Failed Attempt To Guide Emperor Shun Onto The Right Path
Emperor Shun, whose disposition was generally meek but weak, quickly himself became controlled by those eunuchs and officials around him, who were largely corrupt. Sun despised this situation, and in 126, when the eunuch Zhang Fang (張防) was accused of corruption by the governor of the capital district, Yu Xu (虞詡) but instead turned the situation around and convinced Emperor Shun that Yu had falsely accused him and should be sentenced to death, Sun and another eunuch who helped restore Emperor Shun, Zhang Xian (張賢), interceded at great personal peril to themselves. Yu was spared, while Zhang was exiled. However, officials who were close to Zhang then attacked Sun and his fellow eunuch-marquesses of being overly arrogant. Emperor Shun therefore sent them out of the capital Luoyang, to their marches. Of the 19, Sun alone became sufficiently enraged by this development that he had his marquess seal and emblems returned to the emperor and secretly stayed in the capital, looking to find another chance to try to guide the emperor onto the right path. He was soon captured, but Emperor Shun, remembering his accomplishments, simply sent him back to his march without further punishment, but also without listening to his advice on stamping out corruption.
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