After Sun Ru was imprisoned, the court was shrouded in a strange atmosphere every day. Everyone even spoke in a low voice, and they couldn't explain what they were afraid of.
The Sun family secretly found Zhou Cishan to discuss countermeasures. Zhou Cishan didn't expect that the person who came would be Old Master Sun, Sun Ru's father.
Old Master Sun's hair and beard were all white. After Sun Ru's accident, he became much more haggard overnight and looked even more old. The Zhou family is a thousand-year-old family, and they have produced two queen mothers in succession. Although they are more powerful than the Sun family, Zhou Cishan did not dare to show off in front of Old Master Sun. After all, Old Master Sun was also an important official of the court, old and virtuous. He helped Old Master Sun to take his seat before he sat down himself.
"Lord Zhou, our two families support each other and are inseparable. We should be of the same blood." Old Master Sun looked solemn and said in a calm voice, "Now that the Sun family is in trouble, I have the audacity to come to you for help. I hope the Zhou family will lend a hand."
Zhou Cishan hurriedly replied, "Old Master Sun, you are too polite. Brother Sun has been framed by a villain. I will never sit idly by. But I'm afraid this matter is not simple."
Old Master Sun said, "Did Lord Zhou find anything?"
Zhou Cishan lowered his eyes, playing with the small-leaf red sandalwood in his hand, and said thoughtfully, "To be honest with you, Shen All the ministers in Fenghua Palace have read Jinghong's memorial impeaching Brother Sun. Some of the private information in it was leaked from the Ministry of Revenue. "
Old Master Sun was shocked when he heard this and straightened his back: "Master Zhou, this is..."
Zhou Cishan raised his hand to comfort Old Master Sun and said: "Please rest, this is definitely not my doing. I have already found out that the person who handled these confidential information was the doctor of the Ministry of Revenue, Mu Zhuohua."
Although Old Master Sun was not in the court, he had heard of Mu Zhuohua's reputation. After all, she was such a young Tanhua, and she was a woman.
Zhou Cishan added, "Mu Zhuohua and Shen Jinghong were in the same year and on the same list. Now they are trusted by His Majesty. Mu Zhuohua is in the Ministry of Revenue, and Shen Jinghong was in the Ministry of Personnel before. These two ministries are the most important of the six ministries. His Majesty intends to cultivate them. Last year, Shen Jinghong presided over the affairs of the Ministry of Examination and advocated the abolition of the system of favoritism. This move was obviously supported by His Majesty behind the scenes, and the Prince of the Council of State mediated. Otherwise, how could he, a small minister, dare to be an enemy of the entire court?"
A gloomy look flashed across Old Master Sun's face, "Lord Zhou's implication is that Shen Jinghong's actions against the Sun family this time are... , is this also your majesty's intention?"
Zhou Cishan smiled coldly and said, "Mu Zhuohua handed over the Ministry of Revenue information to Shen Jinghong in private. Would she dare to do so without your majesty's instruction? Last year, Shen Jinghong abolished the system of favoritism on the pretext of performance appraisal, and officials below the third rank were cut off from retreat. This year, it was impossible for him to be assigned to the imperial examination, but your majesty transferred him to the Dali Temple. This is probably not a coincidence. Cut off the branches first and then the trunk. Shen Jinghong, no, it should be your majesty, he has become wild and wants to start with the aristocratic families."
Old Master Sun's heart sank. What should he do if his majesty intends to deal with the Sun family?
"I heard that the Prince of Political Affairs also seconded the proposal to support Your Majesty." Old Master Sun's face was pale. "Your Majesty appointed Prince Ding as the Prince of Political Affairs, and originally wanted to use his prestige to restrain the aristocratic families. Could it be that Your Majesty can't hold back after less than a year on the throne?"
Zhou Cishan glanced at Old Master Sun and asked casually, "Aren't the Sun family and the Prince of Political Affairs discussing marriage? Is there any change?" Old Master Sun's eyebrows flashed with worry. Thinking of Sun Yunyun's haggard face, he felt a little bit reluctant. This granddaughter has been smart and sensible since she was a child. The family has spent a lot of effort to cultivate her, but they didn't expect that she would devote herself to Prince Ding. If Prince Ding is willing, this would be an excellent marriage, but looking at Sun Yunyun's expression, it seems that she has been wronged by Prince Ding. When asked what happened, she kept silent, but still looked like she was not giving up.
In connection with Sun Ru's imprisonment, Old Master Sun had another guess in his mind - could it be that Prince Ding knew that the Sun family would have this disaster, so he deliberately did not marry into the Sun family?
