Chapter 403 Zhao Yi's Decision
The purpose of the imperial tutor was to make him compete for the throne. Otherwise, he would not have gone to such great lengths to force him to come to Northern Qi, let alone clear away obstacles for him and support him to his current position.
But he never thought of staying in Northern Qi and wanted to return to Great Zhou.
In order to stimulate his desire for imperial power, the imperial tutor carefully set up a trap for him and did not deliberately conceal his identity, as if he was not afraid that he would reveal his ambition.
Such a reckless attitude made Zhao Yi feel heavy-hearted. He couldn't help but think of the private seal of the former prince, and two suspicions arose in his heart.
First, the crown prince of the previous dynasty had already been killed by the imperial tutor.
Second, the imperial tutor was a descendant of the royal family of the previous dynasty.
Zhao Yi prefers the latter.
The imperial tutor was a man of extraordinary talent, and he devoted all his energy to governing the country and ensuring the people's safety. It can be seen that he had the people of Northern Qi in his eyes.
According to common sense, such a person who is dedicated to serving the people should choose a benevolent and wise ruler, but the imperial tutor chose to support the foolish and incompetent Emperor of Northern Qi.
If the imperial tutor was a descendant of the royal family of the previous dynasty, all this would make sense.
Because the Imperial Tutor wanted to restore the country, he chose the brainless Northern Qi Emperor as the emperor. In this way, the Imperial Tutor could better control the Northern Qi Emperor and become his puppet.
Wait until the time is right, and then overthrow the Chu family's empire in one fell swoop.
Thinking of this, Zhao Yi had other doubts in his heart.
The imperial tutor was a descendant of the royal family of the previous dynasty, and he was the heir of the Northern Qi emperor. The imperial tutor helped him become emperor, so how could he restore the country?
This alone overturned all previous speculations.
Could it be that the imperial tutor was chasing power and was unwilling to give up the authority in his hands, so he deliberately picked him, a prince who had no foundation in Northern Qi, to become the next puppet emperor in his hands?
Zhao Yi sneered and stopped trying to guess what the imperial teacher was thinking.
Since the imperial teacher wants to push him to the throne, he will follow his wishes, but no one should try to control him.
After what happened today, Zhao Yi knew very well that with the existence of the Imperial Teacher, not only could he not take his mother's remains away, he also didn't know where his mother's bones were hidden.
Only when he ascended the throne could he merge the territory of Northern Qi into the territory of Great Zhou, thus comforting his mother's departed soul and letting her rest in peace in this land.
In this way, not only did he fulfill his mother's last wish, but he also conquered Northern Qi without a single soldier.
Zhao Yi whispered in Shen Qingtan's ear: "If he wants me to fight, then I will fight for it."
Shen Qingtan looked up in his arms, looking at his determined expression, and suddenly felt a little sad. Zhao Yi had no ambitions, he just wanted to share the worries of Emperor Jing'an and live their lives well.
Now he is forced by the imperial teacher to embark on the road of fighting for power.
Zhao Yi asked, "What do you think?"
Seeing him asking for her opinion, Shen Qingtan felt heartbroken: "Whatever you want to do, just go ahead and do it. I will always be by your side."
Zhao Yi received Shen Qingtan's support and promise, and his heart, which had been immersed in ice water, warmed up. He kissed her hair with his thin lips.
The couple calmed down and returned to the Guangling Palace together.
The Emperor of Northern Qi had already arranged people to wait at the Prince of Guangling's Mansion. When the guards saw Zhao Yi returning, they immediately invited him into the palace.
Zhao Yi did not change his clothes and followed the imperial guards into the palace and arrived at the door of the imperial study.
Through a door, he heard voices coming from inside.
"Prince Guangling used the excuse of hunting down remnants of the previous dynasty to lead his men to the National Temple. In reality, they were trying to steal the Imperial Concubine's remains. They also accused me of being a remnant of the previous dynasty and tried to stop me from pursuing the case."
"Your Majesty, it's not that I'm maliciously speculating about Prince Guangling, but rather that Prince Guangling has a motive for committing the crime, and his appearance at the National Temple at that time is also a coincidence. I have no choice but to suspect him."
"Besides, the National Temple is at the foot of the Emperor, and is patrolled by soldiers from the garrison and the National Temple's monks. If the remnants of the previous dynasty were hiding under the cliffs behind the National Temple, they would have been apprehended long ago."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Yi pushed open the tightly closed door and saw the royal guards kneeling in a row in the middle of the hall, making a complaint against him in front of the Emperor of Northern Qi.
He looked away and raised his eyes to look at the Northern Qi Emperor who was sitting on the high seat. His face was ashen and his eyes were filled with anger.
Zhao Yi bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."
It was unknown which word in this sentence hurt the Northern Qi Emperor. A surge of rage rose to his head, and he couldn't help but grab the paperweight and smash it towards Zhao Yi.
Zhao Yi dodged the paperweight that was thrown at him, and it brushed past his shoulder. With a bang, it fell to the ground and broke into two pieces.
The palace maids and eunuchs standing by were so frightened that their faces turned pale and they knelt on the ground.
Zhao Yi looked at the gold brick at his feet. The paperweight had left a fingernail-sized crack in it, and he knew just how much force the Northern Qi emperor had used. If it had hit him on the head, blood would have splattered there.
The moment the paperweight slipped out of his hand, the Emperor of Northern Qi came to his senses. After realizing what he had done, his hands began to tremble uncontrollably.
During this period of time, he became increasingly irritable and violent, and would fly into a rage at the slightest displeasure.
When he heard the secret guards say that Zhao Yi had secretly stolen Yizhen's bones under the guise of hunting down the remnants of the previous dynasty, he was immediately furious. The moment he saw Zhao Yi, he completely lost his mind and picked up a paperweight to hit him.
Zhao Yi's dark eyes stared at the Northern Qi Emperor without blinking, waiting for him to ask questions.
But to the Emperor of Northern Qi, this look seemed to be condemning him.
The Northern Qi Emperor was furious and said, "I have made you a king, given you a mansion, and delegated power to you. Isn't this good enough for you? Don't I deserve to be called Father?"
The more he spoke, the more furious he became. He launched into a tirade, demanding, "You are my offspring, a prince of Northern Qi. Your biological mother was my woman, recorded in the imperial jade disc. You are devoted to the Great Zhou and are vainly attempting to bring your biological mother back with you. Where do you place me?"
The Emperor of Northern Qi believed the secret guard's words without a doubt, because who else would have such a motive except Zhao Yi?
It just so happened that the bones disappeared after Zhao Yi went to Guo Temple.
If it wasn’t Zhao Yi who stole it, who else could it be?
Zhao Yi took out his personal seal from his sleeve and prepared to present it to the Northern Qi Emperor. Suddenly hearing the Northern Qi Emperor's questioning, he asked back, "How did my mother die?"
The Northern Qi Emperor's face darkened and he said nothing.
Zhao Yi knew the truth and naturally knew that the Emperor of Northern Qi could not answer it. The reason he asked this question was just to shut the Emperor of Northern Qi up.
He got back to the point: "This is a private seal that I found in a cave under the cliff behind the National Temple. Please take a look, Your Majesty."
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