Ch. 500 - Asking the Fan to Bury the Root of Trouble, Questioning the Mysterious Difficulty of Visiting the Beautiful Jade
The Famous Detective of the Red MansionThis chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
This chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
As he watched Jia Baoyu's figure disappear, he gradually drifted away on the opposite bank of the bridge and saw the nearest servant five miles away. Sun Shaozong turned his head to meet Jia Lian and hesitated to say, "Second Brother, the..."
Upon seeing this, Jia Lian immediately put on a bold and straightforward demeanor: "What's there to be hesitant about between us Brothers? Erlang, just say what you want!"
His magnanimity made him appear sleazy.
Sun Shaozong simply put aside the principles of propriety, righteousness, integrity, and shame, and said with a shy face, "It’s fine for Xiaohong. But what is the identity of Lady Ping'er? Who in the mansion doesn’t know? If it weren't for your promise to give her to me as a Concubine, I wouldn't have been rude to her."
"Otherwise, if someone else finds out, just rumors and gossip may not be something a woman can handle."
Although Jia Lian lacked some shrewdness, he was not a fool at all. Naturally, he could hear Sun Shaozong's words; he hoped he could fulfill his promise and give Ping’er as a gift to him.
Jia Lian himself had no objections and even wished to get closer to Sun Shaozong through this.
It was just that...
"Although I am willing to give her to you, your Sister-in-Law cannot be separated from Ping'er for a moment. We had a few arguments this morning," Jia Lian said. Seeing Sun Shaozong's face slightly change, he quickly patted his chest and said, "But don't worry, Brother. I will find a way to make that woman relax and personally take her to your house!"
As he spoke, he added with a playful smile, "If you miss her these days, why don't you come to our mansion often? Just treat it as raising a temporary stay outside."
What else could Sun Shaozong say when he has already put it this way?
He could only unwillingly accept it.
Turning back, he was about to continue exploring the area to see if he could find any other clues. However, he saw a maid on the other side rushing over and shouting through the Fengyao Bridge, "Second Master, the Old Master called for you to come over and said there's something to entrust you with!"
Upon hearing this, Jia Lian frowned. Originally, after Baoyu was disbanded, he was secretly delighted to be alone with Sun Shaozong. Unexpectedly, his father had called for him.
In addition to feeling depressed in his heart, he naturally refused to obediently submit and waved to call the maid closer to inquire about what was going on.
It turned out that Jia She had just heard that there was a broken family named Shi who was out and down in the city. His nickname was *"Stone Idiot."* His family was as poor as a destitute man and could not even eat food. However, there were more than twenty high-quality fans hidden in his family, with the words of celebrities of all ages mentioned on them. All of them were rare treasures.
Jia She was obsessed with this thing all his life. He was overjoyed at the news. He wanted to go there to have a look, but he twisted his ankle in a trance. Now his ankle was like a swollen bun, so it was not easy to see any fans.
Therefore, he ordered someone to call Jia Lian and let Jia Lian take his place to see what was going on.
After listening to the causes and consequences, Jia Lian became increasingly impatient and scolded, "How many serious things do I have to handle right now? You guys serving the Old Master, can’t you let him invite others to do so?"
The maid shrank her shoulders in fear and exclaimed, "As the Old Master said, the servants in the mansion don't even know a few characters. How would they know the uniqueness of fans, so he asked you to handle this matter."
Although Jia Lian was reluctant, he also knew that his father had such a temper. If he disobeyed orders and didn't follow them, the family law would fall on him in the blink of an eye.
Therefore, he could only bid farewell to Sun Shaozong reluctantly and hummed across the Fengyao Bridge.
And as soon as he left, Sun Shaozong felt much more at ease. He first carefully surveyed outside the bamboo forest, but could not find any decent clues. Then, he carefully surveyed the north wall of the Grand View garden, and as a result, he found two traces of climbing over the wall.
By comparison, it could be determined that those three thieves had already escaped last night.
Sun Shaozong felt a little at ease, and there was no other place to investigate, so he decided to stroll around the Yihong Courtyard, enjoying the beautiful autumn scenery without a trace.
About half an hour later, Zhou Rui hurriedly came over and said that the search in various places had come to an end, and no thieves had been hiding during this period.
If Sun Shaozong had no other orders, he would have prepared to evacuate all the servants, so that the maids and women could go back to their respective homes, and also to prevent showing flaws from the Old Lady when wandering around the garden.
Sun Shaozong casually waved his hand and said, "Continue with your task. I’m just going to wander around this garden so that when the Old Lady brings people in, I can also guard along the way."
Zhou Rui thanked the Master greatly and led his servants out of the garden.
Sun Shaozong wandered around the vicinity of Yihong Courtyard for a moment, only to see the beauties, who were leading Yihong Courtyard, appear on the avenue. He then avoided it from a distance and turned onto a nearby mountain path.
Before long, a quiet little temple flashed out amidst the forest ahead.
Sun Shaozong strolled leisurely and arrived at the entrance of the small temple. He was looking at the three characters of Longcui Temple on the plaque when he heard a hurried sound of footsteps behind him, followed by a surprised voice from Miaoyu, "Lord Sun? You... why are you here?"
Looking back, he saw this fake nun wearing yesterday's moon-white gauze dress, with a light blue tie, tying three feet of green silk simply behind her head. As she walked, her clothes were floating and black like clouds, looking very carefree, but she was holding a small baby girl in her arms.