If so, I'm afraid this matter cannot be resolved peacefully...
Old Master Sun sighed secretly and said to Zhou Cishan: "The marriage between the Sun family and the Prince of State is just a joke of the late emperor. Without the emperor's will, it cannot be counted. It is not as good as the two queen mothers in the Zhou family. I hope Lord Zhou can lend a hand to the Sun family. The Sun family is grateful and will definitely repay."
Zhou Cishan's eyes flashed with a gleam, and he smiled and nodded.
Of course, he had to take action in this matter. After all, he was also involved in it, but he was a cousin of the current queen mother. His Majesty would not blame him too much for this aspect. However, if he could benefit from it again and bite off a piece of meat from the Sun family to enrich the Zhou family, it would be even better...
Mu Zhuohua clearly felt the alienation of the people around him.
Zhou Cishan looked at her with a dark and gloomy look. The affairs in her hands were handed over to Zhou Cishan's confidants with excuses. He made it clear that he did not trust her. This attitude naturally affected other people in the Ministry of Revenue.
Mu Zhuohua did not say much. She buried her head in work every day. When she had nothing to do, she would read a book. She neither argued nor resisted, and looked calm. But in the past, she was the last to leave the yamen, but now she was the first to leave. After she left, the discussions in the yamen became louder.
"She leaked the Ministry of Revenue information and colluded with Shen Jinghong..."
"Why didn't Lord Zhou punish her?"
"What if she got the order from His Majesty..." Even if
Mu Zhuohua did not hear these discussions with her own ears, she could guess.
Her eyes moved slightly, and her feet did not stop for a moment, and she walked out of the palace gate.
A cyan sedan stopped outside the palace gate. A woman dressed as a maid stood beside the sedan. She looked around for a long time and saw Mu Zhuohua walking out of the gate. Her eyes lit up and she hurriedly ran forward to stop Mu Zhuohua.
"Master Mu, our young lady invites you!"
Mu Zhuohua looked at the maid in surprise, and then at the sedan not far away. The curtain of the sedan was lifted, revealing Sun Yunyun's slightly haggard face. She looked at Mu Zhuohua pleadingly. Mu Zhuohua sighed softly and nodded, "Lead the way."
Sun Yunyun found a restaurant nearby, and the two met alone in a private room.
As soon as the door closed, Sun Yunyun bowed to Mu Zhuohua.
Mu Zhuohua was startled and immediately raised his hand to support her: "Miss Sun, what do you mean?"
Sun Yunyun raised her head and looked at Mu Zhuohua with tears in her eyes: "Sir Mu, please let our Sun family go."
Mu Zhuohua frowned and let go of Sun Yunyun's hand, feeling a little unbelievable: "Miss Sun, why do you say that? I am just a fifth-rank official. How can I embarrass the Sun family, and how can I let the Sun family go?"
Sun Yunyun smiled sadly: "Lord Mu, why do you have to hide it? I already know that the prince has deep feelings for you. I overestimated my ability and wanted to compete with you."
Mu Zhuohua laughed angrily: "Miss Sun really thought that I leaked the Ministry of Revenue information and framed Lord Sun?"
Sun Yunyun was silent with tears in her eyes, but she clearly agreed.
"I'm afraid you still think that I instigated the prince to make things worse for the Sun family." Mu Zhuohua's voice became cold, "Miss Sun, you think too highly of yourself and me. You are the eldest daughter of the Sun family. You should understand that the government is more important than personal feelings. No matter how the prince treats you, he will not sacrifice the public for personal reasons and vent his anger on the Sun family. Lord Sun was imprisoned because he deserved it. It was not intentional by me or the prince."
Sun Yunyun was about to cry and said, "Yes, I misunderstood Lord Mu and the prince." Sun Yunyun knelt down as she spoke. Mu Zhuohua moved half a step away, avoiding her great gift, but did not lean over to help her again.
Sun Yunyun shed tears and said, "Today I avoided everyone and asked to see you, sir, because I wanted to ask you to save the Sun family. The prince is infatuated with you. If you ask for mercy, the prince can also take care of the Sun family. Yunyun will be grateful and swear not to bother the prince anymore."
Mu Zhuohua took a deep breath and sighed, "Miss Sun, what do you like about the prince?"
Sun Yunyun was startled when she heard it, and raised her head to look at Mu Zhuohua.
Mu Zhuohua looked down at her with a complicated expression: "Do you like his high position and power, or do you like his handsomeness and elegance? Do you know what kind of person he is?"
