The Famous Detective of the Red Mansion

Chapter 381 - Better Eat Without Meat than Hide Without Shells

The sky was yet to be brightened.

Wu Lu, the newly promoted butler of the Ningguo Mansion, arrived at the Jia Rong Courtyard without considering seeking permission. He immediately shouted under the windowsill.

“Young master, something big happened! Yesterday, the people we sent to bribe Zhang Hua, were tied to the stone lion outside the gate with their bare buttocks and were fed mosquitoes all night.”

“What?”

Before he could finish speaking, a voice of vicissitudes spread from inside. Then, with a creaking sound, the door parted left and right, and Jia Zhen emerged disheveled, tying his pants and belt while angrily saying, "How could this be? Could it be that Zhang Hua did it?”

In his eagerness, he even mistakenly wore Hu's pants.

Wu Lu didn't dare to look too much, so he quickly replied, "I heard that Lord Sun had already sent someone to ambush at Zhang Hua's house. As soon as our people arrived, they were taken seriously by the other party. I heard they also recorded a confession.”

“Useless bastards.”

Jia Zhen roared angrily and turned back to the house, drinking and cursing, "Didn't you say this strategy is definitely going to work? How could it be that Sun Shaozong got hold of it instead?”

As he cursed, Jia Rong also walked out of the room, holding a pair of pants in his hand and awkwardly saying, "Dad, look at this…”

“Useless bastards!”

Jia Zhen grabbed the pants with a split hand and hurriedly entered the inner room. Shortly after, he heard him panting and changing his pants on the bed in the inner room, while angrily questioning, "The idea was from you. Now that Sun Shaozong has taken control of it, I may not be able to protect you if he bites back.”

This was not yet a major crisis, he was already thinking about getting rid of the relationship.

Fortunately, Jia Rong had also become accustomed to it and humbly said outside the door, "Father, calm down. If Sun Shaozong really wants to bite back, he should have directly handed the person over to the Supreme Court, wouldn't it be more appropriate? Since he has sent the person back, there must be no intention of causing a complete uproar.”

After a moment of silence inside, Jia Zhen appeared dignified and sneered, "So, Sun Erlang is still afraid of the prestige of our Ningguo Mansion.”

If he was truly afraid of Ningguo Mansion, how could he dare tie people naked outside?

However, Jia Rong didn’t dare to say these words, he only followed Jia Zhen's tone and said, "Although Sun Erlang is already timid, we have a shortcoming evidence on his hand after all, and it's not easy to intimidate him. In my opinion, it's better to let Qiang’er come over.”

“Fine!”

Jia Zhen shook his robe sleeves and reluctantly said, "Just spare him this time.”

It was clear that they were the defeated ones and wanted Jia Qiang to be a middleman to apologize on their behalf, but the father and son were so eloquent that they could say they wanted to let Sun Shaozong off.

Not to mention how the father and son called Jia Qiang over to explain.

Sun Shaozong got up before dawn and had Xiuju help him with simple grooming. He then climbed over the wall and window back into his study.

As the sky gradually brightened, he went to the East Cross Courtyard and mentioned the matter of accepting Jia Lan as an apprentice to Yu Qian.

When he heard that he was to accept the legitimate grandson of Rongguo Mansion as an apprentice, it was highly recommended by Sun Shaozong. It was not easy for Yu Qian to refuse, but he was also hesitant to accept the apprentice, especially since he was his first disciple.

So he made an ambiguous response first, only saying that he would wait until the Imperial Exam was completed and let him see the child before making a decision.

After coming out from the east courtyard, Sun Shaozong visited Ruan Rong in the backyard again. Seeing that she was no longer sick, he promised to take her and Xiangling to the Wangjiang Tower to listen to the opera tomorrow.

After breakfast, Sun Shaozong stormed to the Criminal Office, calling for the companionship of Wei Ruolan, Lin Delu, and others. He also ordered all the officials under the jurisdiction of the Criminal Office, around two to three hundred people to stand in the courtyard.

