shaobao is a peerless hero with unparalleled loyalty and righteousness. He is willing to disobey the emperor's order and seek a doctor for a concubine.

But the prince only treats us as playthings to win over others. If we are not careful, we will be destroyed. Prince, why don't I abandon the dark and join the light?"

Prince Beijing laughed, his eyes bloodshot, his expression ferocious as a ghost, and said: "Okay, okay, well said. So Jinse, are you going to follow Hongfu's example and run away at night? Do you know the consequences?"

Jinse said resolutely: "Rather than being given to an old man by the prince to be defiled or dying in the mansion like my sisters, I would rather risk my life."

Prince Beijing praised him and said, "As expected of a wonderful woman trained by me. Do you have anything else to say?"

Jinse knew that she was going to die, but she felt somewhat fortunate in her heart. Fortunately, she had made some preparations in advance just in case. She just didn't know if her enemy could understand.

Because she asked the question buried deep in her heart: "Those sisters used to be gentle, virtuous, and dignified. What mistakes did they make? Why did the prince kill them without mercy?"

Prince Beijing seemed to have heard a very good joke and laughed so hard that tears came out of his eyes. Jiang Yuhan, who was standing next to him, also laughed.

After laughing for a long time, Prince Beijing slowly stopped, looked at Jinse with infatuation, and gently stroked her beautiful face with his hand, murmuring: "Jinse, I gave you to Jia She just to save your life, why don't you understand?"

"I don't understand what Your Majesty said." Jinse frowned slightly.

Prince Beijing gently smoothed her hair, with a hint of tenderness in his eyes, which made Jinse's heart tremble.

"Let me tell you a story and you'll understand." Prince Beijing said softly, looking a little dazed, as if he was immersed in distant memories.

"That year I was just six years old, and my father was still alive. I had a very cute little girl named Ruolan, who was very close to me and we were inseparable.

One day, I was so busy playing with her that I forgot to study, and my father found out. He brought me down here, right here in this room, and made me watch Ruolan being...beaten to death."

He uttered the last two words with gritted teeth, and a ferocious look reappeared on Prince Beijing's face.

"Why...why?" Jinse said in a trembling voice.

Prince Beijing said calmly: "Father said that beauty is a disaster, and women will only make men weak and indecisive!

If a man wants to achieve great things, he cannot be obsessed with any woman. Power is the only thing to pursue; everything else is meaningless.

So, do you know why your sisters are gone?"

Jinse felt a chill in her heart and said slowly, "Because the prince fell in love with them."

Prince Beijing smiled and nodded, saying, "I've long said you're very smart. That's right, they are all so gentle, considerate, and charming.

Although I tried my best to control myself, I couldn't help but fall for it again and again.

In order to avoid being captured by their emotions, I can only... kill them, and kill them in the most cruel way possible. Only in this way can I completely destroy the shadows they left in my heart. "

Hearing this, Jinse felt as if she had fallen into an icy cave. She stared at Prince Beijing and said coldly, "You beast! No, you are a beast in human form, worse than a beast!"

Prince Beijing laughed and said, "You are not the first person to say that. Now do you know why I gave you away? Because I found that I have fallen in love with you, Jinse.

I don't want to kill you, so I want to send you away so that I can hide my tracks. Why don't you just listen to me? I have to admit that you are the only woman who makes me feel a little soft-hearted. "

"So I am doomed to die." Jinse sneered.

Prince Beijing sniffed the fragrance in her hair and sighed, "I don't want this to happen either, but there is no perfect match in the world, so I can only let you down."

Jinse closed her eyes, as if bidding farewell to this world, and said coldly: "I'll wait for you down there."

In fact, there was something else she hadn't said yet: If Jia Cong knew that I died for him, he would definitely avenge me.
-
"Huh? Failed?" Jia Cong stared at Wang Fei and frowned, "Why did you fail? Didn't you say that you had already infiltrated Prince Beijing's mansion? If you can't even get a woman, what use do I have for you!"

Wang Fei was so frightened by his shout that he fell to his knees and kowtowed, "My Lord, everything was arranged, but when the time came, that damn Jiang Yuhan came in through the back door after having a drink outside and happened to run into Miss Jinse...

He is a spy from the East Factory, and he saw the clues at a glance, so... please punish him!"

Jia Cong took a deep breath and shouted, "Go to Beijing Prince's Mansion with my name card and ask for her. Tell her that he promised to give her to me and now I am here to ask for her! Go now!"

