Chapter 337 Closing the Net

The Imperial Teacher noticed Shen Qingtan's gaze and looked over sideways.

With a "bang", something seemed to explode in the sky.

Everyone looked up, but could see nothing but a large mass of dark clouds.

When Lin Yi heard the sound of the signal flare, he knew that the guards he sent out had accomplished the task.

"Prince Guangling went to Yingcheng to control the plague. The Imperial Master arranged a lot of guards for him, right? He should have quite a few guards with him when he went to the capital this time."

"It's really strange. If Prince Guangling were still alive, he would have appeared to refute the rumors as soon as they were spread about holding a funeral for him."

"If he falls ill again and dies on the way back to the capital, shouldn't the guards assigned by the Imperial Master also go to the capital to report the death?"

"Now it is Prince Guangling who has disappeared, and even his guards have vanished without a trace."

Lin Yichao challenged the Imperial Preceptor, "When something happened to Prince Guangling, you immediately contacted the guards. But when you couldn't reach them, didn't you arrange for someone to investigate? Or did you know about Prince Guangling's situation from the beginning?"

This sentence is just short of saying that it was the imperial teacher who killed Zhao Yi.

As expected, Qiu Zhentian glared at the Imperial Master with his tiger eyes, but he said to Shen Qingtan: "Princess, whoever dares to assassinate the Princess, we in the Great Zhou will definitely seek justice for the Princess."

Lin Yi waited for this sentence and pretended to be puzzled: "When the Imperial Tutor took Prince Guangling back to Northern Qi to recognize his ancestors, Prince Guangling was sent to Yingcheng to control the plague before he even entered the capital to meet His Majesty."

"Throughout the dynasties, the task of combating plague has always been the responsibility of the Imperial Medical Bureau, or by appointing ministers from the court. No prince has ever been appointed to handle the plague."

"The Imperial Tutor, however, bypassed Your Majesty and took the initiative to send Prince Guangling to Yingcheng. Looking back now, it was neither fair nor reasonable."

At this point, Lin Yi pressed on: "Could it be that the Imperial Master has some selfish motives?"

"I do have selfish motives," the Imperial Master admitted frankly. "I sent Prince Guangling to Yingcheng to control the plague because he carries the blood of both countries. The officials of the Great Zhou will be on good terms with him and work together to better control the plague."

Lin Yi sneered.

The Imperial Master changed the subject and asked, "Where is Prince Guangling? Doesn't Lord Lin know?"

Lin Yi's heart tightened, and he almost thought that the Imperial Master knew the truth.

He looked at the Emperor's face warily. His expression was normal, and there was no ripple in his clear eyes, without any clues.

Lin Yi rejected this idea. If the Imperial Master knew the truth, he would have exposed him long ago. Why wait until now?

"If I knew, why would I ask you?" Lin Yi said slowly, "Since entering the imperial court, the Imperial Tutor has been undefeated. His only flaw was ceding a city to the Great Zhou during negotiations. Finally, he was tricked by the Prince of Guangling into providing money, food, and manpower to help the Great Zhou fight the plague."

This statement hinted to everyone that the Imperial Preceptor had been tricked by Zhao Yi and suffered a loss, so he bore a grudge and took action to get rid of Zhao Yi.

At this time, hurried footsteps were heard outside the mourning hall, and the steward of Guangling Palace appeared in the mourning hall: "Oh no, something happened to the shed where the patient was housed."

Lin Yi felt more and more proud, just waiting for the people he arranged to come out and accuse the Imperial Master at this time.

As long as it was proven that the imperial tutor had set fire to the sick people, it would arouse the anger of the people of Northern Qi. Even without strong evidence, the people would believe that it was the imperial tutor who murdered Zhao Yi.

Because the truth doesn't matter anymore.

The people could not tolerate an imperial teacher who was so cruel and inhumane.

The same was true for court officials.

At that time, he would leave another clue to let the King of Zhenbei find out the "truth" about the imperial teacher's murder of Zhao Yi.

