Detective in the Red Chamber

"how?"

Ruan Rong pretended to be dissatisfied and asked, "The master is in a hurry to marry his wife?"

"How is it possible! I just..."

Sun Shaozong was about to tell the difference, but suddenly he felt a jolt when he got off the carriage, and it stopped slowly.

Home so soon?

Just when he was wondering, he heard a high-spirited voice from outside, "Is the frame of Brother Shao Zong in front?"

Sun Shaozong lifted the curtain of the car to look around, but he saw five or six riders standing in front of the carriage. The leader was tall and handsome, with a gilt whip in his hand, sitting lazily on the horse, slanting the carriage, with a full face. The unruly color.

What kind of bird is this?

Sun Shaozong was frowning at himself, and then he heard the fellow smirk a few times, and said teasingly, "Brother Shao Zong is so forgetful, you probably don't recognize me, Zhu Peng, right?"

Zhu Peng?

Sun Shaozong looked at the big red hairpin tassel on his head, automatically patched his brain into a miserable green, and at the same time reached out and pressed on the shaft of the carriage, jumped out of the carriage neatly, cupped his hands and said with a smile, "Brother Zhu is full of wealth, I am Of course I don’t dare to scramble to recognize it—but I don’t know what advice you can give me when brother Zhu stopped my frame?”

Then Zhu Peng returned the salute sharply on the horse, then got off the horse, and said casually, "I can't talk about giving advice. Brother Sun is today's guest of honor. I'm afraid it's inappropriate to go late, so I'm here The host deliberately came to meet him first—since we happened to bump into him on the way, why don't we start now?"

Coincidentally?

Looking at the direction this guy came from, he knew that he had already been to Sun's Mansion, and then he waited on this only way, so where is there any 'coincidence' at all?

Right now, there is still a little time before the party starts, and Sun Shaozong is not interested in going to a restaurant to warm up with this kind of unscrupulous birdman.

So he rejected it flatly, "Brother Zhu's kindness, brother should obey his orders, but I have a female family member in my car, so I'm afraid it's inconvenient..."

Unexpectedly, before he finished speaking, Zhu Peng blurted out and asked with bright eyes, "The female family member in this car is the red-haired beautiful concubine that Brother Sun brought back from Qianxiang Kingdom?"

It would be fine if this was a familiar friend, but how could he ask it?

As a result, Sun Shaozong's face darkened immediately, and Zhu Peng also knew that he had made a mistake, but he didn't apologize. Instead, he laughed and said, pointing behind him, "Brother Sun, you can let the female relatives go back to the house, and I will spare a horse here." It’s a good horse, it’s just for Brother Sun.”

Seeing this servant so entangled, Sun Shaozong was annoyed, walked around him with a sullen face, and walked towards those followers.

One of the healthy servants hurriedly got off his horse, put the reins in front of Sun Shaozong, and said, "Master Sun, you can ride my horse."

Sun Shaozong ignored it, put his hands on the horse's back, and then pressed down with all his strength!

"Hey~!!!"

He only heard the green horse hiss miserably, and knelt down on the ground, unable to straighten his back for a long time!

Sun Shaozong pushed lightly with one hand again, and the big black horse next to him pedaled and moved a few steps sideways, and fell to the side of the road with a plop.

Under the dull eyes of several attendants, Sun Shaozong turned around and cupped his hands at Zhu Peng, and said with a smile, "My body is very tight, I am afraid that these horses, brother Zhu, will not be able to move me, so let me go back home and change my mount. It’s not too late to go to the banquet.”

With that said, he got into the car on his own and walked away.

Watching the carriage disappear at the intersection of the street, Zhu Peng finally came back to his senses, looked at the green horse that was still unable to straighten up, and couldn't help muttering, "Didn't this fellow take some panacea in Qianxiang Country, otherwise how Is your strength so much stronger than it was two years ago?"

Chapter 73 The 'Big Surprise' at the Party of the Same Year

In fact, not only Zhu Peng had this question, but the big brother Sun Shaozu had also discovered that his strength had more than doubled during the past year in Qianxiang Country!

This obviously cannot be explained on 'physical development' grounds.

