In the divine capital city, in the imperial palace, in the royal study.
Emperor Longqing was sitting on the dragon chair, concentrating on reviewing the memorial.
Dai Quan hurriedly walked in and saw Emperor Longqing reviewing the memorial. He didn't dare to say anything and stood obediently beside him, with his hands hanging down.
Emperor Longqing finished reviewing a memorial and put it aside.
He noticed that Dai Quan was waiting beside him. Dai Quan would usually stay so close when he had something to report. It seemed that he had something to report again.
"Dai Quan, what happened again? Tell me."
Dai Quan cupped his hands and said: "Reporting to the master, in recent days, Prince Zhongshun has gathered thousands of people at Zhuangzi outside the city. Since they were outside the city, I thought the matter was not serious and did not report it to the master. I just sent someone secretly to Stare.
Just last night, these people suddenly set out, and the target turned out to be Ning Guogong's Linhe Villa outside the city. Our people were afraid of being discovered, so we could only follow them from a distance.
When those people arrived outside Zhuangzi, they rushed in. After a while, they heard shouts of killing and the neighing of war horses coming from inside. A fierce fight broke out between the two sides, which lasted for nearly half an hour. movement. "
Emperor Longqing couldn't help but frowned as he listened.
Something is going to happen, can't everyone just calm down?
That kid Jia Cong was a proud warrior who had just returned from the battlefield. Once he knew that Zhuangzi was attacked, how could he give up?
If I remember correctly, Jia Cong's tribute wine was brewed in that village. Could it be for the sake of brewing recipes?
These gentlemen went too far. I had already informed them not to use their brains on Jia Cong's winery. They had been fine for the past few years. Unexpectedly, Jia Cong came back, but they chose to take action.
I really don’t know what’s going on in these people’s minds?
Are you not afraid that Jia Cong will fall out with them and beat them up to vent his anger?
If you think about it carefully, you will feel relieved. This royal status is their protective umbrella.
They had calculated correctly that Jia Cong was afraid of their royal status and would not take action against them. Is this why he was so bold?
"I remember, didn't most of Jia Cong's soldiers stay on Zhuangzi? What was the final result? Who lost and who won? How are those troops doing now?"
Dai Quan said: "Returning to the master, some of Ning Guogong's soldiers stayed in Zhuangzi, about a hundred people.
Our people heard the fighting inside and did not dare to get too close. However, they stayed outside until morning and did not see those who attacked Zhuangzi coming out.
On the contrary, I saw the long follower of Ning Guo Gong riding out of the village on horseback. It seemed that he was returning to the city to report a message to Ning Guo Gong. From this point of view, Ning Guo Gong's people should have won. "
Emperor Longqing nodded. According to what he said, Jia Cong's people should have won.
After all, those people were all soldiers who had been fighting with Jia Cong on the battlefield for three years. They were all elites and couldn't be compared to those rabble.
More than a hundred people defeated more than a thousand people. This achievement was truly remarkable.
However, there should be more than a hundred people in Jia Cong's Zhuangzi, and there should be guards dedicated to protecting Zhuangzi. Together, there should be two to three hundred people.
Even so, being able to defeat more than a thousand people is considered very good, and this is still under the condition of being attacked by surprise.
I just don’t know how the battle is going? What are the losses for both parties?
I hope Jia Cong won't be too impulsive after hearing the news. Forget it, just call him over directly to avoid causing further trouble for himself.
As long as the father is here, none of these brothers can move.
"Dai Quan, I want to send Duke Ning to see me, so that this kid won't get mad and go directly to Prince Zhongshun to cause trouble. If the father punishes him, I won't be able to speak for him.
In addition, you should go to Prince Zhongshun's palace and convey my instructions. Prince Zhongshun disobeyed me and acted arrogantly. He sent people to attack Ning Guogong's Zhuangzi without authorization and ordered him to stay at home and meditate for three months as a punishment. "
Dai Quan bowed and said: "Old slave, I obey the order. I will go down and deliver the order."
Watching Dai Quan leave, Emperor Longqing shook his head and picked up a memorial. Before he could open it, he saw Dai Quan coming back.
Dai Quan bowed and said, "Return to my master, Lord Ning Guo is outside asking for an audience."
Emperor Longqing was slightly startled when he heard this. Just when I was about to go find him, he actually came first. He seemed to have some brains.
"Now that he's here, let him in."
"Yes, Master."
Dai Quan agreed, bowed and exited the imperial study.
Jia Cong came to the Imperial Study Room and stepped forward to salute Emperor Longqing: "Jia Cong, my lord, I wish you long live, long live, long live my emperor."
Since Jia Cong had already arrived, Emperor Longqing was not in a hurry to ask. He probably came here for this reason, so he just pretended not to know anything.
Emperor Longqing said: "Come on, why don't you come to see me so early in the morning?"
