Chapter 394: The Unfilial Beings Were Severely Flogged
In fact, in recent days, because Jia Baoyu has made great progress in his behavior, Jia Zheng has rarely scolded him - but this fear that has been deeply rooted in his bones for a long time, how can it be easily eliminated?
So when he heard his father calling him to go to Rong Xi Tang to meet a guest, Jia Baoyu's baby face immediately fell.
Hesitantly, he hurried outside and asked the old woman who had delivered the message, "I wonder which distinguished guest has arrived and asked me to accompany him?"
Without waiting for the old woman to reply, he could not help but speculate, "Could it be that Jia Yucun from Xinglong Street is here again?"
The old woman said hurriedly, "This time it's not the Minister of Jia's House, but a stranger. He heard that he was coming to our house, so he asked to see you, Second Master."
A strange face?
Jia Baoyu was completely confused, but since the other party specifically asked to see him, he had no choice but to go.
So he returned to Ouxiangxie and apologized to Sun Shaozong and Yu Qian, saying, "It is really unfortunate that a guest suddenly came to the mansion and asked to see me. I am afraid I have to excuse myself for the time being. I hope you two brothers will forgive me."
Having said that, he reminded Jia Lan to prepare well for the test, and then rushed to Rong Xi Tang on his own.
Although others were not bothered by Baoyu's departure, Li Wan was extremely anxious. As she was a widow and a chaste woman, it was inconvenient for her to meet a man outside her family, so she specifically asked Jia Baoyu to look after her son.
Who knew this brother-in-law was so unreliable!
When she thought of her son being isolated and helpless outside without any proper elder by his side, she became extremely anxious and wished she could stick on a beard and pretend to be a man so that she could go out and replace Baoyu.
Seeing this, Lin Daiyu hurriedly whispered to comfort her, "Don't panic, sister-in-law. Since he has come to my second uncle's place, he is definitely not Bao's friend. He will just say a few words and then come back."
Then he instructed Zijuan, "Go out from the back door and wait near Rongxi Hall. If Brother Bao comes out, urge him to come back quickly so that Brother Lang won't miss his apprenticeship!"
Seeing Zijuan hurried away, Li Wan listened for a while and found that although her son was not fluent in answering questions, at least his words were quite appropriate and he did not seem to be panicked at all. She gradually felt relieved.
After hearing Yu Qian testing the student's progress and raising some questions about enlightenment, he suddenly fell silent.
Li Wan knew that it was a critical moment. Her heart was beating wildly. She couldn't help but clutch half of her chest. She was pinching it hard without knowing the pain, but suddenly she saw Zijuan coming back and shouting in panic: "Miss, Miss! This is terrible. I don't know why my uncle wants to beat Master Bao to death!"
Upon hearing this, the women in the pavilion were suddenly in an uproar. Apart from Li Wan, who else cared about Jia Lan?
They all rushed out and asked questions at once.
It turned out that when Baoyu arrived at Rong Xi Tang, he saw a tall and thin official of the fifth rank, sitting at the head of the table accompanied by his father. He had a stern look on his face and was extremely arrogant.
After all, Jia Zheng is the biological father of the imperial concubine, and can barely be called the "father-in-law of the emperor". How dare a mere fifth-rank official be so rude in front of him?
Just as Jia Baoyu was wondering, Jia Zheng jumped up and shouted, "Damned slave! It would be fine if you didn't study at home, but why did you do such lawless things! Since Qi Guan is a favorite of Prince Zhongshun, how dare you be such a nobody? How dare you tease him out for no reason and stay away from home for six or seven days in a row?!"
It turned out that the thin fifth-rank official was none other than Zhou Mo, the chief secretary of Prince Zhongshun's palace.
After Jiang Yuhan returned home that day, he had an argument with King Zhongshun, and finally left, and was not seen for six or seven days.
King Zhongshun was furious and ordered Zhou Mo to find Jiang Yuhan at all costs and bring her back to the palace for punishment.
