Dream of the Red Chamber: Rising from Refugees to Sweep Across the Land

Chapter 79 A Bloodbath Caused by an Old Eunuch

Fueled by the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs, the situation escalated rapidly. Coupled with the constant stream of news from the front lines reaching the capital, the entire city was in an uproar.

When the capital was established in Beijing, in order to stabilize the morale of the army, the court moved all the families of the soldiers to the capital and settled them in the outer city.

Over time, the outer city gradually developed into clusters of settlements mainly inhabited by military families.

The Beijing Garrison recruits new soldiers from here every year.

The Beijing garrison suffered a crushing defeat, and almost every household in several neighborhoods was in mourning.

Military households have served as soldiers for generations, and dying in battle is commonplace. But to die at the hands of one's own people is intolerable.

The news that the Duke of Chengen had fled into the palace spread this morning. No one in the capital city dared to go there, but the Duke of Chengen's residence was a different story.

Incited by spies from the Directorate of Ceremonial, a group of bloodthirsty military dependents surrounded the Cheng'en Duke's residence.

The autumn wind was bleak, and paper money flew everywhere, like snowflakes.

The newly appointed Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, Zhao Chongjian, finally managed to squeeze his way to the gate of the Duke of Chengen's residence. Facing a group of soldiers dressed in mourning clothes, he couldn't bring himself to say anything.

But he couldn't remain silent. As the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, it would be dereliction of duty for him to stand by and watch the residence of a member of the imperial family besieged, and he would surely be impeached by the censor.

Before he could even finish speaking, a rotten egg flew from the crowd and hit him squarely on the forehead, the foul-smelling yolk dripping down his brow.

No matter how well-off the people of the capital were, they would never have gone so far as to throw eggs around carelessly, even rotten ones.

Zhao Chongjian knew perfectly well that it was either someone from the Directorate of Ceremonial or the young master's doing.

"Hand over the murderer...hand over the murderer..."

"presumptuous!"

The sparse shouts were interrupted by a sharp rebuke.

The soldiers' families, dressed in mourning clothes, turned around and saw a pale-faced, beardless old man carrying a food box walking towards them, shouting sternly, "Get out of the way!"

The crowd realized he was a eunuch and instinctively made way for him.

The old eunuch pushed through the crowd and arrived at the gate of the mansion. He glanced at Zhao Chongjian, slowly stepped up the stone steps, and walked to the tightly closed vermilion-lacquered gate with copper nails. He patted the beast-head door knocker and said, "Open the door. This servant is here on the Empress Dowager's orders to deliver to the young master his favorite yam cake with jujube paste filling."

Hearing that they were from the Empress Dowager's palace, the door creaked open a crack, and the gatekeeper poked his head out, pausing in surprise: "You are...?"

The old eunuch ignored him, turned to the soldiers' families, and shouted in a shrill voice, "The Empress Dowager said it's just a few worthless soldiers who died; they're dead, so what? Just don't let the young master go hungry!"

When Zhao Chongjian saw that the gatekeeper did not recognize the old eunuch, he was about to come over and question him when he heard this and his expression changed drastically: This old eunuch is not from the palace!

"Take him down!" Zhao Chongjian shouted at the door.

Unfortunately, it was too late. As if it had been planned beforehand, countless rotten eggs and vegetable leaves flew over them.

Zhao Chongjian was the first to be hit and was covered in filth.

The old eunuch wasn't much better off; he quickly took a step back, his right foot just managing to slip diagonally into the doorway.

He pointed at the soldiers' families and cursed, "Damn stinking soldiers, trying to rebel? Let me tell you, the Imperial Guards are already on their way, they'll slaughter you all in a minute... Oh dear, they've rebelled! They've rebelled!" He suddenly pushed open the stunned gatehouse and shouted inside, "The Emperor's brother-in-law said, slaughter these stinking soldiers!"

The cursing stopped abruptly.

Suddenly, someone shouted, "Revenge!"

"Revenge! Revenge—" The roar grew louder and louder, spreading like wildfire.

"Kill them!" someone suddenly shouted.

To Zhao Chongjian's horror, several soldiers dressed in mourning clothes drew short knives from their robes and pounced on him. One of them pushed him down the stone steps, where he rolled behind a stone lion.

