Chapter 70: Reunion of the Same Year
Perhaps influenced by Jia Yucun's words, Sun Shaozong was a little listless for several days afterwards. He stared at the files in a daze every day and could not review many cases from morning to night.
During this period, the county magistrate Shen Dan, who was disregarding human life, was dismissed from his post as expected , but he was not held criminally responsible for it.
Moreover, I heard from the officials below that in a case like Shen Dan, as long as he was willing to work hard afterwards , he could be reinstated in three or two years - this was how Jia Yucun was reinstated as the prefect of Nanjing after he was dismissed from office.
However, considering that Shen Dan is in his fifties and has only managed to become a small county magistrate, he may not be able to come up with such financial resources and determination.
Another thing, however, was really beyond Sun Shaozong's expectations.
Ever since Hu's husband died, Zhou Da has been taking leave to help with the funeral arrangements at her home. Not only is he busy, but he has also spent a lot of money on it.
At first Sun Shaozong thought that he and Zhou Liang might be relatives from the same clan, but later he found out that this was not the case at all. The reason why Zhou Da was so busy inside and outside was that he was attracted by Hu's chastity and planned to take her as a concubine after the mourning period was over.
Sun Shaozong specially sent someone to inquire about it and confirmed that Zhou Da did not abuse his power to bully others or force a good woman to be his concubine. Hu did not seem to have any resistance to this marriage, so he let them go.
After all, for ordinary women these days, marrying an official as his mistress is already an excellent destination.
--Dividing line--
On the ninth day of February, Sun Shaozong spent most of the day in a daze. Seeing that there was no important matter in the Criminal Law Department that required his personal attention, he was too lazy to wait until the end of the office and returned home early.
When she arrived at her own courtyard, she saw Ruan Rong practicing embroidery in the flower hall. There were already several semi-finished products in the winnowing basket containing silk threads. It was obvious that she had been practicing for some time.
but……
Looking at the crooked-necked pheasant in the middle of the embroidery frame, Sun Shaozong had to admit that Ruan Rong was really not cut out for needlework.
"Why did you suddenly think of learning this recently?"
He snatched the embroidery frame and threw it into the dustpan. He then carefully confirmed that Ruan Rong had no embroidery needles, pendants or the like on her body. Then Sun Shaozong picked her up by the waist and placed her on his lap.
Then he stroked her hair with his chin and said with a smile, "It's not like we can't afford a needlework woman. Do we really need you to do this at the last minute?"
"How can it be the same?"
Ruan Rong pushed his chin away with the back of her head, then stubbornly grabbed the embroidery frame, muttering, "If we have children in the future, it would be appropriate for me to make the bellybands and sweat towels myself."
Tsk~
Women tend to think far ahead when they have nothing to do. Even before they get pregnant, they are already thinking about what to wear after the baby is born.
Seeing Ruan Rong was so persistent, Sun Shaozong didn't want to continue attacking her, so he put his arms around her slender waist and watched her continue to fight with the crooked-necked pheasant.
But being held in his arms like this, how could Ruan Rong still concentrate on doing her needlework?
After making several mistakes in a row, and seeing that the crooked-necked pheasant was already showing signs of developing a 'hump', she threw the embroidery frame in anger and said angrily, "I won't embroider anymore. This mandarin ducks playing in the water is so troublesome! Tomorrow I will learn something simpler, starting with flowers and plants."
sweat~
If she hadn't said it, Sun Shaozong really wouldn't have been able to tell that the handkerchief was embroidered with mandarin ducks playing in the water.
But speaking of mandarin ducks playing in the water...
Sun Shaozong lowered his head and sucked on half of the silver ingot-like earlobe, blowing hot air and laughing obscenely, "After dinner, how about we go together..."
"Ah~ I was so busy learning embroidery that I almost forgot about the main thing!"
Unexpectedly, when he mentioned dinner, Ruan Rong suddenly remembered something, and hurriedly struggled to get off the ground, took out two invitations from the inner room, handed them to Sun Shaozong, and said: "These are the invitations sent this afternoon, inviting you to the banquet."
Sun Shaozong took it and took a look, and found that the one on it was sent by the Jia Mansion, saying that he was invited to have a drink at their mansion at noon on February 12.
"It's your sister's birthday, why did you send me an invitation?" Sun Shaozong said speechlessly, "There is a difference between men and women. I can't even get through the door to the backyard. Do I have to celebrate her birthday through the wall?"
If it was Madam Xing, Madam Wang or Old Lady Jia who was celebrating their birthdays, it would be understandable for Sun Shaozong, as a junior, to go to Rongguo Mansion to offer congratulations. But how could a man of respect go to celebrate the birthday of an unmarried girl?
Ruan Rong pushed him and said coquettishly, "What? Look carefully at the signature first. It's clearly the second master of Rongguo Mansion inviting you to a banquet. What does it have to do with Sister Lin's birthday?"
Sun Shaozong looked carefully and saw that the signature was indeed the three words "Jia Cunzhou".
Since it was Jia Zheng who made the invitation, it should have nothing to do with Daiyu's birthday.
Could it be that Jia Zheng wanted to thank himself on behalf of his son?
But then he thought about it and felt that it was not right. With Jia Baoyu's usual style, he would definitely take care of Lin Daiyu first. Then why would he, the main character, not show up and talk about the word "thank you"?
Unable to figure out Jia Zheng's purpose for a moment, Sun Shaozong was too lazy to think about it any further. He put the invitation on the table and casually opened the second invitation. This invitation contained much more content, with about four or five hundred words, and it was written with gold powder dipped in cinnabar. As he read it, gold residues began to fall off.
Fearing that the invitation would "self-destruct" if he read it too slowly, Sun Shaozong quickly skipped the prefix of the parallel four-six-character sentence and roughly glanced through the content.
After reading it, he frowned unconsciously.
This was because this invitation was not sent in the name of an individual, but in the name of all the military scholars in the eighth year of Guangde, inviting Sun Shaozong to attend a gathering of his classmates in the capital on the evening of February 12.
The so-called "fellow year" means that they passed the civil service examination [Military Scholar] in the same year, and they may not be very familiar with each other - they are just new employees who want to use the name to build a network of relationships.
Also, the real 'Sun Shaozong' had just passed the military imperial examination and offended Prince Yi Zhong not long ago, so he had to flee to the country of Qian Xiang to avoid disaster, so he had even less contact with these people.
Therefore, Sun Shaozong searched through all the fragments of his memory, but could only remember two or three names, and he couldn't match their appearance at all!
Attending a gathering filled with strangers like this, coupled with the atmosphere of gold and powder everywhere, Sun Shaozong knew with his butt that the scene would be boring and awkward.
only……
Now he is at the peak of his career, and whether in terms of civil or military achievements, he is considered the best among the military scholars of that session. If he does not show up, he will inevitably be known as someone who is arrogant.
Alas~
Ultimately, it’s still the four words “relationships and human feelings” that are at work!
It seems that I have to collect some information about my classmates in the next few days to avoid making a fool of myself.
