Chapter 784
Testimony
However, Weiwei had told him many stories from her childhood and knew what kind of person Sun Dafu was. Although Li Qingshi didn't know why Sun Dafu was so enthusiastic today, or what he was up to.
But he was only there to pick up his bride today. All he needed to do was get his beloved Weiwei. As for his so-called father, who had never loved Weiwei since she was a child, Li Qingshi didn't want to argue with him today.
Upon hearing Sun Dafu's words, Li Qingshi nodded politely to Sun Dafu, then knelt down in front of Lu Zhenyuan to perform the rites of a subject to a ruler before sitting down on a chair to the side.
When Li Qingshi went to Qingyun Road to find Sun Weiwei last time, Sun Weiwei had taken Li Qingshi to visit Lu Zhenyuan's family in advance. Therefore, Lu Zhenyuan and Lu Wan'er knew Li Qingshi, and the whole family was very satisfied with him.
At the time, Lu Zhenyuan also stated that after Li Qingshi and Sun Weiwei got married, he would directly transfer Li Qingshi to Qingyun Dao to serve.
While waiting for the wedding procession, Lu Zhenyuan chatted with Li Qingshi for quite a while. Suddenly, a person hurriedly walked in from outside the door. This person was none other than Sun Weiwei's eldest brother, Sun Jia.
Sun Dafu looked at his good-for-nothing son and said, "Your sister is getting married this morning and I couldn't find you anywhere. Where have you been?"
Sun Jialin said, "Oh, Dad, where could I go? I'm out busy with business!"
Sun Dafu then ignored his good-for-nothing son and instead kept smiling and looking for an opportunity to chat with Lu Zhenyuan.
During this time, Lu Wan'er accidentally spilled tea on herself, and Sun Dafu quickly gave his son Sun Jialin a wink.
Sun Jialin knew that his father wanted him to do this so that he could get closer to Lu Wan'er. If he could win her heart, the Sun family would rise to prominence.
After understanding the meaning in his father's eyes, Sun Jialin quickly found a clean cloth and wanted to help Lu Wan'er dry the places that had been wet by the water.
Lu Wan'er intervened in time, her expression stern as she looked at Sun Jialin and angrily rebuked him: "Don't you know the principle that men and women shouldn't touch each other? I'll let it slide this time because you're Weiwei's older brother, but next time, I'll chop off your hand!"
Sun Jialin was very unhappy after being scolded by Lu Wan'er, but his father had repeatedly told him yesterday that he must not be rude to them, so Sun Jialin could only swallow his anger.
Sun Dafu was speechless with his son. He had intended for his son, Sun Jialin, to hand Lu Wan'er a clean cloth, not for him to wipe her with his hands!
People will definitely think you're a frivolous person, and then you won't have any more chances. Sun Jialin ruined such a good opportunity to show off.
Sun Dafu couldn't help but slap his thigh in regret for missing such an opportunity.
Little did he know that his eldest son, Sun Jialin, was a good-for-nothing who was used to having affairs and would never pay attention to proper etiquette such as the separation of men and women.
Even if Sun Jialin were given ten more opportunities like this, he still wouldn't leave a good impression on Lu Wan'er.
Moreover, whenever Lu Wan'er had free time in Qingyun Path, she would spend time with Sun Weiwei. The two sisters often chatted, and Sun Weiwei would often tell her about her past life experiences.
Lu Wan'er had a general understanding of who the Sun family members were and what kind of people they were, and she knew that Weiwei's older brother was a good-for-nothing.
Lu Wan'er came from a wealthy family and her grandfather's generation had been officials in the imperial court. Compared with her peers, she received the highest level of education from a young age. How could she possibly be interested in such a poor and uneducated guy?
No matter how well Sun Jialin behaves today, Lu Wan'er will never pay him any attention.
Seeing that the young lady Lu Wan'er was angry, Sun Dafu quickly began to scold his son Sun Jialin, saying, "Be more careful in the future, and stop being so clumsy. Look, you've made Miss Lu angry. Quickly apologize to her!"
