"I thought the Qin family was miserable enough, but I didn't expect the “Intelligent Child” to..."
Hearing Zhou Rui sighing all the way, Sun Shaozong got to know that the Shuiyue Temple was actually one of the family temples of the Rongguo Mansion. This “Intelligent child” has been keeping in constant touch since childhood, and it could be said that she was watched while growing up by everyone in the mansion.
Later, due to an affair with Qin Zhong, who was Baoyu’s Companion, this Intelligent Child secretly escaped from Shuiyue Temple, intending to elope with Qin Zhong.
Unfortunately, Qin Zhong's father found out that he chased the Intelligent Child away, and then beat Qin Zhong violently.
Just like that, Qin's father was super angry, and he became ill. He died before the end of the year.
After Qin's father died, Qin Zhong, who was badly injured and ashamed, also passed away before the first month.
So before, everyone said that it was the Intelligent Child who hurt the Qin family, but now it seemed that it was uncertain who was at fault.
"Erlang!"
As soon as he got to the foot of the mountain, he saw Jia Lian hurrying up and complaining, "Why did you alarm your sister-in-law and not tell me clearly about such a big thing?"
Hearing this, Sun Shaozong was speechless for a moment. He and Wang Xifeng were one on the hillside and one on the bow of the boat. It was reluctant to say that they met by chance. How could it be called an "alarm?”
Just when he wanted to distinguish two sentences, Jia Lian saw Jia Qin, who was carried down the mountain by the Yamen servicemen. He couldn’t help but make a fuss again. After asking the reason, he hurriedly asked Xing'er and the other servant boys to pick him up and rush him to the clinic.
After this delay, Sun Shaozong was too lazy to distinguish anything. He greeted Jia Lian and was ready to escort Carpenter Zhang back to the case.
After Jia Lian heard his words, he held onto him to prevent him from leaving. He insisted on keeping him to eat some “get over a shock” wine, and said some nonsense such as “you are only responsible for finding out the truth, not how they decide the case.”
Sun Shaozong was a little confused at the beginning, but he smelled the rich, fragrant powder on his body, and his heart suddenly realized that the "important thing" he told Xing’er to convey was really "inseparable!”
As for the fact that he stopped himself from leaving at present, he was just afraid of getting detected by Wang Xifeng, so he wanted to pull himself up as a shield.
However, this kind of thing was not easy to say in person, so Sun Shaozong had to stay reluctantly and let several Yamen guards escort Carpenter Zhang back to the Daxing County Yamen, and Shen Dan would continue to be responsible for the trial of the case.
If Shen Dan really could misjudge this time, Sun Shaozong would be totally "convinced!”
—Dividing Line—
Half an hour later, Sister Feng was in the house.
Hearing Zhou Rui explain that the victim of the body dismembering case was the Intelligent Child, whom everyone had known well since childhood, the initially cheerful atmosphere in the room suddenly disappeared.
After Zhou Rui's witty farewell, the women kept silent for a while. Finally, Lin Daiyu was the first to break the deadlock, wiping away her tears and saying, "She has always been the most kind-hearted person and can’t even bear to hurt an ant at ordinary times, but she ended up like this unexpectedly."
Once she started, the others also recalled the past. Even the always-quiet Jia Yingchun couldn't help but share two or three childhood anecdotes.
Jia Xichun was the one who got along with the Intelligent Child the most.
She twisted her handkerchief and said, "It was originally said that Qin Zhong and his father's deaths were caused by a curse from the Intelligent Child, but at the moment, Qin Zhong was more likely to be the reincarnation of an evil star, and anyone who has a relationship with him has no happy ending, even Brother Bao..."
"What about me?"
Before Xichun finished speaking, he saw the door curtain being raised. Jia Baoyu rushed in from the outside. Although his face was covered with bruises, he still laughed like he was bathing in the spring breeze.
Since Jia Zheng reprimanded something about Qin Zhong that day, it made Jia Baoyu oppose each other and finally caused a serious beating. Who in this house didn’t know that Qin Zhong was Baoyu's nerve?
Therefore, Xichun's face turned pale on the spot, and he couldn't say a word.
Fortunately, Xue Baochai reacted very quickly and hurriedly stepped forward to switch the topic. He joked with a smile, "Why are you not resting in your yard when you are injured but coming to listen to us sisters' gossip?"
