The Famous Detective of the Red Mansion

The west side of the small courtyard.

Watching them flirting with each other, she led Sun and Liu into the main room. Aunt Xue gently lowered the curtain and turned back to explain awkwardly, "Although your Sister-in-law is not very proper in her behavior, she is also a kind-hearted and righteous person. She has been guarding your brother without any hesitation these days and has not despised him at all.”

Xue Baochai was sitting on the marble Arhat bed in the middle, wearing a honey-colored brocade bikini, lined with a lotus blue gauze skirt, while taking advantage of the neatness, she also outlined the concave and convex figure very brilliantly.

She received a letter from her mother yesterday afternoon, and she only realized that her brother had been in trouble again. So she hurried over early in the morning, but before she could chat with her brother, someone outside reported that Sun Shaozong and Liu Xianglian had arrived.

Therefore, the mother and daughter had to shelter in this western room temporarily.

Although “all evil and lewdness are at the forefront” this was already a violation of the great taboo of being a wife and daughter. However, Baochai was the main force in marrying Wang-Shi at the beginning, so how could she comment on Wang-Shi's achievements and faults now?

So when Xue Baochai heard that her mother was trying to cover up for her Sister-in-law, she just smiled and didn’t answer. Instead, she got up and pulled her mother to Arhat's bed and sat opposite each other across the Kang table with glossy ganoderma and red sandalwood.

As she was sitting idle at home, Aunt Xue, according to her preferences, wrapped herself in a simulated Tang palace outfit, a fiery red bra, and a glass-colored robe. She made the proud pair look as white as jade instead of jade, and as smooth as cream.

Compared to Xue Baochai on the opposite side, although she lacked some youthful colors, she also has a more mature and alluring charm.

After being pulled down by her daughter, she leaned her plump and moderate body against the cushion, frowned, and whispered, "Good daughter, do you think Lord Sun will stand up for your brother and arrest that damn thief?”

Baochai picked up the small purple clay pot on the tea table, poured a cup for her mother, and when she put the pot back into the tea tray, she said slowly, "In my opinion, it’s alright not to catch the thief."

“Not to catch it?”

Aunt Xue was taken aback by the words and immediately sat up straight. She leaned forward slightly and covered the teacup. She couldn't help but say, "Why is this so? How can your brother's suffering have been endured in vain?”

“He didn’t suffer for nothing.”

Xue Baochai said helplessly, "My brother is at least the Son-in-law of the officials in the Ministry of Personnel. Who dares to trouble him recklessly in his spare time? It must be because my brother didn't know where he offended some enemy that someone came to teach him a lesson.”

“But…”

“Moreover, the man secretly came to seek revenge, but he still acted with great discretion. He never really hurt my brother. His intestinal illness was purely accidental, and it must not have been his intention.”

“It shows that the other party harbors scruples, but when they can't bear it anymore, they angrily took risks.”

“Even if he didn't intend to hurt your brother, this pain is still caused by him.”

Aunt Xue felt a bit annoyed when she saw her daughter speak up for the thief. Her chest was heaving, and she could hear the jingle of the kang table. It turned out that the towering tea cup was trembling and constantly hitting the tray.

Aunt Xue hurriedly collected her body before continuing, "We should find the culprit and sort things out.”

Xue Baochai just shook her head and said, "Mom, don't be impatient. In fact, if it's just these considerations, I wouldn't want my brother to suffer this humiliation for nothing. Think carefully. When my brother was attacked, he held a banquet in a different hall in the Baihua Building, with strong servants guarding the door outside and servants serving him inside. However, the other person enters without difficulties, obviously not comparable to ordinary strong people.”

“Also, his humiliation has not harmed my brother's life or body. If it really brings up to the court, it will only be a punishment of some silver. Even if he invites the Second Brother of the Sun family to take him down, what benefit can it bring?”

“It can't be said that he will only add new hatred to old hatred, which makes him even more angry. He may even take another risk, not be able to restrain himself and harm my brother's life.”

“My son…”

After hearing this, Aunt Xue couldn't help but lean forward and grip Xue Baochai's white wrist.

Ignoring the splashing of water in the teapot, wetting his fiery red chest, she trembled and said, "So, isn't this person provoking? Then... Then I have to quickly stop your brother, otherwise, according to his temperament, he will definitely take action against the Erlang of the Sun family.”

As she spoke, she stood up and left the table.

“Mom, what's the fuss?”

Xue Baochai quickly stopped her and advised, "You shouldn't say this in front of my brother. It's better to wait for Lord Sun and them to come out and Mom will take some time to remind them.”