Sun Jialin knew that Lu Wan'er's status was not something he could afford to offend. Hearing his father say this, he quickly walked up to Lu Wan'er, clasped his hands together, and bowed slightly, saying, "Miss Lu, I was wrong just now. I will correct myself next time. I hope you will forgive me!"
Lu Wan'er said without any politeness, "I already said I wouldn't hold it against you this time, so stop dawdling around. Just look at you and I'll get out of my way!"
Lu Wan'er is actually a very well-mannered girl. The reason she has this attitude towards Sun Jialin is because Sun Jialin is not a scholar. More importantly, Lu Wan'er thinks about all the things Sun Jialin did to bully Sun Weiwei in the past, which makes her dislike him even more.
Lu Wan'er's father, Lu Zhenyuan, was also aware of the behavior of the Sun family, so he did not stop his daughter Lu Wan'er's actions.
Before Sun Jialin could speak, Sun Dafu, upon hearing Lu Wan'er's words, quickly ordered Sun Jialin, "Get out of here right now!"
Sun Jialin felt extremely wronged upon hearing his father's words. As his father's only son, he had never suffered such injustice before.
His father usually dotes on him the most. He has never really hit him in his life. This time, he was treated like this because of a few outsiders. This is his own home. Why should he listen to them?
Although Lu Zhenyuan was the general of Qingyun Road and a very high-ranking official in the court, he was very powerful and domineering. However, his family was just a silver shop in Shanyang County, and their business had nothing to do with him. He did not understand why his father was so obedient to them.
At this moment, Sun Jialin was extremely angry and said to Sun Dafu with a very aggrieved expression, "Father..."
Sun Dafu noticed the resentment in his good-for-nothing son's expression and feared that Sun Jialin might say something rebellious that would offend Lu Zhenyuan.
Sun Dafu knew perfectly well that although Lu Zhenyuan, a high-ranking official, was serving in Qingyun Dao, he was just a small merchant in the county. On the surface, there was no connection between the two.
But in reality, in the context of the Great Jing Dynasty, to be more precise, Sun Dafu was nothing more than an ant on the ground compared to Lu Zhenyuan, a high-ranking official of the court.
In other words, it would be much easier for Lu Zhenyuan to crush Sun Dafu than to crush an ant. To put it more bluntly, Lu Zhenyuan could bring Sun Dafu to his doom with just a few words.
He knew perfectly well that Lu Zhenyuan, despite his high position, only visited their home because of his daughter, Sun Weiwei. Otherwise, Sun Dafu would never have had the chance to meet a high-ranking official like Lu Zhenyuan, and Lu Zhenyuan would never have come to his house. Now that Lu Zhenyuan was here, even if he did nothing, people would mistakenly believe that the Sun family had climbed onto Lu Zhenyuan's coattails. This would make his business much easier, and even the highest-ranking official in Shanyang County, the county magistrate, wouldn't dare to do anything to him.
Sun Dafu noticed that Lu Zhenyuan's attitude towards him wasn't very friendly, so he wasn't trying to gain much favor with Lu Zhenyuan. He just wanted to avoid offending this important figure, which would make his business much easier in the future.
In short, Sun Dafu's current attitude towards Lu Zhenyuan is to seek no merit but to avoid making mistakes.
So when Sun Dafu saw his son speak, he quickly interrupted him, saying, "Just do what Miss Lu tells you to do. Why are you talking so much? Get out of here!"
Although Sun Jialin felt wronged after hearing his father's words, seeing his father's firm attitude, he dared not say anything more. He turned and prepared to leave, seething with anger.
Just now, when Li Qingshi entered the Sun family's residence, he saw Sun Jialin wearing the same clothes as the commander of the bandits who had robbed him on his way here.
Although he had dismissed the idea that the person who had robbed him on the road was Sun Jialin, thinking that even though he was an uneducated and incompetent person, he wouldn't stoop so low as to rob his future brother-in-law on the road.
But if someone is wearing a black mask in broad daylight, they must be going out to do something shady.
So Li Qingshi, who was sitting to the side, kept a close eye on Sun Jialin's actions. When Sun Jialin bowed to Lu Wan'er to ask for forgiveness, Li Qingshi noticed that the sleeve of Sun Jialin's exposed clothes was exactly the same as the sleeve of the robber, and guessed that the person who robbed him might really be this guy.