Sun Shaozong secretly recalled it for a long time, but he still couldn't figure it out. In the end, he could only attribute it to the special benefits of time travelers. A little effort is really nothing.

Less gossip.

Sun Shaozong returned home and spent more than half an hour indiscriminately. Seeing that the party of the same year was about to begin, he set off for Tongfu Restaurant in the outer city under Ruan Rong's exhortation to 'eat more vegetables and drink less'.

To say that although this restaurant is well-known, it is not considered top-notch in the industry. The reason why they chose to have dinner here is because this Tongfu Restaurant is the property of No. 4 Wang Bingxian's family.

At first, Wang Bingxian was discriminated against because of his background as a merchant. After he was transferred to a civil position, he waited for more than half a year to be elected but failed to make up for his lack. In the end, he relied on Zhu Peng's relationship to work under the Taipu Temple. The Department of Food and Animal Husbandry under its jurisdiction has made up an order of the Eighth Grade Department.

What kind of order is this? To put it bluntly, it is actually "Bi Mawen" who released horses for the imperial court, but Wang Bingxian was still very grateful and became Zhu Peng's lackey ever since.

Speechless all the way.

But when Sun Shaozong arrived outside the Tongfu restaurant, he saw two huge lanterns raised high on the railing on the second floor, with the words "full of friends and guests" written on them-this means that the restaurant is reserved. Right and wrong please do not enter.

When Sun Shaozong arrived, there were several men chatting with each other in front of the door. Seeing that he had arrived, they all greeted him with "brother Nian" and "brother Nian".

Because it was the gathering of Wu Jinshi in the same year, all of them were big men, even those who were a little smaller, could also be called "short and strong".

Sun Shaozong seemed more at ease in it than usual. He jotted down the names of a few people, and found that most of these people were military officers in the Patrol Battalion, City Defense Battalion, or Shenji Battalion.

But it was not Wang Bingxian who was in charge in front of the door, but a Cong Liupin deputy named Zhu Hu.

Sun Shaozong inquired around and found out that Zhu Hu was Zhu Peng's cousin.

However, compared to Zhu Peng who was full of "forgiveness", this Zhu Hu was obviously more human, and his behavior and speech showed a bit of calmness. Although he mainly greeted Sun Shaozong, he did not neglect others because of this.

Everyone chatted and laughed a few more words, and Zhu Hu bowed his head in a circle, and said with a smile, "Brothers, my sister-in-law has been waiting inside, why don't we go in and talk?"

Naturally, everyone agreed with a loud bang, and you pushed me a little bit, and in the end it was Sun Shaozong and Zhu Hu who walked in the front.

"Brother grandson."

That Zhu Hu walked side by side with Sun Shaozong, but lowered his voice and said, "Your younger brother Shicai offended you a lot, please see that they are all in the same year, so don't bother with him."

Sun Shaozong said perfunctorily with a haha, "How dare I argue with my younger brother? If I offend Lord Tianguan because of this, will I still have a future?"

That said, but Sun Shaozong actually didn't care much about Zhu Peng in his heart. After all, after he got the bullfight uniform, he can be called a character of "Jane is in the heart of the emperor". In order to help his son-in-law to be jealous, he deliberately suppressed him.

Zhu Hu obviously understood this too. He smiled wryly a few times, and then lowered his voice and said, "Actually, my younger brother is not such a flamboyant character, it's just that in the recent period... well, he is also depressed, so... please ask me again." Brother Sun, please forgive me."

Although Zhu Hu was hesitant to speak twice in a row, Sun Shaozong had already understood what he meant—it was nothing more than Zhu Peng being a green hat backer, and he felt bitter but didn't dare to speak out, so he gradually fell silent in this silence. metamorphosis.

only……

Sun Shaozong didn't put the green hat on him, so why should he 'forgive' his arrogance?

So Sun Shaozong just smiled and didn't talk to him.

Then Zhu Hu wanted to say something more, but saw a person rushing out diagonally, with his chest bowed and his head bowed, and he almost collided with Zhu Hu.

"Jiang Yunhe?"

Zhu Hu stood still, looked at the man suspiciously and said, "Why are you here?"