Upon hearing this, Aunt Xue suddenly felt a sense of relief. With Xue Pan's arrogant temper, if she really said such soft words in front of him, he would have to act in the opposite direction.

So she quickly nodded and said, "Right, right. When Lord Sun comes out, I will entrust him not to interfere in this matter.”

“No.”

Xue Baochai shook her head again and said, "It's still necessary to investigate, just ask the Second Brother of the Sun family to investigate secretly. Don't alarm the other party, and not only to find out the source of the other party but also to find out what the other party and his brother really have in grudge."

“If there is a ”misunderstanding,” just ask someone to persuade. Anyway, your brother has always been kind-hearted, and if there is a suitable excuse, it is not difficult to turn the conflict into jade.”

“If it's an unsolvable ”knot…”

Xue Baochai stopped talking at this point, and her unpainted and green moth eyebrows tightened slightly, revealing a slight chill in the warmth.

Although Aunt Xue was a woman in a deep house and had a childish heart that was not suitable for her age, she still vaguely sensed her daughter's intentions and trembled before realizing it. She blurted out, "You... You used to be the most annoyed with your brother for breaking the royal law recklessly? How could you fall today?”

“What are you saying, Mom?”

Xue Baochai, seeing that she had frightened her mother, hurriedly made a daughter's appearance and coquettishly said, "If there were Minister Wang, the Second Brother of the Sun family, and his Aunt in that position, what would be the difficulty of finding a fair and aboveboard way to send that person away?”

Aunt Xue breathed a sigh of relief and stroked her wet chest with tea. She complained without a trace, "You're talking so much, you almost scare me.”

As she spoke, she took the remaining tea and poured it into her stomach.

When the teacup was set aside again, Xue Baochai handed over the handkerchief and wiped away the marks from the corner of her mouth. She then took the initiative to break the topic and said, "I heard that Xue Ke from Second Uncle's family had been to the Capital a few days ago.”

This Xue Ke was the eldest son of Uncle Baochai's family, also known as Baochai's cousin.

“Brother Xue Ke came and hurried away after not a long time. I saw that he was really busy. Not to mention you, not even your brother was alarmed. He only told me that your Brother had gone hunting outside the city and he might come back at some time.”

When it comes to Xue Ke, Aunt Xue said with both pity and admiration, "Speaking of him being half a month younger than you, now he has been supporting his family's business from inside and outside. When it comes to business, everything is in order, and there is a bit of a shadow of your father and Second Uncle.”

With these words, she couldn’t help but sigh, "Your brothers and sisters are also suffering. One by one, before you guys have grown, your cruel brothers left, leaving us two women..."

Xue Ke's father passed away two years ago, and he also left behind a pair of children. The eldest was the same age as Baochai, the youngest was thirteen years old, a few months younger than Lin Daiyu.

Seeing tears as big as beans fall on her mother's face, Xue Baochai hurriedly squeezed her delicate body into her arms, rubbed it against the damp chest, and said in a coquettish voice, "It's all my fault. My innocent mother has remembered sad things again. Don't cry now, otherwise, how can we meet the Second Brother of the Sun family and the Young Master Liu later?”

Aunt Xue grabbed her daughter and dropped a few more golden beans before breaking into laughter. "Look at me, why do I mention these.”

As she spoke, he lifted her daughter and wiped away her tears with a handkerchief. She then said, "By the way, when Xue Ke passed by Jinmen Mansion, he even ran into the Sun family Erlang. At that time, there was a sea of people surrounding the dock, and officials from all sizes of Jinmen Mansion were present. Xue Ke only thought that the Governor of Zhili was going on a trip, but later learned that he was sending the Sun family Erlang back to the Capital.”

“You also know that your cousin loves to make friends with strange people and things, so he specifically inquired about the actions of the Sun family Erlang in the Jinmen Mansion. Taking advantage of the fate of going to the Capital in the same way, he approached and talked about it, and only then did he know the relationship between our two families.”

“Therefore, when he arrived at our house, Xue Ke told me that since your brother and the Sun family Erlang have a friendship, he might as well move some of the business from the south to the Jinmen Mansion. Firstly, the Sun family’s Erlang will take care of him, so that he won't owe anything; secondly, he won't be too far away, causing the lower officials to have ulterior motives.”

Speaking of this, Aunt Xue couldn't help but feel angry. "Even if it were all people your father had used before, who would have dared to bully our orphans and widows like this secretly? If it weren't for taking advantage of the power of the Wang family and tidying up a few amounts, we would probably end up in poverty in a few years.”

After Xue Pan married Wang-Shi, he fought at the head of the bed and made peace at the end of the bed every day. Of course, he didn't forget his original intention to use the power of Wang-Shi to subdue those disobedient shopkeepers.