Jia Cong stood up, cupped his hands and said: "Reporting to your majesty, just last night, Zhuangzi, who was outside the city, was attacked by more than a thousand bandits. Fortunately, Zhuangzi's guards were brave and they were able to avoid being massacred. .
As far as I know, these bandits all came from the village of Prince Zhongshun, and they must be his people.
This loyal and obedient prince is bold and crazy. For his own selfish interests, regardless of the overall situation, he colludes with thieves and bandits, and attacks ministers without authorization. His nature is vile. I beg your majesty to punish him severely and give justice to the humble minister. "
Emperor Longqing pretended to be surprised and said: "Oh, this happened? What was the loss on your Zhuangzi? Where are the people you mentioned now?"
Jia Cong said: "Your Majesty, how can such a minister talk nonsense? Although Zhuangzi suffered some losses, it was not serious. As for the group of thieves, when I learned the news, they had all been wiped out."
Emperor Longqing took a deep breath when he heard this.
This is too damn cruel. According to Dai Quan, there are more than a thousand people? Just kill him if you say kill him?
"More than a thousand people, all killed?"
Jia Cong nodded and said: "Yes, Your Majesty, I received news this morning that all the bandits were wiped out, and not a single person was left alive. I also feel that they were too cruel.
However, the reason why they are like this is all caused by me. On the battlefield that day, in order to encourage the soldiers to fight the enemy bravely, I promised them that an enemy's head can be exchanged for ten taels of silver.
With this order, there was no need to supervise the battle at all. Everyone was like a little tiger, roaring forward. This was how I won again and again, and it also allowed them to develop the habit of not holding back when encountering the enemy. "
Dai Quan listened on the side and couldn't help but secretly smacked his lips. Duke Ning Guo was a ruthless man, and all his soldiers were also ruthless.
Emperor Longqing sighed and said: "Forget it, just kill them. These people deserve to die. I will investigate this matter carefully. If it is really King Zhongshun who did it, I will definitely give you an explanation."
Jia Cong cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, thank you very much. This matter must have been done by King Zhongshun. Just a few days ago, he sent people to attack my caravan. I also followed this line and found out who Zhongshun was." Enter the king's village."
After hearing this, Emperor Longqing cursed Prince Zhongshun in his heart. Why the hell did he get into trouble with Jia Cong?
Moreover, your hands and feet are still so unclean. Isn't this deliberately causing trouble for me?
Could it be that there is a grudge between the two?
"Why did King Zhongshun attack you? Do you know this well? He won't trouble you for no reason, right?"
Jia Cong said: "Reporting to your majesty, the Jinsha Gang that I destroyed will give a large sum of money to Prince Zhongshun every year. Now that the property of the Jinsha Gang belongs to your majesty, Prince Zhongshun will not be able to get it. He hates me very much. possible."
As he spoke, Jia Cong took out a ledger from his pocket and handed it to Dai Quan, asking Dai Quan to present it to Emperor Longqing.
"My lord, it was only after reading this ledger that I found out about the relationship between Prince Zhongshun and the Jinsha Gang."
Emperor Longqing took the account book and looked through it carefully.
Then I suddenly realized that no wonder King Zhongshun wanted to trouble Jia Cong. It turned out that the root was here.
The amount recorded here is very large. The Jinsha Gang has to hand over hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to King Zhongshun every year. Naturally, he is upset when he loses so much.
Emperor Longqing was even more surprised by the money-making methods of these gangs.
Emperor Longqing put down his account book and said, "I know about this, and I will give you an explanation. Dai Quan, please go to Prince Zhongshun's Mansion later to pass the order, and let Prince Zhongshun sit back and think about it for three months as a punishment."
"Yes, Master, I will go to Prince Zhongshun's Mansion to deliver the order."
Dai Quan agreed, bowed and exited the imperial study.
Emperor Longqing looked at Jia Cong and said: "Don't blame me for punishing him too lightly. After all, King Zhongshun is my brother, and the Supreme Emperor is still alive. If the punishment is too severe, he will not be able to pass the test of the Supreme Emperor.
If we really want to settle this matter, King Zhongshun will still suffer the loss. You have killed so many of his people, so he probably won’t dare to provoke you anymore, so let’s end this matter. "
Jia Cong had already been mentally prepared for this and was not too surprised.
In this era, the imperial power is supreme, and the royal family has immunity. Ordinary people are bullied by the royal family and dare not speak out. They can only endure it silently and let them do whatever they want.
There are really not many people like Jia Cong who have no awe in their hearts and dare to be cruel.
"Your Majesty, I obey the order. I also understand these things, so as soon as I received the news, I came to ask the Emperor to make the decision. If it weren't for the fact that he was the prince, I would have brought someone to the door.
