Red Mansion Royal Cat

Chapter 588: Baiting for Fishing
"I eat tofu pudding, but only the salty kind..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the wine jug in Old Thirteen's hand turned into a residual shadow and hit Xu Jinglong's forehead with a bang.

It would take at least two and a half years to develop that level of accuracy.

Xu Jinglong was stunned, and the dignitaries who came to accompany him on the pleasure boat were even more stunned.

Someone even complained in a low voice: Of course you have to put sugar in tofu pudding, who likes salty tofu pudding!

At this time, naturally no one would worry about whether to add sugar or salt to tofu pudding, because Prince Zhongshun Liu Ke was really furious.

"Xu Jinglong, my father said I was picky about food and beat me with a stick. It is never too late for a gentleman to take revenge. Today, I have to vent the anger that has been suppressed in my heart for more than ten years..."

After saying that, Liu Ke kicked a few tables away and pounced on Xu Jinglong who was still in a daze.

One is a prince of the imperial court, and the other is a top noble guarding Nanjing.

Seeing Liu Ke's big feet stepping hard on Xu Jinglong's belly, the dignitaries of Nanjing around him came to their senses and stood up to try to stop the fight.

"Everyone, sit down! Stay out of my way in this personal feud!"

Master She pushed away the singer who was leaning on his arms, slapped the table, and stopped the people who wanted to come forward.

He even gave an order to the dazed singer behind the curtain in dissatisfaction: "What a crappy song you are playing, it's so soft and powerless. Change it to "The Holy Son of Heaven Breaks the Formation Music" for me, and beat the drum for me!"

Listening to the music of Pozhen by the Qinhuai River? And beating the drum? Do you think this is the border?

The manager of the pleasure boat was dumbfounded, and the singer was so overwhelmed that she began to sob softly.

However, Master She didn't pay attention to all this. He picked up the plate of peanuts on the table and looked happily at Liu Ke who was attacking crazily.

"Old Thirteen, can you do this? Hit my waist!"

Bang, bang...

"Go back and take it out!"

Bang, bang...

Although Xu Jinglong is a big guy and has eaten a lot, his body size is almost twice that of an old man.

But Old Thirteen was a serious military commander in his past. He never gave up his martial arts skills over the years and he only picked fights where the opponent would not die but would still cause severe pain.

After just a few hits, Xu Jinglong was already in so much pain that he couldn't breathe, let alone dodge or fight back.

The personal soldiers of Duke Wei's mansion who were waiting outside the pleasure boat heard the noise and cries for help coming from inside. When they rushed in, they saw a scene that stunned them.

A man in a python robe was riding on their master, punching him recklessly...

"Why don't you hurry up and save your master..."

Zhao Maoliang originally didn't want to get involved in this matter, but as the Left Governor of Nanzhili and the head of a province, he couldn't just watch the Jinling Garrison Commander being beaten to death by the prince of the imperial court.

He secretly glanced at Jia She who was watching the show, and coldly scolded the personal soldiers of the Duke of Wei's mansion.

Anyway, he didn't do it himself, so he can't blame me!
Just as the personal guards rushed forward to pull Liu Ke away, the plate in Master She's hand knocked over a person with a whoosh, and then he stood up and rushed over.

"Oh my, how can we fight?"

"A prince and an earl are both people of status. If they make such a fuss, it will only bring shame to the imperial court!"

He said this, but his hands moved very smoothly.

He grabbed another bodyguard and threw him out, then reached out to Xu Jinglong who was about to get up.

Bang!
With the help of his personal soldiers, Xu Jinglong finally had the chance to get up and hide, but the moment he stood up, Jia She pushed him back onto the deck.

There was only a click, and everyone seemed to hear the sound of bones breaking...

"Ah~"

The screams scared everyone, except for Master She's "persuasion" and Old Thirteen's fists.

"Stop fighting, stop fighting..."

Amid the repeated "persuasion" to stop fighting, Xu Jinglong screamed and gradually lost consciousness.

Seeing that Xu Jinglong had lost his movement, Old Thirteen secretly put his hand under his nose. As long as he was still breathing, that was fine.

He glanced at Zhao Maoliang, who had just scolded the personal soldiers of Duke Wei's mansion for coming forward to help. Zhao Maoliang felt a chill on his back and could not help shivering.

However, Liu Ke was too lazy to pay attention to this fence-sitter and just casually bowed to the people around him.

"I'm sorry, everyone. I was a little excited to see an old friend and lost my composure. I ruined everyone's fun..."

"No, no, as long as Your Majesty is happy."

