Emperor of the Red Chamber

Chapter 143: Meeting the Emperor, Good Luck

Yuan Qingbai asked Ni Er, "How do you plan to deal with this matter? Although you rescued the mother and daughter, it is only a temporary solution. Those scoundrels may come to harass them again."

Ni Er couldn't help but be curious and asked Jia Zhu, "Master Jia, who is this gentleman who is speaking?"

Jia Zhu said solemnly: "Second brother, this is the Third Master, you must not neglect him, and answer his words properly."

Ni Er confirmed that this "Third Master" was not a simple person, and responded: "Third Master is right. This matter also makes me, Ni Er, embarrassed. If I were a noble, I could take good care of them, but I am just a scoundrel. Now the only way is to give them all the silver I have, and I will protect them and move them away from here immediately and hide somewhere else."

Yuan Qingbai nodded, thinking to himself that this ruffian Ni Er was not only a chivalrous man, but also had some brains.

He Qi pulled her daughter Zhai Xiaoqing forward, knelt down and bowed to Ni Er, and said with tears in her eyes: "Thank you for rescuing me, I will listen to you and move out of here immediately, but I am too embarrassed to accept your money. Xiaoqing, kowtow to the warrior and thank you."

When Zhai Xiaoqing heard her mother's order, she wanted to kowtow to Ni Er, but Ni Er held her back and said, "Good girl, you don't have to kowtow to me."

Yuan Qingbai spoke again, this time asking He Qi, "I just heard that your husband was the magistrate of Dingxing County in Baoding Prefecture, and died young due to illness caused by overwork. Is this true?"

He Qi replied respectfully, "It is true. My husband was a Jinshi in the fifth year of Chengtai, and was appointed as the magistrate of Dingxing County after passing the imperial examination. He was honest and diligent in his official duties, and often slept for less than three hours. After three years, he became ill from overwork and passed away. He was posthumously awarded the title of prefect."

Yuan Qingbai continued to ask, "Didn't your husband leave you any inheritance? Or was it all taken away by his brother? How could you be so poor that you had to borrow two taels of silver from the owner of the clothing store?"

He Qi said, "My husband was an honest official. He used his salary for official business or for the people. He did not leave much property when he died. The money he left was less than a hundred taels of silver."

Yuan Qingbai couldn't help but feel upset when he heard this.

Although the officials of prefectures and counties are small, they are numerous and are the parents of the people of the Great Zhou.

When Emperor Chengtai was in power, he attached great importance to county officials and summoned many of them in his capacity as the emperor.

According to the system of silver for maintaining integrity implemented by Emperor Chengtai, He Qi's husband Zhai Xiucheng, as the magistrate of Dingxing County, could earn more than 1,000 taels of silver a year in salary plus silver for maintaining integrity. Moreover, despite the restriction that the fire consumption should be returned to the public, it was still easy for magistrates to be corrupt. Some magistrates in the Great Zhou Dynasty embezzled tens of thousands of taels of silver or even more every year.

If what He Qi said is true, then Zhai Xiucheng is truly a rare magistrate. He served as magistrate of Dingxing County for three years, yet had only so little property when he died. His salary was used for public affairs and for the people. Such a diligent and people-loving magistrate is truly precious and worthy of publicity, even to the world!
After a brief thought, Yuan Qingbai made a decision and said to Jia Zhu, "Let's settle this mother and daughter in your house."

Jia Zhu replied "yes", thinking that the mother and daughter were indeed lucky today, and said to He Qi: "Take your daughter and settle her in my house."

He Qi was curious about Jia Zhu's identity, but before she could ask, Ni Er spoke first, saying with a smile, "That's great. They will be safe if they live in Master Jia's house."

Ni Er said to He Qi again, "Why don't you thank Master Jia quickly? Master Jia is the master of Rongguo Mansion and the chief steward of the palace's internal affairs department."

He Qi was shocked when she heard this. She knew Rongguo Mansion and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but she didn't expect that the passerby in front of her was such an important figure. If this person was so noble, then what was the identity of the "Third Master" who seemed to be higher than this person? Could he be the son of a royal palace?

Shock quickly turned into surprise. He Qi didn't have time to think about anything else and knelt down in front of Jia Zhu: "I kowtow to you, sir. I will never forget your kindness."

Seeing her mother kneeling to express her gratitude, Zhai Xiaoqing also knelt to express her gratitude: "Thank you very much, sir."

Jia Zhu said: "Don't thank me, it's this Third Master you should thank."

He Qi and Zhai Xiaoqing knelt down again to thank Yuan Qingbai.

Yuan Qingbai did not waste any time and kept Su Yin, asking Su Yin and Ni Er to escort He Qi and Zhai Xiaoqing to move to Rongguo Mansion.

Yuan Qingbai and Jia Zhu left first. On the way, Yuan Qingbai asked Jia Zhu to introduce Ni Er's situation in detail.

According to Jia Zhu, Ni Er's situation is consistent with the description in the original novel.

In addition, Ni Er's ancestor was a military officer under Ningguo Duke Jia Yan, who followed the Great Zhou Taizu to build the country and was a founding military hero, but was much inferior to Ningguo Mansion. Ni Er had a brother named Ni Da, who inherited the family title and served in the army. He is now a third-rank guerrilla under the command of the Nine Gates Admiral.

This point is not mentioned in the original book.

In the original novel, Ni Er said to Jia Yun drunkenly: "If you have any injustice, tell me and I will help you vent your anger. No matter who he is in these three streets and six alleys, if someone offends my neighbor, the drunkard Ni Er, I will make him leave home."

In Cao Gong's original manuscript after the 80th chapter, Ni Er helped Jia Yun visit Jia Baoyu who was imprisoned in the Prison Temple.

