Chapter 27: Silver Basin, Golden Ship, Murder Case
The twenty-seventh day of the twelfth lunar month.
Snowflakes began to fall at daybreak. By the time Sun Shaozong and Ruan Rong had packed up and were ready to go to the Rongguo Mansion to keep their appointment, a layer of snow half an inch thick had already accumulated on the ground.
But the number of pedestrians on the road did not decrease because of the snow.
Some were carrying baskets, some were carrying loads, some were driving carts...
The hustle and bustle of people buying and selling makes this last big market before the New Year a bustling place.
When we arrived at the Rongguo Mansion, we saw nearly a hundred big red lanterns lined up on both sides of the magnificent main entrance, and each of them was lit with a candle as thick as a child's arm - it didn't seem like a big deal during the day, but at night, it would surely illuminate most of the street with a bustling red light!
The daily expenditure on this string of lanterns alone would probably be enough to cover an average family's expenses for a year.
It is indeed true that 'the rich have wine and meat, while the poor freeze to death on the streets'!
Sun Shaozong sighed in his heart. He first watched Ruan Rong's carriage enter from the west corner gate, and under the guidance of the old woman, went straight to Lin Daiyu's back house. Then he urged the horse to go towards the black oil gate at the eastern end.
It is a strange story to say that Jia Lian's father, Jia She, was the eldest son of the legitimate wife and a first-class general who inherited the title. However, he had to suffer in the small courtyard on the east side just because Old Lady Jia did not like him.
Instead, the second master, Jia Zheng, lived in the main room of the house, looking like the one in charge.
Stop talking nonsense.
But when Sun Shaozong arrived at the black oil gate, Jia Lian's trusted servant Long'er was already waiting on the steps.
Without waiting for Sun Shaozong to get off his horse, he came up to him eagerly and greeted him with a big smile on his face, "Second Master Sun, you are finally here! Our master has asked several times, and he is almost ready to send someone to carry you in a sedan chair with eight bearers!"
"I'm not your second wife, how can I afford to sit in a sedan chair?"
Sun Shaozong jumped off his horse swiftly and poked the big red lanterns hanging on the wall with his finger: "In previous years, you only lit a dozen lanterns to celebrate the occasion. Why are you so ostentatious this year?"
"Yo~"
Long'er made a weird face and cried out, saying exaggeratedly, "It turns out you don't know yet! Our second master's eldest daughter was selected as the Minister of Fengzao Palace and was given the title of Consort Xian De. This is such a great event, how can we not celebrate it with great fanfare?"
As he spoke, he pointed to the west main gate and boasted with a hint of sourness: " You didn't see it the other day, but there were countless firecrackers set off in front of the main gate, and then two large carts of shredded paper were swept out!"
Tsk~
There is the virtuous concubine inside and Wang Ziteng outside.
With these two capable assistants, the servants in the Jia family will probably become even more arrogant, right?
Thinking about all these things, Sun Shaozong handed the horse to the doorman and followed Na Long'er over the threshold.
As he passed through the houses and courtyards, he saw many servants and old women pointing and poking at him in the dark. He guessed that after Jia Lian and others returned home, they told others about the incident of the salt smugglers, which attracted so many curious people.
Sun Shaozong originally thought that Long'er would lead him to the living room, or the courtyard where Jia Lian lived, but after turning left and right, he entered an exquisite and compact garden.
Long Er pointed at the rockery in the middle and said with a smile, "Our master saw that it was snowing, so he had the pavilion tidied up, saying that he wanted to have a discussion with you over wine and plum blossoms."
Sun Shaozong didn’t know whether he was a hero or not, but Jia Lian definitely wasn’t one!
The two of them climbed up the spiral stone steps to the top of the mountain, and saw four or five basins of silver-frost charcoal placed in the vermilion-painted red pavilion. Jia Lian was holding a hand warmer in his arms, and he laughed out loud, "So it's Erlang who's here. When I saw the black mass from a distance, I thought it was an old bear."
Sun Shaozong was wearing a black cloak, so he said this.
Sun Shaozong also laughed and pointed at Jia Lian's dark purple robe and said, "Don't say it's not an old bear. Even if a few really jumped out, they would be scared to retreat when they saw you, my uncle, with your purple aura."
"How can I be called the emperor's uncle ? Baoyu is the real emperor's uncle." Jia Lian said modestly and proudly, and took the opportunity to welcome Sun Shaozong into the pavilion.
I saw a silver basin on the stone table in the middle, with a shallow layer of hot water in the basin. In the middle were a few exquisitely carved small golden boats, which looked very unique, but I didn't know what they were used for.
Seeing Sun Shaozong looking at the silver basin and golden boats, Jia Lian reached out and opened the roof of one of the golden boats, and the rich aroma of wine immediately filled his nose - it turned out that those golden boats were actually cups for cooking wine.
It is indeed a first-class luxury family!
Sun Shaozong praised a few times and just as he and Jia Lian sat down as host and guest, they heard a burst of hurried footsteps approaching from afar.
The two of them looked over and saw that the person coming was the gatekeeper who had just led Sun Shaozong's horse.
Seeing him running out of breath, without any respect for a rich family, Jia Lian felt unhappy. He slammed the hand warmer on the table and shouted at him from a distance: "You bastard, you are running around blindly, are you in a hurry to reincarnate?!"
The doorman hurried forward a few steps after being scolded by him, and said anxiously: "Second Master, I am not barging in. There are actually a few people from Shuntian Prefecture outside the door, saying that there was a murder in Yunshui Lane, and they want to ask the judge to investigate the case!"
Murder?
Sun Shaozong frowned upon hearing this. According to the transfer order, he would officially take up his post in Shuntian Prefecture after the New Year. How come a murder case happened before the New Year and it was brought to his head ? And it even found Rongguo Mansion!
Just as he was wondering what was so strange about this, Jia Lian started to curse again: "Are you a dog with hysteria? We have a Shuntian Prefecture Chancellor in our mansion, but where did this Tongpan Master come from?!"
Menzi didn't dare to tell and could only look at Sun Shaozong.
"Alas~"
Sun Shaozong sighed, stood up and said, "Second Brother Lian, I'm afraid we won't be able to discuss this 'hero' today! I just received the imperial decree yesterday afternoon, and after the Chinese New Year, I went to Shuntian Prefecture to serve as the criminal judge - who would have thought that just one day later, this trouble would come knocking on my door."
He deliberately emphasized the three words "after the New Year", originally hoping to arouse Jia Lian's suspicion and use his title as the new uncle of the emperor to help him find out the truth.
But Jia Lian didn't notice what he really meant. When he heard that Sun Shaozong was appointed as the criminal judge of Shuntian Prefecture and was about to investigate a murder case, his eyes lit up and he said happily, "Since this is a serious case involving human lives, what are we waiting for? I have never seen anyone investigating a case in my life!"
As he spoke, he raised his voice and ordered, "Xing'er, go and tell your Second Madam that I'm going to accompany the Second Master of the Sun Family to solve a murder case, and I won't be eating lunch at home!"
Sun Shaozong was speechless after hearing this, but he didn't know how to express his concerns directly, so he asked someone to give Ruan Rong a message, asking her to stay in Rongguo Mansion and talk to Lin Daiyu from the bottom of her heart, and it would not be too late for him to come back to pick her up after visiting the crime scene.
