Chapter 631: Interval, Daily Life
When the three of them came out of Zhang Biao's house, it was already dark outside.
Sniff
Sun Shaozong stuck the torch into the snow, twisted it vigorously a few times, and made sure that there was no remaining fire before throwing it back into the yard.
Qiu Yunfei and Zhao Wuwei followed suit, and after they had dealt with the torches, the three of them rushed towards Zhang An's house like arrows.
"Don't think about the motivation yet."
As Sun Shaozong walked, he said, "First, check the number of orphans and beggars who have gone missing in the city in recent years."
Since it is not a case of kidnapping or extortion, the easiest children to target and the most likely to be ignored are naturally orphans and beggars who have no one to rely on.
"That's not difficult."
Qiu Yunfei immediately responded, "Since you have implemented the beggars' baojia system, no matter if the beggars in the capital are dead or running away, the local baozhang will report it to the government."
After a pause, he added, "I will also have people check each of the dental clinics in the city one by one - but ever since the investigation two years ago, the government has been keeping a close eye on them, so there shouldn't be any omissions."
Two years ago, in order to curb the trend of wealthy families owning slaves, the emperor launched a census of slaves and "talent agencies" - at that time, Wei Ruolan and Qiu Yunfei had fought side by side.
From then on, all human traffickers in Beijing had to be affiliated with a few brokerage firms that had "special licenses", otherwise they would be charged with human trafficking.
The two houses were not far apart, and while they were talking, they had already arrived at the door.
Wang Zhen had been waiting inside impatiently. When he heard that Sun Shaozong had returned, he hurried out to ask, "Sir, have you found out anything? Who killed Zhang Biao?"
Apparently, this guy still doesn't know what Sun Shaozong and others are investigating until now.
Sun Shaozong waved his hand, signaling him not to say any more, then went into the house to comfort Zhang Wu. He then asked Qiu Yunfei to arrange for a maid and two runners to temporarily stay in Zhang Wu's house.
This will also prevent us from alerting the enemy today and causing any further complications.
After everything was arranged, he called Wang Zhen and said goodbye and left.
…
Half an hour later, at the corner gate of Sun Mansion.
Sun Shaozong got off the carriage, still thinking about Zhang Biao's case. If it was really as previously speculated, it should not be a problem for Zhang An to escape the crime by "killing his relatives for the sake of justice".
This was Sun Shaozong's original purpose, but now that things have come to this, he really can't be happy in his heart.
While pondering the case, he was rushing along the corridor to the backyard, but suddenly he noticed that the lights were on in the front hall, so he subconsciously stopped.
Now that the eldest brother is not at home, the women who come to visit Jia Yingchun so late at night must not be outsiders. They must have been brought into the back house early in the morning.
Could it be that there are guests waiting for me to come back?
But I had clearly sent a message before saying that I would stay overnight in Rongguo Mansion.
Feeling puzzled, Sun Shaozong walked out of the corridor and headed towards the front hall.
As I was about to reach the door, I heard a duck-like voice in the process of voice change, urging me urgently: "Good sister, if you lend me the money this time, I promise not to gamble again!"
Listen to this meaning...
Could it be that he is the younger brother of a maid in the mansion, or maybe his lover, who came to borrow money because of gambling debts?
But when the maid's relatives came, how could they have the right to light lamps and wax candles in the main hall?
Not to mention the maid's relatives, even Zhao Zhongji, the chief steward, would not dare to bring relatives to the main hall at will - unless they wanted to see the master of the house.
Sun Shaozong became more suspicious, but he heard the tone of the duck voice suddenly rise, and said sternly: "You said at the beginning that if I have any difficulties, I can come to you for help. How come now that I really need you, you cry poor to me?!"
This tone...
They don't look like siblings or lovers.
Sun Shaozong had already arrived at the door by then. He leaned his head and looked inside, only to see a girl dressed as a maid who looked very embarrassed. In front of her was a young man of about thirteen or fourteen years old, who looked slick and did not look like someone who was short of money.
Sun Shaozong had some vague impression of these two people, but he couldn't remember who they were.
Then the maidservant said in a plaintive voice, "Third Master, I am only a servant. Even if I have saved some money, I cannot afford your coming to my house to ask for it three or five times. To be honest, I had to beg for the money for a long time before I borrowed it from Yuanyang."
After hearing this, the man with the duck voice grabbed her arm excitedly and said, "Then go borrow again! Yuanyang has borrowed, but there is still Qingwen, right? Although that little bitch is useless now, she did a lot of good things for Baoyu when she was fawning on him in bed!"
