The Famous Detective of the Red Mansion

“Are you from the Southern Detective Department?”

Upon hearing Sun Shaozong's blurted question, the Deputy of a Hundred Households slightly raised his lips and said, "I, the Deputy of the Southern Detective Department, Chu Liang, greetings to you, Inspector of a Thousand Households."

Tch!

This was troublesome!

After the abdication of the Supreme Emperor, the Northern Detective Department, which was responsible for monitoring external officials, was naturally handed over to Emperor Guangde. However, the Northern Detective Department, which was responsible for the internal defense of the Imperial City, was still controlled by the Supreme Emperor's confidant, Xia Bingzhong.

In the beginning, it was just a matter of time. In recent years, with the increasing strength of Emperor Guangde's wings, there have been more and more disagreements between the northern and southern prefectures, and now the situation was as hot as water.

A few days ago, Sun Shaozong led a team to snatch food from the Tiger Mouth and snatched the Gunpowder Bureau from the subordinates of the Southern Detective Department. At this critical moment, the people of the Southern Detective Department suddenly appeared, and naturally, they were not respectful!

Sun Shaozong raised his vigilance with peace of mind and asked calmly, "I wonder what Deputy Chu's intentions are for bringing these many people to my Central Judicial Office arrest house center?”

Chu Liang raised his hand and gave a distant salute towards the direction of the Palace, saying, "I have been instructed by the Supreme Emperor to assist the eminent monks of Fayuan Temple here and bring the evil that has emerged to justice.”

As he spoke, he saw his subordinates parted to the side behind him, revealing a shiny bald gourd. Sun Shaozong had also met him once, and it was the First Master of the Zhike Courtyard who had followed Master Lechi at the time.

And the red sandalwood rosary beads that the First Master was holding in his hand—weren't they the ones that he bribed the kitchen helper with?!

The First Master noticed Sun Shaozong's gaze and fell on the red sandalwood prayer beads. He immediately pronounced his Buddhist name and said, "Amitabha, I was just following my Master as a guest in the Palace. Unexpectedly, I received a token from Junior Brother Jiechen and summoned the female benefactor to inquire about it. Only then did I realize that a demon had emerged in this place.”

Damn!

The emotional Xu-Shi didn’t go to Fayuan Temple, but went directly to the Palace to move reinforcements!

No wonder it was not the monks who came, but the people from the Southern Detective Department.

This change was beyond Sun Shaozong's expectations, and in the face of the Imperial Edict, it was impossible to use the ”law” as a shield to delay time.

Unfortunately, Miaoyu couldn't come back in time.

Shouldn’t it be that…

He has to watch the child lose his life in vain because of two prematurely grown teeth?!

Sun Shaozong was hesitating here, but Chu Liang had already urged loudly, "I have the Imperial Order with me, which can’t be delayed. I would like to ask Inspector Sun to lead the way and lead me to meet Master Jiechen first, and then we will surpass that demon together.”

Confluence with caution and anger.

Sun Shaozong's face darkened and he asked, "I wonder if it was also the intention of the Supreme Emperor to first join forces with Jiechen and others?”

This…

The Supreme Emperor naturally wouldn't be so meticulous, and Chu Liang didn't dare to spread words recklessly. Therefore, after hesitating for a while, he said, "The Supreme Emperor only ordered me to assist the high Monks of Fayuan Temple in beheading demons and eliminating them.”

“Since that's the case...”

Sun Shaozong immediately sneered at the precept and said, "Having this Big Master is enough. As for Jiechen and others, they are suspected of killing their fellow disciple, Jiexian, so they are temporarily unable to contact outsiders.”

Upon hearing this, the First Master immediately became anxious and instinctively approached a few steps to distinguish, "What evidence is there for your words? According to Benefactor Xu, it is clear that the Junior Brother was harmed by that demon. How could he…”

“Master, be cautious.”

