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

Chapter 873 Before departure
Jin Jiashu came and left in a hurry.

Although he was confident that the two elders of the Hai family and his mentor would not refuse him, Jin Jiashu still couldn't help but tears in his eyes when he saw Hai Xiya and Xie Wenzai readily nod and say they would help.

He now has someone who cares for him and loves him, and is no longer that helpless and pitiful person.

Having someone to rely on does not make him weak. On the contrary, he will only tell himself to become stronger as soon as possible, because he also wants to be relied upon by those who truly care about him.

As they had to set out early tomorrow morning and ride fast, Jin Jiashu needed to go to bed and get up early to get enough rest, so he didn't dare to delay in the post station. He stood in the front yard of the post station, saying goodbye to his teacher Xie Wenzai and Hai Xiya, and his eyes drifted towards the direction of the yard where the Hai family lived several times. After hesitating for a long time, he still didn't dare to say that he wanted to see Sister Hai.

Xie Wenzai quickly noticed his hesitation, but said nothing.

Hai Xiya was very friendly and expressed his willingness to deliver a message for him, asking him if he had anything to leave for Haitang.

Jin Jiashu had a lot to say to Haitang, but at least 90% of it couldn't be known to the elders, so how could he let Hai Xiya pass on this message? He could only ask his future father-in-law to say goodbye to Haitang on his behalf, and then told himself in his heart that he and Hai sister would only need to be separated for a few days, and when the Hai family arrived in the capital in a few days, he would be able to see Hai sister again, so there was no need to rush.

Jin Jiashu reluctantly left the post station. He would leave directly tomorrow morning and would not come to the post station to say goodbye. Xie Wenzai sent his long-time attendant Wang Defa to accompany him back to the inn to hand over the coffin escort team so that he could take over the next escort work. Hai Xiya also sent Qiu Baisheng, who was familiar with the affairs of the capital, to help Wang Defa. With these two people, Jin Jiashu did not have to worry about his family's coffins and could leave with peace of mind.

Hai Xiya sent Jin Jiashu away and returned to his room. He told his wife and granddaughter the news and sent a message for Jin Jiashu: "Tangtang, your elder brother Jin asked grandpa to apologize to you. He said he had to leave first and didn't have time to say goodbye. Please don't be offended."

Haitang was thinking about what impact Emperor Deguang's sudden critical illness would have on the situation. She suddenly heard her grandfather's words and smiled nonchalantly, "What's the big deal? Of course, the matter of Empress Xu is more important. Anyway, we can meet again after we come to Beijing." But she was regretting in her heart. It was a pity that she didn't get to meet Jin Jiashu and ask him what news the envoy from Beijing brought. It was really inconvenient!
Although she could meet Jin Jiashu again after entering the capital, it would be difficult for him to leave the palace if he entered the palace, not to mention that if something happened to Emperor Deguang, the palace would hold a funeral, and if he needed to be with the new emperor, he would be even less available. When he was free to meet her again, who knew when it would be?
If Emperor Deguang passed away, it would be a national mourning. I wonder how long the minor officials would have to observe national mourning?
Haitang thought about her eldest cousin's appearance and her marriage with Jin Jiashu...then she thought about Hai Xiya's new position after coming to Beijing.

She reminded her grandparents: "If something happens to the emperor, the court will have to observe a national mourning period. Will grandpa's new position be affected?"

"Hmm..." Hai Xiya pondered for a moment, and seeing his wife Ma showing a worried look, he hurriedly said, "It's okay. Even if the officials of the court have to observe mourning, there is no reason for them not to work. My appointment has been arranged long ago, and Tao Ge Lao will give instructions, so you don't have to worry."

Haitang said, "Even if the appointment documents have been issued long ago, if the heads of the Ministry of Revenue have gone to the palace to mourn, who should Grandpa report to when he takes office? What affairs will he be responsible for after taking office, and who should arrange them?"

Hai Xiya frowned, thinking that this matter really needed to be carefully considered.

Ma said, "In that case, let's hurry up and get to the capital as soon as possible tomorrow. If we can take office before the old emperor passes away, it will be the safest thing to do."

