kvmb Chapter 339 Announcement
Chapter 339 Announcement
Vice Minister Liu wanted to offer some advice, but then he thought that since Zhao Yi had chosen to do this, there must be a reason for it.
With the Zhou dynasty behind him, and if he manages to control the plague, the Northern Qi emperor will not punish him.
"Your Highness has recovered from the plague and, with the help of a benefactor, escaped Lin Yi's pursuit. This is a great joy." Vice Minister Liu cupped his hands and said, "Your humble servant will return to the capital first to report the good news to His Majesty."
The Imperial Tutor agreed with Vice Minister Liu's words: "Since Your Highness is alright, I will return to the capital with Minister Liu."
Vice Minister Liu is a neutral party member who does not participate in any partisan disputes. His mention of returning to the capital at this moment suggests that he is trying to avoid suspicion.
The Imperial Tutor sent Zhao Yi to manage the plague; he shouldn't have stayed behind to inquire about the progress.
The way Liu Cifu looked at the Imperial Tutor was somewhat subtle, and he vaguely felt that the Imperial Tutor was deliberately trying to return to the capital with him.
What is the Imperial Tutor up to now, with his twisted and convoluted mind?
He hesitated and said, "Imperial Tutor, won't you stay and inquire about the plague situation in these cities?"
The Imperial Tutor readily agreed, saying, "Thank you for the reminder, Lord Liu. Please wait for me for a moment."
Vice Minister Liu: "..." Is she clinging to him now?
The Imperial Tutor did not try to guess Liu Cifu's thoughts, but instead asked Zhao Yi, "How is the plague in Yingcheng being handled?"
"The plague in Yingcheng has subsided, with only a few cases occasionally. Patients recover after taking a few doses of herbal medicine. Only elderly and weak patients, whose onset is rapid and critical, are unlikely to be cured."
Zhao Yi said, "I asked my cousin for the prescription, and the patients in Yuncheng and Panshicheng took the medicine and their condition improved a lot. Now that my cousin has come to Yuncheng to take charge, it won't be long before the plague is completely over."
The Imperial Tutor was well-versed in the situations of Yuncheng and Panshicheng. His inquiry to Zhao Yi about these two cities was merely a formality in front of Vice Minister Liu.
Because the prefects of these two cities were his men, Zhao Yi was able to smoothly transfer money and grain from these two cities to Yingcheng by obtaining their credentials.
The Imperial Tutor nodded slightly: "The people of Yuncheng and Panshicheng are now entrusted to you."
Zhao Yi hummed in agreement and coughed a few times.
The Imperial Tutor looked at Zhao Yi's pale profile, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly. He then said to Vice Minister Liu beside him, "It's getting late, let's set off as soon as possible."
Vice Minister Liu: "..."
He waited for the Imperial Tutor to leave first before following behind, a step behind. Looking at the Imperial Tutor's back, he suddenly realized something.
The Imperial Tutor returned to the capital with him, probably to control public opinion?
After the group left, the mansion became even quieter.
“Hey, the prince consort is still alive. This whole mansion is all white, it’s really bad luck.” Qiu Zhentian waved his hand: “Brothers, let’s work harder and tear down everything that needs to be torn down.”
At the command, this elite force surged into every corner of the mansion, dismantling lanterns, white silk flowers, and the mourning hall, among other things.
As Zhao Yi watched the soldiers moving about in the mansion, he slowly turned around. The person he had been longing for day and night stood at the entrance of the mourning hall, dressed in plain clothes, through the fluttering white banners.
He realized he hadn't seen her for over a month. Compared to when they parted, she had become much thinner, her slender body seemingly unable to support the heavy cloak, making her appear frail and weak.
In his sea of white shadows, her reddened eyes stood out starkly.
Zhao Yi strode towards Shen Qingtan and stood at the foot of the stone steps. Their eyes met, and the two looked at each other.
"Manman, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting." Zhao Yi looked into her misty eyes, took her intertwined fingers, and gently pulled her into his arms. "I'm sorry for making you worry."
Shen Qingtan's nose suddenly stung with tears. She buried her face in his shoulder and said in a muffled voice, "You told me in your letter that you hadn't contracted the plague and that what you were spreading was all false information."
“I believe everything you say. Even though the whole city is spreading the news of your death, I still don’t believe a single word of it.”
"Until your bodyguard brought me a message, to prevent anyone from overhearing, he told me to accept my condolences..."
These two words pierced her heart and lungs like awls.
