Ch. 118 - The Ni's Daughter Cries to Save Drunken Vagary Boxer and Sun Shaozong Plan to Scheme Steward Lai
The Famous Detective of the Red MansionThis chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
This chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
People in the Officialdom really have no time to be idle all day!
Sun Shaozong sighed and sat up. He pushed Xiangling back to the bed, and said, "Just continue to take a rest first. Your Sister Rong is probably taking a nap, so you don't need to serve her yet."
While he was talking, two eleven or twelve-year-old servant girls took his clothes, shoes, and hat.
Sun Shaozong casually put on a pair of trousers, and the two servant girls held one foot each and carefully put the boots on.
When Sun Shaozong first transmigrated, he also sneered at such meticulous service. Even claimed that he had hands and feet, so no one else needed to serve him.
But just one year later, he was pleased about it. If he didn't have a servant girl to serve him, he would be a little uncomfortable.
Sigh~
It was really easy to go from being thrifty to extravagant but difficult to go from being extravagant back to being thrifty.
Sun Shaozong sighed when he left the courtyard and was about to go to the front hall to meet the guests, but suddenly a woman jumped out of the hall. She fell to her knees with a puff and said, "Please forgive my brother, Second Master! Please forgive my brother, Second Master!"
Sun Shaozong fixed his eyes and saw that the woman seemed to be one of the concubines of his Elder Brother. He could not remember her name but vaguely remembered that his Elder Brother had praised her for her ”oral stunts.”
He glanced at her plump lips and confirmed that he was not mistaken. Sun Shaozong dodged and frowned. "What do you mean? Get up and speak first!"
The woman was determined to plead on the ground, but when she saw that his expression was not very good, she lost her courage and got up from the ground trembling, holding her handkerchief in her hands.
Sun Shaozong asked with a straight face, "What does your brother do? Why did you ask me to spare him?"
The woman squatted down for a long time and said, "Reply to the Second Master, my brother was a merchant. Your Yamen Runner caught him because he helped people sell the four treasures of study in the street of the Examination a few days ago."
Tch!
Unexpectedly, there were ”relatives” in those ”literary dealers!”
Sun Shaozong's face sank, and he scolded, "I'm the Inspector of this subject, but your brother is selling some cheat sheets. It’s a mercy that I didn't punish him severely. How dare you ask me to spare him?"
Putong~
The concubine immediately fell on her knees again, unconsciously trying to hold Sun Shaozong's thigh, but Sun Shaozong dodged her.
She had cried and said, "Please forgive my Brother. Although he doesn't know anything, he has a mother and children he has to take care of..."
"Enough! Stop talking about these useless things!"
Sun Shaozong interrupted impatiently, "What's your brother's name? I'll go to the Yamen to inquire. If he's not the principal criminal, I'll give him a tip-off and expose his reputation for meritorious service. This conscription is avoided, but dozens of floggings and fines are necessary."
"Thank you very much for your kindness!"
The concubine kowtowed her head three times, and then said, "My brother's name is Ni‘er, and his nickname is “drunken vagary boxer.”
"Drunken vagary boxer Ni'er, right? I have written it down."
Sun Shaozong said this and went straight to the front hall until he walked far away. He heard Concubine Ni thank him constantly there.
Sigh~
Everyone’s becoming more and more corrupt!
Sun Shaozong came to the front hall with increasing emotion.
"Congratulations, My Lord! Congratulations, My Lord!"
As soon as he entered the door, he saw Feng Xin coming up with a smile on his face. "When this subject finalizes, you will have a group of successful apprentice candidates in the Imperial Examinations at the Provincial Level. After the Spring Imperial Examination next year, maybe the new scholar of the successful candidates in the highest Imperial Examinations will have to call you teacher when they see you!"
"I haven't seen you for a while, but your mouth is getting smoother and smoother."
Sun Shaozong made a gesture to the guest seat and then sat down on the host seat, laughing and jokingly said, "Did you learn some moves from your talented girl?"
"I want to learn, but I have to understand first! "
He and Feng Xin had never had to hide anything as a taboo. He said with a smile, "That woman usually speaks very formally. She even talked a lot when she was in bed. My head was so big that I had to jump on her before she started to speak “human language.”
Hearing a few words from him, he went straight to the couple's matters. Sun Shaozong quickly stepped on the brake and pulled back to the topic. "Right, are you here this time about the matter I asked you to check last time, has it been clarified?"
"Of course, even if I missed the Imperial mission, I dare not delay your business!"
Feng Xin took out a pamphlet from his sleeve and handed it to Sun Shaozong with both hands.
Sun Shaozong picked it up and flipped it over. Inside, there were all kinds of building materials and the price list of the craftsman's remuneration.
The above price list was not only very detailed but also showed the characteristics of various materials and how to simply distinguish their advantages and disadvantages.
Some of the tips couldn’t be written if it wasn’t for the Feng family, which has spent generations tossing wood and stone.
Sun Shaozong put the price list on the tea table and said with a satisfied smile, "Old Feng, you are very efficient this time. I'm afraid you'll have to make arrangements for me after I discuss the garden with my Elder Brother."
"You are treating me too politely, Your Excellency. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't know where I am buried now! Any instructions from you are just a call away!"
Feng Xin patted his chest and said a few words of flattery, but then he advised, "However, this year several Royal relatives have built a big garden at the same time, and the price of those good wood on the market has gone crazy. If you are not in a hurry, you might as well wait for a year and a half before starting construction."
In fact, Sun Shaozong was just talking nonsense.
In the beginning, he was calculated in the Rongguo Mansion. Although, in the end, it was a blessing in disguise that he took Ping’er as his informant, he has never forgotten this plotting incident.
Jia Yucun was an old and cunning man and Sun Shaozong's supervisor. Wang Xifeng was backed by the Wang and Jia family, two big trees, and she was also a woman in her boudoir. It was difficult to plot revenge.
However, Lai Da's identity was not only one notch inferior, but also the initiator of his ”loss of integrity,’ which was naturally regarded as a breakthrough by Sun Shaozong.
Especially now, the Rong-Ning Mansion was building a garden. Lai Da and his Brother, Lai’er were mainly in charge of it. With their boldness, they would definitely take the opportunity to enrich themselves.
So Sun Shaozong found Feng Xin to inquire about the price of repairing the garden, to give the Lais in charge a blow.
At this time, Feng Xin actively persuaded Sun Shaozong not to repair the garden for the time being.
He pretended to be hesitant and said, "Has the price risen a lot recently?"
"Yes!"
Feng Xin said with some glee, "All kinds of materials have doubled in a few cases, and have quadrupled in many cases!"
"Nowadays, those Imperial relatives are also unable to back off. If they were to give up halfway, they couldn’t afford to lose the workers; if they were to continue repairing, they wouldn’t be financially strong enough. Now the Capital is putting all sorts of things together, and I have no idea how much they owe!"
Hearing this, Sun Shaozong was very excited and asked, "What about the Rongguo Mansion? Is there a deficit?"
"Well..."
Feng Xin knew the relationship between the Sun family and the Rongguo family, but he did not doubt anything. He scratched his head and said, "The Rongguo Mansion family is a little stronger than others, but now they are also not making ends meet."
Okay~
If they were rich, it would not matter if the rich servants took some benefits. But now that the Rongguo Mansion has already lost money, how could they allow Lai Da to take advantage?