Chapter 502: The Fan Is the Root of Evil, and the Question Is Unsolved
But watching Jia Baoyu's figure walking away on the other side of the bridge, and seeing that the nearest servant was also fifty feet away, Sun Shaozong turned to Jia Lian, hesitating to say, "Second brother, what..."
Seeing this, Jia Lian immediately put on a bold face and said, "What's there to be hesitant about between us brothers? Erlang, just speak your mind!"
He is so magnanimous that he seems to be a mean person.
Sun Shaozong simply threw all propriety and shame out of his mind and said shamelessly: "Xiao Hong is fine, but who in this mansion doesn't know Miss Ping'er's status? If my second brother hadn't promised to give her to me as a concubine, I would never dare to be rude to her."
"Otherwise, if others find out, the rumors alone will be too much for a woman to bear."
Although Jia Lian lacked some shrewdness, he was not a fool after all. He could naturally hear the hidden meaning in Sun Shaozong's words, which was nothing more than hoping that Sun Shaozong could fulfill his promise and give Ping'er to him.
Jia Lian himself had no objection, and even hoped to use this opportunity to get closer to Sun Shaozong.
only……
"Although I am willing to send her to you, your sister-in-law cannot leave Ping'er for even a moment. She even argued with me this morning." Jia Lian said, and seeing Sun Shaozong's face change slightly, he patted his chest and said, "But don't worry, I will find a way to make that woman give in and send her to your house in person!"
As he said this, he added with a smile: "If you miss her these days, why not come to our house for a few days and just think of it as keeping a mistress for a while."
He has said so much, what else can Sun Shaozong say?
I had no choice but to agree reluctantly.
He turned back and was about to continue investigating nearby to see if he could find other clues, but he saw a maid on the other side rushing over like a flash, shouting across the Bee Waist Bridge: "Second Master, the master wants you to come over. He said he has something for you to do!"
Jia Lian frowned when he heard this. After Baoyu was sent away, he was secretly happy to be able to be alone with Sun Shaozong, but he never expected that his father would send him another order.
Feeling depressed, he naturally refused to submit obediently, and waved his hand to call the maid over to ask her what happened.
It turned out that Jia She had just heard from someone that there was a poor man named Shi in the city, nicknamed Shi Daizi. His family was so poor that they could not even afford to eat, but there were more than 20 fine fans hidden in his house, which were engraved with the calligraphy of famous people from past dynasties. Each fan was a rare treasure.
Jia She was obsessed with this thing all his life. He was overjoyed when he heard the news. He had originally wanted to go and see for himself, but he was distracted and sprained his ankle. Now his ankle was swollen like a steamed bun, so it was impossible for him to look at the fan.
That's why he ordered someone to call Jia Lian and asked Jia Lian to go and find out what was going on on his behalf.
After hearing the whole story, Jia Lian became even more impatient and scolded, "How many serious things does the master have to do right now? You guys are serving him, so why don't you let him ask someone else to see the bride?"
The maid hunched her shoulders in fear and said, "Master said that the servants in the mansion don't even know how to read, so how can we identify fans? So this matter must be done by Second Master."
Although Jia Lian was reluctant, he knew his father's temper. If he really disobeyed his father, the family rules would fall on his head in a blink of an eye.
Therefore, he could only say goodbye to Sun Shaozong reluctantly and crossed the Bee Waist Bridge humming all the way.
After he left, Sun Shaozong felt much more at ease. He first searched carefully outside the bamboo forest, but failed to find any decent clues. He then searched carefully along the north wall of the Grand View Garden, and found two traces of climbing over the wall.
Through comparison, it can be basically confirmed that the three thieves had escaped last night.
Sun Shaozong felt relieved, and there was really no other place to investigate, so he simply wandered around Yihong Courtyard, admiring the beautiful autumn scenery.
About half an hour later, Zhou Rui came hurriedly and said that the searches in various places had come to an end and no thieves were found hiding during the period.
If Sun Shaozong had no other instructions, he would have prepared to withdraw all the servants so that the maids and old women could return to their respective homes, and to prevent the old lady from being exposed when she was visiting the garden.
Sun Shaozong waved his hand indifferently: "Just do what you should do. I will just walk around in this garden and wait for the old lady to bring people in, so that I can guard along the way."
Zhou Rui thanked his master profusely and led the servants out of the garden.
Sun Shaozong strolled around the Yihong Courtyard for a while and saw Xiren leading the girls from the Yihong Courtyard onto the boulevard. He then avoided them from a distance and went to a nearby mountain path.
After walking for a while, we saw a quiet little temple hidden in the woods ahead.
Sun Shaozong strolled leisurely and arrived at the gate of the small temple. He was just looking at the three characters "Longcui Temple" on the plaque when he heard hurried footsteps behind him, followed by Miaoyu's surprised voice: "Master Sun? Why... why are you here?"
Looking back, I saw that the fake nun was wearing the same moon-white gauze skirt she wore yesterday, with her three-foot-long black hair simply tied behind her head with a light blue belt. Her sleeves fluttered and her black hair was like clouds as she walked. She looked very free and easy, but in her arms she was holding a little baby girl.
Sun Shaozong smiled slightly, stepped aside to make way for him, and said, "Why, don't you invite me in to sit down?"