Even after I learned from the guards that it was false information, I was still uneasy, afraid that you would be in danger.
Or rather, he was in danger himself, fearing he might make a mistake.
Unable to sleep all day, my heart aches whenever I open my eyes to see the entire mansion covered in white. Even knowing it's fake, seeing the mourning hall set up for him still brings a pang of sadness.
She couldn't help but wonder, "The enemy is in the dark while I am in the light. I've escaped danger this time, but will there be a next time? And the time after that?"
They are just ordinary people; they can't always be perfect. There will inevitably be oversights, and if something goes wrong...
Even if it were just a hypothetical scenario, Shen Qingtan couldn't bear the consequences.
She hugged Zhao Yi tightly and poured out her thoughts: "I've even thought about whether we should have a child. In case we encounter an unexpected situation one day, this child can help each other survive."
However, their circumstances did not make it suitable to have a child, so she suppressed the idea again.
Guilt and self-blame weighed heavily on Zhao Yi's chest. She felt she had let her down and made her worry and fear.
“That day will never come.” Zhao Yi gently kissed her temple, as if to comfort her. “I will finish things in Northern Qi as soon as possible and take you back to Great Zhou.” He paused and said softly, “If you want a child then, we will have one.”
Shen Qingtan didn't want his promise; she had just been on tenterhooks for so many days and finally saw him. She wanted to tell him everything that had been weighing on her mind, both the good and the bad.
He understood her feelings and took her words to heart, which undoubtedly gave her the best comfort.
Shen Qingtan leaned against Zhao Yi's warm and broad embrace, and the anxiety that had been weighing on her heart for days slowly subsided.
-
Shen Qingtan and Zhao Yi returned to the main courtyard, where all the white paint had been removed and replaced with festive red.
Shen Qingtan untied Zhao Yi's cloak and asked softly, "How did you come up with the idea of faking your death to escape and set such a trap for Lin Yi?"
"Lin Yi wanted to use my death to bring down the Imperial Tutor. After I learned of Lin Yi's motives, I turned the tables on him and arranged for my secret guards to create an avalanche, causing the carriage to fall into the river, so that I could fake my death and escape."
“My uncle, the emperor, cares about me a lot. If I die in Northern Qi, I will definitely demand an explanation from Northern Qi.”
"Lin Yi was waiting for this opportunity to join forces with the ministers to push the Imperial Tutor out as a scapegoat, thereby quelling the anger of the Great Zhou."
"I plan to show up at this time, expose Lin Yi's crimes, and let him suffer the consequences."
He changed his plans at the last minute when he heard that Lin Yi had volunteered to come to Yuncheng and Panshicheng to deal with the plague.
In order to overthrow the Imperial Tutor, Lin Yi did not hesitate to let the plague spread, harming innocent people. This shows that Lin Yi would stop at nothing to achieve his goals.
In Lin Yi's eyes, the common people were nothing more than pawns used to fight for power, and he did not care about their lives.
If Lin Yi truly wanted to control the plague, he would have taken the imperial physicians to Yuncheng instead of hiring a few notorious quacks.
This shows that the doctors Lin Yi brought were merely putting on a show. Given Lin Yi's style, he will likely resort to extreme measures to quell the plague.
Zhao Yi then conspired with the prefects of the two cities to conceal the fact that the patients had greatly improved after taking the medicine. They simply told Lin Yi that the people had taken the medicine he had given them and it had a slight effect, and that they would be cured after taking another ten or twenty doses of the medicine.
Before this, he deliberately spread the news that he had contracted the plague while managing it, and died of the disease, in order to create momentum for himself and put pressure on Lin Yi.
After all, Lin Yi came to Yuncheng to deal with the plague in order to gain fame and fortune. If the patients were cured by his prescriptions, it would overshadow Lin Yi's fame.
This is definitely not what Lin Yi wants to see.
As expected, Lin Yi took the bait and planned to burn the sick people.
He planned to arrest the person when Lin Yi made his move.
However, things didn't go as he expected. The imperial tutor actually persuaded the emperor of Northern Qi to grant him Yuncheng and Panshicheng as fiefdoms, and even specially arranged for his "funeral" to be held in Yuncheng.
To eliminate any future trouble, he ordered Lin Yi to be beheaded.
Looking back on the whole incident, Zhao Yi vaguely sensed that everything the Imperial Tutor had done was to cause Lin Yi's death.
Even if he doesn't make a move, the Imperial Tutor will probably push him to do it, right?