Hai Xiya thought about it and nodded, "Let's do it." The three of them washed up and went to bed. The next morning, Haitang got up at dawn, washed and dressed quickly, and walked out of the yard.

She was thinking of going out under the pretext of hiring someone to buy breakfast, but at the entrance of the post station she saw Jin Jiashu riding a horse and running towards her from the east inn. When he saw her, a look of joy immediately appeared on his face.

Seeing that there were no people around, Haitang hurried forward and said, "Why are you here? Didn't you say last night that you would leave directly this morning and not come to say goodbye? I was just thinking about whether I should find an excuse to go to the inn to see you off."

Hai Xiya smiled and got off the horse. His movements were much more agile than a few months ago and he was no longer clumsy as before. It was obvious that his riding skills had improved greatly after two long journeys between Chang'an and the capital.

He led the horse to Haitang and said, "The inn is far away. It's too much trouble for you to walk there. I told the others that after thinking about it, I decided to say goodbye to the teacher, so I came here. But I can't stay for long, I have to go now."

Haitang said, "Our family has also decided to speed up and rush to the capital as soon as possible. The emperor is seriously ill. If anything happens to him, there will be a national mourning, which will definitely affect my grandfather's new position. If he can officially take office before the national mourning, it will be much easier for him later."

Jin Jiashu nodded, "That's fine. The emperor... should be able to hold on for a few more days. But my aunt doesn't think things are going well, and she hopes I can return to the capital as soon as possible. She needs a reliable confidant to stay with the crown prince all the time to prevent anyone from taking advantage of the chaos to commit crimes. Although the crown prince has the Seventh Prince by his side, he is weak after all, and he still needs the Eighth Prince to take care of him. As for the guards in the palace, the emperor and my aunt are still not sure whether the Sun family has planted spies among them. Every time they think they have cleared the palace, new minions of the Sun family will emerge to do bad things, and they can't help but be suspicious."

Haitang blinked and lowered her voice: "The emperor will take care of the affairs in the palace. If the emperor can't, there are still the empress dowager and Madam Xu. You don't have to worry about it. You just need to protect the new emperor. As long as the new emperor succeeds to the throne smoothly, there will be no big chaos in the court. The Sun family has no military power, and a few private soldiers alone can't accomplish anything."

Jin Jiashu nodded: "When I first arrived in Chang'an last month, I wanted to send someone back to the capital to report that I was safe, and to write a letter to my aunt, reminding her that the private soldiers of the Sun family should be dealt with as soon as possible. As long as these minions are gone, even if the Sun family has the intention of rebellion, they can't do anything. We can't expect the father and son of the Sun family or their relatives who have been pampered for decades to fight with others. Unfortunately, the letter was not sent out at that time. The guards who protected me back to Chang'an said that I would only stay in Chang'an for a few days and would return, so there was no need to send someone back to the capital to report the news. The Zhenguogong Mansion would pass the news back, and the emperor and my aunt would know that I was safe. What he said made sense, so I didn't insist. I didn't expect..."

Unexpectedly, when he returned to the capital, the emperor was already dying. Who would have the leisure to attack the Sun family's private soldiers? He could only find a chance to remind Tao Ge Lao. As for whether Tao Ge Lao could take care of it, it depended on luck.

Jin Jiashu sighed, "What bad luck! If I had known this would happen, I should have insisted on sending someone back to Beijing to deliver the letter!"

However, Haitang felt that since the people who escorted Jin Jiashu back to Chang'an were from the Imperial Guard, they were naturally following the imperial edict. Unlike Guard Lin, who had a teacher-student relationship with Jin Jiashu for several years, they might not necessarily obey Jin Jiashu's orders. Being willing to explain the reasons to Jin Jiashu was already giving him a lot of face.

Haitang smiled and said, "It's okay. The Sun family's private soldiers have been suppressed by the Northwest Border Army several times. There are only a few people left. Even if they are not arrested, they can't do anything. You go back to the capital to protect the new emperor, and others will take care of the rest."

(End of this chapter)