Chapter 501: Old Matter Revisited
The Emperor of Northern Qi realized that something was wrong and couldn't help but frown.
Once the news of the virtuous king's death spreads, it will inevitably cause turmoil in the court.
Therefore, he blocked the news of the virtuous king's tragic death.
How did Concubine Shu learn about the death of the virtuous king?
Not to mention, she was imprisoned in the cold palace, how could she be so well-informed?
Could it be that someone sent her a message?
But apart from the secret guard who came to the palace to report the disappearance of the virtuous king, and the imperial guard who took the virtuous king's personal jade pendant for him to identify him, no one else knew about the virtuous king's death.
The Northern Qi Emperor summoned the guard who had delivered the message and asked, "Has there been any activity in the cold palace in the past two days?"
The guard remembered that the virtuous king had sent a palace maid to deliver a wooden box to the concubine last night.
Concubine Shu happily took the wooden box into the inner hall. After a while, some faint noises came from the inner hall.
However, the inner hall was some distance away from the courtyard gate, so he couldn't hear clearly and didn't know what happened.
The sudden desire of Concubine Shu to see the Emperor of Northern Qi today might be related to that wooden box.
But how could he dare to tell the Emperor of Northern Qi about this?
Once the Emperor of Northern Qi knew that he had given Concubine Shu favors, he would definitely be charged with dereliction of duty and might even chop off his head.
Thinking of this, the guard said tremblingly: "Your Majesty, Concubine Shu has always been obedient and has never made a fuss. It's just that today she suddenly sent a subordinate to deliver a message to you."
The Emperor of Northern Qi suspected that someone from the previous dynasty had infiltrated the inner court and deliberately leaked the news to Concubine Shu.
Apart from the remnants of the previous dynasty, he could not think of anyone else who knew the news of the wise king's death.
As for their purpose of doing this...
The Emperor of Northern Qi fell into deep thought.
If Concubine Shu learned of the tragic death of Prince Xian, she would definitely want to see him.
According to his usual behavior, he would definitely go to the cold palace to see Concubine Shu.
Could it be that the remnants of the previous dynasty are hiding in the cold palace?
Is it just to let Concubine Shu lure him to the cold palace and then kill him?
The Emperor of Northern Qi pondered for a while and finally decided to meet Concubine Shu.
"Take Concubine Shu to Fu'an Palace. I will meet her there."
Today, the remnants of the previous dynasty are no longer content and are attempting to restore their country.
Their presence made him unable to sleep or eat.
If he doesn't get rid of them quickly, he won't be able to vent the hatred in his heart.
The guard took the order and said, "I will go and reply right away."
After the guards left, the Northern Qi emperor arranged two groups of people, one to surround the cold palace, and the other to lurk in Fu'an Palace.
After everything was arranged, the Northern Qi Emperor went to Fu'an Palace and found that Concubine Shu was already waiting at the gate.
When he saw Shufei's appearance clearly, he was stunned.
The Concubine Shu in his memory had long, shiny black hair, rosy cheeks, a plump figure, and fair and moist skin. She loved wearing brightly colored palace clothes, which made her look delicate and charming.
Although she is over 40 years old, she looks very young, like a woman under 30.
Now her cheeks are thin, her eye sockets are sunken, her skin is sallow, and her hair at the temples is gray. She has lost all her former glory.
She is clearly only in her forties, but she looks like a woman in her fifties.
The Emperor of Northern Qi almost didn't dare to recognize him.
Concubine Shu saw the Emperor of Northern Qi standing on the cobblestone path, looking at her from afar. There was a look of surprise in his cloudy eyes, as if he had never expected that she would become so unrecognizable.
It was all thanks to him that she became like this.
Unfortunately, she didn't see it clearly before and only regarded Zhao Yi as an enemy and opponent.
Now that she has encountered a great disaster, she has seen the essence of things clearly.
If the Emperor of Northern Qi wanted to protect her, who could touch her?
But she realized it too late.
So much so that the family was broken up and the people died.
The son died tragically.
Concubine Shu clenched her fists tightly, suppressing the hatred that was surging in her chest.
"Your Majesty." Concubine Shu bowed and paid her respects to the Emperor of Northern Qi.
"No need to be so polite."
The Emperor of Northern Qi approached and saw that Concubine Shu's eyes were red. She was probably extremely sad and cried bitterly after learning the news of King Xian's death.
Just as she was about to test Concubine Shu's attitude, she looked up and surveyed her surroundings, "Your Majesty, why did you arrange for me to meet you here?"
Upon hearing this, the Emperor of Northern Qi looked around but did not notice anything unusual.
It's just that this place is close to the cold palace, so we arranged to meet here.
"Over twenty years ago, during the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, Prince Xian built an arena in the adjacent palace and invited us to watch slaves fight wild beasts." Concubine Shu curled her lips and explained, "Back then, for a lucky draw, we locked Princess Yizhen in a cage with a wild beast. But instead of taming the beast, she was gnawed by it until only bones remained. Since then, the adjacent palace has been converted into a tiger kennel, housing two tigers, and you haven't been here since."
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