Chapter 970 When it rains, it pours
It had been some time since the carriage left the Imperial College, but Sun Shaozong's frown had not relaxed but deepened.
When he first proposed the method of popularizing law in rural areas, on the one hand, he wanted to help the Dali Temple get rid of the dilemma of being in name only, and on the other hand, he wanted to suppress and check the power of gentry, and even supervise grassroots officials to prevent them from exploiting the people too much.
However, the results of the trial in Cangzhou Prefecture were not very optimistic - mainly because the scholars' bones were obviously much softer than he expected.
There are few who support the people, but there are many who fall for wine, sex, money and power. There are even some who are so greedy that they stir up popular uprisings.
For this reason, he, as the instigator, was also criticized in the court.
Fortunately, the cabinet leaders did not deny the entire policy. Instead, they proposed that the Dali Temple and the Imperial College work together to select a number of students for pre-job training, and then select the best from the best for a second test.
This can be considered a rare preferential treatment and indulgence. If he were not a popular figure like Sun Erlang, he would not have the opportunity to try and fail again and again.
But the problem is that most of the students in the Imperial College come from wealthy families.
Perhaps it is possible to get a few of them to betray their own class.
But to instigate a massive rebellion...
Sun Shaozong doesn't think he has such ability.
We can't teach them the revolutionary theory of the proletariat, can we?
Besides, he himself had long forgotten most of Marxism-Leninism and was completely addicted to the decadent and corrupt feudal aristocratic life.
Alas~
It turned out that I was more suitable for investigating cases and fighting wars, which were practical jobs; as for theoretical guidance of political programs and national policies, it was better to leave it to the professionals.
He felt quite depressed and was too lazy to go to the government office to deal with matters, so he just ordered the driver to go home.
As luck would have it, just as he arrived at his doorstep, he ran into the Rongguo Mansion's carriage - the body of the carriage was still the same, but the horse pulling it had been replaced by an old one with frayed hair and a hunched back.
Zhang Cheng hurriedly grabbed the reins, and the old horse opposite also stopped with a clatter, gasping for breath with its bald neck drooping.
"Is that the second master of the Sun family in the car?"
Then the curtain of the carriage was lifted, and Xiren jumped down from it, tumbling and crawling, stepping on the snow with one foot deep and one foot shallow, and shouted, "Please have mercy and save Baoyu!"
Hearing her screams, Sun Shaozong also hurriedly lifted the curtain and asked curiously as he got out of the car, "What's going on? Could it be that the case of your eldest master and second mistress still affects him?"
"It's not about the case!"
Xiren said anxiously, “Didn’t some imperial censors impeach our Grand View Garden a few days ago, saying that it was usurping power? The master was afraid that he would cause more trouble, so he took the initiative to write a letter to apologize and ordered people to close the garden.
I don't know who was the culprit but brought this matter to Baoyu's attention. He has been standing at the gate of the garden since early this morning, and he is unwilling to move an inch no matter who persuades him.
Just before noon, he fell ill, kept talking nonsense, and...he even coughed up blood!"
Most of Jia Baoyu's best memories in his life were in the Grand View Garden. Now that the garden has been closed, it is not surprising that he was unable to accept it and fell ill.
but……
What's the point of blaming myself for this?
Shouldn't we see a doctor right away?
Sun Shaozong was a little puzzled at first, but seeing Xiren's embarrassed look, he soon realized what was going on - the Rongguo Mansion couldn't even afford the money for medical treatment and medicine!
But it's only been a month. Even if the Rongguo Mansion had declined further, given its financial situation, it shouldn't have been in such a state, right?
"It's all Jia Yun's fault!"
When Xiren heard Sun Shaozong asking the reason, she was furious, but she was worried about Baoyu and didn't dare to say any more.
So Wang Shouye ordered people to get silver and high-quality medicinal materials such as old mountain ginseng, and then asked about the details.
It turned out that Jia Lian was chosen by the prince a few days ago and was brought back to the mansion to accompany him day and night. Everyone in the Rongguo Mansion felt ashamed, but also excited and happy. They thought that after the emperor passed away a hundred years ago, they might have a chance to make a comeback thanks to the relationship between Jia Lian, Sun Shaozong and the prince.
