kvmb Chapter 402 The Imperial Tutor's Purpose
Chapter 402 The Imperial Tutor's Purpose
Zhao Yi had limited information from Jiang Chao, only knowing that Shen Qingtan had left the capital with her guards to find Boss Qin, but the details were unclear.
Boss Qin sent someone to ask Shen Qingtan for help last night, and Deputy General Sun rushed to provide support overnight. He will definitely not write another letter and send someone to the Prince's Mansion.
Shen Qingtan must understand this principle, yet she still led her people out of the city, which shows that the letter was not written by Boss Qin, but by someone else.
Zhao Yi could almost guess the contents of the letter; it likely concerned Boss Qin's safety, and the token was the strongest evidence.
Searching for someone without any clues is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Zhao Yi spurred his horse and galloped away.
Dark clouds obscured the sun, bordering the end of the mountain road, seemingly threatening to engulf the man and his horse.
Upon seeing this, Jiang Chao's heart skipped a beat. He quickly mounted his horse and chased after the enemy back to the capital.
Zhao Yi searched aimlessly for Shen Qingtan along the official road and mountain path outside the city, but none of the people who came to report to him brought any useful news.
Time passed slowly, and Shen Qingtan's danger increased.
The general looked up at the gloomy sky. A loud clap of thunder sounded, and he couldn't help but say, "Your Highness, most of the day has passed, and we haven't found the Princess or a single clue. The sky is getting darker and darker; it looks like it's going to rain heavily."
As he spoke, he turned his head to look at Zhao Yi, who was standing next to his warhorse. His eyes and brows were misty with rain, and he looked cold and chilly.
As they searched, Zhao Yi's expression grew increasingly somber and cold, and he became more and more taciturn, as if he were suppressing his inner emotions, afraid that saying even one more word would expose his inner weaknesses.
Zhao Yi seemed not to hear, his gaze turning cold as he looked towards the manor ahead, preparing to have it searched. If it couldn't be found, he would return to the capital to find the person he suspected.
At this moment, the tightly closed gate of the manor opened.
A slender figure emerged, surrounded by guards and maids.
His gaze was so direct that the woman under the umbrella noticed and looked up at him with surprise: "Second Master, what brings you here?"
As soon as she said those words, Shen Qingtan realized she had misspoke, because she understood why Zhao Yi was there.
Just as she was about to explain, Zhao Yi lost his usual composure and strode towards her, staring intently at her as if checking if she was injured anywhere.
"Second Master, I..."
Before Shen Qingtan could finish speaking, Zhao Yi hugged her tightly, his fingers trembling: "Manman..."
Until I truly felt her presence, a deep sense of lingering fear washed over me.
He almost thought he was going to lose her.
Shen Qingtan sensed Zhao Yi's intense unease and reached out to hug him: "I received a letter that said Uncle Qin is in a house in the suburbs and asked me to go there to pick him up in person. It also included a token from Uncle Qin."
"Uncle Qin came to Northern Qi for my sake. I was worried that he might have been captured, so I planned to rescue him. But I found a simple map inside the envelope. The map showed the cave under the cliff behind the National Temple and the secret passage in the back mountain."
“Our every move was under his control, and we immediately panicked and didn’t know what to do. I was afraid that if I didn’t go to the appointment, he would expose our plan.”
"When I was at my wit's end, I suddenly smelled a faint, peculiar fragrance on the letter."
"This fragrance is very special. It's agarwood with another ingredient added, and it has a faint woody and bitter scent. I've only ever smelled it before when Yan Yi sent me a couplet. Because the fragrance is so unique, I remember it very well."
"I suspect this person is the Imperial Tutor. If he is, I dare not act rashly, fearing that my cleverness will not escape his notice, and that my presumptuous behavior will only anger him."
“He has been meticulously planning and pushing you to your current position, but he hasn’t achieved his goal yet. He probably won’t let anything happen to us. That’s why I came to this appointment with my guards. I want to see what the Imperial Tutor’s purpose is in going to such lengths to invite me here.”
“When I left the city, I arranged for guards to deliver a message to you and also marked the roadside. When we arrived at the house, we were taken into custody and then brought to this estate.”
"Although the Imperial Tutor did not show up, he did not make things difficult for me. He left two maids to serve me and tried his best to fulfill any requests I made. Only just now did he let me leave."
When Shen Qingtan was under control, she guessed that the Imperial Tutor's purpose was Zhao Yi, and even suspected that the Imperial Tutor intended to use her to threaten Zhao Yi.
The thought had barely crossed her mind when she rejected it. The Imperial Tutor knew they were going to steal Princess Yizhen's remains that day, and this information alone was enough for him to negotiate with Zhao Yi.
She could never figure out the Imperial Tutor's purpose until now, seeing Zhao Yi's flustered and nervous expression, she vaguely realized that the Imperial Tutor was using her disappearance to force Zhao Yi to achieve some goal.
Shen Qingtan buried her face in his chest and said in a muffled voice, "I'm sorry, I made you worry."
“The Imperial Tutor wields absolute power in Northern Qi. No one can stop him from doing what he wants. He has a thousand ways to achieve his goals.” Zhao Yi said in a low voice, “You don’t need to apologize to me. This whole thing started because of me.”
He did not encounter any of Shen Qingtan's people at the National Temple, nor did he find any marks she had made on the ground. It was likely that the Imperial Tutor had subdued the people and then cleaned up the marks on the ground.
The guards that the Prince of Zhenbei arranged for Shen Qingtan were all highly skilled in martial arts, yet they were easily suppressed by the Imperial Tutor's men, demonstrating the unfathomable strength of the Imperial Tutor.
The Imperial Tutor knew that he would steal the remains today, but instead of stopping him, he cleaned up the mess for him, letting him take the remains away smoothly. Just when he thought he had achieved his goal, he dealt him a blow.
Clearly, the Imperial Tutor wasn't satisfied with just that. He also set a trap for Boss Qin, deliberately creating a landslide to prevent her from returning to the capital. Then, he used Shen Qingtan's feelings for Boss Qin to lure her out of the city.
To prevent himself from running out of bargaining chips, he threatened Shen Qingtan with his safety, forcing her to go to the appointment and then hiding her whereabouts.
The frustration of failing to obtain the remains, the anger and helplessness of being controlled by others, and the panic of losing Shen Qingtan made him realize a problem.
Without absolute power, he would be unable to retrieve his mother's remains and return them to the Great Zhou, nor would he be able to protect those around him.
From the moment he put on the robes of a prince of Northern Qi, he stepped into the web woven for him by the imperial tutor.
As long as the Imperial Tutor does not allow them to return to the Great Zhou, their journey home will be indefinitely delayed.
More than returning to China, he was afraid of not being able to protect Shen Qingtan.
The Imperial Tutor's actions today seem to be a warning to him.
If there is a next time, Shen Qingtan will not return unscathed.
Zhao Yi didn't want to be controlled by others, nor did he want to be manipulated, and he certainly didn't want to put Shen Qingtan in danger. The only way for him to escape all of this was to take that position.
Thinking about this, Zhao Yi suddenly understood and realized the true purpose of the Imperial Tutor.