Chapter 333 Instigation
Shen Qingtan saw the secret guard who suddenly appeared and recognized him as someone close to Zhao Yi.
"How is the Second Master doing?"
The secret guard was about to speak when he sensed something and said in a sad voice, "Something happened to the Second Master. Please accept my condolences."
Shen Qingtan's mind went blank and he looked at the secret guard blankly, as if he didn't understand what he was saying.
The secret guard looked at Shen Qingtan's bewildered expression and continued, "I failed to bring the Second Master back to the capital. Please punish me, Second Madam."
After saying that, the secret guard knelt on the ground.
With a "bang", the sleeve stove fell to the ground.
"Second Madam, Second Madam..."
Liu Yue helped Shen Qingtan into the house.
The secret guard followed into the house.
The person hiding in the dark left quietly.
-
Imperial Palace, Hall of Mental Cultivation.
The secret guard knelt on the ground and reported to the Northern Qi Emperor: "Your Majesty, the secret guards accompanying the Grand Prince have returned to inform the Princess of his death."
The Northern Qi Emperor suddenly looked at the secret guards and asked, "You said Zhao Yi is dead?"
The secret guard relayed the conversation he heard to the Emperor of Northern Qi word for word.
When the Northern Qi Emperor heard the words "I failed to bring the Second Master back to the capital," his brows knitted tightly together. "It seems Zhao Yi has truly passed away due to illness."
If someone died of an epidemic, their body would be burned.
This is why Zhao Yi’s secret guards were unable to bring the person back to the capital.
The Northern Qi emperor was in a state of confusion. He had originally planned to use Zhao Yi to contain the Great Zhou while allowing Northern Qi to recuperate. But now that Zhao Yi was dead, things had become more difficult.
Eunuch Liu said from the side: "Your Majesty, it's not that there is no hope."
The Emperor of Northern Qi looked at Eunuch Liu and motioned him to continue.
Eunuch Liu said, "His Highness has passed away, but the Crown Princess is still in the capital. If Great Zhou seeks justice from Northern Qi, we can ask the Crown Princess to intervene."
After a pause, he continued, "Before that, you should posthumously confer the title of Grand Highness upon His Majesty and have the Ministry of Rites hold a funeral for His Majesty, allowing Him to be buried in the mausoleum. This way, His Majesty will have returned to his ancestral home, and the Great Zhou will not be able to legitimately take the Crown Princess back."
The Emperor of Northern Qi thought for a moment and felt that this matter was feasible. He planned to discuss it with the imperial teacher after the court was dismissed tomorrow.
-
In Zhaohua Palace, Concubine Shu received two letters from outside the palace.
She has connections in the Imperial Household Department, and the eunuchs who go out of the palace to purchase goods will pass on messages to her.
Concubine Shu opened the letter in her hand. This letter was sent by a spy planted in Zhao Yi's mansion. The letter stated that Zhao Yi was dead.
She opened another letter, this one from Lin Yi. The letter stated that Zhao Yi, who was rushing to the capital, was killed by guards a hundred miles away from the capital.
After he has dealt with the plague, he will secretly push the Great Zhou to attack Northern Qi, and then join forces with the ministers to force the Emperor of Northern Qi to hand over the imperial teacher.
After reading the letters, Concubine Shu threw them into the stove and burned them.
"Your Majesty, has Lord Lin come to announce the good news?" Hongqiao squatted beside Concubine Shu and massaged her legs.
Concubine Shu curled her red lips and said, "It's a happy event." She said in a fake tone, "But Zhao Yi, they say he had a short life. He should have died long ago, but he lived for more than 20 years longer. They say he had a hard life, but he died at a young age."
"It's a good thing he's dead. If he knew about Princess Yizhen, he would probably cause trouble for you." Hongqiao said slowly, "You are not afraid of him, but there are too many troubles, which is always annoying."
Concubine Shu did not take Zhao Yi seriously, but Hongqiao was right. If Zhao Yi lived well and avenged his mother, her hands would inevitably be dirty.
"This is because her destiny is too weak to support the wealth and prosperity she is destined for." Concubine Shu lowered her eyes and looked at her delicate hands, the nails stained with red nail polish. "This prince's consort he left behind has a very interesting background. We can make use of her. You can arrange for Arong to instigate her and make her resent Yan Heqing."
Yan Heqing is the name of the emperor's teacher.
Hong Qiao replied, "Yes." She suddenly remembered something: "Arong sent a message back. Liu Yue, who works for the Crown Princess, assigned a few people to tidy up the study. They saw Liu Yue moving a gilded box to a separate section of the study without letting them in. They guessed there was some secret inside."
This is a request for permission, asking whether or not to move the box.
Concubine Shu said thoughtfully, "Tell Arong to be more careful and don't let anyone catch him."
Hongqiao understood that Concubine Shu wanted to check what was in the box.
-
At noon the next day, Arong came to Lanxueyuan with a lunch box.
Tingxue just happened to come out of the house and stretched out her hand to Arong: "Give me the lunch box."
Ah Rong saw Tingxue's eyes were red: "Sister Tingxue, go wash your face. I will bring food to the princess."
Tingxue thought about it and didn't stop Arong. She pressed the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief and went to the servants' room with her head lowered.
Arong lifted the curtain and pushed open the door, then heard sobbing. She entered the room and saw Shen Qingtan sitting on the couch by the window, her long black hair falling to her waist, naked in her hair, and wearing a plain green dress.
Liu Yue tilted her head, wiped her tears, and sobbed softly.
"Princess, I'm bringing you breakfast." Arong approached Shen Qingtan and finally saw her expression. She looked grief-stricken. Her eyes were bloodshot, probably from a sleepless night. "Would you like to have a bite or two to fill your stomach?"
Shen Qingtan pretended not to hear and didn't look at Arong.
Ah Rong looked at Liu Yue who was standing beside her and said, "Sister, please persuade the princess to take care of herself."
Liu Yue wiped her eyes with her sleeve and sniffed, "Put the food box on the table first. I'll persuade the princess to eat some later."
"Okay." Arong placed the food box on the table. As if infected by the sadness in the room, a trace of sorrow flashed across her face. "I heard that the princess and the eldest prince were very loving in the Great Zhou. Now that the eldest prince is in trouble, the princess is very sad and probably won't have much of an appetite. I'll be watching outside. When the princess wants to eat and the food is cold, sister, give me the food box and I'll go to the kitchen to get some hot food."
Liu Yue forced herself to be energetic: "Thank you for your help."
"This is what I should do." Ah Rong bit her lip and complained, "There are so many officials in Northern Qi, but the Imperial Master didn't send them, but chose to send the Grand Prince to deal with the plague. If the Imperial Master hadn't deliberately targeted the Grand Prince, nothing would have happened to him."
Liu Yue suddenly looked at A Rong: "Targeting?"
Ah Rong realized that he had said something wrong and quickly covered his mouth: "I... I..."
Liu Yue interrupted her: "Your Highness has no grudge against the Imperial Master. Why would the Imperial Master deliberately target Your Highness?"
Ah Rong stammered, "Sister, I... I was just talking nonsense..."
Liu Yue said sternly, "If you dare to speak ill of the master, I will cut off your tongue."
"I... I say..." Arong was pressed to the point of panic and said quickly, "Your Highness's biological mother's death is related to the Imperial Tutor. I heard that it was his suggestion because Your Majesty listens to the Imperial Tutor the most... Now that the Imperial Tutor deliberately let Your Highness go, I wonder if it is related to Princess Yizhen's death."
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