Chapter 833 Everyone is Sick
It is said that we can take a detour from the outer corridor of the Grand View Garden.
But it might be fine for others, but since Jia Yingchun had arrived at her parents' home, how could she not enter?
In addition, Third Sister You insisted on waiting for Liu Xianglian.
Sun Shaozong simply left the three of them, mother and daughter, in the care of Jia Yingchun, and went straight to Jia Baoyu's Yihong Courtyard to find Liu Xianglian to keep him company.
Since he was an old customer and a relative by marriage, he did not need the gatekeeper to lead the way. He crossed the stone bridge on his own and saw from a distance maple leaves dancing in the cold wind, as if someone was setting fire to the sky.
This scenery was so different from the chaos and noise outside that even a rough man like Sun Shaozong couldn't help but change his path and go to the foot of the hill to take a closer look.
When the interest was exhausted and they were about to set out again, they saw a few people walking out gracefully from the maple forest. Leading them was none other than the nun Miaoyu from the Longcui Temple.
Sun Shaozong's heart moved and he stopped immediately, waiting for Miaoyu to come closer.
Miaoyu was carrying a bamboo basket of maple leaves and was walking forward silently. Suddenly, she saw the burly man in front of her and stumbled immediately.
After she regained her footing, she stared at Sun Shaozong for a while, then shook her head and sighed, then changed her route and took a detour.
Originally, Sun Shaozong was waiting at the foot of the hill, intending to persuade Miaoyu to leave this place of trouble while Taoism was being worshipped and Buddhism was being rejected in the capital.
Seeing that she was deliberately avoiding him, he was puzzled at first, and then he suddenly realized - the reason why this fake nun avoided him was probably because of Xing Xiuyan.
That's all~
He just wanted to mention it casually. Since she missed this opportunity, Sun Shaozong would not rush to give her advice.
So Sun Shaozong turned around and walked away with his back to Miaoyu.
Unexpectedly, just after I took a few steps, I heard shouting from behind.
At first, Sun Shaozong thought that Miaoyu had changed her mind and came after him again, so he wanted to leave her alone and quickened his pace, pretending to be deaf to her.
But later he heard some strange noises and looked back suspiciously, only to see that the woman catching up with him was not Miaoyu, but Xiren, the head maidservant beside Jia Baoyu.
Sun Shaozong immediately stopped and waited for Xiren to catch up with him. Then he teased him, "Why are you here alone instead of staying with your brother Bao?"
Xiren handed the bamboo basket on her left arm forward and said helplessly, "It's that enemy all over again. The other day, I saw the fourth girl [Xichun] painting with maple leaves and thought it was very elegant, so I insisted on learning from her - but in the end, he couldn't come, and I was left to suffer in the cold in the forest."
Even though she was complaining, the sweetness between her eyebrows was so strong that it could not be dissolved.
Sun Shaozong rolled his eyes speechlessly, and raised his chin in the direction where Miaoyu left: "Didn't they say that your family would also change the nunnery into a Taoist temple? It looks so leisurely and comfortable here, is it just a rumor?"
The hill was not big, so Xiren naturally ran into Miaoyu and a few little nuns. However, a servant like her, who was very worldly-wise and tactful, had never been in Miaoyu's eyes, and the two of them fell into awkwardness after a few words.
If not for this, she would not have waited until Miaoyu and others left before leaving the maple forest alone.
When Sun Shaozong asked about this, Xiren laughed and said, "It's just a rumor. Our ancestors are the most devout Buddhists. With her in charge, who would dare to destroy the temple and slander the monks?"
This is almost what Sun Shaozong had expected.
Anyway, they had already missed the opportunity. From the sound of it, it seemed that there was no way to persuade Miaoyu. So Sun Shaozong simply put the matter behind him and rushed to Yihong Courtyard with Xiren.
As soon as I entered the courtyard, I saw Jia Baoyu and Liu Xianglian in the hexagonal pavilion in the southwest corner, teasing a few sika deer with fodder.
