Chapter 834: Funeral
A quarter of an hour later, in the flower hall in the backyard of Ningguo Mansion.
"We can't delay any longer. There are so many people here, young and old, sick. Who knows, they might have caught some kind of epidemic! When you get home, remember to ask the imperial physician to take a look!"
Hearing Youshi's seemingly 'affectionate' but actually sarcastic words outside, Sun Shaozong couldn't help but burst out laughing.
It turns out that even clay figures have some earthy qualities.
She is the kind of person who is easily manipulated by others. After hitting a wall several times today, she finally got angry.
Of course, this is also because I have a son, which gives me more confidence than before.
but……
But Mrs. Xing was indeed a little strange.
After hearing what You Erjie said, Sun Shaozong originally thought that she was just angry at Jia Yingchun's attitude, and then took her anger out on himself.
But along the way, it seemed that this was not the case.
It would be more accurate to say that she was distracted rather than having a fight with anyone. She would have nearly bumped into the railing at the corner several times if the maid beside her had not reminded her.
At this time, facing Youshi's sarcasm and ridicule, he was also powerless and had no intention of fighting back at all.
What is going on with her?
Sun Shaozong thought about it over and over but couldn't figure out the reason. Then he suddenly came to his senses and wondered why he was paying so much attention to an old woman.
After a burst of laughter, he was too lazy to think about anything else and just chatted with Liu Xianglian about random things.
But not long after, Youshi came out supported by her two younger sisters.
I saw that she tied her hair tightly with a white cloth, and tied three white hairpins, two long and three short, behind her left ear. It was simple and plain, but it made her green hair look like clouds and waterfalls.
With slightly messy bangs and a bare-faced face the size of a palm, her charming figure is fully revealed.
The loose and thin linen and plain clothes further highlighted her petite figure.
As expected, he wanted to dress up in filial piety!
Sun Shaozong secretly praised, but his eyes fell on the back of the three people - a chubby little boy was following closely behind them, led by his wet nurse.
At just one glance, Sun Shaozong was sure: this must be his child!
How could the Ningguo Mansion, a bunch of good-for-nothings who were hollowed out by alcohol and sex, give birth to such a strong and brave child?
"Shao brother, come and meet your two uncles!"
Seeing Sun Shaozong looking at his son, Youshi shook off the support of You Sanjie and pulled her son closer to them.
The little guy was not stage-shy. He called "Uncle" in a baby voice and looked up at Sun Shaozong. It was probably the first time he saw such a burly man.
Sun Shaozong was also looking down at him, but You Sanjie next to him found an excuse and quietly pulled Liu Xianglian to a corner.
At this time, Youshi lowered her body and said softly to her son, "Brother Tiao, it's cold outside. Can you go inside with the nurse and talk to grandma and the aunts?"
The little guy was still a little reluctant, but after being coaxed by the nanny, he was taken away obediently.
So, only Sun Shaozong, Youshi and You Erjie were left in the courtyard.
Although there were people standing in the house and in the corners of the yard, the wind was quite strong at the moment, so as long as they spoke in a low voice, they would not be afraid of being overheard.
When their eyes met, Youshi could not hide her joy, but was also filled with resentment. However, she did not dare to get too close to Sun Shaozong, so she lowered her eyes and said quietly, "I never thought that the next time I would meet Lord would be in such an occasion."
After saying this, he was speechless due to mixed feelings.
Seeing this, You Erjie hurriedly pushed her and urged her, "Sister, there is no time to waste, let's get down to business first!"
Yu Shi suddenly realized, and bowed gracefully, saying, "Now that the father and son are not at home, I, a woman, cannot handle such a large occasion. I would like to ask Lord Sun to help me preside over the event for the sake of my second sister and Tiao Ge'er."
It turned out that he wanted me to preside over the funeral.
Sun Shaozong has never done this job before.
But she had already moved her son out, so how could Sun Shaozong refuse?
