Chapter 426: A Stark Contrast Between 1 Reverse and 1 Obey
Coming out of Wang Xifeng's courtyard, Xiuju still sighed deeply in her heart.
Although it has long been rumored that Caixia was not as close to Baoyu as others, but rather closer to Third Brother Huan, who could have imagined that after Concubine Zhao's downfall, she would still remain steadfast towards the mother and son?
Such behavior could truly be called sharing weal and woe.
However, in Old Madam Wang's view, this was a blatant betrayal, so no wonder Caixia's name appeared on this exchange list.
As she walked forward absentmindedly, she suddenly heard a commotion in the nearby flower bed. Xiuju turned her head in surprise and saw a figure suddenly darting out of the bushes, inexplicably dragging her in!
Xiuju was so scared that her soul was completely shattered. She was about to scream desperately when she heard the person whispering in her ear, "Sister, don't be afraid; it's me, Jia Baoyu.
“Bao... Second Master Bao...”
Xiuju widened her eyes and looked at Jia Baoyu in disbelief. It wasn't until she was led into a narrow lane that she suddenly regained her composure. She pushed Jia Baoyu to a halt and shook her head in confusion, saying, "No, it's too late, it's too late.”
Too late?
Jia Baoyu inexplicably looked up at the sky and said, “It's not even noon yet; why is it too late?”But seeing Xiuju covering her chest with both hands, she hesitated and said, "If it had been before, I would have longed for your favor. But now that I have somewhere I belong, I am truly...”
“What are you talking about?”
Jia Baoyu couldn't help but cry and reached out to the distance, explaining, "I heard that Uncle was waiting in front, afraid that you might accidentally bump into him and cause trouble for Second Sister. That's why I came around and stopped you.”
It turned out that Jia She had been making trouble in the mansion for several days, but he couldn’t change the minds of his mother and Yuanyang, so he moved his mind to Jia Yingchun. He thought he couldn’t defeat his mother, but it would not be a problem to ”control” his daughter.
Coincidentally, he heard that Xiuju had arrived home, so he led someone to guard near the intersection of the second gate, preparing to stop Xiuju from passing messages and asking his daughter to refuse to take in Yuanyang.
Upon hearing Baoyu's explanation, Xiuju was both embarrassed and afraid. She followed Baoyu around seven times and crawled out of the side door of Rongguo Mansion.
Outside, she saw two carriages already waiting under the wall. One was the carriage that Xiuju had taken when she arrived, and the other was Jia Baoyu's commonly used carriage.
Xiuju couldn't help but doubt and say, "Second Master Bao, are you...”
Jia Baoyu spoke confidently and said, "Of course, I'm going to plead with Second Sister. Even if I have to kneel and kowtow a hundred times, I'll have Second Sister return Qingwen.”
Wasn’t his thinking the same as Jia She?
“How could this be the same?”
Jia Baoyu's eyes widened as if he had been insulted, and he quickly identified with his brows and eyes bare, "Uncle wanted to force Yuanyang to stay, but Qingwen would rather die than leave. Although they all demanded from the Second Sister, there is a huge difference between the two.”
Even if he didn't explain anything, Xiuju, as a servant girl, couldn't stop him from going. Seeing Baoyu now, she was so anxious that she naturally didn't dare to say anything more.
So they got into the carriage and rushed together to Sun Mansion.
But when he was approaching the Sun Mansion, Jia Baoyu was pondering how to plead with Jia Yingchun. Suddenly, he realized that the carriage was slowing down and stopped in the middle of the road. Then he heard the coachman shouting, "What are you doing? What do you want to do?”
Jia Baoyu raised the curtain and looked at it in confusion. Unexpectedly, he collided with a tearful horse face. If it weren't for Jia Baoyu shrinking back in time, he would have kissed the thick nasal hair with one blow!
Jia Baoyu was so nauseous that he wanted to retch, but he heard the other party crying out, "Master Qingtian, please forgive our Chong'er.”
Upon hearing this sound, several more people immediately climbed onto the car behind them, shouting ”wrongly” or ”leniently,” each crying more and more pitifully.
