Detective in the Red Chamber

Seeing the vermilion lacquer gate creaking and separating from left to right, Sun Shaozong's heart was moved, he couldn't help but pull Ruan Rong out of the carriage, and went straight inside without waiting for the servants to come out.

But this time Wei Licai didn't dare to pretend that he didn't see him, so he took a few steps forward and stopped in front of Sun Shaozong, smiled at Ruan Rong and said, "Please return the girl to the car first, and send the girl away after the old slave calls the two wives out." Rest at the back, so as not to be bumped by the monkey cubs in the mansion."

All these words are for the good of Ruan Rong.

But the real reason is that except for marrying a bride through the door, women are generally not allowed to enter or leave the front door—concubines and aunts can only be carried in through the corner door or the back door to get married.

Sun Shaozong and Ruan Rong crossed the threshold together, as if declaring her identity as the hostess in disguise.

Ruan Rong didn't understand what was going on at the beginning, but when Steward Wei blocked her, she suddenly realized it. She looked at Steward Wei who refused to give up half a step, and then at Sun Shaozong who had a gloomy face. She gritted her silver teeth slightly, He said decisively, "Brother Sun, I'd better go back to the car first..."

"Go back to what car!"

Sun Shaozong scolded, looked at the old housekeeper and said, "Uncle Wei, if it wasn't for Rong'er's help, I'm afraid I would have been in Qianxiang Country, let alone the inseparable friendship along the way—the two of us She has already set a lifetime plan, since she will be the hostess of this house sooner or later, what's the point of going back to the main entrance in advance?"

As he spoke, he took half a step forward, and with a light push of his shoulder, he carried Steward Wei to the side, and then pulled Ruan Rong inside.

"Second Master!"

Seeing that the two of them were about to cross the threshold, Wei Licai couldn't care less, and hurriedly shouted, "During the Taizu dynasty, there was a rule that military generals in the army were not allowed to take foreign women as wives, and those who disobeyed the order would have to demote their officials for civilians." of!"

Did the Great Zhou Dynasty still have such rules?

It makes sense to think about it. At the beginning of the founding of the country, Zhou Taizu had just expelled the "Meng Yuan" and restored the rule of the Han people. It was the time when the national sentiment was high, so it is not an exaggeration to set such rules.

When Sun Shaozong heard the words, his footsteps stopped, and Ruan Rong's complexion suddenly changed beside him, and then he struggled desperately, with tears in his eyes, and persuaded him, "Brother Sun, as long as I can be with you, Rong'er That's enough, don't..."

If she didn't persuade, Sun Shaozong might hesitate a little bit, but this persuasion aroused Sun Shaozong's temper, so he immediately stretched out his hand to push the old housekeeper away without saying a word, and pulled Ruan Rong in boldly!

After crossing the threshold, Sun Shaozong stopped again, looked at Ruan Rong who was already in tears, and said with a laugh, "Why are you crying? I can't marry a military general, so I can just be a civil servant—wait until I see the emperor." At that time, I will ask to be ordered to be a civil servant first, and then I will marry you!"

It's not that he was talking nonsense to fool Ruan Rong.

At the beginning of the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, in order to avoid repeating the disaster of civil and military imbalance in the two Song Dynasties, a special rule was made. Every time after the imperial examination competition, a group of scholars would be selected from the Wen Jinshi to serve as military positions in the army; A group of warriors who are proficient in writing and ink were selected to serve as officials close to the people.

Unfortunately, this rule did not reverse the inertia of history.

After decades of peace in the world, the Wenchen Group has gradually suppressed the Xungui family, and the bad habit of emphasizing civility over military affairs has become commonplace again.

So to this day, although this rule is still in effect on the surface, it has been changed beyond recognition on the inside.

As far as Wen Jinshi is concerned, only the unlucky fellow Jinshi will be kicked out to practice in the army, and all of them will be promoted to sixth-rank real posts in an exceptional way.

Among the Wu Jinshi, only the first-ranked champion, the second-best, Tanhua, and the top twelve of the second-class are eligible to be transferred to civil positions. The identity is waiting to fill the vacancy-and he can't be a Zhengyin official like a county magistrate, so he can only serve as a helper for Wen Jinshi.

