The Famous Detective of the Red Mansion

Chapter 436: The Beginning of Chaos

Due to some delay in speaking to Miaoyu, Sun Shaozong returned to the Criminal Department when the sky had already darkened.

He was about to shout for Sun Chengye to return to the mansion but received news that Han Anbang and Jia Yucun had been summoned to the Palace for discussion an hour earlier.

No wonder there was such a commotion in the arrest house center, but there was no one from the government office coming to inquire. The Governor and the Magistrate were not at home, so who dared to intervene in his affairs?

Since it was a meeting in the Palace, there must be a will to convey when they come back. Therefore, it was not easy to leave the government office at the moment.

After asking Sun Chengye and seeing that he didn't intend to go home first, Sun Shaozong sent someone home to report and instructed the kitchen to prepare a standard meal of eight dishes and two soups, to be set up on the table in the outer room for the two of them to chat over wine.

The two of them first speculated about the impact of this solar eclipse on the political situation of the court, but since there was no precedent to follow in their country, they couldn't figure it out after guessing for a long time.

So the conversation changed and they started talking about personal matters around them.

The first thing to discuss was naturally the matter of Sun Chengtao's release. As there were no suitable vacancies in the Zhejiang area, he had to retreat and seek a position as a seventh-grade County Magistrate at the border of Raozhou Prefecture between Jiangxi and Zhejiang.

Next was the house purchased by Sun Chengye and Yu Qian, which has now been renovated almost completely. According to Sun Chengye's intention, he planned to move in early next month to avoid causing trouble for his two Uncles.

Sun Shaozong shook his head and said, "It looks like it's the Mid-Autumn Festival. What's wrong with you suddenly moving out? Let's wait until the bustling Mid Autumn Festival is over.”

Sun Chengye thought it was logical too, so he followed Sun Shaozong's advice and decided to postpone moving out until the end of August.

“That's right.”

Sun Shaozong suddenly remembered something again, picked up the wine jug, and helped Sun Chengye fill his glass. He asked, "I've been busy reviewing the autumn decision for a while, but I've forgotten about Tingyi's apprenticeship. I don't know what he's thinking now, whether to accept it or not.”

Sun Chengye raised his buttocks and bowed his body until Sun Shaozong put down the wine jug before settling down again and saying, "Harvesting is necessary, but since seeing each other that day, there has been no news from Rongguo Mansion. Tingyi has just been given the title of Copy-Editor of the Hanlin Academy, so it's not easy to rush to take the nephew of Imperial Concubine Xiande as an apprentice.”

Tch!

This was the wrong of the Rongguo Mansion. Although finding a teacher for the child might not be like looking for a thatched cottage, if they didn’t voluntarily come to seek approval from Yu Qian this time, in the eyes of others, wouldn't he become a follower of others by accepting Jia Lan as an apprentice?

However, Rongguo Mansion has also been in a tumultuous period recently. Firstly, Baoyu provoked Prince Zhongshun, and then Jia Zheng had a lot of fun fighting with Old Madam Wang because he wanted to take Concubine Zhao out. Therefore, it was not surprising that there was no one involved in the ”trivial matters” of the orphans and widows for a while.

“Alright, I'll find an opportunity to discuss with the Uncle and try to finalize this matter before he goes out of the Capital.”

Jia Zheng was probably the only one in the Rongguo Mansion who truly valued Li Wan and her son. If he were to be released from the Capital, this matter would probably have been dragged down.

As they were eating and chatting, they heard a hurried sound of footsteps coming from afar. Soon, a small official came in to report that it was Minister Han and Magistrate Jia who had returned from the Palace, and they were summoning Sun Shaozong to discuss the matter.

It was naturally impossible to have any further meetings in the backyard pavilion on this evening, so the meetings were held in the inner hall as a routine.

When Sun Shaozong arrived at the inner hall of the Government Office, he saw that Han Anbang and Jia Yucun had already set up their seats. Fu Shi, Zhao Liben, Chen Zhichuang, and others had arrived, and even Wang Qian, the Supervisor of the County of Daxing County, and Xu Huaizhi, the Supervisor of the County, were also present.

