The spacious study is simply furnished, with only a few chairs besides the necessary desk and bookshelves, separated by coffee tables.
Sun Yun entered Sun Ganzheng's study, and the first thing he saw was a portrait of the Sun family's ancestor hanging on the wall behind the desk. He was a middle-aged man with black hair, a long beard, and bright eyes. The first lesson for every member of the Sun family was to listen to the clan school teacher talk about the deeds of this ancestor.
In fact, the Sun family had many other remarkable figures, but this founding ancestor laid the foundation for the Sun family to become a family of scholars.
"What are you thinking about?" Sun Gan asked Sun Yun casually as he stood by the window.
“Grandfather rarely used this painting.” Sun Yun avoided the topic, changing the subject, and curtsied to show respect for his elders.
Sun Ganzheng did not care whether her bow was insincere or unwilling. He walked to Danqing and said, "Internal strife can spread to all corners of the world. Your grandfather knows you are a smart man."
Their conversation was disjointed and quite inexplicable.
Sun Yun's lips twitched slightly, but in the end, he couldn't manage a smile.
Sun Ganzheng handed her a copy of "Gufen" (孤愤), a very thin, handwritten copy. Most of the content was annotations, all written by different people. The title page was worn out, indicating that the book had been passed down for many years.
Sun Yun's gaze fell on the name 'Han Fei'. The name was damaged by bookworms, and a sentence was illegible, but it roughly meant 'Poor Han Fei died an unnatural death'.
“Princess Jun of the Yongwang Mansion is not a law-abiding citizen. Since you are on good terms with her, you must have read this book as well.” Sun Ganzheng is now old and frail. Sun Yun looked at him and felt that his grandfather had aged a lot in the past two or three days.
She didn't answer him, but slowly opened the book to read. Sun Ganzheng was right, she had read this book before, and now she was looking at the annotations. The writing in the annotations was excellent, and if it were spread, it would surely be hailed as a masterpiece.
“This was written by Prince Yong,” Sun Gan said to Sun Yun, pointing to a few lines of text. “He was the first to advocate reform, but unfortunately he failed. Before he could take action, his wife died.” He spoke as if it were an extremely ordinary matter.
Sun Yunxin's heart sank as he closed the book and looked at Sun Ganzheng. "Grandfather, are you trying to say that Ajun's mother died at your hands?"
“No, she died at the hands of her own aunt.” Sun Ganzheng remained calm. “I just want to tell you that matters concerning the country and its people have nothing to do with you. Don’t interfere.”
“Granddaughter never interfered.” Sun Yun put down the book. “Grandfather, you didn’t interfere in A-Jun’s mother’s affairs?”
Sun Ganzheng's eyes were open and his expression was natural, not like he was about to lie. He shook his head and said, "No, but others do. I am old and no longer want to manage the affairs of the Sun family. If you want to manage the family, I will not stop you. However, you must not interfere in this matter. If the Sun family falls, I beg you to lend a helping hand."
He choked up a little as he spoke, his eyes slightly red. Sun Yun had never seen her grandfather like this before. In her eyes, her grandfather was like a god, the pillar of the entire Sun family. As long as her grandfather was there, they could weather any storm.
"The storm is brewing, and the wind is howling. Xiao Liu, the Ma family's affairs... well, we're too busy to deal with them. Let's just mind our own business. Ma Caishi is dead." He muttered to himself, his expression extremely sorrowful.
Seeing his unsteady gait, Sun Yun reached out to help him, but he had already plopped down. After sitting down, he pointed to the book and said, "Read more when you have time. If you were a boy, your grandfather would like to personally teach you."
Sun Ganzheng's gaze fell on the book "Gufen" again, and he said, "The emperor is going to war. He is a good emperor, but he also likes to read Han Fei's books, just like the Qin Emperor."
Sun Yun silently looked at her grandfather, who seemed unable to move, and didn't know what to say for a long time. She didn't care about Han Fei or any reforms. All she wanted was to protect herself and her mother. Whoever was responsible for killing them, that was all.
“You wouldn’t understand even if I told you all this,” Sun Ganzheng said with a self-deprecating laugh. “We’re all getting old, too old to compete.”
After saying this, he didn't know whether he was saying that the aristocratic families were getting old, or that he himself was getting old. Much later, Sun Yun recalled Sun Ganzheng's words and remained silent for a long time.
“You must harbor resentment towards your grandfather, right?” he said, handing Sun Yun a key. “This is what the Sun family has accumulated over generations. It’s meant to preserve the Sun family line when war breaks out in the future.”
Before Sun Yun arrived, she was prepared to argue with Sun Ganzheng, and if that failed, she would resort to force. However, she did not expect that Sun Ganzheng would have such a conversation with her.
No matter how clever she was, she was still just a woman and didn't quite understand the meaning behind Sun Ganzheng's series of actions. Since it was too easy to obtain, she did not let her guard down, but instead became even more cautious.
Having received the key, she didn't want to say much, and said, "Grandfather still has state affairs to attend to, so I will take my leave."
Sun Gan waved his hand, telling her to leave, but his eyes suddenly brightened, clearly filled with calculation!
Wu Liang and the others waited outside. When they saw Sun Yun come out, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Miss Sun, the matchmaker has arrived."
Sun Yun nodded and handed the book to Banshu. "I don't know if His Majesty likes to read Han Fei's books, but my grandfather does. Do you know who Han Fei is?"
Banshu shook her head; she didn't understand.
“It’s right that you don’t understand. Tell me, if I were Ah Jun, what would I do in this situation?” She changed her approach and asked.
Banshu listened, puzzled, and shook his head, "Please forgive me, young lady, I do not know."
"And you?" she asked Wu Liang again.
Wu Liang racked his brains but still couldn't figure out what Sun Yun was asking. He hadn't even understood the question, so how could he answer it?
"Where is the matchmaker?" Sun Yun didn't seem to be in a hurry to know the answer; he asked and then moved on.
Wu Liang breathed a sigh of relief. Although he also practiced calligraphy, profound questions were still not suitable for him. However, he looked at the book in his hand. Han Fei? He remembered that once when everyone was practicing calligraphy, the princess came to inspect and said that in addition to being a thinker and a representative of the Legalist school, Han Fei also had another identity: a schemer.
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