Chapter 395: Jealousy stirs up a new wave
Seeing that Jia Zheng was so angry that he smashed the water and fire stick on Baoyu's head without any care, Sun Shaozong was also frightened. Before the water and fire stick fell, he quickly blocked it with his arm, and then pulled it into his arms and snatched it away.
Duh~
Poking the stick into the ground, Sun Shaozong said solemnly: "Look at your attitude, uncle. I'm afraid I have to take Brother Bao back to the government office and torture him severely!"
Jia Zheng was robbed of his weapon, and was feeling ashamed and angry. When he heard Sun Shaozong's words, he was stunned and asked in astonishment, "You want to take him back and torture him? Why ?"
"Isn't this obvious?"
Sun Shaozong spread his hands and said as if it was a matter of course: "Although Brother Bao has many naughty characteristics, he would never be disobedient or unfilial. Now that my uncle has killed his own brother for the sake of justice, he must have done something murderous, arson, robbery, or rape outside!"
"Since he has committed such a serious crime, as the governor of Shuntian Prefecture, I should take him back and interrogate him thoroughly!"
As he spoke, without paying any attention to Jia Zheng's reaction, he tore off the ropes that bound Baoyu and shouted in a pretentious tone, "Come on, follow me back to the government office for trial!"
Jia Baoyu cried out "ouch", raised his pale baby face, looked at Sun Shaozong with a dazed look, and said in a trembling voice: "Second brother is indeed... indeed a ghost messenger in the underworld!"
It seemed that the boy had fainted from the pain just now, and was just awakened when Sun Shaozong cut the rope. He happened to hear the word "passing the court", and thought that he had gone to the underworld to be judged for his merits and demerits in this life.
Sun Shaozong was really amused when he heard his nonsense, and he angrily scolded him: "Wake up, you have only been beaten with a dozen sticks, why are you talking nonsense?!"
"So I'm not dead yet?"
Jia Baoyu suddenly thrust himself upwards, then fell back like a salted fish, lying on the bench, groaning, "It really hurts me!"
This kid is really an expert at courting death. He could have cried out in pain if he wanted to, but for some reason he sang it out in a rhythmic manner.
Originally, Jia Zheng had lost all his fighting spirit due to Sun Shaozong's "harassment", but when he heard Sun Shaozong's singing, he immediately thought of "Qi Guan" again. He snatched another water and fire stick in annoyance, swung it around, and was about to hit Baoyu on the buttocks again.
Sun Shaozong was helpless and was about to stop them, but a man jumped in from outside, rushed over and hugged the board, crying, "Master, please have mercy, please have mercy!"
The person who came was none other than Mrs. Wang.
When Jia Zheng saw that it was her, he blew his beard, glared, stamped his feet and said, "Forget it, forget it! It seems that you two, mother and son, will not stop until you piss me off to death!"
Mrs. Wang held the stick tightly and cried, "Although Baoyu deserves to be beaten, the master should also take care of his health. Besides, it's a hot summer day and the old lady has been feeling unwell all the time - beating Baoyu to death would be fine, but if the old lady gets hurt because of this, wouldn't the master regret it too late?!"
Seeing that she was bluffing people with the old lady, Jia Zheng became even more annoyed. He sneered and said many things like "loving mothers often spoil their children". He then threw away the water and fire stick, picked up the rope on the ground, and shouted that he would strangle Baoyu to death.
Mrs. Wang naturally refused to agree. While protecting Baoyu, she started crying for Jia Zhu, saying that if her eldest son was still alive, she would not care even if a hundred Baoyus died.
At this time, Li Wan and the other girls also rushed over. Hearing her crying and calling Jia Zhu's name, although they had already fallen in love with someone else, they could only cry along with her.
The situation was already in a mess, and then the old lady came in and scolded Jia Zheng for a while, and then shouted that she wanted to take her grandson back to her hometown in Jinling to avoid being an eyesore to Jia Zheng.
Seeing that Jia Zheng was being forced by the old lady, he could only kowtow and apologize, and had no time to teach Jia Baoyu a lesson. The room was full of female relatives, so Sun Shaozong also knew what to do and withdrew with the guests and servants.
He was thinking about Yu Qian and Jia Lan, but he didn't want to just leave like that.
Just as he was alone in a corner thinking about something, he suddenly heard someone whisper, "It was thanks to Brother Sun who saved him just now. I would like to thank Brother Sun on his behalf."
Looking back, it was Lin Daiyu who came towards him with tears in her eyes. When she saw Sun Shaozong turning around, she bowed again.
Sun Shaozong hurriedly returned the greeting and said comfortingly, "Miss Lin, don't worry. I just checked it out and found that Brother Bao only had skin and flesh injuries, and no bones were broken. He will be fine after a few days of rest."
Lin Daiyu felt relieved after hearing this, but then she hesitated to speak again. After a long while, she met Sun Shaozong's curious eyes and asked hesitantly, "Second Brother Sun, I wonder why Brother Bao was beaten this time?"
"this……"
Should I tell the truth or cover up for him?
Sun Shaozong hesitated for a moment, then saw that Lin Daiyu's face was full of anxiety, and he couldn't help but say to himself: Forget it.
