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

Chapter 709 Reasons
Jin Jiashu was in a dilemma.

In fact, he now trusts the Hai brothers and sisters more than anyone else. When Hai Jiao is not around, he feels that it is the same to talk to Hai Tang. The Hai brothers and sisters are so good to him, and they have no conflict of interest with him, how could they hurt him? Besides, the Hai family is considered to be an old member of the Zhou family of the Zhenguo Mansion, and now they have climbed up to Tao Yue, the elder Tao, and their stance is consistent with that of the Queen Mother Zhou, the Emperor, and Concubine Xu. There is no reason to harm him just because they know his secret.

But Jin Jiashu didn't dare to take the risk.

Except for Jin Wu, almost all the people from the second branch of the Jin family are dead now. The emperor is very determined to silence those who know the secret. If he had not been protected by his biological mother, he would not have escaped. He did not know whether Tao Yue knew the secret of Concubine Xu's life experience, but he knew that the Zhou family of the Duke of Zhenguo Mansion was completely kept in the dark. The Queen Mother Zhou, who knew the secret, concealed such a big thing from her brothers. Could it be that she did not trust the Duke of Zhenguo's family? Of course not! It must be because she did not want the Duke of Zhenguo Mansion, which was already suspected, to be feared by the emperor again.

If the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion is like this, how can the Hai family be considered a respectable family?
Jin Jiashu was willing to share his secret with the Hai brothers and sisters, but he was afraid that if the news leaked out, the emperor or the empress dowager would harm the Hai brothers and sisters. He only wanted to share the future wealth and bright future with the Hai brothers and sisters, but he never wanted to bring them harm.

Jin Jiashu wanted to keep this secret forever. He felt even more touched that Sister Hai was so considerate of his difficulties and did not ask any more questions. However, if he wanted to continue discussing with Haitang the risks that Jin Wu's visit to Beijing would bring to Concubine Xu, this secret seemed unavoidable. If Haitang did not know the truth, how could she help him think of a way to deal with it?

Jin Jiashu remained silent. Haitang pretended not to notice his dilemma and continued to stare at the table.

It wasn't that she had to force him to tell the secret, and she didn't want to get herself into trouble. But he had to give her a reason so that she, an outsider who "didn't know the inside story", could continue the discussion and deduce a possible solution. She really hoped to be able to help, but that would also require Jin Jiashu to set up the ladder for her!

Forget it, since he can't figure it out, she will guide his thinking a little.

Haitang reached out and grabbed a piece of white paper, and began to grind ink and write: "Let's analyze it. Now that the Sun family has Jin Wu as a witness, what reasons will they use to harm Madam Xu? They can no longer question the Eighth Prince's qualifications to be the crown prince. That is meaningless. The emperor will not listen to them, and the court officials will not agree with them. So... this game should not be set up against the Eighth Prince."

Jin Jiashu came back to his senses. "Yes, Brother Hai discussed this with me. We also mentioned this in the back garden last time. The Sun family should want to take action against my aunt so as to deprive her of the power to intervene in government affairs in the future, and at the same time force out the Queen Mother Zhou who recommended her, so that the cabinet can fully assist the new emperor. And Lord Sun took the opportunity to reach a deal with the emperor. If he doesn't cause trouble, the emperor can't take his power. He can continue to be the chief minister in the cabinet, and then train his own sons and nephews to take over, so that the Sun family can be in power for a long time."

Haitang wrote the words "force the Queen Mother to retreat" on the paper: "Generally speaking, what kind of reasons can force the Queen Mother and the Grand Queen Mother back to the harem, so that they can no longer rule behind the scenes or interfere in government affairs? Queen Mother Zhou is from a famous family and is highly respected, but she is old and should be living a life of honor and dignity, so let's not talk about it for now. Madam Xu is still young and the mother of the Eighth Prince. I heard that she is well-educated and sensible, and is not an ignorant woman who can't handle a big responsibility. What reason can Lord Sun use to prohibit the Queen Mother from asking questions about government affairs when the new emperor is still young?" She showed a thoughtful expression, "If this reason requires the use of Jin Wu, it can't be to use the fact that the second branch of the Jin family knew the Xu family in the past to slander the daughter of the Xu family for having some unknown hidden illness, such as going crazy or something?"

