Chapter 407 Assassination
Prince Yu held the teacup with his slender fingers and took a sip of spring tea. After hearing his subordinates' words, the smile on his face became more gentle. He reached out to touch the red fox's fur, then he remembered that the red fox stayed in the Great Zhou.
He sent someone to investigate the King of Qi and learned that the Marquis of Shou'an would join forces with the ministers to request the appointment of a crown prince on the day of Princess Guangning's wedding. However, when his wife entered the palace to meet the Queen, the Marquis of Shou'an suddenly changed his plans, and it was unknown what drastic plan he had in mind.
They continued to dig, but could not find any useful information. They only knew that Shou'an Hou planned to request permission to enter the palace to see the Queen after Princess Guangning got married.
This was not good news for him. What was worse was that Marquis Shou'an and King Qi were innocent and no evidence of their crimes could be found.
If you want to bring them down, you have to create some "evidence".
He went through their information again and unexpectedly found a breakthrough point - the tomb temple of Shou'an Hou's ancestral home.
It was popular among officials of the previous dynasty to build tombs and temples in their ancestral hometowns. Firstly, there would be someone to guard the tombs, and secondly, the temples would be crowded with worshippers, which could accumulate merit for their ancestors.
The clan members were very united and kind, donating a lot of money to the temple every year, and the temple would take in some refugees who had nowhere else to go. Over time, the reputation of the temple spread, and some criminals would conceal their identities and disguise themselves as refugees to stay in the temple to avoid disaster.
There is something to be said for this.
He specially arranged for someone to pass the news to the King of Qi. When the King of Qi's people followed the clues to find their ancestral home, they arrested them and led the King of Qi to his ancestral home and killed him.
After the death of the King of Qi, he arranged for someone to spread the news that the ancestral temple of Shou'an Marquis was hiding the remnants of the previous dynasty. It was because the abbot of the temple discovered it and secretly informed Shou'an Marquis and the King of Qi that the King of Qi rushed to the ancestral temple to deal with it, but was killed by the remnants of the previous dynasty.
The Emperor of Northern Qi would surely be furious and would personally send people to investigate.
The refugees and criminals in the temple had no household registration, so they could not explain their origins. They were either forced to confess or died tragically under torture.
After all, the Northern Qi emperor was extremely worried about the remnants of the previous dynasty, which gave rise to a demon in his heart. He would rather kill someone by mistake than let them go.
Once these people die, the case of King Qi will be left unresolved.
If he didn't do this, the murderer of the King of Qi would not be found, and people would speculate that it was Zhao Yi who did it. This would become an obstacle for Zhao Yi to become emperor.
Prince Yu put down his teacup and brushed off his sleeves. "Keep a close eye on this. Don't make any mistakes."
"As you command." The subordinate took the order and withdrew.
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Shou'an Hou's ancestral home was not far from the capital, in a village less than two hundred miles away. If one rode a fast horse, one could go back and forth within a day.
The person sent by the King of Qi returned with a message early the next morning.
When the guards delivered the letter to the main courtyard, the King of Qi was walking slowly in the courtyard, supported by the eunuchs.
The King of Qi's face turned pale. The wound on his buttocks had healed, but he could not sit or walk. It hurt when he exerted force.
He took a deep breath, glanced at the guard standing at the gate, and asked unhappily, "What are you doing standing there?"
The guards stepped forward quickly: "Your Highness, Li Qing has sent a letter."
King Qi frowned and said, "Open it."
The guard opened the letter and handed it to the King of Qi.
King Qi glanced at the letter and recognized it was written by Li Qing. The general meaning of the letter was that they had traced the clues to his grandfather's hometown, and the remnants of the previous dynasty were hiding in the tomb temple. They wanted to investigate, but encountered obstacles from the abbot and the clan.
The letter also said that there were dozens of people in the tomb temple who had no household registration and their origins were unknown.
The King of Qi's face darkened and he angrily shouted, "A bunch of unruly people."
He was about to send more people to his ancestral home, but then he remembered that the remnants of the previous dynasty had sneaked into the tomb temple of his grandfather's family. If this group of unruly people did not give his people any leniency, the matter would get out of hand and the consequences would be unimaginable.
The King of Qi gritted his teeth and said, "Help me go to the Shou'an Marquis's Mansion."
The eunuch helped the King of Qi out.
"Wait." The King of Qi hurriedly stopped.
He remembered one thing: his grandfather always put the clan first. If he knew that the remnants of the previous dynasty were in the clan, he would have dealt with them quietly and would not have given him the opportunity to interfere.
He had a different idea. It wasn't that the Tomb Temple was intentionally harboring the remnants of the previous dynasty, but rather that these people were hiding their identities in the Tomb Temple. As long as he could capture them and escort them to his father, he would have made a great contribution.
My father has eliminated a major threat, and I am so happy that I can’t contain myself. How could he punish my clan?
After careful consideration, the King of Qi decided to go to his ancestral home in person. When the unruly people saw him, they would not dare to stop him because of his status.
"Hitch the carriage." King Qi ordered.
The eunuch exclaimed, "Your Highness, your injury has not yet healed."
"You won't die." The King of Qi shouted, "Go quickly."
The two eunuchs looked at each other, not knowing what to do.
The guard turned around and went to harness the carriage.
When the two eunuchs saw the guards move, they did not dare to disobey the King of Qi anymore and helped him out of the palace.
The guards were very thoughtful and laid a thick and soft mattress on the floor of the carriage so that the King of Qi could lie on it.
The King of Qi lay on his side in the carriage and ordered the guards to call the secret guards to protect him in secret. Only then did he go to his ancestral home with peace of mind.
The driver was concerned about the King of Qi's injury and drove very slowly.
The King of Qi had his own plans in mind. He intended to resolve the matter before tomorrow, and then secretly bring the remnants of the previous dynasty back to the capital, and send them to the Emperor of Northern Qi on the day Guangning got married, so as to divert the Emperor of Northern Qi's attention and allow Zhao Yi to return to the Great Zhou.
Thinking of this, the King of Qi ordered the coachman to hurry up.
The carriage sped along the official road, and the King of Qi was shaken so hard that his bones were almost broken. He was about to vomit his breakfast. He lay listlessly on the mattress and could not eat his lunch.
The eunuch saw the King of Qi's dispirited look and said cautiously, "Your Highness, we will arrive just by going around the mountain ahead."
The King of Qi drooped his eyelids and did not respond to the eunuch's words. Instead, he climbed up, leaned against the car window, opened the curtain, and saw a towering mountain in front of him.
The guard rode into the bend on a fast horse and lowered the curtain.
"Boom—"
A deafening explosion sounded, and King Qi's chest felt numb, as if his internal organs had shifted. Before he could react, a long sword pierced into the carriage.
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