Chapter 426: The Difference Between the Two
After coming out of Wang Xifeng's courtyard, Xiu Ju was still sighing in her heart.
Although it had long been rumored that Caixia was not as close to Baoyu as others, but was closer to Huan Lao San, who could have thought that after Aunt Zhao fell from power, she would still stick with the mother and son?
Such behavior can truly be described as sharing weal and woe.
However, in Mrs. Wang's view, this was a blatant betrayal, so it was no wonder that Caixia's name appeared on the exchange list this time.
Just as she was walking forward absent-mindedly, she suddenly heard a rustling sound in the flower bed next to her. Xiu Ju turned around in surprise, only to see a figure suddenly jumping out from the bushes and dragging her in without saying a word!
Xiu Ju was so frightened that her soul flew out of her body. Just as she was about to scream at the top of her lungs, she heard the man whisper in her ear, "Don't be afraid, sister. It's me, Jia Baoyu."
"Bao... Master Bao?"
Xiu Ju stared at Jia Baoyu with eyes wide open in disbelief. It was not until she was led into a narrow passage that she suddenly came to her senses. She pushed Jia Baoyu, causing him to stagger, and shook her head in confusion, saying, "No, it's too late, it's really too late!"
Too late?
Jia Baoyu looked up at the sky in confusion. It was clearly not even noon yet, so how could it be too late?
But Xiu Ju covered her chest with her hands and said hesitantly, "If it were before, I would have wanted Second Master to favor me, but now I have someone, it's really..."
"What are you thinking about!"
Jia Baoyu could only listen to the crying and pointed to the distance, explaining, "I heard that my uncle was waiting in front, and I was afraid that you would bump into him and cause trouble for my second sister, so I came around to stop you!"
It turned out that Jia She had been making a fuss in the mansion for several days but had failed to change Lady Jia and Yuanyang's minds, so he turned his attention to Jia Yingchun, thinking that since he couldn't persuade his mother, it shouldn't be a problem to "discipline" his daughter, right?
Coincidentally, when he heard that Xiu Ju had arrived home, he took his men to guard near the alley behind the second gate, ready to stop Xiu Ju from passing on a message to his daughter, asking her to refuse to take Yuan Yang in.
After listening to Baoyu's explanation, Xiu Ju felt embarrassed and scared. She hurriedly followed Baoyu around and went out through the side door of Rongguo Mansion.
When they got outside, they saw two carriages waiting at the foot of the wall. One was the carriage that Xiu Ju rode in when she came, and the other was the carriage that Jia Baoyu often used.
Xiu Ju couldn't help but ask suspiciously: "Second Master Bao, what are you doing..."
Jia Baoyu said confidently, "Of course I will go to ask Second Sister for mercy. Even if I have to kneel down and kowtow a hundred times, I will ask Second Sister to return !"
Isn’t this the same idea as Jia She’s?
“How can this be the same?”
Jia Baoyu's eyes widened as if he had been insulted. He explained anxiously, "My uncle wants to force Yuanyang to stay, but Qingwen would rather die than leave. Although both are asking my second sister to do something, there is a world of difference between the two!"
Even if he didn't explain anything, Xiu Ju, a maid, couldn't stop him from going. Now that Baoyu was getting angry, she naturally didn't dare to say anything more.
So the two of them got on the carriages and rushed to Sun's mansion together.
As they approached the Sun family's house, Jia Baoyu was thinking about how to ask Jia Yingchun's permission when he saw her. Suddenly, he felt the carriage moving slower and slower, and finally stopped in the middle of the road. Then he heard the driver yelling, "What are you doing? What do you want to do?!"
Jia Baoyu lifted the curtain and looked out in confusion, but he would have bumped into a horse's face with tears streaming down its face. If Jia Baoyu had not stepped back in time, he would have been kissed on the horse's thick nose hair!
Jia Baoyu felt so sick that he almost retched, but he heard the other party crying out to the heavens, "God, please have mercy on us and spare our Chong'er!"
After hearing the shout of "Great Lord", several more people climbed onto the car, one after another shouting "unfair" and "have mercy", and each one cried more miserably than the other.
