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

Chapter 875 Gossip
Jin Jiashu left with a few guards and the messenger from the capital.

The luggage he brought from Chang'an, the coffins of his family members, the remaining followers, guards, and others, along with the convoy responsible for transporting the coffins, were all handed over to his teacher Xie Wenzai and his neighbor Hai Xiya. Xie and Hai each sent an follower to assist, and the Jin family's team operated normally and continued to move towards the capital with the main force.

Haitang has learned the truth from Jin Jiashu, and knows that the elders in the family have already agreed to Jin Jiashu's proposal. However, in order to prevent any changes in the future and prevent their marriage from failing, which would affect Haitang's reputation, they kept it secret for the time being, even to herself, to prevent her mood from being affected.

Haitang could understand her family's concerns, and knew that they were just using their own way to protect her. Although she didn't agree with it in her heart, she still respected their decision. They wanted to pretend that nothing happened, so she pretended not to know. The Hai and Jin families were very familiar with each other, and Jin Jiashu and she often interacted with each other. Since her family didn't tell her that they had already arranged a marriage between her and Jin Jiashu, she simply mentioned him openly in front of others, and her words were just about worrying about the neighbor's brother or his friend. In this way, she would have fewer obstacles if she wanted to find out about Jin Jiashu.

Hai Xiya, Ma and Xie Wenzai were also a little embarrassed. They didn't know Haitang knew about it, and they just thought she was open-minded and selfless, so they naturally asked about the news. In the past, they would never hide anything from her and would answer any questions she asked. Now, if they suddenly kept silent, wouldn't it seem very strange? The key is that if Haitang "felt strange", she would not remain silent, but would turn around and ask others, ask Hu, or ask Cao Gengyun and Lu Bainian. In this way, there would be a big commotion.

Hai Xiya and Xie Wenzai didn't mind telling the truth to Cao and Lu, but Ma didn't want too many people to know. They had no choice but to continue to answer Haitang's questions to save her from asking others. Haitang successfully got the information she wanted, so she naturally wouldn't make a fuss and alarm others.

Then she found out that Jin Jiashu rode at full speed and arrived in the capital in less than two days. He made some adjustments in the rented house and entered the palace early the next morning. He never came out again. It was said that he went to the Eastern Palace to accompany the crown prince.

Up to this point, no bad news had come from the palace, but the morning court had been suspended for more than ten days. The cabinet ministers and the six ministers entered the palace every day, and their faces were very solemn when they came out.

Various rumors were flying around, and the royal family was also ready to make a move. Several royal families were clamoring to come to the palace to pay respects, but the Queen Mother Zhou sent people out of the palace to reprimand them, and they finally calmed down. However, the Queen Mother still invited two old uncles to come to the palace to take charge, and I wonder if they wanted to witness something.

Prince Ji had just suppressed his brothers and sisters and gained the upper hand in the fight for the position of the crown prince. Upon hearing the news, he could not help jumping up and down, saying that if the emperor was seriously ill and needed the royal family to come to the palace to take charge, how could he not be summoned as the emperor's flesh and blood? Prince Ji and Prince An also supported him, saying that they were all brothers of the emperor and were more qualified to visit the palace than the old uncle. Even if Queen Mother Zhou reprimanded them again, they had no intention of stopping and still stirred up public opinion outside the palace.

With their instigation, the news of the emperor's serious illness spread quickly in the capital. Even the old ministers who were recuperating at home could not help but come forward and wrote letters requesting to see the emperor. Among them was, of course, Lord Sun, who had just been kicked out of the cabinet a few months ago and claimed that he had been recuperating at home.

Led by the father and son of Sun Ge Lao, the followers of the Sun faction also began to write letters to the Imperial Hospital, asking them to explain what happened to the emperor. There were rumors that the crown prince had murdered the emperor and poisoned him. Is this true? Otherwise, the emperor had been fine before and could attend court normally. How could he suddenly become ill? Is there any conspiracy here? Empress Dowager Zhou has always favored Consort Xu and the crown prince. Could she be in cahoots with them?