"My Lord!"
Before Sun Shaozong could say anything, Xiren, who was standing beside him, started to shout, "These beasts are so reckless. Last time, they ruined the clothes that the ancestor gave me. Why are we provoking them again?"
As she said this, she stamped her feet and blamed Qiu Wen and Bi Yue for indulging Baoyu in his reckless behavior.
Sun Shaozong ignored all this and took a few steps towards the pavilion, saying loudly: "There's such a commotion outside, but you two are having a great time!"
"Brother Sun!"
“Second brother!”
When the two people in the pavilion saw that it was him coming, they quickly threw away the cakes made of alfalfa and soybean meal and strode out to greet him.
When the sika deer at the back saw that their owner was no longer in the pavilion, they immediately rushed forward and stuck their heads into the feed barrel to fight for the food.
When the three of them gathered together, Liu Xianglian was the first to laugh and say, "Second brother, you have wronged me. I came to find Brother Bao because I wanted to rely on his face so that I could enter the house earlier to pay my respects. Who would have thought that he would fall ill right after I arrived at Yihong Courtyard."
Falling sick?
Sun Shaozong looked at Jia Baoyu carefully and found that the boy had a rosy complexion and no sign of illness at all. He was puzzled and wanted to find out what was going on.
But Jia Baoyu sighed and said helplessly: "Second brother, let's talk about this inside."
As he spoke, he invited the two men into the main hall. He first asked Xiren to fetch some water so that she and Liu Xianglian could wash their hands. He then ordered Qiu Wen and others to bring some snacks and brew tribute tea for the guests.
When the three of them sat down as host and guest, Jia Baoyu sighed again, while Liu Xianglian beside him just laughed.
It turned out that Liu Xianglian had just arrived at the Yihong Courtyard, and before he had even finished greeting Jia Baoyu, Mrs. Wang sent her maid over to tell Jia Baoyu to rest and recuperate, and not to rush to the East Palace to cause trouble.
Not to mention Liu Xianglian, even Jia Baoyu was puzzled when he heard this - when did he fall ill?
Later, they called the maid in and questioned her carefully. They found out that she was Madam You from the East Palace. She was unable to handle the situation alone, so she had to ask for help from the West Palace.
The first person she sought help from was, naturally, Jia She, the nominal pillar of the West Mansion.
As a result, Jia She immediately claimed to be ill and could not go out, and also gave his son a pretext that he was recuperating away from home.
Youshi had no choice but to go to Mrs. Wang again, hoping that she would at least lend Baoyu to her.
But when Mrs. Wang saw that the first house was completely dismissed, she also felt that the bustle at Ningguo Mansion was a little unusual. She was afraid that her precious son might have another accident, so she also hurriedly registered Jia Baoyu for illness.
Add to that Wang Xifeng and Li Wan, who have long been claiming illness and unable to go out, and the family is not far from being together.
"Normally, Sister Zhen would always be willing to take on any matter, big or small, in our house. But this time, with such a big matter at Ningguo Mansion, she ran into obstacles everywhere..."
As Baoyu spoke, he felt more and more ashamed, but he dared not disobey his mother's orders. He just sipped his tea and sighed.
Although lack of responsibility is a common problem among everyone in this house, they are not so withdrawn when encountering weddings or funerals of relatives.
Now, I'm afraid that the dispute over the crown prince has caused some paranoid speculation.
Although Sun Shaozong guessed about 70% of the situation, he was too lazy to point out the twists and turns. He immediately told Baoyu to take good care of his health, and he took Liu Xianglian with him to Ningguo Mansion for a walk early in the morning.
"Brother, please have lunch with me at noon."
As Baoyu was escorting them out, he said hurriedly, "I'll have someone prepare the snacks and wine so that the three of us can have a few drinks."
Although he felt somewhat sorry for Youshi, he was obviously not affected by Jia Jing's death.
