Chapter 488 Granny Liu Visits the Grand View Garden (Part 3)
Jia Baoyu's emotions always come and go quickly.
Just now, he had a few drinks with Sun Shaozong, chatted about some anecdotes in and outside the capital, and put all his sorrows behind him.
He took a few articles to show to Sun Shaozong, and proudly stated that he had anonymously asked the teacher to look at them. He said that although it might be difficult to pass the examination for a juren, it would be easy to get the title of a scholar.
"Second brother, when I pass the imperial examination next year, don't forget what you promised me!"
Liu Xianglian declined the position of legal advisor several times, but Jia Baoyu could not stop thinking about it.
But this is normal. After all, Sun Shaozong asked Liu Xianglian to go for a serious job, but Jia Baoyu just wanted to put on a title so that he could start his detective journey with justification.
Since the purpose is different, the degree of expectation is naturally also very different.
Sun Shaozong smiled and was about to tell him to stop talking so arrogantly, lest he fail the exam and cry incoherently, when he suddenly saw Xiren leading a little maid in and said in a crisp voice, "The ancestor has sent someone to invite you and your sisters to meet the guests."
"guest?"
Jia Baoyu wondered, "What kind of guests are they? Why do we have to invite everyone?"
At this time, the little maid who followed in interrupted with a smile, "It's an old lady from the countryside, her name is Granny Liu, she seems to be related to the Second Madam - I don't know why she has the temper of the old ancestor, saying that the brothers and sisters have never paid attention to the sufferings of the people, so why not call them all over to broaden their horizons."
Hearing that it was an old country woman, Jia Baoyu could not help curling his lips and sneered, "If I want to know about the sufferings of the people, why not ask Brother Sun, the father-in-law, why listen to a village woman's gossip to broaden my horizons?"
As he said this, he threw up his sleeves and said, "Go back and tell Grandmother that I have important guests to entertain and I won't join in the fun."
The little maid agreed and followed Xiren out.
Jia Baoyu then started talking about the imperial examination again, and even said that he had been studying poetry and books so hard recently that he was almost becoming a bookworm. If he had not thought about going to the scene with Sun Shaozong to solve the case, he would have lost his patience long ago.
But after talking for a while, he found that Sun Shaozong was a little absent-minded, and couldn't help but ask curiously: "Second brother, what's wrong with you? Is there something on your mind?"
"Well……"
Sun Shaozong finally came to his senses and tried to cover up, "It's nothing. I just heard you talking about solving cases, and it reminded me of several unsolved cases in the government office. I was distracted for a moment."
Jia Baoyu was relieved at this, but he had no idea that the reason Sun Shaozong was distracted was that he was actually thinking about Granny Liu .
If we talk about the characters in the entire Dream of the Red Chamber that he was most familiar with before traveling through time, the one he was most familiar with was Granny Liu - after all, he had heard the saying "Granny Liu visits the Grand View Garden" since he was a child.
When Sun Shaozong first heard the background story of this "proverb" , it actually unfolded vividly in front of him. For a moment he felt as if he was in a dream.
But when Jia Baoyu heard that there were several unsolved cases in the government office, he became extremely interested and pestered Sun Shaozong to find out the truth.
Sun Shaozong was so annoyed by him that he had no choice but to cheer himself up and pick up things that were talkative and not stomach-worrying to satisfy his curiosity.
Just as they were talking about a headless female corpse found in the county government office, and then a case of two families claiming the body popped up, the little maid came back and said, "Second Master Bao, the old ancestor heard that Lord Sun was here with you, so he asked me and Lord Sun to come over to talk - and said that we are all relatives, and there is nothing to be shy about in front of the old man."
Jia Baoyu was somewhat reluctant when he heard this, but Sun Shaozong was impatient and wanted to see what kind of person this legendary "Grandma Liu" was.
So he stood up and asked in a pretentious manner: "I wonder if my sister-in-law is with the old lady?"
“Yes, yes!”
The little maid nodded hurriedly: "My aunt came out of the master's courtyard and went to pay her respects to the old ancestor. Now she is chatting with Miss Bao, Miss Shi and others in the green gauze cabinet."
"That's the case."
Sun Shaozong turned around and said seriously, "I should indeed go over to take a look. After all, this is the first time my sister-in-law has returned to her parents' home since her morning sickness. If she neglects her health out of happiness, that would be a big mistake."
After hearing this, Jia Baoyu had no choice but to get up and go with him to see his grandmother.
No conversation along the way.
But when he arrived at Lady Jia's room and greeted her, he did not see the legendary Granny Liu. Baoyu glanced around and heard that she had been taken away by Ping'er to take a bath and change clothes, and would be back soon.
As they were talking, Jia Yingchun came out from the green gauze cabinet and greeted Sun Shaozong. Sun Shaozong, as her brother-in-law, gave her some advice and told her to take care of herself.
In fact, Sun Shaozong had secretly told Jia Yingchun this before coming. Now that he mentioned it again in front of others, Jia Yingchun felt a little embarrassed. Fortunately, she had been the mistress for half a year and had made great progress, so she was able to cover it up.
Just then, Wang Xifeng came out and said jokingly with a smile, "When I said that just now, you tried to stop me. What's the matter now? Not only is your son-in-law worried about you, but even your brother-in-law is afraid that you might get hurt in our house. You are like a treasure to me, aren't you?"
There was no hidden meaning in these words, but the listener took them seriously, and Jia Yingchun's heart skipped a beat. She lowered her head with a flushed face, burying it in the increasingly strong chest.