Zhou Mo often sent people to spy on Jiang Yuhan's private affairs, so he knew that he was now closest to Jia Baoyu. Therefore, after receiving the prince's order, he went to Rongguo Mansion without any hesitation.
Seeing his father's furious look, Jia Baoyu was frightened and his whole body went limp. Fortunately, he had grown braver recently, so he did not cry out. He just kept shouting, "Father, please understand. Qi Guan and I just met by chance. We don't have much friendship to speak of. Recently, I have been busy with the poetry club at home. I haven't seen him for a long time. How can I say 'teased' him?"
Seeing that he had completely rejected the charge, Zhou Mo sneered before Jia Zheng could speak, "Sir, there is no need to hide it. He may be hiding at home, or you may know his whereabouts. You should tell us as soon as possible. We will suffer less and will naturally be grateful for your kindness."
Jia Baoyu still said he didn't know.
Zhou Mo sneered again, "If I didn't have real evidence, how could I dare to come to your house? Forget it. I didn't want to tell you those embarrassing things in front of you, but now I have no choice."
As he spoke, his eyes fell on Jia Baoyu's waist, and he sneered, "Since we only met by chance and don't have much friendship, how did the red handkerchief that the prince gave to Qiguan end up on your waist?!"
Jia Baoyu felt as if struck by lightning at that time, and most of his soul was shattered. He thought to himself: Since he knows such a confidential matter, I guess nothing else can be hidden from him.
King Zhongshun doted on Jiang Yuhan the most and would never punish Jiang Yuhan severely just because she had not returned for a few days - it would be better to send Zhou Changshi away first to prevent him from saying other things and making it difficult for him to explain in front of his father!
Thinking of this, Jia Baoyu hesitated and said, "Since you know such a secret, how could you not know that Qi Guan has built a red sandalwood fortress in the eastern suburbs, 20 miles away from the city - there are his fields and houses. Since he has not returned for many days, he may be living in this red sandalwood fortress."
Zhou Mo sneered several times after hearing this, and then he bowed to Jia Zheng and said, "Since your master said so, I think Qi Guan must be in Zitan Castle. I will take people to look for him. If we find him, it's fine. If not, I'm afraid I will have to come to your house to ask for advice."
Having said that, he left in a hurry.
Jia Zheng was already furious when he heard that Baoyu was so ignorant of the danger as to provoke the concubine of Prince Zhongshun. Now, he heard that he was so shameless as to exchange his red handkerchief with someone else, which made him even more angry.
You know, ever since he experienced the Tengu case, the thing he fears most is gay matters!
So while seeing Zhou Mo off, he turned back and told Baoyu to stay in the hall and not to go out at all.
When Baoyu heard his instructions, he guessed that today was not a good day. He was pacing around in the hall like an ant on hot pot. Suddenly, he saw Zijuan peeking . He immediately stepped forward and grabbed Zijuan's wrist as if he had found a treasure, begging her repeatedly: "Sister, save me, sister, save me! The master wants to beat me to death!"
Before he could elaborate, Jia Zheng's servant came in and urged Baoyu to go to the flower hall in front to see the master, saying that he was afraid that Baoyu would dirty the plaque of Rong Xi Hall.
Seeing that Jia Baoyu was moving away slowly, step by step, as if he was going to the execution ground, Zijuan naturally did not dare to delay and hurried back to report the news.
But when the girls heard that Baoyu was asking for help, they started talking in a mess. Some said they should go and ask Mrs. Wang for help, while others said they should ask Lady Jia for help. No one could make up their mind for a moment.
Finally, Xue Baochai stood up and gave the order without question: "Hearing Zijuan's description, Brother Bao must have gotten into some big trouble. He can't care about much right now. Tanchun and Xichun, the two of you go report to your aunt [Madam Wang]. Sister Lin and Sister Yun, the three of us go to the ancestor!"
Everyone else agreed, except Lin Daiyu, who shook her head and said, "If we keep delaying this, I don't know what kind of beating he'll get!"
