A Murder Case, First Encounter with Lovely Li Wan

"I know, I know! It was Phoenix Sister—it had to be Phoenix Sister who killed him!"

Smack!

The handsome youth's shout was still echoing through the alley when Jia Lian, his face livid, backhanded him across the face. The blow sent him staggering, nearly pitching him onto the corpse.

"Jia Yun! You little bastard, what nonsense are you spouting?! See if I don't rip that dog mouth of yours to shreds!" Even after that slap, Jia Lian refused to let it go. Cursing, he grabbed the youth and raised his hand, ready to strike him from both sides.

Only then did Jia Yun remember that his own shrew of a wife was also often called "Phoenix Sister." He hurriedly explained, "The person this nephew meant is Chen Yu Feng, the half-door prostitute from Bell Tower Street. Her childhood name is also Phoenix Sister. When she was little, someone smashed her left ring finger while she was stealing, so she has another nickname—Nine-Fingered Jade Phoenix. Chen Yu Feng has only one old woman by her side, which perfectly matches what Second Uncle Sun just said!"

Hearing this, Jia Lian released Jia Yun's collar in embarrassment, though his anger had not entirely faded. Putting on the airs of an uncle, he scolded, "You good-for-nothing brat, you never think of bettering yourself all day long, but you sure know every story from the brothels and whorehouses!"

Though it sounded rather absurd coming from Jia Lian's mouth, Jia Yun did not dare argue. He repeatedly bowed and apologized, saying that he had been so dazzled and overwhelmed by Uncle Sun's "divine deduction" that he had misspoken in the moment and offended his Second Aunt's name.

At Jia Yun's reminder, Jia Lian suddenly recalled the real matter at hand. Beaming smugly, he said to Sun Shaozong, "A few days ago, I told some people about how you cracked a strange case in half a day, but some simply refused to believe it. Well, now you've solved another murder case in less than half an hour!"

As he spoke, he made a token kick at Jia Yun's backside and barked, "You blind fool, why aren't you leading us to arrest that poisonous woman at once?!"

Jia Yun had been looking for a chance to make up for his earlier mistake. At this, he quickly agreed and eagerly led the way.

Jia Lian was about to follow in high spirits when Sun Shaozong abruptly yanked him back.

"She's only a whore. Is there any need for Your Imperial Brother-in-Law to go personally?" Sun Shaozong said, then turned to Horse-Face Constable. "Zhao Wuwei, I'll leave the rest to you. Once you catch that whore, there's no need to look for me—send her directly to the Director of Administration for judgment. Tell him that I have yet to take office and it would be inconvenient for me to involve myself in this case."

Without waiting to see how Horse-Face Constable would react, he pulled Jia Lian into the carriage, cracked the whip, and galloped away.

Along the way, Jia Lian could not help complaining endlessly. He blamed Sun Shaozong for giving the credit away to that damned Director of Administration, and regretted that he had not gotten a look at Nine-Fingered Jade Phoenix herself.

Sun Shaozong merely smiled without speaking.

That astonishing deduction from earlier would likely spread throughout the capital within two or three days. Unless the Director of Administration was an utter fool, he would never dare to swallow up the credit. On the contrary, he would have to make a grand display of praising Sun Shaozong, showing that he had not deliberately made things difficult for him, but rather valued Sun Shaozong's abilities.

What fun was there in claiming credit yourself, compared to making your enemy hold his nose and praise your achievements for you?

As for arresting Chen Yu Feng, even if he personally went, it would merely be adding flowers to brocade. He might as well offer it as a favor to Zhao Wuwei and the others, forming a good bond with his future subordinates in advance.

Enough idle chatter.

When the group returned to Rongguo Mansion, Jia Lian passed his own doorstep without entering. He merely had Xing'er go back and inform Wang Xifeng to prepare the feast as usual, then led Sun Shaozong grandly and proudly toward Granny Jia's western quarters.

