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

Chapter 914 Keep it secret
As for the fact that the emperor was angered to death by Concubine Sun, Haijiao really didn't know the details.

He said to his sister, "The people above seem to be very secretive about this matter and don't even mention it. The people below discuss it in private, and the people above have to stop it. I can only guess that there must be some big secret. It is very likely that Concubine Sun exposed the emperor's shortcomings, which made the emperor angry to death. The old princes who heard the content were also furious about it, so they went to the Empress Dowager to ask for an explanation. But..."

He paused, "The Empress Dowager should not be responsible for this matter. According to rumors, the old princes just wanted to make trouble for the emperor, but the emperor was so angry that he died. The old princes had no one to turn to, so they could only drag the royal family and make a fuss in front of the Empress Dowager. They should not have had any thoughts about the throne because of this, but they did not expect to be used by the Ji Palace... No, in fact, they were used by the Sun family."

Think about it carefully. Concubine Sun angered the emperor to death, and then the generals of the imperial guards bribed by the Sun family instigated Prince Ji and his son to start a palace coup. It was only a few hours apart. If you say that the Sun family did not plan any conspiracy, who would believe it? !

Thinking further, the emperor had clearly neglected Concubine Sun and even banished her to the cold palace. Even though he left a will ordering his heir to treat her well and let her spend her old age in peace, he did not show any sign of summoning her. How could it be such a coincidence that night, when Tao Ge Lao had just left the palace for something and went home, and the Empress Dowager, Concubine Xu, the Crown Prince, and the Seventh Prince were not in the Qianqing Palace, the emperor suddenly remembered his old love and summoned her to talk in the middle of the night? Did no one really say anything in front of the emperor?

Haijiao fell into deep thought.

Haitang saw her brother suddenly fall silent, and knew that he was thinking about the role played by the Sun family in the whole palace coup. She sneered, "No matter what the Sun family had planned, after Brother Jin sent the letter out of the palace, and Ma Shangyi and General Zhou Si successfully leaked the news to Marquis Yingchuan, his family no longer had a chance of winning. I heard that his family has been surrounded now? I wonder if the palace has found evidence that the Sun family used Prince Ji and his son to start the palace coup?"

Hai Jiao came to his senses. "Not long after the coup was suppressed, Tao Ge Lao immediately asked the Queen Mother for instructions and asked Yingchuan Hou to send troops to surround the street where the Sun family lived, and not let anyone leave. At the same time, all of their estates, villas and other properties outside the city, whether openly or secretly, were blocked by soldiers, and no one was allowed to leave, to prevent their family from doing anything shameful later. With these preventive measures, I think even if Sun Ge Lao is insidious and cunning, there is nothing he can do."

He heard that the general sent by Yingchuan Hou to guard the Sun family's main residence was General Zhou's son-in-law Kang Wenshu, who was not only capable, but also had absolutely no connection with the Sun family. The soldiers led by Kang Wenshu were also carefully selected, and none of them had any connection with the Sun family, ensuring that no one would show favoritism to the Sun family's disciples and servants.

Unfortunately, no clear evidence of the Sun family's involvement in the case has been found so far. Although Prince Ji and Prince Ji's son have been imprisoned, they have kept their mouths shut. As for Prince Ji's biological sons, they were limited in qualifications and were easily pried open, but unfortunately they didn't know much. Almost all of them only knew that Prince Ji's Mansion was going to the throne after the emperor's death, when they followed their father and the old prince into the palace. Moreover, they thought that their father was the most qualified person to be the emperor, and they were very disgusted and didn't take it seriously when their adopted brother jumped out to take charge. They complained to Prince Ji in private, but Prince Ji asked them to be patient. The big thing hasn't happened yet, what is there for them to fight for? When the throne is in hand, it's up to the emperor to choose which son to be the heir. Who is an adopted son?

After listening to their father's words, several princes of the Ji Wang Mansion became much more obedient. They also realized that the forces in the imperial army who were willing to support them were almost all those who obeyed the orders of the Ji Wang's son, and they were probably arranged by the Sun family. Without the support of these people, how could the Ji Wang covet the throne? It would be better to wait until the throne was in hand. Let the Ji Wang's son work for them, and it would not be too late for them to withdraw the plank after crossing the bridge.

However, these princes were not very shrewd. Although they were much more obedient, they were not respectful enough to the Prince of Ji, and their true feelings were revealed to some extent. This also caused many conflicts between them and the Prince of Ji, delaying the realization of the ambition of the Prince of Ji. In this process, there were also instigators such as Tao Ge Lao. There were constant conflicts between the father and son of the Prince of Ji, until General Zhou Si and his son and General Tu arrived, collected some of the wavering guards, and took advantage of the loophole to rescue the Queen Mother, Concubine Xu and the cabinet from the Palace of Heavenly Purity. The internal fighting in the Prince of Ji's Mansion was finally stopped. However, at that time, they still had the coffin of the late emperor, several concubines and two princesses as hostages, and hundreds of imperial guards as military support, so they could keep safe for a while. When Yingchuan Hou led his troops into the palace, they really had no way out.

Hai Jiao sighed, "The captured imperial guards either knew nothing and just followed the orders of their superiors, or knew but kept silent. There are also two who may have known the most, but took poison and committed suicide when no one was paying attention. If they don't speak, the Queen Mother, the new emperor and the cabinet will not be able to obtain evidence of Sun Ge Lao's crime. Even if they use the matter of Concubine Sun to punish the Sun family, I'm afraid they won't be able to eradicate the root of the problem."

What's worse is that no matter the empress dowager, the new emperor or the cabinet, they seem to have no intention of investigating the matter of Concubine Sun "pissing the emperor to death". They only said that her madness worsened, she lost her manners in front of the emperor, and bumped into the emperor. This is certainly a serious crime, but if she is executed for this, someone will jump out and act on the will of the late emperor.

Many ministers in the court were stubborn and insisted on following the will of the late emperor, opposing the Queen Mother and the new emperor's execution of Concubine Sun. They didn't know what Concubine Sun had done, and they thought that the so-called "offending the emperor" was a false charge. Neither the palace nor the cabinet seemed to have any intention of publicizing the truth, and allowed these ministers to continue to misunderstand.

Haitang felt even more suspicious now. "The Queen Mother, the new emperor, and the cabinet would rather let the ministers misunderstand that they were taking the opportunity to take revenge on Concubine Sun and deliberately frame her, rather than tell the truth that Concubine Sun angered the emperor to death? Is this truth really important?"

Haijiao sighed, "To be honest, I also want to know, but I really can't find out, and I don't dare to ask publicly. The higher-ups have specifically ordered it, so I can't violate the taboo. However, Xiao Jin is in the palace, and he must know the truth. After he leaves the palace, we can ask him. Even if he can't reveal the truth, he will tell us openly and won't complain to anyone else."

Haitang thought, judging from the attitudes of the Queen Mother, the new emperor, and the cabinet, the secret must be very important. Once leaked, it would cause serious consequences. For such a secret, they couldn't rashly ask anyone to find out. Instead of taking the risk, it would be better to wait for the answer from Jin Jiashu.

Jin Jiashu would never hide anything from them.

Haitang put the matter aside for the time being and brought up another topic that interested her: "After the chaos in the palace was settled, what is the situation now? There won't be any more chaos, right? I also heard that... the emperor left many wills, made many arrangements, and granted marriages to many people..."