Chapter 155: Rongguo Mansion Corruption Incident (Part 2)
After watching Xue Pan disappear behind the door, Sun Shaozong turned around and carefully examined Jia Baoyu. Seeing that he was obviously more nervous than before, he suddenly asked, "Was the last person who came to persuade you that Lai Da?"
Jia Baoyu shuddered all over, staring at Sun Shaozong in astonishment for a long while, but finally looked away and said awkwardly: "What do you mean by saying this, second brother? I..."
"Don't lie."
Sun Shaozong added calmly: "For this kind of thing, I can just ask a few maids in your courtyard and find out everything clearly."
Jia Baoyu pursed his lips awkwardly, and after a while he smiled awkwardly and said, "It was indeed the housekeeper Lai, but he didn't really persuade me. It was mainly because I figured it out myself, so..."
"Brother Bao."
Sun Shaozong interrupted him again: "There is a saying that goes 'Explanation is covering up, and covering up is the truth'. Although logically speaking, this saying is a bit biased - but it is very appropriate to describe your current behavior."
Jia Baoyu froze again.
Finally, he simply slumped down on the table in anger, twisted his body and yelled in a muffled voice: "Since Second Brother doesn't believe what I say, then I have nothing more to say - and besides, I'm not on a hunger strike anymore, so there's no need for Second Brother to dig into my affairs, right?"
Tsk~
Sun Shaozong smacked his lips, stood up and paced back and forth in the room, saying as he walked: "Since you don't want to say it, I might as well make a guess myself."
"You are intimidated by the situation and have been blamed from all sides. You are actually scared and don't dare to investigate further. But given your personality, you probably won't make this matter clear!"
"In this case, some misunderstandings are bound to arise."
"Given how much your ancestors and the second wife dote on you, they must be extremely anxious after these two days and one night of torture. Regardless of whether it was their will or not, there is a high probability that they would say something like 'It's just an account check, let him check if he wants'."
“So, some people couldn’t sit still anymore!”
"This man naturally also took a lot of money, at least not less than Lian Er's wife and Wu Xindeng."
"In order to prevent the audit from continuing and eventually affecting him, he had only two choices."
"First, I will make sure you can never check the accounts again. Second, I will make sure you never dare to check the accounts again!"
"The first method, in addition to silencing you, must also make it impossible for people to see that you died at the hands of others. Considering that you refuse to eat anything and there are always a lot of people guarding you, it is extremely difficult to carry out the plan to silence you."
"The second method only requires a handle, a handle that is enough to make you dare not investigate further!"
"As the chief steward of the mansion, Lai Da has controlled the Rongguo Mansion for more than 20 years. It is reasonable for him to hold such a handle in his hand."
At this point, Sun Shaozong turned around and asked, "I wonder if my speculation is correct?"
Jia Baoyu stared at him blankly for a long while before he smiled bitterly and said, "Sure enough, nothing can be hidden from Second Brother's discerning eyes!"
After a pause, he stood up again, bowed deeply, and said earnestly: "Second brother, I beg you, please just stop caring about this matter, okay?"
"It's a success."
Sun Shaozong sighed and said, "But can you be sure that Wu Xindeng really committed suicide?"
Jia Baoyu was stunned for a moment, then he straightened up and said in surprise: "Second brother, what you mean is..."
"I don't have any evidence now."
Sun Shaozong spread his hands and said, "But since Lai Da has revealed his true identity, with his status as the chief steward, it shouldn't be difficult for him to push Wu Xindeng to the front as a shield, right?"
"And that list listed all the corrupt behaviors of the favorite servants in your house, but did not mention the stewards at all - could it be that he and Lai Da were the only stewards of the East and West Houses who were corrupt , and no one else was involved?"
"Second brother is saying..."
Jia Baoyu trembled and said, "Did Lai Da kill Wu Xindeng as a scapegoat and throw out that list to scare me?!"
"A reasonable guess, isn't it?"
Sun Shaozong said calmly: "It's just that he didn't expect that you would be too scared and commit suicide by hunger strike."