The Sun faction officials had been wavering before. As soon as they showed signs of leaning towards the emperor and the crown prince, someone quickly jumped out to disrupt the situation, causing them to have a grudge against the crown prince as a whole again. Now they have chosen to go all the way and oppose the crown prince to the end. Of course, the methods of Sun Ge Lao and Sun Yongping, father and son, are indispensable. However, there are still people who cherish their lives among the Sun faction officials. Empress Dowager Zhou claimed that the rumors were too much, and summoned a senior former Shangshu and current university scholar from the Sun faction to the palace. After leaving the palace, the latter quickly stopped the people of the same party. No matter how the Sun family instigated, he refused to help spread the rumors. It is said that it was because he met the emperor himself and was scolded by the emperor.

Not all Sun faction officials were as arrogant as the Sun family father and son, who did not take the emperor's ideas seriously. He met the emperor himself and knew that although the emperor's condition worsened, he was still conscious and able to issue orders, so he knew that the rumors were unreliable. He also met the cabinet members and the two old uncles of the royal family. With their presence as witnesses, the Sun faction's attempt to throw dirty water on the crown prince would not work at all. The Sun family father and son wanted to die, so why should they follow them?
Everyone was attached to the Sun family for the sake of profit, but now that the profit is gone, it is natural for them to go their separate ways. As long as the new monarch does not intend to pursue them in the future, they can stop while they are ahead. Even if they are not as prosperous as they are now, at least they can continue to be officials, and their descendants can continue to pursue their careers. Who is not a high-ranking official, rich and powerful? Who does not have a large family behind him? Do they really want to take their entire family and follow the Sun family father and son to their death?
More than half of the Sun faction officials calmed themselves down and quickly drew a line between themselves and the Sun family father and son. Sun Ge Lao did not go out, and it was unknown what he was thinking, but Sun Yongping was so angry that he cursed people in the street, and his curses were very ugly. Several Sun faction loyalists also surrounded him and helped him find a way to get him into the palace to see Concubine Sun. They always believed that something must have happened to the emperor, and if they could not find a way out for the Sun family before the emperor passed away, they would definitely be retaliated by the crown prince.

Some people also went to see Prince Ji, believing that he was the only candidate who could replace the crown prince. However, no matter how they encouraged him, Prince Ji could not enter the palace. Although Prince Ji and Prince An were also jumping up and down, their words and deeds never crossed the line. They always claimed to care about the emperor, but they would never rush to the palace gate, and they stopped Prince Ji from doing so. Therefore, although there were some minor chaos in the royal family, there was no major chaos, and they could not provide assistance to Prince Ji. He could do nothing except scolding people at home and jumping up and down in anxiety.

However, he cursed too harshly at home, and the Crown Prince's Consort Sun couldn't stand it, so she simply returned to her parents' home with her entourage.

However, the Sun family currently hoped to ease relations with Prince Ji and did not want the princess to come into conflict with him, so they sent her back to Prince Ji's mansion that night.

Prince Ji quarreled with the Crown Princess again and they parted on bad terms again.

Various rumors in the capital were passed on to the team entering the capital. The Hai family and Xie, Cao, and Lu learned about the news mainly through letters from their families and old friends from Wumen. The imperial guards had their own information channels, and even the caravans and convoys had their own sources of information. The closer they got to the capital, the more chaotic the information they received. There were no more people chatting about family matters in the team. When they were traveling during the day and resting at night, they gathered in groups of three or four to discuss the situation in the capital.

At noon four days later, the team arrived in the capital two days earlier than originally expected. Hai Jiao and Hai Chang'an, who had received the news in advance, asked for leave and came to the city gate to greet them. Relatives were naturally overjoyed to see each other.

Haitang lifted the car curtain and looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar city wall not far ahead, with the corners of her mouth slightly raised.

She is finally back.