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

Chapter 29 Entering Beijing

Just like the song goes, back then, travel was slow...

Liu Feng rented a boat and headed north to the capital. He sailed downstream and only saw the majestic city walls of the capital on the last day of April.

"This is the capital! It's indeed more magnificent and imposing than Nanjing."

On the deck, Xiangling was filled with excitement, her eyes fixed on the approaching capital city.

"Sycophant!"

Liu Feng chuckled and tapped her forehead. Although the city walls of the capital were not as tall as those of Nanjing, the city walls and buildings were connected as a whole because the city was located on a plain. There were no terrain obstructions, so the view was clear and the sense of continuity was strong, making it more magnificent and imposing.

Jinling is different. Its city wall is built along the mountains and rivers, with sections of varying heights. Although it appears majestic, its continuity and sense of unity are somewhat weak, which makes it less interesting.

"Second Master, will we be able to go back to Jinling in the future?"

Xiangling held Liu Feng's hand tightly, looking up at him with her little face.

Liu Feng was silent for a moment: "This will be our home from now on."

Xiangling gave a soft "oh" and gripped his hand even tighter.

Looking at the capital, Liu Feng was filled with mixed emotions.

Uncle Li had told him not to come to the capital, but he still headed south, and after many twists and turns, he ended up here anyway.

Fate is something we can't control!

"Bang! Bang bang bang—"

Suddenly, the sound of gunfire erupted from the stern of the boat, followed by the urgent clatter of gongs!

The boat beneath her feet suddenly lurched, and Xiangling nearly fell over, but Liu Feng reacted quickly and pulled her into his arms.

The boatman and his son poled their boat and quickly moved towards the shore, clearing the middle of the river.

Liu Feng looked back and saw a huge official ship occupying the main channel of the canal, sailing aggressively towards him.

Several large flags were hanging on the masts. The flag on the mast at the bow was embroidered with "Imperial Envoy", the flag on the mast at the stern was embroidered with "Jinling Tiren Academy", and the flag on the mast in the center was embroidered with only a large character "Zhen"!

The Zhen family from Jiangnan? Why are they coming to the capital at this time?

Liu Feng frowned slightly, and Xiangling, who was in his arms, suddenly pointed to the dock: "Second Master, there are a lot of people on the dock!"

Liu Feng looked over there and, though he couldn't see clearly, all those who came down were wearing official robes.

Could it be that Zhen Yingjia has personally come to the capital?

......................

This year, the capital was unusually hot, and Dai Quan was drenched in sweat as he walked from the Daming Palace to the Qianqing Palace. Just as he stepped into the palace, he heard Emperor Yankang's loud and angry voice from the Imperial Study, and he paused for a moment.

"Shut up! You receive 10,000 taels of silver and 20,000 shi of rice annually, and I've even bestowed upon you a farm in the suburbs of the capital. How could you possibly be short of money? You dare to disregard the dignity of the imperial family and embezzle funds from the soldiers! The Infantry Commander's Office is in charge of the nine gates; aren't you afraid that the soldiers will cut off your head in the middle of the night?"

"There are plenty of people in the capital who are drawing salaries without working, why is the Emperor singled out just me?"

Who are you talking about?

"Ministry of War! Before the funds even leave the treasury, 20% has already been embezzled. Who in the court doesn't know this?"

Dai Quan's lips twitched. Prince Zhongshun really dared to speak his mind!

Sure enough, the sound of a teacup shattering immediately came from the study, followed by the emperor's roar: "Get out of here!"

Prince Chungshun stormed out of the study, ignoring Dai Quan's bow, and walked straight out.

Dai Quan waited a moment before quietly entering the Imperial Study. He glanced at the angry emperor sitting on the dragon throne, cleaned up the broken pieces and tea dust on the brick floor, poured a new bowl of tea, placed it on the imperial desk, and said softly, "Your Majesty, the Dowager Consort has just taken her medicine and rested."

Emperor Yankang then raised his head: "What did the imperial physician say?"

Dai Quan said, "His condition has stabilized for now. We'll see how things go tomorrow or the day after. If he can change his medication smoothly, there shouldn't be any major problems."

Emperor Yankang nodded.

Dai Quan then reported, "News just came from Chaoyang Gate that the Zhen family has arrived in the capital."