He claimed that he was taking Sun Shaozong to meet the genuine Imperial Brother-in-Law, but in Sun Shaozong's view, the man probably just wanted to show off.

Once inside the western quarters, everything was even more splendid than at Jia He's place. After walking roughly an arrow's flight, they saw two old women approaching them.

Jia Lian asked after Baoyu, only to hear that he was chatting with his sisters in the rear courtyard. It would not be appropriate to bring Sun Shaozong there, so he asked after Granny Jia instead.

"Granny just had a lively time with Second Master Bao. She's now in the flower hall, listening to the maids tell stories."

The moment he heard this, Jia Lian perked up and declared smugly, "Those stories are all made-up nonsense. What's so interesting about them? I have a remarkable tale here—not only is it entirely true, but Second Master here experienced it personally!"

Without another thought, he dragged Sun Shaozong into the rear courtyard in great excitement.

They passed beneath the Covered Corridor and turned around a marble screen set in a rosewood frame. Before them stood five Main Rooms in a row, their carved beams and painted rafters magnificent. Beneath the eaves hung many parrots and thrushes. At the sight of strangers entering, they all chirped sharply at once, as though singing in chorus.

Hearing the commotion, a maid dressed in red and green lifted the curtain to peer outside. The instant she saw Jia Lian, she immediately ducked back in and called out, "Granny, Lian, Second Master has arrived."

Before her voice had faded, Old Madam's voice came from within. "Lian has come? Quick, quick, let him in! The weather is so cold, and it's snowing too. If he catches a chill, won't that Spicy Feng blame this old woman to death?"

Hearing this, Jia Lian lifted the curtain and ducked inside, laughing loudly. "Granny, even if she had the courage of heaven, she would never dare blame you."

Then he turned back and called, "Second Master, come in quickly and greet my family's Old Madam."

Only after saying so did he notice that, besides the old women and maids, his widowed sister-in-law Li Wan was also in the room. He immediately grew somewhat awkward. Ever since Li Wan had become a widow, she had placed the greatest importance on propriety and separation between men and women; she rarely even associated with the men of her own family, much less consent to meet an outside male guest.

But it was already too late for regrets.

Sun Shaozong lifted the curtain and strode in proudly. In several steps, he reached Granny Jia. His iron-tower-like body bent low as he respectfully said, "Sun Shaozong, son of the former Divine Might General Sun Shengtao, pays his respects to the Old Dowager."

Seeing this suddenly arrived robust and towering man, Granny Jia had been startled and uncertain. But upon hearing him announce his family, she suddenly understood. "So you are the second young master of the Divine Might General's family. When you were a hundred days old, I personally went to your residence to offer congratulations. Who would have thought that in the blink of an eye, you would grow into such a man?"

As she spoke, she could not help sighing with emotion.

Sun Shaozong straightened up, his face full of smiles as he prepared to respond, when his gaze abruptly swept over Granny Jia's side and caught sight of a dignified beauty whose face was filled with alarm. She seemed so nervous that she did not even know where to place her hands and feet.

Curious, he looked at her several more times. She appeared to be just over twenty, dressed from head to toe in an exceedingly plain and neat manner. Her bearing was dignified and cool, yet the figure wrapped in her pale skirt was ripe and alluring. As she shifted uneasily, her towering breasts trembled wildly, while the rounded fullness behind her occasionally swelled like a full moon, making her slender waist seem all the more soft and graspable.

If her unsmiling, dignified chill was like a basin of icy water, then her seductive, enchanting figure was like a blazing fire that stirred the heart and soul. Ice and fire mingled together only made her all the more captivating!

That fellow in the chapter comments really wasn't reading carefully—Chapter 14 stated perfectly clearly that the protagonist had never read Dream of the Red Chamber. He only thought it was a tragic love story, so how could he possibly know that Jia Manor would decline in the future? What does political awareness have to do with something he doesn't know?