Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 138 The Suspect Died Sudden

Jia Cong took Xiangling back to the old house in Xinglongfang.

He sat alone in the study, thinking about the people and things he had encountered during these days.

Dong Laoer, Boss Zhou, the Iwate landscape jade square vase, and Xiangling’s headband.

These seemingly ordinary people and things actually hide huge secrets.

They were all closely related to the missing 200,000 strings of Japanese foreign goods, and behind all this were the Japanese ronin who attacked and killed garrison officers and soldiers and massacred innocent civilians.

It turned out that he thought the waters of the capital were too deep, so he wanted to come to Nanjing to copy some scriptures so that he could enjoy some leisure time with peace and quiet.

When Jia Yucun said that those Japanese ronin had robbed 200,000 strings of foreign goods, he found it a little unusual.

Now it seems that the water in Jinling is not much shallower than that in Shenjing, and the water may even be black.

At this time, Xiangling saw that he was in a daze and poured him a cup of tea: "Master, what are you thinking about? Today you brought soldiers to arrest people. Is that Boss Zhou a bad guy?"

When Jia Cong saw her curved eyebrows, snow-white skin, and clear, watery eyes looking at him with a hint of confusion, he couldn't help but feel pity for her.

"Well, he is in collusion with those Japanese ronin who are causing trouble, but you have already left that Dong Lao Er. I will protect you from now on, so you don't have to worry about anything."

Thinking about the fact that there is such a big connection behind Dong Laoer, Xiangling used to stay with such a man, and Dong Laoer was thinking about selling her to make money all day long.

In such an environment, the hidden dangers are actually more terrifying than he had imagined. Fortunately, Xiangling has been pulled out of the fire pit by him.

In the original version of the Dream of the Red Chamber, Xiangling was the daughter of a wealthy country gentry, but she was abducted by a kidnapper and ended up becoming the concubine of a dissolute and evil villain like Xue Pan.

In the end, she was humiliated and tortured to death by Xue Pan and Xia Jingui. She was the woman with the most miserable and pitiful life in the Red Mansion.

Since I have such an encounter and fate with her, I must do my best to give her peace and joy in this life.

……

The next morning, Jia Cong returned to Mount Qixia, and this time he was followed by Qingwen instead of Xiangling.

The last time Xiangling followed Jia Cong to Mount Qixia, Qingwen was extremely envious. This time when she came back, she begged Jia Cong to take her out to see the scenery.

Jia Cong had a day off every three days, but Qin Ye was not as leisurely as him. As a construction official in the Ministry of Works, he was fully responsible for the construction progress of the Da Ci'en Temple.

Not to mention the emperor, Prince Yongning and Vice Minister of Works Li Dekang were all keeping an eye on the construction of the temple.

This made Qin Ye dare not be negligent in the slightest, so he could not go back to the old house every three days to spend a leisurely day with the maids like Jia Cong did.

Ever since he moved into the official residence in Anding Temple, he has never gone back to see his wife and daughter.

Every day he was either rushing around the construction site to supervise the progress or discussing the details of the craftsmanship with craftsmen. He was definitely an ancient workaholic.

Although Jia Cong could not stand some of Qin Ye's behavior of currying favor with the powerful, he still respected this man for his diligence in performing his duties.

In his spare time every day, Jia Cong would stroll to the third floor of the official residence and look at the construction scene at the site.

The excavation of the foundation of the main hall of Da Ci'en Temple has been completed, and logs have been buried in the foundation, adobe has been added, gravel and lime have been laid, and it has been repeatedly compacted with huge stone hammers.

Finally, a layer of cement, a layer of loess, and a layer of cinnabar are laid on the entire foundation to make the foundation of the hall solid, ward off evil spirits, prevent moisture, and prevent insects and ants.

Scaffoldings were also being erected in other halls of the entire temple complex, and craftsmen were busy working hard, climbing high and squatting everywhere.

