Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 153: Birthday Banquet

In the twelfth year of Jiazhao, on the third day of October, the moon was favorable for facing north, with the three evil spirits sitting in the south, and it was a day of fuduan.

The Zou residence in Yongningfang, Jinling, was decorated with colorful lanterns and was filled with joy. Guests came in an endless stream.

Today is the 40th birthday of Zou Huaiyi, the chief officer of the Water Supervision Department of Jinling Guard.

Many of the prominent figures in Jinling's officialdom came in person to celebrate the birthday; even if they didn't show up, they still sent birthday gifts.

Ever since the imperial court established the Maritime Customs Office in Nanjing to facilitate overseas trade, the power of the Nanjing Garrison Water Supervision Office has greatly increased.

He was in charge of patrolling Nanjing's outward waterways, guarding the trading docks, checking merchant ships, and clearing out Japanese pirates and sea robbers, and was responsible for protecting Nanjing's maritime trade.

At the same time, it goes without saying that the Water Inspectorate has control over the key points of silver flows in all aspects of foreign sea trade due to its authority and responsibilities.

Seven or eight out of ten people in the Jinling officialdom are involved in making profits from maritime trade, so everyone will rely on the personal connections of the Water Inspectorate to some extent.

As the chief officer of the Water Conservancy Bureau, it is easy to imagine how popular Zou Huaiyi was in the officialdom of Jinling.

On his 40th birthday, it goes without saying that those who were close to him in the officialdom, as well as those with whom he had ordinary relations, would give him birthday gifts. Once they had become familiar with him, it would be easier for him to ask for help from them in the future regarding maritime trade matters.

Even Zou Huaiyi's immediate superior, Jinling Commander Du Hengxin, although he claimed to be ill in the past two days, still asked the deputy commander Zhang Kangnian to bring him a gift, which was considered to be giving him enough face.

There are ten centurions under the Water Monitoring Bureau's camp. Except for three who are on duty in the camp, the other seven are all present. These people are basically capable generals promoted by Zou Huaiyi.

The host of the birthday banquet was Zou Huaiyi's trusted captain Cui Boling, who was currently busy helping to entertain the guests.

The main hall and front room of Zou's house were filled with birthday banquets, and eight out of ten people had arrived to pay their respects. Familiar colleagues and old friends were greeting each other, chatting and laughing, and the atmosphere was bustling with activity.

In the side hall, various birthday gifts were piled up like mountains. In addition to ordinary gold and jade items, since Nanjing was a maritime trade port, there were also many rare treasures from overseas such as corals, pearls, agates, and ivory.

A new couplet was hung on the beams on both sides of the main hall: "Prosperity and nobility fill the house with joy, happiness, longevity, health and peace fill the home with spring." It perfectly sets off the luxury and bustle of Zou's house.

Zou Huaiyi was moving around the birthday banquet, socializing and greeting his superiors and colleagues. Today he wore a newly made birthday robe and a leather belt with a jade pattern inscribed with the words "blessings of wealth and fortune" tied around his waist. It was a birthday gift from his daughter.

He asked Cui Boliang, who was serving as the guest chef, "Are all the guests here?"

Cui Boliang replied, "All the guests have arrived, except for Jia Yucun, the prefect of Yingtian. Even the birthday gift has not arrived. I gave him the pair of mutton-fat jade ruyi that day, but I delivered the birthday invitation myself."

Zou Huaiyi frowned, he didn't care about Jia Yucun's birthday gift.

I just feel that since the invitation has been sent, and the person hasn't shown up, one must at least give a gift, no matter how big or small. Jia Yucun is also a glutton in the officialdom, so how can he not even take care of this little social engagement?

Zou Huaiyi suddenly felt a little uneasy, but he couldn't tell the reason for a moment. At this time, an old friend came up to greet him, so he put it aside for the time being and asked Cui Boling to order the meal to start.

Maids and servants from the Zou Mansion came out one after another, serving dishes and wine. After a while, the birthday banquet was filled with toasts, laughter and a lively atmosphere.

At this moment, there was a loud noise outside the door, as if the door was forced open by someone, followed by a few screams, which were quickly drowned out.

Many people stood up in surprise and looked outside the hall at the same time.

Behind the screen wall of the outer gate, a tall and graceful young man walked out. He was handsome and graceful, wearing a moon-white robe, with a curved sword hanging from his waist, and slowly walked into the front hall.

A large number of soldiers soon poured in behind him. However, they were not dressed like soldiers from the Jinling Garrison. Each of them held a six or seven-foot-long musket in his hand.

These people were very skilled. They lined up in three rows behind the young man. Their movements were neat and swift. It was obvious that they had received rigorous training. When the formation was completed, a murderous aura arose.

Many of the guests present were officers of the Jinling Garrison. They understood that only brave soldiers who had been on the battlefield and seen human lives taken could have such bravery and ferocity. Many of them looked surprised.