Upon seeing this, Jia Baoyu couldn't help but feel some compassion in his heart. He shrank back into the car and said sternly, "What grievances do you have to complain about? Although I'm not a Master of the blue sky, if what you say is true, I will definitely convey it.”
“Get down, get down, get the hell off me.”
Unexpectedly, before Baoyu could finish speaking, he saw Zhao Zhongji, the butler of the Sun Mansion, with several servants, rushing over fiercely, shouting loudly while swinging his whip.
Seeing the two immobile individuals on the periphery being slapped a few times, the people who were shouting their grievances suddenly let out a shout, each dispersed like birds.
Zhao Zhongji instructed his subordinates to take out the coachman from the Rongguo Mansion from under the carriage shaft, and as he approached, he smiled apologetically and said, "It's a sin, a sin to let these muddy legs disturb Second Master Bao for a moment.”
In theory, Zhao Zhongji was able to help Jia Baoyu out of the encirclement, but Baoyu was a bit unhappy when he saw that he had just treated the wronged people roughly.
So he sternly taught him a lesson and said, "Second Brother Sun's reputation was finally established. Aren't you afraid of damaging his reputation by acting recklessly against a few people who are complaining?”
This was really a dog biting Lv Dongbin…
Zhao Zhongji's heart was full of slander, but he didn't dare to show it on his face at all. He then apologized and said, "Second Master Bao, you have misunderstood. These people are not here to complain about their grievances; they just want to use the name of justice to deceive the autumn verdict, so that their relatives who committed the death penalty can survive.”
As mentioned earlier, the end of June and the beginning of July each year were the days when the Central Judicial Office would submit the list of autumn executions to the Ministry of Justice, and this year was no exception.
Last year, Sun Shaozong replaced Liu Chongshan, who claimed to be unable to work due to illness, and presided over the autumn audit of the Central Judicial Office. This year, he was promoted to Governor, and naturally couldn't escape this disaster.
Jia Baoyu has been obsessed with torture in recent years, and he was naturally not unfamiliar with this autumn verdict. Therefore, upon hearing Zhao Zhongji's explanation, his heart suddenly began to awaken.
Just as he was about to apologize to Zhao Zhongji, he heard Zhao Zhongji chat up, saying, "Second Master Bao, there are still many people standing in front, especially a few elderly people. It may not be easy to pass by carriage, why not…”
At this moment, Jia Baoyu realized that Xiuju had already gotten out of the front car and was waiting by the roadside with a handkerchief covering her face.
Although he was a dandy, he had never been a showy person, so he quickly jumped out of the carriage and walked towards the nearby gate under the protection of Zhao Zhongji and others.
However, as he walked past the front door to enter the mansion, he saw an old man with white hair kneeling long, a young girl crying, and a fierce warrior shouting with a broken heart…
Jia Baoyu was originally an easily empathic person; how could he tolerate seeing this?
Immediately, he stopped and hesitated to ask, "Look at them crying like this; if there really is any injustice...”
“Second Master Bao, speak with caution.”
Zhao Zhongji didn't care about his dignity and quickly covered Baoyu's mouth.
Unexpectedly, he was still one step late. The young girl immediately approached on her knees and hugged Jia Baoyu's left leg, crying out, "Young Master, my father is wronged! I beg you to save my father's life. Even if I were to be a bull and a horse in the next life, I would never forget your great kindness to my father.”
Your father?
Why was there still a father running out here?
Jia Baoyu was feeling inexplicable, but he heard Zhao Zhongji scolding them, "What nonsense are you talking about little hoof? This is our Brother-in-law, and he is on par with our Second Master Sun.”
Upon hearing these words, Jia Baoyu suddenly realized that the woman thought of himself as Sun Shaozong's son.”
Apart from crying and laughing and looking at the girl's tearful appearance, he couldn't help but feel a sense of compassion. Just as he was about to inquire about her grievances, he heard Zhao Zhongji said again, "Besides, your father publicly killed the seller and his wife for a few pieces of pottery, pearls, gold, and shells, and then voluntarily surrendered himself afterward. How can there be any grievances?”
The girl was momentarily speechless when asked, but after a while, she burst into tears and said, "My father is a good person, a good person! How will we know that the golden shell that he just bought with all my family assets would become worthless in the blink of an eye? How could he... How could he?”