"Yes, yes, I'll go right away." Wang Fei left in a hurry.

Jia Cong frowned, and intuitively felt that Jinse was in danger, so he asked, "Sir, this matter is a little strange, could it be related to the case of Concubine Yuan?"

Pang Chao pondered and said, "It's hard to say at this moment, but it's obvious that someone is targeting you again. It's so confusing now that I can't see clearly. By the way, how is the trial of Concubine Yuan going?"

"It's clear now. I will report it tomorrow morning." Jia Cong said in a deep voice.

Pang Chao nodded and said, "You suddenly arrested a senior member of the New Party this time, which is like stirring up a hornet's nest. I think the impeachment petition against you has been written."

Jia Cong sneered, "Now that you have caught the perpetrators red-handed, are you still afraid that the New Party will turn the tables? Do you think you can defeat my noble sword by framing the Princess so blatantly? I want to see what these scholars can do."

Pang Chao said: "Since the case is as solid as a mountain, the emperor will make a fair judgment and give justice to Empress Yuan, but this may not be a good thing for you."

"how to say?"

“It may seem like you have won again this time, but in fact, in the eyes of President Kim Jong Un and the New Party, you are one step closer to being abandoned.

And I have a vague feeling that this matter is not that simple. I think it is too slow to slowly wear down your favor with these things, just like playing chess slowly and softly, which cannot pose a sharp threat to you. "Pang Chao thought.

"Sir, do you mean they have a backup plan? They just haven't made a move yet." Pang Chao nodded slowly: "I'm ashamed, I still can't figure it out. It's a pity that Miss Jinse didn't respond, otherwise I would have been able to guess something."

Jia Cong said: "Sir, there is no need to be so. Even Kong Ming, who is so smart, can still fail. No matter what means he uses, I am now leading six battalions of strong soldiers. If the emperor wants to make a move against me, he will probably have to think twice.

If you rashly get rid of me, Niu Jizong, Liu Fang and the others will be in danger, and they might even join forces with Li Meng to depose and enthrone the emperor.

The emperor cannot afford such a risk. Besides, there is a war going on in the Western Regions, so there is no reason to kill the general first."

Pang Chao said: "It is not necessarily this situation, now you are a high-ranking official, you are famous, you have a large army, and you have the red book and iron certificate to protect you.

The current emperor did not dare to punish without warning, so Niu Jizong and others were so frightened that they turned to the queen, and some even took the risk of forcing the emperor to abdicate. "

Jia Cong smiled and said, "What you said is true, sir. What is there to worry about? We will fight back when the enemy comes."

Pang Chao nodded, and the two discussed some strategies for tomorrow's performance.

After a long time, Wang Fei came back trembling with fear to report.

"Where are the people?" Jia Cong glanced at him.

"Your Excellency, we are...in the Southern Office, and we dare not move rashly." Wang Fei said cautiously.

"What happened? Tell me!" Jia Cong said in a deep voice when he saw his eyes evading.

Wang Fei could not hide it, so he had to tell the truth: "I just took people to Beijing Prince's Mansion to ask for someone, and a housekeeper came out and said... that Miss Jinse had been punished for being disrespectful to the prince..."

"What?!" Jia Cong was shocked.

Wang Fei hurriedly said, "I said, 'If you want to see him alive, you must see him. If he is dead, you must see his body. This is the person your Lord promised to give to our master. Do you want to deny your debt?'

So they handed Miss Jinse's body to me. Since I didn't know her, I temporarily buried her in the South Office. My Lord..."

Jia Cong's face was as cold as frost. He stood up suddenly and said, "Go to the Southern Division!"

"Yes."

Inside the secret room of the Southern Pacification Office, Wen Zhen and the three captains stood guard over the body wrapped in a straw mat lying on the wooden bed with solemn expressions, and no one dared to touch it.

It was not until Jia Cong brought Wang Fei and Cheng Lingsu in that everyone began to greet them.

"Get up." Jia Cong's face was solemn. He walked over and gently lifted the straw mat above his head. After just one look, he closed it again, unable to bear to look at it any longer.

The beautiful woman who once had a charming smile and a radiant look has now become a cold corpse with a distorted face and eyes open. One can imagine what kind of torture she must have suffered before her death.

"This is indeed Miss Jinse. What do you think?" Jia Cong said indifferently and repeated what Jinse had told him.

