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

Chapter 1102 Case closed
The news of the fire at Sun's house spread quickly throughout the capital, stealing the limelight from the Lantern Festival.

No matter if they were officials or nobles or common people, anyone who knew the news had no time to enjoy the lanterns and celebrate the festival. It was said that even the Lantern Festival in the palace was hastily concluded. Although several major lantern festivals in the inner and outer cities were held as usual, they were much less lively than in previous years.

After the Lantern Festival, all government offices reopened and officials resumed their court work, and more people began to talk about the fire at the Sun family.

During the New Year, Hai Changan and his wife interacted with their neighbors several times and became familiar with each other. The two daughters-in-law of the neighboring family found an excuse to talk to Mrs. Hu. The three of them chatted about the fire and couldn't help scolding Little Sun for being unfilial and vicious. However, Lord Sun was once a person who had angered the public. When the two daughters-in-law of the neighboring family talked about his fate, they also felt that it was retribution: more than ten years ago, Queen Wu, the third prince, and the entire Wu family died in a fire during the New Year. The arsonist was related to the Sun family. Now Lord Sun and his granddaughter also died in a fire during the New Year. It can be seen that there is karma in this world!
The Lantern Festival has not yet passed, so how come the 14th and 15th of the first lunar month are not considered part of the New Year?

Hu also had complaints about the Sun family. Seeing her two new friends saying so, she naturally actively agreed with them, saying many words about karma and retribution, and mentioned that the rest of the Sun family would also have a bad ending. The two daughters-in-law of the neighboring family heard this and felt that she was a kindred spirit who was very compatible with their temperaments. They visited her more often. When they had free time, they would just send her some tea and snacks. Once they heard some gossip, they would send their trusted maids to pass on the message.

Mrs. Hu carefully controlled her words. Even if she heard some rumors in the palace from her husband Hai Chang'an, she never revealed anything that should not be revealed. She only shared gossip from other places with her new friend. The relationship between the two sides was very harmonious. Not long after, Mrs. Hu heard that the old man next door was going to retire and return home. Both sons were going to be sent out to gain experience. Naturally, this house in the capital had to be sold.

This was exactly what Hai Changan and the Hu couple wanted. However, the matter had not yet begun, so they had to plan carefully and try to take over the neighboring house in one fell swoop.

Not to mention how my second uncle and second aunt dealt with their neighbors. After the Begonia Festival, when they were at home and saw off Mother Li and her two children, they had nothing to do and often asked their brother Haijiao or several elders for news about the fire at the Sun family.

When Xiao Sun went to Yingchuan Marquis's mansion to look for the prince, her actions were not secretive, and within two days someone leaked the news. Public opinion soon began to suspect that Xiao Sun had encountered some setbacks in her search for her old love, which led to her anger and arson.

The son of the Marquis of Yingchuan did not show up, but when the Marquis of Yingchuan was in court, he apologized to the new emperor in front of all the ministers, admitting that Xiao Sun had come to look for his son, but was stopped by the couple. No one in the Marquis of Yingchuan's mansion mocked or neglected Xiao Sun, and no one spoke ill of her, but just politely asked her to leave.

Even if she had been engaged to the Marquis of Yingchuan before marriage, it had been annulled long ago. Now the Marquis of Yingchuan has a wife and children, a successful career, and is loyal to the emperor and the country. How could he have anything to do with Xiao Sun, whose family and husband's family were involved in the rebellion? If the news got out, how would he face the world? How would he face his parents, wife and children at home?
The couple of Yingchuan Marquis also knew that Xiao Sun was driven out by her husband's family and could only return to her parents' home to serve her grandfather. Her situation was pitiful, so they did not mean to embarrass her, but just asked her not to come again. The prince obeyed his parents' orders and avoided his ex-fiancée, and the prince's wife had to obey the arrangements of her parents-in-law and husband. As for why Xiao Sun quarreled with her grandfather after returning home and why she set fire to the house in the middle of the night, they did not know.

Marquis Yingchuan frankly told the story of what happened that day, leaving all the ministers speechless. Even the diehard Sun Faction members who were most loyal to Lord Sun secretly did not think that there was anything wrong with what Marquis Yingchuan and his wife did. The Zeng family and the Sun family had a feud before, and Little Sun was in such a position now. As a married man, it was right for the Marquis Yingchuan’s son to avoid seeing her. Marquis Yingchuan and his wife loved their son very much, and did not want their son’s reputation and future to be affected by others. They did not give Little Sun a cold look, but just politely asked her to leave. If it were any other minister in the court, they would have the same attitude when Little Sun came to their house, and most of them were not as friendly as Marquis Yingchuan’s mansion!
Even if some of them still regard Lord Sun as a political leader, they would not flirt with Lord Sun's granddaughter in public at their doorstep. If they want to meet, communicate, exchange information, and plan for the future... they have to avoid being seen by others!

The original reason for this was that Xiao Sun acted inappropriately. Why couldn't she just stay at her parents' home and serve her grandfather? Why did she go to find her ex-fiancé who had long been her enemy? Could it be that she wanted to rekindle her relationship with the Prince of Yingchuan? With such an idea, where would the dignity of the royal family be placed? ! Even though her late husband, the former Prince of Ji, had been deposed as a commoner, he was still of royal blood!

Even if she lost her status as a royal wife, she was in a difficult situation. It was not impossible for her to remarry and get rid of her status as a criminal. The court law did not stipulate that the wives of officials could not remarry, and the clan office would not care whether a commoner's wife should remain chaste. It was expected that the Ji Wang Mansion had kicked her out and would not care about her marriage. But why did she set her sights on the son of Yingchuan Marquis? He was already a married man. Did she want to be a concubine or a mistress? Either way, it would make Sun Ge Lao lose face and the Sun faction's followers lose face...

For a time, the voices criticizing Xiao Sun became even louder. Everyone believed that Xiao Sun was the culprit of the fire. Elder Sun died in humiliation, but it was also his fault for not teaching his granddaughter well. Xiao Sun was unfilial, and Elder Sun had to pay the consequences. They were the ones who suffered from their own actions, and it was God's will. It would be best if no outsiders were held responsible for this.

The case of the Sun family fire was quickly concluded. Except for the officers and soldiers stationed outside the Sun Mansion who were demoted one level and retained for dereliction of duty, no one was punished.

The ruins of the burned main courtyard of the Sun Mansion have not been cleaned up yet. Several old servants who were released in the early years have just collected the bones of their former master, and they have regained their freedom and returned home. The coffins of the Sun family and their grandson were placed in a government-backed charity house, waiting for follow-up arrangements, and no one paid attention to them for the time being. As for how to deal with this large piece of clan land of the Sun family in the future, it depends on the new monarch. There are rumors from the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works that this piece of land located in the center of the inner city may be confiscated by the government, and rebuilt into official residences in the future, or used for other purposes. Anyway, the living people of the Sun family are either serving their sentences in prison, waiting to be exiled in the spring or beheaded in the autumn, or they were escorted back to their hometowns before the New Year. They don’t care so much.

As soon as the case of the Sun Mansion fire was over, the interrogation of the Sun family's cases also became more efficient. Whether it was the Sun family's former allies or political enemies, they all tacitly accelerated the process of closing the case. After all, Sun Ge Lao himself was dead, and many people had fewer concerns in their hearts and could act boldly.

The capital city also officially welcomed the first spring of the new reign title "Chongming" after the new emperor ascended the throne.