funbook-pk Chapter 501 Revisiting old matters
Chapter 501 Revisiting old matters
The Emperor of Northern Qi realized something was wrong and frowned.
The news of the wise king's death will inevitably cause turmoil in the court.
Therefore, he kept the news of the virtuous king's tragic death a secret.
How did Consort Shu learn of Prince Xian's death?
Not to mention, she was confined to the cold palace, how could she be so well-informed?
Could it be that someone sent her a message?
Apart from the secret guard who went to the palace to report the disappearance of the Prince Xian, and the imperial guard who showed him the Prince Xian's personal jade pendant, no one else knew about the Prince Xian's death.
The Northern Qi emperor summoned the guard who had delivered the message and asked, "Has there been any movement in the Cold Palace these past two days?"
The guard remembered that last night, the Prince Xian had sent a palace maid to deliver a wooden box to Consort Shu.
Consort Shu happily took the wooden box into the inner palace. After a short while, some faint noises could be heard from the inner palace.
However, the inner hall was some distance from the courtyard gate, so he couldn't hear clearly and didn't know what had happened.
The fact that Consort Shu suddenly wants to see the Emperor of Northern Qi today is probably related to that wooden box.
But how could he dare tell the Emperor of Northern Qi about this?
If the Northern Qi emperor finds out that he has done favors for Consort Shu, he will surely punish him for dereliction of duty, and may even have his head chopped off.
Thinking of this, the guard said tremblingly, "Your Majesty, Consort Shu has always been well-behaved and has never made a fuss. It's just that she suddenly sent me to deliver a message to you today."
The Northern Qi emperor suspected that someone from the previous dynasty had infiltrated the inner court and deliberately leaked the information to Consort Shu.
Aside from the remnants of the previous dynasty, he couldn't think of anyone else who knew about the death of the wise king.
As for their purpose in doing so...
The emperor of Northern Qi fell into deep thought.
If Consort Shu were to learn of the tragic death of Prince Xian, she would surely want to see him.
Based on his usual behavior, he would definitely go to the Cold Palace to see Consort Shu.
Could it be that the remnants of the previous dynasty are hiding in the cold palace?
The purpose was to have Consort Shu lure him to the Cold Palace and then kill him.
After pondering for a long time, the Emperor of Northern Qi finally decided to meet with Consort Shu.
"Take Consort Shu to Fu'an Palace, I will see her there."
Now, the remnants of the previous dynasty are no longer content and are plotting to restore their kingdom.
Their presence made him restless and unable to eat or sleep.
He couldn't vent his hatred without getting rid of them as soon as possible.
The guard accepted the order: "I will go and report back immediately."
After the guards left, the Northern Qi emperor arranged for two groups of people to surround the Cold Palace and for the other group to lie in ambush in the Fu'an Palace.
After everything was arranged, the Northern Qi Emperor went to Fu'an Palace and found that Consort Shu was already waiting at the courtyard gate.
When he saw what Consort Shu looked like, he was stunned.
In his memory, Consort Shu had long, black, lustrous hair, rosy cheeks, a full figure, and fair, smooth skin. She loved to wear brightly colored palace dresses, which made her look charming and alluring.
She's clearly over forty, but looks incredibly young, like a woman under thirty.
Now her cheeks are thin, her eyes are sunken, her skin is sallow, and her hair at the temples is gray, showing none of her former radiance.
She's clearly only in her forties, but looks like a woman in her fifties.
The Northern Qi emperor could hardly recognize him.
Consort Shu saw the Emperor of Northern Qi standing on the cobblestone path, looking at her from afar. His cloudy eyes showed surprise, as if he had never expected that she would become so unrecognizable.
She became like this entirely because of him.
Unfortunately, she hadn't seen things clearly before, only regarding Zhao Yi as an enemy and rival.
Now that she has encountered such a calamity, she has finally seen the true nature of things.
If the Emperor of Northern Qi is willing to protect her, who can harm her in the slightest?
However, she realized it too late.
As a result, their families were destroyed and their members died.
The son died tragically.
Consort Shu clenched her fists tightly, suppressing the hatred surging in her chest.
"Your Majesty," Consort Shu curtsied to the Emperor of Northern Qi.
"No need to be polite."
The Emperor of Northern Qi approached and saw that Consort Shu's eyes were red. She had probably learned of the death of Prince Xian and was extremely grief-stricken, so she wept bitterly.
Just as he was about to test Consort Shu's words, he saw her look up and glance around: "Why did Your Majesty arrange for me to meet here?"
Upon hearing this, the Emperor of Northern Qi looked around but did not notice anything unusual.
It's just that this place is close to the Cold Palace, so we arranged to meet here.
"More than twenty years ago, during the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, Prince Xian built an arena in the adjacent palace and invited us to watch slaves fight wild beasts." Consort Shu smiled and explained to him, "Back then, to bring good luck, we put Princess Yizhen in a cage with wild beasts. Who knew that instead of taming the beasts, she was eaten alive and left only as bones. Since then, the adjacent palace has been converted into a tiger enclosure, where two tigers are kept. You have never been here again."