Just at this time, Jia Yun ran to Jia Zheng and said that he had received instructions from Master Lian to secretly collect a valuable gift for the prince so that the Rongguo Mansion could get out of its predicament as soon as possible.
Jia Zheng believed it to be true, and he used all his savings to collect a valuable gift, which he asked Jia Yun to deliver to the Prince's Mansion.
Who would have thought that Jia Yun would never come back.
That was not all. Within two days, the creditors had another list in their hands, which listed almost all the valuable belongings in the Rongguo Mansion. Nowadays, each pawnshop was watched by someone, and any item that left the Rongguo Mansion, no matter how much money was pawned for, would be seized by them to pay off the debts.
There was almost no smoke from cooking in the Rongguo Mansion.
Jia Zheng was furious and ordered a thorough investigation of the matter. As a result, suspicion fell on Jia Yun - because not only Jia Yun disappeared, but his mother was also missing.
It was not until this time that Jia Zheng came to his senses and realized that Jia Yun had actually escaped with those valuable gifts!
"That's not all!"
Xiren added, "Even the incident in which Xiaohong's mother sued the Second Mistress was said to have been secretly instigated by him!"
"Why is this?"
It is human nature that everyone flees when disaster strikes, but Jia Yun is a relative of the Rongguo Mansion within the fifth degree of mourning, so why did he treat him so cruelly before leaving?
"I heard that..."
Xiren was a little hesitant, but thinking that her family needed help from Sun Erlang, she told the truth: "He and Xiaohong had secretly agreed to spend their lives together, but later Mr. Lian gave Xiaohong to..."
There is such a thing!
Thinking back, I seem to have had some experience with that little red...
It’s a pity that Jia Yun always smiles when he sees me, but I didn’t expect that he harbors such a deep hatred in his heart!
Sun Shaozong sighed for a while. Seeing that the silver and medicinal materials had been taken away, he gathered his thoughts and rushed to Rongguo Mansion with Xiren to visit.
…
at the same time.
Outside the five main gates of Grand View Garden.
Lin Daiyu stood in front of the door for a long time. Suddenly, she gritted her teeth, took out two white hands from the fox fur, and went straight to tear the seal.
"Girl, girl!"
Zijuan quickly stepped forward to stop her, repeatedly shouting, "No, no, girl!"
Daiyu refused to give in. She pushed Zijuan hard and angrily scolded her, "What's the problem? It was only my uncle who ordered someone to put it there. It's not the emperor's imperial decree! If it weren't for these things, how could Baoyu suddenly fall ill?"
"It is precisely because it was posted by my uncle that we must not tear it off!"
Zijuan tried her best to stop her, but seeing that Daiyu just wouldn't listen, she suddenly stamped her feet and said shockingly: "Young lady, do you still want to stay with Master Bao forever?!"
Daiyu was startled and couldn't help but stop what she was doing.
Zijuan quickly struck while the iron was hot and said, "To be honest, the current situation of Rongguo Mansion may not be a bad thing for you, young lady."
"What the hell are you talking about?!"
"girl!"
Since everyone had already started talking, Zijuan simply poured out all the words that she had been keeping in her heart: "When the little prince was still alive, the second wife probably didn't even have you in her eyes! But now..."
After a pause, she continued, "This is a critical moment, we must not offend our uncle!"
"Stop talking!"
Daiyu tightened her grip and said firmly, "Baoyu said he would never betray me!"
Having said this, she took half a step back and no longer tried to tear off the seal.
Zijuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief and advised, "Xiren went to the Sun family to ask for medicine, and she should be back by now. Nowadays, there is chaos and the people below are not very dedicated. Why don't we go over and see if there is anything we can do to help?"
After a slight hesitation, Daiyu nodded and walked silently towards the courtyard where Baoyu was.
Zijuan walked behind, looking at the thin back of her young lady, and suddenly felt a little regretful.
If Baoyu were to fall ill and never get back to health, then... it would be better to displease my uncle first!
