The First Family of the Red Mansion

Chapter 7 Entering the Palace to Meet the Emperor

"Okay, I'll be waiting!"

Liu wiped away her tears and said with red eyes.

She also knew that her son had already joined the army with the Duke of Rongguo, and it was too late to back out now.

Since that's the case, it's better to let our son stay with the Duke of Rongguo and avoid him being distracted on the battlefield.

Liu Hu then asked about the situation at home after he left.

"Not long after you left that day, several burly men on horseback came to the village to inquire about you. If we hadn't run into Monkey King at that time, no one would have known your name."

"A few days later, the Lai family, who had bought our land, sent us another fifty taels of silver and three hundred catties of wheat."

"They said the silver came from the Duke of Rong, and the grain was a subsidy for the land they had previously purchased."

"At the time, I thought that since you had already joined the army and there was no strong laborer in your family, I took out ten taels of silver from those and bought a cow from the Lai family."

So we traded our cattle for labor with the Wang family, and they finished planting our crops.

At this point, Liu felt a little uneasy, after all, she thought that the money was her son's life-saving money, and she spent it without telling him, so she felt a little sorry for him.

Liu Hu didn't mind: "That's good! The money's spent, so be it. Don't deprive yourself at home."

He then had a meal with his mother at the Jia family mansion. His mother, carrying his daughter on her back, reluctantly left the mansion, glancing back again and again.

Be careful out there!

"I understand, Mother. Don't overwork yourself at home. If it really gets too much, just rent the land to someone else. You can stay home and wait to become a lady. Your son will definitely earn you an official title!"

"And take good care of the girl!"

Time passed as Liu Hu grew stronger day by day, and in the blink of an eye, another two months had gone by, and it was now May.

"Shouldn't the winter wheat at home be ready for harvest by now?"

Liu Hu glanced at the sun, wiped the sweat from his brow, and thought about the situation at home.

Since his mother's first visit, she has visited again in the past two months. That time, she looked at him expectantly and asked if he had time to go back for the Qingming Festival to add soil to his father's and brothers' graves.

Although Liu Hu was reluctant to refuse, he still shook his head.

The news that the Great Zhou Dynasty has decided to recover the Hexi Corridor and the Western Regions after the autumn harvest cannot be disclosed to the public yet.

Despite the fact that his mother could visit him at the Rongguo Mansion, Liu Hu believed that he would never leave Ningrong Street without the permission of Jia Daishan or the Emperor.

"Liu Hu!"

Just then, a bodyguard ran over.

"Commander Yang!" Liu Hu clasped his hands in a salute.

"Hurry up and wash up and change your clothes, the chief will be seeing you."

"The Duke of Rongguo?" Liu Hu asked again, confirming.

"yes!"

"Duke Rongguo!" Following the guards into the main hall of the second gate, they saw Jia Daishan with his back turned, staring at a map on the wall.

Upon hearing Liu Hu's voice, Jia Daishan turned around and waved to him.

At this time, Jia Daishan was noticeably thinner than he had been a few months earlier, but he seemed to be in better spirits.

"I heard from Jia Dun that you've been doing well lately?" A rare smile appeared on Jia Daishan's face.

"Thanks to your esteemed care and the guidance of Commander Jia and the others, I have made some progress over the past few months."

Liu Hu was very grateful for this.

Although he lost his freedom during this period, it also allowed him to calm down and thoroughly learn archery and horsemanship. Through this learning, he also gained a clear understanding of the history and power structure of the Dream of the Red Chamber, no longer seeing things from the shadows.

The Great Zhou Dynasty, whose royal surname is Li, was founded in Nanjing in the 33rd year of the Jiajing reign (1554 AD; due to the chaos in the imperial power in the Central Plains in the years following the death of Emperor Jiajing, the Jiajing reign title was continued). It has now been 62 years since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Of course, based on the deeds of Zhou Taizu, Liu Hu judged that he was most likely not a time traveler.

Because apart from the weights and measures being similar to those of later dynasties, the Zhou dynasty only made some adjustments to the systems and policies of the Ming dynasty. It was stricter than the Ming dynasty, but not as harsh as the later Qing dynasty.

The current emperor's reign title is Anping. He ascended the throne at the age of twenty-four and has been on the throne for thirteen years.

The current ruler's ambition can be seen from the reign title: to bring peace to the people and quell foreign aggression.

The people of Annei have almost recovered their strength after more than a decade of recuperation, but their ambition to quell external threats has not yet been realized.

Meanwhile, the situation of the Great Zhou's external enemy, the Mongols, has also changed significantly after their invasion of the Central Plains decades ago.

The Tumed tribe in southern Gobi had already been defeated during the reign of Emperor Taizong, and southern Gobi had now become a horse pasture for the Great Zhou Dynasty.

