Four hundred and eighty-first chapters peeling the cocoon (2)
It turned dark outside, Shen Hai had left, and Shen Quan was confused. Shen Rui dared to let him go, so he kept him. Shen Li was a weak scholar, and he was exhausted after running around for a month. He went back to settle down, leaving Shen Rui behind. Brothers Rui and Shen Quan were lying on the same bed.
It wasn't until this happened that Shen Quan's tears rolled down: "I felt something was wrong in the afternoon, but I didn't dare to think about that possibility."
It turns out that the housekeeper who stayed with Shen Qi in the fifth house has been asking for help these days. He spent three to four thousand taels of money, and all the money that could be moved on the account was used.
Cats have cat paths, mice have rat paths, and the clan has connections with the clan. The servants of the fifth house also asked someone to find the steward of the prefect's Yamen. At first, they dared to collect cash, even if they were not accurate every time. They all socialized "hum ha ha ha"; until the middle of the month, they refused to show up again under the pretext of being on a business trip, and the money sent by the entrusted person was also returned. The housekeeper thought that the prefect was worried about the uncle in the capital, so his subordinates were not allowed to extort five dollars. It was because Shen Quan had heard a lot of officialdom stories in Beijing and felt something was wrong, but he did not expect that his brother would live or die. Since an acquaintance of the clan leader could find something wrong with the government ice bank, naturally Others will also find out that this is not because of the prefect's words, but because they are worried that the Shen family is a local gangster and dare not lose their conscience to make money. They are worried that the Shen family will pursue them, so they dare not collect money anymore and avoid seeing them.
"It is impossible to hide such a big case. I think Zhao Xianzhong and the Zhejiang governor's plea documents have already arrived in the capital. In the peaceful and prosperous times, for such a shocking big case, there must be imperial envoys coming down from the capital, and Zhao Xianzhong will not be fooled. The most important thing now is The purpose is to inquire about the second sister-in-law Qi and her two nephews. If God lets them return safely, it will bring some relief to my uncle and aunt." When it comes to life and death, Shen Rui doesn't talk nonsense and can only distract Shen Quan. attention.
After all, no matter whether Shen Qi is really dead and has his body stored in the government office, or whether it is a false alarm and still being held on death row, Shen Qi cannot break the law and lead people to attack the government office. If the Shen family is completely innocent, the life and death of his children are involved. , they could still make a big fuss by claiming to be the culprit; but now that they were carrying the suspicion of "treason with the Japanese", and there was also a serious crime of "rebellion" that could confiscate the family and exterminate the clan, the Shen family did not wait for the imperial envoy to come down, but It is not good to confront the government directly, otherwise it is impossible for the people behind the scenes to add fuel to the flames and bring the charge of "rebellion" to the forefront. Whether the clan can be saved is another matter.
"Brother Rui, it's been so long, how can I find it?" Shen Quan said in a dull voice.
The person has been missing for a month and a half, and there are gangsters involved. Shen Quan knows that he needs to find the person now, but he also has no clue.
Shen Rui thought for a while and said: "Whether the fallen ashore are real Japanese pirates or bandits, since they specifically robbed women and went back, there must be a secret place to place the female relatives. They also have their own ship, and that place is not an island. On Jiangxin Island, we sent people to the pier to inquire about all the islands near Songjiang. Hundreds of people were dispatched, and it was not like they were flying to the sky to escape. There would always be traces left. If we really found the evil man's lair, we would not only rescue him. I wonder if I can help my second brother clear the air."
Shen Quan was not stupid. When he was looking for someone, he thought that the old man of the eighth house had mentioned the "inner ghost" before he was alive. He said bitterly: "In addition to sending people to the dock to inquire about nearby islands, we also have to arrange for people to count the real losses of each house during this Japanese rebellion." .If there is a ghost inside, even if you cover people's ears and eyes, you may not really be willing to let people harm your family, and there is no chance that there will be any flaws left."
Shen Rui said: "We should find this person before the imperial envoy comes down, so as not to be passive at the moment. But we still need to investigate quietly, so as not to alert the enemy and cause unnecessary trouble."
Shen Quan responded: "Well, I asked Dafeng to go to the dock and asked Yang Qing to take people to inquire about the news of each room."
The former was a son of the Shen family, but he had followed Shen Ying to Beijing a long time ago and was a stranger in Songjiang; Yang Qing was the companion of Shen Quan's wife. Coincidentally, his father's ancestors were from Songjiang, and he spoke the Songjiang dialect and could pretend to be a local.
Seeing that Shen Quan was focused on finding his relatives and enemies and did not mention Shen Qi again, Shen Rui moved his eyes away and sighed in his heart. He did not directly express his worries. Let's take it one day at a time. It's not too late to mention it in two days.
There were many things on his mind, and he tossed and turned. It was not until the sound of banging was heard at the second watch that Shen Rui fell asleep in a daze.
As soon as dawn came, Shen Li didn't want to be so passive, so he sent someone to the prefect's Yamen early in the morning to deliver a greeting card. Even if Zhao Xianzhong was still missing, he couldn't let him live in peace.
As for the search for the "ghost", Shen Li couldn't think of anyone else except the Shen Yan brothers who were not on the family tree. Hearing that Shen Quan said that he wanted to secretly inquire about the losses of clan members in each clan in order to find the real "ghost". Shen Li added: "In addition to the clan members of each house, the in-laws of each house are also asked to inquire."
There are children in the clan who are "collaborating with Japanese". If someone commits such crimes and commits crimes, the whole clan will lose face. As for "treason", it is a crime committed by the clan. Therefore, Shen Li suspects that there is an "inner ghost" in this matter. , but they are more suspicious of relatives who are familiar with the Shen family, rather than relatives of the Shen family.
