Translator – Xiao He Lian
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Chapter 85
The residence of Minister Sun.
Madam Sun picked up the cooked soup and walked to the study in the southwest corner as usual.
Sun Zhengquan lowered his head, staring at the letter in his hand in a daze. The creaking sound of the door disrupted his thoughts.
“How many days have you not slept? Are you risking your life to be the Minister of Works?” Madam Sun reached out and poked his shoulder.
“Shu’er.” Sun Zhengquan took her hand.
Madam Sun looked into his dark eyes, and the messy white hair on his temple and froze. She could not remember how many years it had been since he called her like this.
After all, they had been married for many years and her heart sank for no apparent reason.
“Thank you for your hard work.” Sun Zhengquan looked up at her and smiled. The wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were gathered together, showing his old age.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Sun Zhengquan looked at her for a long time, his eyes turning slightly red. After a while, he said in a deep voice, “You go out first.”
Madam Sun’s hands trembled slightly. “Did something happen?”
“Nothing, someone is coming to see me soon.” Sun Zhengquan said.
“Who would come to see you this late?”
Sun Zhengquan waved his hand, “People from the Ministry of Industry,”
Madam Sun nodded suspiciously and said slowly, “Then you should go to bed early.”
The sky outside was gloomy and silent. Then there was a loud thunderclap and the rain began to fall. The force of the raindrops hitting the eaves increased, and suddenly it started to rain heavily.
Sun Zhengquan sat in front of the desk, staring at his black hat in a daze.
Suddenly, the sound of shoe soles scraping against the window ledge was heard behind him.
Hearing such a sound at this time, he should have been afraid, but for some reason, his heart, which had been wavering for a lifetime, suddenly became calm, like the surface of a lake in the middle of the night, without wind or ripples.
Sun Zhengquan looked up and saw a man dressed in black and wearing a veil.
This is Eunuch Lou, one of the most capable men around Empress Xu.
“Lord Sun.” Eunuch Lou nodded.
“Eunuch Lou showed up here so late at night, what’s your intention?”
Eunuch Lou did not say much, but handed him a letter, “Lord Sun, just take a look and you will know.”
Sun Zhengquan took it, opened it slowly, and as he read it, he seemed to suddenly see the cunning eyes of Empress Xu in the letter.
To every move she makes, she always leaves a backup plan, such a sleight of hand made one shudders.
The news of the detention of people by Jingzhao Prefecture had only been spread for one day…but she turned this collusion of using the plague to eradicate dissidents into a plan – the Turks paid a large sum of money to bribe the governor of Luoyang and sent the people infected with the plague to Chang’an, intending to disrupt the order of the Jin Dynasty.
Sun Zhengquan showed a sneer at the corner of his mouth. When Empress Xu decided to use him, she must have thought of this step.
The ninety people who contracted the disease were all picked up by the Sun family.
The broker was also the wife of the old butler who had been by his side for decades.
And all of this has nothing to do with the Sixth Prince and Empress Xu.
Sun Zhengquan slammed the letter on the table. “What does Her Majesty mean? Are you going to destroy the bridge after crossing it?”
Eunuch Lou said, “The Empress wants me to tell you that you were deceived and your crime is dereliction of duty, not conspiracy. According to the laws of the Jin Dynasty, you will not be punished or hanged, but will be exiled 2,000 miles away.”
“That’s all? Just exile two thousand miles away?” Sun Zhengquan’s mouth was full of sarcasm.
Although exile is different from the death penalty, just how many people can walk two thousand miles alive?
Eunuch Lou said, “The Empress also said that if Lord Sun has any resentment in his heart, he might as well think about his wife and children.”
Sun Zhengquan suddenly stood up, threw all the soup bowls on the ground and said angrily: “Is she going to do what she did to Shen Wenqi to me too?”
“Lord Sun, please be careful with your words.” Eunuch Lou chuckled and said, “The Shen family has been wronged after all, but your case doesn’t count.” The implication is: Fortune and wealth are achieved through risk, and this path is the one you chose yourself.
Sun Zhengquan fell into the chair and pursed his lips for a long time before he asked, “What else did she say?”
“The Empress promises you that if the Sixth Prince succeeds in the future, she will treat the Sun family well.” After saying what he wanted to say, Eunuch Lou quietly retreated and returned to the palace.
In Anhua Palace, Empress Xu looked at the swirling smoke and fiddled with the teacup with her left hand, and asked softly, “Did the message get through?”
“Your Highness, I have passed on everything word for word.”
Empress Xu closed her eyes and smelled the tea, then said, “That’s it. Sun Zhengquan has his wife and children in mind, so he knows what to do.”
The Sixth Prince clenched his fist and said, “I have already told you that this plan is unacceptable. It’s fine if the Sun family is willing to take the blame this time, but mother, have you ever thought about what if he doesn’t want to? What if he bites back? Wouldn’t that be courting disaster?”
Seeing that Empress Xu did not speak, the Sixth Prince continued, “If the plague continues, I don’t know how many people will lose their lives. I will eventually…”
Before he could finish, Empress Xu raised her hand and slapped him.
