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

Chapter 860 Private Soldiers
On the surface, Imperial Noble Concubine Xu gave in to the Emperor's will and stopped asking the father and son of the Sun family about the whereabouts of her "eldest sister's" remains. In order to prevent her nephew Jin Jiashu from being disobedient, she also found a reasonable reason to send the child out of the capital.

How could the emperor not be moved by her cooperation, her grievance, and her consideration of the overall situation? After being so moved, Imperial Noble Consort Xu expressed her wish to send someone else to look for her elder sister's remains, without alerting the Sun family or other court officials. How could the emperor not agree?
The emperor knew that it was just a pretense, in fact, to deceive outsiders, to make Concubine Xu's life story sound more credible, and to help him cover up his lie. In public and private, he would definitely cooperate with Concubine Xu's actions. For him, it was just a matter of giving an order.

In this way, Imperial Concubine Xu successfully collected and buried the bodies of the innocent people implicated by the Sun family's conspiracy. She not only won a good reputation, but also gained the favor of the old people of Wumen and the world, and also settled her own life story. Even the problem of her "eldest sister"'s remains not existing in the world was solved. There were so many people harmed by the Sun family that it was impossible to verify their identities one by one. If they were buried together, no one would know that there was no one named Jin Xu among them.

In this way, Imperial Concubine Xu seemed to have made a concession, but in fact, she did not suffer any loss. She had done what she should do, and she had achieved her goal. On the contrary, if she did not make this concession, and chose to continue to question the Sun family father and son about the whereabouts of the remains of "Jin Xu", if the Sun family father and son were forced to really investigate and find the real insider, and discovered that the Sun family's private soldiers had never taken a young woman away from the temporary residence of Jin Juren, the play would not be able to continue. The lie that the emperor, the empress dowager and Jin Jiashu had worked together to cover up would completely collapse. Even though the eighth prince had been officially appointed as the crown prince and his position was not easily shaken, he might still be negatively affected.

Why bother yourself with trouble?
Now that Imperial Concubine Xu has gained both the actual benefits and the emperor's favor, she has won the emperor's favor. What's the big deal about the superficial concession? Even if some people outside the palace say that she values ​​the emperor's favor more than sibling affection, all the criticism will disappear when she reburies the remains of the innocent victims that have been found. By then, the world will only praise her for her kindness and generosity, and she is worthy of being the mother of the crown prince!
Haitang's mind raced, and she understood the intention of Concubine Xu's action, and she couldn't help but sigh.

Unfortunately, her brother Haijiao was not here. Only Jin Jiashu was here. He had still concealed his true relationship with Consort Xu from her. She could not tell him the truth. She could only sigh in regret and pretend that she knew nothing. She said to Jin Jiashu solemnly, "Brother Jin, don't worry. Although I don't recognize the people from the Jinyiwei, I know that if my brother receives this order, he will do his best to help you find your mother's remains. You just have to wait for his good news!"

Jin Jiashu couldn't help but sigh in his heart, thinking that of course he believed Brother Hai would help him, but there was no "Jin Xu's remains" in the world, and Haijiao could only find the old servant of the Wu family who was killed by the Sun family. He felt a little sorry for Haijiao, but unfortunately he couldn't say anything, so he could only think of a way to repay Brother Hai in the future.

He coughed twice and tried to change the subject: "Speaking of which, Brother Hai is in the Jinyiwei. I heard that he has been looking through various old cases and account books recently. It seems that Elder Tao wants to investigate the old accounts of the Sun faction's followers. I don't know when he will officially start. The Sun family has been in power in the court for too long. His family has committed many evil deeds. It is time to settle accounts long ago."

Haitang asked him, "If the Royal Guards found the place where their family buried innocent victims, would they pin all the murders on the Sun family father and son and formally execute them?"

Jin Jiashu thought for a moment, "The emperor seems to still want to give Elder Sun a good end, but he doesn't care that much about the rest of the Sun family. As long as Elder Tao and the Imperial Guards don't pursue Elder Sun's guilt, this shouldn't be a difficult matter, right?" He paused, "But the emperor still wants to be more cautious at the moment and doesn't want to create any more complications."

The emperor's health was already very bad, and he could hardly attend court normally. After appointing the crown prince, he took the eighth prince with him every day and taught his youngest son how to handle government affairs. Jin Jiashu had seen the emperor teaching the crown prince, so anxious and impatient... The current emperor could not be distracted to settle accounts with the old ministers. Everything was based on maintaining stability and ensuring that the imperial power could be smoothly transferred to the new monarch. No matter how Tao Ge Lao persuaded him, he would not agree. It was more likely that he would leave this matter to the new monarch, and at the same time let the young new monarch establish his authority.

But from the perspective of Tao Ge Lao, if the Sun faction cannot be driven out of the court before the emperor dies, the new emperor will face many powerful ministers with different intentions who will try to restrict his power after he ascends the throne. If the old ministers use the banner of "the former emperor's humerus" to take advantage of their seniority and use filial piety as an excuse to counter the new emperor, it will be more difficult for the new emperor to act. Compared with the young new emperor, of course, the current emperor, who has been emperor for more than 30 years and has more power and prestige, can better control the old ministers! Why should the father leave things that can be done to his son to worry about?
Tao Ge Lao was anxious to order his trusted men to collect evidence of the crimes of the Sun faction, probably because he wanted to persuade the emperor to purge these treacherous officials from the court as soon as possible to avoid causing trouble for the new emperor. No matter how much the emperor sought stability, as long as the evidence of the crimes of the Sun faction was shocking enough, he would still be angry.

The emperor and Tao Ge Lao each have their own thoughts, and it is difficult to judge who is right and who is wrong. However, treacherous ministers and villains should be punished by everyone. It is not that Haitang cannot help with some ideas now...

Haitang whispered to Jin Jiashu, "In fact, my brother and his men in the Jinyiwei have been ordered to find the remains of the people killed by the Sun family. Can they also check where the Sun family's private soldiers are stationed? I think the Sun faction will be liquidated sooner or later, it's just a matter of time. Those officials who are attached to the Sun family are mostly civil officials. There are few military generals and they don't have much military power. They are easy to deal with. Only the private soldiers and assassins raised by their families are troublesome. Even if there are not many of them, if a few of them are good at fighting and escape, they will secretly harm the loyal officials and generals in the court, assassinate them, or even plot against the new emperor... the consequences will be serious!"

Jin Jiashu was thoughtful: "Yes, even if the emperor wants to save the dignity of Lord Sun, he can first eliminate the Sun family's private soldiers. Without these people, the Sun family probably won't have the courage to cause a big disaster, but it will be more likely to fulfill the emperor's wish for a good story of monarch and ministers."

As long as the Sun family loses these private soldiers and restricts the military commanders who depend on them, they will become toothless tigers and will never be able to make a difference. As for the Sun family and their followers, losing a few private soldiers is not a big deal. They can just recruit them when needed. They won't take any radical actions, right?

When the Jinyiwei are carrying out their mission, they can do this while they are at it. I don't think the emperor will object.

Jin Jiashu secretly wondered whether he should write a letter to his "aunt" and ask her to make a suggestion to the emperor when he reported his safety to the capital tomorrow.
(End of this chapter)