Chapter 896: Death of Jia Huan (I)
Let me explain this on two sides.
However, since the bamboo forest was not far from Rong Xi Tang, Jia Zheng simply led everyone to the courtyard where Rong Xi Tang was located.
However, he did not go to the main hall, but waited in the three side rooms in the northeast corner.
Jia Zheng and Aunt Zhao shared a room, the other boys and girls shared a room, and as for the last room, it naturally went to the servants of high status in the mansion.
Without going into the details, let's just talk about the ear room in the middle. Because Wang Xifeng was still drunk and neither Mrs. Wang nor Mrs. Xing showed up, Li Wan occupied the soft couch in the north alone.
For some reason, her red and swollen eyes were slightly closed, her left hand was tucked into her sleeve, and her right hand was half exposed. She counted a string of red sandalwood beads again and again, but didn't say a word.
Below her, the female soldiers who were sitting in a row against the wall, some twisting their handkerchiefs, some holding their cheeks with their hands, some rolling their eyes, were all silent.
Among them, Jia Baoyu was the worst - or rather, if he had not lowered his head and looked distraught, the atmosphere in the room would not have been so tense.
Suddenly, the door curtain was lifted, and Musk Moon and Qiu Wen walked in, each holding a few cups of tea and distributing them to each other.
At this critical moment, Shi Xiangyun suddenly jumped up and pouted her honey-colored lips at Baoyu: "Second brother, what on earth are you..."
Snap!
Unexpectedly, just as she started talking, there was a sudden crisp sound beside her. It was Qiu Wen who accidentally knocked over the teacup, and the fragments and tea flew everywhere, scaring Sheyue and Xue Baoqin beside her and they exclaimed in surprise.
However, the others turned a blind eye, either with hope, warning, or suspicion, and all kept their eyes fixed on Shi Xiangyun.
Shi Xiangyun usually acted a bit reckless when she was anxious, but facing so many gazes at this moment, and looking at Jia Baoyu's increasingly drooping neck, she finally swallowed her words back, and sat back in the official hat chair, her oval face flushed red.
Following Musk Moon's complaints and Qiu Wen's apologies, new tea was quickly served and the remains of the teacup were cleaned up, leaving only a large wet mark.
After that, the room returned to deathly silence.
Not long after, Zhou Rui came in and reported: "Grandma, Lord Sun wants the Second Master and the other girls to come over."
Everyone suddenly became lively again.
Xue Baoqin was the first to stand up. Although she got along very well with the brothers and sisters in this mansion, she had only been there for a month after all, and she still had some spectator mentality in her bones.
The next to stand up were Jia Tanchun and Shi Xiangyun, followed by Lin Daiyu, Xue Baochai, Jia Xichun and others.
However, after the girls stood up, they did not move, but looked at Jia Baoyu at the same time.
"Brother Bao?"
After a while, seeing Baoyu still sitting there without moving, Xue Baochai gently pushed him on the shoulder and said, "Second brother Sun wants us to go over."
“Ah? Ah!”
Jia Baoyu reacted at last and hurriedly stood up from his official hat chair. He raised his head subconsciously, but as soon as he saw something, he lowered it again in panic, hunched his back, and fled out of the ear room.
"Second brother, wait for me!"
Shi Xiangyun took the lead and chased after him, followed by the beautiful girls who followed one after another.
This time, Lin Daiyu fell behind instead. Through the crowd of people in front of her, she silently stared at Jia Baoyu's staggering back and unconsciously clenched her teeth.
At this moment, Daiyu suddenly realized that someone was approaching her. She turned her head subconsciously, but her eyes met Xue Baochai's.
Feeling the probing emotion in those eyes, Lin Daiyu couldn't help but blurt out, "It's not him! Brother Bao would never do such a thing!"
The smile in Xue Baochai's eyes flashed away, and she nodded solemnly, lowering her voice and saying, "Of course I know this, but I'm just afraid that he is confused and will take the blame on himself..."
Lin Daiyu heard that her words were full of hidden meanings, so she lowered her voice and asked, "Sister, have you seen anything?"
Then he remembered something and added tentatively, "Sister has always been very careful about food, clothing and daily expenses. Could it be that you have seen that hairpin somewhere?"
Lin Daiyu had once used these words to mock Xue Baochai, but now when she said it again, she was full of hope.
Xue Baochai neither denied nor admitted it, but said softly: "Sister, please take care of Brother Bao first, and let me go and feel out the second brother of the Sun family first."
Lin Daiyu hurriedly nodded her head, trying every possible means to find a cure for her illness. She also wanted to promise Baochai something, but the thing Baochai wanted was something she was absolutely unwilling to give.
In the end, he could only bow with complicated feelings, and then quickened his pace to catch up with Baoyu.
The book does not elaborate.
When the group arrived in the bamboo forest, they saw several servants holding lanterns surrounding the corpse and Sun Shaozong.
The sable fur coat on the corpse had been half peeled off, revealing the cotton vest underneath and the thin arms with the sleeves rolled up.
Seeing a group of beautiful girls surrounding Jia Baoyu and coming over, Sun Shaozong pulled off his sleeve unnoticeably and covered Jia Huan's left arm again, then stood up to greet them.
"Meet Brother Sun Er."
Xue Baochai took the lead, and all the girls, including Jia Baoyu, greeted them together.
"Thank you, sisters."
Sun Shaozong gave her a false helping from a distance of about ten feet, looked around, and finally set his eyes on Xue Baochai. He cleared his throat and said, "Regarding this murder weapon, I would like to ask each of you sisters individually - starting with the Xue family sisters, and going down in order of grade."
As he spoke, he asked for a lantern and walked a dozen steps to a secluded place. This way, they could talk in a low voice without risk of being overheard, and everyone could vaguely see the two of them talking without any rumors .
"Sister Bao."
Shi Xiangyun reached out and grabbed Xue Baochai, staring at her with watery eyes. She wanted to give her some advice, but she really didn't know what to say.
Xue Baochai did not say anything, but patted the back of Shi Xiangyun's hand with her backhand. While she was trying to break free, she gave Lin Daiyu a meaningful look.
Although she didn't want to admit it, if things were really as she imagined, the only person who could persuade Jia Baoyu not to do anything stupid would probably be Lin Daiyu.
He turned around and walked quickly to Sun Shaozong's side. The two of them stood about half a meter apart, one looking up, the other looking down, but both were speechless.
Xue Baochai was speechless for a moment, thinking about how to find out Sun Shaozong's opinion on the case.
As for Sun Shaozong...
He just suddenly thought of how he had slept with someone's mother in the guest room next door a few days ago, and he felt a little embarrassed unconsciously.
"Did Second Brother find out anything just now?"
In the end, it was Xue Baochai who spoke first.
“This…”
Sun Shaozong originally planned to just say a few perfunctory words to her and then face the person he suspected as soon as possible.
But when the words were on the tip of his tongue, he suddenly noticed that Xue Baochai's facial expression was a little strange, as if... she was trying hard to hide something.
Sun Shaozong was immediately shocked.
Could it be that she was the real murderer who attacked Jia Huan again after the owner of the copper hairpin? !