Emperor Yankang picked up his teacup, took a few sips, and said, "There's no need to wait until tomorrow. Summon them to the palace immediately. The women can stay with the Dowager Consort tonight to serve her."

"As you command."

Dai Quan paused for a moment, then added, "There's one more thing. Liu Feng has also arrived."

Emperor Yankang paused for a moment before remembering who Liu Feng was, and casually said, "You can arrange it as you see fit."

Dai Quan: "Yes."

"Did you hear what was just said?" Emperor Yankang suddenly asked.

Dai Quan lowered his head and whispered a "Yes".

Emperor Yankang slammed his hand on the imperial desk with a "smack," gritting his teeth: "Those who reap what they sow..."

Dai Quan understood that the emperor was referring to the group of civil officials.

"The Ministry of War must be taken back!"

Emperor Yankang stood up, paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, and suddenly turned to look at Dai Quan, "After dark, go out of the palace and see that Liu Feng. Tell him to gather evidence of corruption among the officials in the Ministry of War, it has to be substantial and real, preferably enough to bring them all down."

Dai Quan hesitated: "Is he capable?"

Emperor Yankang flicked his sleeves and said indifferently, "If it succeeds, I will reward you handsomely. If it fails, I will not suffer any loss."

Dai Quan swallowed hard and asked again, "What about the case in Jinling...?"

"Hasn't Zhao Chongjian, the prefect of Jinling, not yet arrived in the capital?" Emperor Yankang glanced at him.

Dai Quan dared not say anything more, and could only smile bitterly to himself: This Liu Feng is really unlucky, he just happened to run into the line of fire.

Emperor Yankang suddenly remembered: "Why haven't the people who went beyond the Great Wall returned yet?"

Dai Quan pondered for a moment, then replied in a low voice, "After the beginning of spring, small groups of Eight Banner soldiers often disguised themselves as merchants and crossed the mountains along the mountain paths, circling around to the rear of the Dalinghe defense line to harass the merchants. Many merchants along the way were robbed and killed, which is probably why we are delayed..."

Emperor Yankang's face darkened: "Useless! The Dalinghe defense line is guarded by tens of thousands of elite troops, yet the main road has been cut off by a few small enemy forces!"

Dai Quan said helplessly, "It's not like the government troops haven't tried to suppress them before, but every time... those Eight Banner soldiers didn't shave their heads, and their appearance and attire were almost exactly the same as the people of Liaoxi... In addition, the government troops suppressing them suspect that someone is secretly tipping off the enemy, and they are stepping up their investigation."

Emperor Yankang snorted coldly, turned around and walked back to sit on the dragon throne.

Just then, footsteps sounded outside the hall. A red-robed eunuch from the Directorate of Ceremonial hurriedly ran to the door and gestured to Dai Quan.

Dai Quan strode over, and the eunuch whispered a few words in his ear.

Dai Quan's expression changed.

Emperor Yankang, observing this, asked, "What's wrong?"

Dai Quan dismissed the eunuchs, strode to the dragon throne, bowed, and replied, "Your Majesty, the men sent to the border have returned... some have escaped ahead of schedule."

Emperor Yankang's eyes turned cold: "Who are they?"

Dai Quan paused, then continued, "When the officials from the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs arrived, the place was already a ruin, with only dozens of charred remains. The number of bodies didn't match up, and it was impossible to identify who had escaped..."

Just as Emperor Yankang was about to lose his temper, Dai Quan added, "The fire started at dawn, and some exiled prisoners took the opportunity to cause trouble. There weren't enough guards, so there was chaos..."

"Any troublemakers will be beheaded! Archived portraits will be sent to all passes along the Great Wall for thorough investigation! Furthermore, everyone with knowledge of this matter will be investigated, including those at the Daming Palace!"

"Yes!" Dai Quan answered loudly.

......................

Liu Feng, unaware that he had been struck by a windfall, was wandering around the yard with Xiang Ling.

The two of them had the same expression as Granny Liu, who was visiting the Grand View Garden for the first time; everything seemed new and exciting.

Liu An rode quickly to the capital ahead of schedule to find craftsmen to repair and clean his residence. He spent almost all of the five hundred taels of silver he had brought with him.

Fortunately, Xiangling was obedient and sensible. She took out the dowry money that Jia Min had given her, and together with Liu Feng's meager savings, they were able to solve their immediate problem and temporarily stop worrying about money.