Detective in the Red Chamber

Jia Baoyu knew that she was annoyed by the Taoist priest's rhetoric as a matchmaker, and he had suffered an innocent disaster, so he didn't dare to refute anything, he just changed the topic with a smile and said, "Second brother Sun said that only those two things are destined for him, and the other two things are destined for him. But you can't see it."

Seeing that Lin Daiyu still had a sullen pretty face, she joked again, "But Second Brother Sun chose a unicorn with red gold and emerald green, which looks really good."

"A unicorn with red gold and emerald green?"

Xue Baochai next to him suddenly said in surprise, "Sister Shi also seems to have a unicorn with red gold and emerald greens. It is said that it was left by her mother, but I don't know if it looks like Master Sun."

When Baoyu heard it, he immediately became interested, and wondered, "She lives in our house every now and then, how come I have never seen her?"

Tanchun next to him smiled and said, "Sister Bao has a heart, she will remember everything."

Lin Daiyu on the side was furious, and also regarded Xue Baochai as the number one rival in love, so she sneered and said, "She is still limited in other things, but she is most careful about what other people bring."

This is naked sarcasm.

Fortunately, Xue Baochai was tolerant, and just pretended not to hear, and didn't argue with her, which disturbed the harmony.

But Baoyu heard that Shi Xiangyun also had a unicorn, but he scratched his head and couldn't calm down. In the end, he went downstairs and borrowed the unicorn from Sun Shaozong, and handed it to Xue Baochai to identify it.

When Xue Baochai saw it, she became even more surprised, "This one is exactly the same as that of sister Xiangyun, only slightly bigger!"

Tanchun spoke quickly, and blurted out from the side, "Could it be a male and a female?"

Lin Daiyu also forgot to be jealous at this time, her beautiful eyes turned around, and she muttered in her mouth, "If it's really a male and a female, Brother Sun said it was a coincidence, could it be..."

Although she didn't say everything, everyone knew that she was saying that Sun Shaozong and Shi Xiangyun had a relationship between men and women.

"Also... it may not necessarily be a male and a female."

Jia Baoyu forced the corners of his mouth to twitch, and said somewhat awkwardly, "Maybe they are brother and sister, or father and daughter."

The others didn't say anything, but Lin Daiyu looked at him and sneered.

Jia Baoyu was guilty of being looked at by her, so he could only laugh dryly and said, "I...I'll go and return it to Second Brother Sun. It has nothing to do with me anyway."

To say that he has more affection for Shi Xiangyun than his family.

Now I feel awkward, and I just feel that people who have been close to me since I was a child suddenly get involved with others, and may even be closer than myself, which is a little hard to accept for a while.

Chapter 350

The gong sounded on the stage, but before the 'Han Gaozu' came out, Jia Baoyu came down from the stairs again, approaching him step by step, slowly took out the unicorn, held it in his palm and looked at it. I read and looked at it, but I was still reluctant to hand it over.

Seeing that he looked as if he had opened a grocery store, with mixed emotions and desires, which was a bit more complicated than that of a pretty face, Sun Shaozong couldn't help laughing and said, "What's wrong with you? If you like this thing, just take it , I got two of them because of your help."

Jia Baoyu was overjoyed when he heard the words, and then remembered Lin Daiyu's sneering sneer, and immediately shook his head like a rattle, gritted his teeth and put the unicorn in front of Sun Shaozong, and said with a sullen face, "Since the second brother bumped into it, How can I take it away? I only hope that the second brother will treat it well, and don't give it away to others indiscriminately!"

Fate?

This has no beginning and no end. If it is someone who is confused, it is estimated that Monk Zhanger, who has heard it earlier, will be confused.

But Sun Shaozong was always astute, after thinking about it for a while, he tentatively asked, "Could it be that the relative in your family has a similar object around him?"

"Sure enough, I can't hide anything from my second brother."

When he really returned the things, Baoyu was not as entangled as before. Seeing that Sun Shaozong had made a good guess, he pretended to be mysterious and said, "But I can't tell my second brother about this person. I will know."

