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

Chapter 937: Shifting the blame
The next morning, Hai Xiya got up early, dressed warmly, said goodbye to his wife and granddaughter, went to the outer courtyard to say hello to his cousin and old friends, and hurried back to the Ministry of Revenue.

Since grandpa was not at home and grandma had housework to do, Haitang took over the task and discussed with her cousin uncle Xie Wenzai about renting a house to set up a school.

She wanted to know how big the school the three elders wanted to run, and what kind of requirements they had for the location, scale, and layout of the school. Knowing the situation in advance would help her make a targeted plan.

Xie Wenzai, Cao Gengyun and Lu Bainian all expressed their ideas, but Haitang felt that they seemed a little absent-minded. She didn't know what was bothering their minds and they seemed a little undecided. They told her not to worry, just slowly inquire about the place and not to spend too much money.

Haitang didn't understand what was going on with them. After observing them for a whole day, she still couldn't guess the answer, so she went to her cousin uncle Xie Wenzai in the evening to ask.

Xie Wenzai was surprised: "Is it so obvious? The three of us seem to be uneasy today?"

Haitang nodded: "Although you seem to be behaving normally and speaking logically, others may have noticed something is wrong, but I have talked to you all face to face, so I can naturally find something wrong. Uncle, what happened? Is it because you three haven't discussed this matter in the school yet and have different opinions?"

Xie Wenzai smiled and said, "It's normal to have disagreements. Give us some more time and we will reach a consensus. We will tell you when we have a result. You don't have to worry. The three of us will probably have to rely on the academy for the rest of our lives, so we have to be cautious in everything and hope to do what we want. We have different personalities and preferences, so it's normal for us to have different ideas."

Haitang thought about it and decided not to ask any more questions. She was just curious: "Uncle, I heard yesterday that the Lu family is not doing well. What happened?"

Xie Wenzai did not hide it from her and told her what Cao Gengyun had heard. Haitang compared it with Wang Xiaoqing's statement and found that they were similar, so she had an idea.

She said, "To be honest, although the Lu family would rather give up Grandpa Lu and follow the Sun family, their family has never been successful so far, and it is estimated that they are not a powerful force among the Sun faction. Why would the Sun family ask for help when digging the tunnel? Is there no one more capable and reliable than the Lu family among the Sun family's relatives and friends?"

Xie Wenzai said, "It must be because the house of the Lu family is right on the route of the tunnel dug by his family? The owner of the house was exiled early, and the house was lent to a younger generation of the same family to study. The playboy only used the excuse of studying to stay away from home. In fact, he went out to have sex every night, so it is possible that he did not notice the movement in the backyard. But the playboy did not live in the house alone, he also had servants. Even if he did not notice the movement under the backyard, did his servants not notice it? The Lu family really cannot escape responsibility for this matter. It is possible that their family really did not know, or they may have guessed something, but chose to conceal it because of the power of the Sun family, or they wanted to curry favor with them. Now that this matter has been discovered by the cabinet, if they cannot find evidence to prove their innocence, they will definitely be implicated."

Xie Wenzai had no sympathy for the Lu family, but was worried that the Lu family would bring trouble to his good friend Lu Bainian. He really didn't expect that the matter would evolve to this point. At the beginning, he told his good friend Tao Nanshan the secret that the son of the Grand Secretary was digging a tunnel next to the Sun family, just to remind the latter not to choose the wrong queen and give the Sun family a chance to regain power again by relying on the relationship with the in-laws. Unexpectedly, the Sun family was also digging tunnels, and covered up the mistakes made by the son of the Grand Secretary.

However, as long as the Sun family can be made more guilty and have no hope of turning things around, this little problem is nothing. Xie Wenzai plans to go to the Tao family tomorrow to see if he can meet Tao Nanshan and find out the details. Thinking of this, Xie Wenzai said to Haitang: "If you have any questions about your homework these days, put them aside for now. I will come to answer them for you in two days when I am free. Your Grandpa Cao has to go home, and your Grandpa Lu is concerned about his family. I am afraid he doesn't have the time to teach you. Don't disturb them for now. Come to me first if you have any questions."

Haitang agreed and paused, "Is Grandpa Cao not used to living at home? Will he move back in the future? You and Grandpa Lu each occupy a room, which is quite spacious at present, but if Grandpa Cao is added, it seems a bit crowded. Why don't I have someone clean up the opposite wing as well?"

Xie Wenzai waved his hand and said, "Don't bother. The Cao family will leave Beijing soon, and then Old Cao will move back to live with us, but that's only temporary. The three of us will move out sooner or later, so there's no need to mess around at home. The weather is cold now, so the three of us can squeeze into a big kang, which is warm and convenient for us to talk at night. When spring comes and the flowers bloom, the school will probably be ready. By then, we'll each have our own room. Are you still worried that we won't be comfortable?"

Since he said so, Haitang had no choice but to agree with a smile, and then asked: "Should we send someone to the Lu family to get some information?" She could ask Zhang Lurong to do this, and she thought the latter would be able to find out a lot of inside information from the Jinyiwei.

Xie Wenzai hesitated for a moment and said, "Forget it. I will go to the Tao family to inquire. If your brother in the Jinyiwei hears about this, he will also pay attention to it. Your second uncle in the imperial court will also get the news. You don't have to get involved. This is a major case involving treason, and you can't just ask about it casually."

Haitang responded obediently.

The next morning, Xie Wenzai left the house early. Not long after, someone from the Cao family came to ask Cao Gengyun to go back. He had been staying at the Hai family for two days, and the family was very worried, worried that the old man would abandon them before their future was settled. Cao Gengyun was very annoyed, and he was thinking that his unfilial children and grandchildren still had some connections to help him find out about the Lu family, so he said goodbye to his good friend and followed his children and grandchildren back home, cursing.

Lu Bainian was able to stay at home. He started packing his luggage again, and also looked up books, thinking about how to establish a school, what kind of students to accept, and what courses to teach in the future.

Haitang saw that he was busy and did not seem to be depressed or sad because of family affairs. He had normal meals and sleep every day, so she felt much more at ease. Although her uncle Xie Wenzai told her that she had to hurry up and take care of the school, she still sent Zhang Lurong to contact the nearby real estate brokers as soon as possible to inquire about the rental and sale of houses in various districts. She even inquired about the qualifications required to run a school, the procedures required, and the daily operating costs. For this, Zhang Lurong wore out a pair of shoes, and got a new pair of leather boots and two high-quality red envelopes from the Hai family. He was very happy and felt that this job couldn't be better. The work was easy to do and the rewards were high.

During this period, Hai Changan took a day off and went home to rest. However, he did not bring any new information, and he did not know much about the Lu family. He only knew that the Sun family's tunnel network was exposed, and more people believed that his family was involved in treason. If there was no guilty conscience, who would dig a tunnel under their own house for no reason and consider the escape route early?

Sun Ge Lao had to file a memorial to defend himself, claiming that he had no knowledge of the incident and that it was his clan members who took the blame. Sun Yongping's wife brought her family into Sun Yongbai's home to question his parents and wife. Sun Yongbai's wife committed suicide in anger and reportedly left a confession letter admitting the crime. Sun Yongbai's family acquiesced to the incident while handling the funeral and did not defend their dead daughter-in-law. Sun Yongbai in prison also said nothing and did not make a fuss after hearing the news. He was strangely quiet.