Shen Quan nodded in agreement and said: "The Shen and He families are co-existing, with the Shen family taking precedence. The He family has always wanted to replace them. No matter how you look at this matter, the He family is the most suspicious. I will ask people to investigate carefully, especially the He family. Over there, even if it's not their home, they should be on guard at this time."
Shen Quan had to go back to arrange manpower, and went back after breakfast. Although Shen Li sent a greeting message to the prefect's Yamen, there was no reply there, and blocking the door was in vain, so he took Shen Rui to Jiu The room is gone.
In the past few years, the elders in the clan have passed away one after another, leaving only the Ninth Fang Taiyuan in the older generation. The Eighth Fang Taiyuan, who was able to suppress the Ninth Fang Taigong before, has also passed away. How about comforting him? Or the entire Shen family.
In order to extort money from the clan, the Ninth Fang had already arranged for people to keep an eye on the clan, so yesterday they got the news that Shen Li had returned to his hometown. The Ninth Fang had changed his clothes and was waiting at home early, but after waiting for most of the day, Shen Li was not seen. I came to the door and was so angry that I cursed at home all night.
Starting from the morning, the Ninth House Master was hesitating on the Arhat bed with his arms still tied. For a while, he felt that he was of higher seniority and was Shen Li's great-uncle, so there was no reason to visit his great-nephew. For a while, he felt that although Shen Li was Shen family bloodline, but after all, he was reincarnated by the Wenqu star in the sky, so he should not be treated like an ordinary junior. Just when he was hesitant, he heard the servant come in to report that Shen Li had come to the door.
The Ninth House Master was secretly proud, but because he had eaten Shenli Paitou in his early years, he did not dare to act too appropriately and called his eldest grandson Shen Yan to come out to greet him.
Shen Yan was not very close to Shen Li, his cousin, but he knew that he was pretty good on the surface. He was not good at studying and had no hope of fame. His younger brother Shen Lin was a big fool, but he couldn't resist his good luck and left home to live with his second wife. Working as a government official next to the second master can only bring you happiness! No matter how bitter you are, it is useless. Fortunately, the eldest son is thirteen this year and will be the age to die in two years. He may not be able to give it a try in the future. If his son really has hope for a career, he will rarely have to deal with it in the future. This is the place where Peter took it from.
Therefore, Shen Yan concealed his jealousy and warmly welcomed Shen Li and Shen Rui in. They were like good brothers.
Shen Li and Shen Rui, who had seen the greedy and ugly behavior of everyone in Jiufang, would not be fooled by Shen Yan and followed him through the door lukewarmly.
Just after passing the screen wall, I heard a laugh from the east wing, and then a maid in green, her face flushed, threw down the curtain and came out.
Seeing Shen Yan bringing the guests in, the maid did not hide away. She bent her knees delicately and called out: "Dad!"
Shen Yan stared at the east wing and frowned, asking, "Why did you come to the front yard?"
The maid did not stand up, but raised her head, looked at Shen Yan with affectionate eyes, and whispered softly: "Mother stewed the bird's nest and sent her daughter to bring it to my eldest brother."
The law of the Ming Dynasty did not allow common people to keep slaves, so most of the servants were named as adopted sons and adopted daughters. The names of the maids and servants to their masters and mistresses were that they followed the little masters in the family, so they would have "father" and "mother". ", "eldest brother", "eldest sister". It's just that in the 150th year since the founding of the People's Republic of China, slave-keeping was a common practice among wealthy households in the south of the Yangtze River. For families with a little bit of inheritance, regardless of whether they have fame or not, "master" and "ma'am" It is common to call him "father" and "mother", but it is rare to hear a slave call him father or mother.
Shen Xian's heart skipped a beat, and he gave the maid a hand and set up the tent under him. Shen Li couldn't stand it anymore, so he coughed twice, which made Shen Xian wake up and put down his hand, "Haha." Twice, he told the maid to go down.
A son, a father, and a frivolous and pretty maidservant. Shen Rui couldn't help but twitching his lips when he thought of the bloody story that might be expanded into this. It seems that the shamelessness of Shen Yan and his son is quite similar to that of the Red Mansion. It is a copy of Jia Zhen and Jia Rong of Ningguo Mansion. However, with the character of Jiufang Taiye, it is difficult to teach good children and grandchildren through words and deeds. Fortunately, Shen Li's family has been separated from Jiufang's direct lineage long ago, otherwise as a Cousins, both are prosperous and destitute. It’s just that when my family left Beijing, the eldest brother of the ninth house was just enlightened. Now a few years have passed and he is only twelve or thirteen years old. He already knows how to tease his mother and maid when he meets her as a young boy. This The romantic nature is inherited from his father.
Shen Yan has always been thick-skinned. He knew that his love affair was in the eyes of Shen Li and Shen Rui, but he didn't take it seriously. He said with a bit of showoff: "This little maid Yanzhi is my breast-brother's daughter. She has been raised by my wife since she was a child. I have always looked after her like a daughter, and seeing her getting better and better every year makes me feel more and more sad."
Shen Li heard what he said was unreasonable, but he didn't have the patience to advise. As for Shen Rui, he just complained in his heart. He was obviously an adulterer with a **** aura, but he still used it in the name of father and daughter. It was really Extremely shameless.
The Ninth House Master had already sent the boy to stare at the front hall, wondering whether to leave Shen Li alone for a while, but he was afraid that Shen Li would be stubborn and leave, so he hesitantly walked to the front hall and waited behind the screen.
Hearing someone coming into the living room, Shen Yan asked the guests to sit down. The ninth master walked in from behind the screen and said tremblingly: "But Liulang is here?"