Sun Shaozong was afraid that someone would find out, so he laughed and said, "Second sister-in-law, what you said is true. My brother is nearly 40 years old, and it was not easy for him to have this baby, so it is naturally very precious."
Wang Xifeng giggled, her eyes rolling around, but she was thinking about how to get rid of the others and ask Sun Shaozong for the dividend.
But before she could come up with an idea, Ping'er had already walked in with Granny Liu.
But the old lady was wearing silk and satin, and she couldn't even walk properly. She was grinning, revealing her yellow teeth, and kept saying, "It's a waste, it's really a waste. How can an old woman like me afford such nice clothes?"
"Aren't clothes meant for people to wear? As long as they fit, it doesn't matter if they're expensive!"
Smiling, Grandmother Jia called her over, and then called Lin Daiyu, Xue Baochai and others to come out and meet Grandma Liu one by one.
Every time she mentioned someone, Granny Liu would bow and kowtow repeatedly, saying things like "fairies descending to earth" or "deities reincarnated", which made everyone laugh.
After introducing the young masters and young ladies in Rongguo Mansion, Jia's mother pointed at Sun Shaozong and said, "This is our son-in-law's brother. He is now the governor of Shuntian Prefecture. His full name is Sun Shaozong. I'm sure you have heard of him."
Although Granny Liu didn't know what Zhizhong was, when she heard the name 'Sun Shaozong', her eyes widened and she was about to kneel down in front of Sun Shaozong.
Sun Shaozong was quick to reach out and hold her up, saying with a smile, "We are not in court now, I dare not kneel before an old man."
“Well deserved, well deserved!”
With Sun Shaozong holding her shoulders, Granny Liu was so excited that her hands and feet were shaking: "Who doesn't know the name of Mr. Qingtian Sun?! They say that you are the reincarnation of Bao Longtu, and you will become the King of Hell in the future. I didn't expect... I didn't expect that you are a relative of this mansion!"
When they heard her talk about the rumor that Sun Shaozong would become the King of Hell in the future, everyone in the hall couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Sun Shaozong couldn't help but smile. He was a man who had seen a lot, so he wouldn't think the old lady was rude. He personally helped her to sit at the seat below, which frightened Liu Laolao so much that she kept shouting "No!"
Others were just there to watch the fun, except for Lady Jia who looked at the children. They all kept their distance from Granny Liu. Only Sun Shaozong treated her warmly, without any condescending attitude of a rich and powerful man.
The difference between the two was obvious. She couldn't help but sigh secretly and hoped more and more that Jia Yuanchun could find a boy in the palace.
But Granny Liu sat down uneasily and exchanged a few words with Lady Jia. Only then did she regain some spirits. She racked her brains to pick out the interesting things and told them vividly in the language of the common people.
When have Jia Baoyu and others ever heard these words?
They felt that the book was better than those narrated by the blind gentleman, and they all laughed so hard that they forgot their initial impatience.
However, Sun Shaozong heard the old lady's clear and logical words, and she also had some insights on the world and human nature, which were by no means as vulgar as she appeared to be. He knew that she was deliberately hiding her shortcomings in order to act good in front of others, but he did not point it out and just laughed with everyone else.
Although Granny Liu was a country girl, she was born with some knowledge. Moreover, she was old and had experienced the ups and downs of life. Seeing that Lady Jia was happy, the brothers and sisters all loved to listen, and even if they had nothing to say, they would make up something to say.
Yin said, "We grow crops in our village. Every day, spring, summer, fall, and winter, rain or shine, there is no time to sit down. Every day we build pavilions on the edge of the fields to rest our horses. We have seen all kinds of strange things ."
"Like last winter, it snowed for several days in a row, and the ground was three or four feet deep. I got up early that day, and before I left the house, I heard the sound of firewood outside. I thought someone must be stealing firewood, so I peeked through the window, but it wasn't anyone from our village."
Grandmother Jia said, "It must be that the guests passing by are cold, and seeing the ready-made firewood, they may take some back to warm themselves."
Granny Liu said with a smile: "She is not a guest, so it is strange. Who is the old birthday star? It turns out to be a very pretty girl of seventeen or eighteen years old, with sleek hair, wearing a big red coat and a white silk skirt -"
Just as I said this, I heard someone outside arguing, "It's irrelevant, don't scare the old lady."
After hearing this, Jia Mu and others hurriedly called the servants in to find out what happened.
Then a maid replied, "There was a flood in the stable in the south yard. It's nothing to do with it. They have already rescued the people."
Grandmother Jia was the most timid one. After hearing this, she hurriedly stood up and helped someone out to the corridor to take a look. She saw that the fire was still bright in the southeast.
Grandmother Jia was so frightened that she kept chanting Buddhist scriptures and quickly ordered people to burn incense before the God of Fire.
At this moment, Mrs. Wang and Mrs. Xing also rushed over and comforted Lady Jia, saying that the fire had been put out and asked the old lady to go back to the room and sit down.
However, Grandmother Jia waited until the fire was completely extinguished before she supported the maid and walked inside chanting "Amitabha" all the time.
Everyone followed in one after another. Sun Shaozong was about to follow in when he suddenly saw Mrs. Wang coming out again, looking embarrassed and hesitant.
Sun Shaozong asked curiously, "Aunt, do you have anything to tell me?"
Mrs. Wang said awkwardly, "I shouldn't have troubled you, my dear nephew, but the fire was really strange, and it happened that you were a guest at my house..."
"There is something fishy indeed!"
Before he finished speaking, Jia Baoyu came out from behind the curtain and said excitedly, "It's just a small matter, why bother second brother to get involved? I'll go and check it out right away!"