“Human lives? Can you take that position without bloodshed? In the defeat against Goguryeo last year, the Duke of Protectorate died on the battlefield, and 100,000 men of our Great Jin died. Are they not human lives?”
“When your Xiao family seized the throne from the previous Emperor Wen, they massacred the entire city. Doesn’t that count as human lives? Your father is old. If something changes one day and the crown prince really takes that position, it will be difficult to take it back. Even if you take it back by force, you will be criticized, the reputation is not righteous, the title is not justified, do you understand?”
“Wolves eat meat wherever they go, and sheep eat grass wherever they go. Son, don’t let me feel that you are not capable of fulfilling your duties.”
The Sixth Prince took a deep breath and said, “Mother, please calm down.”
Empress Xu threw a memorial on his chest and said, “Go to the Hall of administrative affairs and ask the Emperor for permission to go to Yangzhou to combat the epidemic.”
“Mother, the Sun family has a close relationship with the Xu family. After this incident, will the Emperor suspect us?”
“Among those ninety-odd people, more than half are Turks. The evidence of collusion is there. What can he do even if he suspects us? Will your father let the people know that the fight for the throne has caused a plague?”
“I understand.”
After a while, Empress Xu asked again: “Why aren’t you leaving? Why are you staying here?”
“There is one thing I don’t understand. I hope mother can explain it to me.” said the Sixth Prince.
“Tell me.”
“Minister Sun is loyal to mother and me. So why didn’t his mother ask Li Di to do such a dangerous thing instead?”
“What foundation can Li Di, a son of a poor family, have?” Empress Xu paused and said, “Besides, Li Di is a wolf. If this matter is handled by him, even if you threaten the lives of everyone in the Li family, it will be useless.”
The Sixth Prince was silent for a while, then nodded and said, “Mother, please go to bed early. I will be leaving now.”
Empress Xu said “hmm”, then shook her sleeves and said to the eunuch beside her, “Please settle the Sun family well and don’t treat them unfairly.”
——
The sky was pale and a thick white fog gradually rose, covering the entire Chang’an with a gloomy color. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew and the fog flew away and disappeared over the Shangshu Mansion…
After the young eunuch finished reading the imperial edict, Zhou Shu’an led more than seventy personal soldiers to raid the residence of Minister Sun.
The guard rushed into the study, turned around and said sternly: “Master Zhou! The criminal Sun Zhengquan committed suicide and only a confession letter was left on the desk.”
Upon hearing this, Sun Mi’s pupils widened and she rushed into the study screaming, calling out “Father” over and over again, sounding like she was crying and complaining.
Madam Sun fainted on the ground.
In an instant, the female members of the Sun Mansion scurried away with their heads in their hands.
Zhou Shu’an stood in front of the Mansion and whispered, “Is the body intact?”
Chu Yi said: “Yes.”
“Give it to the coroner for an autopsy to see if there are any signs of foul play. If necessary, an autopsy can be performed.”
“How dare you! You are not allowed to touch my father! He is not guilty! He was framed!” Sun Mi roared at Zhou Shu’an with red eyes.
“Take the body away.”
The breeze blew across his handsome and clear face. His expression was the same as his sharp features. He looked at the desolation and fear written all over the faces of the people in front of him without a trace of sympathy.
The cries and shouts in the Dali Temple Prison had never stopped for ten years. Some were imprisoned unjustly, while others brought it upon themselves. He couldn’t even remember how many officials’ mansions he had raided.
Sun Mi walked up to Zhou Shu’an and knelt down, “I beg you, please don’t dissect my father’s body.”
When Sun Mi saw that Sun Zhengquan’s body had been wrapped up, she broke down and cried, and rushed over and said, “Please, please, let me take one more look.”
When Zhou Shu’an turned around, he suddenly remembered that he did the same thing last September, holding an imperial edict and raiding Yunyang Marquis’s Mansion with his personal soldiers…
He watched as Shen Shu chased him all the way to the Dali Temple, dismounted from her horse, and begged him to see Marquis Yunyang for the last time.
When he didn’t respond, she collapsed and knelt down. Her eyes were clearly filled with tears, but they never fell.
Years ago, when he saw her for the first time, she got off the carriage, looking noble and charming. He was sitting next to her, but she couldn’t see him.
The second time he saw her was when she was staring at Li Di’s name on the imperial examination list. He was standing behind her and when she turned around, she stepped on his foot.
The third time he saw her, he was in a high position and she was already a wife. When their eyes met, the despair in her look easily broke his arrogant spine. The cold wind was blowing wildly and heavy snow fell on her shoulders like goose feathers. He tilted the umbrella and covered her with it, saying to her, “Madm Li, you can go back.”
Go back.
I heard that your husband loves you and cares about you, and I believe that he will not let you suffer any grievances in the future.
Thinking of this, Zhou Shu’an chuckled. The only time in his life that he was careless was when he miscalculated whether another person could keep her safe…