After the defeat of the Southern Mongols, the Northern Tatars, who inherited the Mongol orthodoxy, and the Oirat tribes entrenched in the Hexi Corridor in the Western Regions, continued to threaten the security of the Great Zhou in the north and west.

In particular, the Oirat tribes had already been defeated and were forced to cower in the northern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains, barely surviving.

However, relying on the population, technology and wealth plundered from the Central Plains decades ago, they directly defeated the Turpan and Yarkand Khanates that had previously ruled the Western Regions, and also occupied the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Fortunately, the various Oirat tribes were not united. After dividing up their territories, they closed their doors and lived their own lives. Otherwise, the western part of the Great Zhou would not have been peaceful.

However, after the Great Zhou Dynasty resolved the threat in southern Mongolia, the various Oirat tribes began to stir.

This is also one of the reasons why the Great Zhou Dynasty decided to launch a western expedition.

"So you can lift a 300-pound boulder now?" Jia Daishan asked with a hint of satisfaction.

He had made a deal with His Majesty: Liu Hu would be trained by him, and if he could achieve what he promised after three months, Liu Hu would return to the army; otherwise, he would be allowed to join the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

It's impossible to actually kill him, after all, it's not easy to find a good prospect with a clean background.

At this moment, Liu Hu realized that it was because of this matter, and his somewhat uneasy heart was relieved.

After three months of nourishment from the lapis lazuli, and with no worries about food and drink, Liu Hu's strength is now almost equal to Zhang Wannian's. For the past two weeks, Zhang Wannian has been unwilling to spar with him.

He was also very skilled in swordsmanship, spear fighting, and archery. Even his military formations in this era were quite impressive, thanks to Jadun's instruction and his own reading.

However, due to a lack of practical experience, it can only be discussed theoretically at present.

After receiving Liu Hu's affirmative reply, Jia Daishan immediately stood up: "Don't leave yet. Stay here and have a meal with me. After the meal, I'll take you somewhere."

To be honest, although Liu Hu was a little confused when he heard Jia Daishan's words, he couldn't help but feel excited.

Although he had no worries about food and drink at the Jia family mansion, he was getting sick from being confined to such a small area for three months.

After finishing their meal, the two rode their horses out of Ningrong Street and headed west, escorted by several guards.

Liu Hu had expected to see the bustling streets of the capital, but instead, he found himself surrounded by grand mansions with high walls and vermilion gates. Occasionally, he would encounter a few young masters and noblemen with servants, who would obediently give way to the Duke of Rong's cavalry.

Seemingly noticing the disappointment on Liu Hu's face, Jia Daishan smiled for once: "This place is near the capital, and those who can live here are basically princes and ministers, so it's quieter than other places."

No wonder it's so quiet and peaceful; it turns out that the surrounding area is inhabited by important civil and military officials!

Upon arriving at the palace gate, Jia Daishan exchanged a few words with the imperial guards, and then someone came to take Liu Hu and his men's horses.

"You wait here with them; someone will call you in a bit."

After giving Liu Hu a few words of advice, Jia Daishan went directly into the palace, while Liu Hu and his personal guards were led into a room under the city wall.

After who knows how much time had passed, and after drinking several pots of tea, a eunuch finally came in.

The people who had been chatting and boasting inside immediately stood up and knelt on the ground.

After glancing at the people in the room, the eunuch stood facing south and said, "By imperial decree: Liu Hu is to be presented to the emperor. This is the imperial order."

"This humble subject, Liu Hu, obeys the imperial decree!"

The eunuch then got a good look at Liu Hu's appearance. He was quite tall, but with an ordinary face, dark skin, and plain clothes, he was clearly a rough man.

However, as a eunuch serving the emperor, he didn't show any unusual reaction: "Come with me!"

Knowing that the person in front of him was Liu Hu, the eunuch understood that this trip had been in vain and said expressionlessly.

After bowing to the people inside the room to say goodbye, Liu Hu quickly followed the eunuch.

Perhaps because Liu Hu hadn't offered any benefits, the eunuch remained silent the entire way and didn't give him any instructions on what to be careful about when he met the emperor.

Liu Hu himself didn't want to do this, but he was short of money and had spent all the silver he brought from home, so he could only carefully follow the eunuch.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, just as Liu Hu was about to become dizzy, the two finally arrived at a large training ground.

At this moment, apart from the imperial guards surrounding the training ground, a dozen or so teenagers in their late teens and early twenties were practicing horseback archery in the middle of the field. Jia Daishan's eldest son, Jia She, was among them.

Emperor Anping and Jia Daishan were standing on the sidelines, pointing and gesturing at the boys in the training ground.