As he spoke, he lifted the curtain and went outside, bowed to Sun Shaozong, and said, "Brother Sun, I'm sure you've heard a lot of our discussions just now. Second uncle usually praises you the most, so please go over and help persuade him first, so that he won't get beaten to death!"
Yes~
Originally, I just wanted to find a good teacher for my "cheap son", but who would have thought that by coincidence, I would run into the household affairs of Rongguo Mansion - speaking of which, how come there are more miscellaneous things in Rongguo Mansion than on the stage? !
According to his heart, Sun Shaozong really didn't want to get involved in the private affairs between Jia Zheng and his son, but Lin Daiyu's pitiful appearance forced him to go - it's not that he was too sympathetic to women, but he really had no suitable reason to refuse.
So he had no choice but to pretend to agree generously, and said seriously: "Miss Lin, don't worry, since it is Brother Bao who is in trouble, I, as his brother, naturally cannot sit idly by - I will go over and take a look to see what exactly caused this matter."
He spoke of generosity, but in reality he just said "let's see", without promising to take care of it.
After saying this, Sun Shaozong rushed out of the water pavilion like a gust of wind and headed straight for Rong Xi Hall.
Not to mention how the girls split up into two groups to go and ask Lady Wang and Lady Jia for help.
It is said that Sun Shaozong hurried to the vicinity of Rongxi Hall, and heard Jia Zheng's roar from the flower hall on the west side: "After last year's incident, I thought you had improved, but I didn't expect that your real improvement was the ability to cause trouble!"
"Who is the King Zhongshun? How dare you be his male lover... dare you..."
Tsk~
I originally only thought that Liu Xianglian and Jiang Yuhan were too close, but for a moment I forgot about Jia Baoyu.
Moreover, compared with Liu Xianglian, the ambiguous relationship between Jia Baoyu and Jiang Yuhan really touched the taboo of the royal palace. Although King Zhongshun was not stingy in sharing beauty with others, he gave it on his own initiative. If others peeped at his forbidden food without reason, how could he agree to it?
Now that the blame has been brought to Baoyu's head due to Jiang Yuhan's mistake, it is not really an injustice to him.
As he was thinking this, Sun Shaozong had already arrived outside the flower hall. He poked his head inside and saw Jia Zheng, seeing that the two servants were not working hard, snatched away a water and fire stick, gritted his teeth, and hit Baoyu hard on the butt with the stick!
“Ah~!”
Baoyu let out a scream and raised his neck high like a fighting cock.
Seeing this, Sun Shaozong stepped forward and wanted to dissuade them.
But he changed his mind and thought that Jia Baoyu really needed some lessons, and it would be a good thing if he could take the opportunity to correct his sexual orientation.
So Sun Shaozong stopped again and sat down to watch Baoyu being beaten seven or eight times in a row.
When Jia Zheng's retainers in the room saw that the beating was getting severe, they all rushed forward to try to persuade him to stop.
Jia Zheng was not willing to listen. He kept working and scolded, "Ask him whether what he did is forgivable or not! You guys have spoiled him all along, and now you are here to persuade him. Do you think you will not come to plead for him if he kills the king and his father tomorrow?"
When everyone heard this, they knew that Jia Zheng was furious, so they dared not persuade him anymore and just wanted to ask for help quietly.
At this time, Sun Shaozong saw that he had also been beaten with more than a dozen sticks, so he strode in, stretched out his hands to protect Baoyu, and asked knowingly: "Uncle, please show mercy, but I don't know what kind of disaster did Brother Bao cause that made uncle so merciless?!"
Those retainers were fine, but Sun Shaozong was, after all, a guest and a well-known figure in the officialdom. Although Jia Zheng was furious, he couldn't vent his anger on him.
But if I were to explain it in detail, I'd be too embarrassed to say it out loud.
Jia Zheng gnashed his teeth and said, "Nephew, there is no need to ask any more questions. This little bastard was born by me anyway. I am going to kill him today, and it has nothing to do with anyone else!"
As he said that, he actually picked up the water and fire stick, aimed it at Baoyu's head and smashed it down!
