Chapter 485 Family Affairs
Sun Shaozong sneered and was about to point out the identity of the real murderer and the flaw he accidentally revealed, but suddenly he saw that the young man Li Xian also had a look of enlightenment, so he changed the topic and said, "Li Xian, have you thought of anything?"
Li Xian bowed and said seriously, "I only discovered something strange when I saw you keep asking about Zhou Feng. When my father asked him to go up and knock on the door, he thought Uncle Chen was at home and broke the promise. He is not as good as my father. He and Uncle Chen are good friends. He should have called Uncle Chen by his name when he knocked on the door. Why did he call Mrs. Chen directly?"
"This is totally unreasonable! Unless he knew it long ago, Uncle Chen couldn't have been at home at that time!"
"In other words, Uncle Chen's disappearance must be related to Zhou Feng!"
Hearing what the young man said, which was exactly what he had been thinking, Sun Shaozong's eyes became more admiring - this Li Xian was full of courage, insight, wit, and literary talent. If he could be well cultivated, he would surely be a remarkable figure in the future.
Right now, I am preparing for the future...
Thinking of this, Sun Shaozong couldn't help sneering and said, "Xu Huaizhi is a sixth-rank county magistrate after all, but his knowledge is not as good as that of a little boy - come here!"
As he spoke, he took a stick from the stick holder, threw it to the ground, and ordered: "Invite Xu Zhixian and Zhou Feng to come here together, and let them re-examine this case in the government office!"
It's called a retrial, but in fact it's just forcing Xu Huaizhi to slap himself in the face!
Logically speaking, this kind of behavior of directly tearing apart the relationship without leaving any room for negotiation is something that people in official circles try their best to avoid.
But Xu Huaizhi had made mistakes time and again, and was accustomed to blaming his superiors, so he had long been on Sun Shaozong's blacklist. And now Sun Shaozong was in cahoots with Jia Yucun, and there was no one to restrain him in Shuntian Prefecture. If he didn't deal with Xu Huaizhi now, when would he?
After the bailiff took the order and left, Sun Shaozong ordered someone to invite a doctor to treat Li Sheng's injuries in the court.
Naturally, Li Xian was very grateful and kowtowed several times on behalf of his father.
But about half an hour later, Xu Huaizhi rushed to the lobby in a cold sweat. When he saw Sun Shaozong, he knelt down without saying a word and said in fear and trepidation: "I am stupid and confused! Please forgive me this time because I am eager to solve the case!"
"Eager to solve the case?"
Sun Shaozong snorted and said, "If you were really eager to solve the case, you should have noticed something strange after two criminals confessed for four or five days, but still couldn't find any trace of Chen Xu, right?"
"Your humble servant..."
"That's all."
Sun Shaozong was too lazy to listen to his explanation. He stood up from the case and stepped aside, saying coldly, "Since this case started with you, you should try it to the end."
Seeing him speaking so coldly, how could Xu Huaizhi dare to take advantage of the situation and actually sit down at the table to start trying cases?
He quickly lowered his head and said servilely, "I am so humbled. Since you have uncovered the truth of this case, you should..."
"Since you don't want to be interrogated while sitting, it's the same if you kneel down."
Without waiting for Xu Huaizhi to finish, Sun Shaozong said another cold sentence, turned around and went back to the back court, leaving Xu Huaizhi in the hall, unable to kneel or stand up.
Not to mention whether he was kneeling or sitting during the trial.
Back at the back court, Sun Shaozong took off his official robe and changed into a dark-colored casual dress while instructing Sun Chengye who followed him: "Third brother, go and find out where Li Xian and his son live. When you get back, tell Zhao Zhongji to send 150 taels of silver over tomorrow. And by the way, tell Li Xian and his son that I will have a full-moon banquet at home on the 27th."
"Uncle Thirteen, has he chosen that child?"
"Whether he is suitable for you or not also depends on whether he dares to come on the 27th and whether he will come at all."
Since he wanted to cultivate his own trusted forces, naturally those who had been won over by kindness and loyalty since childhood were more worthy of expectations and trust. However, given Sun Shaozong's current status, it was not easy for him to rush to please a young boy. He could only give a little reminder and wait for Li Xian to come.
No conversation along the way.
When he got home, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse. Sun Shaozong stopped at the door of the main hall and was about to call Shi Liu to come out with a lantern to remove the evil spirit from his body, but suddenly he saw a person flash out from the west wing.
At first, I thought it was You Erjie who was waiting for an opportunity to come up and pester me again, until she got closer, I realized that she was the mother of the You sisters.
Because they had made up their minds to marry off Third Sister You from the Sun family, Mother You moved in with her daughter a few days ago. Third Sister You got a small courtyard of her own, while Mother You lived with Xiangling's mother.
Since You Erjie was a concubine, her mother was naturally not considered a proper elder, so Sun Shaozong just nodded slightly and asked, "Mom, why don't you go back to rest so late? Is there something you want to discuss with me?"
Although the word "mom" at this time can also be used to refer to mothers, it is mainly used as a friendly name for older women.
Mother You did not dare to be arrogant, and hurriedly bowed and said, "I didn't dare to trouble you, Second Master, but I received a message today, which was... brought by a servant from Ningguo Mansion."
