Detective in the Red Chamber

"how?"

Sun Shaozong directly raised his voice and said, "Have you been restless for a few days?"

The two people in the thatched shed were startled, and then Liu Quan trotted up to meet him, smiling all over his face and saying, "Sure enough, I can't hide anything from the second master—I'm born with a cheap skin, and I'm usually busy I don’t even know what’s going on outside, but I’m feeling exhausted when I’m free.”

It was a lie that he felt weak all over his body, and it was true that he was afraid that Wang Jin would rob him of his position as the second housekeeper.

After all, some time ago, Wang Jin jumped up and down, but he had a lot of people in the mansion to support him. Although Liu Quan had his own merits, he still felt a little uneasy.

"It's good to be idle."

At this time Zhang Cheng also pulled out the carriage that had been prepared earlier, and Sun Shaozong boarded the carriage while saying, "Go to Steward Zhao and see what he has to arrange."

After hearing this, Liu Quan was obviously hesitant to speak.

In his opinion, the relationship between the second butler and the chief butler is basically a competitive relationship, not a superior or subordinate - now that the second master has sent himself to Zhao Zhongji, does it mean that the second butler is in trouble? up?

However, Liu Quan didn't dare to ask about this full of doubts in front of Sun Shaozong. At most, he asked Zhang Cheng to beat the side drum.

…………

The carriage slowly drove out of the corner gate, and while it was going round and round, Zhang Cheng looked back and saw Liu Quan still staring in a daze with his head downcast, and he couldn't bear it—after all, they all came to this house together The old man's love is naturally no better than that of the other.

So he held the rein and hesitated for a long while, and finally he dared to speak: "Second Lord, Liu Quan..."

"A little drifting."

Before Zhang Cheng could finish speaking, Sun Shaozong's lazy voice came from the carriage.

A little drifting?

Zhang Cheng thought about it for a long time before he figured it out. This probably means that Liu Quan is a little bit arrogant.

Come to think of it, this is indeed the case.

Ever since Liu Quan came back from the south, he said, "I have dealt with several 10 taels of silver." Even in front of Steward Zhao, he was dissatisfied.

It seems that because of this, the call for Wang Jin to be promoted to the second housekeeper suddenly grew stronger.

but……

After all, Liu Quan has made a lot of contributions, and because of a few big words, the credit will not be rewarded, so I am afraid that he will not feel wronged.

Zhang Cheng was tangled all the way, and when he saw the east corner gate of Dali Temple, he reined in the reins, jumped off the shaft neatly, and held the snow-proof coir raincoat in his hands, ready to help Sun Shaozong dress neatly.

Unexpectedly, after waiting for a long time, Sun Shaozong got off the car for a long time.

"Second Master, Second Master?"

After shouting twice but getting no response, Zhang Cheng couldn't help but lifted the corner of the car curtain to look around, but saw Sun Shaozong leaning on the soft cushion, as if he was sleeping soundly.

Second Master, I am afraid that last night...

Zhang Cheng couldn't help thinking about it in his heart, but at the same time, he had a difficult time.

If it was a day when he was on duty, he would naturally want to wake up Sun Shaozong, but today the second master has an appointment with King Beijing, and he is going to the palace for a banquet at noon.

Coming to the yamen this morning was just to show his face and respond to an errand.

or...

Let the second master sleep in the car for a while?

Thinking of this, Zhang Cheng quietly put down the car curtain again, picked up the hand stove that he had just dropped, and put his butt on the car shaft with his hands.

Who would have thought that before he could sit firmly, a small official would come out of the yamen—this person seemed to be Wei Yi's confidant of the township party, and he was the one who came forward several times.

Seeing this person, Zhang Cheng didn't dare to neglect, he quickly turned around and called out: "Second Master, Second Master! It seems that something happened in the yamen again!"

Before the words fell, Sun Shaozong's sleepy face poked out from inside, squinted his eyes and scanned the little official who was coming up, and retreated back silently.

By the time he got out of the carriage again, he had regained his usual stability and majesty.

"Sun Shaoqing."

The little official gave a salute in front of the car, bowed and said: "Lord Ting Wei, please go over to discuss the matter."

What's the matter with this?

Didn't the household department call in the money yesterday?

I wondered in my heart, but I always knew when I met with the left and right. Sun Shaozong didn't bother to ask the little official.

…………

It was still the flower hall where the morning meeting was held.

But this time, besides Wei Yi, there was a strange man in a fifth-rank official robe waiting inside.

Seeing Sun Shaozong coming in from the outside, Wei Yi restrained his courteous smile a little, stood up and introduced to both sides: "This is Hu Changshi from the Palace of Zhongxin—— Hu Changshi, this is my famous Sun Shaoqing from Dali Temple!"

