kvmb Chapter 486 The Northern Qi Emperor Helps Zhao Yi
Chapter 486 The Northern Qi Emperor Helps Zhao Yi
The Northern Qi emperor's temples throbbed, and his head began to ache again.
Since ancient times, the poor have never fought with the rich, and the rich have never fought with officials.
Moreover, the wise prince is the heir to the throne.
The common people surely understand this principle.
Even if they harbored resentment towards the wise king and wanted to seek justice, the things the wise king had done should not have reached the capital in just five or six days.
There must be someone pulling the strings behind the scenes.
It's obvious who did it.
However, the guard, upon hearing the eunuch's words, suddenly remembered something: "Your Majesty, I recall some things the prefect said in the dungeon."
The Northern Qi emperor looked sharply at the guard: "What did he say?"
The guard replied, "He said that all the officials associated with Feng Zhihuan were imprisoned, but the Prince Xian was completely unharmed. They were concerned about their relatives and never even considered implicating the Prince Xian."
"The wise king is truly cruel and heartless. He was afraid that those who knew the inside story would expose his crimes, so he killed them to silence them. He didn't even leave a single one of their relatives who were about to be exiled alive."
"Fortunately, he and his family survived and did not die at the hands of the wise prince. He couldn't swallow this insult, so he implicated the wise prince at the execution ground. He thought that by making a big fuss, he might be able to save his family and prevent them from dying in vain."
These words struck the Northern Qi emperor like a thunderbolt, leaving him momentarily speechless.
He sent someone to assassinate Feng Zhihuan in order to frame Feng Zhihuan for the assassination of Zhao Yi.
As for the assassination of Feng Zhihuan's confidant, it was to silence the Prince Xian.
Because he didn't trust Zhao Yi, he killed all the people who knew the truth to eliminate any future trouble.
Unexpectedly, his actions not only failed to achieve their goal but also created further complications.
The Northern Qi emperor had calculated everything, but he never imagined that he himself was the culprit who started the trouble.
It is virtually impossible to suppress public opinion right now.
The Northern Qi emperor was in a real predicament and immediately summoned his eunuch for questioning.
He learned from the eunuch that the matter of the wise prince had not caused much of a stir in the streets or among the ministers, which put his mind at ease.
"It's better to guide than to suppress. The more I try to suppress public opinion, the more likely I am to suffer a backlash. It would be better to let public opinion ferment for now." After thinking it over, the Emperor of Northern Qi came up with a solution: "Back then, the Prince of Guangling created even bigger public opinion to suppress it, and it worked very well. When the time is right, we can also create a public opinion to suppress rumors that are detrimental to the Prince."
Eunuch Liu said, "Your Majesty is wise."
The Northern Qi emperor instructed Eunuch Liu: "Go to the Prince Xian's residence and tell him to lift the Prince Xian's confinement." He was planning for the Prince Xian: "In a few days, it will be the 70th birthday of the wife of the Minister of Personnel. We should let the Prince Xian make an appearance to reassure the court officials."
He regretted that he had entertained the idea of annexing the Great Zhou when his own strength was insufficient.
In his eyes, the most capable military general of the Great Zhou Dynasty was the Prince of Zhenbei.
Without the Prince of Zhenbei, the Great Zhou Dynasty was not a threat to the Northern Qi.
Therefore, he wanted to use the relationship between Zhao Yi and the Prince of Zhenbei as father-in-law and son-in-law to sow discord between the Prince of Zhenbei and the Great Zhou.
Once the people of the Great Zhou suspected that the Prince of Zhenbei had rebellious intentions, how could they allow him to lead troops to attack the Northern Qi?
Then, he will appoint the imperial tutor as his strategist and conquer the Great Zhou in one fell swoop.
That is why, when the officials impeached Zhao Yi, he subtly revealed Zhao Yi's ambition to clear him of suspicion of being a spy.
Looking back now, his actions were entirely detrimental to the already unpopular and virtuous king.
"Yes." Eunuch Liu accepted the order and left.
He strongly disagreed with the actions of the Northern Qi emperor. The virtuous prince was the only heir of pure blood, and it was the popular choice for him to inherit the throne.
Even if the wise prince's reputation is damaged, once he becomes the new emperor, who will dare to speak ill of him? How many of those who dare to criticize the new emperor have enough heads to be chopped off?
However, the Northern Qi emperor was incompetent and only secured his throne with the help of his tutor. This led to his extreme insecurity and his deep concern about how others viewed him, fearing that people would see him as a foolish and incompetent ruler.
The more Eunuch Liu thought about it, the more he felt that the Northern Qi emperor's current predicament was actually foreseeable.
He's all show and no substance; he lacks real talent, which is why he's so concerned with his reputation and always hesitant to act.
