kvmb Chapter 387 Exposed
Chapter 387 Exposed
The abbot said, "The remains of the Imperial Concubine are kept in the temple. Since the disciples wanted to offer incense to the Concubine, I took the liberty of setting up a memorial tablet for her."
The Northern Qi emperor picked up the memorial tablet, which had no inscription.
Upon seeing this, the abbot explained, "According to the rules, it is the goddess's relatives who set up the memorial tablet. I have broken the rules and would never dare to overstep my bounds by writing on the memorial tablet, so I set up a blank tablet instead."
The Northern Qi emperor stroked the memorial tablet with his fingers, his thoughts drifting away.
When Consort Shu ordered the palace servants to capture Yizhen, she saw the roaring beasts in the arena and seemed to understand something. Her face turned pale, her eyes were filled with fear, and she struggled desperately to escape.
This was the first time he had seen Yizhen fiercely resist, and he saw a strong will to survive in her.
He deliberately spoke, "Your father is gravely ill, and your elder brother is plotting to seize the throne. The Great Zhou is beset by internal and external troubles. If the Northern Qi were to launch an attack on the Great Zhou at this time, could your brother still claim the throne?"
Yi Zhen stopped struggling and looked at him in disbelief, her eyes filled with sorrow and despair. Her lips trembled as if she wanted to say something, but then she seemed to realize her lowly status, that she was nothing more than a plaything for their amusement, and that no one would care about her feelings. In the end, she didn't say a word.
Suppressing his rage, he forced her to beg for mercy: "I'll give you two choices. Either you leave the arena now and the million-strong army of Northern Qi attacks Great Zhou, or you sacrifice yourself to save the people of Great Zhou from the suffering of war and let your brother reclaim what belongs to him."
The palace servant who was holding her released his grip and stood aside.
He continued, "If you become a princess of a fallen kingdom, how can you and your child survive?"
Yi Zhen stood frozen in place, turning her gaze toward Anrui Palace, where her beloved child resided.
He clenched his fists, his heart pounding, waiting for her to beg for mercy.
As long as she can think of him and love him like Consort Shu does, he will surely treat her and her son well.
She turned her head and looked over, but the suffering had extinguished the light in her eyes, leaving only silence.
He couldn't help but sit up straight.
At this moment, his younger brother, Prince Xian, said, "Brother, are you stationing troops in Licheng to attack the Great Zhou?"
He was taken aback for a moment, and then heard Yi Zhen say, "I hope Your Majesty's word is as good as gold."
Instead, she headed toward the Colosseum.
The moment Yizhen turned around, Consort Shu ordered her servants to seize her and shove her into the iron cage. Then, Consort Shu said, “Your Majesty, Yizhen is utterly ungrateful. If she had pleaded with you, you would surely have spared her. She took advantage of your favor, threatening your life to soften your heart and make you retract your words. But you are the monarch, and a monarch's word is law. If you go back on your word, where will you put your face? How will you maintain your authority in the future? Even if she harbors a shred of affection for you, she wouldn't want to embarrass you…”
Hearing Consort Shu's words, a nameless rage surged within him. He watched helplessly as Yizhen was torn apart by wild beasts, without calling for a stop.
She died tragically, and the Empress arrived to collect her remains.
He harbored resentment towards Yizhen, resenting that she would rather abandon her child and die than bow down and beg for mercy. He casually instructed the eunuchs to place Yizhen's remains in the national temple, to be dealt with later.
This was put aside for more than 20 years.
He ignored it.
Not to mention setting up a memorial tablet for her.
If someone hadn't trespassed into the temple today, he probably wouldn't have set foot here.
The Northern Qi emperor recalled the past, his mood became depressed, he put down the memorial tablet in his hand and looked at the wooden box under the offering table, which contained the remains of Yi Zhen.
His hand rested on the altar, and he found it spotless, with a warm and mellow sandalwood scent surrounding him, enveloping him completely.
In a daze, he remembered that when she was with him just now, sandalwood incense was burning in the room, warm and bright, making him feel very comfortable.
