Detective in the Red Chamber

The coachman didn't panic, he turned his body slightly, let out the empty carriage behind, and shouted loudly, "Everyone, everybody, let me go~! There is no one in our car, so you can stop me!" It's useless, isn't it!"

Just shouting like this, it took him a quarter of an hour before he returned to the mansion completely.

Not to mention how the coachman unloaded the horse and fed it.

However, after Sun Shaozong climbed over the wall and entered, he went to the lotus pond in the front yard with ease to wash his hands. After washing, he was about to grab two lotus leaves and use them as paper, when someone behind him handed him a handkerchief.

Sun Shaozong looked back, but it was Zhao Zhongji, the second housekeeper in the mansion, and while wiping his hands, he asked casually, "How are you doing today, how many times have you fainted?"

"The old lady who passed out for more than 70 years was not caused by the heat. She was so sad that she couldn't catch her breath for a while. Doctor Liu went up and got two injections, and she woke up at that time."

Zhao Zhongji couldn't help but said, "If you want me to say, it means that you are benevolent and righteous, the sunshade is covered, and the sour plum soup is enough. They are the only ones who have enjoyed this? Follow me, and you will be messed up sooner." Stick away!"

"Fart benevolence!"

Sun Shaozong threw the handkerchief back to him, and said angrily, "This is the first time I preside over the autumn judging report, how many pairs of eyes are staring up and down? If you are really confused and die, it's your second master's turn." Crying injustice on the street!"

However, all feudal dynasties like to pay attention to being obedient to others, and this is where the term "Autumn Judgment" comes from.

The general meaning is that spring and summer are the seasons for the growth of all things, and it is against God's will to kill people wantonly. Therefore, if crimes are committed in spring and summer, except for those who are extremely vicious and not enough to "juice" and are not enough to anger the people, they will generally be left behind. After autumn, he will be cut with a knife.

The Great Zhou Dynasty went a step further and deliberately changed the date of the "Autumn Judgment" to the tenth day of September every year in consideration of the "Mid-Autumn Festival Reunion" and "Nine Nine Double Ninth Festivals".

During the period from the Beginning of Autumn to the Double Ninth Festival, the state capitals of various places will first list the autumn judging list in advance and submit it to the Ministry of Criminal Justice for approval, so that the killings will be launched on the tenth day of September.

In previous years, Zhizhong was responsible for submitting the list of the Shuntian Mansion's Autumn Judgment, but Liu Chongshan was so angry that Sun Shaozong usurped his class and seized power recently, and he hadn't been to the government office for more than half a month.

So this matter fell on Sun Shaozong.

Those people outside were the family members of the prisoners who had been sentenced to beheaded this year, and they were crying in front of the Sun's residence because they wanted Sun Shaozong to remove their relatives from the 'death list'.

Although according to the imperial court's law, if the death-row criminals who are not on the "Autumn Judgment" list cannot prove their innocence within three months, they will still be executed by the end of the year.

But three months is enough time for those rich and powerful to do something.

As for those who are poor, even though they have no money to pay the pawn - but isn't there a saying these days called 'amnesty for the world'?

If you don't keep it together for three months, you don't have to die!

That's why so many people gathered outside the Sun residence.

And this is another reason why Sun Shaozong always went to Rongguo Mansion to escape the summer heat recently.

But Sun Shaozong threw the handkerchief to Zhao Zhongji, and was about to go back to his yard, walked a few steps, but saw Zhao Zhongji following behind him step by step, and asked, "Why, is there anything else?"

"Back to Second Master, at noon, Master Feng from Fengzui Lane sent a wedding invitation, inviting you and uncle to go to his house for a wedding on the eighth day of next month."

Feng Xin is getting married?

Sun Shaozong paused, and asked doubtfully, "Isn't he already married? Could it be his father who wants to remarry?"

"Second Master really knows how to joke."