This is normal. Although he is a relative, Jia Jing has been practicing Taoism outside the city for more than ten years and can only go home twice a year, let alone come to Rongguo Mansion.
Those with poor memory may not even be able to remember his face, let alone any blood ties.
But Sun Shaozong and Liu Xianglian left the Yihong Courtyard. Liu Xianglian wanted to say something several times along the way, and when he saw that they had reached the front yard, he still couldn't finish his sentence.
"how?"
Sun Shaozong glanced at him and sneered, "You've only been a nerd for a few days, and you've already forgotten how to talk?"
Liu Xianglian smiled awkwardly and stammered, "Second brother, I..."
"Okay."
Sun Shaozong raised his hand to stop him from hesitating. "How can you think I can't do without you? I have already found a suitable candidate these days. He is well versed in criminal law and has been in the officialdom for many years. As long as he is willing to assist you wholeheartedly, he can do the work of three of you."
"That's good, that's good!"
Liu Xianglian is a man who acts on impulse, often doing whatever he thinks of, but rarely regrets it afterwards.
However, this time he asked Sun Shaozong to be his legal advisor, but he quit the job within half a month. He felt really guilty about it and had been thinking about making a formal apology for a long time, but he didn't know how to make up for it.
When he heard that Sun Shaozong had found a better replacement, he felt relieved and started talking fluently, gesticulating and telling many interesting things that had happened in recent days.
Most of these are closely related to Jiang Yuhan's new team.
How Jiang Yuhan poached talents and quickly built a core team; how Jia Lian showed extraordinary talent after only a few days of learning opera...
"According to Officer Qi, if Second Brother Lian wasn't in this business, he would be afraid that teaching his apprentice would lead to starvation to death."
I never thought Jia Lian had this talent.
It seems that even if the Rongguo Mansion falls in the future, he can still survive by singing opera.
As the two were talking, they had already arrived at the back door of Jia She's house.
Originally there was no need to go in, but since Jia She claimed to be ill, Sun Shaozong, as a younger relative by marriage, had to go visit him.
And because Liu Xianglian hated Jia She very much, he insisted on staying outside and let Sun Shaozong go alone.
After Sun Shaozong left him behind, he was led by his servant to a side hall to wait. After waiting for a long time, Jia She did not come out, but he could hear the chirping of girls in the corridor.
He looked outside in confusion and saw Jia Yingchun leading the way, followed by Xue Baochai, Lin Daiyu, Shi Xiangyun, Jia Tanchun, You Erjie, You Sanjie and others. They were all dressed in plain clothes and each of them was bright and charming.
Seeing that they were close, Jia Yingchun led You Erjie away from the other sisters, and bowed at the door of the hall, saying, "Don't blame me, Erlang. My father is ill and cannot stand the wind, so he only told me to thank you on his behalf."
This guy who is pretending to be sick is much more dedicated than Jia Baoyu.
Sun Shaozong casually said a few words of "concern" about the patient's condition, and then the uncle and his wife left the hall together.
Because they were relatives of the Tong family, and would go to the East Palace to mourn together later, all the beautiful girls did not avoid them and came forward to pay their respects.
Sun Shaozong was dazzled by the sight, when someone in the corridor suddenly raised his voice, "Are you ready? If you are, let's go!"
This person with a gruff voice and bad temper doesn't seem like he's going to attend a funeral, but rather to cause trouble.
Sun Shaozong looked in the direction of the voice and saw Madam Xing with a gloomy face standing with Old Lady You. When he looked over, he realized that she just forced a smile and then returned to her original deadpan expression.
What's going on?
Because she has always been generous, Mrs. Xing always smiles every time Sun Shaozong comes. But what's going on with her face today?
"Master."
At this time, You Erjie came up at the right time and whispered, "Just now, Old Madam Xing pressed the first wife to ask whether she and the second wife in this mansion were doing the timber business in the south together, and also asked how much money they made - but our first wife refused to say a word."
I see.
This couple is really obsessed with money!