Seeing this, Jia Baoyu couldn't help but feel some sympathy in his heart. He shrank back into the carriage and said seriously, "What grievances do you want to complain about? Although I am not a judge, if what you say is true, I will definitely tell you..."
"Get down, get down, get the hell down here!"
Before Baoyu could finish his words, Zhao Zhongji, the steward of the Sun residence, came rushing over with several servants, shouting loudly and cracking their whips.
Seeing the two people who were refusing to move outside being hit on the head and face several times, the people who were crying out for injustice immediately shouted and scattered like birds and beasts.
Zhao Zhongji ordered his men to help the coachman from Rongguo Mansion out from under the carriage shaft, and stepped forward and said with a smile on his face, "I was careless for a moment and let these peasants disturb Master Jia. I am really guilty, guilty."
Logically speaking, Zhao Zhongji had helped Jia Baoyu out of trouble, but Baoyu was quite unhappy when he saw how roughly he had treated the people who were crying out for justice.
So he said sternly, "Brother Sun's reputation as an upright official was established with great difficulty. Now you are just attacking a few people who are crying out for justice. Aren't you afraid of ruining his reputation?"
This is really a dog biting Lu Dongbin...
Zhao Zhongji was secretly complaining, but he didn't dare to show it on his face. He smiled and said, "Second Master, you misunderstood. These people are not here to appeal for justice. They just want to use the name of seeking justice to fool the autumn execution so that their relatives who have committed capital crimes can live for a few more months."
As mentioned earlier, the end of June and the beginning of July every year is the time when Shuntian Prefecture submits the list of people to be executed in autumn to the Ministry of Justice, and this year is no exception.
Last year, Sun Shaozong had presided over the autumn audit of Shuntian Prefecture in place of Liu Chongshan, who claimed to be ill. This year, he was promoted to the position of governor, so naturally he could not escape "this disaster".
Jia Baoyu had been obsessed with criminal law in recent years, so he was naturally familiar with the autumn execution. Therefore, after listening to Zhao Zhongji's explanation, he suddenly understood.
Just as he was about to apologize to Zhao Zhongji, he heard Zhao Zhongji say again: "Master Jia, there are still many people blocking the way ahead, especially a few elderly people. It may not be easy for a carriage to pass through. You see..."
Only then did Jia Baoyu realize that Xiu Ju had also gotten off the car in front and was waiting by the roadside with her face covered with a handkerchief.
Although he was a playboy, he was not one who liked to put on airs, so he quickly jumped off the carriage and walked towards the gate not far away under the protection of Zhao Zhongji and others.
Walking all the way.
But I only saw a white-haired old man kneeling down, a young girl weeping bitterly, and a brave warrior with a broken heart...
Jia Baoyu is a person who is always sad about the passing of time, so how could he understand this?
He immediately stopped and asked hesitantly, "Look at them crying like this, what if they really have been wronged..."
"Master, be careful with your words."
Zhao Zhongji didn't care about hierarchy and quickly covered Baoyu's mouth.
But it was still too late. The young girl immediately came up to him on her knees, hugged Jia Baoyu's left leg and cried, "Master, please understand. My father was wronged! I beg you to save my father's life. Even if I have to work like a cow or a horse in my next life, I will never forget your kindness and kindness !"
Your father?
How come your father is here?
Just as Jia Baoyu was feeling puzzled, he heard Zhao Zhongji scold him, "What nonsense are you talking about, you little bitch? This is our uncle, and he is an equal to my second master!"
After hearing this, Jia Baoyu suddenly realized that this woman had thought of herself as Sun Shaozong's son after hearing the word "Young Master"...
He felt a bit sympathetic when he saw the girl's tearful face. He was about to ask her about her grievances, but then he heard Zhao Zhongji say, "Besides, your father killed the couple who sold him in public for a few Tao Zhu gold coins, and then he turned himself in. How could he have been wronged?"
The girl was at a loss for words for a moment, but after a while she burst into tears again: "My father is a good man, a good man! If the gold shells he just bought with all his belongings had not become worthless in the blink of an eye, how could he...how could he..."
