kvmb Chapter 404 Confidentiality
Chapter 404 Confidentiality
Liu Gonggong remained silent, as the father and son engaged in a heated argument, creating a tense atmosphere in the hall. He dared not take the private seal on his own initiative, but instead glanced at the Northern Qi Emperor beside him.
The Emperor of Northern Qi glared at him angrily.
Eunuch Liu jogged over, took the private seal with both hands, and presented it to the Emperor of Northern Qi.
The Northern Qi emperor was convinced that Zhao Yi had stolen Yi Zhen's remains and did not believe that the remnants of the previous dynasty were hiding in the back mountain of the national temple. Therefore, he did not take the private seal seriously and just wanted to see what tricks Zhao Yi was up to.
However, when he obtained the private seal, he discovered that both the patterns around the seal and the words "Changyuan Private Seal" engraved on the bottom were consistent with the patterns in the archives of the previous dynasty's Imperial Archives.
The Northern Qi emperor's expression suddenly changed. With a "thud," his personal seal fell onto the table and rolled to the ground.
The former crown prince was indeed right under his nose, while the men he and the late emperor sent out returned empty-handed. This shows that the remnants of the previous dynasty had infiltrated the court in every way, allowing them to evade capture.
The Northern Qi emperor couldn't help but recall the rumors about the crown prince of the previous dynasty, who was said to be extremely precocious, able to recite the "Thousand Character Classic" and "Hundred Family Surnames" fluently by the age of three, and able to write articles by the age of five.
The former emperor doted on the former crown prince. Seeing his exceptional talent, he arranged a seat for him in the Golden Palace when the prince was three years old, allowing him to sit behind a curtain and listen to government affairs.
Because the previous emperor once said: "It is better to learn by observation than to talk about war on paper. The crown prince will be the future emperor, and I will cultivate him from a young age."
The former emperor never treated the former crown prince as a child. Regardless of whether the prince could understand or not, the emperor would tell him about the affairs of the court.
Moreover, the former emperor protected the former crown prince very well. Apart from the tutor who taught the former crown prince and the palace servants who served him closely, no one else had ever seen the former crown prince's true face.
Because of the turmoil in the court, and the fact that the former emperor only had this one son, he was worried that the former crown prince would be murdered, so he never brought the former crown prince to appear in public.
When the previous dynasty fell, the crown prince was not yet seven years old and was escorted out of the palace by assassins.
In order to obtain a portrait of the former crown prince, the late emperor arrested the relatives of the six tutors who had taught the former crown prince and declared, "If you tell the truth, whatever your current status is, you will retain it when the new dynasty is established. If you do not tell the truth, I will exterminate your entire clan."
Faced with the late emperor's threat, the six masters remained unmoved.
The late emperor was furious and, in front of them, beheaded their relatives.
Even as they watched helplessly as the heads of their relatives fell to the ground one by one, and as they themselves perished under the late emperor's blade, they never betrayed the master they served.
The more loyal the ministers of the previous dynasty were, the more the late emperor feared the young crown prince of the previous dynasty.
It was not only because the former crown prince was exceptionally talented, but also because of the loyalty of the former courtiers.
The late emperor could not kill all the ministers of the previous dynasty, nor could he eliminate all the powerful families of the previous dynasty. He feared that the crown prince of the previous dynasty would become too powerful and gain the support of these former ministers and families.
Only by eliminating them completely can they rest easy.
Indeed, the late emperor's many concerns came true.
Liu Gonggong was startled and hurriedly knelt down to pick up the private seal. He inadvertently saw these words, and his face turned pale. Trembling, he put the private seal back on the table.
Zhao Yi, seemingly oblivious to the Northern Qi Emperor's lapse in composure, continued his report: "The soldiers of the garrison, while pursuing mountain bandits, inadvertently discovered traces of remnants of the previous dynasty. They followed them all the way to the foot of the cliff behind the National Temple and found evidence of human habitation in a cave."
"They searched the cave carefully and found that several ornaments in the cave were engraved with patterns used by the royal family of the previous dynasty. They suspected that the cave was the hideout of the remnants of the previous dynasty. Fearing that they would alert the enemy, they dared not make any rash moves and went to the Lingfei Mausoleum to report to me."
Zhao Yi paused for a moment, then lowered his eyelashes: "Today is my mother's birthday. I took leave to pay my respects to her. So it turns out I don't have to worry about official business."
"However, this matter concerns the remnants of the previous dynasty. I fear that if we miss the opportunity to eradicate them completely, it will bring disaster to the Chu family's empire in the future. Therefore, I have no choice but to put aside the matter of paying respects to my mother and take my troops to hunt down the remnants of the previous dynasty."
"Who would have thought that at the same time, my mother's remains would be stolen from the National Temple, and I would be guilty of stealing her remains."
At this point, Zhao Yi looked at the Emperor of Northern Qi again: "This humble subject has a question. My mother's remains are clearly in the Lingfei Garden Cemetery, so why have they appeared in the National Temple?"
"Even if we take a step back and say that I am my mother's own son, why would I steal her remains? I can take her remains openly and honestly and let her rest in peace."
"May I ask what crime I have committed?"
As he said this, he looked calmly at the guards.
The guards were speechless.
After carefully considering Zhao Yi's words, the Emperor of Northern Qi realized that Zhao Yi did not know that Yi Zhen's remains were in the State Temple. Even if he wanted to steal Yi Zhen's remains, he should have done so in the Lingfei Cemetery.
Furthermore, Zhao Yi's concern that the remnants of the previous dynasty would bring disaster to the Chu family's empire suggests that Zhao Yi cares about the Chu family's empire and has ambitions to seize the throne.
The Northern Qi emperor judged others by his own standards. If he were Zhao Yi, he would never return to the Great Zhou to be a leisurely prince. Instead, he would choose to stay in Northern Qi as a powerful prince, vying for the throne in the future.
No one in this world can resist the allure of imperial power.
If Zhao Yi wanted to seize the throne, why would he steal Yi Zhen's remains?
When the Northern Qi emperor saw the former crown prince's private seal, he dispelled his suspicions about Zhao Yi and concluded that the former crown prince had stolen Yi Zhen's remains and was trying to negotiate with Emperor Jing'an to join forces to overthrow the Chu family's dynasty.
If he wanted to stabilize the Great Zhou, he couldn't make things difficult for Zhao Yi.
"Yi'er, your father is delirious from illness. He has mistaken you for someone who has been misled by the slander of treacherous officials." The Emperor of Northern Qi said softly, then turned his gaze to the guards with a sharp look and ordered, "Guards, drag them away and behead them."
The Imperial Guards entered and dragged several of the bodyguards away.
Zhao Yi was not surprised by this result. The Northern Qi emperor's fear of the remnants of the previous dynasty had reached its peak. He was afraid that if he were punished, the Great Zhou would be pushed into the camp of the remnants of the previous dynasty. Even if he had many suspicions about him, he would not show them openly and would pretend to believe him.
Secondly, the Northern Qi emperor was blinded by power and only had eyes for personal gain. Such a person would never believe that anyone who had tasted the power would be willing to give up fame and fortune.
Whether the Northern Qi emperor believed him or not, he could always escape unscathed.
As he expected, the Northern Qi emperor did not pursue the matter further and simply let it go.
The Emperor of Northern Qi dismissed the servants in the palace and slowly walked to Zhao Yi's side: "Yi'er, let's have a heart-to-heart talk today."