Chapter 496: Hearing the Thief's Tracks, Beauties Flee at Night (Part 2)
Pass through Qinfang Gate, pass the flower tomb, and cross Jiayin Hall.
I saw a delicate rock protruding from the front, piercing the sky, surrounded by various stones on all sides, which completely concealed the houses inside.
Surrounding the exquisite rocks, there is a winding stone staircase, and on that stone staircase, several servants were gazing over this side.
Sun Shaozong frowned, stepped forward a few steps, and scolded: "Didn't I tell you to guard the gate? Why are you standing here like an idiot?"
The leader hurriedly reported, "In reply to Lord Sun, when we got here, we told Miss Xue's maid what happened. Miss Xue had someone spread the word that there was only one ladder leading to Hengwu Garden, and asked us to guard outside."
Sun Shaozong raised his head and took a quick look around, and found that Hengwu Garden was indeed a place that was easy to defend but difficult to attack. He did not waste time talking to the servants, and walked up the stone steps to the gate of Hengwu Garden. Just as he was about to knock on the door, he saw the door split open to the left and right, and four or five maids carrying packages brought out Xue Baochai and Ying'er, the master and servant.
After leaving the house, Xue Baochai first bowed to Sun Shaozong in a leisurely manner: "I have to trouble you, Second Brother Sun again."
As he spoke, he pointed to the other side of the river and said, "Just now, Ying'er and I climbed up to look far away and saw that the lights on the other side of Zhuijin Tower were very neat and tidy. It should not have been disturbed by anything."
This woman is indeed smart and steady!
Thinking of Jia Zheng's vague words, Sun Shaozong couldn't help but feel a little secretly happy that he might really be able to become a couple with her.
However, as a shrewd man, he naturally would not show his joy on his face. He just said sincerely, "Thank you for thinking about my sister-in-law," and then led the masters and servants down the cloud-step stone steps.
However, apart from the first few words she said, Xue Baochai had kept her distance from Sun Shaozong. When she saw Miaoyu and the two little nuns, her beautiful face showed some surprise. She walked quickly to Sun Shaozong and asked quietly, "Since Lord Sun has brought Nun Miaoyu here, I think he has also seen Brother Bao. I wonder if he..."
Sun Shaozong replied, "I first went to the bamboo forest where the thieves were hiding. When I arrived at the Yihong Courtyard, it was empty. Most likely, they were escorted to the front yard by Zhou Rui, who had gone ahead."
Xue Baochai nodded in understanding, and was suddenly surprised to see that the lights on the small island across the street where Zhuijin Tower was located suddenly dimmed.
Sun Shaozong was also surprised. He had repeatedly told the servants who were going to Zhuijin Tower to wait until he arrived before heading to the front yard for shelter. Could something unexpected have happened? !
There was no time to think about anything else at this time, Sun Shaozong hurriedly said: "Sister Xue, please walk slowly behind, I will rush over to see what is going on!"
Having said that, he ran away with big strides.
Just after they crossed the plank bridge with red railings, they saw a group of people coming towards them. Leading the group were none other than Jia Baoyu and Zhou Rui, whom Sun Shaozong thought had already arrived at the front yard.
"Brother Sun!"
When Jia Baoyu saw Sun Shaozong running alone, with a group of people chasing him from behind, he was startled and said in surprise, "Could there be hundreds of thieves? Otherwise, how could they have chased my second brother and made him flee?!"
Seeing that there were many women in Jia Baoyu's group, Sun Shaozong guessed that Jia Yingchun must be among them, so he breathed a sigh of relief. He stepped forward and flicked his finger on his forehead, saying unhappily: "What hundreds of thieves? Do you think this is a war? I saw the lights in Zhuijin Tower suddenly turned off, and I couldn't wait for the servants behind me, so I rushed over."
Then he asked, "Why are you here?"
Baoyu covered his forehead and cried out in pain, gnashing his teeth and saying, "After Steward Zhou came to my place, I was afraid that those thieves would break into the yard, so I..."
Listening to his detailed story, it turned out that after Jia Baoyu received the reinforcements, the first thing he thought of was Lin Daiyu. Therefore, he ignored Zhou Rui's advice and insisted on going to Xiaoxiang Pavilion to find Daiyu.
Zhou Rui had no choice but to split up a part of the people to protect the dozen people in Yihong Courtyard to take refuge in the front yard first. He then led the rest of the guards and accompanied Jia Baoyu to Xiaoxiang Pavilion.
As a result, when he arrived outside the gate of Xiaoxiang Pavilion, he ran into the servants sent by Sun Shaozong for support.
After finding out Sun Shaozong's arrangements, Jia Baoyu naturally became even more unwilling to leave, so he led the team north again and met up with Yingchun, Tanchun, Xichun, Li Wan and others.
After hearing this, Sun Shaozong saw that he was puffing out his chest and looking like he was waiting for his praise. He couldn't help but laugh, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Well done, you are quite responsible."
"More than a little."
Xiren said from behind, "Master Sun, you didn't see it. Our Second Master came out of the woods, grabbed a lantern, and insisted on covering the retreat for everyone! If we hadn't pulled him back, who knows what would have happened."
Although this kid is still indecisive in terms of feelings, he is still somewhat responsible when faced with a crisis, which makes his usual guidance worthwhile.