Sun Shaozong suddenly realized that Youshi was, after all, the eldest sister in name. How could she not have any reaction when she saw that her younger sister was about to get married?
As for You's mother's hesitation, it was because she was concerned about the feud between Sun Shaozong and Ningguo Mansion.
However, with that romantic night as a foundation, how could Sun Shaozong vent his anger on Youshi?
She smiled and said, "It's a good day for Third Sister and Brother Liu, I'm just afraid that the scene won't be lively, so why would I push away the people who help out? If Ningguo Mansion wants to buy some clothes or something, they don't need to discuss it with me, just make the decision yourself, mother."
"Why!"
Mother You immediately smiled happily, patting her thigh and said, "I said that the Second Master is a generous person - then I will ask the eldest sister to come over tomorrow to take a look and help the third girl to judge!"
Yu is coming to visit?
Sun Shaozong's mind flashed through Youshi's petite and exquisite figure, and then he thought of You Erjie's plump, jade-like and tender body. These two sisters in name were really worlds apart.
On the contrary, Third Sister You has the best qualities of both of them, and is even more daring and charming than the other...
Bah! Bah! Bah!
After spitting several times to drive out the inappropriate thoughts from his mind, Sun Shaozong said, "If the eldest wife of Ningguo Mansion comes in person, why not invite her to the eldest sister-in-law's place to entertain her tomorrow? After all, they are also sisters-in-law and have some friendship."
Mother You responded repeatedly, and then returned to the west wing with many thanks.
After Sun Shaozong watched her leave, he turned around and saw Shi Liu coming out with a lantern. She shone the light on him from head to toe while laughing and winking at him to look at the window in the inner room.
When I looked up, I saw a hazy shadow in the window. It was obviously Ruan Rong eavesdropping.
Tsk~
Maybe he was worried that he would be taken away by You Erjie.
Thinking this, Sun Shaozong did not rush to harass his son, but went to Ruan Rong's room first.
"Why, are you afraid of me, Master..."
I wanted to tease Ruan Rong when I came in, but I saw her sitting in front of the dressing table in a daze, with tears in the corners of her eyes.
Sun Shaozong panicked immediately , and hurried forward to hold her shoulders, asking with concern: "What's going on? Why are you dropping gold beans for no reason?"
Ruan Rong buried her head in his arms and said in a muffled voice, "Even this orphan and widow have relatives rushing to ask about marriage, but I am alone and haven't received a single letter in half a year."
Not to mention his cheap father-in-law, who has now been imprisoned in the Qianxiang Kingdom's Heavenly Prison. Even if he is fine, given the current situation in Qianxiang Kingdom, I'm afraid he wouldn't dare to pass on a single word to the Great Zhou.
However, Sun Shaozong did not dare to let Ruan Rong know about this. In order to conceal the news, he even sent the guy who had returned from Qianxiang Country to the south to help Cheng Rixing run the timber business.
So he had to make a joke and deliberately said with a straight face: "What you said, with me by your side, how can you be alone? Besides, even if I am an outsider, your son is still your flesh and blood, right?"
"Or do you think his last name is not Ruan? Then I will tell the people below to change his name to Ruan Chengyi tomorrow!"
“Pah~!”
Ruan Rong raised her head and spat, half-seriously and half-fakely saying angrily: "I'm talking to you seriously, but you keep talking nonsense!"
"Ha ha……"
Sun Shaozong laughed, wrapped her in his arms, and said, "Then let's not change his name for now. When we have another son, we'll let him take your surname."
"You still say that!"
Ruan Rong used her fist to hit Sun Shaozong's chest a few times, but he took the opportunity to pick her up by the waist and put her sideways on the bed. He was about to pounce on her and fight for the next child. Ruan Rong quickly raised her legs to support his waist and scolded, "Wash up first. You came out of You's room this morning and you haven't washed yourself yet."
Is it still necessary to wash?
Yu Shi had already used her eloquent tongue to properly deal with the aftermath.
However, it was not in detail to Ruan Rong, so Sun Shaozong had to get up angrily and asked Shi Liu and Fu Rong to bring out the bathtub, and also brought in a few buckets of well water and three pots of hot water.
As eight hands were scrubbing inside and outside the tub, Ruan Rong suddenly remembered something important and said hurriedly, "Oh, the master sent someone to deliver two ten thousand tael silver notes, but he didn't say what they were for."
Sun Shaozong used a ladle to pour some water on his head to wash off the jasmine-scented soap foam, and then used a towel to wipe his face roughly. Then he said, "It's nothing. Didn't our timber business make a lot of money? They can't handle it anymore, so they're thinking about distributing dividends in advance. I discussed it with my eldest brother yesterday and decided to get some money from our family to cushion the loss, so as not to ruin the business."
Ruan Rong naturally knew who 'over there' was referring to, and could not help but angrily said, "Her family didn't pay a cent, but they relied on their relationship to split the profits with us in half, and now they even have the nerve to ask for early dividends!"
Sun Shaozong smiled helplessly and sighed, "What can we do? Even if a few hundred years pass, the ones who make the most money will still be those who have connections."
