Chapter 286 Uninvited Guests
Because someone recently said that the poetry recitation was too poetic, not a single word of this romantic night was heard.
The next day, as soon as he heard the cock crow at dawn, Sun Shaozong sneaked out of the main courtyard, followed the secluded alley, and strode to the door of the study.
Knock knock knock~
“Here I come.”
After knocking gently a few times, he heard Siqi's lazy response from inside. Soon , she opened the door with her hair loose and let Sun Shaozong in.
But she herself walked with her feet turned inward and hurried back to the main courtyard.
She quietly pushed open the door and walked into the inner room. When the bead curtain rang, she heard Jia Yingchun nervously ask, "Who... who's outside?"
"It's me."
Siqi agreed and drew aside the gauze curtain, only to see Yingchun and Xiuju lying side by side on the same quilt, their faces still flushed and sweat dripping, presumably they had just had another secret affair before dawn.
Seeing Siqi coming in, Jia Yingchun's face became even redder, and she hugged the quilt and wanted to sit up.
However, Siqi took a quick step forward and pushed her back. Then, in front of Yingchun's surprised gaze, she lifted the quilt underneath and placed a spare pillow under Yingchun.
I only heard her righteously admonishing: "Madam, don't just focus on having fun and forget the original intention of doing this."
When she lifted the quilt and saw the mess, Jia Yingchun was extremely embarrassed. She didn't know what to do when she heard Xiu Ju begging beside her in a low voice: "Good sister, please help me put one under the quilt."
Let me explain this on two sides.
But that morning, Sun Shaozong was bombarded with advice from his adopted elder brother, such as "keep up the good work", "keep up the good work" and "have a son soon". It was not until he left the mansion in a carriage that he was able to get some peace and quiet.
No conversation along the way.
When Sun Shaozong arrived at the government office, he was about to report to the gatehouse when a man suddenly appeared from behind the fence with wooden signs saying "Silence" and "Avoid", stepped in front of Sun Shaozong, bowed and said, "Sun Zhizhong, I have been waiting for you for a long time."
This man was dressed in a dark blue official robe, had a slender figure and stern facial features. He looked quite elegant, but upon closer inspection he seemed a little gloomy. He was none other than Jia Zheng's favorite student, the magistrate of Shuntian Prefecture - Fu Shi.
This fellow has always been proud of being a scholar, and relying on Jia Zheng's relationship, he does not take Sun Shaozong seriously. Even when Sun Shaozong was promoted to a fifth-rank official, he still ignored him.
But now this guy is suddenly so attentive, if the sun has not risen from the west, then he has other intentions!
"I wonder who it is."
Sun Shaozong secretly raised his guard, but put on a defiant look, raised his head slightly, pointed his nose at Fu Shi and said, "So it's Fu Tongpan. I didn't know you were waiting for me here. Do you have any official business to discuss?"
Because Fu Shi was acting so out of character, he assumed that he had some private matter to ask for, so he specifically mentioned the word "official business" in an attempt to shut Fu Shi up.
Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Fu looked around furtively, then moved closer and said in a low voice: "Your Excellency is right. I have official business to discuss with you! It's just that it's a bit inconvenient to talk here. Please follow me to move to another place."
Official business?
Is it necessary to be so sneaky when doing official business?
Sun Shaozong became more and more suspicious, but since he said it was official business, he might as well listen to what he had to say before making any plans.
So he went to the signing room to report for duty, and then followed Fu Shi to a secluded place near the second gate.
Seeing that Fu Shi had stopped, Sun Shaozong was about to ask for clarification when he suddenly saw another figure flash out from the bushes. He rushed in front of Sun Shaozong and bowed to him without saying a word, saying in a sad voice, "Master Sun, please save my poor son!"
But I only saw that this man was wrapped tightly in a hooded cloak, with only two cloudy eyes showing. It was obvious at a glance that he was quite old.
After taking a quick look at the man, Sun Shaozong suddenly had an idea and blurted out, "But is Ma Shaoqing in person?"
The word "Shaoqing" does not refer to the name, but the official position of Zuo Shaoqing of Guanglu Temple.
Just the day before yesterday, Sun Shaozong heard from his cheap elder brother that the son of Ma Chunfeng, the Left Shaoqing of the Guanglu Temple, was kidnapped by thieves while going on an outing.