No one dared to speak easily, they just looked at the Chief of Punishments Zhuang Qing, this is your job, don't try to hide.

Zhuang Qing said in a deep voice: "Excuse me, sir, is what Miss Jinse said true?"

"Not true, I have never had any relationship with her." Jia Cong shook his head.

When everyone heard that Jia Cong had nothing to do with her, they immediately breathed a sigh of relief and became more interested.

Wen Zhen bowed and said, "I think that since Miss Jinse has sent such a message, her intention is naturally to arouse your attention and suspicion, so you will follow your instructions to take her out.

The reason she did this must be because she had something important to tell Your Excellency, or she had to leave the palace immediately."

Everyone nodded and said, "Fu Wen's inference is reasonable."

Jia Cong frowned and asked, "Why didn't she just ask Baoyu to tell me the message, but instead asked me to solve this riddle?"

Zhuang Qing said, "Maybe Miss Jinse is worried that Master will ignore her if he knows this, or maybe the matter is of great importance and she is worried that Master Bao is not safe, so she has to tell Master in person."

"It should be so." Everyone nodded slowly.

Jia Cong asked: "What else?"

Everyone looked at each other and said nothing.

Zhuang Qing bowed and said, "Your Excellency, I dare not speak without first examining the body."

Jia Cong nodded and said, "Verify! Zhuang Qing stays."

"Yes." Everyone went out and waited.

Zhuang Qing took out a dagger and cut the ropes that bound the straw mat. The mat fell apart, revealing a naked corpse.

"You bastard!" Jia Cong couldn't help but curse.

Cheng Lingsu had killed countless people and was cruel by nature. He frowned when he saw this scene.

It turned out that except for the face, the body was covered with bruises and torn flesh. The body was covered with coagulated dark red blood clots, and the limbs were twisted. It was unknown how much torture the person had suffered.

Zhuang Qing was knowledgeable and experienced, his expression was as cold as a rock, without any fluctuation. His eyes were as sharp as a knife, and he carefully examined the body from head to toe, then reached out and pressed gently on various parts of the body.

He said: "There should be an expert in executions in Prince Beijing's mansion. Judging from the injuries on the corpse, he was subjected to twelve kinds of torture in total.

From the initial whipping with barbed wire to the final death by hanging, the execution order was perfectly arranged to make the person being punished feel the greatest pain. I think it was Jiang Yuhan who came from the East Factory who did it. "

Jia Cong took a deep breath and sneered, "Well, I've wanted to get rid of this bastard for a long time, I'll send someone to invite him to the Southern Division tomorrow.

Let's see whether his words are tough or the punishment of this guard is tougher! Just consider it as collecting interest for Jinse first, understand?"

"Yes, I understand. If I can't pry his mouth open, I will have no face to see you again, sir, and I am willing to demote myself to the rank of captain." Zhuang Qing bowed.

"Well, go on." Jia Cong nodded.

Zhuang Qing said: "Secondly, the King of Beijing always has various torture instruments. He uses such vicious means to torture weak women. This person has an extraordinary mind and must be a crazy, paranoid and extremely self-centered person.

The fact that he dared to hand over the body to the adults also showed that he was a person with a strong sense of revenge. He could do nothing about the adults, so he vented his anger on the weak woman.

Such a person may seem strong, but in fact he must have flaws. If you can understand his character, you can prescribe the right medicine for him. "

Jia Cong said: "This will depend on Jiang Yuhan."

Zhuang Qing said: "Third, judging from the corpse, there is no other information. However, if Miss Jinse is smart enough, she should have reserved means to ensure that the information can be delivered, just in case."

Jia Cong asked, "What do you mean?"

Zhuang Qing said: "Miss Jinse sent a message to you, asking you to pick her up immediately. This sentence is very meaningful.

Because this sentence doesn't match the first half of the sentence. According to common sense, a woman who is pregnant can wait for a day or two. Why did she insist that the adults take her out 'immediately'?"

Jia Cong nodded slowly and said, "Could it be that she wants me to take her out regardless of life or death?"

Zhuang Qing clasped his fists and said, "In other words, the information may still be with the girl. Prince Beijing and Jiang Yuhan don't know the truth and may not be able to predict this.

This is also the last way for our secret agents to pass on messages."

Jia Cong took a breath and said, "Find it out." (End of this chapter)