The history of the central palace chief?

In Sun Shaozong's mind, Zhou Mo's remains first flashed, and then a fat man like Maitreya appeared.

The loyal king has always had a "broad heart and a strong body", and he only likes to be king behind closed doors, especially after the Longgen case, he rarely deals with courtiers.

Why did you send Chang Shi to Dali Temple today?

Could it be that some important person in the family died?

Just thinking about it in his heart, Hu Changshi also greeted him, with a very low attitude, he bowed and said: "Your official, Hu Tai, has seen Mr. Sun."

After Sun Shaozong returned the gift, he said bluntly: "To tell you the truth, I have come here to obey the king's order, and I asked Mr. Sun to investigate a robbery case at our residence."

"The robbery?"

"That's right, this case happened last night..."

But it turned out that early this morning, the boy who was in charge of cleaning the study of the Wangfu found that the bookshelf had been moved horizontally, revealing a black hole half as tall as a person.

And this black hole is exactly the private treasury where King Zhongxin hides the treasures in the mansion.

Afterwards, King Zhongxin personally inspected it and found that nothing else had been moved, except for a night pearl that had disappeared.

At that time, several stewards of the palace proposed to go to Shuntian Mansion to report the case and arrest the thief.

However, Chang Shi Hu Tai vetoed these proposals. Instead, he suggested that the loyal king should report to Emperor Ming, and then ask the court to send someone to handle the case.

"Why is this?"

Hearing this, Sun Shaozong couldn't help frowning and said, "Could it be that this luminous pearl has some special origin?"

Although the luminous pearl is precious, it is not necessary to report it to the emperor in a serious manner—unless the luminous pearl is involved in something other than its own value.

Appreciation flashed across Hu Tai's face, and then he said seriously: "Your Majesty Sun's guess is right, that luminous pearl may not rank among the top three in the private treasury in terms of value alone, but it was purchased from the king of Korea. from his crown!"

This is interesting, as soon as the North Korean mission arrived in Beijing, the national treasure left by the previous dynasty was stolen overnight. If there is no connection between it, Sun Shaozong would definitely not believe it.

But this is blatant, and it is too rough to say that it is setting the blame.

Let's say it's not to set the blame on, North Korea is too busy to take care of itself right now, so how can they care about the affairs of the previous dynasty?

Thinking in his heart, Sun Shaozong asked again: "Since it is going to be reported to the court, why did Hu Changshi come to Dali Temple?"

Hu Tai's complexion suddenly became a little weird, he stared at Sun Shaozong for a long time, and then slowly said: "The prince was ready to report to the court, but he was stopped by the princess - and the official came here, precisely Because the princess recommended Mr. Sun to supervise the case."

The concubine of King Zhongxin seems... to be Niu Jizong's biological sister, right? !

fastest update

Chapter 810 The Orb Theft Case [Part [-]]

Niu Jizong's younger sister recommended him to solve the case?

No matter how you think about it, it's kind of weird.

So much so that Sun Shaozong was a little suspicious that she was actually guarding herself and stealing herself, and then set up a trap to trick herself into the palace in order to avenge her brother.

but……

Since he was going to investigate the case, Sun Shaozong would naturally bring all his people together—especially since the case was very likely to involve an inner ghost. King Zhongxin wanted Sun Shaozong to supervise the case, so there was no reason to refuse the government servants to enter the palace.

Could it be that the Niu Wangfei could hide hundreds of soldiers privately, and with a single order, she could shoot all the officials and servants to death?

Therefore, although Sun Shaozong had doubts in his heart, he did not refuse to go to the palace to investigate the case - besides, he had no reason to refuse.

Zuo Shaoqing of Dali Temple was originally in charge of investigating major cases full-time, and the case of the royal family's loss of the national treasure of Korea was within his purview no matter how you looked at it.

Now that King Zhongxin specifically named him, why would Sun Shaozong not go?

Immediately, everything was packed, and Tang Weishan, the official of the temple, Chen Jingde, the deputy of the temple, Huang Bin, the head arrester, and more than [-] yamen servants were summoned, and rushed to the palace of Zhongxin Wang in a mighty way.

Zhongxin Prince's Mansion is located near the East Fourth Archway. It occupies a large area, but its location is slightly out of the way—of course, this is only compared to other palaces, and it is actually only one lane away from the downtown area.

Seeing the carriage leading the way stopped in front of the west gate of the palace, Sun Shaozong got out of the carriage immediately.

Seeing the steward of the palace with a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks coming out from the inside, he whispered a few words in front of Hu Tai, and from the corner of his eyes, he couldn't stop looking at Sun Shaozong.

