After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 764 Poison

During the few days that Haijiao stayed in the Flag Bearer Guard Camp, he heard a lot of gossip.

The Banner Guards were originally on duty in the palace, and they were always well-informed. They dared not easily disclose those important court events, but there were always people who could not help but tell their families about the gossip in the palace. Generally speaking, their families would not easily disclose those gossips, and at most they would just discuss them among the "informed insiders". But who let Haijiao be the nephew of the Banner Guard Captain? How could he not be considered "one of our own"? !

Hai Jiao had been a spy for the Imperial Guard for more than ten years in his previous life. He was very good at getting information out of people without arousing anyone's suspicion. With a little trickery, he easily got a lot of information. Even if these so-called palace rumors were not true, he could still get some truth from them.

No one knows whether Concubine Sun is a poisoner or not, but it is a fact that the fifth prince born to Concubine Liu Shu died in an unclear manner. Even after Concubine Liu Shu was banished to the cold palace, she died too quickly, and no one knows if there is any trick in this. Concubine Liu Shu's adopted brother Liu Keren was demoted to Suzhou as an official for many years and had many contacts with the Hai family. He often said in private that his adopted sister and nephew were killed by someone, and he once asked someone to inquire about it and learned that their deaths were different. The family members of the deceased all said so, which shows that the rumors are not groundless. If it is inferred from this that Concubine Sun has one or two powerful poisons, it is not groundless.

Liu Keren had been working hard in Suzhou these years, hoping to return to the Central Plains as soon as possible. Even if he was forced to stay in the border town, he would at least get promoted. However, after struggling for many years, he was still pinned down in Suzhou and could not move. Even though the Sun family's power was completely evacuated from the northwest, his transfer order was never issued, and at most his rank was only promoted by two levels.

It can be seen that it is not just the Sun family who is suppressing him, the emperor also does not want him to return to the Central Plains. God knows what the truth is behind this? What is the emperor hiding? If there is really no problem with the death of Concubine Liu and her son, why would the emperor and the Sun family guard against Concubine Liu's adopted brother so strictly?
If Concubine Sun really had the ability to poison people without anyone noticing, I wonder why she didn't choose to use this method to deal with Empress Wu and the Third Prince, but instead set a shocking fire in Kunning Palace, letting everyone in the world know that she was the real culprit behind the scenes.

After Concubine Xu Xian appeared out of nowhere and gave birth to the eighth prince for the emperor, Concubine Sun might have wanted to kill her, right? However, it is said that Concubine Xu Xian had always lived with the emperor with her son, and lived and slept in the Qianqing Palace. The palace she was given was basically used as a decoration. Even if Concubine Sun wanted to kill someone, she couldn't do it under the emperor's nose. She had concerns in her heart, so she naturally couldn't act easily.

But if she was really pushed into a corner and made up her mind to kill Concubine Xu, risking the emperor's punishment, what would the emperor do? Now the Eighth Prince has grown up, and even if his biological mother is gone, it will not affect his succession to the throne. In order to take the so-called overall situation into consideration, the emperor might turn a blind eye, right? As long as the heir is safe, he doesn't seem to care much about the women in his harem.

Just like how he treated Queen Wu, Concubine Liu and others back then.

Although Haijiao had handed Jin Jiashu's letter to Eunuch Park, a man arranged by Concubine Xu outside the palace, he knew that he was not qualified to remind Concubine Xu anything. He could only explain the tense situation in the capital as detailed as possible in the letter and urge Jin Jiashu to remind Concubine Xu to be more careful.

Although the Eighth Prince's succession to the throne is unlikely to change, whether Concubine Xu is dead or alive will have a great impact on Jin Jiashu and the reefs behind him. The Eighth Prince, born to Concubine Xu, may not know his mother's true life experience, nor may he know that Jin Jiashu is his brother from the same mother. If Concubine Xu is gone, will the Eighth Prince, who is not even ten years old, still take care of a "cousin" he has never met in the future?

Haijiao didn't dare to say this explicitly, but he tried his best to hint at it in the letter. He believed that his sister Haitang, who understood what he was talking about, would definitely give Jin Jiashu a proper reminder.

Haitang had slightly modified the secret letter from his brother Haijiao, and the letter presented to Jin Jiashu did not say everything, only saying that the Sun family was acting strangely, and that Concubine Sun might harm Concubine Xu, and asked him to persuade Concubine Xu to beware of Concubine Sun's poisoning. After reading the letter, Jin Jiashu was shocked: "This is indeed something that must be guarded against! There will always be times when my aunt is not in front of the emperor. If Concubine Sun sends someone to kill her secretly, how can my aunt guard against it?! The emperor is always very soft on Concubine Sun. Even if something happens to my aunt, she may not be killed!"

Jin Jiashu thought even more. Concubine Xu arranged a marriage for him with the daughter of a branch of the Zhang family. He speculated that this must have displeased the emperor. If the emperor ordered her to move out of the Qianqing Palace and return to her own palace, would that make it easier for Concubine Sun to kill him?
Unfortunately, the capital is so far from Chang'an that even if a letter is sent by express horse, it will take nearly a month to go back and forth. Even if he is extremely anxious at this moment, it will take more than ten days for the letter to reach his "aunt" in the hands of the capital. What if she is killed during this period...

Jin Jiashu closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and when he opened his eyes again, he had calmed down: "I will write a letter to remind my aunt to be careful." If he really couldn't make it in time, there was no point in being anxious, he could only do the best he could.

Seeing that he was calm, Haitang nodded and said, "At this point, we can only do our best and leave the rest to fate. Don't worry too much. Madam Xu has been a concubine for so many years. If Concubine Sun really wanted to kill her, she would have done it long ago. She has not taken any action until now, so she must have some concerns. Although the situation in the capital is tense now, there is no major change. Concubine Sun has no reason to take the initiative to step on this landmine. The emperor's favor towards her is not as great as before. She has to think about her family. She can't send her family away capriciously when the Sun family is declining."

Jin Jiashu sneered: "If she was a person who took the overall situation into consideration, she would not have made many of the mistakes she made in the past. I think she has been spoiled by the emperor for a long time and has become infatuated with him. She can do anything!"

Haitang changed the subject: "That day I told you to ask Mammy for advice on how to prevent and detoxify. Did you tell her? Is she willing to teach you?"

Ma Shangyi was reluctant at first, thinking that this was not something a serious scholar should learn. Anyway, Jin Jiashu had her, Chunyu, and Guard Lin by his side. Even if he really encountered danger, they would do their best to protect him. There was no need for him to get involved in these shady things.

But Jin Jiashu insisted that it was better to have it by himself than to have it by his parents. No matter how many guards he had and how reliable they were, he would always have to be alone. In order to better protect himself, he had to learn more skills.

Perhaps because he had lost his temper not long ago, Ma Shangyi didn't want to make him angry again, and after being harassed by him for a day, she finally gave in. However, what she could teach him were only some superficial knowledge related to poisons, not the secret medicines of the imperial palace, nor did she mention the stories that had happened in the palace in the past.

Jin Jiashu didn't care. In his opinion, as long as he could learn some basic knowledge of detoxification and know what to do when he encountered danger, it would be enough. He didn't really want to be a master of poisoning. He would never harm others in this way!

Haitang was quite satisfied after hearing this: "It's good that Brother Jin can learn some basics. Coincidentally, I have also managed to collect some knowledge related to poisons. You can take it back and have a look. Maybe it will be useful someday."

(End of this chapter)