in2ebook Chapter 514 Did you poison me?
Chapter 514 Did you poison me?
"Your Majesty, this old minister has a different opinion." The Right Pillar General was not as optimistic as the Northern Qi Emperor: "Emperor Jing'an is a benevolent ruler. He remembers the kindness his own sister has shown him. Although he has entrusted the Prince of Guangling to the Duke's mansion, he is very close to the Prince and knows his character very well. Even if Emperor Jing'an learns that Northern Qi has stationed troops on the border and intends to attack Great Zhou, he will personally ask the Prince of Guangling. Once the uncle and nephew agree, the matter will be clear. How could he suspect the Prince of Zhenbei?"
"Not to mention, the ancestors of the Prince of Zhenbei's family were all loyal and righteous, and each of them was very affectionate. The Prince of Zhenbei lost his most beloved daughter, but he thought of his entire family and the soldiers who followed him. He endured for more than ten years and only dared to reveal the matter when he found the opportunity. Such a courageous general would definitely choose the country over his family."
"The fact that Emperor Jing'an dared to disobey the late emperor's decree, transferring the Prince of Zhenbei away from his fiefdom and leading troops to attack Northern Qi shows that he was a resolute, decisive, and trustworthy emperor."
"Perhaps no one understands the importance of the Prince of Zhenbei to the Great Zhou better than Emperor Jing'an, so how could he be easily provoked and harbor resentment towards the Prince of Zhenbei?"
The Northern Qi emperor countered, "If I were Emperor Jing'an, fully trusting the Prince of Zhenbei and knowing his importance, I would dare to rely on him to attack Northern Qi. But you, as a courtier of the Great Zhou, what would you do?"
The right pillar is speechless.
Because he would unite with other ministers to oppose Emperor Jing'an's heavy reliance on the Prince of Zhenbei.
In fact, in order to achieve his goal, he even framed the Prince of Zhenbei.
Seeing that the Right Pillar General remained silent, the Northern Qi Emperor slowly walked up to him and said, "Acting on impulse is a great taboo for an emperor. Emperor Jing'an values the Prince of Zhenbei highly and has gone against the opinions of the people to protect him. This will only affect his prestige among the court officials and the people, and will surely cause internal strife."
The imperial line of the Great Zhou Dynasty was also thin, with only Prince Yu and a young prince remaining.
Prince Yu was cunning and extremely resourceful.
What makes him terrifying is that he has no sense of good or evil and will stop at nothing to achieve his goals.
Emperor Jing'an would never pass the throne to Prince Yu, so how could Prince Yu let it go?
From this perspective, it's not necessarily a bad thing that Prince Yu escaped from the secret guards.
Then, he would add fuel to the fire for Prince Yu, pushing him to usurp the throne and plunge the Great Zhou into even greater chaos.
The Right Pillar State still felt it was not quite right, but the Northern Qi Emperor was too stubborn, so he did not persuade him further: "Your Majesty, before you can find out the true attitude of the Prince of Guangling towards the Great Zhou, you should be more wary of him."
In his view, sending Zhao Yi and Shen Qingtan to their fiefdom to meet the Prince of Zhenbei was a mistake. Shen Qingtan should have been kept in the capital as a hostage to keep Zhao Yi in check.
To prevent Zhao Yi from colluding with the Great Zhou to force the emperor to abdicate.
"I understand your concerns," the Northern Qi Emperor said dismissively. "If the Prince of Guangling were a wise man, he wouldn't have joined forces with the Great Zhou to force me to abdicate. After all, he's my only capable son. He can rightfully inherit the throne, so why should he be branded with the crime of patricide and treason?"
The Right Pillar of State thought that what the Northern Qi emperor said made some sense.
Zhao Yi joined forces with the Great Zhou to force the emperor to abdicate. If the Great Zhou took the opportunity to annex the Northern Qi, wouldn't he lose the throne that was within his grasp?
He suggested, "Your Majesty, in my opinion, we should strictly prohibit the Prince of Guangling from interfering in local politics and military affairs, and we should also guard against the Prince of Guangling bribing the Governor of Yuncheng and the Commander's Office."
"These are critical times, and we cannot afford to make any mistakes. Just in case, you should transfer them away and appoint trusted officials to these two important positions to strengthen the control over the Prince of Guangling."
"In addition, you should also send troops to garrison Yuncheng to strengthen the border defenses."
The Right Pillar State's proposal coincided with the Northern Qi Emperor's thoughts, but the Northern Qi Emperor faced a more thorny problem.
"I fear my health will not last more than a few years. To ascertain the Prince of Guangling's attitude towards Northern Qi, I can no longer proceed with a slow and methodical approach. This time, we have sown discord between Emperor Jing'an and the officials and people of Great Zhou. If we seize the right opportunity, we might be able to conquer Great Zhou. Therefore, the court must make ample preparations." The Emperor of Northern Qi frowned deeply: "I wonder if Minister Liu has any methods to quickly replenish Northern Qi's treasury and strengthen its army?"
"There is only one way: increase taxes and conscript soldiers," said the Right Pillar of State. "Your Majesty, you have resorted to this desperate measure for the sake of the stability of the nation. Only when the nation is stable can the people live and work in peace. Now that Northern Qi is in trouble, the people are also part of Northern Qi and should serve the country."