Liu Hu followed the eunuch to Emperor Anping's side. Before the emperor could speak, Liu Hu knelt down and prostrated himself on the ground, saying, "This humble subject, Liu Hu, greets Your Majesty! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"

Liu Hu's shout silenced the entire training ground, with only the whistling wind and the chirping of cicadas echoing in the air.

Even the boy who was practicing archery stopped what he was doing and looked at Liu Hu lying on the ground with a strange expression.

Emperor Anping and Jia Daishan were also stunned, looking at Liu Hu lying on the ground with a bewildered expression, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

Just as Liu Hu was feeling uneasy, thinking he had been impolite, Emperor Anping's voice came: "Alright, rise! Aren't you ashamed of the heat while kneeling on the ground?"

As he spoke, he gave the eunuch who brought Liu Hu a deep look, but out of consideration for his reputation, he didn't say anything, since he was just a greedy servant.

That one glance almost paralyzed the eunuch, who regretted why he had tripped up this rough man.

After Liu Hu got up from the ground with a flushed face, he found that Emperor Anping was looking at him, so he quickly lowered his head.

"Alright, don't be so reserved, lift your head."

"If everyone were like you, who would dare to speak to me in the future?"

Hearing this, Liu Hu breathed a long sigh of relief, as he himself felt uncomfortable in this situation.

"Pfft!"

Just as Liu Hu raised his head, a sneer came from the center of the training ground.

Liu Hu looked over blankly, and all the boys on the training ground burst into laughter.

"Alright, you guys continue training, stop joking around all day!" Emperor Anping, fearing that Liu Hu would be embarrassed, reprimanded him, and the field finally quieted down.

He then turned to Liu Hu and asked, "I heard from the Duke of Rong that you can now lift stones weighing three to five hundred catties?"

"Your Majesty, I have lived up to your expectations; lifting three to five hundred catties of stones is no problem at all," Liu Hu said confidently.

"Oh? Then I'll have to take a good look. Come with me." With that, he walked towards the stone lock at the edge of the field.

"Give it a try! If you can't lift it, you'll be charged with deceiving the emperor!"

"Liu Hu accepts the order!"

As he spoke, Liu Hu lifted his shirt hem, tucked it into his waistband, rolled up his sleeves, and took a deep breath.

"drink!"

"rise!"

With a loud shout, Liu Hu lifted the 300-pound stone lock above his head.

Emperor Anping was taken aback when he saw this. It was just picking up a stone; you could lift it a foot off the ground, I didn't ask you to lift it above your head.

But she quickly regained her composure: "Can we continue?"

Liu Hu put down the stone lock, nodded, and then walked over to the four-hundred-pound stone lock.

Just as he was about to squat down, the boys who had been training suddenly heard the commotion and swarmed over.

Emperor Anping glanced at them but did not drive them away, and continued to look at Liu Hu.

Liu Hu took a few deep breaths, laid the 400-pound stone lock down, grabbed the top of the lock with one hand and supported the bottom with the other, straining his arms and turning his face red.

"rise!"

Stone Lock slowly lifted off the ground, and then Liu Hu swung his arms, lifting Stone Lock onto his shoulders and then slowly raising it above his head.

At this moment, the teenagers who had gathered to watch the spectacle were all dumbfounded.

"A true warrior indeed!" A young man of about twenty years old, with sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, stared at Liu Hu with shining eyes and said sincerely.

He then turned to Jia She, who was still slightly agape in disbelief, and asked in a low voice, "My lord, this strong man was brought by the Duke of Rong. Do you know him? Could you introduce him to me?"

Although his voice was soft, Liu Hu still heard it: "This is probably the old Prince Zhongyi mentioned in the original story. He really is the former Crown Prince!"

"I...I know him too!" Jia She stammered, then looked helpless. "I come here every day to accompany His Highness in practicing martial arts and literature. I really don't know when Father found him."

"Alas! What a pity!" Upon hearing Jia She's words, the Crown Prince looked regretful, knowing that this valiant general was not meant for him.

Although the military is now equipped with firearms in large quantities, individual bravery has little impact on warfare.

But if you could truly subdue a peerless warrior, not to mention his role in charging into battle and attacking cities, even just having him by your side would mean you would never have to worry about your safety again.

"Excellent!" Emperor Anping exclaimed, "You have indeed not disappointed me. How are your horsemanship and archery skills?"

"I'm fairly skilled!" Liu Hu said modestly, but his face was full of confidence.

"Haha!" Emperor Anping was very pleased to hear this. Although he did not know whether Liu Hu could become a commander who could lead a large camp, judging from his current performance, he could definitely become a fierce general.

On the battlefield, such fierce generals can play a decisive role in the outcome of a battle at crucial moments.