Sun Chengye moved a grandmaster's chair and placed it on the steps of the main entrance. Sun Shaozong sat upright on top of it, which made Sun Chengye ask on his behalf, "Your Excellency is here today to ask if anyone has ever heard of ”pottery, pearls, gold, and shells?”

The officials below whispered in unison.

There was indeed a response from someone who said they knew about it.

Sun Chengye then ordered loudly, "Don't panic, everyone. Anyone who has heard of this thing, please stand in front and speak.“

The formation of over two hundred people began to wriggle in disorder, and in the end, thirty or forty people went in front, including both clerks and three classes of government officials.

Among the officials, there was one-sixth of the proportion?!

Sun Shaozong's heart sank and he ordered, "Those who have bought and sold this item before, list them separately.”

This time, everyone stared at each other for a long time, before four people timidly stood at the front of the team, namely a clerk and three government officials.

Fortunately, the conversion rate was not very high.

If most of the people who have heard of ”pottery, pearls, gold, and shells” have bought this thing, then the situation would really make a big fuss.

Sun Shaozong relaxed a bit now and asked the four people, "Why do you want to buy and sell this item?”

“Replying to the Lord…”

The scribe first arched his hand and said, "This item symbolizes auspiciousness. It is said to have the benefits of prospering the family and making a fortune, so I bought twelve and kept them at home.”

“But I don't know how much it costs.”

“I bought it earlier with 32 taels of silver.”

At this moment, the scribe looked quite satisfied, because these twelve medium-quality golden shells have now risen to nearly fifty taels of silver on the market.

“Oh gosh, so this thing is so valuable?!”

A Yamen attendant next to him couldn't help but exclaim, "No wonder nowadays when casinos play with money, they all like to use this thing as chips.”

“Used as chips?”

Sun Shaozong raised his eyebrows and quickly asked, "Nowadays, in casinos, do they use this thing as a chip?”

The Yamen servants exchanged glances, but the stunned person arched his hand and said, "Replying to the Lord, it doesn't seem like every family is like this. It's just the gambling house that I often go to. Recently, they replaced some bamboo chips with this item, saying that one coin can top up five coins of silver.”

Another person added, "Master, I have actually only used that thing in the gambling house and haven't brought it home. There are several people like us.”

Tch!

Playing as chips in gambling houses was not worth mentioning at a young age, after all, many gambling houses used bamboo chips as chips to avoid the trouble of weighing silver in the past.

But if this matter would go too far, the golden shell would function as an equivalent of silver when exchanging at any time!

Sun Shaozong pondered for a moment and then asked, "So if you bring similar golden shells over yourself, can you make chips?”

“Hmm…”

Several gamblers exchanged glances and shook their heads together, saying, "The golden shells in the gambling house have all been stamped on the inside. They are afraid that they will not recognize them.”

One of them said, "It's not that they don't recognize it. I heard that only two imported golden shells can be exchanged for one stamped golden shell, but this thing can be sold for more than four taels of silver directly outside. Only fools are willing to exchange it with them.”

So, although it was not as good as the legendary market price, it could indeed be exchanged for silver in the gambling house!

“Hmph~”

At this moment, the scribe who collected the golden shells suddenly sneered disdainfully, "Your Excellency, the golden shells they are talking about are just inferior products. Compared with the real golden shells, their value, and appearance are far inferior, let alone the top-notch ”pottery, pearls, gold, and shells.”

Listening to this, he should be the most familiar one among the hundreds present about this thing.

Sun Shaozong pretended to be very interested and asked, "I wonder what the difference is between the two?”

“Reply to Your Excellency…”

He then heard the scribe's eloquent words, "The real golden shells are all pure white, and the gold thread that makes up the coin pattern is a brilliant bright gold; while the inferior golden shells are of mixed colors, and the gold thread that makes up the coin pattern is even dim and even the pattern is very blurry.”