He immediately called Liu Xianglian over, and the two brothers-in-law assigned tasks to each other, and then called the housekeepers one by one to identify them.
If it were someone else, even if he was the brother-in-law, it would be difficult for him to convince others to suddenly preside over the funeral affairs of Ningguo Mansion.
But what is Sun Shaozong’s current reputation?
Not to mention that he is a genuine fourth-rank official!
Everything has been going smoothly for him, and even if he wanted to find a troublemaker to make an example of, he would have no idea where to start.
Since this was the case, Sun Shaozong naturally didn't bother to be polite. He took the lead and assigned them tasks one by one.
As for the most difficult issue of order in front of the gate, he personally took the mansion's chief steward and more than twenty servants to sort it out.
No matter how chaotic and noisy the situation outside the Ningguo Mansion was, how could it compare to the Banquet for a Thousand Old Men back then when it came to complexity?
With the help of someone as capable as Sun Shaozong, the situation improved dramatically.
However, while restoring order in front of the gate, Sun Shaozong also discovered that among the guests, nobles only accounted for a very small part, and even military generals were rare. Instead, there were quite a few civil officials.
That's weird.
Although there are many flatterers among the civil officials, it is not .
But most literati still have to save their face.
It's not impossible to do such a thing of flattering someone, but at least it won't be so obvious.
Could it be that...
Is there something else going on here?
Just as he was suspicious, Liu Xianglian suddenly came over alone, his face looking indescribably solemn.
Sun Shao's heart tightened when he saw Zhuangzong, and he immediately lowered his voice and asked: "What's wrong? Did something happen inside?"
Liu Xianglian also said in a hoarse voice: "Second brother, these people are not here to mourn, but to make indirect accusations!"
"What's the meaning?"
"Many of the elegiac couplets and eulogies were directed at Taoist priests and alchemists. Some were so radical that they even accused the alchemists of harming the country and the people!"
Harming the country and the people?
Sun Shaozong's face immediately darkened. He ordered the steward to stand guard outside and strode to the mourning hall in the center with Liu Xianglian.
At this time, Youshi was leading her daughter-in-law Hu, kneeling on straw mats on both sides of the mourning hall, squeezing out tears as they listened to a middle-aged scholar reciting the eulogy in a rhythmic manner.
Sun Shaozong listened outside the door for a while and found that the scholar first praised Jia Jing very highly, and then said that if he had not been delayed by the illusory immortal way, he should be the mainstay of the court now.
Then, following this thread, he began to quote scriptures and denounce the alchemists for bringing disaster to the country and the people.
It turns out to be a veiled criticism!
And the person being scolded was none other than the current emperor!
Sun Shaozong felt his scalp tingling for a moment. No wonder the northern and southern sects had been fighting each other in the capital in recent days, while the disciples of Confucius and Mencius in the court had all stopped fighting and had no reaction at all.
It seems like he is planning on making a big move!
It was just bad luck that the ultimate move they had prepared happened to be used against them!
I'm afraid that these waves of criticism against the central government will sooner or later be conveyed to Emperor Guangde. By then, who would believe me, who has stepped forward to maintain order, if I say that it has nothing to do with them?
But now, he did not dare to stop the actions of the civil officials, otherwise he would be surrounded by enemies everywhere in the court in the future.
Moreover, if one offends these leaders of the literati who control public opinion, even the reputation that one has worked so hard to build may not be preserved.
That's all~
For now, I can only pretend to be confused and try my best to get myself out of it.
Thinking of this, he hurried to the backyard, not caring that Xue Baochai, Lin Daiyu and others were there, and pulled You Erjie over to whisper something.
After receiving the order, You Erjie naturally did not dare to neglect it in the slightest. She hurriedly called her mother and hurried to the front yard.
Sun Shaozong originally wanted to wait outside, but was stopped by Jia Tanchun.
"Second brother of the Sun family, did something go wrong earlier? Do you want us to go back and inform our ancestors?"