When he mentioned Qingwen and Baoyu with a gnashing look on his face, combined with the fact that he had addressed him as the Third Master before, Sun Shaozong suddenly thought of someone - Jia Huan.
No wonder they were talking in the front hall.
Although Jia Huan was born out of wedlock, he was still the son of the Rongguo Mansion and the cousin of Jia Yingchun, so he deserved this little treatment.
Needless to say, the maidservant with an embarrassed face was Caixia, who was madly in love with Jia Huan. Her appearance had changed a lot in the past two years. Sun Shaozong looked at her for a long time but couldn't recognize her.
Now that he knew it was these two people, Sun Shaozong immediately lost interest.
After two years of deliberate indulgence by Mrs. Wang, Jia Huan was hated by everyone in the Rongguo Mansion and was notorious on the streets.
He nearly went to jail several times at a young age, and was only spared thanks to the face of the Rongguo Mansion.
How could Sun Shaozong pay attention to such people?
He turned around and quietly returned to the corridor. He was wondering whether he should find someone to keep an eye on them to prevent the two people inside from causing any more trouble, when Zhao Zhongji came up to him from the side.
"Second Master!"
He held his belt with one hand and said awkwardly, "I just went to the bathroom and you just happened to be back."
Sun Shaozong didn't waste time talking to him and just pointed his hand into the hall.
"Don't worry!"
Zhao Zhongji hurriedly added: "I'm watching here, there will be no trouble!"
After hearing what he said, Sun Shaozong prepared to leave.
But just as he started to move forward, he suddenly remembered something and turned back to warn: "Whatever you hear later, give it to Yuanyang tomorrow to prevent her from pouring money into a bottomless pit. As for Caixia, you must keep a close eye on her recently. If she does anything wrong, kick her out of the house immediately!"
Sun Shaozong had investigated more than a dozen cases of maids stealing their masters' property for their lovers, and he didn't want such a thing to happen in his own family.
After Zhao Zhongji responded repeatedly, Sun Shaozong strode back to the backyard.
Because the message was passed that he would not be coming back to spend the night, there was hardly any light in the main room - probably because he still hadn't recovered from the fierce battle last night.
However, the lights were still on in Xiangling and You Erjie's rooms.
Sun Shaozong was just hesitating about whose name to turn over when he saw the door curtain of the northwest wing lifted, and Qingwen walked out holding a copper basin.
"Second Master?"
Qingwen was also startled when she saw Sun Shaozong, and asked in surprise, "Aren't you going to stay overnight at Rongguo Mansion?"
"Some things happened, so I came back first."
Since he had been seen by Qingwen , Sun Shaozong walked towards Xiangling's room. After taking a few steps, he suddenly smelled some blood. Frowning, he looked into the basin and saw a faint blush in the warm water.
"Xiangling..."
"Our aunt is not feeling well today, so please go to the south room."
have to!
It turns out that he has hung up the banner of no war.
Since that’s the case, I can only go to You Erjie’s room to rest.
"Second Master."
But just as Sun Shaozong turned around, Qingwen called out again from behind. Looking back, he saw her put the basin down at her feet, bowed solemnly and said, "Thank you for your help in my brother's wife's matter, Second Master."
In the past two years, she looked thinner and more melancholy, which was more in line with her delicate and frail facial features. When she bowed like this, I could even say that she looked even more pitiful.
Tsk~
I really should have assigned her to You Erjie's room. That woman is the best at bringing people together...
Of course, this thought only flashed through his mind. Given Sun Shaozong's current situation, he wouldn't bother worrying too much about a maid.
So he threw his sleeves and said calmly: "No need to thank me, you just need to serve Aunt and Miss wholeheartedly, and it will be considered that my help to you is not in vain."
Having said that, he went to You Erjie's room.
As soon as I entered the inner room, I saw You Erjie sitting in front of the candlestick. She seemed to be worried about something and didn't even notice my arrival.
"What's going on?"
Sun Shaozong joked, "Could it be that the jewelry I just gave you was stolen by someone?"
You Erjie was startled, and she stood up with a guilty conscience and said with a wry smile, "What are you talking about? With you, the great master, in charge, the servants in our mansion don't have the guts to do it even if they have the intention to do it."
Sun Shaozong noticed that her eyes flickered as she spoke, as if she was hiding something from him, so he became serious and asked, "Then why are you worried? Tell me the truth!"
The tone was a little harsh, and You Erjie could not bear it anymore. She hesitated for a long time, and finally came closer and whispered: "I wonder if the master has heard that my sister gave birth to a son last summer."
Last summer, Mrs. You gave birth to a...
etc!
Sun Shaozong suddenly widened his eyes and exclaimed, "Could it be that I planted it?!"
