Chapter 547: The Illegitimate Son of Duke Zhou
Originally, someone like Sun Shaozong, who often came and went and had a relationship with the Jia family by marriage, could have asked his servants to lead him directly to the Yihong Courtyard in the Grand View Garden.
But since Qiu Yunfei was around, he had no choice but to follow the usual procedure and wait in the front hall, waiting for the servants of Rongguo Mansion to invite Jia Baoyu out to talk.
However, the Rongguo Mansion covers a vast area, and Jia Baoyu is a restless person. He just wanders around the garden every day, so it is really not easy to find him. Therefore, the two of them waited in the front hall for about two quarters of an hour.
By the time Jia Baoyu, wrapped in a royal blue cloak, hurried into the room, Qiu Yunfei had already twisted himself into various poses on the chair.
"I didn't come to greet you, Baoyu, and you two brothers have been waiting here for a long time. This is really a sin, a sin!"
As soon as Jia Baoyu stepped over the threshold, he bowed deeply and apologized. When he looked up again, he saw that his forehead and temples were covered with fine beads of sweat.
Seeing this, Sun Shaozong couldn't help but laugh and said, "Are you trying to get a rash or are you planning to hibernate early? Why are you taking out your cloak in early September?"
"Brother Sun doesn't know."
Jia Baoyu smiled helplessly, took off the cloak from his body, folded it carefully and put it on his arm, then continued: "Yesterday, Sister Feng celebrated her birthday. I don't know if I drank too much or what, but I caught a cold without knowing why."
"When the old lady heard about this, she insisted on having a few cloaks given to her. I couldn't refuse a gift from an elder. I was just thinking about putting them on to show the old lady and then changing them later, when my two brothers arrived."
Wang Xifeng is sick again?
This chili pepper seems to have died several times this year. Could it be that it has contracted some incurable disease? !
As for whether she was dead or alive, it had nothing to do with Sun Shaozong. But the timber business in the south was booming, so how could he do without Wang Xifeng as a stepping stone?
Sun Shaozong wanted to ask for the details, but because of the barrier between men and women, he couldn't speak rashly.
"cough."
Just as he was thinking about how to hint at it indirectly so as not to be caught off guard, Qiu Yunfei could no longer hold back his temper. He coughed dryly and reminded him, "Sir, do you think we should finish the official business first and then chat with Brother Bao?"
"Business?"
When Jia Baoyu heard the word "business", he was startled and asked in surprise, "Brothers, you came to see me for business?"
As he spoke, he suddenly became excited again, patting his chest and saying, "Is there a big case? If you need my help in solving the case, just tell me, brothers!"
He has always had an extraordinary interest in solving cases, so when he heard that it was because of "official business" that came to him, he was not frightened at all, but was eager to try.
"It's not really an order."
Sun Shaozong stepped in and said naturally, "Sit down first and talk later."
However, Jia Baoyu did not feel that he was stealing the show. Instead, he felt that it was natural.
After the three of them sat down as host and guest, Jia Baoyu was even more active than Qiu Yunfei. He leaned half of his body on the armrest, stretched his neck, stared with his eyes wide open, and urged Sun Shaozong to tell him the purpose of his visit.
Sun Shaozong did not directly point out the question, but instead spread his hand in front of Baoyu's eyes and said, "Where is your spiritual jade? Take it out and let me see it first."
Although the elders in the mansion all protected the jade like the ball of their eye, Jia Baoyu never took it seriously. Instead, he always felt it was a burden. So when Sun Shaozong asked to see it, he pulled it out from his lapel without saying a word.
While taking off the collar hanging around his neck and handing it to Sun Shaozong, he couldn't help but ask curiously: "It's just a stone, why did you suddenly want to look at it?"
Sun Shaozong did not answer, but silently took out Zhou Xi's piece from his sleeve pouch and held it in his hand to measure it carefully.
Although he had seen Jia Baoyu's "Magic Jade" before, he had never played with it carefully, so he only had a vague impression that the styles of the two pieces of jade were different.
However, when compared together now, the differences are much more numerous and much greater than imagined.
First of all, although the two pieces of jade are similar in size and both are oval and flat in shape , if we use the text above as a reference, Jia Baoyu's spiritual jade is standing up, while Zhou Xi's is lying horizontally.
Secondly, Zhou Xi's spiritual jade looked flawless, with only some colorful cloud patterns wrapped around it; as for Jia Baoyu's jade, although it also had a circle of colorful cloud patterns, the inside was white with a hint of red.
And the more it is placed in the sun, the brighter and more brilliant the red color becomes, just like the red glow in the sky.
Then there is the font. Sun Shaozong saw early on that the words on Zhou Xi's jade were carved reluctantly by an amateur. Not only were the characters crooked, but also the depths were uneven.
Now, when comparing the two, I found that not only is there a huge difference in the carving level, but even the fonts used are very different. Zhou Xi's jade is written in regular script, while Jia Baoyu's is written in small seal script.
These differences make it hard to believe that they come from the same source - yet the textual content of the two is exactly the same.