“As for the top-notch ”pottery, pearls, gold, and shells,” not only is its color more transparent, but in the coin patterns, even some words can be faintly displayed.”

As he spoke, he spread his hands and said, "Unfortunately, I haven't brought the golden shell here, otherwise I could have carefully distinguished it for you.”

Unexpectedly, as his voice fell, someone suddenly shouted behind him, "You didn't bring it, I did.”

As the crowd surged to the left and right, Qiu Yunfei arrived late carrying a cloth bag. As he approached, he shook it off and opened it, only to find that there was nothing else inside, only three shells.

“After Your Excellency instructed me yesterday, I sent someone to find three ”pottery, pearls, gold, and shells” worth thirty taels of silver.”

Although the people this kid interacted with were not good, their work efficiency was still decent.

Sun Shaozong then raised his chin at the scribe and said, "Since we already have something, I would appreciate it if you could distinguish it for me.”

The scribe didn’t refuse either, and his eyes lit up as he approached. He carefully took three golden shells and quickly discarded one of them, which was impure in color.

And the other two, he carefully distinguished them in his hand for a while, and then he took one in one hand. He first held the right one in front of Sun Shaozong and said, "Your Excellency, this golden shell is all fair, with clear and transparent gold threads. It is very different from that gray one, and at first glance, it is undoubtedly genuine.”

Immediately, he showed another one to Sun Shaozong and excitedly said, "As for this one, its color is delicate and transparent, as if it were ivory. There is also a faint ”treasure” character on the left side of the money pattern, which is truly a rare ”pottery, pearls, gold, and shells” in the world.”

When he introduced them, Sun Shaozong also carefully looked at these two shells. To be honest, their appearance was indeed good. It seemed that they belonged to seashells, and the gold thread did vaguely form a copper coin pattern.

But…

The so-called ”treasure” character, if it weren't for the official's unwavering promise, Sun Shaozong wouldn’t realized that it was a written word.

Seeing the excited expression on the scribe's face, Sun Shaozong curiously inquired, "I wonder how much silver you think this ”pottery, pearls, gold, and shells” can be worth?”

“Fifty... no, sixty taels!”

The scribe spoke confidently and said, "If it's me, as long as it's not higher than sixty taels, even if it's selling iron and smashing the pot, one should also include it in the pocket.”

“Sixty taels?”

Sun Shaozong frowned and said, "Isn't it that the market price of this thing is around twenty-eight taels?”

“That price only comes with a vague word." said the scribe.

“If the word ”treasure” could be clearer, it wouldn't be a problem if the price exceeded a hundred taels.”

It’s price is over a hundred taels?

Lin Delu’s eyes widened and was speechless for a moment, saying, "This shell with strange patterns needs a hundred taels of silver to exchange for? Are you crazy?”

“Your Excellency, that's not right.”

As soon as the scribe heard someone criticizing the value of ”pottery, pearls, gold, and shells,” he couldn't care about any dignity or inferiority at the moment. He looked up and continued, "The rule of using shells as treasures has existed since ancient times, that's why there is the saying of ”treasure.”

“Moreover, these golden shells are only found by the banks of Mandala Lake in the Western Regions. How difficult is it to transport them to the Capital?”

“Therefore, it's not just me. Nowadays, many elites in the city hold them in high regard.”

“For example, in the home of a member surnamed Li in the eastern city, there is a top-notch ”pottery, pearls, gold, and shells” that has a clear ”Zhou” character on it. In fact, it is a treasure of our Great Zhou Dynasty. I heard that someone is asking for 500 taels of silver, but he refused to part with it.”

“An old Hanlin in the Hanlin Academy even exclaimed, “It's better to eat without meat than to hide without shells.”

“A hundred taels of silver in exchange for such a ”treasure,” what’s not a big deal?”

After hearing him say so many things in a fit of breath, including Lin Delu, many people looked at the golden shell again, and it really gave them a golden feeling.