Sun Shaozong snapped and said sternly, "My verdict has always been based on the Royal Law of the Court. In the Laws of the Zhou Dynasty, there is no reason why, after a major human life case, we don’t investigate the truth and the culprit, but instead blame the demons.”

The First Master was immediately silenced by his confession.

Even if the Supreme Emperor firmly believed in the words of demons, he would never be held accountable for Sun Shaozong's insistence on ”upholding the royal law.” He wouldn’t issue a clear decree ordering Sun Shaozong to stop investigating the case.

That was to say, no matter what happened to the child, Sun Shaozong has to settle this case!

After thinking through this section, the Bald Head Monk suddenly rose like a purple eggplant.

At the sight of the First Master's emotions and desires on his face, it could be said that Sun Shaozong was observant; even Chu Liang on the side, had already guessed that he must have some kind of sneaky manipulation involved in Jiexian's case.

“Master Jienian.”

Therefore, Chu Liang suddenly spoke up and said, "Do you think this courtyard has also been infected by evil spirits? Do you want to do some magic to prevent future troubles?”

His words were clearly an opportunity to instigate trouble and sweep Sun Shaozong's face.

The First Master was indeed as if he had hoped, and he pretended to look around for a while, nodding his head and saying, "After listening to your words, I realized that this place is indeed filled with evil spirits. If it were allowed to spread, I was afraid it would cause a great disaster.”

As he spoke, he folded his palms and said, "Amitabha, I have limited magic power. For the sake of the nearby people, I'm afraid I'll have to burn this mansion to the ground.”

Chu Liang didn't expect that Jienian would unleash such a fierce move. He was overjoyed and secretly thought that if he could slash Sun Shaozong's face heavily, he would definitely win the favor of the Pacifier when he returned.

Therefore, without waiting for Sun Shaozong to speak, he rushed to order and said, "Someone, quickly prepare the igniter. Just wait for the Master's command to burn this courtyard infected by evil spirits to ashes.”

At this command, most of the people from the Southern Detective Department immediately dispersed.

It wasn't until then that Chu Liang seemed to remember Sun Shaozong, the ”superior.” He quickly and falsely bowed and said, “I'm impolite to serve as a subordinate, but this is also to protect the people of the Capital. Lord Sun is known for your reputation as the Divine Judgement, so I don't think you would mind being replaced by me.”

He said it was impolite, but his gaze was full of provocation.

Unexpectedly, Monk Jienian also had a plan. Without waiting for Sun Shaozong's response, he preemptively said, "I have limited magic power, so I can only take this action. But if Lord Sun is willing to lift his noble hand and let Jiechen and his disciples come out, with the joint efforts of our Brothers, we will definitely...”

“Listening to what you mean...”

Sun Shaozong interrupted his speech again and sneered, "Do you want me to bend the law for personal gain?”

In fact, whether to burn this courtyard or not, Sun Shaozong didn't care that much. Anyway, with his ability to adapt to circumstances, he would never let the Southern Detective Department have the upper hand.

Therefore, using this as a bargaining chip was purely wishful thinking.

After hitting a nail, Jienian's face darkened a bit, and he gritted his teeth and urged, "Since that's the case, then I shall ask you to kindly lead the way to see the demon that has emerged at this historic moment, Lord Sun.”

It seemed that the child wouldn’t escape this disaster after all.

Knowing that this matter couldn’t be rejected, Sun Shaozong let out a deep sigh in his heart and had to lead Jienian, Chu Liang, and a dozen famous Dragon Guards back to the courtyard.

As Sun Shaozong's footsteps grew heavier and heavier, he could see himself getting closer to the cell without an iron gate. If an adult was wronged, he was not so embarrassed. But who did a newborn baby provoke?

“Ah~”

At this moment, he suddenly heard a scream coming out of the cell. After hearing that it was Miaoyu's voice, Sun Shaozong's face suddenly changed and he snatched ahead into the cell with just a few steps!

When he arrived inside, he saw Miaoyu stumble backward and almost bump into Sun Shaozong's arms as she lost her balance.