Cui Boling looked surprised and whispered in Zou Huaiyi's ear: "Sir, these musketeers are dressed as the personal guards of King Ning!" Zou Huaiyi's face changed drastically after hearing this, and he quickly calmed down and asked: "Who are you, sir? What crime should you be punished for leading troops to trespass into the government residence?"

By this time, a servant had already passed the news to the backyard, and more than a dozen guards armed with weapons rushed out from the corridors on both sides, with their swords and spears sharp, and they protected Zou Huaiyi together.

Many of the guests attending the birthday banquet today are officers from the Jinling Guard. However, since they are here to pay their respects, they naturally will not carry swords or weapons with them, so as not to disrupt the host's birthday celebrations.

However, since Zou Huaiyi was a fourth-rank military officer, he naturally had some servants in his house who were skilled in martial arts to guard his home.

"I am Jia Cong, the Jinling Imperial Counselor of His Royal Highness Prince Ning!"

"It's you!" Zou Huaiyi's eyes flashed, obviously he knew Jia Cong.

"What do you want to do by bringing troops here today?"

"Zou Huaiyi, you recruited and raised Japanese wanderers, killed people and robbed goods in the open sea, and committed dozens of major crimes. Now the incident has been exposed!
The Japanese ronin under your command caused chaos in Longtan Port, killing officers and soldiers and massacring civilians, causing a great disaster.

In order to protect these Japanese wanderers, you ordered them to kill 61 prisoners from the Yingtian Prefecture government, and used a substitute to sneak into the construction site of Da Ci'en Temple.

Each of these evil deeds is a crime that cannot be forgiven. Today, I am following the order of His Royal Highness Prince Ning to bring you to justice. Just surrender!"

Jia Cong's words shocked many people present. Jia Cong actually said that Zou Huaiyi was the culprit of the Jinling Longtan Port case and listed all his crimes. What was going on?

But there were also some people who stared at Jia Cong with gloomy eyes, and looked at Zou Huaiyi's reaction from time to time.

Jia Cong's words made Zou Huaiyi look gloomy. He naturally knew what he had done. He thought he had always been cautious and had no flaws, but he didn't know why the truth was revealed.

But he had done such a big thing and was very ruthless, unlike ordinary people, so naturally he would not surrender easily.

"You are a young boy, and you want to arrest a fourth-rank military officer of the imperial court just by making up stories without any evidence. Do you think the law is a joke?"

"No evidence? A few days ago, your highness's personal guards surrounded a group of Japanese ronin in Qixia Mountain and captured five of them alive. One of them was named Huang Youan. Captain Zou is not unfamiliar with this name, right?"

When Jia Cong saw that Zou Huaiyi's face changed drastically when he heard Huang Youan's name, he knew that Huang Youan and those ronin were indeed this man's Achilles' heel, otherwise he would not have such an expression.

At this time, an official at the banquet stood up and said, "Counselor Jia, I am Zhang Kangnian, the deputy commander of Jinling, and I will assume that Captain Zou is guilty.

To capture a fourth-rank military officer, you also need an order from the Five Military Commandery. Does Counselor Jia have one?"

Jia Cong smiled coldly, took out a scroll of imperial edict from his bosom, held it in his hand, and said: "This is the imperial edict issued by the emperor to His Royal Highness Prince Ning, ordering him to handle the case of Longtan Port in Jinling with full authority.

During the investigation, all government offices and guards in Jinling were under his control, and he granted Your Highness the power to make arbitrary decisions. Now that we have all the evidence, can't we arrest Zou Huaiyi?"

"Does your Excellency suspect that Prince Ning is forging the imperial edict? Does he want to see the contents of the imperial edict, or does he want to encourage Zou Huaiyi to rebel and disobey the imperial edict?"

When Zhang Kangnian heard this, his face changed. This kid is really good at talking.

If he really wanted to take the imperial edict to check, it would confirm his suspicion of Prince Ning and that he was secretly resisting the imperial court and Prince Ning. With so many officials in Nanjing here, if the news got out, there would be endless trouble.

Zhang Kangnian looked embarrassed, but he had to bow his head: "Your Highness Prince Ning is a royal family, so there is no risk of false rumors. I am sorry for my words."

Although Jia Cong knew that he had made all the preparations and was not afraid of Zou Huaiyi's desperate actions, he also did not want to take Zou Huaiyi down by bloodshed.

Zhang Kangnian saw that he was young and thought that he could be easily fooled, so he found some words to calm him down and delay the situation, making it impossible for him to easily capture Zou Huaiyi.

But now the two sides are on the verge of a fight, and delay will lead to changes, so he said such words to shut Zhang Kangnian up. I just don't know whether Zhang Kangnian is also involved.

(End of this chapter)