Chapter 118: Ni's daughter cries to save drunk King Kong, Sun Shaozong plots against Lai Zongguan
When you are in the officialdom, you never have a day of rest!
Sun Shaozong sighed and sat up, then pushed Xiangling back onto the bed and said, " Lie down for a while. Your sister Rong is probably taking a nap, so you don't need to serve her for the time being."
As they were talking , two maids, about eleven or twelve years old, came over with clothes, shoes and hats.
Sun Shaozong put on a pair of trousers casually, and the two maids each held one of his feet and carefully put the boots on.
When Sun Shaozong first came here, he scoffed at this kind of meticulous service - he even claimed that he had hands and feet and did not need anyone to serve him.
But after just one year, he had already become content with it, and he felt a little uncomfortable if he didn't have a maid to serve him.
Alas~
It is indeed easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality.
Sun Shaozong sighed as he left the courtyard. He was about to go to the front hall to meet a guest when a woman suddenly jumped out from the side. Without saying anything, she fell to her knees and kept saying, "Second Master, please spare my brother! Second Master, please spare my brother!"
Sun Shaozong took a closer look and found that the woman seemed to be one of his cheap eldest brother's concubines. He could not remember her name, but he vaguely remembered that his cheap eldest brother once praised her for her excellent "ventriloquism skills".
His eyes swept over her plump lips to confirm that he was not mistaken, then Sun Shaozong dodged and frowned, saying, "What do you mean? Stand up and talk first!"
The woman wanted to lie on the ground and beg, but when she saw his unfriendly look, she lost her courage instantly. She got up from the ground tremblingly, holding a handkerchief with a look of trepidation on her face.
Sun Shaozong asked with a straight face: "What does your brother do? And why did you ask me to spare him?"
The woman quickly knelt down and bowed, saying, "In reply to Second Master, my brother Ping is a merchant. He was arrested by the yamen runners under your command a few days ago for helping someone sell the four treasures of the study on Gongyuan Street."
Tsk~
I never thought that among those "literary peddlers" there are actually my "relatives"!
Sun Shaozong's face darkened and he scolded, "Second Master, I am the inspector of this department, but your brother is selling cheat sheets. I am showing mercy by not punishing him severely. How dare you ask me to let him go?!"
Plop~
The concubine immediately knelt down on the ground again and subconsciously tried to hug Sun Shaozong's thighs, but Sun Shaozong dodged her.
She could only cry and say, "Second Master, please spare my life. Although my brother is ignorant, he has an old mother and children at home..."
"Okay, stop talking about this useless stuff!"
Sun Shaozong interrupted impatiently, "What's your brother's name? Let me go to the government office and ask him. As long as he is not the main culprit, I will give him a title of whistleblowing and making meritorious contributions - but he will be spared from exile, but he will be punished with dozens of beatings and fines."
"Thank you very much for your kindness, Master. Thank you very much for your kindness!"
The concubine kowtowed three times and then said, "My brother's surname is Ni, his given name is Er, and his nickname is 'Drunken King Kong'."
"Drunken King Kong Ni Er, right? I've made a note of that."
As Sun Shaozong spoke, he walked straight towards the front hall. Even after he had walked quite a distance away, he could still hear Aunt Ni thanking him non-stop.
Alas~
It's becoming more and more corrupt and degenerate!
Feeling more and more emotional, Sun Shaozong finally went to the front hall.
"Congratulations, sir, congratulations, sir!"
As soon as he entered the door, Feng Xin came up to him with a big smile on his face: "After this exam . After the next spring exam, maybe the new Jinshi will call you teacher when they see you!"
"It's been a while since I last saw you. You seem to be getting more and more talkative."
Sun Shaozong gestured to the guest seat at the top, then sat down at the host seat, smiling and teasing, "Did you learn a few tricks from that talented woman in your family?"
"I do want to learn, but I have to understand it first!"
Feng Xin was never shy with him, and he laughed, "That woman usually speaks in a flowery manner, but she actually has so many words in bed that I was overwhelmed by her. I had no choice but to pounce on her and pound her hard, and then she started to speak in human language."
After hearing a few words from him, he headed straight for the lower third road again. Sun Shaozong stepped on the brakes and got back to the point: "By the way, you came this time, but have you already asked for the things I asked you to check last time?"
"Of course, even if I missed the emperor's mission, I would not dare to delay your business!"
As Feng Xin spoke, he took out a booklet from his sleeve, held it in both hands and handed it to Sun Shaozong.
Sun Shaozong took it and flipped through it casually, and inside was a price list of various building materials and craftsmen's wages.
Not only are the prices listed in great detail, but the characteristics of various materials are also listed one by one, as well as how to easily distinguish their quality.
Some of these little tricks can only be summarized by a family like the Feng family who has been dealing in wood and stone for generations!
Sun Shaozong put the price list on the coffee table and said with a satisfied smile: "Old Feng, this is quite efficient - after I discuss the garden with my elder brother, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you to arrange it for me."
"Sir, you are being too polite. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't know where I'd be buried right now! If I have any instructions, isn't it just a matter of a word from you?"
Feng Xin patted his chest and said a few polite words, then he advised: "However, this year several royal relatives have built large gardens at the same time, and the price of good wood on the market has gone crazy. If you are not in a hurry, you might as well wait for a year or two before breaking ground."
In fact, Sun Shaozong was just talking nonsense about building a garden.
He was plotted against in Rongguo Mansion. Although it turned out to be a blessing in disguise in the end and he got Ping'er as his accomplice, he still remembered the grudge.
Jia Yucun is a cunning and treacherous man, and he is also Sun Shaozong's immediate superior; Wang Xifeng has the support of two big men, Wang and Jia, and she is a woman in the boudoir, so it is difficult for her to take revenge on him.
However, Lai Da's status was much inferior, and he was the culprit who caused him to "lose his virginity", so Sun Shaozong naturally regarded him as a breakthrough point.
Especially now that the Rong and Ning mansions are renovating their gardens, the people mainly in charge are Lai Da and his brother Lai Er. Given Lai Da's audacity, it would be incredible if he didn't take the opportunity to enrich himself!
That's why Sun Shaozong approached Feng Xin to inquire about the price of building the garden, so that he could find a way out and give Lai Da a heavy blow.
At this time, Feng Xin took the initiative to persuade Sun Shaozong not to repair the garden for the time being, which was exactly what he wanted.
He pretended to be hesitant and asked, "Has the price really increased a lot recently?"
"Of course!"
Feng Xin said with a gloating look: "The prices of various materials have doubled for some materials with low prices, and quadrupled or even quintupled for others!"
"Now those royal relatives are in a dilemma. If they give up halfway, they can't afford to lose face. If they continue to repair it, they don't have enough money. Now the whole capital is patchwork, and I don't know how much debt they owe!"
Hearing this, Sun Shaozong's heart moved, and he asked hurriedly: "What about Rongguo Mansion? Did it also owe a deficit?"
"Well..."
Feng Xin knew the relationship between the Sun family and the Rongguo Mansion, so he didn't doubt it. He scratched his head and said, "The Rongguo Mansion is richer than others, but it is still spending more than it earns."
OK~
If the family was wealthy, it would not be a big deal if the slaves took some benefits, but now that the Rongguo Mansion has fallen into deficit, how can they allow Lai Da to take advantage of it?