On the opposite bed, the lecherous nun held up a child with a pale face, laughing silently and ferociously while also spouting streams of blood mixed with shredded meat from her mouth!

Ordinary people, upon seeing this, would definitely come forward to check on the condition of the lecherous nun and the child.

However, Sun Shaozong remained silent and grabbed Miaoyu's small hand before Jienian, Chu Liang, and others could catch up. He quickly glanced at her.

When Sun Shaozong saw many fresh wear and tear marks on her hand and even a few small wounds that had not closed, he quickly whispered again, "Has it been sent out?”

When asked, Sun Shaozong was filled with anticipation, but when he saw Miaoyu shaking her head, his heart suddenly became cold!

This was the worst situation!

It turned out that Sun Shaozong's original plan was to have Miaoyu go to the morgue in the backyard of the government office and retrieve a baby's body. It was also a coincidence that someone happened to find an abandoned baby suffocated the night before yesterday in the bustling southern district of brothels.

Although it could be concluded that the body of this baby wouldn’t be claimed by anyone, according to the rules, it should still be placed in the morgue for seven days before being buried.

If it had been in the summer of previous years, the baby's body would have naturally been shrouded in scars and even begun to decay.

But last winter, to slow down the decay rate of the body and avoid missing any evidence, Sun Shaozong deliberately froze a lot of ice and stored it in the newly excavated cellar of the morgue.

After being refrigerated for just two days, there should not be any obvious marks.

Coupled with various teeth collected by Lao Xu and fish bladder glue used to bond the broken bones of a corpse, it was not difficult to forge a baby corpse with teeth.

And with Lao Xu's always cold-faced, hot-hearted, and most disdainful personality towards ghosts and gods, as long as he told him the truth, even if he refused to help, he would pretend to be deaf and mute and let Miaoyu did things. After all, no one would have thought at that time that this matter would be so serious as to alarm the Supreme Emperor!

After finding a way to replace the real baby with the corpse, Sun Shaozong dealt with the fake version of the ”demon” in front of the people and the Monks of Fayuan Temple, and the entire plan was considered completed.

The hardest part of this plan was to face the terrifying situation in the morgue.

That was why Sun Shaozong asked her if she dared to personally venture into danger.

But now it seemed...

To save the baby, this Miaoyu was a bit too bold!

Looking at the marks on her hand, it was obvious that she had just climbed over the wall and replaced the live baby with a dead one. Unfortunately, the live baby has not been able to be sent outside yet!

What was even more unfortunate was that he didn't oppose the idea of Jienian and Chu Liang setting fire to the courtyard just now due to a momentary mistake. If he wanted to retract now, wouldn't it be a clumsy denial resulting in self-exposure?!

After the fire broke out, regardless of where the child was hidden, there were only two outcomes.

One was to be burned alive!

Secondly, due to crying in the fire or being exposed due to Miaoyu's unwillingness, he was to be killed by the monks!

And once the second situation occurred, it would also be associated with the crime of deceiving the Supreme Emperor!

If they had reached this point, Sun Shaozong would have had to use emergency records to throw Miaoyu out as a replacement ghost and falsely accuse Wei Ruolan!

Anyway, everyone in the Criminal Department could testify, and Sun Shaozong has always been sincere about Miaoyu, but it was Wei Ruolan who often went with her.

The first person to stand up and protect Miaoyu and the baby just now was Wei Ruolan. From beginning to end, Sun Shaozong didn’t clearly express his intention to protect the baby.

In contrast, even if Miaoyu's words were chiseled and she said she had acted under Sun Shaozong's instructions, it was not difficult for Sun Shaozong to argue that she was deliberately slandering himself to protect her lover.

This was also the reason why Sun Shaozong dared to entrust this plan to Miaoyu at the beginning.

But…

This emergency filing was indeed somewhat shameless, and Sun Shaozong would never have wanted to use it unless he had been cornered.