But her heart was cold towards him, so she was never warm towards him. Because he helped her brother return to his country, she regarded him as her benefactor, and she was submissive to him, never resisting.
But he wanted more than just her body; he wanted her true heart.
The Emperor of Northern Qi, having composed himself, asked, "Is this place cleaned every day?"
The abbot said, "I make offerings to the goddess every day and clean the dust from the meditation room."
The Northern Qi emperor remained silent for a moment before preparing to return to the palace.
The abbot asked, "Does His Majesty wish to inscribe something?"
The Emperor of Northern Qi remained silent for a long while before finally speaking: "No need."
The abbot escorted the Emperor of Northern Qi down the mountain.
The Northern Qi emperor sat in the carriage, leaned back on the soft pillows, and raised his hand to massage his throbbing temples.
Eunuch Liu knelt to the side, pressing the Northern Qi Emperor's head down: "Your Majesty, why don't you move the remains of the Imperial Concubine?"
The Emperor of Northern Qi said coldly, "I have my own plans."
Now that the location where Yi Zhen kept his remains had been exposed, he had nothing left to hide. He could just set up a trap in the Zen temple, waiting for anyone who wanted to harm Yi Zhen to walk right into it.
Liu Gonggong fell silent, not daring to ask any more questions.
The abbot watched the Northern Qi emperor's carriage depart before turning back to his meditation room in the temple. He opened the door and saw a distinguished guest already inside, sitting by the window enjoying fragrant tea.
The abbot closed the door: "Heqing, you shouldn't have come today."
The Imperial Tutor did not respond to that question, but instead asked, "Has anything been exposed?"
"No," the abbot said. "You can no longer return to your monastery."
The Imperial Tutor lowered his eyes to look at a wisp of sandalwood incense on the table, and after a long while, he finally responded.
-
The Northern Qi Emperor and the Prince of Qi left the banquet, and Zhao Yi returned to his residence. Jiang Mu, who was waiting at the side gate, invited him to his study.
Shen Qingtan was already waiting in the study. When she saw Zhao Yi return, she picked up the teapot and poured him a cup of hot tea.
Zhao Yi sat down next to Shen Qingtan and looked at Jiang Mu: "How is the situation at the National Temple?"
“The King of Qi’s men have been arrested.” Jiang Mu voiced his doubts: “The drugged monks shouldn’t have woken up so early. It’s as if there was a hidden hand pushing things to expose the person who trespassed into the meditation room.”
Zhao Yi frowned. When he first heard that his mother's remains were in a national temple and that only monks were guarding them, he felt something was amiss.
They deliberately provoked the King of Qi to steal the remains and scout the way.
Sure enough, taking his mother's remains was more difficult than he had imagined.
Besides the monks guarding the monastery, there was another pair of eyes secretly watching it.
"It's not just the Northern Qi Emperor's people who are watching the Zen temple; there's another force as well," Zhao Yi analyzed. "If it's the Northern Qi Emperor's people, why would they wake up the unconscious monks and then arrest those who trespassed into the Zen temple?"
Shen Qingtan's expression was solemn: "Now we've alerted them, and they're even more vigilant. It will probably be even more difficult for us to get the remains."
Zhao Yi remained silent.
Because he had a suspicion in his mind.
Rather than saying that the forces behind him were preventing him from retrieving the remains, it would be more accurate to say that they were preventing him from returning to the Great Zhou.
His purpose in coming to Northern Qi was to bring his mother back to Great Zhou.
Once he obtains the remains, he will certainly not remain in Northern Qi.
Zhao Yi couldn't help but recall the plague in Licheng. Back then, they suspected it was the work of the Imperial Tutor, who deliberately lured him to Northern Qi.
After all, the Great Zhou asked the Northern Qi to cede territory, and the Northern Qi readily gave it up.
Then, a plague broke out in the city that the Great Zhou had acquired, plunging the Great Zhou into a dilemma. If they took over the city, they lacked the manpower and resources to control the plague. If they didn't take over the city, they would lose prestige and popular support.