funbook-pk Chapter 299 Imperial Tutor of Northern Qi
Chapter 299 Imperial Tutor of Northern Qi
The Duke snapped out of his reverie, his expression somber: "What did Yi'er say?"
"Our relationship with Yi'er, which has lasted for more than 20 years, will not be severed by blood ties." The First Madam never doubted Zhao Yi's feelings for them.
Upon hearing the news of his origins, Zhao Yi will not only not disown them, but his love for them will likely deepen even further.
The First Madam was very worried about Zhao Yi's situation: "Father, how should we deal with the rumors circulating outside?"
"Let's await His Majesty's orders." The Duke's voice was old. "His Majesty will not stand idly by. We will cooperate with His Majesty when the time comes."
The Duke was puzzled. How did the Northern Qi envoy know about Zhao Yi's existence?
The reason he was able to take Zhao Yi away so easily was that the imperial tutor of Northern Qi created the illusion that Zhao Yi had died young, thus escaping unscathed.
Apart from the imperial tutor, no one else in the Northern Qi Dynasty knew that Zhao Yi was still alive.
If it was leaked by the Imperial Tutor, then why did the Imperial Tutor help him back then?
At this point in the analysis, the Duke couldn't help but think of the existence of the Imperial Tutor of Northern Qi, who held a very high and extremely special position in Northern Qi.
He rose to fame at a young age, a rare genius, erudite and resourceful, second to none among his peers.
He was only five years older than the Emperor of Northern Qi, yet he was the Emperor's tutor.
This is absolutely unprecedented.
The First Madam and the First Master were filled with worry when they thought of Emperor Jing'an. They wondered whether Emperor Jing'an would suppress the rumors or choose to reveal Zhao Yi's true identity.
No matter how anxious they were, the development of events was no longer in their control.
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The news that Zhao Yi was the son of Emperor Jing'an spread like wildfire throughout the streets and alleys.
The officials were shocked. Their first reaction was that it was a rumor, but then they thought about Emperor Jing'an's attitude towards Zhao Yi and were unsure what to do. They waited to see how Emperor Jing'an would handle the situation.
The people, however, firmly believed that if Zhao Yi was not Emperor Jing'an's son, then why was he so favored by Emperor Jing'an?
However, whether Zhao Yi was a prince or not had no impact on the common people; they simply listened to it as gossip.
The spies of the Northern Qi envoys relayed the news they had gathered back to the Siyi Pavilion: "The officials of the Great Zhou are watching and waiting, and the people are using it as a topic of conversation. They are discussing it privately, and most of them hope that Zhao Yi will be the prince."
After all, none of Emperor Jing'an's sons had ever done anything to benefit the people.
Zhao Yi could not bear to see the people suffer, so he used his own money to settle the disaster victims in Guanzhou.
The people are naturally happy that someone who can understand the suffering of the common people and take action to alleviate it is a royal heir. If he becomes emperor in the future, their lives will be comfortable.
Vice Envoy Gao and King Qi sat in the room, not at all surprised by the reactions of the people and officials.
After the autumn hunt, King Qi learned of Zhao Yi's background. His face darkened, and he remained silent.
Vice Envoy Gao said, "Your Highness, the more the people now regard Zhao Yi as a prince, the greater the backlash against him will be when they learn that Zhao Yi is of Northern Qi royal blood."
Their original plan was to have Princess Guangning and Shen Du share a room, and then use Zhao Yi's background to threaten Emperor Jing'an into compromising.
After all, Princess Yizhen had followed the Northern Qi emperor without any official status and had given birth to a son, which was a great disgrace to the royal family.
More importantly, Emperor Jing'an doted on Zhao Yi, and once Zhao Yi's true identity was revealed, the Great Zhou Dynasty would absolutely not tolerate him.
They were betting on Zhao Yi's position in Emperor Jing'an's heart, to see if Emperor Jing'an was willing to compromise for Zhao Yi's sake.
Unexpectedly, Prince Yu intervened, dragging Princess Guangning off a cliff. Princess Guangning's reputation was damaged, and she had no choice but to marry Prince Yu.