"Ouch!"
Jia Baoyu immediately thought of the bruise on his face when she mentioned the word "injured.” He hurriedly turned over to cover his face and said, "I originally wanted to go out with a veil on my face, but I heard that something big had happened to the family. I was afraid that my sister-in-law and sisters would be frightened, so I forgot this for a moment!"
Everyone saw that although he was beaten badly, he was as foolish as before, and they all smiled a little.
Wang Xifeng got up, pulled him to her side, and sat down. She joked, "Now you know how to feel ashamed? Who was the one covering his head that day and being chased by the Old Second Master all over the yard?"
The crowd laughed again, but Jia Baoyu was not annoyed. He just smiled at them and then listened curiously, "I heard that a murderer broke into our house and hurt Jia Qin, but I don't know what happened."
Hearing him mention this, the women were a little dejected.
Wang Xifeng was full of sobs, told the cause and effect again, and revealed the identity of the deceased.
"What?! Intelligent... Intelligent Child was killed by someone?!"
Jia Baoyu jumped up abruptly, stunned for a while, and then sat back decadently, with all his emotions written on his face and a look of restlessness.
Seeing this, Wang Xifeng was afraid of causing him some infatuation and hurriedly said something like "A person cannot come back to life after death,” and comforted Baoyu by saying, "The murderer who killed the Intelligent Child has been arrested, which is also a consolation to the Intelligent Child's spirit in heaven.”
Jia Baoyu was a little relieved but still a little wilted.
"Sister-in-law."
At this time, he heard Lin Daiyu's suggestion, "I’m afraid that the Shuiyue Temple won't care about her funeral affairs now. At least we had a relationship with her since childhood. How can we bear to see her still getting abused after her death? How about we sisters gather some money and bury her!"
As soon as this statement came out, all the women responded enthusiastically, and even the servant girls with some identities, such as Xiren and Qingwen, also expressed their generosity.
While the sisters were gathering the money, Wang Xifeng suddenly knocked on the table with her jade-like hand.
After drawing everyone's attention to herself, she said with a wry smile, "Don't hurry to raise money first, it can't be done with money alone. The corpse of Intelligent Child is still in Daxing County Yamen. We are all women, how can we be out in public?"
Jia Tanchun quickly said, "This is easy. Let's entrust the money to someone else."
"It's easy for the third sister to say." Jia Xichun retorted, "People tend to hide from such matters of bad luck. Who is willing to intervene?"
Ping'er also said, "Yes. With her current look, we're scared just by hearing it, not to mention helping her bury the dead for her mourning!"
All of them were chiming in, and the girls started to withdraw from the idea.
Seeing that her proposal was about to be rejected, Lin Daiyu hurriedly said, "Others may avoid it, but Brother Sun must not be afraid! Or when we have gathered the money, I will write to Sister Rong and let her ask Brother Sun to help with the aftercare of the Intelligent Child!"
In fact, Wang Xifeng and Ping'er—this master and servant—also thought of Sun Shaozong earlier, but because of their identities, they deliberately pretended to be embarrassed and sang in unison to attract Lin Daiyu to take the bait.
Seeing that Daiyu unexpectedly mentioned Sun Shaozong, Wang Xifeng immediately slapped her hands and said with a happy smile, "This is a good idea. If Sun Erlang can help, he must..."
"I object!"
Just then, Jia Baoyu ran up and said angrily, "Why should we entrust our own business to outsiders?! Besides, are there no men in the Rongguo Mansion?!"
As he said this, he patted his chest and said proudly, "Leave it to me! There's no need for everyone to raise any money. I'll do it properly!"
The ladies looked around and didn't know what was wrong with him.
Only Lin Daiyu was proud that she had come up with a good idea, but listening to his mouth full of “own” and "outsiders," she was immediately annoyed!
So she sneered casually, "Well, since the Second Master Bao volunteered personally, naturally, there's no need for us outsiders to worry about anything! Just don’t make it all about big talk but end up implicating others!"
Jia Baoyu was so agitated by her that he stubbed his neck like a cockfight and shouted, "I didn't say Sister Lin is an outsider, I was referring to the one who had the surname Sun! Isn't it just helping the Intelligent Child on the matter of mourning? Just wait and see!"
With that, he rushed out angrily.