Sun Shaozong smiled slightly and made his way to the road, saying in his mouth, "Why, aren’t you going to invite me in for a sit?"
Miaoyu felt even more peculiar, but since her two sacrifices were politely rejected by Sun Shaozong, her perception of him gradually shifted from initial disdain to respect.
Therefore, he hurriedly handed over the child to the little nun behind her to take care of. She stepped forward and locked the courtyard door, then made way and said, "The temple is poor, and I'm afraid there are only a few cups of coarse tea. We can express our feelings by chatting with it."
Sun Shaozong obediently entered the courtyard but did not go to the main hall. Instead, he walked straight into Miaoyu's meditation room.
Miaoyu was taken aback again, but she immediately followed step by step. She opened the small cabinet made of mottled bamboo, took out many bottles and jars, and also took a small red clay stove, doing a lot of work.
Not long after, she held a small tea plate filled with golden cloud dragons in the style of crabapple carved lacquer to offer longevity. Inside, she placed a colorful small covered cup from a kiln and presented it to Sun Shaozong with a graceful expression.
Every move was pleasing to the eye, and even ordinary tea added a touch of charm, let alone that this tea was indeed a rare treasure.
Unfortunately, Sun Shaozong was not a member of this sect, nor did he ask what kind of tea it was. He gulped down the dates and poured them clean, then placed the teacup on the tray and asked, "Do you know why I came to see you this time?"
Miaoyu saw him staring straight at her, and for a moment, she felt a bit crooked. She blushed and took a half step back, shyly saying, "The Buddhist sect is pure, please take it seriously."
"Take it seriously?"
Sun Shaozong saw that her shyness was extremely natural and did not show any flaws. He couldn't help but roll his eyes and angrily said, "You are at least a nun with cultivation. Can you stop worrying about men's and women's love? I came here this time to ask you something serious."
Miaoyu finally realized that she had misunderstood Sun Shaozong's meaning. Her face blushed even more with embarrassment, and she anxiously arranged the tea set. She also asked cautiously, "I don't know what's so serious?"
Sun Shaozong was also too lazy to continue playing riddles with her. With a calm face, he said solemnly, "Those thieves last night were probably coming to your Longcui Temple!"
"What?!"
Miaoyu couldn't help but scream out loud, and then felt a bit unbelievable. She hesitated and said, "How could this be possible? There are only a few monks in the temple. How could we provoke such a great thief?"
"This is also where I wonder."
Sun Shaozong frowned and said, "Those thieves have turned most of this Grand View garden and even pieced together a topographic map, but clearly failed to achieve their goal of venturing in. It's probably not as simple as seeking wealth."
"And the places where people live in this garden are mostly in prominent places, only this place is quiet and difficult to find—that's why I inferred that those thieves intended to come to Longcui Temple, but because the sky was dim and this place was very secretive, they couldn't fulfill their wish."
At this point, he looked at Miaoyu and said, "Think carefully, what is here in this Longcui Temple that is worth taking risks for thieves?"
"This..."
This really put Miaoyu in a difficult position. She paced back and forth in front of Sun Shaozong, frowned, and pondered for a long time, but finally shook her head and said, "My two Junior Sisters and I are devoted to cultivation and rarely go out normally. How could we ever provoke any strong people?"
"Speaking of going out..."
She hesitated and said, "Just a while ago, I often went to the Central Judicial Office for the sake of my child."
Sun Shaozong also thought of this aspect, but every time Miaoyu went to house arrest if she had known some big secret that attracted these adventurous strong men, it was a bit strange—the people in the house arrest were all old, weak, women and children, and not the mountain bandits and pirates who liked to collect treasures.
After asking a few more questions, Sun Shaozong still didn't get the point. He couldn’t help but say helplessly, "You might as well think carefully again to see if there are other things that you have overlooked, or if these thieves are attracted by your two Junior Sisters."
"Also, it's best for you to be careful. Although this mansion will increase its security, it may not be safe to be caught by those thieves again."
After speaking, Sun Shaozong stood up and wanted to push the door open before leaving.
"Master, wait a moment."
Miaoyu quickly stopped him and earnestly asked, "I don't know if you have ever told the owner of this mansion that you suspect that the thief's target is my Longcui Temple?”
"Of course not."
Sun Shaozong naturally said, "I'm just speculating, and I don't have much empirical evidence. If I tell them, I'm afraid I'll make them suspect you..."
"Please tell me the truth, Master!"
Before Sun Shaozong could finish speaking, Miaoyu said decisively, "The Master of this mansion has treated me extremely well. If those thieves were really brought in by me, I should move out of this garden myself, so as not to implicate them!"
***Tch!***
This virgin heart of hers has indeed started again.
Sun Shaozong sneered and said, "Do you think I pity you? I am afraid of that child being implicated by you for no reason! If you leave Rongguo Mansion, no one will be kind enough to help you raise your child!"
Speaking of the child, Miaoyu's resolute gaze immediately began to waver.
Sun Shaozong didn't care how hard she struggled in her heart and walked out of Longcui Temple on his own.
As soon as he returned to the main road, he saw Sheyue and Qiuwen leading several maids, running around like headless flies. He couldn't help but raise his curiosity and asked, "What are you looking for?"
"Lord Sun!"
When Sheyue and others saw it was him, they were immediately overjoyed. They quickly approached and chattered, "The Old Lady has entered the garden. Our Second Master is afraid of any mishaps, so he specially asked us to invite you to come and accompany along!"