If one is resourceful and courageous, one will not be manipulated by Zhao Yi.
They wouldn't be overwhelmed by such a trivial matter as the wise prince's public relations troubles.
Eunuch Liu collected his thoughts and went to the Prince Xian's residence to deliver a message: "Your Highness, His Majesty has lifted your confinement."
The wise prince's gloomy expression brightened upon hearing the news: "Does Father have any other instructions?"
Based on his understanding of the Northern Qi emperor, he wouldn't lift his title without a reason.
Eunuch Liu replied, "In a few days it will be the 70th birthday of the wife of the Minister of Personnel. His Majesty has asked you to prepare a generous gift to attend the birthday banquet."
The wise prince's eyes flickered slightly. So the emperor knew that the Minister of Personnel was one of his people?
This is to prevent him from losing the support of the people, so they sent him to the Minister's wife's birthday banquet to make a good impression.
Thinking of this, the Prince Xian stuffed a bag of silver ingots into Eunuch Liu's hand: "Thank you for making this trip. Please pass on a message to my father, telling him not to worry about my affairs. I will handle things properly."
Eunuch Liu laughed and said, "Your Highness is too kind to this servant. This is simply what this servant should do."
After saying this, he placed the money bag on the coffee table and returned to the palace with his men.
The Prince Xian stared at the money pouch on the tea table, his gaze growing increasingly somber. Just as he was about to leave the palace, he saw Zhang Weiping rushing over: "Your Highness, something terrible has happened. The magistrate under Feng Zhihuan has confessed to your crimes at the execution ground."
"I heard that the people of Yongqing County are protesting against you and demanding justice from the court. The matter has escalated to a great extent, and even the Prince of Guangling and Li Leshan cannot suppress it. The news has already reached the capital."
The wise prince's expression suddenly changed: "The Prince of Guangling is my mortal enemy. He would love for things to escalate, so why would he help me suppress public opinion?" He said angrily, "I suspect that he is the one who did it."
"Your Highness, letting public opinion fester will only worsen your situation. What should we do?" Zhang Weiping, seeing the Prince's exasperated state, delivered another piece of bad news: "I also heard that on the second day of your confinement, during the morning court session, officials impeached the Prince of Guangling for being a spy for the Great Zhou, wrongfully killing a high-ranking official of the Northern Qi, and attempting to sow discord in the court. Unexpectedly, His Majesty exonerated the Prince of Guangling, even saying he would help the Northern Qi annex the Great Zhou. It turns out some ministers were prejudiced against him because of his background. Now, His Majesty's protection of him has softened their attitude towards him."
In a fit of rage, the wise king overturned the tea table with a loud bang.
Zhang Weiping was so frightened that he shut his mouth.
The wise prince instructed, "Invite the Minister of Personnel and others to the teahouse. I have important matters to discuss with them."
"I'll take care of it right away." Zhang Weiping strode away.
The wise king ordered someone to fetch a horse for him from the stable, and he rode directly to the teahouse.
From afar, one could see a group of people gathered in front of the teahouse, whispering amongst themselves, their faces showing particular agitation and anger.
As soon as he arrived at the teahouse, the group recognized him, and they all turned pale with fright and scattered in panic.
The wise prince frowned and entered the teahouse in a bad mood, where he heard people inside talking about him.
"Bah! The taxes we common people pay support the royal family and the court officials, but they have no regard for us common people. The Prince Xian is even more hateful. He takes advantage of his status as a prince to collude with some corrupt officials, committing numerous evils and persecuting us. I just hope His Majesty will open his eyes and not let him become the crown prince."
"If he becomes the ruler of Northern Qi, wouldn't he be a cruel, tyrannical, and oppressive tyrant? How could we common people have a good life?"
"Hey, I'm quite puzzled. The Wise Prince and the Prince of Guangling are from the same family, so how come they are so different? The Wise Prince doesn't do any of the things that people do. But the Prince of Guangling is always thinking about us common people, making sure we have enough to eat and wear, and we even have some money left over."
"I hope that the Prince of Guangling will become the crown prince of our Northern Qi, so that we common people can have a better life."
When the wise king heard the people comparing him to Zhao Yi and belittling him to the point of being worthless, worse than pigs and dogs, and even inferior to Zhao Yi's finger, he was deeply moved.
He had never suffered such humiliation before, and was about to order the commoners who dared to speak ill of the royal family to be beaten to death when his attendants quickly stopped him.
"Your Highness, please don't be angry. If you kill them today, not only will the people talk about you, but the censors will also impeach you at tomorrow's morning court."
The wise prince took a deep breath, suppressing the surging anger in his chest, and went to the private room on the second floor.
After waiting for about half an hour, all the officials who supported him, except for the Minister of Personnel and the Minister of Justice, arrived.