The Northern Qi emperor thought of Yongqing County: "This matter is not appropriate. Exploiting the people will only cause internal strife."
Right Pillar State knew that the Northern Qi emperor was going to send troops to attack the Great Zhou. If he did not have enough strength, wouldn't he be courting his own destruction?
What do the interests of ordinary people matter in the face of national crisis?
"After the Northern Qi and the Great Zhou began trading, many merchants from the Great Zhou came to the Northern Qi to do business and made a fortune. You can increase taxes on them to prevent them from having the money they earned from the Northern Qi embezzled by the Great Zhou and used to deal with the Northern Qi. Secondly, under your rule, the people of the Northern Qi are well-fed and clothed, and every household has surplus grain. Increasing taxes by 10% will not cripple the people or leave them hungry."
The Right Pillar General knew that the Northern Qi Emperor feared that excessive exploitation would lead to a popular uprising: "The people of Yongqing County have been exploited by Feng Zhihuan for years, suffering from hunger and cold, which is why they revolted. You are not acting for your own selfish desires, but for the sake of all the people of Northern Qi. The people will surely understand your suffering. Once Northern Qi unifies with the Great Zhou, you should grant a general amnesty and exempt the people from taxes. They will definitely be grateful to you."
"If the people revolt against you for this, then let this old minister bear the blame." At this point, the Right Pillar of State knelt on the ground and said with righteous indignation, "As long as the Northern Qi is stable and the world is unified, I am willing to give my life."
The Northern Qi emperor fell into deep thought, pacing back and forth in the palace.
Seeing that the Northern Qi emperor had not made a decision, the Right Pillar General intended to continue persuading him: "Your Majesty..."
The Northern Qi emperor was still uneasy: "Won't increasing taxes by 10% leave the people hungry?"
The Right Pillar State solemnly declared, "This old minister guarantees with his life that even if the tax revenue increases by 20%, let alone 10%, the people will still have enough to eat and wear, and there will absolutely be no uprising like the one in Yongqing County."
After a long silence, the Emperor of Northern Qi relented: "I entrust this matter to you."
The Right Pillar of State accepted the order: "Your subject obeys."
-
In the pitch-black cave, Guangning sat on a rock, his hands supporting his chin, staring intently at the cave entrance.
Previously, Prince Yu was shot with an arrow, developed a fever at night, and fell into a coma.
She was terrified, worried that Prince Yu would die there, so she tried to find a water source to cool him down.
But the nights in the mountains were dangerous, and she dared not leave the cave.
While she hesitated, she vaguely heard the sound of water droplets falling to the ground inside the cave. So she took a luminous pearl and bravely walked deeper into the cave, where she unexpectedly discovered traces of someone having lived there.
Beside the small puddle, on a few stacked stones, sat a small earthenware pot. The bottom of the pot was blackened by fire, clearly indicating that it was used for cooking. Next to it was a small pile of unused firewood.
It seemed no one had been here for a long time; spiderwebs hung from the mouth of the earthenware jar. She washed the jar clean, filled it halfway with water, went to Prince Yu's side, and dampened a handkerchief to place on his forehead.
The fever didn't subside until dawn.
She breathed a sigh of relief and leaned against the stone wall next to Prince Yu to rest, exhausted.
After waiting for an hour without seeing Prince Yu awaken, she took away the luminous pearl and went into the mountains to find something to eat.
She dared not go far, afraid of not finding her way back to the cave, and even more afraid of encountering danger. But there were no wild fruits in the mountains, only mushrooms.
The mushrooms are very bright and beautiful.
She carefully carried the mushrooms back to the cave and cooked a pot of fragrant mushroom soup. Then, she washed a leaf, rolled it into a funnel shape, and used it as a spoon to scoop the soup and feed it to Prince Yu.
"Although I am not favored in the palace, I have never taken care of anyone before. This is the first time I have taken care of someone, so please give me some face and wake up quickly."
Sure enough, Prince Yu drank the mushroom soup and woke up, much to her relief.
Before she could rejoice, Prince Yu's sharp gaze shot towards her: "You poisoned me?"
She was stunned and stammered, "I...I didn't, I just fed you mushroom soup."
Prince Yu glanced at the pottery jar beside him, and the veins on his forehead throbbed.
The next moment, he collapsed to the ground and lost consciousness.
She saw a look of shock and helplessness on Prince Yu's face, as if he, who had once dominated the court and was invincible, had actually capsized in the face of her, such a small ditch.
Only then did she realize that the mushrooms were poisonous. She hurriedly induced Prince Yu to vomit and then poured ground water down his throat, finally managing to save him.
From then on, Prince Yu went to find food on his own.
Fearing that Prince Yu would abandon her, she silently followed him.
Prince Yu tacitly approved of her actions.
Until she sprained her ankle yesterday.
Today, Prince Yu went out to contact his subordinates, leaving her in the cave.
Guangning looked down at her swollen ankle and sighed softly, hoping that Prince Yu would not abandon her.
After all, a person like Prince Yu only cares about interests, not gratitude.
As time passed, Guangning's unease gradually spread.
Just as she was about to get up, she heard footsteps outside the cave and looked towards the entrance with delight.
When he saw who it was, Guangning's expression changed drastically.