Miaoyu felt more and more strange, but after offering herself twice and being "righteously rejected" by Sun Shaozong, her opinion of Sun Shaozong gradually changed from initial contempt to respect.
So he hurriedly handed the child to the little nun behind him to take care of him, stepped forward to lock the gate, and said, "Life is hard in the temple, I'm afraid only a few cups of coarse tea can show your gratitude."
Sun Shaozong entered the courtyard without hesitation, but did not go to the main hall. Instead, he went straight into Miaoyu's Zen room.
Miaoyu was stunned again, but immediately followed in, opened the small cabinet made of Xiang bamboo, took out many bottles and jars, and took out a small red clay stove, and started busying herself.
Soon, she personally brought a small tea tray with a crabapple flower-shaped carved lacquer and a golden dragon offering longevity, and placed a small colorful lidded cup from Cheng kiln inside, and gracefully presented it to Sun Shaozong.
Every move is pleasing to the eye. Even ordinary tea has added a touch of flavor, not to mention that this tea is indeed a rare treasure.
Unfortunately, Sun Shaozong was not an expert in this field. He did not ask what kind of tea it was. He drank it without hesitation and put the teacup on the tray. He asked, "Do you know why I came to see you this time?"
Miaoyu saw him staring at her, and for a moment she had the wrong idea. She blushed and took a half step back, saying shyly, "This is a pure land of Buddhism. Please respect yourself, sir."
"Self-respect?"
Seeing that she was so naturally shy and didn't reveal any flaws, Sun Shaozong couldn't help but roll his eyes and said unhappily, "You are a nun who practices Buddhism with your hair untied. Can you stop thinking about love affairs? I came here this time because I have something serious to ask you."
Miaoyu then realized that she had misunderstood Sun Shaozong's intention. Her face became even redder with shame. She hurriedly put the tea set in place and asked carefully, "I wonder what the serious matter is?"
Sun Shaozong was too lazy to continue playing dumb with her, so he said solemnly, "Those thieves last night were probably targeting your Longcui Temple!"
"What?!"
Miaoyu couldn't help but screamed, and then she felt a little unbelievable, and asked suspiciously: "How is this possible? There are only a few monks in the nunnery, how could we provoke such a bandit?"
“That’s exactly what I’m wondering about.”
Sun Shaozong frowned and said, "Those thieves have toured most of the Grand View Garden and even pieced together a topographical map, but they obviously failed to achieve their purpose of venturing in. I'm afraid it's not just for the money."
"And most of the places where people live in this garden are in conspicuous places, only your place is quiet and hard to find - so I inferred that the thieves came for Longcui Temple, but because it was dark and this place was very secretive, they failed to succeed."
At this point, he looked at Miaoyu and said, "Think carefully, what is there in this Longcui Nunnery that is worth the thieves risking their lives to get it?"
"this……"
This really made Miaoyu feel very difficult. She paced back and forth in front of Sun Shaozong, frowning and pondering for a long time, but finally shook her head: "My two junior sisters and I are devoted to cultivation, and we rarely go out on weekdays. How could we have ever offended any strong men?"
"Speaking of going out..."
She hesitated and said, "Just a while ago, I went to Shuntian Prefecture frequently for matters concerning my child."
Sun Shaozong had also thought of this, but Miaoyu was always sent to the house of confinement. It was really unbelievable to say that she had touched upon some huge secret that attracted these desperate strongmen - the people in the house of confinement were all the elderly, the weak, women and children, not bandits or pirates who liked to collect treasures!
After asking a few more questions, Sun Shaozong still had no idea, so he said helplessly: "Why don't you think about it carefully? Is there something else that you have overlooked? Or maybe these thieves were actually led here by your two junior sisters?"
"Also, you'd better be careful. Although the mansion will certainly be more guarded, there is no guarantee that those thieves will sneak in again."
After saying that, Sun Shaozong stood up and was about to push the door open to leave.
"Wait a minute, sir."
Miaoyu hurriedly called him to stop and asked earnestly, "I wonder if you have informed the owner of this mansion that you suspect the thieves are targeting my Rongcui Temple?"
"Of course not."
Sun Shaozong said as a matter of course: "I am just speculating, and I don't have any evidence. If I tell them, I am afraid that they will be suspicious of you..."
"Please tell me the truth, sir!"
Without waiting for Sun Shaozong to finish, Miaoyu said decisively: "The owner of this mansion treats me very well. If those thieves were really brought here by me, I will move out of this garden to avoid getting them into trouble!"
Tsk~
The saintly heart really showed up again.
Sun Shaozong sneered, "Do you think I pity you? I'm afraid that the child will be implicated by you for no reason! If you really leave this Rongguo Mansion, no one will be kind enough to help you raise the child!"
When talking about the child, Miaoyu's eyes full of determination suddenly began to waver.
Sun Shaozong didn't care how she struggled in her heart and walked out of Longcui Temple on his own.
As soon as he returned to the main road, he saw Sheyue and Qiu Wen leading a few maids, running around like headless flies. He couldn't help but raise his voice and ask curiously, "What are you looking for?"
"Lord Sun!"
When Sheyue and the others saw that it was him, they were immediately overjoyed and hurried forward to say, "The old lady has already entered the garden. Our Second Master was afraid that something might happen, so he specially asked the servants to invite the Master to accompany her!"
