The Famous Detective of the Red Mansion

The milky white mutton soup was thick and not greasy, sprinkled with half a handful of chopped scallions, scooped a spoonful of mutton fried cornel, and served with a thousand layers of crispy sesame pancake, which was a rare delicacy in the late autumn when the temperature would drop sharply.

Sun Shaozong used a spoon to press the cornel floating on the surface to the bottom of the soup, grind out the crunchy cornel seeds inside, and then pick out the soft cornel one by one. He gathered a small pile on the round table, and then he had a good time eating it.

Seeing a bowl of lamb soup quickly bottoming out, Sun Shaozong was about to call for another bowl when he suddenly noticed Ruan Rong and a few others on the other side, stirring back and forth with spoons, as if they had noticed the flower in the lamb soup.

Without hesitation, he brought Ruan Rong's bowl over and added seasoning while asking, "What's wrong? This lamb soup doesn't suit your taste?"

"It's not that it's not to my taste, it's just too greasy."

As Ruan Rong said this, she lifted her chin to Xiangling and Second Sister You and said, "Well, if you can't eat it, let's exchange two bowls of porridge."

Shiliu was busy taking away the two bowls of mutton soup and replacing them with two bowls of porridge cooked with green rice.

This clearly showed concern for the two ladies, but Sun Shaozong and Ruan Rong had spent their days together. How could he not know that she wanted to enjoy this intimacy alone, and didn't want Sun Shaozong to eat the leftover lamb soup from the two?

However, Sun Shaozong naturally wouldn't poke through such harmless precautions.

As he prepared it, he pressed the cornus into the bottom of the bowl and watched the golden cornus seeds slowly emerge from the water with oil stars. He casually said, "There's just been a flower party at the prison temple. If you're bored at home, why don't you go and take a look together?"

Second Sister You didn't have much to say, but Xiangling immediately jumped up in joy, but didn't dare to speak up and only looked at Ruan Rong with a gentle expression.

Ruan Rong hesitated for a while, but still shook her head and said, "Let's forget it. Our Nephew and Young Master are moving out in the next few days. Although they may not need us, it's not good to go out and play around at this time."

"Then go two days later."

Sun Shaozong took a bite of the pancake and said vaguely, "This flower party is supervised by Magistrate Jia and will last until the tenth day of September."

Ruan Rong nodded and took the opportunity to pinch Xiangling's face, jokingly saying, "I took advantage of your intentions. Don't forget to write more poems for the Master to see, and let him know that we females were not in vain."

After hearing this, Xiangling immediately remembered the task Sun Shaozong assigned yesterday. For a moment, her cheeks were burning hot, and she lowered her head to cover it with the rice porridge.

The family finished their breakfast with laughter and conversation, and Sun Shaozong inquired with Ruan Rong again. He learned that Sun Chengye and Yu Qian were planning to transport their luggage to their new home today and move in the next morning.

He left Zhang Cheng and the carriage at home and rode alone to the Crown Prince's Residence.

Due to the heavy rain yesterday, the street was still a bit slippery and muddy. Even when Sun Shaozong left his house, he didn't dare to gallop on his horse. Fortunately, it was not far from the Crown Prince's Residence. He simply restrained the reins and allowed the horse to kick and measure on the street.

Although the current Great Zhou Dynasty could be described as a period of internal and external troubles, if you only look at the scenery of the Central Judicial Office, it was much more prosperous than in previous years.

This was actually the follow-up impact of last year's flood. Firstly, many Zhili people stayed in the Capital to work hard; secondly, the court's disaster relief supplies were mostly transported and mobilized from the Capital region, which added many job positions. This year, the weather near the Capital has been favorable, and the people have received a few more stones of grain. However, the price of grain has risen instead of falling due to the disaster victims.

To put it simply, the prosperity of this Capital at present was actually built on the suffering of hundreds of thousands of disaster-stricken people in Zhili.

"Greetings, Sir!"

Accustomed to lamenting the suffering of the common people, he suddenly heard a few strange voices and looked up, only to find a vendor hanging several bird cages on the roadside, selling them.

Thinking about the many birds in the corridor of Rongguo Mansion, Sun Shaozong couldn't help but feel a little tempted, so he stepped forward with a clip of his horse belly to look around.

The vendor, seeing the arrival of a business, quickly approached with a smile on his face and arched his hand, saying, "Sir, look up and see, these are all things that have been trained with great effort, each one has a clever mouth! Come on, quickly give this Master a blessing!"

Speaking, he took off an ebony cage and teased the parrot with a red collar and green fur inside.

"Greetings, Sir!"

The bird flapped its wings and called twice, but it was the one just now.

"You..."

Sun Shaozong was about to ask the parrot if he could say anything else when he suddenly caught sight of a gray sparrow in one of the cages. He couldn't help but wonder, "Why do you still have sparrows here? Can it be that it can also learn to speak?"

"You're putting me in a difficult position."

The vendor chuckled and said, "Although it doesn't speak human language, it has a new ability."