Although Jia Baoyu is romantic and passionate, he is still better than most among the many young men from wealthy families.
Especially for Lin Daiyu, whose parents have both passed away, such a gentle and considerate cousin can be regarded as a rare and good match - especially looking at Lin Daiyu's loving look, she is afraid that she will not really fall out with Jia Baoyu because of his sexual orientation.
If that's the case, why should I be a villain?
So Sun Shaozong shook his head and said, "When I arrived, my uncle was severely beating him, so I didn't have time to ask him in detail. If you really want to know the truth, you might as well wait until Brother recovers and then ask him in person."
Lin Daiyu's pair of watery eyes moved around Sun Shaozong's face for a few times, and then she pursed her lips and said, "Since Second Brother Sun is unwilling to tell the truth, I won't ask any more questions."
After saying this, he bowed again and then left like a willow following the wind.
Tsk~
Although this little girl is smart, she still lacks some worldly wisdom - she should have understood it in her heart, but she insisted on pointing out the truth before leaving. If it were someone with a smaller mind, she might have gotten angry out of embarrassment.
Sun Shaozong had just watched Lin Daiyu enter the flower hall when he saw a master and a servant coming out. They were Wang Xifeng and Ping'er.
The master and servant looked around on the steps, scanning the people in the yard twice. Then Wang Xifeng stomped her embroidered shoes on the ground and went back into the house angrily.
Seeing this, Sun Shaozong couldn't help but have an idea. He pulled over a familiar manager and asked in a low voice about Jia Lian's whereabouts.
When he heard that Jia Lian had been at home in recent days and did not go out today, he was filled with gloating - if nothing unexpected happened, Jia Lian would probably be cursed with love again.
Sun Shaozong really got it right!
But after Wang Xifeng sent Lai Wang away, she took care of some trivial matters. She began to pant and sweat all over her body. Then she took off her apricot-colored wrinkled skirt and the undershirt underneath, preparing to take a bath and then lie back on the bed.
Who would have thought that just as he had put one of his white jade-like legs into the bathtub filled with flower petals, he suddenly heard Xiaohong reporting from outside that Baoyu had been beaten half to death and even the old lady was alarmed.
After hearing this, how could Wang Xifeng still have the mood to take a bath?
He hurriedly called Ping'er to bring a bath towel, wiped the warm water on his legs and the sweat on his body, then changed into a new set of clothes from head to toe and hurried to the flower hall.
After seeing Baoyu, Wang Xifeng discovered that although he was beaten to a pulp, he was not seriously injured. Only then did she feel relieved.
However, when she relaxed, she suddenly discovered something strange - she couldn't see any trace of Jia Lian anywhere in the place!
Logically, Jia Lian was doing housework in the front yard, so he should have received the news earlier than me. How come I have already arrived but he is still nowhere to be seen?
Wang Xifeng became suspicious and made an excuse to go outside to look around. She saw that even Sun Shaozong was standing in the corner, but there was no sign of Jia Lian. Her suspicion turned into a deep sense of uneasiness.
But now she couldn't easily withdraw, so she had to turn back.
As soon as he entered the room, he saw several maids trying to help Baoyu up. He immediately vented his anger and scolded them, "You blind people! Don't you see that Brother Bao can still walk in this state? Hurry up and bring out that rattan stool!"
Several strong maids hurriedly went to the inner room to carry out a stool, which served as a temporary stretcher. They then carried Baoyu to Jia's grandmother's room.
As they were talking, Wang Xifeng kept looking around, but even after she had settled Jia Baoyu, she still couldn't see any sign of Mr. Lian - if he was doing something shameful, how could she not have heard from him until now?
Thinking of this, Wang Xifeng became more and more irritated. Add to that the long journey, and she couldn't help but sweat all over, and her cheeks were as red as burning charcoal.
Everyone was paying attention to Jia Baoyu, except for the head maid Yuanyang, who was the most sharp-eyed. She noticed that something seemed to be wrong with Wang Xifeng and quickly whispered it to Grandmother Jia.
"Lian's daughter-in-law."
Grandmother Jia wiped her tears and came over, complaining: "You haven't recovered from your illness yet, why are you following us? Hurry up, help your grandmother back and let her take good care of her."
If it were any other time, Wang Xifeng would probably try to be stubborn and stay to take charge.
But now she just wanted to find out what shameful and dirty things Jia Lian was doing, so she went with the flow and asked Ping'er and Xiaohong to help her out of Jia's grandmother's yard.
When they got outside, Wang Xifeng pushed Xiaohong away and ordered her sternly, "Go! Find Zhou Rui and his wife and tell them that there's a thief in our house. Tell them to prepare sticks and ropes and go with me to catch the thief!"
Whenever the couple had conflicts in the past, Ping'er would have to give some words of persuasion, but now her heart was already on Sun Shaozong, and she was annoyed that Jia Lian had had a conflict with Sun Shaozong the day before.
So instead of trying to persuade him, he reminded him, "Xing'er has been leading people to replant fruit trees in the garden these days, and he has not been with Second Master - but Second Master's affairs cannot be hidden from him!"
Upon hearing this, Wang Xifeng ordered Zhou Rui not to rush over, but to go to the Grand View Garden and tie up Xing'er first.
