This Lord Sun is the King's uncle, the uncle of Sun Fang'er and Rouyao, and the nephew of the late Empress Dowager Sun.
The Sun family had never held important positions in the court before. One reason was that Empress Dowager Sun allowed the family members to only hold sinecure positions in order to avoid suspicion. Moreover, since they themselves had the title of marquis, they thought that doing nothing was the best thing to do.
Secondly, the men in the Sun family have not made any progress in recent years, and few of them have any potential, so even if they want to be promoted, they cannot be promoted.
It was after the emperor recovered from his illness that Sun Fang'er was named a noble concubine, and only then was the Sun family employed. The Sun family had been neglected for many years, but was suddenly employed and treated as the emperor's mentors. They almost killed chickens, burned yellow paper, and knelt down on the same day to swear to be loyal to the emperor.
When Murong Jie was in power, he removed a large number of corrupt officials. However, he did this because he had made preparations long ago. He ordered the Ministry of Personnel to first examine a group of people who could be promoted to office, and some were even promoted exceptionally.
However, the situation is different now. The officials causing trouble are obviously more than the ones Murong Jie dealt with before, and they all hold important positions. It is too late to conduct an emergency inspection of the officials, and if they are promoted arbitrarily, the consequences may be more serious.
Although this uncle of the emperor was not a very smart person, after he entered the cabinet and mingled with those cunning people in the cabinet, he learned some skills to poke at people's hearts. Therefore, he was said to be the weakness of the Empress Dowager.
However, the Empress Dowager smiled coldly, "This great Zhou Dynasty can do without anyone. Just tell me what I am saying. If you want to threaten me like this, you are totally wrong."
After that, she raised her hand and said, "Let's go!"
Everyone looked at each other. Those who were summoned today were all neutral people in the court. Of course, there were a few like the King's Uncle who were only neutral in appearance, but had already approached the Emperor in their hearts.
In all imperial rule, the emperor is respected and is the right path. Therefore, this group also calls themselves the royalists, which is justified and they occupy the moral high ground.
After everyone left, Eunuch Sun came in and said, "Grand Empress Dowager, the prince and princess have entered the palace and are waiting for you in Xiwei Palace."
"Yes!" The Empress Dowager stood up. "Sort these memorials and send them to the Emperor's palace. Tell him to take his time to read them."
"It's just..." Eunuch Sun was stunned for a moment, "These are all impeachments against you..."
"Why not? Let him see how loyal his subjects are."
"Yes!" Eunuch Sun knew that her actions were always unpredictable, so he packed up himself and shouted, "The Empress Dowager is coming!"
Someone from Xiwei Palace came to report that the Empress Dowager was returning to the palace.
Murong Jie and Zi'an hurriedly got up and went out to the hall to greet them. After a while, they saw the Empress Dowager coming back in a sedan chair.
Murong Jie personally stepped forward, bowed and helped her up, "Grandpa, you have worked hard."
The Empress Dowager got off the sedan chair and frowned as she said to Murong Jie, "I thought you were going to hide and never come back."
Her face was full of displeasure. She and Murong Jie clearly had no blood relationship, but sometimes, their expressions were very similar.
"How dare you not come back? You are recuperating." Murong Jie said with a smile.
After helping her in and taking her seat, Murong Jie led Zi'an to kneel down and kowtow, "Greetings to the ancestors."
"Come on, get up." The old man took the tea handed to him by Aunt Ah She, took a sip, and then put it down, "Give me some cold water."
"It's cold now, it's not good to drink cold water." Aunt Ashe said.
"Ice water would be best, but I know there's none, so I can only drink cold water." The Empress Dowager was very displeased, with a hint of sternness still lingering on her face.
"Don't be angry. You're old and getting angry can easily lead to death." Aunt Ashe comforted him and continued to hand him hot tea.
Zi'an was no longer surprised by the way the two got along. Aunt A'She would occasionally say vicious words, but the old ancestor didn't seem to mind at all, and sometimes was even more poisonous than Aunt A'She.
But now, she was obviously too lazy to argue with Aunt Ashe. The old woman who looked so indifferent and quiet before now had a face full of worry.
The two of them stood up and sat down. The Empress Dowager first asked Zi'an, "Is your stomach safe?"
Zi'an quickly replied, "Thank you, Empress Dowager, for your concern. Everything is fine."
"This child is blessed with a long life and will be a blessed person in the future," said the Empress Dowager.
The palace servants brought up some cakes and placed several plates on the three people's pear wood coffee tables. These cakes were extremely exquisite. Zi'an had lived in the palace for a while, but had never seen such exquisite cakes.
"Eat it. I knew you would be coming back today, so I asked someone to prepare it specially." Aunt Ashe said.
"Did you know we were arriving today?" Zi'an asked curiously.
"Of course I know." Aunt Ashe rolled her eyes at her, as if she had asked a very stupid question.
The Empress Dowager was obviously hungry too. She didn't talk to them and just started eating.
Zi'an had no appetite to begin with. Although he did not vomit as much as he did on the boat on the way back to Beijing, he could not eat anything. Occasionally, if he ate too much, he would still vomit.
However, seeing that the Empress Dowager was eating with relish, she felt a little greedy for a moment, so she picked up a piece of Poria cocos cake and started eating.
Poria cake has the effect of strengthening the spleen and eliminating dampness, calming the mind and soothing the nerves. Aunt Ashe is really clever.
Zi'an had eaten the Poria cocos cake in the palace before, and it was a bit bitter. But now it didn't taste bitter at all, but had a hint of sweetness.
"Is it delicious?" Seeing that she was eating with gusto, Murong Jie asked with a doting smile.
"Delicious." Zi'an ate two pieces in a row and then didn't dare to eat any more, fearing that he would vomit after eating too much and lose his manners.
"Eat, eat more." Aunt Ah She encouraged, "It's okay, I added ginger juice to prevent vomiting."
Murong Jie also said: "Yes, if you want to eat, then eat. You haven't been able to eat anything during the whole journey. It's rare that you can eat now. Eat a few more pieces."
Zi'an really wanted to eat more, so after listening to Aunt Ashe and Murong Jie, he ate a few more pieces.
Aunt Ah She did not lie. These Poria cocos cakes were made with ginger juice. Although they were not spicy, Zi'an could taste it.
The old man is honest...
Zi'an vomited so much that his stomach almost turned over and his eyes bulged out.
Murong Jie had never seen her vomit so violently, and he could not help but get anxious. He said to Aunt Ah She, "Didn't you say it could stop vomiting? Why is she still vomiting so violently after eating it?"
"Heartbroken?" The Grand Empress Dowager sat back and glanced at Murong Jie indifferently.
Murong Jie supported Zi'an who was holding onto the spittoon and vomiting violently. He was so anxious that his eyes were smoking. "How can I not feel sorry for her? She didn't eat anything good during this trip. If she keeps vomiting, she'll get sick."
The Empress Dowager snorted, "It's right to feel sorry for her. If you act willfully again in the future, she will be the one who suffers."
Murong Jie was startled, "Grandfather, did you do this on purpose?"
"Yes, I made her vomit on purpose." The Empress Dowager wiped the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief, took a sip of tea, and then said slowly: "This is just a small punishment and a big warning."
"Isn't it because we traveled by land instead of by water?" Murong Jie also got angry. "If you have anything to say, just come to me. Why are you making things difficult for her?"
(End of this chapter)