Now that Yuan Qingbai had heard about Ni Er's background, he suddenly realized that Ni Er's background was not simple and he was a scoundrel with someone to rely on.

"Then Ni Er is suitable to be sent to Jianrui Battalion as a junior military officer."

Yuan Qingbai said with a smile.

"Third Master, what you said makes sense."

Jia Zhu responded respectfully, not just flattering, he really thought it was a good idea. Jianrui Battalion was a "special forces" composed of 2,000 brave men. With Ni Er's physique and martial arts, he would be outstanding even in Jianrui Battalion.

Jia Zhu knew that Yuan Qingbai planned to send the Jianrui Battalion to the west to participate in the war. When Ni Er first joined the Jianrui Battalion, he was a small military officer. If he could make merit in the war in the western border, with the help of his family background, he might be able to obtain a title, or he might become a military general of a high rank in the future.

Because Ni Er's ancestors were members of the Jia family, and Jia Zhu appreciated Ni Er's martial arts and chivalry, Jia Zhu was eager for Ni Er to achieve glory and success.

……

……

As soon as Yuan Qingbai and Jia Zhu left, Ni Er asked Su Yin curiously, "Is the man next to Master Jia your master?"

Su Yin nodded: "That's right."

Ni Er asked again: "Which family are you from?"

Su Yin smiled and said, "It is not convenient to tell you this for now. You will know it when you follow me to Rongguo Mansion."

He Qi and Zhai Xiaoqing, mother and daughter, did not have much luggage and belongings. He Qi did not want to waste Su Yin and Ni Er's time, and was worried that Ding Shoujin would come for revenge again, so she packed up quickly. Su Yin asked Ni Er to call a cart to load the luggage and belongings, and also called a sedan chair for He Qi and Zhai Xiaoqing, mother and daughter to ride in.

The group walked from the outer city into the inner city and eventually arrived at Rongguo Mansion.

As usual, a group of doormen were sitting outside the gate of Rongguo Mansion. Because the mansion was now extremely prominent, even the doormen were more or less conceited. However, when these doormen saw Su Yin, they did not dare to neglect him.

Su Yin smiled at the servants and said, "I am here on the orders of His Majesty and the request of Master Zhu of your mansion. I have something to discuss with the master of your mansion. I wonder if the father-in-law is in the mansion right now?"

Ni Er and He Qi were both standing behind Su Yin. When they heard what Su Yin said, they were both shocked.

What? Is it the will of the Holy Lord?

Considering that the current Emperor Tianlong is a young emperor and Jia Zhu was respectful to the "Third Master" just now, at this moment, Ni Er and He Qi immediately guessed that the "Third Master" was most likely Emperor Tianlong!
Oh my god, is there such a thing? I actually met the emperor today?

The servants naturally dared not neglect it. The leading servant hurriedly replied respectfully, "Master Su, my second master is not in the mansion at the moment. He is on duty in the government office. Second Master Lian is at home, but I don't know if the eldest master is in the East Courtyard. I will send someone to report to Second Master Lian and to find the eldest master. I will also report to the old lady and the second lady. The old lady and the second lady are both at home."

Su Yin smiled and said, "There's no need to go to such trouble. I can just meet Mr. Lian."

"Okay, please come in, Master Su, and have some tea."

So, Su Yin, Ni Er, He Qi and Zhai Xiaoqing entered the gate of Rongguo Mansion, sat inside the house, and all four of them were offered tea.

Ni Er couldn't help but be curious and asked Su Yin, "Um... Master Su, why do you say that you are following the emperor's order today?"

At this point, there was no need to hide anything. Su Yin said solemnly, "The 'Third Master' you saw today is the current emperor."

Even though Ni Er had already expected it, he was still surprised when he heard Su Yin's personal confirmation.

He Qi on the side was shocked again.

Although Zhai Xiaoqing was young, he was smart and mature, and he was also shocked.

"Oh my god, the handsome Third Master today is actually the emperor!"

Zhai Xiaoqing sighed inwardly and couldn't help but feel secretly happy, thinking that his mother and himself were very lucky today, and perhaps they would have a good life in the future.

After a while, Jia Lian and Lin Zhixiao walked in hurriedly.

After the previous reorganization of Rongguo Mansion, the management of the servants in the mansion has changed drastically. The former chief steward Lai Da was ransacked and expelled, and the current chief steward is the former second steward Lin Zhixiao.

When Jia Lian heard Su Yin's explanation of the whole story, how could he dare to slack off? He hurried to report to Lady Jia and Lady Wang in person, and immediately let He Qi and Zhai Xiaoqing live in the backyard of Lady Jia's courtyard.

Rongguo Mansion had a large backyard with many houses where many servants lived. Since He Qi and Zhai Xiaoqing were ordered by Yuan Qingbai to move into Rongguo Mansion, Jia Mu, Wang Fu Ren and Jia Lian did not dare to treat them badly and specially let them live in the backyard of Jia Mu's courtyard instead of the large backyard where servants lived together.

For a moment, the inner house of Rongguo Mansion became lively due to the arrival of He Qi and Zhai Xiaoqing.

Lin Daiyu, Yingchun, Tanchun, Xichun, and even Xue Baochai who lived in Lixiangyuan, all ran to see He Qi and Zhai Xiaoqing out of curiosity. When they learned about how He Qi and Zhai Xiaoqing met Yuan Qingbai today, they all had a better impression of Yuan Qingbai.

The emperor, traveling incognito, encounters a helpless mother and daughter. He rescues them and perhaps punishes the evildoer...

For Lin Daiyu and other girls in the boudoir, this kind of thing is both novel and romantic!
(End of this chapter)