However, he wasn't quite sure at the time, but the moment he turned his head, Li Qingshi was completely certain that Sun Jialin was the one who had just robbed him.
Because he saw a red leaf in the middle of the hair at the back of Sun Jialin's head.
Because the leaf was red, it was very conspicuous. Just now, when the masked man who was directing the robbers was escaping, Li Qingshi saw a red leaf on the back of the man's head, and the leaf was in the exact same position, without any deviation.
Just as Sun Jialin was about to reach the door, Li Qingshi called out to him, "Brother, please wait!"
When Sun Jialin first entered the lobby, he saw that Li Qingshi looked very guilty and was a little scared, afraid that Li Qingshi would recognize him.
However, he had been there for quite a while now, but had not heard Li Qingshi speak. He thought that Li Qingshi must not have recognized him, and then he felt relieved.
Just as he was about to leave, Li Qingshi suddenly called out to him. Did he recognize him?
However, if he hadn't misheard, Li Qingshi had said, "Brother, please wait!" He was quite polite to him, so he must have called him over for something else, not because he recognized him.
So Sun Jialin turned to Li Qingshi and said, "Qingshi, is there something you need from calling me 'Big Brother'?"
Li Qingshi walked up to Sun Jialin and said, "Brother, where did you go just now? It doesn't seem like you went to discuss business, right?"
Sun Jialin was taken aback by Li Qingshi's sudden question, and stammered guiltily, "Just now I...I just...I went to discuss business!"
Li Qingshi said unhurriedly, "Then why did I see you dressed in all black and with your face covered when I first came into the courtyard, rushing to the side room? Is that how you conduct business?"
Sun Jialin panicked a little this time. He quickly tried to relax and thought for a moment before saying, "I... the business we're discussing today... it's a bit special. It requires both parties to dress like that to be able to talk!"
Li Qingshi chuckled and said, "Oh, really? What kind of bizarre business are you discussing? Why do we have to disguise ourselves as robbers to even talk? That's a bit strange! Aren't you going to explain it to everyone?"
Sun Jialin stammered, "I... the business we discussed is confidential, and I can't tell anyone!"
Li Qingshi said, "Oh? Is that so?"
Then he reached out and plucked the red leaf from the back of Sun Jialin's head.
Of course, when Li Qingshi made his move, the guilty Sun Jialin thought that Li Qingshi was going to take revenge on him and wanted to use force against him. He wanted to stop Li Qingshi, but the moment he reached out, Li Qingshi easily subdued him.
Seeing Li Qingshi being so rude to his precious son, Sun Dafu quickly intervened, saying, "Li Qingshi, what are you doing? Let me tell you, he is your elder brother, and you are just our son-in-law. There is a difference in seniority. Don't go too far!"
After Li Qingshi removed the red leaf from the back of Sun Jialin's head, he withdrew the hand that had been holding Sun Jialin.
Sun Dafu and his son Sun Jialin breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that Li Qingshi was not going to use force against Sun Jialin.
Sun Jialin looked at Li Qingshi and pretended to be embarrassed, saying, "Qingshi, so you wanted to help your older brother remove the leaves from his head? I misunderstood you earlier, I'm really sorry."
Having done something wrong, Sun Jialin saw Li Qingshi's attitude towards him and wanted to escape as soon as possible after speaking. So he turned around and hurried towards the gate.
But as soon as he turned his head, Li Qingshi pulled him back with great force.
Sun Jialin feigned anger and said, "Qingshi, what's wrong with you today? Miss Lu just told me to leave. Do you intend to disobey Miss Lu's orders?"
Lu Wan'er was puzzled as to why Li Qingshi wanted to keep Sun Jialin, that annoying guy, around. She asked him, "Brother Qingshi, this guy is so annoying. He used to bully Sister Weiwei all the time. I feel dizzy just looking at him. I wish he would disappear from my sight as soon as possible. But why do you want to keep him here?"
Li Qingshi then told the truth: "Just now, on my way to pick up the bride, I was robbed by masked men in black, and the person who directed those men to rob me was none other than Weiwei's good older brother, Sun Jialin!" (End of this chapter)