A little excited? A little out of control?
Everyone hurriedly bowed and smiled in response, and most of them didn't say a word else, for fear that he would get angry again.

Liu Ke did not make things difficult for others, but waved his hand and ordered the people in the pleasure boat to rearrange the table.

"Come here, invite our Master Xu back to Dream Garden. I will go back later to have a good talk with him. It has been more than ten years since I last saw him. I still miss him very much... Where are the songs and dances? Keep playing the music and dancing for me!"

……

"Have you heard? Master Xu from Duke Wei's mansion was taken back to the other courtyard by Prince Zhongshun."

"Ah? Why did Prince Zhongshun bring Master Xu back?"

"Eh? You didn't know? Prince Zhongshun is a homosexual. He and Master Xu have been lovers for more than ten years..."

uh~
Jia Cong looked at Old Thirteen, who was jumping up and down in the main hall and cursing at the sky, and tried hard to hold back his laughter.

Master She was also helpless. No one had expected that the rumor was so weird. No wonder no one believed the official history of dynasties, but the wild and unofficial history was widely spread.

"Alright, alright, it's not a big deal, why are you so excited?"

shuh~
The Thirteenth Master rushed to Jia She in an instant, grabbed his collar and shouted angrily: "What do you mean it's not a big deal? You make it sound so easy. It's not your reputation as Marquis Jia En that's being ruined..."

The two men were almost face to face. Jia She, with a look of disgust, pushed Liu Ke's big face aside with his hands and slapped away the hand that was grabbing his collar.

Then he smoothed his wrinkled collar calmly and said leisurely: "Don't worry, don't worry, they are just some groundless rumors. When this case is revealed to the world, even the wildest rumors will disappear..."

"Yes, Master Thirteen, when the case is thoroughly investigated and announced to the world, the people will only say that King Zhongshun had a clever plan to punish corrupt officials, and no one will spread the news that you are a good man... um, that or something."

"Really?"

"real!"

As for the common people who will then be detoured thousands of miles away, Jia Cong must now strengthen Liu Ke's determination.

This play must be performed peacefully and steadily.

So what if he likes homosexuality? This is a good excuse. Let Liu Ke lock up Xu Jinglong for ten days or half a month to stabilize the people outside.

"Dad, there's no problem with the Thirteenth Master. Now it's up to you."

As the person who stirred up the situation in Jiangnan, Jia Cong had too big a goal.

In order to investigate the whereabouts of those firearms, Master She has to step in personally.

Jia She nodded, picked up the large bird cage beside him, grinned and said, "Just wait and see the show, I'll go out for a walk..."

The fact that Xu Jinglong was "taken into the bedroom" by Prince Zhongshun Liu Ke did not seem to cause any stir in Jinling, but only added a topic of gossip to the common people after dinner.

On the contrary, Jia She, the former Duke of Rong, quickly became the most popular person in Jinling City.

Master She, carrying a large bird cage, was walking around the market looking for people to fight cocks, spending money lavishly.

In three days, Master She lost tens of thousands of taels of silver...

"Damn it, is my luck so bad?"

Master She rolled up his sleeves, stepped on the stool, cursed, and threw out the last thing in his pocket.

A luminous pearl as big as a pigeon egg fell on the table, and the originally noisy gambling house suddenly became silent.

"My son gave it to me. There are only three in the whole of Daxia. Come on, give me an estimate of the price. This is the last chance. Who wants to bet with me on this one?"

There are only three in the whole of Daxia. This old guy has one. Is there any need to guess who has the other two?

What price? This thing is priceless, right?
No matter whether the people in the gambling house have money or not, no one is richer than Jia She.

But who wouldn’t be tempted by this pigeon egg-sized night-shining pearl if it were real?
In a short time, the news that Jia She wanted to gamble with someone for a priceless treasure spread throughout the market.

This is one of the most prosperous places in Jinling. It is also the place with the best information and a gathering place for all kinds of people.

All those who were jealous of the night pearl rushed to the gambling house, looking at the night pearl that was glowing with fairy light with envy.

"Is there anyone who wants to bet with me? As long as you beat my chicken, this bead is yours! My gambling qualities as Marquis Jia En have even been praised by the old saint!"

It’s true, although Jia She is a rogue, his gambling character is really good, as he is willing to accept defeat.

Moreover, this man was obviously very angry because of his loss. It was normal for a gambler to take out anything to bet.

However, this night pearl is too valuable, and so far no one has been able to come up with something of equal value.

"I'm planning to go out to sea. Does anyone have a boat? Preferably one that can overturn the barbarian warships?"

