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

Chapter 796 Uneasy
The news of Jin Jiashu's departure from the city did not spread beyond a small circle until the evening.

Wu Ke was shocked when he received the letter, and hurried to his teacher Xie Wenzai to inquire, only to find out that the Jin family had been attacked.

The three commanders, Xie, Cao, and Lu, did not tell him too much about the inside story. They only mentioned that it was the work of assassins sent by the Sun family, and it was probably related to the dispute between Concubine Sun and Concubine Xu in the palace and the ownership of the crown prince. Wu Ke couldn't help but lose his composure: "Jia Shu hid in Chang'an, but he couldn't escape?!"

He originally thought that he would be safe in Chang'an with the protection of the Zhou family. Who could have imagined that while the two of them were safe, Jin Jiashu would be in danger one after another.

Jin Jiashu was in danger because his "aunt" was still a concubine in the palace, and the prince she gave birth to had a great chance of becoming the crown prince, making her a thorn in the eyes of the Sun family. However, their Wu family no longer posed any threat to the Sun family, so the Sun family was too lazy to even kill people to silence them, right?
Wu Ke smiled bitterly and said to the three teachers, "I heard today in the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion that the Seventh Prince made a public appeal to the Emperor at the New Year's banquet, urging the Emperor to make Concubine Xu the Empress. Do you know about this, teachers?"

Xie Wenzai and the other three looked at each other, hesitated for a moment, and nodded to Wu Ke. This kind of thing will spread sooner or later, there is no need to hide it.

When Wu Ke saw this, his smile became even more bitter.

He had known about the Seventh Prince. Even though he knew that the Seventh Prince had been weak since childhood and was deliberately hidden and protected by the Queen Mother, he never gave up the idea that "the Seventh Prince might one day restore his status and inherit the throne." Even though he heard that the Seventh Prince supported the Eighth Prince as the crown prince, he still felt that the Seventh Prince was the most qualified heir to the throne, and the Eighth Prince was just a cover for the Seventh Prince to attract the hostility and targeting of the Sun family. In his heart, he never regarded the Eighth Prince as the real future new master. He only hoped that the Seventh Prince would recover his health and inherit the throne as soon as possible, so as to vindicate the deceased Queen Wu and the Wu family. In this way, the Wu family can truly usher in the hope of revival.

However, today he finally realized that he was wrong, extremely wrong.

The Seventh Prince sincerely supported the Eighth Prince's succession to the throne. He never thought of using the Eighth Prince as a shield, otherwise he would not have proposed that the Emperor appoint Concubine Xu as the Queen.

The reputation of the Seventh Prince for being weak and sickly is now known to the world. The reason why many people still support him as the crown prince is because he is the son of the Queen and the eldest of the surviving princes. As the saying goes, if there is a legitimate heir, the legitimate heir shall be established; if there is no legitimate heir, the eldest son shall be established. Whether it is based on legitimate heir or eldest son, the Seventh Prince is more qualified to be the crown prince than the Eighth Prince. But once Concubine Xu is established as the Queen, the Eighth Prince will become the legitimate heir. Even if he is younger and ranked later, the healthy legitimate prince has a better chance of winning than the sick legitimate prince. Those ministers who support the establishment of the legitimate heir will no longer insist that the Seventh Prince is the most qualified heir to the throne. With the support of the Queen Mother and the Seventh Prince himself, who can stop the Eighth Prince from being the crown prince?
By then, even Lord Sun, who holds great power in the cabinet, will no longer be able to find an excuse to postpone the discussion of appointing a crown prince.

The Seventh Prince proposed that the Emperor make Consort Xu his empress, which meant that he had voluntarily given up his biggest bargaining chip for succession. This made Wu Ke clearly realize that he really didn't know this cousin of the prince at all. He was so naive to expect that after his cousin ascended the throne, the Wu family would instantly return to the status of a top foreign relative and the family would be revived from then on!