Zhao Zhongji didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "Then the second master of the Feng family has been paralyzed for more than half a year now, what can he do to continue? It is the eldest son of the Feng family who is childless. Seeing that his family is about to die, he begged Master Feng to take care of him. This time it is the eldest son." Come forward and marry him a wife."

And such a good thing? !

Sun Shaozong hurriedly asked, "Then the daughter-in-law you married this time is also considered a serious young lady?"

"of course!"

tsk~

That's really cheap!

You have to know that to marry a concubine these days, you can only look for it in the common people, and only by marrying a regular wife can you wait for an opportunity to find a help in the officialdom-it seems that from now on, Lao Feng will be regarded as the master with both wings .

"Do you know the family he is married to?"

"I heard that she is the daughter of the Confucian officials in Taichang Temple, and she is also a talented woman with a little reputation." Zhao Zhongji joked with a smile, "Looking at the meaning of Feng's parents' house, it is likely to take this opportunity to change the family tradition."

Although Limu is only a ninth-rank official, he is an official of Taichang Temple after all, and Feng Xin, who is now serving as a sixth-rank captain in the patrol battalion, can barely be regarded as a good match.

So Sun Shaozong ordered again, "Then you go and help me draw up a list to see if there are any suitable gifts in our mansion. If not, I will find a way to buy them from outside."

Only then did Zhao Zhongji take the order.

Sun Shaozong went back to the courtyard alone, seeing several maids chatting outside, he scolded dissatisfiedly, "Why are they all outside, who will take care of my aunt?"

The leading maid, Qiu Lian, hurriedly bowed and said, "My aunt said she wanted to be quiet, so..."

Hearing that Ruan Rong wanted to be quiet, Sun Shaozong didn't want to listen to what she said next, so he walked into the room, but saw Ruan Rong biting the pen in front of the desk in a daze, and there was a letter dripping with ink in front of him.

Sun Shaozong quietly approached him, lowered his head for a few worried glances, and suddenly understood, put his arms around Ruan Rong's fragrant shoulders, and said softly, "Why, homesick?"

Ruan Rong shook her head, but said in her mouth, "It will be my mother's death day in a month, but I..."

No wonder.

"Then I will arrange for someone to go to Qianxiang country tomorrow." Sun Shaozong said, seeing Ruan Rong shook his head again, and hurriedly said, "It's not just for yourself, Mrs. Niu also has a family letter to send .”

Immediately, he said softly, "When my official position is higher, I will ask for leave to accompany you to return home, how about it?"

Chapter 83

Early the next morning.

Sun Shaozong peeked out through the crack of the door, and found that there was another "Titan" under the parasol—sitting tremblingly on the bench, with a long snow-white beard that could be used as a broom, tremblingly leaning on the A bamboo stick, the bones of the body are not very strong at first glance.

This bitch is really a crime!

Sun Shaozong sighed silently, turned around and told Zhao Zhongji, "Be sure to watch carefully, and if something is wrong, let the doctors go out for diagnosis and treatment immediately!"

Zhao Zhongji nodded and bowed in agreement, and then heard him add, "If the doctor we hired can't handle it, we should send it home quickly, and even if we force it, we have to carry it back to them. We must not let people die at our door!"

Dying in front of an official while crying out for injustice is definitely not the same as dying of illness at home after crying out for injustice. Therefore, throughout the ages, there is no shortage of treating dead bodies as if they were living people, and then announcing their death afterwards.

But this can't blame Sun Shaozong for being cold-blooded.

After all, unjust, false and wrongly decided cases like the "Children's Dismembered Corpse Case" are rare, and almost all the relatives of the people outside the door deserved their crimes. We can't just treat the king's law just because a few old men and women are crying. Regardless?

If that's the case, it's time for the victim's family to block the door!

After the explanation was made, and it was confirmed that the carriage had left early and was waiting at the old place, Sun Shaozong climbed over the wall again and slipped away like a thief.

There was no talking all the way, and when we arrived outside the government office, although there were inevitably people blocking the way and shouting grievances, but there were yamen servants responsible for clearing the way ahead, so there was no need to worry about being entangled by old men and women.