As he spoke, he took off the cage and caught the sparrow from inside. He quickly tied the strings and threw the sparrow to the ground. The sparrow flapped its wings and picked up a small ghost-faced flag from the ground, swinging its neck up and down, playing in a lively manner.

It looked pretty good; it was more appealing to children than the talking parrot.

Sun Shaozong asked for the price and saw that it was only two taels of silver. He pointed to his own home and asked the vendor to take the sparrow to his house, and then asked Zhao Zhongji for the silver.

The vendor heard that it was Master Qingtian in front of him, so he didn't dare to neglect him. He quickly entrusted the stall to his neighbor and flew off to deliver with the sparrow.

Sun Shaozong resumed his journey and soon arrived at the entrance of the Crown Prince's Residence. Just as he was about to turn over and dismount, he saw a young man wearing a python robe and jade belt walking out of the Crown Prince's Residence.

*Prince Xinyang?*

How could this guy dared to come to the Crown Prince's Residence and find pleasure?

Sun Shaozong quickly led his horse and dodged to the side. After Prince Xinyang left, he glanced at Sun Shaozong briefly and probably did not recognize his identity. He immediately got on the carriage and headed away.

Watching the sedan chair of Prince Xinyang depart, Sun Shaozong finally arrived at the corner gate, puzzled. While handing over the reins to the gatekeeper the Little Colonel of the Dragon Forbidden Guard exclaimed, "How could Prince Xinyang come again? Isn't His Highness strictly prohibits him from stepping half a step into the residence gate?"

"I heard it was the National Uncle who helped to smooth the situation."

*How could National Uncle Zhao smooth the way for Prince Xinyang?*

Sun Shaozong was even more puzzled in his heart, but the details involved were not something that a gatekeeper could know.

Therefore, he crossed the threshold and entered the residence. He asked the steward on duty in the front yard and found out that the Crown Prince was having morning tea in the backyard flower hall. He rushed over without hesitation.

He was now the Crown Prince's number-one confidant and his journey had naturally been smooth. When he arrived at the flower hall door, he saw the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess sitting beside each other.

Sun Shaozong was hesitating whether to let someone in to report. The Crown Prince had sharp eyes inside, and he had already seen his majestic figure. He immediately stood up with joy and said, "You have come at the right time! I have some difficulties here, and I need your help to analyze them."

The Crown Princess remained silent and retreated behind the screen, making it clear to Sun Shaozong that she was going to *'listen to the government with a hanging curtain.'* He then strode in and bowed, saying, "I have seen Your Highness before."

Then, bowing his body, he tilted his head slightly and looked straight at the Crown Prince, asking, "I wonder what difficulties Your Highness has encountered."

"Isn't it the same, Wu Chengxun, Prince Xinyang?"

Speaking of the name *'Wu Chengxun, Prince Xinyang,'* the Crown Prince's face flashed with a hint of disdain. He then pulled Sun Shaozong to the table and said, "Sit down first, and then listen to my detailed explanation!"

Sun Shaozong declined a few words according to the rules and then sat down at the table honestly and politely. Curiously, he said, "I heard that Prince Xinyang persuaded the National Uncle to come forward and plead. What's going on here?"

"Hmph."

The Crown Prince sneered and said, "You're right. The Princess Consort of Wu Chengxun is indeed seriously ill. It's said that she hasn't passed away yet, but this guy is even more shameless than you think!"

It turned out that a few days ago, after Prince Beijing wrote a petition to *'Defeat the Niu Family,'* after some struggle, Prince Xinyang finally recognized the situation. Therefore, the Xinyang Princess Consort, who had been fine a few days ago, suddenly fell seriously ill and was on the brink of death yesterday.

This was not a big deal. Prince Xinyang immediately found Zhao Guojie and expressed his willingness to marry Zhao Guojie's illegitimate daughter after the mourning period of the Niu family.

And his only request was to hope that National Uncle Zhao could speak a few words of goodwill in front of the Crown Prince and resolve the misunderstanding between the two brothers.

National Uncle Zhao was a shallow-eyed person; otherwise, he wouldn't have been in court and would have had almost no presence.

Therefore, upon learning that his illegitimate daughter could become the legitimate wife of a Prince, and even have a slight opportunity to dye his finger on the throne through the married world, he immediately became tempted.

This was the scene of Prince Xinyang revisiting the Crown Prince's Residence this morning.

Upon hearing this, Sun Shaozong couldn't help but look up at Prince Xinyang in his heart. It seemed that Prince Xinyang was not completely destitute, but had been knocked unconscious by the pie falling from the sky before making an impatient and foolish act.

"But I wonder what Prince Xinyang said to you just now?"

"What else can it be?"

The Crown Prince sneered and said, "He is just begging for mercy in front of me. With just this little courage, he had the face to compete with me for the throne. If it weren't for my Uncle's face, I would have kicked this shameless person out long ago!"

He killed his wife for the sake of power, although he was a standard scumbag, but didn't the Crown Prince also slept with the Uncle's Concubine?

