The Famous Detective of the Red Mansion

The matter of the autumn review had been going through a lot of trouble for half a month, and it was not until the sixth day of July that they finally sorted it out.

Sun Shaozong, who had long been annoyed by it, naturally ordered people to carry items such as registers, case files, and portraits early in the morning and submit them to the Department of Personnel of the Ministry of Justice.

Unexpectedly, Lin Delu took someone away for a while but then brought the things back intact. It was said that the Ministry of Justice had stated that the Central Judicial Office was now under the jurisdiction of Zhili Province, and according to regulations, the list of autumn judgments should be submitted to the Zhili Inspector's Office.

This damn bureaucracy!

Why did they never think of informing the Zhili Inspector when they were assigning tasks?

However, since the Ministry of Justice has already set the tone, any complaints would be of no use.

Helpless, Sun Shaozong also had to inform Han Anbang that he was planning to personally go to Jinmen Prefecture in two days and settle the matter as soon as possible according to the rules. After the county officials submitted the list of autumn decisions to the higher-level Yamen, the chief officials had to be ready to accept inquiries at any time, so Sun Shaozong had to stay at least two to three days in Jinmen Prefecture to complete it.

That was not a big deal, but Xiangling's birth date was in the middle of the month. If he happened to miss it…

“Your Excellency! Delivery, delivery, she is about to give birth…”

Just as he was thinking of this, he saw Zhou Da burst in shouting.

Going to give birth?!

Sun Shaozong jumped up behind the table and went straight to the stable to lead his horse home. However, as soon as he took his steps, he suddenly felt something was wrong. If Xiangling was about to give birth, why would it be Zhou Da to come and report?

So he paused and glared at Zhou Da's pockmarked face, frowning and saying, "Who's going to give birth?”

“The sluts in the house arrest facility…”

Zhou Da naturally said, "I just heard what the prison officer said and quickly came over and reported to you.”

He had been busy for most of these months and had really forgotten all the ladies in the house arrest center.

But…

“The lewd nun under house arrest was about to give birth; why are you so eager to report to me?” Sun Shaozong said speechlessly. "You should find the midwives and invite all the monks and nuns. If it's a female baby, then send it to the nunnery, and if it's a male baby, then send it to the temple. Can't you handle this small matter?”

“No, no, no.”

As soon as Zhou Da was questioned in the face, his shoulder suddenly collapsed a few more degrees, and said in a weak tone, "I've heard that you've been paying a lot of attention to these prostitutes; that's why...”

Pay attention?

If it weren't for the involvement of Miaoyu and the involvement of Baoyu and Wei Ruolan, Sun Shaozong wouldn't have bothered to pay attention to this matter.

So he waved his hand like a fly and said, "If Lechi Monk from Fayuan Temple arrives, you can tell me again. If it's just an ordinary monk or nun, you can handle it yourself.”

Zhou Da reluctantly withdrew and showed up again in the afternoon. It seemed that Lechi Monk made a fuss last time, so this time he just sent his disciples over.

He thought today would pass without wind or waves.

Unexpectedly, around 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., there was a sudden commotion outside, and he didn't know how many people were frantically chirping, with many brass gongs clanging.

What did this mean?

Has the Criminal Department suddenly changed to a theatrical team?

Sun Shaozong got up and was about to go out to see what was going on, but unexpectedly, Sun Chengye knocked open the door first. He heard him hurriedly saying, "Something big happened, Uncle... Heavenly Hounds have swallowed half of the sun.”

The Heavenly Hound swallowed the sun?

A solar eclipse?!

Sun Shaozong hurriedly rushed outside and saw that Lin Delu was leading many officials, holding up wash basins and bronze mirrors, clanking in the courtyard, as if trying to drive away the legendary Heavenly Hound.

Sun Shaozong ignored these feudal superstitious practices and looked up into the sky, only to see that one-third of the originally scorching sun had already been ”gnawed” away.

Tch!

This was really troublesome!

Sun Shaozong was immediately depressed. This solar eclipse was meant to be celebrated by later generations, at most as a nationwide celebration. However, in ancient times, it was emphasized on the relationship between heaven and man, and it would trigger a series of turmoil between the government and the public. It was impossible to say that several Ministers in the cabinet would resign due to this.

That was not much of a deal yet.

Those at the level of Sun Shaozong, even if they wanted to carry the blame, were not in the position.

According to the traditional saying, lunar and solar eclipses represented the boiling of resentment in the world. As a rule, it was necessary to re-examine the prison system and wash away the people's grievances.

This also meant that most of the labor achievements of the Criminal Department over the past half month would be wasted. In the coming period, they would need to re-review and draft the list of autumn judgments, and after the re-review results were reported, to show solemnity, it might even be necessary to call back for a third retrial!

He was afraid it would take more than a month for this matter!

Thinking about the old and young people guarding his doorstep every day, Sun Shaozong felt as if something had been blocked in his heart, and he felt depressed and helpless.

Wasn’t this solar eclipse happening only once in hundreds of years? Why did he catch it?

Feeling depressed, Sun Shaozong walked over with a black face and kicked Lin Delu, who was still banging on a copper basin. He shouted, "What kind of banging are you doing? Hurry up and send someone to notify the two counties of Daxing County, and send more patrols on the street to be on strict guard, so that no one can take advantage of the chaos and make trouble.”

Lin Delu, seeing his gloomy face, didn’t dare to distinguish anything and hurriedly covered his buttocks.

Other officials, upon seeing this, naturally withered and scattered like birds.

Then Sun Shaozong ordered someone to call for Qiu Yunfei and Zhao Wuwei and asked them to summon the officials of the government office to patrol the streets.

When the arrangement was almost complete, the sun was also swallowed by the Heavenly Hound, and according to this progress rate, the entire solar eclipse process would last for about an hour.

At present, returning to the room to continue reviewing official documents was obviously inappropriate. Therefore, Sun Shaozong simply put on a full set of official attire and led Wei Ruolan and Lin Delu to the lobby, ready to handle any unexpected situations at any time.

Sun Shaozong had a gloomy face, and Wei Ruolan's complexion was even worse. As the Brother-in-law, Prince Beijing, he had received more than a hundred times more criticism in recent times than Sun Shaozong. If it weren't for Shuirong's hard work, he might have been dismissed from his position long ago.

However, although the official position was preserved and the marriage was basically finalized, the two Marquises' matters occurred. They were afraid that if they continued to discuss the marriage with the Wei family at this time, they would anger Prince Zhoungshun, so they unilaterally put an end to it.

The two upper officials were both pale and iron-faced, and Lin Delu was even more imposing next to them and didn’t dare to take a breath.

The three of them sat like this for about half an hour. Seeing the sky getting darker outside, they suddenly saw a person rushing in and shouting, "Your Excellency, it's a disaster, it's a disaster!”

He thought someone was causing trouble on the street, but upon closer inspection, the person who came was Zhou Da. Sun Shaozong unconsciously said, "What's the matter? What's wrong with the house arrest?”

“Your Excellency is indeed wise.”

He saw Zhou Da panting heavily as he transformed and changed color, "That bastard... That bastard really gave birth to a monster...”