After a pause, as if to comfort himself, he murmured, "With a character like Second Brother, it's not like I've wronged her."

After speaking, without waiting for Sun Shaozong to speak, he went back upstairs with a sense of relief.

This is talking to himself, and he's selling it!

Sun Shaozong watched Jia Baoyu back upstairs without a word, then turned his face and put the unicorn upside down in front of Xue Pan, asking him if he had seen anything like it before.

Xue Pan looked at it for a while, then shook his head a few times, saying that he had never seen anything like it.

tsk~

Sun Shaozong felt a little helpless in his heart. Although there were many Yingying and Yanyan in the Rongguo Mansion, the only ones who could make Jia Baoyu reluctant to part, and were qualified to use the word "fate" were Xue Baochai and Shi Xiangyun.

Although Lin Daiyu also met the requirements, if it was really something that Lin Daiyu carried close to her body, how could Jia Baoyu be willing to return it to Sun Shaozong?It is estimated that no matter what kind of predestined relationship is not predestined to the Dharma, I insisted on begging for this thing.

And right now, Xue Pan said that he had never seen this unicorn, and naturally only Shi Xiangyun was left as a qualified person.

but……

A few days ago, when Big Brother Cheap mentioned this marriage, he resolutely rejected it, but now he has come up with some kind of 'fate' in a daze...

never mind!

It's better not to think about it so much, Zuo Zuo is just a plaything, not a private token for life.

Thinking in this way, Sun Shaozong temporarily put this matter behind him, and prepared to watch the half-day drama in peace.

Unexpectedly, "Han Gaozu Liu Bang" was still babbling and paving the way, and the hall was sung first under the stage-there was such a big battle in the Rongning Second Mansion, and it had already spread inside and outside the capital, so there was a relationship with Jia's family. The old ones sent people to pay their respects one after another, and sent some joss stick offerings by the way.

This wave after wave, even if you don't need an outsider like Sun Shaozong to welcome and send them off, how can you watch the show safely?

Jia's mother was even more tired of coping at the top, and she had regretted it a long time ago, but she had already come, but she didn't want to leave in a panic. She barely waited until the three plays were sung, and she immediately passed on the word. Come to leave home.

There was another burst of hustle and bustle below.

Only two idlers, Sun Shaozong and Xue Pan, got together and heard him invite with his tongue out, "Brother, it's my birthday in two days, so it's fine for others to come. You can't fool me anymore—when I get married, you will I didn't go, it's my birthday..."

"Go, go, I'll go!"

Xue Pan had mentioned this matter [-] times earlier, Sun Shaozong was annoyed by him and stared at him, and said, "But if you keep talking, I won't go!"

As he said that, he excused himself to go to the convenience, and walked through the corridor between the two floors, but saw that the front suddenly opened up, and it turned out to be a stone platform that could be overlooked from a distance.

Looking from the railing, although you can't see any beautiful peaks or gurgling valleys, you can have a panoramic view of most of the inner city. Looking at the bustling cities from afar, you can't hear the slightest sound. , The feeling of being hidden in the city.

However, Sun Shaozong is a layman after all, he only got a little grasp of the artistic conception, and then he couldn't help stretching his neck, looking for the location of his own house.

"Follow me soon, the delicacy here is really excellent, if you don't take a look before leaving, we will be in vain!"

Just as he was searching, he suddenly heard the sound of a woman playing behind him. Sun Shaozong looked back and saw a round-faced girl with a bee waist and slashed shoulders. She was pulling Xiren with one hand and Qingwen with the other. come out.

The three of them were also startled when they saw Sun Shaozong, and hurriedly wished them all a blessing, and after the ceremony was over, the round-faced girl and Xiren prepared to go back the same way.

Unexpectedly, Qingwen refused to leave here, and took two steps in the opposite direction, and gave another salute and said, "That day, my servant spoke rudely, which annoyed Mr. Sun, but afterward, Mr. Sun generously spared this servant. Every time this servant thinks about it afterwards, I feel really ashamed."