Of course, a crazy queen mother cannot interfere in state affairs. However, Concubine Xu is clear-headed and behaves normally in front of others. Who can throw this dirty water on her head? Besides, the second branch of the Jin family has no relationship with the Xu family. They are just cousins ​​of the husband of the eldest daughter of the Xu family, and they are not familiar with the Xu family. It is too far-fetched to say that they know the secrets of the Xu family that relatives and friends are not aware of. Of course, no one will believe this statement. But it doesn't matter if no one believes it. Haitang is just giving an example to let Jin Jiashu know what kind of "reason" she needs.

Sure enough, Jin Jiashu, who was a smart man who had studied hard for less than five years and was able to take part in the provincial examination and almost pass the exam, quickly understood Haitang's thinking and came up with a reasonable new "reason": "My aunt always wrote to me to report good news but not bad news. But Ma Ma, who had correspondence with her old sisters, once mentioned that since my aunt was made a concubine, there have been many rumors in the palace slandering her, all spread by Concubine Sun and Concubine Lu. Some said that she was a lowly slave and unworthy of being the mother of the prince. Others said that she was the descendant of a death row prisoner and was of humble origin.

"However, the Emperor has already stated that she is the daughter of a scholar. Although her family background is not prominent, she is also a good daughter of an honest family. Even though she was kidnapped when she was a child, she entered the Cheng'en Marquis's mansion when she was just over ten years old and was taught the rules by the Cheng'en Marquis's wife. This cannot be considered a bad family background. In recent years, there have been fewer rumors that belittle my aunt's family background. Only Concubine Sun would call her a "slut" when she was angry. But every concubine in the palace has been scolded by her, even Concubine Zhang Gong was not immune, so it was nothing."

Concubine Zhang Gong was born into the Zhang family, a family of imperial relatives. Her ancestors had produced the empress dowager and the queen mother, and had married princesses. She was connected to the royal bloodline and was of higher birth than Concubine Sun. Concubine Sun called her a "slut", which in disguise devalued the bloodline of the previous emperor and the emperor. This was not a rational term. It was one thing that the emperor had no intention of pursuing Concubine Sun, but others would not think that the person who was scolded by Concubine Sun was really a "slut". They would only think that she was venting her anger.

Jin Jiashu sighed and developed the "reason" to an even more extreme point: "In recent years, Concubine Sun has come up with a new story, accusing the Empress Dowager of colluding with the Cheng'en Marquisate, deliberately buying girls from brothels and having the madams teach them how to seduce people, and then sending them to the palace to seduce the king. She said that my aunt was such a girl, even if she was the daughter of a scholar, so what? She could not be called innocent after falling into the hands of a kidnapper."

Haitang raised her eyebrows: "That's too disgusting." According to the life story that the emperor made up for Concubine Xu, she was indeed kidnapped by a kidnapper, and was indeed bought by the Cheng'en Marquisate, and was indeed sent to the palace to serve the Queen Mother, and then was favored by the emperor and made a concubine... Even if the Queen Mother Zhou and the Cheng'en Marquisate insisted that all this was a coincidence, they could not wash away the suspicion of "deliberateness". Even the emperor was regarded as a tyrant who was obsessed with beauty, and his image was damaged. As for the future mother of the crown prince who was involved in a brothel, of course she had no right to ask about state affairs!

Haitang didn't know whether Jin Jiashu had made up this story or whether Concubine Sun had spread this rumor, but this was a suitable "reason". She continued to make up stories along this line of thought: "How can the Sun family prove this rumor? They even need to use Jin Wu... Could they also say that when the second branch of the Jin family was in the capital, they met Concubine Xu in a brothel or something like that?"

Jin Jiashu blinked and said hurriedly, "Maybe! Anyway, my parents are dead, so they wouldn't mind throwing dirty water on them, saying that my mother, a lady of a juren, would bring her family to brothels to look for my father, a dissolute husband, and then make up a drama that my mother and my aunt met unexpectedly..."

"Then how are they going to prove their words?" Haitang tilted her head, "Evidence? Physical evidence? Without evidence, it's just nonsense!"

(End of this chapter)