The Famous Detective of the Red Mansion

Chapter 172: Encounter at the Zijin Temple

On October 25th, Sun Shaozong's holiday came again.

In the first half of the night, scattered light snow drifted. Although it was scattered, it did not stop. So early this morning, there was a thin layer of snow on the ground.

Sun Shaozong was never willing to let Ruan Rong go out in this weather, but he had promised her a few days ago. He would go to pray to God and worship Buddha when he was on his off days. It would be extremely difficult to change her mind.

Finally, they had to compromise and chose Zijin Temple, not far from their home as the destination.

As usual, Sun Shaozong led several women to wrap the carriage with cotton mattresses.

After that, he was about to go back to the backyard and help Ruan Rong out. On the way, he saw two servant boys pointing and laughing in the corridor.

It was nothing at all, but the direction they pointed out was exactly the courtyard where Yu Qian and his three people lived.

Sun Shaozong went up to him and asked with a smile, "What are you talking about so happily? You can share it with me. Let me have a good laugh too."

The two servant boys were shocked at first, and then they became more daring when they saw that he was very kind.

One of them was quick-witted and said with a laugh, "Second Master, isn't it snowing? Steward Zhao asked us to sweep the snow in the east cross yard. However, several young Masters of the table protected them like precious beads and said that they would not sweep anything. Now they are holding the snow, touching and licking it, as if they had never seen the world before."

"Really?"

Sun Shaozong suddenly lowered his face, suddenly raised his voice, and said, "Call Steward Zhao to me!"

The two servant boys knew that they had caused trouble, but they dared not disobey his orders. They had to split up to call Zhao Zhongji.

When Zhao Zhongji arrived in front of him, Sun Shaozong pointed to the servant boys and said, "Tell Steward Zhao what you said just now, and remember that you can't change a word."

The servant boys had already been flustered. After stumbling over their words, he found that Zhao Zhongji didn't say anything. He then came up to the two big mouths and kicked them into the snow!

"You bastards!"

Zhao Zhongji raised his eyebrows, pointed at the boy's nose, and scolded, "How dare you speak illy. When did fools like you come out of our house and behave like this? Are the matters of the Young Masters something you can really talk about?"

He then wanted to add his fists and feet to them.

Sun Shaozong raised his hand and stopped him. He said impatiently, "Well, I didn't ask you to come here and watch you swing your fists. You should explain later, and don't let them catch a cold because they are greedy for new things."

"The uncles and brothers in the south trust our family to entrust people to the Capital city, which means we have to do our best!"

Zhao Zhongji nodded and bowed.

Sun Shaozong then went back to the backyard and carefully helped Ruan Rong onto the carriage.

Because Xiangling's mother was not used to the cold weather in the Capital these days, she did not follow her this time. Only Shi Liu, Fu Rong, and a woman with thick hands and big feet sat in the second car.

The two chatted a little on the way, and Ruan Rong couldn't help but feel that something was wrong. "You have been restless since you came back from the Big Master’s place that day. I heard that you taught two slaves a lesson just now. Could it be that the Big Master really encountered something difficult?"

"Well..."

Sun Shaozong did not know how to explain it for a moment, but it was also absurd!

Fortunately, Ruan Rong saw that he was having trouble speaking and said, "Forget it. Since it is not convenient for us women to know, you can handle it by yourself. Anyway, with your ability, there should be nothing difficult for you."

It was not a difficult thing to speak of…

No, it should be said that it was not difficult at all!

Forget it~

Anyway, at present, nothing has been decided. He could wait until the time came to think otherwise.

When they arrived at the Zijin Temple, not many people came to worship in the snow. Sun Shaozong used some silver to temporarily clear up the Mahavira Hall.

After entering the hall, Ruan Rong knelt on the futon, mumbled aloud, and devoutly twisted three sticks of incense. With the help of Sun Shaozong, she inserted them into the incense burner.

In such a short time, Ruan Rong already had some fine sweat on her forehead, and Sun Shaozong wanted to help her back to the cart to rest.

But Ruan Rong finally got the chance to come out. How could she leave like this?

When she saw that there was still a copper sign box on the merit and virtue book beside her, she went forward and shook one to sign it out. But the poems on it were so vague that it was difficult to understand what they meant.

"Shi Liu."

Ruan Rong shouted for Shi Liu and said, "Go outside and ask which eminent monk in the temple is the most effective."

Shi Liu took the orders and went out. She soon came back to report that Master Yuanzhen was the best person in the temple.

Sun Shaozong heard about the reputation of Master Yuanzhen from his Elder Brother a few days ago. It seemed that he had some prestige in the Capital. If he could say a few lucky words, Ruan Rong would be relieved.

So Sun Shaozong helped Ruan Rong out of the main hall, called a little monk to lead the way, and went straight to Master Yuanzhen's meditation room.

Who knew that just after passing the Mahavira Hall, he would run into several female members. It was Xue-Wang, Xue Pan's mother, who led the way.

It turned out to be a coincidence. Concubine Xue thought that there would not be too many people in Zijin Temple today, so she came to Master Yuanzhen to help her figure out a good time to get married. It would be best if she could change the woman's dissolute temperament by taking advantage of the season.

At that moment, she suddenly met Sun Shaozong. Although she was unprepared, Concubine Xue's heart was beating wildly. She secretly thought, Did this cowardly maniac set up a spy at home?

Otherwise, how could she have bumped into him here?

Concubine Xue was relieved when she saw that Ruan Rong was pregnant.

But Sun Shaozong did not know about her psychological activities.

Seeing that he could not escape, the other side was an elder, so he gave Ruan Rong to Shi Liu and Furong to take care of. He bowed and said, "Greetings to Concubine Xue."

Last time, it was just a coincidence. This time, naturally, he would not stare at Concubine Xue.

After the brief greetings, he briefly introduced Ruan Rong's identity and did not look askance throughout the entire time.

It was reasonable to say that Concubine Xue should have been very satisfied with Sun Shaozong's obedience to the rules, but she did not know why she felt so lost.

She also thought that it was because he had a pregnant concubine beside him that he restrained his evil intentions. Or was it because she had been overworked recently and her face was a little gaunt and less charming than that day?

If the former, that’s fine. But if it was the latter…

"Greetings to Concubine Xue."

Just thinking about these things, Ruan Rong also came forward and nodded slightly.

Concubine Xue then responded with a smile and said, "Since it's a chance to meet here, why don't I go with you to visit Master Yuanzhen, so that we can take care of each other?"

Ruan Rong naturally had no reason to refuse, so she joined hands with Concubine Xue and led the maids and nannies into the Master's meditation room, leaving Sun Shaozong alone waiting outside.