Your Majesty, I have said it again, and again, and not three times. This is already the second time. If the loyal and obedient prince does not respect your Majesty's orders and wants to stalk and beat me, then I cannot let others bully me. "
After hearing this, Emperor Longqing looked Jia Cong up and down for a while.
I thought to myself, this is like the temperament of a decisive and decisive young general. If he just lets others bully him and doesn't dare to fight back, how can he kill the barbarian Khan?
However, Jia Cong is already very measured in being able to do this.
Emperor Longqing smiled and scolded: "I know you are not a loser, but you haven't suffered either. On the contrary, King Zhongshun has suffered a lot. I will send someone to warn him and let him stop.
You should also calm down for me. If something happens and the Emperor is alarmed, I won't be able to protect you.
Okay, let's end this matter here. You can step back. By the way, since you are in the palace, you can go and see Concubine Jia. "
Jia Cong was stunned when he heard this. He didn't expect that Emperor Longqing would let him go to see Yuanchun.
This is to show affection to yourself and to win over yourself.
Jia Cong had little impression of Yuanchun, the eldest sister. Since he asked to see her, let's meet her.
"My lord, thank you for your grace. I haven't seen you for many years, and my eldest sister's appearance has already been forgotten in my heart."
Emperor Longqing smiled and sent a young eunuch to take Jia Cong to the harem.
Following the little eunuch, he came to the gate of Yuanchun's palace.
"Ning Guogong, this is Concubine Jia's palace, please come inside."
Jia Cong took out a banknote and gave it to the young eunuch. He smiled and said, "Thank you, father-in-law. Let's take it for tea."
The little eunuch said with a smile on his face: "Thank you very much, Mr. Ning Guo. You're welcome."
Led by the young eunuch, the journey was smooth and they walked into Yuanchun's palace.
He saw a woman in her twenties, looking at him blankly, obviously surprised by his arrival.
Jia Cong looked carefully and saw that Yuan Chun was indeed very good-looking. There was a faint trace of Mrs. Wang between his eyebrows. He should not be more than twenty-five years old.
The maids in the palace are usually selected at the age of fifteen. If they are not favored by the emperor, they will be released from the palace at the age of twenty-five.
Jia Cong took a step forward, cupped his hands and said, "Jia Cong, my younger brother, I have met my eldest sister."
Yuan Chun still knew Jia Cong's name.
In the past few years, Jia Cong has become famous. He has won hundreds of battles on the battlefield and has become the youngest young prince. Almost everyone in the entire capital, including the palace, knows about him.
As a girl from the Jia family, with such a powerful brother in the family, Yuanchun is naturally very concerned about the news about Jia Cong.
Although he knew there was such a brother, he knew almost nothing about Jia Cong's appearance.
Seeing the young man in front of him calling him eldest sister, he woke up like a dream.
He said with some hesitation: "Are you Brother Cong?"
Jia Cong said: "It is my younger brother Jia Cong. When the eldest sister entered the palace, I was still relatively young. After so many years, it is normal for the eldest sister to have no impression."
Yuanchun nodded when he heard this. Jia Cong's eyebrows were indeed somewhat similar to his uncle.
Moreover, this is the harem. No man can come in without His Majesty's permission. Jia Cong's identity cannot be mistaken.
"You were still a child at that time. After so many years, you have grown into an adult. You are no longer a child. When my sister saw you, she really didn't dare to recognize you."
The young eunuch said: "Mr. Ning Guo, you and my wife are having a conversation here. Our family is waiting for you outside."
Jia Cong smiled and said: "Then I'll have to thank you."
Watching the little eunuch leave, Jia Cong turned around and asked: "Sister, living in this palace is quite satisfactory. If you have any needs, you can tell your brother. If you can do it, I will help you solve it." .”
Yuanchun looked at Jia Cong and felt relieved.
I have been in the palace for so many years, always walking on thin ice. Since Jia Cong became famous in the capital in the past two years, my situation has become much better.
I understand in my heart that this is all because of this brother.
Now that she has been made a concubine again, it can be said that the purpose of coming to the palace has been achieved.
"Sister is doing well in the palace. After living here for so many years, she has become accustomed to it. Is the old lady okay? Are the rest of the family okay?"
Jia Cong said with a smile: "The old lady is very good, and her body is very strong. Some time ago, she followed me and a few sisters to play in Zhuangzi outside the city for three days, and she was in good spirits.
Everyone else is doing well too. Baoyu is still with the old lady and is her darling. In the past few years, the family has been getting better and better and richer. With the two of us here, the Jia family will become better and better. OK "
Yuanchun nodded and said: "That's good. I have been away from home for so many years, and I don't know what has become of me? My sister can't do anything about the outside world, so she relies on brother Cong."
Jia Cong said: "Sister, don't worry, as long as I'm here, everything will be fine in the Jia family."