Sun Shaozong waved his hands indifferently, and said casually, "Some small things are not worth worrying about so much—in the future, just remember that misfortune comes out of your mouth."

This Qingwen has never paid much attention to "respect and inferiority", and she is used to speaking outspokenly, but that day, she almost caused a catastrophe by saying something casually, but it really made her remember a little bit.

So she solemnly agreed, and the three of them withdrew together.

But he said that Xiren already knew about the events of that day, but the round-faced girl was very curious, and she asked Qingwen for a long time before she knew the cause and effect.

"in this case……"

After listening, the round-faced girl couldn't help but said to herself, "Master Sun is not only caring about lust."

But it turned out that this round-faced woman with a waist and shoulders was not someone else, but Yuanyang, the big maid next to Jia Mu. Originally, because of Ping'er's personal relationship with Sun Shaozong, she actually didn't think much of Sun Shaozong in her heart.

But now, after hearing Qingwen's experience, he has changed his mind a little bit - at least compared to Jia Amnesty, Jia Jing, Jia Zhen, and Jia Rong, the devil kings of sex, Sun Shaozong is somewhat more particular.

Xiren knows how to read people's faces, seeing her muttering, she knows there must be some other story in it, so she also comes to ask Yuanyang.

But Yuanyang knew the seriousness of the matter, so naturally she didn't dare to tell Ping'er's matter, so she just perfunctory.

The two were laughing and laughing below, when someone from above called Yuanyang to serve Jia Mu, Yuanyang was able to take the opportunity to escape.

Not long after, the female relatives of the Rongning Second Mansion came out from inside, shouting and huddling, except for the mountain gate of Qingxu Temple. When they arrived at the foot of the mountain, they got into sedan chairs and carriages before allowing the male servants and Taoist priests to come forward to see them off.

When the team came out of the mountain gate, the seven carriages of the Sun Mansion parted ways with the Rongning Second Mansion first, and Xue Pan also led his team to do a bird and beast scatter.

When they arrived at Sun's Mansion, they received a message from Jiamu's envoy, saying that she would be too lazy to go tomorrow and let Yingchun decide what to do.

Jia Yingchun knew that Sun Shaozong was busy with official duties and had to go to Xue's mansion to celebrate his birthday on the third day of junior high school, so she hurriedly declined.

As a result, this noisy ritual ceremony at the Qingxu Temple only lasted half a day, and it was declared to be over ahead of schedule.

Chapter 351 Marriage, Marquis of Baili

Cheng Rixing, Liu An, Sun Xi, Han Mo...

In the early morning of the next day, Sun Shaozong was in the criminal justice department, sketching out a list, when he saw Cheng Rixing coming in from the outside, and reported, "Dong Weng, there is a message from Jia's Cheng that there is a shortage of manpower. Temporarily dispatch a few scribes who are good at figure painting."

"Insufficient manpower?"

Sun Shaozong wondered, "Why are there so many leftover women this year?"

As for Jia Yucun's recent official duties, which require the use of portraits, that is, the "blind date meeting" routinely held by the local government around the Dragon Boat Festival every year.

At the beginning of the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, in order to alleviate the population crisis caused by the long-term war, a policy of forced marriage was implemented. At that time, no matter whether a man or a woman, if he was over [-] years old and still not married, the local government would come forward to force the marriage.

Today, as the population gradually increases, this policy is not as strict as it was at the beginning, but it has not been completely abolished.

According to the current regulations, unmarried men and women who have reached the age of 21 must pay a special "single tax", and the tax amount will increase with age.

If you can pay the tax, you can naturally continue to be a leftover man and woman with peace of mind; if you can't pay, you must participate in the "blind date meeting" held regularly by the government every year-if you fail to "match" successfully after attending two consecutive sessions, you will be rewarded in the third year. There will be an unconditional forced marriage.

And the blind date meeting with this idea, of course, cannot be like the later generations, allowing hundreds of couples to flirt with each other on the spot.

