Chapter 52 Jia Zheng comments on Ge Qingfeng, Xue Pan makes a scene at the Minister's residence
Logically speaking , it would not be the turn of the Ministry of Works to send someone to supervise the investigation of the case in Shuntian Prefecture.
But since it was a minister who spoke, and the person appointed was the second master of the Rongguo Mansion, how could Jia Yucun and Sun Shaozong refuse?
So after sending Wang Yan away, the two of them welcomed Jia Zheng to the temporarily requisitioned east wing courtyard like a star surrounding the moon, and handed over the files and evidence to him, acting as if they were following his lead.
Fortunately, although Jia Zheng lacked intelligence and quotient, he was self-aware. Seeing this, he quickly declined, saying, "My two nephews, there is no need to do this. Minister Wang sent me here just to show off and attend to the occasion. How dare I interfere in your official affairs?"
Jia Yucun and Sun Shaozong both breathed a sigh of relief when they heard this. What they were afraid of was that Jia Zheng pretended to know everything and interfered recklessly.
But then again, Jia Zheng's appointment as the supervisor did not mean he was completely useless. At least Sun Shaozong was very curious about Minister Ge's reputation in the Ministry of Works.
However, Jia Zheng's position in the Ministry of Works is just like that of a clay Buddha in a temple. Everyone respects and worships him. He seems to be extremely noble, but in fact he has no real power at all and can only do the empty work of welcoming and seeing off guests.
Although Jia Zheng was reluctant in his heart and wanted to make some achievements to show his ability, after all, his job was just a fifth-rank official, so how could he have the qualifications to complain?
Seeing that Sun Shaozong was sincere in seeking advice and had no intention of being perfunctory or flattering, he felt that he was valued. He felt happy and spoke less cautiously, and he told him about Minister Ge's performance in the yamen like beans pouring out of a bamboo tube .
According to him, Minister Ge is a representative of a person with a broad mind and a fat body. He does not like to fight for power and gain. He just concentrates on smoothing things over and muddling through his days. The officials under him even nicknamed him "Maitreya Buddha".
"I have been in the Ministry of Works for more than ten years, and I have rarely seen him get angry with others." Jia Zheng shook his head and sighed: "If it weren't for the facts, I would not really dare to believe that with Minister Ge's kind nature, there would be people who would hate him so much that they want to eat him alive!"
At this point, he couldn't help but gossip out of curiosity: "Nephew Sun, are you sure this case has nothing to do with Tengu?"
Sun Shaozong resisted the urge to roll his eyes and smiled helplessly, "Uncle, please stop teasing me. Where does the 'Heavenly Dog' come from in this world? It's just a rumor spread by word of mouth, and the murderer used it to cover up his tracks."
As he said this, he hurriedly brought the topic back on track: "By the way, Uncle, you just said that 'it is very rare to see Minister Ge get angry with others'. If so, there must have been a few conflicts and disputes, right? I wonder what caused them?"
"this……"
Jia Zheng tapped his temples with his fingers, pondered for a long while, and then said, "Rather than saying it was a few times, it's better to say that there was a period of time when Minister Ge often clashed with others. As for the reason, it was actually because his favorite concubine, Chen, unfortunately contracted an epidemic and died."
"Speaking of Minister Ge, he is truly a romantic man!" He added, "Many people saw him crying silently while holding the portrait of his concubine in the back hall. After several months, he finally returned to his original 'Maitreya Buddha' appearance."
It’s Chen again!
It seems that the eldest son Ge Xiaorui's unstable status and the tragic death of the third son Ge Xiaoyi's mother were all caused by this Chen - a concubine who had been dead for more than two years was still lingering in the mansion. I wonder how beautiful she was when she was alive.
"correct!"
Sun Shaozong was just imagining the elegance of Chen, but Jia Zheng suddenly remembered something and said hurriedly, "Minister Ge was in a good mood for a few days before his toe was bitten by a dog. At that time, many people were worried that he would suffer for a while, but who knew that he was not affected at all after coming to the government office."
The dog-biting-toe incident happened just when his mood had just improved?
Sun Shaozong found it difficult to judge for a moment whether this information was related to the case, but he still wrote it down carefully in his notebook.
Seeing that Jia Zheng's stomach was about to burst, Jia Yucun interrupted at the right time and said, "Uncle, you came in a hurry this morning, I'm afraid you haven't had time to eat yet? Why don't you go to my house next door and offer some food first?"
Jia Zheng had actually had breakfast, but when he heard these words, he knew that Jia Yucun and Sun Shaozong were so busy that they had not yet had breakfast - if he did not go, it would be inappropriate for the two of them, as juniors, to leave him alone.
So he quickly agreed and casually congratulated Jia Yucun on his "new house".
When the three men came out of the east wing and left the Ge Mansion through the front yard, they saw Minister Ge's four sons all crying in the mourning hall.
Sun Shaozong found it extremely funny to see them all heaving in agony. You know, among these four people, three were suspected of patricide!
"Huh?!"
At this moment, Jia Zheng beside him exclaimed, pointed at Ge Xiaoxian and asked, "Could that handsome young man in the middle be the son of Aunt Chen?"
"Why?" Jia Yucun asked, "Uncle has seen him?"
Jia Zheng shook his head and said, "That's not the case, but his facial features are vaguely similar to those of Aunt Chen, so I just made a random guess."
At this point, Jia Zheng realized that he had made some mistakes, and hurriedly explained, "I once saw the portrait of Aunt Chen in the government office."
Originally, Sun Shaozong felt that Ge Xiaoxian was somewhat feminine, and after Jia Zheng's words, he felt that this guy was effeminate. If he changed into women's clothes, few people would be able to tell his gender.
Because the three of them did not enjoy the pleasure of "warm-heartedness", they naturally had no interest in staying to comment on Ge Xiaoxian, so they only paused for a moment and then set off to the residence of Jia Yucun next door.
After working for most of the night, Sun Shaozong was already starving. He was clearly from a military background, so there was no need for him to pretend to be polite. As soon as the food was served, he stretched out his cheeks, raised his back teeth, and ate like a whirlwind.
As he was sitting at the table and eating, he saw Zhou Da rushing over and saying that for some reason, the cousin of the Jia family had a conflict with the son of Minister Ge, and they almost came to a fight in the mourning hall.
"My cousin?"
Jia Yucun frowned and said, "My nephews and relatives are all in my hometown in the south, so where did this young master come from? Could it be that he met a swindler?"
Zhou Da secretly looked at Jia Zheng, and then said awkwardly: "To reply to the Lord Prime Minister, this cousin is not someone else, but the eldest son of the imperial merchant Xue family..."
Bang~!
Before Zhou Da could finish, Jia Zheng slammed the table and stood up, cursing angrily, "What a wicked creature! He usually behaves like a fool at home, but now he has come here to embarrass himself!"
Having said that, he rushed out in a hurry without caring about how others react!
Yes~
That idiot is probably in big trouble.
While Sun Shaozong was observing a moment of silence for Xue Pan, he grabbed a tray of soup dumplings and ate them while rushing up with Jia Yucun.
