The Famous Detective of the Red Mansion

Chapter 122: How Can We be Selfless in Judging Official Affairs

The Lema Xie Street.

In the Liu Er alleyway of the western city, two brothers accidentally killed their father who had persuaded them to make peace, because of a fight over four or six coins. The sentence given to the elder brother was to be hanged in prison and the younger brother, he was exiled to Guangxi, however, he wouldn’t be able to return even if he was pardoned.

On the Street of the Imperial College, there was an evil man who let his dog hurt people but later refused to repent of his death. He refused to kill the dog with a stick. At the request of the scholar of the Imperial College, he was taken into custody in the kennel for three months. He was allowed to eat and live with the dog and was not allowed to leave without permission.

In Rouge alleyway, a shrew set fire to the brothel, causing more than ten men and women to run naked on the street and three people to be seriously injured. It was sentenced that the woman was charged to the office of the parish and her husband was compensated for all the losses.

Tch!

Minister Liu's recent judgment was arbitrary.

If a dog bit a person, lock the dog owner in the dog cage and let him eat and sleep with the dog for three months. A good woman set fire to the brothel, so she was sent to be a prostitute…

It seemed that he hadn't left yet, but his heart was no longer here!

The cinnabar pen that Sun Shaozong put forward wordlessly wrote a big "refutation" on the judgment of the case of ”the shrew burning the brothel.”

It was then noted at the top that the woman has a hot temperament, and such judgment would cause her to commit suicide. So Sun Shaozong put a note on the case, To avoid material disputes, please revise the sentence as appropriate.

The victim might feel relieved after hearing this judgement, and it would also be passed on as an interesting story when others knew it.

But since that woman dared to set fire to the building, she must be a face-saving and fiery master. If she was sentenced to enter the Department of Entertainment. Wasn’t she forced to kill herself?

If she really found a rope to hang herself, public opinion would probably have to be one-sided and condemn the Central Judicial Office for killing the chaste martyr.

How could Sun Shaozong succeed in the position of Minister if Minister Liu's deployment and promotion to other countries were affected by this?

In the end, Minister Liu still lacked some composure in his work.

Sun Shaozong, "regardless of age,’ cast the rejected case aside and was about to continue to review other files when Cheng Rixing knocked at the door and said, "It's time to choose for your lunch, Master."

"Come in."

Sun Shaozong threw away the case in his hand and saw a small official holding a tray near the door. He smiled and said, "This main dish is oily today, Master. If you don't like it, I will ask someone to make another one."

There were more than ten pieces of bamboo in the tray, on which the names of dishes were written in block letters for selection.

Of course, not everyone has the right to this dish. There were only three Court Officials and three General Judges in the Central Judicial Office.

"Don't bother."

Sun Shaozong rummaged in the tray and found that all the dishes were common and there was nothing new. So he chose six dishes and a soup according to his taste and Cheng Rixing's.

He then rolled the seven pieces of bamboo with red silk and said, "Just these. If you have any fresh fruit, you can send me a plate after dinner."

The petty official went obediently.

Sun Shaozong was too lazy to deal with any official business. He hit a few sets of fists in the yard, stretched his muscles and bones, and then got a lot of flattery as usual.

Sun Shaozong had already seen this for a long time. He went back to the hall without looking in disapproval. He took the towel from Cheng Rixing, wiped it casually, and was ready to wait in the hall.

At this moment, he suddenly saw a plump figure, squeezed in from the door, and said with a beaming face, "The job you instructed has been done, Master!"

It was Lin Delu, the Magistrate, who came here.

Remembering that he had asked him to help find Xiangling's family, Sun Shaozong threw aside the towel and asked, "Why, have you found my concubine's family?"

"Yes, it’s found!"

Lin Delu took out a piece of letter from his sleeve, put it on his hands, and said, "My aunt's surname is Zhen, double character Yinglian, her ancestral hometown is in the State of Su, and her father Zhen Shiyin once worked as a Registrar [Nine Grades]. At the Lantern Festival that year, they were taken away by bandits because of the poor care of domestic slaves... "

Sun Shaozong just listened to his opening remarks and then looked down at the information copied in the letter. When he saw that the matter was written in detail, he knew that there was no mistake.

So he put the letter into his pocket and said with satisfaction, "You did a good job. I..."

Just as he was saying this, he saw two kitchen soldiers delivering food. Sun Shaozong pointed at it and said, "This soup is for you."

Lin Delu did not feel too shabby. He bowed and said, "Thank you for the soup!"

As he said this, he came forward to hold it in his hand, but it was so hot that he quickly changed his sleeves to hold it. He then carried the soup out of the room happily.

After going out, he didn't hurry to go back. Instead, he went back and forth between the east and the west. When he met people, he said that the Assistant Prefectural Magistrate had given him hot soup and praised him for his recent act of self-desire.

This was to let others know that he has moved from the ”cold kang” to the ”hot stove.”

Not to mention how Lin Delu went around flaunting the hot soup in his hands.

However, Sun Shaozong thought of another private matter after this, so he took advantage of lunch to listen to Cheng Rixing and said, "Mr. Cheng, is there one of the ”literary dealers” we caught at the beginning called the drunken vagary boxer, Ni Er?"

Cheng Rixing listened to his question about Ni Er and immediately said, "Is he really a relative of yours?"

It turned out that after the arrest of Ni Er, he kept shouting about having conflicts arise between people on one side and said he was a relative of Sun Shaozong.

Seeing that this guy looked like a rascal, Zhao Wuwei only believed half of it, but he still didn’t dare to make decisions without authorization, so he hurried to find Cheng Rixing for instructions.

After hearing the story, Cheng Rixing asked him to take care of Ni Er.

In this way, if Sun Shaozong mentioned it later, there would be no mistake. If Sun Shaozong did not mention this matter, he would severely punish the rascal who pretended to be an official.

"He is now still in prison. Fortunately, he has not suffered any punishment."

Cheng Rixing said, "If he is really a relative of yours, I’ll let Zhao Wuwei let him go quietly. Anyway, this case is the job of the patrolling envoy. The file list has not been handed over to the mansion."

"It's not a serious relative. It's too cheap to let him go." Sun Shaozong waved his hand and said, "Just give him a name for his meritorious prosecution, so that he can avoid being sent to the army. Give him a serious flogging to treat it as a lesson!"

Cheng Rixing agreed, but he thought Zhao Wuwei should keep an eye on him and prevent him from offending his Master’s relatives.

While they were eating and talking, they suddenly heard a great commotion outside, and screams and noises came and went.

What happened again?

At any rate, this was also the place where the government was in charge of the punishment, but it looked like a marketplace now!

Sun Shaozong led Cheng Rixing to go out and have a look, but all the people were pointing and looking at the sky.

He also looked up curiously, only to see something rolling in the air, with a big rattan basket hanging underneath…

Have hot air balloons existed in recent years?!