Their plan failed, so they became unscrupulous and first released the news that Zhao Yi was the son of Emperor Jing'an, as a pretext to incite internal strife in the Great Zhou Dynasty.
King Qi kept a cold face and ignored Deputy Envoy Gao.
He still finds it hard to accept that Zhao Yi was a prince of Northern Qi, his elder brother.
If it weren't for his advisor Chang An's persuasion, Zhao Yi, who grew up in the Great Zhou Dynasty and had half of the Great Zhou blood flowing in his veins, would never have been allowed to inherit the throne by either his father or the court officials of the Northern Qi Dynasty, posing no threat to him whatsoever.
Otherwise, he would definitely have eliminated Zhao Yi.
Seeing that King Qi remained silent and his eyes were filled with gloom, Vice Envoy Gao, in order to prevent King Qi from making things worse, took the initiative to attack Zhao Yi and analyzed the pros and cons for King Qi.
“Your Highness, you are the prince most valued by His Majesty. No other prince can surpass your position in His Majesty’s heart.”
Vice Envoy Gao offered a word of comfort and then inquired, "Zhao Yi is merely a pawn used to sow discord within the Great Zhou. What will Prince Yu and Prince Rui do once they learn that Zhao Yi is the son of Emperor Jing'an?"
King Qi frowned, knowing that King Yu and King Rui would definitely join forces to deal with Zhao Yi.
Vice Envoy Gao continued, "When the situation arises where Prince Yu and Prince Rui are dealing with Zhao Yi, with his son on one side and his nephew on the other, what choice will His Majesty make?"
“With Prince Baoyu and Prince Rui as his sons, and the Zhenbei Prince’s Mansion behind Zhao Yi, who is Zhao Yi’s father-in-law, their interests are intertwined. They share both glory and ruin, and they will definitely not sit idly by.”
“If we protect Zhao Yi, our nephew, then we will stand up and expose Zhao Yi’s true identity, which will cause turmoil in the court. How can the court tolerate Zhao Yi then?”
"Not only does Zhao Yi have the blood of the Northern Qi royal family flowing through his veins, but the Prince of Zhenbei is also his father-in-law, commanding a powerful army. If Zhao Yi were to harbor any thoughts of rebellion, it would be as easy as taking candy from a baby. Which minister of the Great Zhou could sleep soundly?"
At this point, Vice Envoy Gao smiled slightly: "The court officials will be wary of them, and they will join forces to remonstrate to the death, expel Zhao Yi from the Great Zhou, and suppress the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion."
As long as the Great Zhou Dynasty suppresses the Prince of Zhenbei, it will lose this core force.
Then the Northern Qi would not suffer another defeat.
King Qi felt somewhat better after hearing what Deputy Envoy Gao said.
He glared coldly at Vice Envoy Gao: "How did the Great Zhou manage to bring our Northern Qi prince back to the Great Zhou to raise him?"
Vice Envoy Gao's smile was stiff. People in the palace always served Zhao Yi according to his status. Zhao Yi's birth mother was not favored by His Majesty, and His Majesty did not care about Zhao Yi at all. How could the palace servants serve Zhao Yi wholeheartedly?
When the palace servants reported the news of Zhao Yi's untimely death, His Majesty did not even go to see him, but simply instructed the palace servants to handle the matter.
They all thought Zhao Yi was dead, and had almost forgotten that there had ever been such a prince in the deep palace.
It wasn't until the Northern Qi was defeated and they sent envoys to the Great Zhou to negotiate that the Imperial Tutor told them that Zhao Yi was still alive.
The Imperial Tutor rose to fame at a young age and became the tutor of the Northern Qi Emperor. After resolving several crises that led to the emperor's demotion, he helped the emperor ascend the throne and was bestowed the title of Imperial Tutor.
The Northern Qi emperors consulted their imperial tutors on many decisions, demonstrating their extreme trust in them.
In the eyes of the court officials, this situation meant that the imperial tutor and the emperor of Northern Qi were jointly ruling Northern Qi.
Even under the subtle influence of the Northern Qi emperor, court officials would first consult the imperial tutor when they had political opinions, to the point that the imperial tutor's prestige in the Northern Qi court surpassed that of the emperor.