As soon as this person came, he begged Sun Shaozong to save his son. In addition, Fu Shi was originally transferred from the position of Secretary of Guanglu Temple. All these aspects are connected, so it is not difficult to guess his identity.
"Your Excellency is indeed a man of great insight. I am Ma Chunfeng from the Imperial Household Department."
Ma Chunfeng said as he reached out to untie the hood, revealing a haggard old face. He smiled bitterly and said, "Because that group of thugs threatened me, saying that if I dared to report to the authorities, they would kill my son immediately to vent their anger. So I had no choice but to hide my head and show my tail like this, which made Lord Sun laugh."
After hearing these few words, Sun Shaozong already frowned. He was in no hurry to talk to Ma Chunfeng. Instead, he glanced at Fu Shi with disdain and said, "Since that is what is said, the fewer people involved, the better."
This obviously means that he dislikes Fu Shi being in the way.
Fu Shi showed a little anger on his face, but he immediately restrained himself and continued to smile: "To be honest, my sister is the daughter-in-law of Ma Shaoqing, and she is not an outsider to the Ma family."
Among the six ministries and five temples, the Guanglu Temple is almost ranked at the bottom, and the Zuo Shaoqing is only a deputy position of the fifth rank. In terms of actual power, he may not be able to catch up with the Qianliang Tongpan of Shuntian Prefecture.
Therefore, when Sun Shaozong saw Fu Shi being so attentive and even being rude to him just now, he felt it was a bit strange. But now he suddenly realized that the two families were actually related by marriage.
In this case, it would be a bad idea to exclude him.
Sun Shaozong simply ignored him and said to Ma Chunfeng sternly, "May I ask, Sir Ma, did you receive the letter from those thieves the night before yesterday?"
"How could Lord Sun know this?!"
Ma Chunfeng was immediately shocked when he heard this. Only five or six people in his house knew about the letter sent by the kidnappers, and they were all loyal servants who had been used to serving him for generations. It was impossible for them to spread this matter to others!
Since the information was not leaked by their own family, how did Sun Shaozong know about it?
Could it be that he...
The old man began to wonder in his heart, and when he looked at Sun Shaozong again, there was some wariness and hostility in his eyes.
Seeing this, Sun Shaozong felt at a loss whether to laugh or cry: "Master Ma, are you suspecting that I have any connection with those thieves?"
"Of course not!"
Ma Chunfeng immediately denied it, but then he said suspiciously: "But I have never mentioned this to anyone else, how did Lord Sun know about it?"
"I guessed it, of course."
Sun Shaozong spread his hands and said, "Since those thieves have threatened Lord Ma not to try to use the power of the government, they will definitely send this news to your house as soon as possible - otherwise if it is delayed for too long, and you report the case in advance, wouldn't it ruin their wishful thinking?"
"It's hard to get away during the day when there are too many people around. It's reasonable to assume that the thief took advantage of the night to pass the news to your house. Isn't that reasonable?"
Ma Chunfeng nodded repeatedly after hearing this, and his doubts were finally put to rest.
Just as he was about to apologize carefully, he heard Sun Shaozong say, "Besides, you didn't come yesterday, and you came to me today dressed like this to ask for help. I'm afraid you have already paid the ransom to the thieves, right?"
"But those thieves took the ransom but still refused to release the prisoners. You had no choice but to ask for help from Judge Fu Tong. Is that right or wrong?"
"That's right!"
Seeing that Sun Shaozong had deduced the whole thing in just a few words, Ma Chunfeng admired him and bowed deeply, saying excitedly: "Sir Sun really lives up to his name of 'divine judgment'. My son can be saved now!"
Sun Shaozong dodged the greeting and shook his head, saying, "I can only promise to do my best."
After a moment's hesitation, he still gave Ma Chunfeng a warning: "Excuse me, Lord Ma, you really shouldn't have paid the ransom so quickly. Those thieves are unwilling to release us as agreed. If you still have something to ask for, it's fine. But if you have nothing else to ask for..."
Although he only mentioned it briefly and didn't say everything, Ma Chunfeng was able to reach the fifth rank, so he was definitely not a stupid person.
He thought about it for a moment, and his face suddenly changed. He raised his hand and slapped himself, then stamped his feet and beat his chest, saying, "I am really getting old and confused! If anything happens to Jue'er, I... I won't live anymore!"