Not only that, after taking office, Wu Jinshi will have to endure the exclusion of official civil officials, and they will be impeached if they are not careful.

But even so, the Wu Jinshi were still rushing to transfer to civilian jobs.

And Sun Shaozong was the No. 5 Wu Jinshi in Guangde's eighth year. Otherwise, how could he become a real-time sixth-rank captain given his young age and having never won any titles?

It was precisely because of this status that Jia Yucun persuaded him to wait for an opportunity to become a civil servant.

Chapter 23

Sun Shaozong's "arbitrary behavior" in front of the mansion naturally attracted many servants and wives, but don't talk too much, not even half of them dared to stay to watch the fun.

Gaiyin Sun Shaozu's way of governing his family is very different from that of Rongguo Mansion, and the methods are more severe than those in the army. Not to mention ordinary servants and maids, but those aunts in his backyard. The place where they are abused is lightly beaten and scolded, and seriously sold to brothels for prostitution.

Therefore, everyone in the entire family was cautious, and no one dared to violate Sun Shaozu's taboo.

But it was said that Sun Shaozong dragged Ruan Rong into Sun's mansion, and found near the guest room in the East Wing according to his memory, and ordered someone to find a few women and maidservants in the backyard to help Ruan Rong decorate the room.

He was busy in the heat, when he heard the door slam and was knocked open, a strong man with a beard rushed in, the bull's eyes like copper bells swept left and right, without saying a word, raised his fist the size of a vinegar bowl Finding Ruan Rong in the face is a punch.

This fist is as powerful as a thunderbolt, and it has a force of several hundred catties. If it is really hit, Ruan Rong will die on the spot!

Fortunately, Sun Shaozong was not far away, so he hurriedly stepped in front of Ruan Rong when he saw this, and raised his fist to meet him.

touch~

When the two fists collided, it was as if there was a muffled thunder on the ground!

Sun Shaozong just shook his figure, but the man with leopard head and eyes circled backed up five or six steps, grinning and rubbing his shoulders, obviously suffering a lot.

"Good Erlang, I haven't seen this strength for a year, but I really know how to grow!"

The man shook his shoulders and gave a praise, and then sternly reprimanded, "Get out of the way! Let me kill this vixen, so that you can stop your stupid thoughts!"

"Big brother!"

Sun Shaozong blurted out "big brother", but it turned out that the man with leopard head and eyes was not someone else, but his cheap brother Sun Shaozu - just now when chatting with the women, they said he was on duty at the yamen of the patrol camp. Cheng Xiang rushed back so quickly!

"Since you still know that I am your elder brother, Te Niang should get out of the way!"

I saw Sun Shaozu raised his fist and shouted furiously, "Is it so easy to be a civil servant?! Nine of you have been transferred from this department. It's only been more than a year, and there are only three people who have been tricked and dismissed. One of them was even sentenced to death for embezzling ink and disaster relief food!"

Speaking of this, he slowed down his tone a little bit, "Listen to brother, kill this vixen, whoever wants to go to any clerical job! Isn't she a beautiful woman? What kind of brother do you want to give you a new life?" Amoy to change!"

Sun Shaozong was speechless, and hurriedly said, "Brother, how can this be the same, I..."

"What's different about Youte Niang?!"

But Sun Shaozu didn't give him a chance to interrupt at all, and stared bull-eyed and said, "I think you are fascinated by this vixen because you have never seen a woman before! Otherwise, after killing this vixen, those whores in my house Hooves, you see that one is pleasing to the eye, so take it back and play with it, and I will pay you for it!"

Although Sun Shaozu is also a lustful person, he always only regards women as playthings and never takes them to heart, so he said this.

He seemed to think the idea was good, and he casually recommended, "Those sluts may not be as good as this vixen in terms of color, but they are all good at bed! Chuntao is best at pouring candles, Jin Baoying is good at ventriloquist, and so on." The backyard of the colorful butterfly..."