Hearing the word "Jiang Yunhe", Sun Shaozong looked at him curiously, because this Jiang Yunhe was one of the three civil servants who fell from the horse. Li was locked up for more than half a year before being released.

Seeing that he is now so thin that only his skeleton is left, he knows that he suffered a lot in prison back then.

That Jiang Yunhe avoided everyone's gaze, shrank his neck and muttered, "Master Zhu sent me the invitation card, I... Although I have been dismissed, my honor as a Jinshi is still there."

Although he spoke intermittently and had no confidence at all, his words were not unreasonable-there was no requirement that current officials could participate in the party in the same year. As a Wu Jinshi in Guangde for eight years, it was nothing to appear here not suitable.

Considering that he was cheated by someone and not really a corrupt official, Sun Shaozong felt a little sympathetic, so he laughed and said, "Since it is the same year's gathering, Brother Jiang is naturally qualified to attend."

What he said was clearly to save Jiang Yunhe from the siege, but Jiang Yunhe didn't appreciate it very much, he only showed a stiff smile to Zhu Hu, and hurried to the corner.

"Oh~!"

Zhu Hu looked at his hunched back, sighed heavily, and said in a low voice, "This Jiang Yunhe is asking his younger brother to seek recovery recently, but where is his younger brother... Alas~!"

This guy always says half of it for people to guess, and I don't know how to develop it!

Sun Shaozong was hesitating whether to ask the question, when he heard a familiar and piercing voice from the front hall, "Brother Sun has finally arrived, come here, come and take a seat here, I have prepared a big surprise for you !"

This arrogant tone was naturally none other than Zhu Peng.

Sun Shaozong followed his prestige, and saw him sitting on the seat in the middle with a big horse and a golden knife. The same year on several tables around him got up to salute Sun Shaozong, but he was the only one who didn't move a muscle.

At any rate, Sun Shaozong was also a deputy lieutenant of the fifth-rank cavalry capital and a general judge of the sixth rank. No matter whether he was a civil or military official, he was a leader among the crowd, even in private. It's extremely domineering to behave in a humble way!

Sun Shaozong laughed, and after returning the salute to everyone, he sat down on the table next to him and said leisurely, "Since today is the same year gathering, it has nothing to do with officialdom. Everyone only cares about age. It would be appropriate to invite a few respected young brothers to sit down."

These words made it clear that they would not give Zhu Peng any face, but they were tight-fisted and did not give any clues, which formed a sharp contrast with Zhu Peng's wanton and perverse.

With just these words, everyone separated him from Zhu Peng in their hearts.

So the courageous ones also sat on Sun Shaozong's table.

However, due to Zhu Peng's cheap father-in-law, those who dare not give him face are still a minority after all.

Therefore, only six or seven people were sparsely seated in Sun Shaozong's banquet, and most of them were from the patrol battalion, which was far less lively than Zhu Peng's banquet.

Then Zhu Peng's face softened again, he laughed and said, "Brother Shao Zong is really not comparable to others, anyway, when the big surprise I prepared for you appears later, you must keep your eyes wide open and look carefully. Don't let me down."

This guy mentioned the "big surprise" twice, which really made Sun Shaozong a little curious.

Just thinking about what his 'big surprise' would be, he saw the guys bring wine jars and wine bowls and put them on five round tables.

But Zhu Peng changed his arrogance just now, stood up and took the initiative to divide the wine bowls, and filled the wine jars one by one, and finally raised his own wine bowl and said in a loud voice, "Everyone, congratulations for today, drink this first. cup!"

As he spoke, he covered himself with the sleeve of his left hand, raised his head and drank the bowl of rice wine.

Seeing this, everyone hurriedly agreed, raised their wine bowls and drank wildly.

Naturally, Sun Shaozong was no exception. He raised his head and poured the Shaoxing rice wine into his mouth. Before he could swallow it, he heard a crisp clang, followed by Zhu Peng's shrill scream, "Wine... the wine is poisonous!"

Poof~!

Sun Shaozong opened his mouth and sprayed all over the table, turned his head to look at the chairman, but saw Zhu Peng staggered and fell to the ground.

