Ch. 167 - Ask About the Common People and the Supernatural Beings
The Famous Detective of the Red MansionThis chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
This chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
Seeing the faint voice of Zen singing in the lobby, Sun Shaozong grabbed a scribe and asked him carefully.
Han Anbang was on duty last night. In the middle of the night, he heard that it was freezing rain outside, which made him uneasy. After all, the old man was afraid of the sudden cold and heat.
The old men of rich and noble families should not have an issue, but the old men of poor families might not be able to take good care of themselves.
Thinking of these things, Han Anbang worked out with the manservant, who was responsible for keeping the bed warm for a long time but was still unable to sleep peacefully.
So before dawn, he sent the Yamen runner on duty to investigate around. Sure enough, he found that about ten old men who were scheduled to enter the Palace to celebrate the Emperor's birthday had already fallen ill.
The number of people was not too large, but he was afraid that some old man would not be able to get better and would be gone tomorrow. The death of the previous one could be said to have been an accident. But if there were more deaths, it would be a face slap!
How many heads did Han Anbang have that he dared to hit Emperor Guangde in the face?
So he was so anxious that he invited famous doctors in the city to come and serve him. He also asked for a prescription to nourish their yin and kidneys, prevent wind, and drive away the cold. He set up a big pot of stew in front of Yamen. When the stew was ready, he asked the Yamen runners to distribute it all over the city, so that no old men would fall ill one after another.
Han Anbang still didn't think it was safe enough, so he simply invited a group of bald people from a nearby temple to open an altar in the lobby of the Central Judicial Office, apparently to pray for the elderly but secretly to ask the Bodhisattva to keep his position.
When the hearer told the cause and effect, Sun Shaozong could not help but sympathize with him.
No wonder they say that the position of the head of the Central Judicial Office was difficult to handle. Even such freezing rain could trigger the crisis of losing his position!
However, with sympathy, Sun Shaozong would not take the initiative to wade into the muddy affairs.
After waving away the scribe, he quietly went to the Criminal Department's courtyard, brewed a pot of tribute tea from the Rongguo Mansion, and slowly sipped on his tea, looking at the blue-glazed Northern official kiln in the rain. It was a pleasant feeling.
"Master."
Cheng Rixing came in with a smile and said, "Did you see Zhao Liben when you came?"
"General Judge Zhao? What’s wrong with him?"
"Yesterday, the Imperial Secretary sent a message."
Cheng Rixing gloated and said, "It is said that on Emperor Day, there will be a lucky sign coming from the front building so that we can live a happy life. We must not cause any trouble. After hearing this news, General Judge Zhao didn't sleep well last night. Today, he simply suffered from a toothache, and half of his face is swollen like a steamed bun!"
This was really a case of a ”perfect storm.” Near the Imperial City, which Zhao Liben was responsible for, was a high-risk area with frequent accidents. Now that there was such a problem, he was afraid that worrying would kill him.
Thinking of this, Sun Shaozong was full of sympathy and said, "Don't worry. When his face gets more swollen, I'll go and have a look."
After that, both the Master and Servant burst into laughter.
Sun Shaozong pointed to the tea on the table and said, "These are the tribute teas from the Rongguo Mansion, would you like to take some back to taste?"
He then gave some tea to Cheng Rixing and said, "Well, I have some relatives from the south of my hometown, all of whom are candidates for the exam. If you are free on that day, you might as well pass on some of your experience in the Spring Examination."
"From Jinling?"
Cheng Rixing's eyes lit up, and he said happily, "If they can pass the Jinling Imperial Examination, there must be something extraordinary about them. I will definitely head over and ask for advice!"
"By the way, I will call some of my students together. They have already gotten used to you, haven't they?"
While they were talking about the Imperial Examination, they heard a respectful voice from the outside saying, "Zhou Da here, and I would like to request to meet Your Excellency."
Both the Master and the Servant in the room were in a daze. Because Zhou Da came and went frequently, he never asked for a meeting so seriously.
Cheng Rixing laughed and said, "I'm afraid that Zhou has something to ask for. I should leave first to avoid it."
With that, he went out of the room.
Not long after, Zhou Da came in with a smile on his face and a wooden box with exquisite carving in his hand.
He gently put the box on the table and said with a smile, "Master, you have been so tired recently. I just don't know how to share your worries. It happened that I coincidentally got a hundred-year-old wild ginseng. I think God is using my hand to pay you a special tribute!"
Hearing this, Sun Shaozong stretched out his hand to open the lid of the box and saw that there was indeed an old ginseng with a full head and tail, which seemed to look like a human.
"I'm afraid your ”coincidence” is not cheap, is it?"
Sun Shaozong covered the box again and said calmly, "If you want to be promoted, just tell me directly. You don’t have to use the name of God."
"I can't hide it from you."
Zhou Da said with a smile, "I’m just a scholar who passed the imperial examination at the county level, and I didn't think I could make progress at first. But since I followed you, I have accumulated some credit. My mind has been active again unconsciously. Hehehe..."
Sun Shaozong also felt that it was time to give this guy some real benefits when he saw his swelling face shaking.
He has been following him for more than half a year, let alone the other matters. But his face was indeed a work injury, so he should have gotten some compensation.
With this in mind, he pushed the old ginseng back to Zhou Da and said, "Take this to the front office and ask the famous doctors to use it on the old men as appropriate."
"Your Honor, this..."
Zhou Da said in a hurry.
Sun Shaozong stopped his words with his eyes, and said angrily, "After following me for a long time, why haven't you made any progress? If I want to recommend you for promotion, I need to find a suitable opportunity and reason. Now you can give this thing to the front, and everything will be ready."
Zhou Da suddenly understood, took the old ginseng in his hands, and said with a smile, "I'll find a way to change it tomorrow and send it to your mansion!"
"That's not necessary."
Sun Shaozong waved his hand and said, "I felt your sincerity. It's not easy for you to support your family and four concubines."
In fact, the words imply admonition and warning.
After Zhou Da's appearance was destroyed, perhaps because of his inferiority complex, he bought two beautiful concubines at one go!
Although this matter was nothing in the arena of officials, it still attracted some comments. They all said that Zhou Da gained a lot of benefits after he followed Sun Shaozong. That's why Sun Shaozong made this insinuation.
Unfortunately, Zhou Da didn't know the true meaning of this sentence. Instead, he thought Sun Shaozong was concerned about himself, and he was moved to tears for a moment.
He then fell to his knees with a puff and sobbed, "Your Excellency... Your Excellency is really like my secondary parent!"
Great~
Looking at this, if Sun Shaozong agreed, it meant that he would be recognized as his Godfather on the spot!
It seemed that this guy could at most accelerate to eighth or ninth grade in officialdom. If he were to be promoted to a higher position, he would cause trouble for himself.