Sun Yunyun was speechless.
"He will neither target innocent people because of personal feelings, nor let guilty people go because of personal feelings." Mu Zhuohua said lightly, "As for whether you want to pester him or not, it is your business. It has nothing to do with him, and even less with me."
Seeing Mu Zhuohua turning around to leave, Sun Yunyun immediately got up from the ground and shouted, "Since you don't want to help me, why do you want to see me?"
Mu Zhuohua paused and looked back at her: "I heard that you have been in love with the prince for a long time, and you will not marry anyone else. A girl from a noble family who dares to risk her reputation to pursue her love is always admired. Therefore, I also want to meet you."
"Unfortunately, you disappoint me." A trace of disappointment flashed in Mu Zhuohua's eyes, "Ms. Sun, what you like is not the prince, but your fantasy when you were young."
After Mu Zhuohua finished speaking, he opened the door and left, leaving Sun Yunyun standing there in a daze.
Mu Zhuohua felt that she had really wasted a precious hour of her life. She had originally admired and sympathized with Sun Yunyun in her heart, but after meeting her, she felt that she had thought too highly of Sun Yunyun. The rumored eldest daughter of a noble family was too narrow-minded and was not as good as her sister Minghua, who was cruel to others and even crueler to herself.
Mu Zhuohua left the inn and walked towards Zhuque Street. Suddenly, she heard a commotion in front of her. Curious, she walked a few steps faster and stopped a person and asked, "What happened in front?"
Seeing that Mu Zhuohua was wearing an official robe, the person did not dare to neglect him and immediately bowed and replied, "Someone assassinated an official of the imperial court in the street. Jingzhao Yin sent people to seal off the scene and is catching the assassin."
Mu Zhuohua's eyelids jumped and she had an ominous premonition, "Who was assassinated?"
"I didn't see it either. I heard... it was Shen Jinghong, Lord Shen!"
Shen Jinghong was assassinated in the street. The news spread throughout Dingjing in less than half a day. At the same time, there were many speculations about the mastermind behind it, but there was no doubt that the most suspicious one was the Sun family. The storyteller in the restaurant and teahouse looked serious and compiled a story about the Sun family's abuse of power for personal gain and Shen Jinghong's iron-faced and impartial killing of traitors into a storybook, which made the people indignant and wanted to throw stones in front of the Sun family.
Apart from the Sun family, who else would have such a big hatred for Shen Jinghong?
Shen Jinghong was injured, but he went to court as usual the next day, but his left arm was wrapped in a bandage and hung around his neck, and there was a bruise at the corner of his eye. He should have looked embarrassed
, but on the contrary, he showed a bit of iron-boned cedar posture, which made people respect him. He was very prestigious among the officials from poor families. When they saw him coming, a group of young officials surrounded him and asked him about the attack with concern. Shen Jinghong smiled, and seemed to be not afraid of this matter at all. Instead, he comforted everyone who was worried about him.
Mu Zhuohua's eyes met him across the crowd. Shen Jinghong nodded and smiled at Mu Zhuohua. Mu Zhuohua frowned and looked at the wound on his arm with scrutiny.
It is said that he was pierced by a sharp sword. Yesterday, Mu Zhuohua rushed to the scene of the incident and saw blood on the ground. Judging from the bleeding, the injury was not light.
Without saying a word, everyone saw the palace door open, and all the officials entered the palace to kowtow, but they did not hear the sound of standing up as they should have.
The palace was silent, and a cold chill weighed heavily on everyone's shoulders.
Only Liu Chen's cold voice said, "Give Shen Jinghong a seat."
The guards carried the chair into the palace, and Shen Jinghong slowly stood up, saluted Liu Chen to thank him, and sat on the chair.
Liu Chen swept his eyes over the sea of heads and sneered, "In broad daylight, under the imperial city, there were desperadoes who dared to assassinate an imperial official. Where is Jingzhao Yin?"
Jingzhao Yin said tremblingly, "Your Majesty, your Majesty deserves death!"
"You deserve death." Liu Chen glanced at him, "But the one who deserves to die even more is the assassin! I'll give you three days to catch the assassin and find out who is behind it!"
Jingzhao Yin's face was pale and he could only kowtow with a bitter face, "Your Majesty obeys your order!"
"The Dali Temple must speed up the trial of Sun Ru's case. I want a result." Liu Chen said coldly, "No matter the cost."
These four words pierced everyone's heart like steel spikes. They all realized one thing-the Sun family is over.
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