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

Chapter 803 Trend
Concubine Sun suddenly caused trouble at the New Year's Palace Banquet, which disrupted Lord Sun's original plan and angered the emperor.

Although the emperor still has feelings for Concubine Sun and only demoted her to a concubine and issued a house arrest order without making things too difficult for her, it is clear that he no longer intends to tolerate the Sun family.

Because his daughter made a foolish move, Sun Ge Lao had no choice but to smooth things over for her. He gave up his original plan to make a deal with the emperor and support the eighth prince to ascend the throne, and had to go back to the old path of supporting Prince Ji to return to the clan. But this path was rejected by the emperor, and the Sun family had no way to go in the future. The emperor also said that the elderly Sun Ge Lao should retire. Can the court officials still allow him to hold power in the cabinet and call the shots?

If he retired at this time, the emperor would still be able to give him a good end, and his children, grandchildren and relatives would continue to serve as officials. His followers would not be implicated by his resignation, and could continue to hold high positions in the court. This was already the best outcome.

If he is ignorant and insists on clinging to power, stays in the cabinet to cause trouble for the emperor, continues to hinder the selection of a crown prince when the emperor is in poor health, or even sets his heart on preventing the royal heir from succeeding to the throne and is determined to promote a son-in-law from the royal family...if his plan fails, not only will his entire Sun family die a miserable death, but what good end will those who follow him have?

Given the Sun family's style of doing things, there might be some courtiers who are grateful for Sun's kindness and truly admire his talents and virtues, but there are more who choose to rely on him for the sake of profit. Those who can support him for the sake of profit will naturally abandon him for the sake of profit. No one will blindly follow his orders and continue to move forward when they know there may be a cliff ahead, but give up the broad road on the side.

If that day really comes, not to mention Lord Sun’s disciples and followers, I’m afraid even the people in the Sun family will think Lord Sun and his son are a nuisance.

What the emperor's envoy said in the Sun family would be spread to the outside world, and it was spread in such detail. It can be seen that the Sun family is no longer a solid block. Many people have secretly developed their own little thoughts, thinking that the Sun family is more likely to cause trouble than to accomplish anything.

Otherwise, such a secret matter would obviously be disadvantageous to Lord Sun. The emperor did not publicize it everywhere. Only the envoys he sent and the Sun family knew the inside story. If the Sun family really tried their best to block the news, how could it spread throughout the capital in just a few days? Hai Jiao would not believe that no one in the Sun family had any intention of betraying him!
Hai Jiao described in the letter the reactions of some officials, nobles, and relatives after the news spread, and we can see that the Sun family is becoming increasingly unpopular. The Sun family faction seems to be very powerful, but in fact, it has already shown a tendency to fall apart. Because Sun Yongping was mediocre and incompetent, Sun Yongbai's future was cut off after he was imprisoned. Although Sun Ge Lao is still the leader of the Sun faction, in fact, the young and strong leaders of the Sun faction are not surnamed Sun at all, and they have a poor relationship with the descendants of the Sun family. If it weren't for Sun Ge Lao's support, the team he had worked hard to build up over the years would have been taken over by younger generations with other surnames at any time.

Now, if Lord Sun is really forced to retire, the Sun family will have no successor, and the entire Sun faction will fall into the hands of others. Without the Sun family in the middle, the Sun faction will at most have some old grudges with the old students of Wumen, but they can't say they have any blood feuds with Concubine Xu, the Eighth Prince, or even the Seventh Prince. They can completely change their political stance, become loyal ministers of the emperor again, and support all the emperor's decisions. At that time, who can stop the Eighth Prince from becoming the new monarch? On that day, both the Sun family and the Prince Ji will be completely marginalized, no one will pay attention to them anymore, and they are not worth anyone's attention.

Haijiao was looking forward to that day, and was very happy to contribute in the process. However, he would be careful to protect himself and not let anyone in the Sun family discover the existence of a small figure like him.

If the Sun family really continued to decline, and the Sun faction stopped causing trouble for the new emperor, Haijiao believed that the court's future prospects would still be quite bright. When he passed the military examination, obtained a good reputation, and was appointed as an official, his life would definitely be a hundred times better than in his previous life!
Hai Jiao has taken advantage of his free time to inquire about some information in the capital and is certain that his grandfather Hai Xiya will be successfully transferred to the capital to serve as an official in the second half of the year. He can even consider leaving Chang'an for the capital in the middle of the year. In July or August, if the position of Langzhong of the Ministry of Revenue becomes vacant, he will be able to take over seamlessly without having to worry about any unexpected changes along the way.

Hai Jiao even inquired about the duties and difficulties that the doctor might encounter, and wrote a detailed letter to his grandfather Hai Xiya, reminding him to be mentally prepared. In addition, the second uncle Hai Chang'an's work in the Banner Guard was also quite smooth. The emperor would occasionally summon him for questioning, and he would always give him rewards. Perhaps this was done deliberately for the Chang family to see and to vent their anger, but as long as Hai Chang'an could benefit, it was fine. Relying on the emperor's disgust for the Chang family and Hai Chang'an's tough attitude towards the Chang family, the Hai family really benefited a lot.

Hai Jiao even suspected that since the uncle and nephew had just arrived in Beijing from Chang'an and should have been unfamiliar with the city, someone would introduce them to such a nice house in such a good location at a very reasonable price. It was probably the emperor's instruction in order to show favor to Hai Chang'an, the traitor of the Chang family.

Hai Chang'an probably knew this. He was happy to please the emperor and vent his anger for his deceased parents, which would also make his career smoother. Hai Jiao would benefit from it and would be less likely to interfere.

Everything seemed to be good news. Haitang was also happy to read the letter.

However, when Haijiao wrote the letter, he didn't know that Jin Jiashu was about to come to Beijing. He should have met him by now, right? I wonder if there will be any changes?

Haitang looked towards the end of the letter and found that after her brother Haijiao signed his name at the end of the letter, he added a few words on the blank space of the letter paper. It seemed that he had received the news and added it hastily before the letter was sent.

After the rumors spread in the palace, I don’t know whether Concubine Xu was affected. Recently, I heard that she was ill and had been sick for several days. It was said that the imperial physician prescribed a prescription, but it was not very effective.

The crown prince has not yet been decided, and the mother of the popular eighth prince has fallen ill. What does this indicate?

Was Concubine Xu simply sick, and would recover smoothly after her grievances were "cleared" and become the empress dowager when the new emperor ascended the throne? Or was she regarded as a destabilizing factor by the Emperor, and in order to ensure the smooth establishment of the Eighth Prince, did he let her "die of illness" so that she would no longer be regarded as the Eighth Prince's weakness by the Sun family and used again and again to block his future?
If it was the former, it would be fine. If Concubine Xu got sick, she could avoid a lot of gossip and have some peace and quiet. But if it was the latter... once even the emperor chose to give up Concubine Xu, her life would really be in danger.

Although her death was beneficial to the eighth prince's succession, it had a great negative impact on Jin Jiashu. He had gone to the capital instead of the safe rear area of ​​Chang'an. Without Concubine Xu, he would be of no use to the emperor. In order to eliminate the risk, the emperor might really kill him, and maybe even frame the Sun family and clean up the Sun family.

If things really come to this, what should Jin Jiashu do?
(End of this chapter)