Wu Ke sat in a chair in despair. Seeing this, Xie Wenzai and the other three couldn't help but feel a little bit of pity in their hearts, so they advised him: "Silly child, even if the crown prince is not the Seventh Prince, won't the Eighth Prince vindicate the Wu family? The Queen Mother is still alive, and the Seventh Prince is deeply respected by the Eighth Prince. The Eighth Prince will do what should be done. As for the revival of the Wu family, it depends on you! You are the descendant of the Wu family. Isn't it your job to revive the family?" Wu Ke raised his head with tears in his eyes: "But... Teacher, what can I do? Just rely on studying and taking the imperial examinations?" If the Wu family is no longer the mother's family of the new emperor, but is just a declining family of scholars and officials, with a declining population and no glory, why should people respect them? And who should those innocent souls who died tragically appeal to? !
Xie, Cao, and Lu looked at each other, thinking that they had suffered enough when they were in trouble. The family was still somewhat respectable, so they should not mention it again after the incident. Xie and Cao even severed their relationship with their closest relatives, so after being rehabilitated, they did not think about returning home, but continued to live with the Hai family.

Although Wu Ke had suffered a tragic fate, he had been protected by others all along and lived a stable life until now. The suffering he had experienced was nothing compared to theirs, and his future prospects were bright. Even if he might not be able to bring the Wu family back to the center of power, he could guarantee a title and take back the property. He only needed to manage it patiently, and after three generations, the family would be prosperous again. How could he be anxious about such a thing? Wu Ke might have lost too many relatives, so he couldn't help but get impatient.

Teachers Xie, Cao, and Lu could not bear to see Wu Ke getting stuck in a dead end, so they simply surrounded him and patiently persuaded him. Anyway, Jin Jiashu, the most diligent student recently, had already gone to Beijing, and another student Geng Tianyou was still at home with his family and had not yet finished his New Year holiday. The three old men were free and had enough time to persuade Wu Ke and guide him back to the right path.

Not to mention how Xie Wenzai and others persuaded Wu Ke, the Hai family received news from the Zhenguo Mansion almost a day later, knowing that when Jin Jiashu was leaving the city, he encountered the remnants of the black-clad men who came to intercept and assassinate him, but they were all captured. Jin Jiashu and Ma Shangyi left safely, and the captured black-clad men were strictly interrogated by the Zhenguo Mansion, and two of them have confessed that they came here on the orders of Sun Yongping, the eldest son of Lord Sun.

Hai Xiya hurriedly told the news to Xie Wenzai, who went to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion to inquire about the follow-up news, and then learned more details.

Concubine Sun's attack at the New Year's banquet was beyond the expectations of Sun Ge Lao and his son. Sun Ge Lao chose to smooth things over for his daughter. In order to prevent Concubine Sun's lies from being exposed, in addition to Jin Wu's need to modify his original confession, he also had to eliminate the witness who was most likely to threaten him. Apart from the Hu brothers and sisters who lived closer to the capital and had personally experienced the Chang'an Incident, Jin Jiashu knew the most of the truth. If the Sun family wanted to silence them, they had to eliminate Jin Jiashu first.

The two groups of assassins sent by the Sun family, one group went to Zunhua Prefecture to kill the Hu brothers and sisters, and the other group went straight to Chang'an. They also knew that the emperor had sent someone to summon Jin Jiashu to the capital, so when they accidentally met the messengers from the Cheng'en Marquis' Mansion and the palace on the way, they made some tricks and deliberately slowed down the other party's journey so as to get to Chang'an City first.

As for Jin Jiashu's address, they didn't know it before entering the city. The leader led them to enter the city in disguise, and then met in an empty house prepared in advance, and then waited until dark before taking action. The leader went out during the period, and he didn't know who he met. When he came back, he had got Jin Jiashu's exact address. That night they went to Jin's house to commit the crime, and none of the patrol guards who might have been encountered along the way showed up. The leader once said that someone cooperated with them and sent people away in advance, so that they could just act without worry.

Only two members of the black-clad men who were not very high in status had confessed, so they didn't know much information. But the leader still kept his mouth shut and refused to reveal a word, even though he was the most important person.

The Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion could not sit still when they thought that there was someone in Chang'an who was colluding with the Sun family, hiding dozens of criminals, and sending away patrolling soldiers without arousing suspicion, providing convenience for the criminals. How could they feel at ease if they didn't find out who this person was? !
(End of this chapter)