After entering the government office, Sun Shaozong breathed a sigh of relief, first went to Yingmao to sign, and then walked to the Criminal Department.

As soon as he entered the gate of the criminal department, he saw a pile of messy things under the south wall. He called two subordinate officials on duty to ask, but it turned out that the "three-volt subsidy" issued by the imperial court had arrived.

"master."

One of the subordinates complained casually, "It's okay to pay for it, this year's tea is really bad. I heard that when the governor signed for it yesterday, he scolded her for a long time!"

Sun Shaozong has heard about this for a long time. This year, not only the Shuntian Mansion, but also the tea from the six departments and five temples are all old products.

It is said that the new tea produced in the south is sold locally as military funds for building warships, while there are not many good teas in the north, and the few quality teas are not bad, and they are all taken over by the high-level. Naturally, there is nothing interesting left.

"The imperial court also has its difficulties. As subjects, we should be more considerate."

Sun Shaozong first said a few official phrases, then changed the subject, and said, "But the brothers have really worked hard these past few months, so how about I have some public money saved, and I will ask Mr. Cheng to pay 200 taels later. Go buy some fresh tea and distribute it to everyone."

This so-called public money is actually a small treasury that Sun Shaozong set up with half of the reward money for solving cases each time.

If you really want to look into it carefully, in fact, he used his own money to invite people's hearts, but the money came in an aboveboard way, and others wanted to learn it but couldn't.

And this is also one of the important reasons why he was able to seize power quickly - it is said that being an official for thousands of miles is only for money, let alone the subordinates who have no hope of promotion?

The two subordinate officials on duty were naturally very grateful when they heard the words.

Sun Shaozong waved his hand to signal them to do their own work, then subconsciously glanced at the five main rooms in the north of the courtyard, and then Shi Shiran went to his own small courtyard in the east wing.

"Dong Weng."

Cheng Rixing was at his desk outside sorting out the files. Seeing Sun Shaozong come in with his hands behind his back, he hurriedly got up and said, "Last month's mansion report was delivered, it's on Dongweng's case—I just checked it, and it doesn't seem to involve anything about our Shuntian Mansion." Son."

As the only government-run newspaper, the efficiency of the Di Bao is not flattering. Shuntian Mansion is better. After all, it is in the capital, and it is usually delayed for a few days. Yes, there are many people there.

"Oh."

Sun Shaozong agreed, but he didn't think about it at all. He pointed to the official document on Cheng Rixing's case and asked, "Did the names of the autumn contests in Daxing County and Wanping County be submitted yesterday?"

"not yet."

Cheng Rixing hurriedly said again, "I entrusted the Zhou inspector to ask. Daxing County is about to be sorted out, and Wanping County may take some time."

rely on ~

These procrastinating old bureaucrats!

As early as three days ago, Sun Shaozong had already sorted out the list of the government's autumn judgments, but according to the usual practice, all the ones from the county below must be collected before they can be reported to the Ministry of Punishment. A gentleman over the wall for several days.

But it's also because he is too famous. If Liu Zhizhong is to be the host, those who want to block the door may not be able to find Liu Zhizhong's residence.

After telling Cheng Rixing about buying tea, he went into the room feeling a little unhappy, brewed a cup of Xinyang Maojian by himself, and sat down behind the case.

I picked up the mansion newspaper on the table and flipped through it, and found that a considerable part of it was used to introduce the plan of Prince Teng, the governor of the nine provinces, to oversee the building of warships, expand the navy, and prepare to rely on a strong military force to complete his achievements in one battle.

Haikou is a thing that looks to the left and suddenly looks to the right. It is a bit taken for granted that a proper maritime guerrilla wants to rely on the method of encirclement and suppression by the army?

As a half-hearted army fan, Sun Shaozong is not familiar with naval battles, but he still feels that this plan is a bit too big and unreasonable, especially as a naval division that has never been taken seriously, but has to occupy a large amount of southeast taxes for several years. The backlash from the court is probably not small.