"Oh? Lord Xie wants to go abroad?"

This topic was quite interesting and someone immediately took up the topic.

A gleam of light flashed in Jia She's eyes, but soon he turned cynical again.

"Well, I've been so bored lately, and the emperor keeps scolding me. So, I heard from my son that Westerners have robbed a lot of good things overseas, so I want to go overseas to take a look, too."

It was no secret that the Western barbarians plundered wealth overseas. Anyone who was able to do so formed a fleet and went to sea to rob in the name of doing business.

Of course, going out to sea to plunder is like sending food if you only rely on ordinary merchant ships.

Therefore, everyone understood what the boat that Jia She was talking about looked like.

"If this night-light pearl is not enough, I still have a few documents for sailing. Whoever has a ship, take a gamble. If I lose, this pearl and the documents for sailing will be yours."

Overseas approval? That’s a good thing!

Although the imperial court lifted the maritime ban, going out to sea for business still required the imperial court's approval, otherwise it would be considered smuggling.

"If you want to go out to sea, I have a fleet..."

Sure enough, as long as the bait is big enough, there will be fish caught.

A middle-aged man who had been gambling with Master She for the whole morning came out and said with a smile: "The boat in my hand has been modified and is equipped with cannons..."

"Oh? There are cannons? Are the barrels thick? Let me make it clear first, we dare not break the law, is your ship legitimate?"

Master She almost acted on impulse, but he suppressed his impulse and asked about the details with great interest.

The middle-aged man patted his chest and replied, "It must be done properly. My ships are all registered with the government, and those cannons also have the approval of the Maritime Customs."

I've been waiting for you to say this!
According to Jia Cong's investigation, in order to prevent the Ministry of War from finding relevant clues, Xu Jinglong colluded with the people from the Songjiang Maritime Customs and prepared legal approval documents for all the artillery pieces he sold.

As long as we follow this approval document, we will definitely be able to trace back to the cannons that have been sold.

This middle-aged man coveted the sea-going permit in Jia She's hand, but Jia She coveted this man's body...

Probably in order to get the permission to go to sea from Jia She with 100% certainty, the middle-aged man even showed his sincerity openly.

"If you just want to go out to sea for a stroll, there is no need to gamble with such a priceless treasure. I do have a suggestion... but it's too noisy here, please move upstairs to talk."

The people around were becoming dissatisfied, but they seemed to be concerned about the man's identity. They did not even dare to show any anger or dissatisfaction. They could only watch Jia She follow the man up to the second floor with great interest.

……

In the teahouse opposite the gambling house, Jia Cong and Lao Shisan were sitting in a private room sipping tea and listening to the news from the gambling house being brought in by their personal soldiers.

"They took the bait. Those documents for going to sea are really a hot commodity. They didn't even care whether my father would find out the problem with the artillery."

Liu Ke did not expect that these people in Jinling City would be so bold. That was Marquis Jia En, and his son was in charge of the manufacture and sale of firearms in the Ministry of Industry.

"This is really crazy, aren't they afraid of getting burned?"

Jia Cong could understand these people's thoughts. As long as they could get the permission to go to sea and expand their fleet openly to rob money overseas, it would matter to pardon the emperor. If they had the chance, they would dare to kidnap the emperor and sell him to the Western barbarians.

"We're all betting. We're betting that these people are eager to expand their fleet, and they're betting that my father really does it for fun."

This is also the reason why Jia Cong asked Master She to perform this play. It is estimated that except for the two old dandies of the dynasty, no one would believe it if someone else performed this play.

After all, for a man like Jia Enhou, what wouldn't he do for fun?

He gambled all over Nanjing with a big rooster, and when he lost so much, he even took out the approval document for going to sea.

Go out to sea and fire a few shots?
That's Marquis Jia En, it's perfectly normal.

……

Sure enough, not long after lunch, Master She climbed into the carriage drunkenly with the help of several people.

He even showed half of his body after entering the carriage, and bowed to the middle-aged man with a smile.

"Old Ji, don't forget about our voyage. Don't worry, leave the approval for the voyage to me. My son is Jia Cong, the Marquis of Yongfeng, and there is nothing he can't do!"

Old Ji also smiled and returned the greeting, and kept assuring Master She: "Don't worry, Master She, I have prepared the biggest ship and the thickest gun barrel for you, and I will definitely let you have fun!"

Monthly ticket recommendation ticket

　Thanks to Brother Pang, who is still so fat, for the reward.

　　I was too busy working overtime this morning, so I updated late. Sorry.

　　I will get up early tomorrow morning to update...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)