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

Chapter 792 Details
Xie Wenzai, Cao Gengyun and Lu Bainian did not stay in the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion for too long. They returned home just after the first watch.

Xie Wenzai had no time to rest at home, so he immediately ran to the Hai family and told his cousin Hai Xiya what news the messenger brought from the capital.

Haitang immediately rushed to the upper room in the main courtyard and quietly listened to the whole thing while the elders were not paying attention.

The situation was basically the same as what Jin Jiashu said in the letter, but Empress Dowager Zhou's letter was more detailed and contained many more details.

For example, Concubine Sun's attack at the palace banquet was most likely not communicated with Lord Sun beforehand. Lord Sun's original intention was to use Jin Wu to fabricate a lie and use some specious evidence to threaten the emperor so that the emperor would make a promise to allow the Sun family to continue to hold high positions and power after the new emperor ascends the throne, rather than immediately falling into decline or even facing a catastrophe because the throne has changed.

Sun Ge Lao would rather bring up this matter with the emperor in a more private setting. Unless the emperor refused to agree to his terms, he did not want to make a big deal out of it. Of the three surviving sons of the emperor, Prince Ji had long been married off to the royal family and had a rift with the Sun family, so he was no longer reliable; the Seventh Prince had a blood feud with the Sun family and would never be able to reconcile with them; only the Eighth Prince, although his biological mother was a palace maid of the Queen Mother Zhou, had no direct hatred with the Sun family and could still live in peace with them. Sun Ge Lao could not produce another Ninth Prince with the blood of the Sun family, so he had no other choice but to compromise and accept the Eighth Prince as the crown prince.

Considering this, even if he wanted to throw dirty water on Concubine Xu, he had to control the situation and not let the gossip spread and affect the Eighth Prince's succession. That would be a deadly feud. Not only were there all the royal family members at the New Year's banquet, but there were also royal relatives and noble ministers. If he made trouble in such an occasion, he would not only offend Concubine Xu and the Eighth Prince to death, but even the emperor would not tolerate the Sun family! If it really came to that, he could only bite the bullet and continue to support Prince Ji's return to the clan, but the possibility of success was too low. Even if it really succeeded, the Sun family might not have a good life, and the gain would not outweigh the loss.

However, just because Lord Sun thinks this way doesn’t mean Concubine Sun also thinks this way.

After the palace banquet, Empress Dowager Zhou carefully questioned the spies she had planted in Concubine Sun's palace and confirmed that Lord Sun had sent someone to pass a message to Concubine Sun after the banquet. She was quite furious and obviously felt that her daughter had ruined her plans.

However, Concubine Sun didn't care about it. She had been favored for a long time, and dared to lose her temper in front of the emperor. She was not afraid of her old father, but felt justified, thinking that she was the most qualified person to be the empress. If it weren't for the Wu family's interference, she should have been the emperor's original wife. However, she had been favored for decades, but she had never been able to take the position of the empress. Now she was old and out of favor, and had no son, and she was actually being trampled on by a palace maid. Even if she died, she could not accept it!

Elder Sun had mentioned the matter of Jin Wu to her before, although he had not said it in detail, but he had clearly mentioned the smear campaign. When Concubine Sun heard at the banquet that the Seventh Prince was going to petition the Emperor to make Concubine Xu the Empress, so as to clear the last obstacle for the Eighth Prince to be crowned as the heir, she immediately exploded. Elder Sun wanted to frame Concubine Xu just to increase his bargaining chips, but she framed Concubine Xu because she wanted to make her crime more serious so that she could be put to death.

As for the eighth prince's qualifications for succession and the future prospects of the Sun family... she didn't care about any of that. If it really didn't work out, she could just continue to support Prince Ji. As long as the power of Prince Ji was restricted when he first ascended the throne, and her niece was urged to give birth to Prince Ji's offspring as soon as possible, and there was a royal heir who could sit on that throne, Prince Ji would no longer be necessary. With the young lord ascending the throne, the Sun family would assist in the administration and still be able to hold power. Why would she bother to look at the face of a lowly child born from a palace maid? !
Empress Dowager Zhou received the tip-off and was so angry that she was speechless when she knew that Concubine Sun was so arrogant. However, the incident had already happened, and she could only find a way to solve it. Urgently summoning Jin Jiashu to Beijing could refute Jin Wu's lies, but the royal family could no longer tolerate Concubine Sun's misbehavior. This time, if the emperor was still reluctant to take ruthless action against his former favorite, Empress Dowager Zhou would have to take action. Even if the emperor was not happy, she would have to use the family law of her ancestors and would never let Concubine Sun hinder the future of the crown prince. Empress Dowager Zhou did not mention in the letter what she planned to do to Concubine Sun. She only said that Jin Wu was now under the control of the Sun family and outsiders could not easily see him. Even if the emperor wanted to summon him, Sun Ge Lao would refuse to bring him to the palace. The Sun family claimed that this was to prevent someone from being unfavorable to the witness, but in the eyes of Empress Dowager Zhou and the emperor who knew the situation, Jin Wu might have some shortcomings and might be exposed when he met someone.

After all, most of his so-called accusations against Concubine Xu were lies and could not stand up to scrutiny.

However, Jin Wu also knew what his lies were. He knew that Jin Jiashu was still alive, and as long as the latter came to Beijing, he would be able to expose his lies. Perhaps it was for this reason that the Sun family sent assassins to Chang'an to kill and silence them.

Xie Wenzai explained the situation to his cousin and his wife, saying, "Now it seems that Lord Sun had no intention of framing Concubine Xu in such a stupid way, but since Concubine Sun started to shout in public and said that the Sun family had witnesses, Lord Sun had no choice but to cover up for Concubine Sun. He couldn't possibly destroy Concubine Sun's trick. But if he did, he would have offended Concubine Xu and the Eighth Prince, and he would no longer be able to make any deals with the emperor. In order to protect himself, he could only choose another heir to support, and the succession to the throne would be in turmoil again. I'm afraid there will be trouble in the capital again."

Hai Xiya felt heavy-hearted after hearing this: "What kind of thing is this? Everything was fine and almost settled, but because of this foolish woman's recklessness, a wave of trouble has arisen out of nowhere. The emperor should have dealt with this foolish woman long ago! She has no children and is not favored by the emperor. She has long been disliked by the emperor, so why does the emperor indulge her?! Even if she talked nonsense at the palace banquet, couldn't the emperor order someone to gag her and take her away and throw her into the cold palace?! The emperor took her lies so seriously that he had to summon someone to the capital from afar to testify. Doesn't it make it seem that this matter is not nonsense?!"

Xie Wenzai also thought the emperor's response was very stupid, but he had long been accustomed to the emperor's preference for Concubine Sun, and had no interest in criticizing her. He just said, "I want to write a letter to Tao Nanshan, but it's not convenient to use the Zhou family's messenger. Cousin, do you know of any reliable and fast messengers in Chang'an who can deliver the letter to the capital in the shortest possible time?"

Haitang was listening to the conversation between her grandfather and her great uncle, and had some vague guesses in her mind.

The reason why the emperor used a not-so-smart way to deal with Concubine Sun's trouble at the palace banquet was probably because he knew Concubine Xu's true background and knew that he was closely related to the death of the people in the Jin family. Most of the dirty water that Concubine Sun threw at Concubine Xu was his fault. He felt guilty and was inevitably at a loss for words, causing Concubine Xu to suffer the consequences.

Now they only hope that Jin Jiashu can resolve this matter smoothly after he comes to Beijing. Otherwise, the Sun family will have no way out and can only continue to support Prince Ji, and who knows what kind of trouble it will cause.

(End of this chapter)