The prince, who is as fat as two people, chose a butler who looks like a stick. Could it be that there is something missing to make up for it?

He didn't ask Sun Shaozong to wait any longer, the two whispered a few words, Hu Tai came over with an apologetic face, bowed and said: "I'm so sorry, my prince is too upset because of this case, and it's really inconvenient to meet Mr. Sun right now. ——But you can rest assured that all the princes who should be responsible will be sent down, and the investigation will never be delayed."

This is also in line with Sun Shaozong's impression - King Zhongxin has rarely met with foreign ministers in recent years, and this time it can be regarded as consistent.

As for being rude...

As a prince, as long as he doesn't have those messy thoughts, don't say Sun Shaozong is a fourth-rank young minister, even if he is in front of Ge Lao and Shang Shu, what can he do?

Therefore, Sun Shaozong didn't bother to care about it, and immediately went straight to the topic: "In that case, can Hu Changshi take me to the treasury for a look?"

"Please come with me, my lord."

Hu Tai waved his hand to lead the way, Sun Shaozong led Tang Weishan and Chen Jingde followed closely behind, as for Huang Bin and other yamen servants and policemen, they had to be accompanied by the guards of the palace to enter the palace.

Although it is a study room, because it is the private treasury, its location is not only not secluded, but it is built in the middle of the inner courtyard and the outer courtyard, the most heavily guarded place.

The surrounding walls are about one foot five [about five meters] high, and there are only some flowers and plants nearby, and there are no half trees.

At this time, outside the wall, there were almost three steps, one post and five steps and one post, and there were several ladders nearby. Obviously, before Sun Shaozong arrived, the palace was also undergoing self-examination.

"Hu Changshi."

Before entering the courtyard gate, Sun Shaozong paused, called Hu Tai, pointed to the surrounding walls and said: "Since we want to investigate the case, I don't care about etiquette. The surrounding walls should be handed over to my Dali Temple first." The guards are more suitable—of course, the guards of the palace can also supervise."

"Naturally follow the orders of the adults."

Hu Tai clasped his fists together, but then he said embarrassedly: "It's just that the prince's private treasury is not as good as the one next to it, and please don't bring too many people in, Mr. Sun, to avoid mistakes."

No matter how many people go in, most of them dare not take advantage of this posture of waiting in battle. They are afraid that if there are too many people and their hands are mixed, if some treasures are damaged, it is not a joke.

Anyway, it's better not to let yourself go in alone.

Sun Shaozong nodded in agreement, first called Chen Jingde, and ordered him to lead someone outside to check the wall to see if there were any traces of intrusion over the wall.

Then he took Tang Weishan, Huang Bin, and four mature and prudent government servants into the study of the palace.

As soon as I entered the door, I saw a bookshelf attached to the south wall, which was obliquely stuck in the corner, revealing a big hole as tall as half a person.

Sun Shaozong looked at the bookshelf and the entrance of the private treasury while watching Hu Tai's every move from the corner of his eye.

Seeing Hu Tai walking quickly to the entrance of the private warehouse, he pointed to the bookshelf beside him and said, "There is a mechanism on this bookshelf that requires a key to open. There is no trace of damage on it. It must have been opened by a clever method."

Sun Shaozong also walked to the front slowly, and under Hu Tai's guidance, carefully examined the keyhole on the bookshelf.

This is a mechanism disguised as a clock. Originally, there is a keyhole for winding the mainspring, and the keyhole for opening the hidden door is hidden under the dial. exposed.

According to Hu Tai, the order of removing the four buckles must not be wrong, otherwise the bell will ring loudly and alarm the patrolling guards.

Seeing that there was no trace of damage on the clock, Sun Shaozong asked Hu Tai for the key, first put it halfway in and turned left, then put the key in, and turned right twice, only to hear the creaking of the bookcase, Slowly moved back to the original position, and blocked the entrance of the private warehouse tightly.

After doing the same thing again, the bookcase was slowly moved to the corner again.

Then I tried the wrong operation method again, and it turned out that the bell rang loudly, and the ear of the person who was shocked was buzzing.

Apparently the mechanism is in normal operation.

Sun Shaozong put the key in his palm and looked back and forth, and asked: "Is there anyone in the house who knows how to open this private treasury?"

Hu Tai showed a wry smile: "To be honest, there are about a dozen people in the house who know where this private treasury is located—but those who know how to open it are only the concubine Wang, Concubine Wu, and the newly favored Liudu people."

That is to say, the only one who knows the complete opening method is the wife of King Zhongxin.

This looks more and more like a trick to invite the king into the urn.