Even if the King of Zhenbei doesn't send troops to attack Northern Qi, he will take advantage of the public outrage and add fuel to the fire behind the scenes, right?

Thinking of this, Lin Yi's expression became more and more calm, waiting for the messenger to come in. Suddenly, his expression froze, and he looked at the newcomer in disbelief.

Prefect Jiang looked sad and angry: "Imperial Master, Lord Lin sent people to set fire to the sick people. Please help the people of Yuncheng."

Lin Yi was caught off guard by this sudden change.

It was not until this moment that he suddenly realized that the person behind Magistrate Jiang was the Imperial Tutor.

And his cooperation with Prefect Jiang was undoubtedly a trap, which directly handed the evidence to the imperial tutor.

"You're slandering me." Lin Yi's face darkened, anxious and angry. "I'm an imperial envoy sent by the court to deal with the plague. How could I set fire to a patient?"

"I interrogated your men, and they confessed that if we burn the people who are sick with the plague, the plague in Yuncheng will be quelled."

Prefect Jiang said, "You swore an oath before all the civil and military officials that if the plague was not brought under control within a month, you would remove your official hat. To save your official hat, you disregarded the lives of the people. You are completely devoid of conscience."

"You're talking nonsense, you're talking nonsense!" Lin Yi pounded his chest in anger. "You said the prescription given by Prince Guangling was effective, and that after a dozen or twenty more doses, I'd be completely cured. It was exactly within the one-month deadline, so why would I be so inhumane and burn people alive?"

Without waiting for Prefect Jiang to speak, he angrily said, "I have no grudge against you. Why are you accusing me of something I don't have?"

Magistrate Jiang wanted to argue further.

The Imperial Tutor spoke at the right moment: "Master Jiang, you cannot accuse Master Lin of setting fire to civilians based on your own assumptions. You must first provide evidence. If you do not have any evidence, you are framing Master Lin."

This sentence has a double meaning. On the one hand, it reminds Magistrate Jiang to produce evidence to kill Lin Yi. On the other hand, it implies that Lin Yi's accusations against him are all based on personal speculation and false accusations.

Magistrate Jiang quickly ordered the guards to be brought in.

Lin Yi's face turned pale. When he saw the guards, he felt lucky. These guards were his servants, loyal to him and would never betray him.

Prefect Jiang said, "These men are Lord Lin's guards. They sneaked into the shanty and set it on fire, but were caught by our patrolling yamen runners."

The Imperial Master looked at the bound guard and asked, "Is what Lord Jiang said true?"

The guards didn't dare look at Lin Yi, and said with their heads down, "We were following Lord Lin's orders to set fire to the people and then put the blame on the Imperial Tutor."

Lin Yi's face suddenly changed. He had never expected that the guard would betray him so easily.

Soon, he realized a problem. These guards betrayed him because Governor Jiang must have grasped their weak points.

Lin Yi flatly denied it: "They were coerced and bribed by you, and were forced to confess under torture. You are deliberately slandering me!"

"Everything we said is true. We have not slandered you." The guard's face turned pale as he made another shocking statement: "You ordered us to assassinate Prince Guangling in Yingcheng. We encountered Prince Guangling on his way to the capital a hundred miles away and killed him."

Lin Yi understood that the Imperial Master had willingly sent him to Yuncheng to control the plague, and that this was a trap he had set for him.

No wonder the Northern Qi Emperor gave Yuncheng and Panshi City as Zhao Yi's fiefdom.

No wonder the Northern Qi Emperor arranged for Zhao Yi's funeral to be held in Yuncheng.

All of this was the work of the Imperial Master.

Lin Yi came to his senses and looked at the people in the mourning hall. They were all the other party's men. Arguing further would only be disadvantageous to him.

He gave a wink to the guards he brought with him, asking them to block the people in the mourning hall for him, and took the opportunity to walk out quickly.

Suddenly, a gaunt figure appeared in front of him.