Just as he was eating radish, he worried about the situation in the southeast coast, but when he saw Cheng Rixing coming in from outside, he said a little nervously, "Dong Weng, Housekeeper Zhou of Rongguo Mansion is asking to see you outside."

After a pause, he lowered his voice and said, "Look at that, it looks like he came for the list of autumn finals!"

Sun Shaozong frowned when he heard the words.

There are those who beg outside, and of course there are those who rely on relationships behind their backs to take favors.

It's just that generally speaking, anyone who has a strong relationship in the family will not wait until the "Autumn Judgment" to dredge up. Therefore, recently, only a few families who are overwhelmed have come. chased away.

But if the Rongguo Mansion came forward...

Putting down the mansion newspaper in his hand, Sun Shaozong pondered for a moment, then waved and said, "Please come in."

"Dong Weng!"

Cheng Rixing looked out of the window, a look of struggle flashed across his face, and finally he said in a low voice, "Although Liu Zhizhong is sick right now, there are still a few eyeliners in this yamen. But I'm afraid that there will be disasters - Dong Weng's current situation is very good, we must not spoil his future because of the word 'favor'!"

He was originally recommended by Jia Zheng, and he should be facing the Rongguo Mansion, but now he can say these few words, which shows that he can understand clearly.

"Of course I know that."

Sun Shaozong spread his hands helplessly, and said, "It's just that we go to his house every now and then, but how can we keep people away? Let Zhou Rui come in first, and let's talk after asking."

Chapter 84

Not long after, Zhou Rui entered the room with the hem of his clothes.

Originally, he wanted to just bow his hands, but when he saw Sun Shaozong sitting behind the desk with a scrutiny in his eagle-like eyes, his spine softened immediately, and he hurriedly bowed to the end, "The villain has seen Sun Tong judge!" .”

"Butler Zhou doesn't need to be too polite."

Sun Shaozong responded indifferently, and asked straight to the point, "I don't know why Steward Zhou came to the yamen to look for me?"

"This……"

Zhou Rui took a sneak peek at Cheng Rixing, considering that he was recommended by Jia Zheng, it would be too bad for Sun Shaozong to invite him out, so he could only laugh and say, "It's not a big deal, an old relative asked for it yesterday. Our second grandma came to the door and said that the man in the family had somehow been involved in a murder case, so she decided to 'cut the prisoner' in a daze."

"You also know that my second grandma hates other people crying and wiping away their tears the most, and she heard what they say. It seems that there is some grievance, so she sent me over to ask if she can get her man out of the house first." "Autumn Judgment" has been withdrawn from the list, and if the case is still not overturned by the end of the year, it will not be too late to ask for help."

These words are really flattering!

It was 'do not know why' and 'confused', and in the end it was just a 'ask', which not only clarified the purpose of coming, but also left enough room for both parties.

I don't know whether these words were arranged by Wang Xifeng in advance, or Zhou Rui's own meaning this week.

"Old man?"

Sun Shaozong took out the 'Autumn Judgment List', spread it out on the table, and asked, "I don't know the name of this old relative in your house?"

"Yu! His surname is Yu, and his name is Tianbao!"

"Jade Tianbao?"

Sun Shaozong quickly found the name on the list, poked his finger at the "Brief Description of the Case" at the back, and muttered, "Yu Tianbao, at 26:[-] on May [-], due to an incident with Lan in Yingou Casino During the quarrel, he cut Lan's throat with the dagger he carried, and stabbed his corpse eight times to vent his anger. Afterwards, Yu Tianbao tried to resist arrest and stabbed another police officer..."

After reading this, Sun Shaozong raised his head and asked with a smile that was not a smile, "I don't know where the second grandma of your family saw the grievance in this case? Can housekeeper Zhou give some pointers, so that I can also open my eyes?"

"This... this..."

Zhou Rui cursed secretly when he heard this, the Yu family only said that Yu Tianbao accidentally killed someone in the gambling house, and didn't mention anything about whipping the corpse and resisting arrest!