kvmb Chapter 400 The Crown Prince's Private Seal
Chapter 400 The Crown Prince's Private Seal
The leader of the secret guards tensed his muscles, clenched his fists, and was ready to strike.
Just then, he heard the man holding him hostage behind him shout, "Your Highness, your subordinate has captured a remnant of the previous dynasty!"
The leader was stunned, completely unprepared to be captured as a remnant of the previous dynasty.
Then, he remembered something else.
The Prince of Guangling was ordered by the emperor to eliminate the remnants of the previous dynasty, so the people behind him were his subordinates.
Could it be that the Prince of Guangling sent people to steal Princess Yizhen's remains?
Firstly, the King of Guangling had this motive: he wanted to escort Princess Yizhen's remains back to the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Secondly, just now, two groups of people, one openly and one covertly, joined forces to steal Princess Yizhen's remains. He crawled out through the secret passage and came to this back mountain, where he was captured by the Prince of Guangling's men as a remnant of the previous dynasty.
What a coincidence!
He couldn't help but suspect that the Prince of Guangling had deliberately used the pretext of pursuing remnants of the previous dynasty to come to the back mountain of the State Temple to provide cover. When they tracked them down, he would then label them as remnants of the previous dynasty, capture them, and allow the thieves who stole the remains to escape.
Thinking of this, the leader's expression turned solemn. Just as he was about to speak, he heard a series of footsteps approaching.
Immediately afterwards, a tall figure emerged from the shade of the trees; it was none other than the Prince of Guangling.
Upon seeing Zhao Yi, the leader said in a deep voice, "Your Highness, I am a royal guard, stationed to protect the resting place of the Imperial Concubine. I am not a remnant of the previous dynasty."
Zhao Yi's gaze swept calmly across his face as he slowly and deliberately said, "His Majesty himself said that the remains of the Imperial Concubine are buried in the Lingfei Mausoleum. Yet you claim that His Majesty sent you to the National Temple to guard the Imperial Concubine's resting place?"
The leader's expression changed.
"Go and explain your true identity to His Majesty." Zhao Yi waved his wide sleeve: "Take him away."
The leader was about to make a move, but he calmed down the moment he touched the hilt of his sword.
After all, the person in front of him was the Prince of Guangling, His Majesty's own son. If anything happened to him, he would surely be held accountable.
Furthermore, he was outnumbered and outmatched, and who knew what unexpected complications might arise.
It was disadvantageous to him no matter what, so there was no need to resist.
The leader slowly lowered his hand, intending to tell His Majesty everything that had happened at the National Temple after meeting him, and then ask His Majesty to interrogate the Prince of Guangling.
Jiang Mu gestured for two soldiers to step forward, tie the leader's hands behind his back, and bind them with a hemp rope. Only then did he remove the long sword from the leader's neck and personally escort the leader down the mountain.
The leader turned around and saw the two guards who had followed him out of the secret passage. Almost as soon as they came out, soldiers held knives to their necks, and they surrendered without any ability to resist.
There was even a soldier kneeling at the entrance of the secret passage, craning his neck to look inside, hoping to see if anyone else would climb out.
The leader's face darkened when he saw their wait-and-see attitude.
"Hurry up," Jiang Mu urged.
The leader's temple throbbed slightly, but he said nothing and strode down the mountain.
The general harbored doubts about the identity of the secret guards, but since it involved remnants of the previous dynasty, he dared not be careless.
If these people were royal bodyguards, the Northern Qi emperor would naturally not punish them.
If they were remnants of the previous dynasty, then the soldiers of their garrison would have made a great contribution.
Thinking of this, the general signaled to the soldiers to escort the other two secret guards back to the capital.
Zhao Yi ordered the soldiers to seal off the secret passage before preparing to descend the mountain.
Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks, his gaze clear and serene as he looked ahead, only to see the abbot leading the warrior monks toward him.
"Amitabha." The abbot performed a Buddhist salute: "May I ask what brings you to the back mountain of the National Temple?"
Zhao Yi returned the salute: "The soldiers of the garrison tracked down the remnants of the previous dynasty and followed them all the way to the cliff behind the National Temple. So I led the troops to capture the remnants of the previous dynasty."
On his way there, the abbot encountered Jiang Mu and his men, who were escorting the guards down the mountain.
He asked, "Is the person you captured a remnant of the previous dynasty, or some other suspicious individual?"
“Naturally, they are remnants of the previous dynasty.” Zhao Yi countered, “Could it be that besides the remnants of the previous dynasty, there are other suspicious people in the back mountain?” After a pause, he asked again, “The abbot is a Buddhist disciple, far removed from worldly affairs, with a pure heart and mind, yet he still interferes in worldly matters?”
The abbot gazed at Zhao Yi with a calm and peaceful expression, chanted a Buddhist prayer once more, and led the warrior monks away.
Zhao Yi watched the abbot's retreating figure, his brows furrowing slightly. He felt that the abbot had left too easily.
It's as if they never intended to investigate further.
He suppressed his doubts and led the remaining soldiers down the mountain. There, he saw seven or eight soldiers carrying four or five boxes out of the cliff behind the mountain and placing them on a cargo wagon.
Zhao Yi exchanged a brief glance with one of the soldiers, then subtly glanced at one of the boxes.
Royal guards and high-ranking monks were stationed around the monastery, but no patrols were conducted nearby.
He instructed his deputy general, Sun, to use a compass to determine the direction and to carve out a secret passage leading to the meditation room where the remains were kept.
He then instructed Jiang Chao to place some items related to the previous dynasty, as well as some daily necessities, in a cave at the foot of the cliff behind the mountain. He also instructed Jiang Chao to leave some clues to disguise the movements of the remnants of the previous dynasty and to lure the soldiers to the foot of the cliff behind the mountain on his mother's birthday.
At the same time, he also arranged for two groups of people: one group to openly break into the temple to seize the remains, and the other group to bring the remains out through a secret passage.
If the secret guards do not discover the secret passage and follow, his men will carry the boxes, disguised as belongings left behind by remnants of the previous dynasty, and blend into the group to carry them out openly.
If the secret guards discovered this and tracked them down, he would label them as remnants of the previous dynasty, send them back to the capital, and prevent them from continuing their investigation.
Even if the guards suspected him, they would not dare to confront him because of his status.
They will definitely file a complaint against him before the emperor.
These items would then come in handy, proving that he was indeed coming to the Guosi Temple to hunt down remnants of the previous dynasty.
Whether the Northern Qi emperor believed him or not was irrelevant. What mattered was that the Northern Qi emperor had no evidence and could do nothing about it.
At this moment, a soldier stepped forward and handed him an object: "Your Highness, this is a personal item I found in the cave. It looks like it belongs to the former crown prince. Could it be that the former crown prince lived in the cave before?"
Zhao Yi was slightly taken aback when he heard the soldier's words. His gaze fell on the seal in the soldier's hand, and when he saw the four characters "Chang Yuan's Private Seal" engraved at the bottom, his expression changed drastically.
This is not something he asked Jiang Chao to put in the cave.