Chapter 509: Frame-up
Although it is said that a wife is not as good as a concubine, and a concubine is not as good as a secret lover.
But when it comes to feeling comfortable and at ease, one has to be at home.
Backyard gazebo.
Sun Shaozong was leaning lazily on a reclining chair. Beside him, Ruan Rong, leading a group of female soldiers, were sitting around a few small red clay stoves, discussing various ways of making antique soup.
The full moon banquet in the evening is to entertain outsiders, so needless to say, it must be sumptuous. However, the lunch at noon is a family gathering, and according to Sun Shaozong's wishes, it should be as simple as possible.
But the hotpot of this wealthy family is not something that can be prepared simply by cooking it.
Not to mention the various flavors of seasonings, there are more than ten kinds of oils added in, including butter, dog oil, lard, mutton oil, duck oil, goose oil, deer oil, soybean oil, sesame oil, etc.
The bottles and jars placed together made Sun Shaozong dizzy.
Fortunately, men had a high status in those days and gentlemen were advised to stay away from the kitchen, so he only needed to wait for the women to serve him the cooked food with both hands.
"Xiangling, bring two bottles of sesame paste over here."
Originally, Sun Shaozong was resting his eyes contentedly, but when he heard Ruan Rong instructing Xiangling to get something, he opened his eyelids a little and happened to see Xiangling passing by the reclining chair. He immediately raised one leg, gently hooked Xiangling's waist, and patted his thigh.
Xiangling stopped and hesitated for a while, but still moved forward with a red face and sat obediently on Sun Shaozong's lap.
Then Sun Shaozong lazily said, "You've just finished your confinement, and you've already ordered me around like that."
"It's just two jars of peanut butter. Can it tire her out?"
Ruan Rong rolled her eyes, and You Erjie beside her hurriedly and obediently handed her two cans of peanut butter.
Ruan Rong poured some peanut butter from the jar, mixed it with water and stirred it vigorously with a pair of silver chopsticks. She added, "Besides, women should move more after the confinement period. Isn't that what you told me at the beginning?"
Sun Shaozong laughed shamelessly and said, "Hasn't it been decided tonight that she should exercise properly? She should at least save some energy during the day."
Xiangling was so embarrassed that she threw herself into his arms, while You Erjie covered her mouth and giggled as if she had stolen a chicken.
Ruan Rong dumped the peanut butter on the coffee table, and put a few deep-fried dogwoods in it, scolding, "You have no shame in broad daylight, aren't you afraid that people will laugh at you if it gets out?"
Sun Shaozong was still laughing shamelessly, but Xiangling in his arms became more and more embarrassed. She raised her fair neck and tried to put her head close to Sun Shaozong's ear. She whispered a few words and said shyly, "I'd better wait a few days before serving you."
Sun Shaozong smiled dumbly, put his arm around her waist, and rubbed her belly which had not yet recovered from the birth of a daughter: "Your belly has just done a great service to our family, how could I dislike it? Besides, it's still a long way from a pot belly."
Ruan Rong realized that she was worried about losing her figure. While adding various ingredients to the sesame paste, she smiled and said, "What's the big deal? When I just gave birth to Yi'er, my waist became thicker. I'll ask the master to give you that 'Yujia' tonight. You can lose most of the weight after practicing for a while."
As she spoke, she took another pair of new chopsticks, dipped them into the peanut butter, took a sip, and decisively ordered: "Go, send this bowl of sesame paste to the kitchen and see if they can still use it. If they really can't use it, feed it to the dog."
This is already the sixth bowl.
Sun Shaozong rolled his eyes speechlessly and wanted to advise her to stop causing trouble, but seeing that she seemed very interested and insisted on making a satisfactory dipping sauce, he swallowed his words back.
Forget it. We waste food a lot at home anyway, so this is no big deal.
Just as he was planning to hold Xiangling in his arms to continue recuperating his strength, he heard a series of "baby cries". Turning around, Sun Shaozong saw that it was indeed his son being carried out by Qingwen.
"This little bastard has been getting more and more wild recently. He tries to run outside as soon as he wakes up!" Sun Shaozong cursed, but his eyes, which were like copper bells, had already curved into crescent shapes.
Ruan Rong threw the seasoning aside, walked over to pick up her son, kissed his chubby face twice, and said with a smile, "What's the point of a boy staying indoors all the time?"
Hehe~
Why don't you mention at this time that your son should study hard and take the imperial examination when he grows up?
Sun Shaozong rolled his eyes and was about to have a quarrel with her when he suddenly saw Zhao Zhongji peeking inside from the gate, as if he had something to report.
"What's the matter?"
Sun Shaozong asked loudly, and Zhao Zhongji hurriedly ran to the outside of the pavilion, bowed and said without looking away: "In reply to the second master, the chief historian Zhou of the Zhongshun Palace has arrived, and he said he came to congratulate the young lady on her full moon."
Zhou Mo is here?
Or did he come here specially to congratulate his daughter on her full moon?
Sun Shaozong frowned immediately. Not to mention his relationship with Zhou Mo, they were far from being familiar enough to invite each other to the concubine's daughter's full moon banquet.
As for the well-informed information in Prince Zhongshun's Palace, Zhou Mo couldn't possibly not know that he was holding a full-moon banquet at night...
This guy might have other intentions, maybe it was instructed by King Zhongshun!
Thinking of this, Sun Shaozong naturally did not dare to delay. He hurriedly got up from the reclining chair and followed Zhao Zhongji to the front yard.
When I arrived outside the living room, I saw Zhou Mo sitting alone at the top of the table. There were two gift boxes on the coffee table next to him. They should be the gifts he brought.