Seeing that this guy didn't agree with each other, he shook out all the private things on the bed, Sun Shaozong was really speechless, and wondered why he had such a top brother? !

But speechless is speechless, you can't just let him go on like this.

So Sun Shaozong raised his eyebrows, and interjected coldly, "Brother, if you continue to talk nonsense like this, I will take Rong'er and move out, and I will return home when you want to leave."

Sun Shaozu was stunned when he heard the words, and then he jumped up and cursed angrily, "Reverse, rebellious! Since you were five years old, you have been dragged by shit and piss. My mother wants to..."

Before he could finish speaking, Sun Shaozong pulled Ruan Rong up and walked out. Sun Shaozu, who was bluffing, rushed over and blocked the door with large characters, and a pair of bull's eyes glared angrily, but he didn't dare to talk nonsense anymore. sentence.

But it is said that Sun Shaozu had four major hobbies in his life, one was greed for power, the other was lust, the third was alcoholism, and the fourth was accusing younger brothers.

The first three items are nothing more than that, but this younger brother is really his lifeblood. Usually, it can be said that he holds it in his mouth for fear of melting, and holds it in his palm for fear of falling. At that time, Sun Shaozu, a man who looked like an iron tower, was crying on the pier in a daze, almost losing his anger.

Now that the brothers are finally reunited, how could he be willing to let his brother move out?

And it was from the memory fragments that Sun Shaozong knew the nature of his brother's control, so he used 'run away from home' to scare him.

Seeing that this trick had achieved the desired effect, Sun Shaozong was waiting for Xiaozhi to persuade his cheap brother with reason and emotion.

Who would have thought that Ruan Rong would suddenly hesitate and say, "Brother Sun, don't hurt your brother's feelings because of me, in fact... As long as I can be with you, status or something, I... I actually don't care that much. "

This was the first time she revealed in front of Sun Shaozong that she didn't care about her status, and Sun Shaozong who only heard it was stunned.

You must know that the difference between wives and concubines these days is like the difference between heaven and earth!

After all, Ruan Rong is also the daughter of a third-rank high-ranking official—although the gold content of officials in Qianxiang Kingdom is a bit lower, there is absolutely no reason for her to take the initiative to be someone else's concubine!

"Unexpectedly, this girl is quite sensible."

Sun Shaozu was overjoyed, he laughed and said, "What is the status of a woman? What is the status of a woman in the family? Doesn't it all depend on whether a man favors or not? Let's talk about my old woman, who was annoyed by the concubine. I, until I died, I never even looked at her!"

This kind of thing, this kind of words, probably only a bastard like him can do and say it!

"Brother, what are you talking about!"

While scolding, Sun Shaozong turned his head to look at Ruan Rong, and said seriously, "I brought you home all the way, not because of..."

"Master, master!"

Before he could finish his sentence, he saw a door rushing in, and he stammered excitedly, "Wai... a father-in-law came outside, and said that he was ordered by His Majesty to let the second master enter the palace immediately to face the saint!"

Everyone in the room was stunned when they heard the words. According to the court regulations, even if a small foreign minister like Sun Shaozong is called to have an audience, he must first report to the Ministry of War of the competent department.

After the approval of the Ministry of War is correct, it is necessary to perform a ceremony at the Ministry of Rites.

Only after graduating from the temporary 'training class' of the Ministry of Rites can they go to the Imperial City to hand over name stickers and wait for the emperor to turn over the sign and be lucky.

Now I suddenly got an oral order to avoid all these procedures. It is certainly a great grace to speak out—but as the old saying goes, when good things go wrong, there must be demons!

The emperor was in such a hurry to summon Sun Shaozong, there must be a reason, right?

Furthermore, it was only an hour after Sun Shaozong disembarked, and he hadn't even had time to report to the Ministry of War. How did the emperor know that he was back?

Chapter 24

The Sun Mansion was actually not far from the Imperial Palace, but the ministers summoned by the emperor in private could only enter and exit through the Donghua Gate.

So he had no choice but to follow the summoned eunuch, like a fool, he walked through the gate three times without entering, and walked all the way from the northwest corner of the inner city to the east of the imperial city.