"My lord! My lord..." The doorman rushed over, stumbling and crawling, and helped him up.

As Zhao Chongjian watched the military dependents rushing into the gates of the Duke of Chengen's mansion, his heart sank. It was all over!

They quickly realized that the person leading the charge must be the young master's men, and that they were about to add fuel to the fire.

But isn't that putting yourself in a very difficult position?

"M-Sir... what should we do?"

The doorman trembled all over, filled with deep regret. If he had known the people of the capital were so fierce, he would never have come—it was terrifying!

Zhao Chongjian's belief that "a scholar will die for one who understands him" wavered.

Not only do they not consider their own needs, but they don't even give a heads-up beforehand. Who do they think they are?

"Sir..." Menzi.

Zhao Chongjian snapped out of his daze and roared at the constables who were hiding far away, "Where did your usual ability to scramble for cases and extort money from the people go? Go in and save them!"

The constables looked at each other, none of them daring to make a move.

"If something happens to the family of the Emperor's brother-in-law, none of you will live! Get out of here now!" Zhao Chongjian slammed the door open. "Go!"

The doorman cursed Old Madam Zhao in his heart, rushed to the head constable, drew the sword from his waist, and with a shout of "Charge!" plunged headfirst into the hole.

The other constables gritted their teeth, drew their swords, and rushed in after them.

"Oh! My knife! My knife!" The foreman hurriedly chased after him, but stopped abruptly at the door, too afraid to go in.

Zhao Chongjian was so angry his nose almost twisted: "Useless!"

The squad leader smiled ingratiatingly, "I... I'm here to protect you, sir."

"Get out of the way!" Zhao Chongjian flicked his sleeves and strode inside.

The foreman grimaced, but gritted his teeth and followed.

Just as they turned past the screen wall, they saw the gatekeeper leading a group of yamen runners, fleeing even faster than when they rushed in.

"Stop right there!" Zhao Chongjian was so angry his face turned pale.

"They're all dead...they're all dead..." The doorman's face turned deathly pale.

Zhao Chongjian grabbed him tightly: "Something happened to the Imperial Brother-in-law's family?"

"No...no..." the doorman stammered, "It's...it's the military dependents..."

Just then, the sound of armor clashing rang out.

Zhao Chongjian looked up and gasped. More than ten guards, clad in heavy armor and wielding broadswords, walked out from the second gate.

It wasn't the Imperial Guard's fish-scale armor, but the Border Army's iron-plate lamellar armor!

Zhao Chongjian felt a chill run down his spine. How dare the Duke of Cheng'en hoard heavy armor!

But then, another worry surfaced: were the young master's men dead or alive? What if they survived and fell into the hands of the imperial court...?

Before he could think it through, a man dressed as a steward stepped out from behind the guards, arrogantly berating them: "What are you Shuntian Prefecture officials good for? If those lowly commoners were to injure the young master, could you afford to offend you?"

Zhao Chongjian cursed under his breath, "Those dogs who rely on their master's power," but he had to suppress his anger and apologize in a humble voice, while taking the opportunity to inquire about the whereabouts of those who had rushed in.

The butler snorted coldly: "Whether they're dead or alive, they'll all be sent to the Ministry of Justice prison later."

There are still people alive!

Zhao Chongjian's heart tightened, and he quickly stepped forward, forcing a smile: "A few troublemaking military dependents, it's a trivial matter, why bother sending them to the Ministry of Justice and alarming the court? In my opinion, sending them to Shuntian Prefecture is enough—"

"Isn't this a big deal?"

The steward glared at him. "I'm telling you, son, this is a case of utmost importance! Your Shuntian Prefecture is too small to handle."

Before he could finish speaking, the butler waved his hand and said, "Take care, don't bother seeing me out!"

Helpless, Zhao Chongjian had no choice but to turn and leave.

As Zhao Chongjian walked out of the Chengen Duke's Mansion, he sighed.

This matter must be reported to the young master immediately. It's impossible to take action halfway through; it can only be done in the Ministry of Justice prison, and it has to be tonight, lest things get complicated.

Zhao Chongjian turned to the doorman and said, "Quickly, fetch the steward!"