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

Chapter 926 Royal Family News
Xiao Shitou knows quite a lot of friends.

After arriving in Beijing, the national mourning started within two days. Everyone in the family had their own things to do, and no one cared about Little Shitou. In addition to reading and practicing martial arts, he would go out for a stroll, get to know the place, and get to know the neighbors.

The Hai family's house was not far from Zhengyangmen Street, and there were many wealthy and powerful families nearby. Even though the adults were reserved and concerned about etiquette and could not get familiar with each other for the time being, the young people were much simpler in making friends. In just a few days, Xiao Shitou made many friends of the same age, and then they took him to meet other people. During the time when Hai Chang'an was on duty in the palace, his son had already squeezed into the circle of the children of the flag bearer guards' families, and had a small gathering with them every two or three days.

Xiao Shitou spoke Mandarin without an accent. He was a descendant of a noble family in the capital. His father worked in the Banner Guards. His family was not in a tight financial situation. He could occasionally take out money to treat guests and took turns hosting with his friends. He was not arrogant but had real skills. Such a person was very popular in the circle of Banner Guards' children. If he wanted to find out something from his new friend, it would not be difficult.

At present, it is difficult for people to get news from the palace, because the fathers, brothers, uncles and aunts of each family are still on duty in the palace. Even if they go home on their days off, they don't have time to gossip with the children. But even so, the children still listen to the occasional complaints of the elders to their wives and families. They know the taboos and will not spread them carelessly. However, they have fewer concerns when chatting in their own small circle with friends who also know the inside story.

Little Stone is very good at blending into such small groups, lowering his presence, and always making his companions forget that he is not an "insider". Once the chatterbox opens, even if his companions later regret saying too much in front of him, they will, under his hint, throw away their concerns completely.

Little Stone told his sister Haitang that many people were very surprised by the incident involving Prince Ji and his son. No one expected that they would suddenly start a rebellion. Even Prince Ji's biological sons seemed to have been unaware of it before. Therefore, if any of them actually participated in the coup, they would naturally be questioned. However, some of them were honest and peaceful, and never got involved. They just blindly followed the orders of their father and brother. If they were questioned afterwards, their crimes would not be considered serious, and they would probably just be demoted to idle royal family members.

There are several bastards in the Ji Palace, and not all of them are respectable in front of their father and can benefit from the change of their father's status. Even those restless bastards have young and ignorant children, and they seem to have a chance to escape. They may not be as rich and prosperous as they are today, nor will they have a bright future, but as long as they can survive, it is better than losing their entire family.

With the hope of preserving a bloodline in the Ji Wang Mansion, the Ji Wang became more open-mouthed and was willing to tell some truth. The same was true for his sons. Only the adopted Prince Ji still kept his mouth shut and refused to tell a word of truth. With the confessions of the Ji Wang and his son, the Chang family was able to escape because they were unaware of the inside story. However, the Chang family really had nothing to say about the Ji Wang. After such a big incident, the head of the Chang family dared to take the risk of writing a letter to the new monarch. On the one hand, he explained that his family was completely unaware of it, had never participated in the rebellion, and had not heard of the Ji Wang during the palace coup; on the other hand, he pleaded for the Ji Wang's grandchildren, striving to save some flesh and blood for the Ji Wang Mansion.

However, there are not many people who can plead for Prince Ji now. The two old princes of the royal family had no other ideas, but because they helped Prince Ji and his son enter the palace, they became accomplices and believed that they were stabbed in the back by Prince Ji's family. One of them was so angry that he vomited blood and was too sick to get up at home; the other also reported illness and wrote three letters in a row, arguing that he was not an accomplice of Prince Ji and was loyal to the royal family and had no second thoughts.

Even these two clan elders are like this, not to mention the other clan members who used to be on good terms with Prince Ji? Now they are afraid that the royal family will suspect them of treason, and they wish they could stay away from Prince Ji's family. How dare they write a letter to plead for him? The Chang family insisted on doing this out of consideration for the relationship between flesh and blood. There were also objections within the family. It was said that some people were already discussing the division of the family. Little Shitou told his sister: "When I was outside a few days ago, I met an old man. He said that he was my great-uncle. My mother and I should have returned to our family to worship our ancestors as soon as we arrived in Beijing, but because of the national mourning, my father was busy with official duties and didn't take care of it. He thought it was more important for me to return to my ancestors as soon as possible, and there was no need to wait for my father to come back. He asked me to go back with him and get things done first. I ignored him. I didn't recognize him, and God knew who he was?

"He was so anxious that he kept stamping his feet. He also said that he would come to discuss this matter when Dad returns home next time on his day off. He also asked me to tell Dad and Mom not to worry. Their branch is now planning to split up and move away from the original place. He asked Dad to take me back to recognize the family. He also said that in the future, the ancestors we will worship will only be a few great grandfathers, and even if Dad goes back, he will not need to look at the face of the direct branch. When the weather gets warmer in the spring of next year, they will send someone to Chang'an to pick up my grandfather's coffin and transport it to the new ancestral tomb for burial."

Has someone in the Chang family finally decided to make a clear break with the direct branch? When the late emperor first ascended the throne, Prince Ji was oppressed the most, and the Chang family always stood on his side. The side branch never disobeyed the decision of the direct branch, and was even willing to sacrifice its most outstanding and promising children. Unexpectedly, such a Chang family has now decided to split up.

Haitang sneered and asked Xiao Shitou, "Have you told Second Aunt about this?"

Little Stone glanced at the side with a guilty conscience: "My mother never cares about these things, what's the point of telling her? Anyway, my father will be back soon, and it won't be too late for me to tell him when he comes home."

Haitang looked at him helplessly, "What nonsense are you talking about? Even if Second Aunt doesn't care, doesn't Grandma care? If the Chang family wants to take Grandma's son back, don't they need to ask Grandma's opinion? Besides, Grandpa is back today, shouldn't you tell him and ask him to make the decision? We all live in the same family, and no one treats you as outsiders. Don't take Grandpa's opinion, the head of the family, seriously?!"

Little Stone was stunned for a moment, then smiled awkwardly: "I'll tell Grandpa when he wakes up." As for Grandma Ma... we'll talk about it later. Little Stone is no longer a child, and he doesn't want to be spanked again...

Seeing his panic, Haitang asked him with a smile, "What other news have you and your new friends learned? Are they all related to the royal family?"

Hai Chang'an himself is a relative of the royal family, so it is natural for Xiao Shitou to be more concerned about the news in the royal family. He also knew that Prince An had immediately drawn a line with Prince Ji when Prince Ji started the rebellion, indicating that he was not on the same side as Prince Ji. Although Prince An suffered a little at the beginning due to the ridicule and taunting of Prince Ji and his son, his situation improved greatly as the palace coup subsided and the royal family regained control of the situation. Not only did he get rid of the suspicion of treason, but now he has almost become the head of the royal family and is the chief priest in front of the late emperor's spirit!
When the two elders of the royal family were absent due to "illness", if the Seventh Prince, the legitimate son of the late emperor and the brother of the new emperor, had not stepped forward and taken the head of the royal family, I am afraid that Prince An would have already become the leader of the royal family.