Sun Shaozong praised him twice, then stepped forward to meet Jia Yingchun, and then ordered the masters and servants of each family to count the number of people. After confirming that there was no mistake, they marched along the road towards the main gate of the Grand View Garden.
Along the way, Sun Shaozong deliberately pulled Jia Baoyu over and asked him in detail how he encountered the thief.
When talking about the cause of this incident, Jia Baoyu suddenly became dejected and hesitated for a long time. Only after repeated questioning by Sun Shaozong did he tell the truth.
It turned out that he was mostly sober at night, and drank a bowl of porridge made from green-stem rice to nourish his stomach. He was leaning on the soft couch enjoying Xiren's meticulous massage, when he saw Musk Moon coming up to him hesitantly and taking out two bright red nails.
As soon as Jia Baoyu saw the nail, he knew it belonged to Qingwen, and hurriedly asked where it came from.
When he heard that it was the love-breaking gift sent by Qingwen, Jia Baoyu felt ashamed and guilty. He rushed out of Yihong Courtyard under the influence of alcohol and wanted to go to the front yard to talk to Qingwen.
Without thinking much at the time, I prepared to pass through the forest and rush to the main gate of the Grand View Garden from the Fengyao Bridge.
Unexpectedly, as soon as I ran to the open space in the middle of the bamboo forest, I saw a faint light of fire in the pavilion.
Jia Baoyu subconsciously stopped and looked closely, and found that there were three people sitting in the pavilion, whispering about something.
At first, Jia Baoyu thought they were servants from the mansion, so he loudly asked them what they were doing there. Unexpectedly, when the three men heard the noise, they immediately jumped up from the ground and put out the fire sticks in their hands.
It was when he stood up that Jia Baoyu saw clearly that the three men were not only wearing night clothes, but also holding shining steel knives in their hands. He was so scared that he turned around and ran away immediately.
Hearing this, Sun Shaozong secretly said in his heart, "As expected." He couldn't help but ask curiously, "If this matter hadn't interrupted you, what exactly did you want to say to Qingwen after you found her?"
"this……"
Jia Baoyu hesitated for a long time, but just lowered his head dejectedly. It was obvious that he had just acted on impulse and had not thought about how to deal with Qingwen at all.
Sun Shaozong sighed silently and was too lazy to mention Qingwen's intention to follow in just now.
As he was walking forward in silence, he suddenly heard someone behind him quietly asking, "Brother Sun, have you found any clues about the thieves?"
Looking back, they saw Lin Daiyu following behind them, staring at them with a pair of eyes full of autumn water. Although she asked a question, her face showed determination.
Sun Shaozong raised his eyebrows and asked, "Why do you think so?"
Then Lin Daiyu said frankly, "Just now, when Brother Bao mentioned the three people sitting in the pavilion, seemingly discussing something in a low voice, Brother Sun's expression did not change, but his steps paused slightly. I think it must be because he had gained something."
Tsk~
This girl is still so smart.
Sun Shaozong couldn't help but glance at Jia Baoyu, thinking to himself that it was lucky or unfortunate that two beautiful women fell in love with this silly boy at the same time.
Jia Baoyu misunderstood Sun Shaozong's meaning, and excitedly stepped forward and shook Sun Shaozong's arm, saying: "Brother, please only tell me... and Sister Lin, we will never tell anyone else!"
What a silly boy!
Sun Shaozong shook him off speechlessly and said seriously, "I am just guessing at the moment. I went to take a look at the pavilion you mentioned. There were a few stones and a circle of soil on the ground. Because I accidentally stepped on it, it was a mess and I couldn't tell what it was. But in my opinion, it should be a simple map of the Grand View Garden."
At this point, he deliberately kept the question a secret and asked, "Do you know what this means?"
Jia Baoyu immediately asked: "What does it mean - Ouch!"
The cry of pain at the end was actually Lin Daiyu reaching out and pinching him, scolding him: "Don't you always want to solve the case? Brother Sun is testing you!"
Jia Baoyu suddenly realized something and scratched his head, thinking hard, muttering "map" and " black-clad thieves" to each other.
Lin Daiyu also lowered her head and pondered in the back. After walking a few dozen steps, she suddenly raised her head in joy and said with a smile, "I know what this means!"
"Good sister, don't say it yet, wait for me, wait for me!"
Jia Baoyu was so anxious that he kept saying nice things. Lin Daiyu covered her cherry lips but still said with a smile: "Our yard is full of precious things. If it's an ordinary thief..."
"I see!"
Jia Baoyu was halfway through her speech when he suddenly realized what was going on and quickly replied, "If it were an ordinary thief, he would be content with just stealing a few things and would never go to the area around Fengyao Bridge!"
Sun Shaozong nodded. Although the Bee Waist Bridge was not far from the gate, the gate led to the front yard. If considered from the entire Rongning and Ning mansions, it was actually in the core area.
If there really was some petty thief who wanted to sneak into the Grand View Garden to gain some benefits, he should not have gone so deep into the area around Fengyao Bridge.
After receiving Sun Shaozong's encouragement, Jia Baoyu became more confident and continued, "And they were able to draw a simple map, which shows that they went to more than one place. Either they are not after money, or they are planning something big and are just exploring the way."
At this point, he suddenly shuddered and said in a lost voice: "If that's the case, if we don't catch the thieves quickly, won't this garden become a dangerous place?!"