Perhaps seeing that Sun Shaozong was too tall and majestic, the imperial guards guarding Donghua Gate took him to the ear room and searched him inch by inch twice, almost tearing out the murder weapon in his crotch to measure its length.

After finally passing the 'security check', following the summoned eunuchs to go round and round in the corridor between the palace walls, the front suddenly opened up, and a magnificent hall flashed out.

Sun Shaozong knew that he had arrived at the place, and was about to cheer up and deal with it, but he heard a noise coming from the left side of the palace gate.

"Oh my god! Where is the car broken? Why did it break at the gate of Wenying Hall?!"

"What to do, what to do?! This is the green rice that has just been brought up as a tribute. If it gets messed up, we big guys will not be able to survive!"

Following the prestige, one could see a flatbed wagon full of rice turning over not far to the left, and two eunuchs were jumping up and down around the wagon, yelling.

What an exaggerated acting!

Sun Shaozong only glanced twice before reaching the above conclusion.

The rice bales on the carriage looked like a hill, and half of the wheel was broken in two. At first glance, it really looked like an accident caused by the unbearable weight.

But how vicious are Sun Shaozong's eyes?

With just a casual scan, several flaws can be seen.

The first is the wheel, which looks neatly broken, and there is no trace of bending under force. It is clearly unloaded first, and then cut off with a sharp weapon.

Secondly, the rice on the cart had a rollover accident, and it was still neat and tidy, and there was no slightest tilt--it would be fine if it was tied very tightly, but there are only a few small strings, if it is really a sudden load , I'm afraid it's already scattered all over the place.

Of course, the most obvious flaw was the lines of the two little eunuchs—it was the cold winter months, it was impossible to produce new rice, and in this world, how could there be any fool who would dare to pay the emperor old rice?

Therefore, only the words "bijou rice just paid tribute" are enough to prove that this is a well-designed farce.

As for the purpose of their performance...

Hey~

Sun Shaozong sighed helplessly, the actors acting in the show were so bad, he really didn't want to be the leading role!

It's a pity that the person who arranged this bad scene was the emperor, and he couldn't tolerate him retreating on the spot. If he offended the director, at most some scenes would be cut;

"These bastards!"

The eunuch summoned pretended to complain, then turned around and told Sun Shaozong, "Wait outside, our family will go in and report for you."

"There is Mr. Lao."

Sun Shaozong hurriedly bowed and saluted.

When going out, Big Brother Cheap made it clear that these eunuchs are the most face-saving, no matter what they think in their hearts, at least the superficial etiquette is indispensable.

Of course, in addition to this, Sun Shaozu also took him to explain a lot of things, which can be summed up in eight words, "think more and talk less, hide your clumsiness and show your timidity".

"Think more and talk less" is easy to understand. As for the word "hidden clumsiness and exposed timidity", it refers to trying to hide one's shortcomings in front of the emperor without appearing too shrewd.

But it was said that the eunuch summoned had just entered the gate of Wenying Hall, and the third extra... er, the third little eunuch appeared on stage.

I saw him holding a wooden wheel in his arms, trotting all the way and shouting, "Here, here, the wheel is here!"

Seeing that this guy was as thin as a hemp root, but there was no trace of sweat on his face, he knew that Ya must have been hiding behind the palace wall, waiting for the right opportunity to appear.

"Great!"

The two little eunuchs beside the carriage cheered together at first, and then muttered embarrassingly, "But there are so many things on the carriage, how can we replace the wheels?"

The reason why I put a quotation mark around the word 'mumble' is because these two guys said it too loudly, even a fool can see that they said it deliberately for Sun Shaozong.

Just listen to Eunuch A's suggestion, "Why don't you unload the rice from the cart first?"

"Damn you!"

Eunuch B held an orchid finger, poked Eunuch A's chest a few times, and said coquettishly, "If we spill the tribute rice, wouldn't we all lose our heads?!"

Eunuch Ding suggested in a timely manner, "Why don't we find some elder guards to help lift the car up and replace the wheels."

As soon as the words fell, the three of them couldn't wait to cast their eyes on Sun Shaozong.

This acting...