Generally, the woman's appearance is simply described, marked with family background and birth date, and hung in a specific place. The man chooses a few independently, and then contacts each other through official media.

Of course, well-known scholars, or serious court officials, can ignore this decree.

However, Sun Shaozong was curious about why there were so many leftover women this year, so that there were not enough painters. Cheng Rixing said helplessly, "It's not all because of the flood last year. At that time, many men of the right age in the city took the opportunity to negotiate marriage. .”

"In addition, the price of goods has risen a lot year after year, and people's livelihood is difficult. How can they afford extra taxes? So this year, the number of women who participated in blind dates this year is more than twice that of previous years."

tsk~

This really makes the fire at the city gate bring disaster to the fish in the pond!

Who would have thought that a flood in Hebei would affect the "marriage and love market" in Beijing?

But that flood did benefit many bachelors in the capital.

As for the leftovers...

The common people in Huangcheng Gen'er don't have the habit of picking sons-in-law among the disaster victims—unless they are those famous scholars.

But how can a talented scholar look up to the leftover daughters of ordinary people?

"In this case."

Knowing the cause and effect, Sun Shaozong ordered, "Then let Lin Delu choose a few who are good at meticulous painting—remember to tell them, don't make them look like you usually draw arrest warrants, and make them look fierce, and ruin their good marriage for no reason!"

Cheng Rixing laughed when he heard the words, and went out to look for Lin Delu.

"Wait a minute."

But Sun Shaozong stopped him again, "Just let Chengye go, I have some private matters to discuss with you."

Private matter?

Cheng Rixing was a little excited, he had been a master for more than a year, and this was the first time that Sun Shaozong wanted to discuss private matters with him seriously.

Doesn't this prove that Dong Weng has more trust in himself? !

So he went out in a hurry, explained the matter to Sun Chengye, then turned back excitedly, and said furtively, "It's okay to talk about what Dong Weng has. The student guarantees with his wealth and life that he will never reveal anything to the outside world!"

this guy...

Don't you think that you are going to take bribes and break the law?

Sun Shaozong was a little speechless, pointing to the opposite chair to let him sit down first, and then said seriously, "Actually, I recently won a lucrative luxury business, and urgently need some trustworthy people, go to the south to watch- — After much deliberation, you are still the most suitable to take charge of this matter."

In fact, when he first started to think about the timber business, Sun Shaozong's favorite person was the old housekeeper Wei Licai. The old man Wei did things safely and decisively, but the most important thing was that he was loyal to the Sun family.

It's just that the plan couldn't keep up with the changes. After the old man Wei continued, he managed to spread the seeds in a healthy and vigorous way. Now he has become a full-time dad, and even all the big and small things in the house are left to Zhao Zhongji.

Although the Sun family brothers would definitely agree to go to the south to watch if the brothers of the Sun family begged, but how could they open their mouths?

So Sun Shaozong put his idea on Cheng Rixing's head again - Cheng Rixing had been a storekeeper, and he had a decent reputation for raising people, and it was safe to deal with the matter, except that his loyalty was not as good as that of Uncle Wei, so it could be said that he was the most suitable selected.

It's just that when Cheng Rixing heard that he was helping to manage the 'business', he flinched a little.

Scholars and bureaucrats these days generally look down on merchants, and Cheng Rixing did not hesitate to resign from the fat position in Jia's shop to become Sun Shaozong's famous criminal master, probably because of this intention.

Now that his master is doing something interesting, how can he be willing to deal with businessmen again?

As for his thoughts, Sun Shaozong naturally knew it well, so he immediately said, "This business will last for two or three years at most, and the bonus you will be given every year during this period will not be less than 1000 taels—more The important thing is..."

Sun Shaozong paused for a while, and then threw out the most important bait, "If you still fail the imperial examination three years later, I will do my best to protect your future as a county magistrate!"

"Is this true?!"

Cheng Rixing jumped up excitedly. Although he has been unwilling to give up the imperial examination, he also knows in his heart that as he grows older and his inertia increases, his chances of being admitted to the Jinshi have become increasingly slim.