Before crossing the threshold, Sun Shaozong smiled and said, "Master Zhou, I haven't seen you for a long time. I hope you are well."
“TOEFL, TOEFL.”
Zhou Mo was less arrogant this time. He came forward with a big smile on his face and said, "If it weren't for Lord Sun who saved the day, I would have been dead a long time ago."
This obviously refers to the fact that Sun Shaozong forged the identity of the emperor's grandson.
This was something that could not be discussed, so Sun Shaozong quickly smiled and passed it off. He first asked about King Zhongshun's well-being, and then invited Zhou Mo back to sit at the top of the table.
After he sat firmly in the main seat, he began to carefully probe: "I didn't expect that my daughter's full moon would be attended by the great Master Zhou. I am really flattered."
“More than that.”
Zhou Mo raised his hand and said with a smile: "Even our prince was alarmed."
As he spoke, he gently tapped the two gift boxes and said, "This contains the prince's heartfelt gift - tsk tsk, a concubine's full moon can even alarm the prince, you are the only one in this city!"
Sun Shaozong doesn't care about this honor at all!
From what he said, it is almost certain that Zhou Mo came here to convey King Zhongshun's intentions.
Therefore, Sun Shaozong hurriedly put on a panicked look, stood up and said: "Your Majesty's great kindness, this humble official is really unable to repay you, please ask Zhou Changshi to report to you on my behalf, and when Your Majesty is free another day, this humble official will definitely go to thank you in person."
"There's no need to go and thank you in person."
Zhou Mo said with a smile: "As long as Lord Sun is sincere in his work and is worthy of the cultivation of His Majesty and the prince, it will be enough."
As he spoke, he leaned forward and said mysteriously, "By the way, you should have heard about the sudden death of Lord Wu of Zhenguo Mansion, right?"
When Sun Shaozong heard this, he knew that the main part of the play was about to begin.
He secretly raised his guard and nodded, "I heard about it yesterday. However, this old Lord Wu is already very old, so it can barely be called a happy funeral..."
"Happy funeral?"
Zhou Mo sneered: "It's neither too early nor too late. Just when His Majesty sent people to investigate the Zhenguo Mansion, the old Lord Feng was gone. Don't you think this is too coincidental, Lord Sun? "
It seems like this should be said by the Niu brothers, right?
As the confidant of King Zhongshun, does Zhou Mo still want to speak up for the Niu family?
Sun Shaozong asked suspiciously: "What Zhou Changshi meant is..."
"The second year of Yongning."
Zhou Mo did not speak directly, but instead talked about the past. He counted on his fingers and said, "It has been nearly forty years since then. At that time, the emperor had just ascended the throne and the two prime ministers were fighting for supremacy in the court. The whole world was in turmoil and everyone was in danger."
"The then Chief Censor Guo Huan was pushed to the forefront of public opinion, and his life and property were in danger. In order to protect himself, Guo Huan committed a horrific act - he poisoned his biological mother to death, intending to leave the capital to avoid disaster under the pretext of mourning!"
The story of Guo Heng was widely circulated in the Zhou Dynasty. Even the change of the Censorate to the Supervisory Office was due to this. But the question is, why did Zhou Mo suddenly mention this matter? What was his purpose?
Could it be that...
Sun Shaozong's eyes widened and he said in a lost voice: "Could it be that Zhou Changshi is doubting that the old Lord Feng's death was not an accident?!"
Zhou Mo smiled lightly, picked up the teacup and blew on it, then said calmly: "I didn't say that, but if Lord Sun has such doubts, you might as well start to investigate."
He didn't say it out loud, but the expression on his face clearly told Sun Shaozong: You guessed right, hurry up and check according to this idea.
This is really poisonous!
If they wanted to frame Niu Jizong for matricide, there would be no need to find any other evidence. He would simply be cut into pieces.
It seems that Prince Zhongshun is impatient and wants the Niu family to fall completely...
Correspondingly, the risk of this matter is also extremely high. If something goes wrong, Sun Shaozong’s life and property may be lost!
Sun Shaozong frowned and said, "This is a serious matter. How can we investigate it without a reason? The reason why Guo Heng was exposed was because his family took the initiative to report it, which led to the court's investigation..."
Zhou Mo interrupted and said, "Who knows, some of the servants in the Zhenguo Mansion might be willing to turn themselves in."
Who knows?
I'm afraid he had bribed the servants of the Niu family a long time ago!
Sun Shaozong now understood everything completely. Prince Zhongshun had already arranged everything in private. Now all he needed was someone with the reputation of being a "divine judge" to uncover and confirm the matter!
This is simply forcing someone to do something they are not prepared for!
It seems that no matter how much he said he valued the master, King Zhongshun only regarded himself as a chess piece - even if he was an important chess piece, as long as the master made up his mind, he would still be cannon fodder.
If it were an ordinary chess piece, it would naturally have no choice but to submit.
Fortunately, Sun Shaozong is no less powerful than before, and he still has the capital to fight against King Zhongshun.
"I'm afraid I am powerless in this matter."
He said solemnly, "Your Highness's case has not yet found any clues, and Shuntian Prefecture has a lot of things to deal with. I am really too busy to handle them all."
The smile on Zhou Mo's face froze instantly. He slammed the teacup on the table and glared at Sun Shaozong, "Are you trying to use the crown prince to pressure our prince?!"
"I don't dare."
Sun Shaozong said in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "The Crown Prince and the Prince are close relatives. I am helping the Crown Prince to relieve his worries and also helping the Prince to solve his problems."
