The Famous Detective of the Red Mansion

Chapter 425: The Register

On the third day of July, in the Hall of Sun Mansion.

“It's best for that bastard to be wealthy all his life. Not to have any accident; otherwise, if I got a chance…”

Listening to his Big Brother's incessant cursing, Sun Shaozong couldn't help but burst into a bitter smile. Who could have imagined that the turmoil caused by the pottery, pearls, gold, and shells would eventually affect his brother?

This matter started with Shuirong vomiting blood and fainting a few days ago.

However, after the fall of Shuirong, there was great chaos in the Royal Residence, but it quickly returned to calm under the pressure of Princess Consort Wei.

After suppressing the chaos in the Royal Residence, Princess Consort Wei did two more things:

Firstly, she took down Zhou Mo, the chief official of Prince Zhongshun’s Residence, and all his attendants. She personally executed them, causing them to be beaten and bruised all over their bodies, and then smeared them with salt water. She ordered them to be sent to the Central Judicial Office!

Secondly, she rushed into Prince Zhongshun's Residence with a group of female soldiers holding knives, guns, and clubs and smashed them indiscriminately. Before leaving, she shot down the plaque of the Prince's Residence with another arrow!

After this incident, both sides were completely torn apart.

On one side was the legitimate grandson most beloved by the Emperor and Empress Dowager, and on the other side was the younger brother most beloved by His Majesty today. One consciously suffered a hidden loss, while the other resented being shamed by a woman, so no one would give in.

From the Zongren Yamen to the Jinluan Hall, and finally to the Supreme Emperor, it was still a draw.

After several struggles, both sides knew that it was difficult to completely overthrow the other party, so they coincidentally angered the others.

Prince Beijing just had someone report that the loyal followers of Prince Zhongshun were corrupt and harmed the people. Prince Zhongshun immediately returned to the scene and exposed the fact that Prince Beijing’s Uncle had oppressed the royal family in the Zongren Yamen.

A few days ago, even Sun Shaozu was implicated. The newly promoted commander randomly used *”power,”* meaning *”Misuse of authority.”*

This also meant that Sun Shaozu, who originally ranked second among the four major commanders, suddenly lowered his head by half compared to all three colleagues. Although his real power didn’t weaken much, it greatly reduced his face. How could it not make Sun Shaozu very angry?

Therefore, when he mentioned Shuirong now, he always used the word *"bastard"* to refer to him.

Of course, some people have benefited from this struggle, such as Jia Zheng. Originally, he had some difficulty seeking external release, but now he was just in time for a group of officials to be implicated and easily found a political education job. In a few days, he would be taking over the office.

Sun Shaozong was accompanying his Big Brother while cursing and drinking when Zhao Zhongji loudly reported outside, "Master, someone from Rongguo Mansion has sent a register. I wonder if Big Master and Second Master want to take a look first?”

This so-called register was naturally a list of domestic servants that the Rongguo Mansion was preparing to exchange with this side so that the Sun family could conduct screening first and eliminate unsuitable candidates.

As for the register of the Sun family, it has already been sent to the Rongguo Mansion for a long time. Now, they were waiting for both parties to confirm and exchange the personal identity deed together.

Sun Shaozu was full of anger, so he didn't have the interest to read any lists. He cursed casually, "What is there to look at? Hurry up and send it to my wife; let her make her own decisions.”

Sun Shaozong was also lacking in interest in this register, apart from Yuanyang, who voluntarily applied for transfer, none of the outstanding servant girls in the Rongguo Mansion were expected to appear on the register.

Outside, Zhao Zhongji seemed to have little interest in the register after listening to the two gentlemen. He hurriedly rushed to the backyard and entrusted the gatekeeper to deliver the items to the inner house.

But when the register was sent into the inner house, Jia Yingchun was discussing with Ruan Rong whether to distribute the cloth according to the usual practice and let the servants at home tailor their clothes. It was still customary to create uniform clothing for low-end servants following the current customs in large houses, to distinguish between high and low status.

Upon seeing a register sent in from outside, Jia Yingchun received it and first smiled bitterly at Ruan Rong, saying, "Although they are all servants of my mother's family, I usually don't care about these trivial matters. I'm afraid there’s only a few who I recognize.”

As she spoke, she placed the register between the two and casually opened the cover. When she could see the name on the other end clearly, she couldn't help but be shocked.

*Eh?!*

Not only her but also Ruan Rong on the side couldn't help but widen her eyes in surprise. "I know about Yuanyang being on the list," she said in amazement, "but why is she even on the register?”

What surprised both of them was the bright red *”Qingwen”* on the brochure!

Even outsiders like Ruan Rong know that Qingwen, like Xiren, was the most favored servant girl in Jia Baoyu's house. In the future, it was likely that she would be promoted to a concubine. However, her name was written on this register, which was strange.

The two of them had been speculating for a while but still couldn't figure out the main idea. They had to first press down on Qingwen and continued to look down.

Unexpectedly, turning to the second page, Jia Yingchun was surprised again, as the name *”Caixia”* was prominently written on the white paper and in red letters.

Caixia was the first-class maid beside Old Madam Wang, but why was she also on the register too?

In this way, from Yuanyang to Caixia and then to Qingwen, these three generations of big maids have all been included in it?!

Wasn’t this too illogical?

Jia Yingchun felt a bit uneasy and hesitated. "This... This list, isn't it a mistake?”

“This was not something that could be settled by Second Madam Lian alone. I guess there shouldn't be any mistakes." Ruan Rong shook her head, but added, "But you might as well send someone to inquire about it first, so as not to implicate any further disputes.”

Jia Yingchun thought the same, so she called Xiuju in and asked her to go back to Rongguo Mansion to inquire about *”Qingwen and Caixia”* on this list.

Xiuju hurriedly rushed to Rongguo Mansion without anyone to lead the way. She found herself in Wang Xifeng's courtyard and as soon as she crossed the threshold, she felt a fragrant breeze coming in front of her.

Xiuju originally thought it was a maid in this courtyard, so she was complaining that the taste was too strong and seductive, like a brothel woman. However, she suddenly saw the person walking towards her, who was the male owner of this courtyard, Jia Lian.

“Second Master Lian.”

Xiuju quickly dodged to the side and saw Jia Lian leave the courtyard without looking back, leaving only the strong fragrance in his sleeves that couldn’t dissipate for a long time.

“This Second Master Lian...”

When did he also like to apply makeup and powder?

He still had such a pungent smell?

Xiuju was stunned for a while, and she remembered the main business. She quickly went to the front of the main room and asked to meet directly, and Ping’er led her to Wang Xifeng.

Wang Xifeng couldn't help but smile bitterly when she heard Xiuju's intention and said, "Not to mention your Madam was wondering; even when I first saw the list, I was startled. To be honest, Baoyu came over and made a big scene, but Qingwen's name was personally determined by the Old Second Madam. How dare I not comply?”

Next, she briefly mentioned the reason why Qingwen was disliked by Old Madam Wang for bossing around in front of her master.

However, when it came to Caixia, Wang Xifeng's face showed a hint of coldness, and sneered, "As for Caixia, she is kind-hearted and dares to secretly send things to Concubine Zhao without telling the Old Second Madam.”

“Now that the matter has come to light, the Old Second Madam, looking at their past relationship, has already done her utmost justice by not driving her out of the house directly.”"