The prisoners were divided into two groups, and under the supervision of more than ten yamen runners, they took turns doing the hard work of carrying earth and rocks...

...That day, Jia Cong came back from Ci'an Hall after copying scriptures. He saw that food had been set out in the room, but Qingwen had gone nowhere.

He and Qin Ye were temporarily staying in Ding'an Temple, and they often ate vegetarian food in the temple. Fortunately, the master chef in Ding'an Temple was quite skilled and the food was delicious.

Although his taste had been spoiled by Wu'er at home, he was not too obsessed with food. After eating vegetarian food for three days, Wu'er would naturally find ways to comfort him when he returned.

Just as he was about to sit down to eat, Qingwen came in with an exquisite food box and took out a plate of salted duck, a plate of spring rolls, and a plate of braised pork with honey sauce. There were not many things, but they were all delicious.

"Qingwen, this is a Buddhist temple, where did you get these meaty things?"

"Third Master, please speak softly. Miss Qin said that we can't let the monk in the temple see us, otherwise it would be disrespectful."

Jia Cong asked curiously, "Miss Qin, why would she send these things?"

"Master Qin is busy with official duties and doesn't go home often, so Madam Qin and Miss Qin brought some things to see him. I just went to play with Ruizhu, and Miss Qin asked me to bring some to Master San."

Jia Cong picked up a piece of spring roll and put it in his mouth, but he recalled the stunning beauty he saw on the bank of Liuyang River that day, which seemed to be engraved in his heart.

……

Jinling Jinyiwei Qianhusuo.

Yang Hongbin brought two followers to the gate of the guard post and said to the Jinyi captain at the gate:

"Please inform the commander-in-chief that I, Yang Hongbin, a judge at the Dali Temple, am here on the orders of Prince Ning to question the suspect Wang En about the case."

When the captain heard that it was an order from King Ning, he did not dare to neglect it and hurried in to deliver the message.

After a while, a Jinyiwei test centurion came out and took Yang Hongbin and three others into the Qianhu prison.

Ever since the eunuch Wang En, who was in charge of the Maritime Customs, accepted bribes, a fight broke out among the Japanese merchant ships, resulting in the killing of dozens of garrison officers and soldiers on the scene, causing a disaster.

The Japanese ronin broke through the encirclement of the garrison soldiers and wreaked havoc in the city, slaughtering more than ten families of civilians, causing outrage among both humans and gods and shocking the world.

The Maritime Customs also became the target of public criticism. A total of 37 people, including the eunuch Wang En who was in charge of the department, were implicated and imprisoned by the Embroidered Uniform Guards. Almost the entire group was wiped out.

Since the incident, four officials from the Maritime Customs have died under torture, but the Embroidered Uniform Guard has not obtained anything valuable.

The person who can be convicted at the moment is the garrison eunuch Wang En, who accepted 5,000 taels of silver from a merchant ship of the Japanese Ouchi clan and detained the merchant ship of the Asakawa clan for personal gain, thus causing the incident.

Five thousand taels of silver destroyed the entire Jinling Maritime Customs. Those officials of the Maritime Customs who were innocently implicated and imprisoned hated Wang En so much that they wanted to skin him alive.

For Wang En's safety, the Jinyiwei imprisoned him in the innermost single cell, far away from other cells to prevent any accidents.

Yang Hongbin followed the Jinyiwei trial centurion to the innermost cell in the prison, and saw a man in prison clothes lying on his side on the bed, motionless, as if he was asleep.

"Wang En, get up quickly. Someone from the Dali Temple is here to interrogate you."

"Wang En, stop playing dead for me, get up quickly!"

The Jinyiwei trial captain shouted a few times, but the man lying on his side on the bed still didn't move.

Yang Hongbin's face changed and he shouted, "Open the cell door quickly."

The trial captain also realized that something was wrong and asked the jailer to open the lock. Several people rushed in and found that Wang En had already died.

(End of this chapter)