Ch. 84 - Sun Shaozong Refused to Put in Good Words and Wang Xifeng Harbored Resentment and Evil Thoughts
The Famous Detective of the Red MansionThis chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
This chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
After a while, Zhou Rui took the hem of his clothes and went inside.
Originally, he wanted to greet him with a hand posture, but when he saw Sun Shaozong sitting behind the desk, the eagle's eyes also looked at him with a certain degree of scrutiny. His backbone immediately softened and he bowed to the end, "Greetings to the Assistant Prefectural Magistrate Sun."
"Steward Zhou, no need to be polite."
Sun Shaozong answered lightly and asked directly, "What matter does Steward Zhou need for the Yamen and me to look at?"
"This..."
Zhou Rui glanced at Cheng Rixing. Considering that he was recommended by Jia Zheng, it was not easy for Sun Shaozong to invite him out. He had to laugh and say, "It's not a big deal. Yesterday, an old relative begged our Young Second Mistress. She said that her husband in the family was somehow involved in a murder case and had decided to have a “delayed death penalty” muddle headedly."
"As you know, our Young Second Mistress can't see other people crying. She also heard her pouring the whole story. It seems that she really has some grievances, so she sent me to ask if you could remove her husband from the list of “autumn execution” first. If the case is still not solved by the end of the year, it's not too late to start an operation."
These words were really flattering!
It was "somehow" and "muddle-headed,” and in the end, it was just a "question.” It not only clarified the purpose of the matter but also left enough room for both sides.
He didn’t know whether Wang Xifeng arranged this remark in advance or Zhou Rui himself.
"Old relatives?"
Sun Shaozong took out the "autumn list" and spread it out on the table. He then asked, "Who is this old relative of your family?"
"Yu! His surname is Yu and his two names are Tianbao!"
"Yu Tianbao?"
Sun Shaozong quickly found the name on the list and poked the brief description of the case at the back with his finger. He murmured, "Yu Tianbao, at the period of the day from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on May 26, because he had a quarrel with Lan in the silver hook gambling house, he cut Lan's throat with the dagger he carried with him and stabbed him eight times on his body to vent his anger. Afterward, Yu Tianbao tried to resist arrest and stabbed a constable..."
At this point, Sun Shaozong raised his head and asked with a smile, "I wonder where your Young Second Mistress of your family saw the grievance in this case. Can housekeeper Zhou give me some advice and open my eyes?"
"This... This..."
When Zhou Rui heard this, he secretly scolded too. The Yu family only said that Yu Tianbao had killed someone by mistake in the gambling house. He didn't mention anything about whipping corpses and resisting arrest!
But he has already collected the bribery silver taels. How could he say that he has no grievance?
So he made up his mind and said, "I heard from the Yu family that Yu Tianbao never went to the gambling house that day. Maybe someone pretended to be him and blamed him for the murder!"
"As for resisting arrest..."
"The year before last, there was a son of a rich businessman in the east of the city. He was deceived by a villain who pretended to be a Yamen servant. No one has seen him dead or alive till now. Since Yu Tianbao has not killed anyone, it is natural to hear that he should be brought to justice and resist."
What a sharp mouth that speaks nonsense, turning the situation black and white!
Sun Shaozong sneered and stared at him. "According to Steward Zhou, the blood stains on Yu Tianbao's body and the murder weapon in his hand were all forced on him by others?"
Zhou Rui was forced to sweat, but due to Wang Xifeng's explanation and the benefits he received from it, he still insisted, "This... This is not impossible."
"What about the confession he confessed himself? Was it forced into a confession?"
"This... This kind of thing is not without precedent."
PAK!
Sun Shaozong slammed the table and angrily said, "What nonsense!"
Seeing his frown and stare, Zhou Rui was so frightened that he knelt on the ground.
However, Sun Shaozong said, "This case was personally handled by Prefectural Magistrate Jia. How dare you accuse Prefectural Magistrate Jia of forcing the suspect to confess and neglecting human life with a few cries of women's virtue? If the Second Master of your family knows about it, I'm afraid you will be the first one he will take out on!"
Only then did Zhou Rui realize that he had made a taboo because of his quick words.
Although in his heart he did not necessarily think highly of Jia Yucun, who had been able to recover his status through their relative's relationship with the Jia family, he understood that the importance of the Prefectural Magistrate of the Central Judicial Office to the Jia family was far greater than that of his Young Second Mistress.
So he quickly kowtowed and said, "I made a slip of the tongue and offended the Prefectural Magistrate. It was not intentional. Please forgive me this time!"
"Hmph!"
Sun Shaozong gave a cold snort, shook his sleeve, and said, "For the sake of Brother Lian, I'm too lazy to argue with you. Leave now."
"I will be on my leave now!"
Zhou Rui hurriedly got up and bowed back to the door. He was about to turn around and leave. But when he stepped out of the door, he stood still again. He looked back and asked timidly, "Second Master Sun, if the Prefectural Magistrate suddenly finds out something suspicious, can this case..."
Indeed, “people don't shed tears when they don't see the coffin.” When they hit a nail here, they put their thoughts on Jia Yucun!
It's a pity that he’s still miscalculated. Jia Yucun and Minister Han were fighting fiercely, and they hated each other. How dare Jia Yucun drop such a bad piece of evidence at this time?
Therefore, Sun Shaozong said without hesitation, "If there is a life at stake, I have nothing to say here."
—Dividing Line—
Half an hour later, in the Rongguo Mansion.
After hearing Zhou Rui's reply, Wang Xifeng didn't say a word for a long time, but the evil aura in her eyebrows was a little stronger. Zhou Rui was shocked to see it for fear that he might become her vent.
"Steward Zhou."
Fortunately, Ping'er said, "There's nothing for you here for the time being. Go down first."
Zhou Rui hurried out as if he had been pardoned.
Crash!
Almost as soon as Zhou Rui's front foot left the courtyard, Wang Xifeng swept the "Northern Song Dynasty official kiln" on the Kang Table to the ground, complaining, "If it wasn't for our family's help, the two poor brothers of the Sun family would have starved to death! Now that I asked him to do some small things, they tried to push things away and didn't give me a good face. If I knew this earlier, we might have taken the money to feed the dogs!"
She let off her anger for a long time, pointing out that Sun Shaozong was someone who was not thankful and was inferior to a bastard.
Ping’er was just listening. When Wang Xifeng was out of breath, she hurried forward to soothe her chest and back and poured her herbal tea.
She then said with a smile, "What kind of person is the Second Master Sun? Seeing that he is going to be the Justice Bao of the Zhou Dynasty, you still dare to ask him to practice favoritism and cheating, didn't you hit it right at that point? If you ask me, you still have to rely on Jia Yucun of Xinglong Street!"
Wang Xifeng sighed, "It's the only way right now. It's just... The ungrateful brat with the surname Sun has solved many strange cases. Sooner or later, the position of Department Head of the Ministry will be his. If we can't settle him, how can we survive the lawsuit? We have to find a way to force him to obey!"