“Greetings to the Minister and Magistrate.”

Sun Shaozong bowed slightly and briefly explained the fact that Wei Ruolan was serving as an envoy sent by the Supreme Emperor and was temporarily unable to escape. As soon as Han Anbang signaled him to sit on the right side of the case, Han Anbang exclaimed, "Ladies and gentlemen, now that the sky is changing and the people are in turmoil, in this tumultuous autumn, we must be diligent and faithful and not disappoint His Majesty's high expectations.”

Upon hearing him mention ”His Majesty's high expectations,” Sun Shaozong quickly lifted his buttocks up and bowed down to sing the same frequency with the crowd.

As soon as everyone was seated again, it was Jia Yucun's turn to speak. He didn't talk about those who were empty-headed and brainless, but instead said straight to the point, "To avoid any maniacs taking advantage of this opportunity to cause trouble, from now on, both the government and county governments will send more people to patrol the streets day and night, and the government should always keep a Chief Official in charge.”

“Given the insufficient patrols in our prefecture and county, the cabinet has issued a decree ordering the Five Cities Army and Horse Division to transfer a portion of officers and soldiers from the city defense camp and patrol camp to assist us in maintaining security in the Capital in the Central Judicial Office.”

Day and night patrols and the deployment of officers and soldiers to assist were not easy; after all, there have been precedents before, but the words ”Committing rebellion” were not easy to use!

Could it be said that someone wanted to seize the opportunity to usurp the throne?!

Was this too exaggerated?

One should know that Emperor Guangde has been on the throne for eleven years, and his imperial power has already been firmly established. Even if there was still a Supreme Emperor above him, it couldn’t be shaken by just one celestial phenomenon.

Or…

What other hidden secrets were there?

Sun Shaozong was speculating recklessly here when he saw Jia Yucun turn his head and arch his hand over the official case, saying, "On the side of the Five Cities Military and Horse Division, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble Lord Sun to communicate and coordinate. Be sure to bring some stable and capable troops over to avoid any unnecessary mistakes.”

Nowadays, the Young Master of the Deputy Commander of the Five Cities Army and Horse Division was working under Sun Shaozong's command, so this task naturally belonged to him.

Subsequently, others also led different factions, and in addition to maintaining public order in the Capital, controlling public opinion was also a top priority.

However, in this regard, it was not yet the turn of the Central Judicial Office to take the lead. If there were no accidents, Emperor Guangde would issue a decree of self-punishment in the next two days and then announce a general amnesty for the world.

Throughout the entire meeting, except for the initial nonsense, it was almost all Jia Yucun who was commanding, while Han Anbang sat upright behind the case, like a clay-based wooden sculpture, with no intention of competing with him.

It seemed that he probably already knew that his position as the Minister was long over, so he simply gave up resisting.

When Jia Yucun finished and arranged the prevention and control tasks, Sun Shaozong then spoke up and said, "Your Excellency, since His Majesty wants to grant amnesty to the world, what should we do with the list of our Office's autumn review?”

Han Anbang curled his mouth and forcefully threw out a sentence, "Just ask Magistrate Jia.”

This attitude…

It was estimated that even if he reached a certain place, he might not be able to survive long!

“The list of autumn reviews...”

Jia Yucun furrowed his brow and said in surprise, "Didn't you already send the list of the autumn verdict to the Ministry of Justice in the morning, Lord Sun?”

Sun Shaozong spread his hands and said with a wry smile, "They have returned it again. It is said that our Central Judicial Office has now been transferred to Zhili Province. This list of autumn judgments should be submitted to the Office of the Prosecutor's Office.”

After hearing this, Jia Yucun pondered and said, "Since that's the case, Lord Sun may as well suppress the list first. You won't be able to leave the Capital in the next few days. After this “Heavenly Hound swallowing the sun” solar eclipse is over, if the court hasn't issued a clear order to clear the prison lawsuit, it's not too late for you to send the list to Jinmen Mansion.”

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