Sun Shaozong cursed inwardly, but said solemnly, "Your Highness, do not underestimate the enemy! In my opinion, Prince Xinyang may still have some ulterior motives."

"He naturally has ulterior motives!"

The Crown Prince sneered, "Otherwise, he wouldn't have chosen my uncle's daughter before the Niu family's daughter died!"

At this point, he looked disdainfully at the back of the screen and angrily said, "Such a shameless bandit, it's also fortunate that someone had the intention to persuade me to hire wise men with great rewards and earnestly seek talents."

Sun Shaozong knew he was satirizing the Crown Princess; how could he dare to agree with this topic?

With a pretentious grin, he asked in response, "Have it been decided?"

"What?"

"I mean, has the marriage between Prince Xinyang and the illegitimate daughter of National Uncle Zhao really been decided?"

"Naturally..."

Halfway through the conversation, the Crown Prince felt that Sun Shaozong wouldn't shoot indiscriminately, so he furrowed his brows and hesitated, saying, "Is it possible that he still dares to back out?"

Sun Shaozong said, "After all, the Niu family girl is not dead yet. Besides, he still has to wait for the Niu family girl's funeral period before marrying her. What's the difficulty of dragging on for two or three years inside and outside?"

"During this period, National Uncle Zhao, to maintain his reputation, will never spread this engagement."

"If your accession to the throne is within reach, he will naturally not backtrack, but will instead proceed with this marriage recklessly."

"But if the palace concubines give birth to other princes..."

At this point, Sun Shaozong paused slightly. After the Crown Prince suddenly changed his color, he continued, "Since he can pull down his face and marry a daughter from the Zhao family as his wife, he can also secretly seek employment with girls from the Wang, Li, and Liu families!"

These three families, along with the Jia family from Rongguo Mansion, were the maternal families of the four seeded players.

"What a thief!"

The Crown Prince patted the table and started talking, pacing angrily and cursing, "I thought he had a remorseful heart, but I never expected him to play such a scheme!"

The more he spoke, the more angry he became. He suddenly kicked the spring stool over and shouted in a resentful voice, "Someone, hurry up, hurry and bring National Uncle..."

"Your Highness, wait a moment!"

Sun Shaozong quickly intervened and said, "This is just my speculation, and he may not necessarily..."

The Crown Prince raised his hand and said unquestionably, "You have always been very accurate in predicting things, and I believe there won't be any mistakes this time! Besides, with that scoundrel's shamelessness, he can definitely do things like selling his own goods to several companies!"

As he spoke, he prepared to order someone to invite National Uncle Zhao to expose the face of Prince Xinyang in person.

"Your Highness."

Sun Shaozong once again obstructed and said, "I am not making this inference to make you break away from Prince Xinyang, but to hope that you can take advantage of the situation and tie him to death with us!"

"Tie him to death with us?"

The Crown Prince hesitated and said, "What do you mean by that?"

"Although Prince Xinyang was a chess piece pushed by His Majesty to divide the various Princes from the Niu family, he does not have much real power in his hands. However, he is a prominent nobleman. If we can let him be the lackey of the sect, it can first consolidate His Majesty's reputation; secondly, it can also demonstrate His Majesty's skill in controlling people; and thirdly..."

Sun Shaozong chuckled inwardly and said, "If there is anything dangerous, you might as well use Prince Xinyang as a shield and a stone to ask for directions!"

At its root, it was recommended that the Crown Prince hire wise men with great rewards, earnestly seek talents, and agree to the defection of Prince Xinyang.

However, in the eyes of the Crown Prince, Sun Shaozong's rhetoric was much more popular than that of the Crown Princess, so without hesitation, he asked, "So how should I deal with it?"

Sun Shaozong smiled and said, "First, send someone to monitor every move of Prince Xinyang. If Prince Xinyang is indeed, as I expected, secretly linked to the families of the four Imperial Concubines, Your Highness can use this leverage to make Prince Xinyang obedient."

"If Prince Xinyang had never had such thoughts, we might as well use his name and secretly lead a red line for him. Anyway, with Zhao Guojie as evidence, even if he is covered in words, he cannot explain clearly."

"Hahaha!"

After listening to this, the Crown Prince couldn't help but burst out laughing and personally poured a cup of tea for Sun Shaozong, praising him, "You are indeed my best subordinate! Come on, I will replace tea with wine. Let's drink this cup to the brim!"

Speaking, he first looked up and poured the tea in.

After both of them put down their teacups, the Crown Prince found another spring stool and asked casually, "By the way, how could you come so coincidentally?"

Finally, they could get to the point!

Sun Shaozong immediately stood up and said solemnly, "Actually, I came here to confess to you, Your Highness."

"Confession? Confession of what crime?"

The Crown Prince was completely confused upon hearing this.

Sun Shaozong bowed and said, "The day before yesterday, I secretly borrowed the name of Your Highness and refused the order of Prince Zhongshun to assist and frame the Niu family in the Zhen Prefecture."

"What?!"

The Crown Prince's face suddenly darkened, and he said angrily, "Don't you know that now I wish I could shatter the entire Niu family into pieces?"