It was easy to say on this side of the Capital, but the business in Jiangnan was far away from the Emperor. Even if the temporary deterrent of killing chickens and warning monkeys has deterred a group of people, over time, it was still inevitable that accidents would occur.

He also met Xue Pan and Xue Baochai's siblings, both of whom were planning to take root in the Capital. The future development focus would inevitably shift towards the north, so Xue Ke proposed such suggestions.

“Jinmen Mansion.”

Xue Baochai lowered her head and pondered for a while, but in the end, she shook her head and said, "It's best not to get too close to the Sun family at the moment, and it's not too late to make plans again when the dust settles on the matter of the imperial family.”

She always made up her mind, and Aunt Xue didn’t really care about business or anything. Therefore, upon hearing this, she turned over this article with slight regret.

Afterward, the two of them got together again and had a casual conversation, discussing trivial matters related to the palace.

As they chatted, it was natural to mention the fact that Imperial Concubine Xiande, Jia Yuanchun, was nominated as a ”seeded player.”

Aunt Xue lowered her voice and whispered, "A few days ago, when she went to Rongguo Mansion, your aunt was still covering up and refused to reveal the truth to me. In your opinion, is there any reason for this?”

This…

Xue Baochai hesitated and didn't know how to comment on this matter. Coincidentally, when the door curtain was lifted, Wang stormed in from outside, shaking the water she had touched from nowhere. She said in a coquettish voice, "Mother and sister, that silly guy is making a fuss about having a few drinks with Lord Sun, and I can't persuade him. What should we do about it? You should quickly come up with a plan.”

As soon as Aunt Xue heard this, she jumped up and repeatedly said, “How can this be done?' As she spoke, she wanted to find her and dissuade Xue Pan from mischievous harm to his body.

Xue Baochai, however, didn't take it seriously and shook her head and said, "If only Young Master Liu was here, perhaps we would have to go over and persuade him. But since the Second Brother of the Sun family is also here, he won't let him act recklessly.”

Wang was not only a fickle leader but naturally disliked Xue Baochai's obedient appearance. Relying on the strength of her family, she has always loved to confront Baochai head-on.

At this moment, as she spoke confidently, she immediately exclaimed in an exaggerated tone, "Oh, my dear. You sound like a worm in Lord Sun's stomach. I wondered how much you can figure out about the thoughts of your Brother Bao.”

Xue Baochai knew her temperament well enough, so she wasn't upset. She just said calmly, "Brother Bao has a pure and kind heart. Everything he thinks is on his face and his lips, why bother to speculate?”

Upon hearing this, Wang snorted and could only make a few more sarcastic remarks. Aunt Xue quickly became a peacemaker, taking advantage of the situation to open up the topic and inquire about what Sun and Liu had just said to Xue Pan.

“They didn't say anything important either.”

Wang said nonchalantly, "At first, that silly guy was making a fuss about revenge, but it was the first time I've seen him so obedient when he was scolded by Lord Sun, drooping his head in a few words.”

“Later on, Lord Sun said that he would secretly send someone to investigate to find out the other party's background and the grudges between him and the foolish guy. It's not too late to decide what to do about it.”

Upon hearing this, Aunt Xue couldn't help but turn around and look at her daughter, thinking to herself that the Sun family's Erlang really went well with her daughter.

With this mutual understanding and his son's respect for the Sun family's Erlang, if it weren't for Jia Baoyu in front, recruiting him to become a quick son-in-law would be an excellent choice.

But now…

Seeing that Jia Baoyu has the opportunity to become a legitimate national uncle, she naturally had to wholeheartedly tie him down. Even the previously prepared ”test” was abandoned.

Just as she was thinking of this, she saw Ying’er also sneak in from outside, bowing with beads of water hanging on her temples and saying, "Madam, the Elder Master asked you over and talk.”

“Call me over to talk?”

Aunt Xue was stunned at the words and said in surprise, "Lord Sun, have they already left?”

“Not yet Madam.”

Ying’er shook her head and said, "I heard it's about discussing the business of our family in Jinmen Mansion.”

Opening a business in Jinmen Prefecture?

Aunt Xue couldn't help but glance at Baochai again and saw that her daughter was also looking at her. She quickly shook her head and said, "Your brother is still recovering these days, and I have never mentioned Brother Ke's words to him.”

Xue Baochai only hesitated, and told her, "In that case, you might as well give a general answer first. When we return to the shop, it's up to us for the final say."

Aunt Xue agreed and picked up the curtain to go outside with Wang, only to see the wisps of western rain turning into pouring rain at some point.