Jia Baoyu fell silent again, leaning on the table with both hands, his baby face flickering in the light.
"I can guess that the handle must be of great significance."
Sun Shaozong then asked, "But are you sure that your concession this time will not arouse his arrogance and make him take advantage of it?"
"You're pushing it further?"
Jia Baoyu looked up blankly, his face full of confusion. He obviously didn't understand what could be more serious than the current situation.
"hehe."
Sun Shaozong grinned grimly: "I have heard of an official anecdote before - it was probably in the second year of Guangde, a county magistrate in Sichuan was caught by his housekeeper."
"At first, the housekeeper was afraid of both sides, but after a few attempts, he found that the high and mighty county magistrate was actually a coward at heart!"
"So the butler went further and further, and finally he took over the magistrate's nest, first sleeping with the county magistrate's concubine, then sleeping with his wife. When the case was finally discovered, even the county magistrate's twelve-year-old daughter was already pregnant with the butler's child..."
Crash~
"Stop it! I beg you to stop it!"
Jia Baoyu roared and overturned the table!
Sun Shaozong dodged and indeed shut up.
Jia Baoyu stood there in fear and ferocity with a ferocious look on his face, his chest heaving rapidly and a few drops of cold sweat slowly dripping down his forehead. It was obvious that he had put himself in the situation of the county magistrate.
At this moment, the door opened slightly and Xue Pan poked his head in. Seeing the mess on the floor, he couldn't help but exclaimed, "What happened? Bao..."
"go out!"
Jia Baoyu shouted loudly, and Xue Pan was so scared that he quickly shrank his head. But then he thought, as a brother, why should he be afraid of Baoyu?
So he wanted to go in again to "provoke" him, but thinking of Baoyu's crazy look just now , he didn't dare to do it after all.
But Jia Baoyu chased Xue Pan away, and finally let out some of the fear in his heart. He hurriedly took two steps forward and bowed to Sun Shaozong: "Please teach me, second brother, what should I do now?!"
Then, he said in frustration, "It will definitely not work if I tell grandma. This mansion is full of Lai Da's spies, even here..."
"If I do anything suspicious, he will immediately expose the matter to the public and burn us all together!"
"Destroy everything?"
When Sun Shaozong heard these four words, his heart moved. It seemed that this handle was a double-edged sword. If he told it out, not only would the masters of Rongguo Mansion be in trouble, but Lai Da himself would also be in trouble.
So he asked, "Besides Lai Da, is there anyone else who knows this?"
"this……"
Jia Baoyu hesitated for a moment, then shook his head firmly and said, "It shouldn't be. He told me that 'the law should not be passed on to others'. Even if I am dreaming, I can't talk about it!"
It is true!
"In that case, things will be much simpler. As long as..."
As Sun Shaozong spoke, he reached out and touched his neck.
“Kill…kill…kill him?!”
Jia Baoyu was so frightened that he sat back on the stool, his hands shaking like sieves, and he muttered, "I... I..."
Alas~
What a worthless person!
Sun Shaozong sighed and said helplessly: "Alright, don't dwell on it anymore - Lai Da is already on guard against you, how can you, a weak kid like you, do anything to him?"
Jia Baoyu heaved a sigh of relief, but he was at a loss as to what to do. He asked awkwardly, "Then what should I do...what should I do..."
He was so panicked that he didn't even dare to utter the word "kill".
If he didn't have a grudge against Lai Da, if he hadn't been the one to instigate this matter, seeing Baoyu's cowardly look, Sun Shaozong really wouldn't want to get involved in this matter anymore!
He asked angrily, "You have a powerful servant who bullies his master, so why don't you have a loyal servant to protect him? There are hundreds of servants in the Jia family, is there anyone who would risk his life for your family without asking why?"
"this……"
Jia Baoyu was at a loss for a while, then suddenly thought of someone and nodded quickly, "There is indeed someone who is very loyal, but..."
"At this time, you are still 'just' a fart?!"
Sun Shaozong said unhappily: "Try to give that person a hint. If you are not sure, don't say it too clearly!"