"Third brother, third brother? Third brother?!"

Zhu Hu hugged his shoulders and shouted a few times, then turned his head slowly, and said in a pale trembling voice, "He...he's dead!"

I'm going~

Isn't this the 'big surprise' you mentioned? !

Chapter 74 The Gathering Poisoning Incident in the Same Year [Part [-]]

"Everyone, don't panic, try to stay where you are and don't move around, so as not to destroy the evidence at the scene! The young brothers sitting at the door, please call all the servants outside and let them watch all the people in the restaurant. Wait, lest the murderer escape!"

Although it was the first time in two lifetimes that Sun Shaozong encountered someone being poisoned and died in front of him, his excellent professional quality allowed him to stand up immediately and control the scene.

When encountering such emergencies, people tend to have a mentality of blind obedience, not to mention the death of Zhu Peng, Sun Shaozong should have been respected at the scene, so most of the people acted according to their words.

There were only a few Zhu Peng at the table, but it was really difficult to calm down. Some scratched their throats and retched, trying to spit out the wine they drank;

"Don't worry, there should be no poison in the wine."

As Sun Shaozong walked towards the corpse, he said 'relief', "If the wine was poisoned, at least half of the people at your table should be dead by now."

Saying that, regardless of how those people reacted, he squatted beside Zhu Peng's body and carefully checked it.

The pupils of Zhu Peng's eyes were constricted, the muscles of his whole body were tense, his limbs were severely twisted and convulsed, and there was a small amount of milky white foamy vomit at the corner of his mouth...

Judging from all these signs, he did indeed die from severe poison. As for the type of toxin, it cannot be distinguished with just a pair of naked eyes.

In addition, Zhu Peng's facial expression was extremely distorted, and he probably suffered acute suffocation after being poisoned-this also made it impossible to distinguish his expression before his death.

Furthermore, Zhu Peng spilled a lot of wine on his chest and the sleeve of his left hand. It seemed that he had already had a poisoning reaction after drinking half of it, so he accidentally spilled the rest of the poisoned wine on his body.

After initially checking the condition of the corpse, Sun Shaozong tore off a strip from the silk decoration on the edge of the dining table, carefully picked up two fragments of the wine bowl, placed them next to the candlestick and looked carefully, and found that the bottom of the bowl was faintly sticking. Milky white gummy residue.

He asked Zhu Hu to hold the wine jar, poured some more rice wine on the fragment, shook it a little, and saw that most of the milky white residue had melted away again.

Seeing this scene, Sun Shaozong frowned even more.

"Brother grandson."

Zhu Hu asked with concern, "What did you see? Who was the brother killed by?!"

Everyone also stretched their necks and raised their ears, waiting for Sun Shaozong's answer.

Seeing that Sun Shaozong frowned, he shook his head slightly and said, "Who is the murderer? It's hard for me to judge right now—but the poison should have been poured into the wine bowl, because this kind of poison can quickly dissolve in the wine. If it was poured elsewhere, There's no way any poisonous residue will be left on the bottom of the bowl."

"Down in the wine bowl..."

Zhu Hu repeated these words, and suddenly stepped forward and grabbed Wang Bingxian by the collar, gnashing his teeth and asked, "Wang Bingxian, did you do it?! You have long held resentment towards my third brother, and besides, this restaurant is Your family opened it, besides you, who else can poison you without anyone noticing?!"

"Zhu...Zhu Zhu, Brother Zhu, don't spit blood!"

Wang Bingxian's hands and feet trembled in panic, his eyes kept wandering, and he hesitated in his mouth, "I...how did I...how did I ever harbor resentment towards Zhu Peng?"

With this flustered appearance, more than half of the people present became suspicious of him.

"When did you ever harbor resentment?"

When Zhu Hu saw this, he naturally became more and more annoyed, and he didn't care to hide anything anymore, and said angrily, "He pretended to be crazy by drinking at your house and forcibly insulted your first wife. How dare you say that you don't like it in your heart?" Hate him?!"

As soon as this remark came out, everyone on the field was in an uproar and felt a little stunned—with such a mortal enmity, it's no wonder Wang Bingxian poisoned Zhu Peng to death!