When she asked this question, Sun Shaozong realized that the room was full of beautiful girls, all looking at him curiously.
Sun Shaozong shook his head and said, "We can't and shouldn't take care of this matter. If you sisters have nothing to do, it's best for you to go home and not get involved in this huge trouble."
Having said that, he left without caring whether everyone was satisfied or not.
"What on earth happened?"
Because of her sister Ruan Rong, Lin Daiyu was the first to worry: "Who is the second brother of the Sun family? He said he couldn't control it and didn't dare to control it!"
Shi Xiangyun was the most curious, and she blinked her big eyes and encouraged, "Why don't we send someone out to ? Who knows, they might be able to help!"
“No!”
"Don't!"
However, Xue Baochai and Jia Tanchun tried to stop them in unison, saying that Sun Shaozong felt that such a difficult matter was not something that a few women could interfere with.
Seeing Shi Xiangyun's eyes moving around, she was afraid that she would really make a fuss, so she hurriedly sent a maid to ask Mrs. Xing next door whether she could take her sisters back to Rongguo Mansion.
This was originally just a formality, and there was no reason for Mrs. Xing to refuse.
But who would have thought that for some unknown reason she had gotten into trouble today, she actually sent her personal maid over, and, using the principle of filial piety, she scolded everyone.
"What on earth is going on?"
After the maid left, the girls looked at each other, all of them were confused.
"Sister Bao."
Jia Tanchun also changed her mind at this time, and took the initiative to ask Xue Baochai for advice: "It's not a good idea to sit here and think about it all the time. Why don't we send someone to ask outside? We won't do anything, just test the waters."
Xue Baochai hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded, but added: "Let's send a few people back to ask Rongguo Mansion - maybe someone has heard something."
Most of the women had no objection, so they discussed and selected a few smart and capable maids and old women, and sent them to the Ning and Rong mansions to find out the truth.
Others did not notice, but Lin Daiyu, Jia Tanchun, and Xue Baoqin discovered that Xue Baochai had sent her personal maid Ying'er to the Rongguo Mansion, which did not seem to be very important to the current situation.
"elder sister."
Xue Baoqin couldn't help but approach Baochai and asked in a low voice: "Do you think there was an accident in Rongguo Mansion?"
Xue Baochai shook her head slightly, but said, "I hope I am overthinking."
When asked again, she refused to say a word.
The girls were anxiously waiting for the mystery to be solved.
However, the news that gradually came back became stranger and stranger.
First, Hu, who was known for her romantic life, actually tried to seduce Liu Xianglian in public, and almost got into a fight with You Sanjie.
At this time, Liu Xianglian and his wife left in anger, and even Sun Shaozong became a hands-off boss, so the order outside that had just been sorted out became a mess again.
At first glance, this news seems to be nothing wrong.
But all the women present were familiar with Mrs. Hu.
Under the influence of Jia Zhen and Jia Rong, father and son, this woman had indeed become a wanton and promiscuous woman who could slept with anyone.
But at the core, she was a coward - otherwise, she would not have been bullied by Jia Zhen and his son.
It might be possible that she secretly seduced the handsome Liu Xianglian behind others' backs.
But how could she have the courage to do this in public, in front of everyone?
Especially in front of Jia Jing's funeral hall...
The second unreasonable thing is that after Sun Shaozong stood idly by and watched, the order immediately fell into chaos again.
Even though the steward of Ningguo Mansion may not be very smart, he should be able to parrot other people's ideas, right?
Even if there was management chaos, it would take some time for things to get back into order.
With these two unreasonable points, plus Sun Shaozong's strange behavior just now, it seems like a farce that was planned in advance.
But why did Sun Shaozong deliberately create this farce?
While the girls were puzzled, another even more bizarre news came from Rongguo Mansion: the eldest master Jia She, who was recuperating alone at home, had half of his ear bitten off by a wild cat for unknown reason!