Could it be that one of the pieces is a counterfeit?
Who is imitating whom?
The story of Jia Baoyu being born with a jade in his mouth has been publicized by the Rongguo Mansion for more than ten years, so it is unlikely that he would plagiarize other people's "copywriting".
As for Zhou Xi...
Judging from the appearance alone, it does look like a defective product that was sloppily copied based on hearsay.
But who would hide such a poorly imitated product so preciously in the interlayer of an incense burner?
What's more, Zhou Xi's entire family was murdered, which might be related to the origin of this jade...
"Brother Sun."
Sun Shaozong was just thinking about the relationship between the two pieces of jade. Jia Baoyu, who had come closer, could not help but ask, "Where did you get this piece of jade? How come the words engraved on it are exactly the same as mine?"
"this……"
"Sir, please let me have a look too!"
Sun Shaozong was about to say something, but Qiu Yunfei next to him became anxious, staring at the two pieces of jade with an unsatisfied look on his face, as if he wanted to dig out his eyeballs and stick them directly on the jade.
When everyone had finished looking at the jade, Sun Shaozong handed the two pieces of jade to Qiu Yunfei, and then explained the origin of the jade to Jia Baoyu.
Upon hearing that this piece of jade was actually related to seven lives, Jia Baoyu was both shocked and excited, and hurriedly pulled Sun Shaozong aside to ask about many details.
Sun Shaozong answered all the questions he could, and then said seriously, "Brother Bao, I have something I have to ask you now - was this jade really born with you?"
Jia Baoyu spread his hands and said helplessly: "Anyway, since I can remember, this thing has been around me - the old lady, my father and mother, the midwife, the wet nurse, and even my brother who died young, all said that this jade came out of my mouth."
If this is true, there is naturally no place to plagiarize.
If this story was false, listening to Jia Baoyu's long chain of evidence, it was obviously a carefully prepared plan. It was even more impossible that he just copied a few sentences from similar objects and randomly engraved them on them.
Especially these twenty-four words, are not some famous sayings - at least since Sun Shaozong traveled through time, he has never heard of similar words anywhere else except on these two pieces of jade.
From this point of view, Zhou Xi's piece is undoubtedly a counterfeit.
But who imitated this?
What is the purpose of imitation?
Why hide in a secret place?
There was no answer to this series of questions, when suddenly Qiu Yunfei's excited voice came from the side: "Sir, I have an immature inference here!"
Sun Shaozong turned his head in surprise, and saw Qiu Yunfei holding the two pieces of jade and looking proudly, obviously quite confident in his deduction.
Could it be that this guy really saw something?
Sun Shaozong couldn't help but ask curiously: "Tell me your inference first and see if it makes sense."
"Yes, sir!"
Qiu Yunfei jumped up and uttered a long nod like an opera singer. Then he stared at Jia Baoyu with burning eyes and said word by word: "Perhaps your father has another son, an illegitimate son who has been lost for many years!"
This is really a shocking statement!
Jia Baoyu was so frightened that he was dumbfounded. Sun Shaozong couldn't help but exclaimed: "Are you saying that Zhou Xi is the illegitimate son of Uncle Jia?!"
“That’s right!”
Seeing that even Sun Shaozong was shocked, Qiu Yunfei looked even more pleased, pacing back and forth in the living room, talking freely: "Judging from Brother Bao's appearance and figure, Duke Cun Zhou must have been a romantic and elegant gentleman in his time. Moreover, as the legitimate son of the Rongguo Mansion, it is not surprising that he has one or two confidantes outside."
"I think that after the woman became pregnant, Duke Zhou was afraid of etiquette and people's gossip and did not dare to take her into the palace. The woman left in disappointment and left her son to others before leaving - Zhou Xi's adoptive parents!"
"Zhou Xi's adoptive mother may have had a miscarriage, or her children died young, so she raised Zhou Xi as her own son."
"And that jade pendant is the token left by my biological mother to Zhou Xi!"
"A few years later, for some reason, Duke Cun Zhou regretted his decision. He searched for the child but couldn't find him, so he came up with a crazy idea. He made a magical jade according to the few words left by the woman, and then lied that Brother Bao was born with the jade in his mouth!"
"The purpose of doing this is naturally to hope that the illegitimate child will take the initiative to come to the door and recognize me after hearing this rumor."
This story...
On the whole, it does make sense!
In particular, it also explains why the Rongguo Mansion fabricated the rumor that the man was born with a jade in his mouth.
Jia Baoyu's dazed look obviously showed that he had fallen into a state of doubt about his life because of this inference.
Sun Shaozong also pondered for a while before questioning, "Why did the masked man shoot Zhou Xi to death?"
"Maybe it has nothing to do with this spiritual jade."
Qiu Yunfei first spread his hands, then stared at Jia Baoyu and said, "Or maybe Zhou Xi is hiding some secrets that may implicate Rongguo Mansion!"
This is almost proof that Rongguo Mansion is the mastermind behind the masked man!
